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This was a bitter pill to swallow for Rogal, and he initially refused to believe this could be possible. This ship was the Eisenstein, a Death Guard frigate which had escaped Isstvan III, and brought news of Horus’ betrayal to the wider Imperium. It was only by luck – or perhaps, providence – that they intercepted another ship which had become similarly lost. Massive empyreal storms becalmed their fleet, sowing chaos and confusion. “Tell him that his brother Rogal will have him answer for it.”Īs the Heresy erupted, the Imperial Fists were en route to Terra, to take up their role as guardians of the Throneworld. “If the Warmaster has turned his back on Terra… what are my orders?” Instead, Rogal Dorn became the Praetorian. While he was Ullanor, it was Horus, not Rogal, who was raised above all others. His personality, sadly, would oft cause rifts with his brothers (not least, Pertuabo of the Iron Warriors). Some say Dorn could have been Warmaster, if not for his blunt, taciturn nature. Each victory won him greater praise, but he did not bask in his glory, but continued to simply do his duty. Rogal took his Astartes and built them up into a terrifying Legion over the course of sixteen long years of war taking, fortifying, and moving on.
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He said nothing to them until he had observed them in battle, and then only offered a simple criticism – that there was “ much work to be done”. When Dorn was reunited with his Legion they swiftly learned what kind of man their progenitor was. It alone broke the back of many foes during the Crusade, and it would form a vital part of the defence nexus of the Solar System in the coming Heresy. The Phalanx is worthy of special mention an ancient pre-Imperial stellar fortress of vast size and unimaginable power, rebuilt at Dorn’s hands and presented to the Emperor as a gift. When the Emperor found Inwit, he found not just a son – he found a star-spanning society already forged into a tool of war, to take and wield in the Crusade. He was a disciplinarian, a leader, and a builder, and turned Inwit into a well-prepared, highly efficient society with a massive military force, centred around the mighty Phalanx. Inwit was clearly once-mighty – massive void-citadels orbited the planet – but it had been stripped of all value.ĭorn landed amidst the nomadic peoples of this planet and, like many Primarchs, swiftly rose to rule Inwit, leading the House of Dorn of the Ice Caste, and eventually conquering the entire Inwit Cluster. Inwit was a harsh, brutal death world of freezing cold, orbiting a dying star and infested with wild beasts of the Splintered Land. Their prodigious skill as builders and castellans led many to say, when the VII had left a world, it was as though “the hand of the Emperor had descended and gripped with an unbreakable fist”, leading the Emperor Himself to bestow both the name “the Imperial Fists” upon the VII, and to award them the Laurels of Victory as part of their heraldry.Īs the Crusade expanded, the Emperor rediscovered one of His sons on the frozen world of Inwit – Rogal Dorn. The Imperial Fists, on the other hand, earned their name from their raising of citadels upon the lands they had conquered, with dark rumours of their own Legionary dead being incorporated into the foundations of these mighty edifices. However, not all the Legions could then hold the taken ground – many, such as the War Hounds or Eaters of the Dead, simply did not have the temperament to occupy a world and ensure its people would not turn on the Imperium as soon as they had left. All the Legions were brutal in combat and terrifying to the foe – they could decapitate the enemy command, turn his troops to flight, and raze his fortresses. This led to a Legion with a broad range of choler, outlooks and skills.Īs the Crusade began, the VII found themselves well suited for conquest. Unlike other Legiones Astartes, some of whom were only recruited from specific parts of Terra, the Imperial Fists took their initial recruits from all over the planet, even in places where other Legions had nominal sovereignty over recruiting. This transformed world is what the VII were, some say, made to protect. The Emperor changed this with the force of his arms and brilliance of his mind – leading his Thunder Warriors and Legiones Astartes to tame Terra. At the time of the Unification Wars, Terra was a hellscape, lacking hope or order, existing in a blood-soaked darkness. The Imperial Fists are strongly interlinked with the homeworld, Terra. When the Traitors arrived, the Fists were there to answer the call.