Badge of the Dark Angels Legion
Urian Vendraig was the second Grandmaster of the Ist Legion of the Legiones Astartes who commanded the Legion during the early days of the Great Crusade. He was killed in action on the Fortress World of Karkasarn when he disobeyed the orders of Primarch Roboute Guilliman in a foolish hunt for glory that resulted in his death and that of numerous warriors of his Legion in an atomic explosion.
History[]
Vendraig was a originally a Terran-born Legionary who joined the Ist Legion following the end of the Unification Wars and took part in the Great Crusade. Vendraig would rise to become a captain of the 14th Company of the Legion's 8th Chapter and earned an enviable record of grand victories to his name.
Following the death of Grandmaster Hector Thrane during the campaign against the xenos of Canis-Balo, to the surprise of all, Vendraig was nominated by Malcador the Sigillite to be Thrane's successor, after the upper echelons of the Legion among the Council of Masters and the preceptors on Gramarye could not agree on who should become the next Grandmaster. The Sigillite's reasons for doing so were simple: Vendraig was a captain who was not enmeshed within any of the Legion's numerous factions and groups. Not bound to the allegiance of any of one of these sub-factions, Vendraig would be accepted by the Legion's upper echelons as a viable compromise candidate.
Malcador's insights were soon proven correct, as the Ist Legion's Council of Masters voted unanimously for Vendraig to succeed Thrane as the new Grandmaster. Following his elevation, Vendraig was tasked with unifying a divided Legion and returning them to service in the Great Crusade. A warrior first and foremost, Vendraig saw the value of having the Ist Legion serving for a time on the fringes of the Great Crusade. To help the Legion take their rightful place as one of the preeminent Legions in the glories of the Great Crusade, Vendraig allowed a small contingent of carefully-selected Remembrancers to join his entourage. Having limited access to the Legion's archives, they personally bore witness to the Ist Legion's ascension and helped to boost The First's reputation across the Imperium.
Vendraig next sought a foe that would unite The First together in their hatred. The opportunity to do so soon came when word arrived of the discovery of the deadly xenos species known as the Rangda on the far rim of the Great Crusade. Considered a growing threat to the Imperium, Vendraig brought the entirety of the Ist Legion to the Advex-Mors System and immediately launched a purgation campaign. The following battle cost the lives of 5,000 Legionaries. Despite the high tally of lives spent to eradicate the upstart xenos, the Rangda were defeated and the Imperium was once again reminded of the Ist Legion's might.
However, the Grandmaster's hunger for glory caused Vendraig to lead his Legion in reckless actions that earned them great renown and victories, but also eventually led to the Grandmaster's own downfall. The Ist Legion joined the efforts of the Ultramarines Legion to bring the Fortress World of Karkasarn into Imperial Compliance, which had so far resisted all efforts by Primarch Roboute Guilliman and his gene-sons. Utilising a patient strategy that would bring inevitable victory while minimising losses suffered by the Imperial forces, Guilliman had expected Vendraig and The First to follow his orders.
However, the Grandmaster vehemently refused. Seeing a chance to snatch a victory from the Ultramarines and humble Guilliman, the Ist Legion launched an assault upon the recalcitrant planet. In the subsequent battle, a force of 10,000 Legionaries breached the world's defences at the costs of hundreds of lives. The First's reckless advance into the inner workings of Karkasarn forced Guilliman's hand. He ordered the Ultramarines to follow the Ist Legion, but they did so methodically while securing objectives along the way. This led the Ultramarines to suffer only minimal losses, while The First suffered grievously.
When Vendraig was about to secure victory by claiming a citadel that lay at the centre of the world, the overlords of Karkasarn detonated an atomic weapon that had lain beneath the citadel. The Grandmaster and numerous warriors of the Ist Legion died in the subsequent explosion. Vendraig had indeed succeeded in uniting his Legion in hate, though this was only achieved through his death and his Legion's ignominious victory. In the wake of Vendraig's death, the Legion would be governed collectively by the Council of Masters on Gramarye until Primarch Lion El'Jonson was rediscovered by the Emperor on Caliban and took command of the Legion he would rename the "Dark Angels" as its rightful new Grandmaster.
Sources[]
- The Horus Heresy Book Nine: Crusade (Forge World Series), pp. 89, 92