1st Claw (Night Lords)

" Viris colratha dath sethicara tesh dasovallian. Solruthis veh za jasz!"

— Call to arms of the Night Lords 10th Company in the Nostraman dialect of Low Gothic; literally means "Sons of our Father, stand in midnight clad. We bring the night!"

Night Lords Legion Badge

From left to right, the members of the 1st Claw of the 10th Company, including Apothecary Variel, Xarl, the Khornate Berserker Uzas, Talos the Soul Hunter, the psyker Cyrion, and Mercutian with a Heavy Bolter

The 1st Claw is an elite squad of Chaos Space Marines of the Night Lords Traitor Legion's 10th Company. The first known squad leader was Sergeant Vandred Anrathi, who led the 1st Claw during the Great Crusade and during the Horus Heresy. He is known to have commanded the 1st Claw right up to the final days of that great conflict during the Battle of Terra, where the 1st Claw took part in theForces of Chaos' siege of the Imperial Palace. During this time Talos Valcoran, the legendary "Soul Hunter," was still an Apothecary who served with the 1st Claw. His life was saved by Sergeant Anrathi during the siege.

After the end of the Horus Heresy, and before the Night Lords had fled alongside their traitorous brethren into the Eye of Terror, their Primarch Konrad Curze was assassinated by a Callidus Assassin on the world of Tsagualsa. At some point following the death of the Night Haunter, Anrathi was promoted to the rank of Captain and elevated to command the entirety of the Night Lords' 10th Company. Talos eventually rose to the position of the 1st Claw's de-facto Sergeant not long after, though he was never explicitly promoted above his original role of Apothecary.

The actions of the 1st Claw during the last ten millennia are not recorded, though Warp-travel aboard the 10th Company's warship, the Covenant of Blood, led to the passage of only a subjective Terran century for Talos and the other members of the 1st Claw between the end of the Horus Heresy and the present day in the late 41st Millennium. During this time the Night Lords' 10th Company had changed into a disorganised warband of Chaos Space Marines under the command of the Possessed Chaos Space Marine known as The Exalted, who was in fact the daemonically-possessed former Captain Vandred Anrathi.

Notable First Claw Members

With the exception of Variel the Flayer, the members of 1st Claw were all born on the Night Lords' homeworld of Nostramo, and served during the Great Crusade, the Horus Heresy and the Scouring.

• Talos Valcoran - Talos Valcoran was once an Apothecary of the Night Lords Legion before assuming command of 1st Claw. Noted for his prophetic gifts, he was given the title "Soul Hunter" by his Primarch Konrad Curze. Following the demise of The Exalted, Vandred Anrathi, Talos became the new leader of his former master's warband. Talos was slain on Tsagualsa by the Eldar Phoenix Lord known as the Void Stalker.
• Adhemar - Adhemar was the former sergeant of 7th Claw. He joined 1st Claw following the near-annihilation of his squad on Crythe by the Warhound Titan Hunter in the Grey. He was slain by the Blood Angel Dreadnought Raguel the Sufferer when the Covenant of Blood was boarded over Crythe.
• Vandred Anrathi, "The Exalted" - Anrathi was a former Sergeant of the Night Lords Legion, commanding the 1st Claw up until the siege of the Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra in which he saved then-Apothecary Talos Valcoran's life. By the time of the late 41st Millennium, Anrathi had allowed himself to be possessed by a daemon and he had mutated into a Chaos Champion of the Chaos God Tzeentch. The daemon's influence twisted his physical form until he only resembled a shadow of his former self. Following Captain Malcharion's entombment within a Chaos Dreadnought, Vandred succeeded him as the commander of the Night Lords' 10th Company; under his leadership, the company degenerated into a Chaos Space Marine warband that survived by piracy. Anrathi thus disregarded the vision of the Night Lords' Primarch Night Haunter, which proved to be a major point of contention with Talos. Allying himself with Abaddon the Despoiler of the Black Legion during the Crythe campaign, The Exalted eventually grew tired of Abbadon's behaviour and his use of the 10th Company as fodder for the Despoiler's schemes. After escaping from Crythe, Vandred allied with the Red Corsairs during their campaign on Vilamus, then betrayed them when he retook the former Night Lords Strike Cruiser Echo of Damnation from that Renegade warband. During the ensuing battle, Andrathi regained control of his body from the daemon and sacrificed himself and the crippled Covenent of Blood to enable Talos to escape with the Echo of Damnation. 
• Cyrion - Cyrion possessed a psychic gift which allowed him to taste and feed upon fear; Cyrion secretly preyed upon Legion serfs and other mortals to satiate this thirst, which marked him out as a growing devotee of Slaanesh. Talos considered him valuable, but Cyrion was hated by the rest of 1st Claw for his Chaotic corruption. Cyrion gained an augmetic arm following the Crythe campaign. He was also slain by the Void Stalker on Tsagualsa.
• Mercutian - Mercutian was a former member of the 7th Claw. He had been recruited into the Night Lords Legion from an aristocratic family and spoke with an upper-class accent. He was known for his staunch loyalty toward his squadmates and for favouring a Heavy Bolter in combat, which made him the 1st Claw's Devastator. Mercutian was slain by the Void Stalker on Tsagualsa.
• Ruven - Ruven was a former member of 1st Claw and Night lords' Sorcerer but at some unspecified point in the past, he had willingly left the Night Lords and joined the Black Legion. He became a willing servant of Abaddon the Despoiler. However, Ruven was eventually cast out by his patron after failing Abaddon one too many times. He was later captured by Huron Blackheart, the lord of the Red Corsairs, though he eventually escaped and rejoined 1st Claw for a short period of time, before being slain by Talos Valcoran. After his death, Ruven sometimes appeared in Talos' precognitive visions.
• Uzas - Uzas was a Khornate Berserker and the former Sergeant of 4th Claw. He was despised by his comrades in 1st Claw for his mindless slaughter of crewmembers and undisciplined nature in combat. When Uzas confronted Cyrion on Tsagualsa about the latter's own penchant for preying upon mortal crewmembers of the Echo of Damnation, Cyrion attacked him and tricked Talos into killing the blood-maddened Uzas.
• Variel the Flayer - Variel the Flayer was a former Red Corsairs Apothecary and had been the favoured apprentice of the Corpsemaster Garreon before abandoning his brethren to join the Night Lords. Variel was dubbed "the Flayer" due to his habit of skinning his victims' faces and wearing them upon his shoulder pauldrons. Variel was the sole survivor of 1st Claw following the events on Tsagualsa.
• Xarl - Xarl was a Tactical Marine and Battle-Brother of the Night Lords Legion. Xarl grew up with Talos Valcoran in the hive city of Nostramo Quintus on Nostramo. His skill with his double-handed Chainsword made Xarl the deadliest warrior in the 10th Company, giving Talos and 1st Claw much of its clout within the warband. Unlike the rest of 1st Claw, which perished upon Tsagualsa's surface, Xarl died of wounds he had sustained following a victorious duel with a Champion of the Genesis Chapter on the Echo of Damnation.
• Sar Zell - Zell was the 1st Claw's Devastator Marine before Mercutian, and he preferred to wield a Lascannon in combat. He also served as the 1st Claw's pilot at the time of Tsagualsa's fall, when he was killed by the Ultramarines. Zell wielded a Chainaxe when in melee combat, which came into Uzas' possession after Zell's death.

Notable Servants of 1st Claw

1st Claw maintained the ancient practice of the original Space Marine Legions of employing dedicated Serfs to provide noncombat support for its Astartes, though these individuals would be more accurately described as slaves after the Legion fell to the service of Chaos. These Serfs served Talos directly as the leader of the warband rather than the 1st Claw as a whole. The Serfs were referred to by High Gothic nomenclature indicating numerical primacy of place rather than their given names. The following is a list of the known Serfs of 1st Claw:

• Primus- Died in an unspecified battle in which Talos was absent, allegedly in a boarding action on the Night Lords' warship Convent of Blood.
• Secundus – Slain by the former Night Lord Ruven.
• Tertius - Suffered from Warp corruption and was executed by Talos as a result.
• Quintus – Slain by The Exalted during one of the latter's rages. He was a mute who communicated with Talos Valcoran via hand signals and/or text uplink from an Auspex to Talos' helmet.
• Septimus - Born as Coreth on Lok III and served as a pilot on that world before his capture by Talos Valcoran. He served Talos for several years as his Artificer and Thunderhawk pilot. Septimus enjoyed a privileged position amongst the Serfs that served The Exalted's warband and many freedoms as a result of his valuable services, though Talos nearly killed him upon learning that Septimus had impregnated Octavia (and thus compromised their Navigator's abilities). Septimus was finally released from Talos' service on Tsagualsa.
• Octavia - Octavia was originally known as Eurydice Mervallion, a Navigator who was captured following the destruction of her former master's ship over the ruins of Nostramo. She eventually entered into a relationship with her fellow Serf Septimus and became pregnant with his child. Talos released her from his service before he was killed on Tsagualsa.
• Nonus - Nonus had originally been known as Maruc. Nonus was taken prisoner by Talos during a raid on Ganges Station and trained by Septimus as an Artificer. He was later slain by a Warp-corrupted Red Corsair aboard the Echo of Damnation.

1st Claw Fleet

• Echo of Damnation (Strike Cruiser) - The 1st Claw possesses a single Strike Cruiser, the Echo of Damnation, that was liberated from the piratical band of Chaos Space Marines known as the Red Corsairs.

Sources

• Night Lords Novel Series:
  • Soul Hunter (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
  • Blood Reaver (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
  • Void Stalker (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
• Hammer & Bolter 11, "Shadow Knight" by Aaron Dembski-Bowden