40K Lore: Grey Knights
Roboute Guilliman is coming back and bringing with him a Grey Knights Grandmaster. Read on to learn more about this legendary chapter…
Overview
The Grey Knights are the legendary Chapter 666 – and although nominally a Chapter of the Astartes, they are in the Chamber Militant of the Inquisition. Each member of the chapter undergoes a gruelling and torturous selection process, and even once inducted, their harsh training regime is without equal. In battle, they move as an army of silver ghosts, surrounded by awe, and equipped to the teeth to deal with the worst foes that Chaos can raise to meet them.
Ever since the Chapter’s founding, only the Inquisition and Chapter Masters have been allowed to know of the Grey Knight’s existence. Many chapters believe the Grey Knights to be a myth, if they have even heard of them at all. Space Marines who encounter them are telepathically scoured, while Imperial Guard regiments they fight beside are simply executed.
To battle such enemies as Daemons, creatures that are not of this realm but formed of sorcery and madness, a Grey Knight must embrace the power of the Warp to battle a Daemon with its own weapons. Each Grey Knight is an accomplished, powerful psyker whose psychic presence is anathema to creatures of the Warp. They are trained to channel their psychic energies into a halo of protective wards known as The Aegis. Thusly armoured, a Grey Knight’s presence becomes unpalatable to Daemons, making him immune to corruption, able to wield forbidden black magic, harness tainted artefacts and scour blasphemous tomes all without risk of being overwhelmed by the cursed power of Chaos.
Origins
To battle such enemies as Daemons, creatures that are not of this realm but formed of sorcery and madness, a Grey Knight must embrace the power of the Warp to battle a Daemon with its own weapons. Each Grey Knight is an accomplished, powerful psyker whose psychic presence is anathema to creatures of the Warp. They are trained to channel their psychic energies into a halo of protective wards known as The Aegis. Thusly armoured, a Grey Knight’s presence becomes unpalatable to Daemons, making him immune to corruption, able to wield forbidden black magic, harness tainted artefacts and scour blasphemous tomes all without risk of being overwhelmed by the cursed power of Chaos.
Malcador found twelve worthy champions; four were lords and administrators, and eight were Space Marines from both loyalist and traitor legions. These included survivors of the Eisenstein incident, Nathaniel Garro, Amendera Kendel, and Kyril Sindermann. During the founding of the organisation others would join them including Tylos Rubio, Macer Varren and Garviel Loken. Many of the Space Marines that joined the cause hailed from Legions that had turned traitor, though they themselves had remained loyal to the Emperor. Once they had been gathered, the Emperor surveyed the chosen recruits and granted both his approval and consent to proceed with the project. So the recruits split ways to go off towards separate tasks; the four lords ventured off to lay the framework of the Inquisition, whilst the Space Marines and Malcador travelled to Saturn‘s moon of Titan, which was hidden in the Warp for a time…
When Titan eventually returned, the Second Founding was taking place. Whilst in the Warp, time had passed at a greater rate for Titan and so it had emerged not with the original eight Space Marines and their raw recruits, but with a full Chapter of one thousand fully trained Battle-Brothers. The Second Founding was being directed by the newly formed Inquisition under the control of the same lords who Malcador had selected years before. So they secretly included the Grey Knights amongst the growing list of new Chapters, designating them Chapter 666, despite there being barely 400 Chapters commissioned at the time. The Grey Knights, different from all the other new Chapters, were embedded within the Inquisition to serve as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Malleus to fight against all things Daemonic
Organization
The Bulk of the Grey Knights Chapter is organized into Brotherhoods, fighting formations roughly equivalent to a Space Marine Company and consisting of around one hundred Battle Brothers. Each Brotherhood is overseen by a Grand Master There are eight known Grey Knights Brotherhoods plus the Purifier and Paladin Orders.
Most of the Chapter’s strength is spread through the Imperium, ensuring that the fighting skills of the Grey Knights can be quickly called upon by the Ordo Malleus wherever a daemonic incursion may occur. These small forces are often stationed thousands of light years from their fortress-monastery for decades at a time, and are usually organised into small teams that have trained and fought together for their entire lives.
Recruitment
Considering the role of the Grey Knights, potential recruits are put through even more stringent trials than other Space Marine Neophytes. Unlike most Space Marine Chapters, the Grey Knight recruits are often drawn directly from the Black Ships after they return to Terra they are then brought to Titan for testing. The most advanced bio-engineering and psycho-surgery available is utilised to condition the Neophytes, and each recruit must pass the six hundred and sixty six Rituals of Detestation, to prove that he is capable of withstanding horrors that would break even the greatest of ‘normal’ Space Marines. Upon success, the recruit also has the majority of their memories and personality erased, to better ensure their absolute and unwavering loyalty to the Emperor. One of the main criteria for selection is that the recruit must show great psychic potential, as the entire Chapter is made up of psykers. Once accepted into the chapter and undergoing the standard process to transform into a member of the Adeptus Astartes, the new Grey Knight is also implanted with silver purity wards under his skin which cover his entire body.
Homeworld
The fortress-monastery of the Grey Knights is based on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and is carved entirely of basalt. Within the fortress hang pennants, banners and flags commemorating the victories and sacrifices made by the chapter in their war against the daemonic, but none other than the Grey Knights would recognise the names of these campaigns. The chapter operates in oppressive secrecy, beyond the knowledge of the Adeptus Terra and even the High Lords of Terra – as a part of the Ordo Malleus, the Grey Knights are answerable only to the Ordo and the Emperor. Even the location of the fortress-monastery is known only to the Ordo Malleus. Titan itself is surrounded by the rings of Saturn and multiple confidential Malleus-controlled moons: Mimas, the prison and execution centre of the Ordo Malleus, Enceladus, home of the leaders of the Ordo Malleus and other influential Malleus Inquisitors, and several other worlds.
Beneath the fortress lies a cool, damp crypt. It is here that every Grey Knight wishes to finally reside, in the hallowed halls of the glorious dead. Almost every member of the chapter will have their body recovered and brought to this crypt beneath the Emperor’s Temple. As a final tribute to those that have given their lives, the names of the dead are carved ceremoniously into a great basalt wall in the heart of the fortress. Among these names are some of the Imperium’s greatest heroes who died in the most heroic circumstances imaginable. And like all other matters in regard to Grey Knights, they will remain almost completely unknown.
Equipment
Some notable forms of Grey Knight equipment include –
- Nemesis Force Weapon – The characteristic weapon of the Grey Knights is the Nemesis force weapon. It can take the form of a halberd, sword, mace, axe, or the rarer hammer. It is a powerful force weapon, housing a psi-matrix attuned to the unique psyche of its owner. In original versions, the haft incorporated a bolter weapon, similar to the Adeptus Custodes guardian spear; on newer models of the Grey Knights the bolter is a wrist-mounted storm bolter, incorporated into the armour itself. Like all force weapons, the power of the weapon itself directly corresponds to the psychic talent of the wielder; as the Grey Knights are some of the greatest psykers of the Imperium, a Nemesis weapon is a truly devastating weapon.
- Incinerator – Similar to a Heavy Flamer but fuelled with special mix of consecrated promethium and blessed oils which are especially effective against daemons.
- Psycannon – Bolt weapons firing ammunition impregnated with negative psychic energy.
- Aegis Armour – The suits of power and Terminator armour worn by the Grey Knights are incredibly well crafted lattice of psychoconductive filaments and amulets; anointed and inscribed with prayers and wards, ritually consecrated and psychically charged. Working in tandem with the Grey Knights’ formidable psychic powers, the Aegis armour protects the wearers from the effects of the Immaterium and the Daemons it spawns. The armour’s ritual blessings and psychic resonance also serve to confound the perception of any enemy, resulting in an effect called the Shrouding. The psychically charged nature of the armour allows its mere presence to induce intense terror and pain in any nearby daemons and warp spawn, also loosening their grip on the material realm.
- Dreadnoughts – Like other Space Marine Chapters, mortally wounded Grey Knights are sometimes placed within the massive battle armour known as a Dreadnought. Unlike other Chapters, however, Grey Knights do not look upon this extension of their life as an honour – all Grey Knights desire to be brought to the crypts underneath the Temple of the Emperor on Titan and laid to rest with their brothers over continuing life inside a machine. As such, Grey Knight Dreadnoughts are extremely rare.
- Nemesis Dreadknight – The chapter uniquely has access to a large suit of mechanised armour known as a Nemesis Dreadknight. The Dreadknight is designed to face Greater Daemons in one-on-one combat. This huge construct towers over even dreadnoughts.
Check out more here.
What do you think Voldus’ role will be in the upcoming storyline?
