The Templin Institute Patreon has been updated this month with some new rewards, so if you have
the means and desire to help support the Templin Institute, now is the perfect time. A 15 dollar
pledge will entitle you to an exclusive Templin Institute pin, while a 25 pledge guarantees a
print of this original artwork. Offer ends on October 8th, but if you’re watching this in the
grim darkness of the 41st millennium, we probably have some new special offer going on, Templin
Institute branded servo skulls maybe. Either way, you’ll find the link in the description.
For ten thousand years the Imperium of Man has withered in the shadow of the Great Crusade.
It was an incalculable effort, a grand campaign elevated to legend and myth. The Great Crusade
marked the brief but golden era in human history when the Emperor himself raised high a burning
sword to throw back the darkness of the Old Night. Wherever his fleets and armies triumphed,
civilization was rekindled. Wonders were rebuilt, star systems and sectors were reunified,
and the promise of technology and science pulled back humanity from the depths of its ignorance.
The Battle of Isstvan V marked the official end of the Great Crusade and the start of the heresy
that would tear down everything it had sought to achieve. In the grim darkness of the 41st
Millenium, the campaigns of the Emperor are a distant memory, intertwined with myth and lies.
But the most terrible truth the enemies of mankind can learn is that the Great Crusade never ended.
Even in this dark and terrible age where the Imperium withers,
fleets and armies tear across the galaxy in its name. But no longer do they carry with
them the power of technology or science, nor the promise of progress and understanding.
Now, the Great Crusade brings only death and vengeance, for it is no longer the Emperor
that leads it, but his most zealous, vindictive sons; The Black Templars.
Like many of the institutions and organizations that today make up the Imperium of Man,
the Black Templars were born from the fear of a second massive civil war
from which it would never recover. The transhuman Space Marine legions,
immortalized as the “Astartes”, were the most powerful of the Emperor’s armies,and
without them the Great Crusade would have faltered and failed. But when corrupted by the dark gods,
the legions also represented the greatest threat to the continued survival of human civilization.
To prevent the calamity of the Horus Heresy from ever repeating itself across the Imperium,
Primarch Roboute Guilliman argued in its immediate aftermath that the legions should be reorganized
into far smaller chapters, consisting of no more than 1000 Space Marines. He penned his treatises
in a sacred tome of military organization that would become known as the Codex Astartes.
Gulliman’s surviving loyal brothers, each in command of a legion of their own,
were divided by his proposal, but none were more vocal in their opposition than Rogal Dorn,
Primarch of the Imperial Fists legion. It was only when Dorn realized that his steadfastness
might lead to the very kind of internal conflict that Gulliman sought to avoid, that he consented.
In an event known as the Second Founding, the Imperial Fists were split into numerous chapters,
and the Black Templars were born. Ironically, though Dorn had sought to keep his Legion united,
the establishment of the Black Templars, in many ways,
merely gave independence to a distinct force that had already existed within the Imperial Fists.
Even before the Horus Heresy, Sigismund, First Captain of the Imperial Fists Legion
had gained a reputation as a warrior of peerless lethality and ability. Only the
Primarchs surpassed his almost supernatural genius for dealing death to the enemies of mankind.
During the Siege of Terra, Sigismund was further elevated to the honorary position
of “Emperor’s Champion”, and the livery of the Imperial Fists that adorned his armor
was painted over black to signal he represented the Emperor himself. But above all, Sigismund
radiated a zealousness and fanaticism that attracted others of a similar mindset to his side.
When the time came to appoint a Chapter Master for the nascent Black Templars,
Sigismund was an obvious choice. He initiated as his first warriors those among the former legion
who shared his zealotry and determination. Many were selected from the Templar Brethren,
an elite force within the Imperial Fists that had guarded the Temple of Oaths aboard the flagship
“Phalanx”. They adopted the black armor of Sigismund as their own,
and it is believed from this early cadre that the entire Chapter would take its name.
Sigismund however refused to adhere to the Codex Astartes, regarding it as an insult by
Gulliman directed towards his own primarch; Dorn. Yet he was also devoted to proving
the loyalty of his Chapter. By his order, the Black Templars embarked on a Crusade into the
unexplored reaches of the galaxy, far from the oversight of Gulliman and the Imperium,
and deep into the heart of the enemy. For 10,000 years this campaign has endured,
the longest Space Marine crusade in the history of the Imperium.
The Black Templars have strayed further and further from the Codex Astartes across the
millenia, and are now virtually unrecognizable when compared to the force that Gulliman
envisioned. Many of their variances are merely superficial, such as the adoption of distinct
titles and ranks. Others however, have completely altered the very foundation of the chapter,
and must be kept secret from the Imperium. It is likely that no other chapter has
deviated from the Codex Astartes to the same extent as the Black Templars.
Their most distinctive element is their complete lack of a Chapter homeworld,
preferring instead to exist nomadically aboard their Crusading fleets and armadas.
Their only stationary bases are a series of keeps and outposts established on worlds
they have conquered. These act as recruitment centers that process aspirant battle-brothers,
and replenishment stations that provide logistical support to their mobile forces. Even these keeps
however might be abandoned or reclaimed as the movement of the Crusade dictates. A Gloriana-Class
Battleship, “The Eternal Crusader”, one of just twenty such vessels constructed during the Great
Crusade, serves as the Chapter Flagship. It houses all the sacred relics, chapels
and devotional places of the Black Templars, and acts as a de facto capital and fortress monastery.
But the greatest secret of the Black Templars might be their exact disposition
and fighting strength. The chapter is rumored to possess an unusually high number of Astartes,
greatly exceeding not only the 1000 warrior limit imposed by Gulliman
but perhaps even the legions of old. If true, this would make the Black Templars
the largest Space Marine force within the Imperium by an enormous margin.
Their exact numbers are obfuscated by rarely assembling the entire Chapter together,
and insteading dividing it between several crusading fleets. There are typically at least
three operating at all times, though as many as 14 have been known to exist simultaneously.
Each fleet is led by a Marshal, and might consist of one or several fighting companies which are in
turn commanded by a Castellan. Fighting companies themselves can vary drastically in numbers. Some
contain only a few dozen battle brothers, while others exceed a hundred. Individual Astartes are
rarely assigned to a company by a superior, but instead choose their assignment based on fraternal
bonds and codes of honor. Specialists such as Apothecaries and Chaplains meanwhile have near
complete autonomy within the Chapter, able to move between formations as they see fit. In addition to
the Astartes themselves, Companies include the far more numerous non-augmented personnel who supply
the material, specialists and auxiliary assets required to keep the crusade fleets operational.
Even at the tactical level, the Black Templars have eschewed the rigid doctrine of the Codex
Astartes in favor of more flexible and ad hoc units. This is epitomized in the Crusader Squad,
a unique merging of veteran Astartes warriors with unproven new recruits. These form the
mainstay of the Chapter’s armies, with most elite Crusader Squads led by Sword Brethren.
These are the greatest warriors within the Chapter, spread amongst its many squads
rather than grouped together as the Codex Astartes would dictate. Likewise, where other Chapters
would rotate their Astartes between various companies to learn different methods of warfare,
Space Marines of the Black Templars are encouraged to seek out their own path.
Many spend decades or even centuries without any advance in rank, and no dishonor is seen in this.
The path from novice initiate to fleet marshal is thought to be guided by the Emperor alone.
The title of High Marshall is bestowed upon the Supreme Commander of the Black Templars,
to which all other marshalls swear fealty. The High Marshall enjoys perhaps the most autonomy of
any military commander within the Imperium of Man, decreeing by his own designs where and when
his forces will engage the enemy. Even Imperial Governors, Lord Commanders of the Astra Militarum,
and other Astares might be denied help from the Black Templars if their cause is considered
corrupt or unworthy. Yet they make a special exception for the requests of the Ecclesiarchy,
and this provides a clue to the most fundamental divergence of the Black Templars.
While many Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes demonstrate some kind of secular spiritualism
or ancestor worship, the Black Templars have fully embraced the literal truth of the Imperial Cult.
They see the Emperor of Man as nothing less than a god to be worshiped and adored,
and to whom sacrifices are owed on the field of battle.
The most visible expression of this belief are the Devotion Chains they bring into battles.
Astartes of the Black Templars will typically bind their weapons to their fists on the eve
of conflict, removing them only when victory has been achieved. Chains of Zeal by contrast,
are permanent, affixed to the most fanatatical battle-brothers and only removed upon their death.
This uncompromising belief and religious fervor permeates every aspect of the Chapter,
and is used to justify the harshest of measures.
Even amongst the Space Marine Chapters, the Black Templars are capable of extreme violence and
abhorrent sacrifices. Yet no matter the scale of the massacres they perpetrate, or the consequences
of their intolerance, so long as it is done in the Emperor’s name, it will always be justified.
The zealotry of the Black Templars is also expressed in the Chapter’s absolute refusal
to accommodate Librarians, the sanctioned psykers of the Astartes, within their ranks.
Their zealous hatred of anything corrupted or suspected to be corrupted by the Warp
leaves no room for any kind of mutant or aberration. This prejudicial hatred of Librarians
is often misinterpreted by outsiders as a sweeping intolerance for all forms of psyker, but in truth,
the Black Templars hold a special reverence for Astropaths. These individuals are seen
as holy disciples, honored for their gifts that allow them to witness the light of the Emperor.
The newly crafted Primaris Marines however, have been viewed with equal parts suspicion
and adulation across each of the crusading fleets. Black Templars seem especially suited
to undergo the agonizing transformation into this new and stronger breed of Space Marine,
but some also view the process as blasphemy upon the original work of the Emperor.
The rumors that many of the first Primaris Marines sent to reinforce the chapter were slaughtered,
has done little to ease the tensions between the Black Templars and the Imperium they serve.
The Black Templars however still possess the intense desire first held by Sigismund
to prove their devotion to the Emperor. Every subsequent High Marshall has repeated the vow
of their founder, and continued the Crusade that he started. The Black Templars have annihilated
countless alien races, shattered the foundations of stellar empires and even prosecuted Imperial
Worlds upon which even the slightest taint of corruption was found. Across their ten thousand
year history they took part in the Great Scouring that formed in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy.
They confronted the Black Crusades of Abaddon the Despoiler and the mightest Waaagghs of the
Greenskins. To the darkness they have brought fire, to the ignorant, faith.
But in the unfolding new age that has come to be known as the Era Indomitus,
the Black Templars have found the ultimate crucible in which to prove their faith.
As the galaxy burns to the laughter of the Dark Gods and the light of the Imperial Faith
lies gutted, the chapter has been reinvigorated. Long abandoned chapter keeps have been restored
and new ones raised on the burning rubble of traitor strongholds.
Fresh Crusades are being formed and old ones reinforced. On a thousand different battlefields
their righteous hatred and tireless intolerance drives them onwards. For the galaxy is beset by
the alien, the mutant, the heretic and the witch, and the Black Templars can suffer none to live.