Warhammer 40,000 - Blood Angels 5th Edition Codex

Some amongst the Primarchs are said to have fought against
the Emperor when first they met but this was not the case
with Sanguinius. He immediately recognised the Emperor for
who he was and bent his kn ee before the Lord of Mankind.
The Emperor raised him up and looked upon his people and
saw that they were fair and noble. The best of the warriors
he offered to raise up into Space Marines. The others were
to be honourably left behind to defend Mankind's birthright
upon Baal Secundus. The Emperor performed the complex
operation that w ould extract the gene-seed from Sanguinius'
genetic codes and he implanted it into the warriors of the
Blood Angels Legion. Thus were the Blood Angels and their
Primarch finally made whole. They Joined the Emperor's
fleet and sai led across the Sea of Stars to participate in the
Great Crusade.
THE CREATION OF ANGELS
Since the time of Sanguinius, the Blood Angels have recruited
from among the greatest tribes of the Blood on Baal
Secundus and Baal Prime (where a colony w as established
shortly after the time of the Horus Heresy). Youths from the
Blood take part in great games and tournaments, facing
many hazards as they race across the desert, to fight and do
battle against one other. These contests are usually held only
once per generation at Angel's Fall, where a mighty statue of
Sanguinius now observes the proceedings.
Traditionally, the Time of Challenge is announced by heralds
who visit each tribe in great flying chariots. Contestants
must make their way to Angel's Fall across the rad-deserts,
a process that in and of itself weeds out the weakest,
for the hazards of the desert are many, and it takes a youth
of extraordinary skill and courage to even reach the Place of
Challenge. Once there they must vie for the fifty or so places
that are available. Those who succeed are taken up in Sky
Chariots; those who fail are left behind either to guard the
place of testing or to make their way back to their own
tribes as they choose.
Those youths who are accepted as Aspirants are taken to
the Blood Angels' fortress monastery on Baal itself. There
they see great wonders and look for the first time on the
unmasked faces of their future Brother Marines, and possibly
note with some consternation their sharp eye-teeth and
sleekly beautiful features. It has to be said that the recruits
are far from handsome at this stage. Most of the Aspirants
bear marks of their hard lives, for it is all but impossible for
an ordinary man to dwell on those barren moons and not
feel the terrible kiss of radiation . Many are marked by
stigmata, most are short and stunted, their growth stifled by
malnutrition and constant hunger. Many more will be
marked by lesions and carcinoma.
All the Aspirants are left to observe vigil in the great Chapel
of the Chapter and then they will drink from the Sanguinary
Chalice brought to them by the Sanguinary Priest. They are
told that they partake of the blood of their Primarch and
they drink. Slumber soon overtakes them and the aspirants
are borne by Servitors to the Apothecarion where the geneseed
of Sanguinius will be implanted in their recumbent
bodies. From the Apothecarion the aspirants will be taken to
the Hall of Sarcophagi and each will be placed within a
mighty golden sarcophagus. Life support nodes are attached
to them and for the next year they will be fed intravenously
w ith a mixture of nutrients and the Blood of Sanguinius
while the gene-seed does its work.
M any die at this stage, their bodies unable to cope with the
strain of the changes that now overtake them. Those who
live will grow swift and true, echoing the rapid growth of
their Primarch . They will put on muscle mass and acquire the
extra internal organs that mark a true Space Marine. At this
time too they will have many strange dreams, for the geneseed
carries within it many of the memories of Sanguinius.
Thus will the essence of their Primarch begin to permeate
the souls of his chosen warriors. Ever afterwards, when
sleeping, and sometimes when aw ake, these dreams will
return to haunt the future Blood Angels.
When the Aspirants emerge from their sarcophagi they are
forever changed. They will be tall, strong and superhumanly
powerful. Their restructured bodies and features will have
taken on a beauty that echoes that of their angelic forebear.
Their senses w ill be keener, their muscles will be stronger
than tempered steel. They will be ready to begin their
training as Space Marines.
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