Soul Drinkers

The Soul Drinkers are a currently Renegade Space Marines Chapter declared Excommunicate Traitoris by the Inquisition because of their high levels of mutation, yet the Soul Drinkers still consider themselves to be loyal to the Emperor. They are one of the Space Marine Chapters created during the Second Founding, and they are a Successor Chapter of the Imperial Fists Legion.

Chapter History
The Soul Drinkers were formed from the Imperial Fists' shock assault contingent during the Second Founding. They participated along with the Imperial Fists, Fire Hawk and Black Templars Chapters in the assault on Terra at the end of the Reign of Blood during the Age of Apostasy in the 36th Millennium and had many notable victories on other worlds against xenos races like the Eldar.

The Lakonia Star Fort Incident
The Soul Drinkers were declared Excommunicate Traitoris by the Inquisition after their obsessive need to retrieve a relic called the Soulspear (a vortex weapon gifted to them by the Imperial Fists' Primarch Rogal Dorn) brought them into conflict with the Adeptus Mechanicus. The forces of the Mechanicus were ostensibly assisting the Adeptus Ministorum, but actually wanted to obtain the Soulspear for themselves. The standoff between the Soul Drinkers and the other Imperial forces ended with the destruction of the Mechanicus Star Fort Lakonia, and major damage to several starships of the Adeptus Ministorum and Adeptus Mechanicus. The remaining Soul Drinkers retreated in their strike cruiser to an asteroid field where they were beset by the combined fleets of the Inquisition and the Adeptus Ministorum until the Soul Drinkers' fleet, lead by Chapter Master Gorgoleon, arrived by Warp Route 931-c that had been closed for 600 standard years prior to this incident.

The First Chapter War
After the Soul Drinkers fleet linked up with the survivors of the star fort, Chapter Master Gorgoleon told his fellow Soul Drinker Captain Sarpedon of an offer the Inquisition had made, which required the deaths of the Space Marines involved in the Lakonia incident in exchange for a reprieve. Gorgoleon explained that he had refused this offer on the basis that the only person fit to judge a Soul Drinker was another Soul Drinker. This judgment would require Sarpedon to face Gorgoleon himself in a duel to the death to determine the righteousness of Sarpedon's actions on Lakonia. During the height of the duel, Sarpedon seemed to be affected by some outside power and spontaneously grew eight arachnoid legs, giving him a crucial advantage over Gorgoleon and enabling him to tear his erstwhile master to pieces and so claim the mantle of Chapter Master for himself. Although he did not know it at the time, his mutation was caused by the corrupting powers of the Chaos God Tzeentch. After a brief but bloody struggle with those who could not accept his mutation, Sarpedon became leader of the Soul Drinkers Chapter from that point on. Despite their rejection by and of the Imperium itself as an utterly corrupt institution, the Soul Drinkers remained steadfastly loyal to the Emperor, even after they had been exposed to the raw power of Chaos which presently began to manifest mutations in the Chapter's other Space Marines.

Stratix Luminae
After a time, the Chapter Apothecary Pallas managed to stop the spread of new mutations, and also to halt the progression of mutation in those Marines already afflicted, thanks to the retrieval of information held on planetoid Stratix Luminae. This information came at the price of the Soul Drinkers being forced to abandon Sergeant Tellos and his cadre of Assault Marines as they made their escape from the planetoid.

Dealing with Tellos
In the third novel, Crimson Tear, the Soul Drinkers come in conflict with the Crimson Fists' Commander Reinez and with Slaanesh-worshipping Dark Eldar in an attempt to bring the now Chaos- aligned Tellos to justice. After a long battle between Chaos forces and the forces of the Imperium, Sarpedon fights Tellos in a duel. Sarpedon emerged victorious, and believing Tellos dead, withdrew the Soul Drinkers. Tellos survived, only to be killed when the Inquisition bombed the planet.

The Second Chapter War
The fourth novel in the series sees the Soul Drinkers face enemies from within and without as Brother Eumenes usurps the Chapter's leadership from Sarpedon. Meanwhile, the Howling Griffons Chapter has vowed to destroy the Black Chalice whom they believe the Soul Drinkers to be. In the end, Sarpedon kills Eumenes, declaring him as unworthy of being Chapter Master. He then addresses the remaining Battle-Brothers, asking if any of them wish to take up the burden of the title. When none of them respond, Sarpdedon declares he will remain the Chapter Master. Not satisfied with this, at least one squad of the newer recruits leave the Chapter.

Necrons
While fleeing from an Adeptus Mechanicus task force, the Soul Drinkers' Space Hulk is severely damaged and low on fuel. Forced to run from the Mechanicus forces, the Soul Drinkers go deep into the veiled regions of the galaxy in search of fuel. They discover the Necrons active on many worlds, all with signs of previous human settlement, but now infested with the undying xenos. Eventually they come upon the last of the human worlds that the Necrons are still in the process of cleansing of all life, and the Soul Drinkers make a deal with the survivors. They allow the humans time to retreat to their spacecraft while they hold the Necron forces off, in exchange for the Soul Drinkers receiving fuel. The Soul Drinkers hold out aganist the Necrons, and the escaping human population reaches their spaceport as agreed, but a Necron fleet arrives in-system, preventing them from leaving. The Adeptus Mechanicus fleet arrives shortly after, and the two fleets begin fighting each other. It is immediately obvious that the Imperial forces will soon be destroyed by the more potent Necron fleet, so they begin a complex pattern of manoeuvers intended to delay the inevitable. When the Soul Drinkers realize they could not beat the approaching Necron force on the ground, while the Mechanicus fleet would lose in space, Sarpedon offered an alliance to the Mechanicus. Chaplain Iktinos of the Soul Drinkers and his "flock" of Space Marines remained behind to help defend the spaceport and the surviving humans. It is revealed that Iktinos' "flock" is loyal to his secret master among the Ruinous Powers as well, and no longer consider themselves Soul Drinkers.

Accepting the proposed alliance from the renegade Space Marines, the Mechanicus and the Soul Drinkers set off for the main Necron hub world, Selaaca, planning to destroy the Necron Lord and leave the rest of the enemy forces in the region leaderless.

Arriving at the Necrons' Tomb World, the Mechanicus crashed their starship into Selaaca and deployed their forces alongside the Soul Drinkers. A long, bloody battle ensued as the unlikely allies sought to kill the Necron Lord before the Necrons' superior numbers overwhelmed them. Finally, the Imperials arrived at the Necron Lord's location and Sarpedon duelled and defeated the undying creature. However, in typical Necron fashion, the Necron Lord soon resurrected itself, and began crushing Sarpedon to death. Only through the sacrifice of Techmarine Lygis was the Necron Lord finally defeated.

Gathering his forces, Sarpedon lead his remaining warriors towards the crashed Adeptus Mechanicus starship, where their promised transports off-world were to be awaiting them. Instead, they discovered three Imperial Fists Thunderhawk gunships deployed upon the surface of Selaaca, while twenty Imperial Fists Terminators teleported onto the planet, lead by First Captain Lysander. He ordered the Soul Drinkers to surrender to Imperial justice or be destroyed. Sarpedon replies with the challenge of a personal duel. Despite Sarpedon's Warp-enhanced strength, he had been badly depleted in the earlier fighting and was swiftly defeated by Lysander in single combat. Sarpedon hoped that the Soul Drinkers followed his last order to surrender if he was beaten by Lysander in the duel and thus prevent the Chapter from being wiped out by the Imperial Fists.

Chapter Organisation
The Soul Drinkers loosely follow the Codex Astartes but have more in common with the Blood Angels due to the shock-assault nature of their respective Chapters, (the Blood Angel Codex works well as Death Company Space Marines can represent the Soul Drinkers that suffered the worst mutations).

The Soul Drinkers suffer heavy losses at several points after they go Renegade. After the First Chapter War and the Battle on Ve'Meths planet, they numbered about 700 Astartes. After the fighting on Stratix Luminae, they were reduced to approximately 450 Space Marines. Though they were able to increase their numbers by being able to recruit Neophytes again, they fell back down to 300 Astartes after the losses on the world of Entymion IV and the Second Chapter War. The exodus of most of Eumenes' Traitors at the end of that conflict dropped the number of Soul Drinkers to 250 Astartes. By the time they struck down the Necrons within the Veiled Regions, there were scarcely 100 Soul Drinkers left, all presumably recently captured by the Imperial Fists.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
The Soul Drinkers prefer to shock the enemy with hard hitting raids and often make use of boarding actions and Drop Pod assaults.

Chapter Traits
The Chapter's name derives from an early mutation to their Omophagea gene-seed. Normally this organ allows a Space Marine to absorb some of the memories of a creature by consuming its flesh. Soul Drinkers ritualise this function in the "Ceremony of the Chalice." In addition to this ability, the Soul Drinkers also experience the creature's emotions. Philosophically speaking, they "see into the creature's soul."

Notable Soul Drinkers

 * Chapter Master Sarpedon, former Librarian. He can telepathically send but not receive thoughts and is also able to generate a mass illusion called "the Hell," which feeds off the fears of his enemies. His mutation provides him with eight arachnid limbs (allowing him to scuttle along ceilings and walls), incredible physical strength and enormous psychic power. Sarpedon defeated notable foes such as the Inquisition's Interrogator K'Shuk, Chapter Master Gorgoleon, multiple daemons and Daemon Princes, Sergeant Tellos, Chapter Master Eumenes and the Necron Lord of the Tomb World of Selaaca. Sarpedon was most recently defeated in single combat with Captain Lysander of the Imperial Fists' 1st Company, and finally taken into Imperial custody. *Brother Augustus. A newly accepted Soul Drinker who has a open mind to the Chapter's beliefs. But when he finds out about the conflict with the Howling Griffons, he is reluctant to fight other warriors of the Imperium. After Sarpedon's counsel with him, the Chapter Master decides that the Emperor is watching over Augustus. After all, with a name like Augustus he is clearly someone destined for great things.
 * Chapter Master Gorgoleon, former Chapter Master of the Soul Drinkers. He saw the actions of Librarian Sarpedon and his men at fault, due to their excommunication from the Imperium.  Sarpedon challenged Gorgoleon for the right of leadership of the Chapter and its future fate.  Gorgoleon nearly defeated Sarpedon, but the Librarian eventually emerged victorious thanks to the timely intervention of the Ruinous Powers that granted him an arachnoid mutation that imbued him with the power to overcome and kill Gorgoleon.  With the death of the former Chapter Master a civil war was sparked within the ranks of the Chapter.  Most of the Chapter's Novices and some others refused to follow their new mutant Chapter Master Sarpedon, taking up arms against their former brethren.  It took Sarpedon's forces, several months to root them out and exterminate them.
 * Daenyathos is a revered Soul Drinker of some renown. He lived sometime in or around the 36th Millennium and in his time wrote the Catechisms Martial, which is still used by the Soul Drinkers Chapter and is considered a nearly sacred tome by them.
 * Scout/Chapter Master Eumenes. Scout Sergeant in charge of Nisryus, Scamander, Raek and others of their Scout Squad during the hunt for Tellos. He was the one who found Tellos. Challenged Sarpedon to a duel over the Mastery of the Chapter. Shortly after he masterminded the rebellion that began the Second Chapter War in which he gained the title of Chapter Master. He saved Sarpedon's life by killing Lord Librarian Murcaeno of the Howling Griffons. Sarpedon later killed Eumenes in another duel.
 * Veteran Sergeant Graevus. Assault squad sergeant. Mutated right arm allows him to deftly wield a Power Axe with one hand.
 * Gresk - Soul Drinkers Librarian. Able to speed to speed up the reactions of his Battle-Brothers. Killed by Eumenes' forces after warning Sarpedon of an imminent orbital bombardment during the Chapter War.
 * Chaplain Iktinos. Master of Sanctity for the entire Chapter. Appears to be manipulating the course of the Chapter, though to what ends is unknown.
 * Captain Luko. Utilises a pair of Lightning Claws. Was promoted to Captain following the battle on Entymion IV and remains one of Sarpedon's most loyal supporters. Pretends to love warfare to inspire his followers, telling only Eumenes and Sarpedon the truth, that he actually can't stand fighting and craves nothing more than peace.
 * Techmarine Lygris - Captain of the Brokenback and one of Sarpedon's most prized counselors. Was the only loyal Chapter member that remained on the Brokenback during Eumenes' rebellion, sabotaging the Thunderhawks and hiding in the network of maintenance tunnels in the Brokenback. Gave his life to defeat the Necron Overlord on Selaaca after loosing his sanity after joining with a Necron Harvester on Raevenia.
 * Apothecary Pallas. He developed a way to halt the mutation of the Soul Drinkers. Joined Eumenes in the Second Chapter War, citing the reason that he couldn't bear to watch his Chapter dwindle and die out in Sarpedon's wars. Chose to remain with the Chapter in the Aftermath of the Chapter War to atone for his sins.
 * Assault Sergeant Tellos. Once a promising Soul Drinker, Tellos became a servant of Khorne, and is extremely talented in close melee combat like most Khornate Berserkers. His mutation enabled his body to repair any damage it suffered almost instantly. This made him exceptionally difficult to kill, with an orbital strike eventually having the desired effect where everything else had failed.
 * Tyrendian - Soul Drinkers Librarian. Able to project powerful lightning attacks.
 * Lord Inquisitor Tsouras. Head of the Lakonian Persecution.

Notable Personnel Associated With the Soul Drinkers

 * Interrogator K'Shuk. Apprentice and former Acolyte of Lord Inquisitor Tsouras, he delivered the sentence of excommunication to the Soul Drinkers before being killed by Sarpedon in a duel.
 * Inquisitor Thaddeus. Forges an alliance of convenience with Sarpedon in order to kill Teturact. Uses incredibly expensive executioner rounds in his auto pistol. One round has been known to cost the same as an Imperial cruiser. Reappeared tracking the Soul Drinkers in Chapter War aboard the Howling Griffon's battle-barge. He attempts to explain to them that there is no such thing as the Black Chalice, but is forced to leave the ship, killing a Howling Griffon in the process. He then goes and meets with Sarpedon. After a brief reunion, the Howling Griffons assault the Soul Drinkers, during which Murcaeno kills Thaddeus.

Chapter Colours
The Soul Drinkers' Power Armour is purple with ornate bone and gold-colored pauldron trims and a gold Imperial Aquila on their breastplates.

Chapter Badge
The Soul Drinkers' Chapter badge is a golden chalice with five spirals of soul energy rising out of the top.