A Brief Treatise on the Formation Legend
of the Adeptus Astartes Chapter Fists of Eire As Excerpted
from A Report on Concerns Relating to the Adeptus Astartes
within Segmentum Solar
by Inquisitor Plinysus
9871M41
Thought of the Day: Judge the heresy of others, lest for their
heresy ye too be judged.
…and perhaps the most alarming event with regards to the security of Segmentum Solar in respect to the Adeptus Astartes in the last two centuries was the rediscovery of the Fists of Eire chapter. Thought lost to a Warp Squall over 300 years ago, the name of the chapter had been engraved in the Halls of Honor, and the Lone Bell tolled 10,000 times for each man. It seems this action was perhaps a bit hasty, when the first tithing vessel to Eire after the squall had dissipated reported finding the shattered remnants of the chapter and the destroyed xenomorphic invasion force, which turned out to be a Tyranid Hive Fleet. To understand why this discovery of represents a threat to the stability of Segmentum Solar, it is necessary to learn a bit about the chapter.
According to chapter legend, the Fists of Eire were formed during the Second Founding as a successor chapter to the Imperial Fists Legion, along with the Black Templars and the Crimson Fists. It is commonly believed Rogal Dorn, the Primarch of the Imperial Fists, objected to the splitting of his Legion, citing the extraordinary manpower needed to properly defend Holy Terra. As the Legion was broken, it seems apparent Dorn lost his argument with Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines and author of the Codex Astartes, but legends from both the Black Templars and the Fists of Eire suggest Dorn only gave in when the Imperial Fists began to be persecuted as heretics by the newly formed Inquisition.
While the Black Templars do not go into much detail on this point, the persecution plays a central role in the creation story of the Fists of Eire chapter. According to their story, an Inquisitor by the name of Oromvel lead an assault upon the walls surrounding the Imperial Palace, where Rogal Dorn was inspecting the repair efforts. Only the sacrifice of one of the Chapter Masters of the Legion, Conn of the Ten Thousand Campaigns, delayed the Inquisitor's forces long enough to allow Dorn to escape. Not willing to leave empty handed, Oromvel took the greatly injured Conn back with him to the dungeons of the Inquisition, where the marine was tortured for forty days in effort to extract a confession of heresy.
How Dorn learned Conn was still alive is not certain in the legend, but it is stated once he did learn he commanded his entire Legion to scour the planet to find the lost Chapter Master. It was Sigismund, the Emperor's Champion and founder of the Black Templars, who battled his way into the deepest dungeons beneath the Imperial Palace, finding Oromvel and bloody and battered body of Conn. The Champion freed Conn, not laying a hand on the Inquisitor. Once the marine was free, Sigismund handed him the Black Sword, and walked out of the room. The legends generally leave off at this point, and it is assumed Oromvel met his end gruesomely on the blade of the Black Sword.
It is interesting—and important—to note, our documents regarding this time and the founding of the Inquisition do not mention anyone by the name of Oromvel. While it must be conceded our records of the period are my no means exhaustive, I do find it curious not even a single reference to anything similar to this legend told by the Fists of Eire could be found. This raises the question, why would any Astartes chapter create such an elaborate fiction, casting the Inquisition as an enemy? Rest assured the brave men and women of the Inquisition shall not rest until the answer to this is ascertained.