Igean Salamanders

Salamanders
The Salamanders, originally known as the Dragon Warriors, were the XVIII Legion of the Space Marine Legion created by the Emperor of Mankind. Their Primarch was Vulkan. The legion remained loyal during the Horus Heresy, but were severely mauled in the first great opening battle, limiting the role they could play in the remainder of the war. Their primarch is never recorded as perishing, and in fact is believed simply to be missing; the search for him and his presumed great purpose is a defining trait of the Salamanders. Other aspects of the legion of Vulkan are their great hardiness as warriors and their equally strong constitutions, willpower and devotion to humanity. In some ways, they can be considered the ideal of what it means to be a Space Marine.

Chapter Formation
Whilst the Salamanders altered their squad-level organisation to follow the strictures of the new Codex Astartes, they were able to retain much else of their Legion organisation.

Oft-considered the smallest Legion, the casualties of the Horus Heresy, plus their own highly stringent recruitment and indoctrination processes made not only their rebuilding seemingly glacial, but resulted in them coming in under Codex-approved strength for a single Codex Chapter. In accordance with Vulkan' original reorganisation of the Legion, the Salamanders Chapter is formed of only 7 permanent companies; each one nominally staffed at a little over the Codex-approved 100 Astartes. Nevertheless, the sons of Vulkan were able to forge themselves anew, and their steel has ever since been drawn in the defence of the Imperium of Man.

In the absence of Vulkan, Tu'shan, Captain of the First Company is considered the Chapter Master. This position is seen as a regency, however, and is occupied in the belief that it will one day be relinquished to the true holder of the position.

Culture
Although the Salamanders follow the Codex Astartes, they nonetheless also follow the doctrines of their own Promethean Cult. The Promethean Cult places high emphasis on self-reliance, self-sacrifice and loyalty. Symbols of the forge - such as fire and hammers - are prominent throughout Promethean iconography. As such, Flamers, Melta Weapons and Thunder Hammers are widely used throughout the chapter. As one can imagine, this preference for Flamers and Meltas leads to a strong affinity among the Salamanders for close-range firefight when in combat, although they are just as capable at other aspects of Space Marine battle doctrine.

Because of their early training as blacksmiths, all Salamanders are fully capable of maintaining and performing moderate repair on their weapons and armour, leaving the Chapter's artificers with the free time necessary to create great works of technology and metallurgy. As a result, the Salamanders Chapter has an unusually high number of Master-Crafted Weapons, Artificer Armour and even Tactical Dreadnought Armour. The Chapter also favours the use of Land Raider Redeemers.

Nocturne
The home work of the Salamanders is Nocturne The company's of the Salamanders were originally recruited from the 7 Nocturne Sanctuary Cities. With the Salamanders steadily gaining strength, a 8th Sanctuary City has been founded and developed enough strength to produce a new 8th Company for the Salamanders. The city of course, is Ignea.

Ignean Traditions
The city of Ignea is not significantly different to any other of the Sanctuary Cities. Within Ignea the Promethean Cult is strong. In terms of recruitment, there is a law within Ignea where every able body son and daughter, from 14 to 20 is to be trained in warfare, blacksmith and endurance. These are known as the Scouting years. This is different to the Ignean Space Marine Scouts. The Scouting years is a kind of civil defence organisation. Each Terran year, the 20 sectors of Ignea select their top 5 recruits who enter into the Competition known as 'Vulkans Task'. The winner and any impressive recruits are then recruited into the ranks of the Ignea Space Marine Scouts for further training

Origins of the Vulkans Task Tournament
Records state that the Primarch, Vulkan, was celebrating in victory over the Eldar raiders. The populace decided to host a tournament to celebrate. Vulkan was winning and about to be declared the winner when unexpectedly, a stranger arrived in the middle of the festivities. Of pale complexion and wearing outlandish clothing, the stranger asked only to be allowed to compete. When he announced that he could best anyone in the town, the people laughed at this outlander. Who could possibly beat Vulkan in any feat of intellect, strength, craftsmanship or endurance? Nonetheless, Vulkan and the stranger wagered that whoever lost the tournament would forever serve the victor. Lasting 8 days, the contest included many tests of strength and endurance such as the anvil lift (in which the two held anvils above their heads for a half day before the contest was called a tie). The number of contests is unimportant, however, for by the end of day 8, Vulkan and the stranger were tied.

In the final event, both contestants were given 24 hours to construct a weapon, before using said weapon to hunt down and slay the largest salamander they could find. Climbing a high mountain, the two each went out to find a drake. Vulkan quickly found and killed a very large Fire Drake. However, on his way back, the mountain he was standing on - which coincidentally was a volcano - erupted, casting Vulkan over a cliff. Hanging for dear life over the precipice, Vulkan was determined to hang on to his massive Salamander. Thus, he found himself hanging by one hand from a cliff with his other hand clutching the tail of his drake.

Hanging there for hours, Vulkan's strength eventually ebbed away until he knew he must decide between the drake and his life. At that moment however, the stranger arrived, carrying his own drake. Even from the edge of the cliff, the Primarch could tell that the outlander's drake was indeed bigger. Seeing Vulkan in distress, the stranger acted quickly, tossing his drake into a lava flow that separated them and using it as a bridge to cross to the Primarch. After hoisting Vulkan out of his mortal predicament, the stranger walked with him back to town, leaving his own drake to burn in the river of molten rock.

Though the Outlander's Drake had been superior in size, he had thrown it away to save Vulkan, and when he returned to town with the Primarch empty-handed, Vulkan was declared the victor. To the amazement of his people however, Vulkan kneeled before the stranger and said that any man who would value life over pride was worthy of his service. At this moment, the Outlander cast off his illusionary disguise and revealed himself to be the Holy Emperor of humanity. Thus it was that the Primarch, Vulkan and his Emperor were reunited.

It is this competition, admittedly on a smaller scale, is held each year.

Company Structure
The Company Structure can be seen here...