Native/Haida marines

>>53858364
>I'm considering making the raven two-headed to tie them in closer with the Imperium

You've got a pretty kickass geneseed mutation right there.

>>53858396
I was talking about the chapter symbol.

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>>53858364
The Haida were basically native american vikings. May I suggest you make them fleet based, and in addition to ambush, they also practice HALO and even orbital drops.

Rather than power tomohawks, tomohawks should be their replacement for combat knives.

The Haida also had specialized naval weapons for destroying other peoples canoes. So again, fleet based, make them very effective naval combatants/borders.

Obviously clan is important to them, similar to other chapters like Salamanders, Wolves, Khans etc.

Note that the flag of Haida already has a two headed raven

>Haida society is divided into two moieties, Eagle and Raven. For a people living in the borderlands, yet also in the center, this division makes perfect sense. Eagle represents the center, regular, human society, the right-hand path. Raven represents the liminal, non-human society, the left-hand path. It is with Eagle that food is gathered, judgements are passed down, marriages happen. Raven is the realm of the myth in it’s constantly changing form, that step away from the human world that must happen for art and story to exist.

>It is because they are a people at the edge of the world that the Haida hold Raven in such high respect. They understand the need for that entry to the liminal spaces. Gods and humans alike are divided into Eagle and Raven sides; “it is part of the intrinsic structure of the world.”

Thus you can consider the Chapter believes themselves to be Braves who have passed into the spirit realm. The great Imperial Eagle represents humanity and the material. The Raven the Immaterial, the Liminal. The Raven can go anywhere and surpass any boundary - this represents the Chapter members journeying through the warp to fight the enemies of men. They are no longer human, no longer mortals - by becoming space marines they have passed already into a spiritual realm, each of them an undying brave who lives forever through their geneseed.

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>>53859427
This is great. Thanks for the info.

>>53859427
For names I suggest things like Astral Ravens, Liminal Crows, Empyreal Ravens, Void Crows, etc. The keeping of record and weaving of myth is important to them, and their histories are recorded in tales and carvings by the librarian shamans. The greatest tales will be taken home to their recruiting world, to be passed down as myths of the ever changing realm of the gods that lay beyond the stars.

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>>53859466
>The Haida developed effective weapons for boat-based battle, including a special system of stone rings weighing 18 to 23 kg (40 to 51 lb) which could destroy an enemy's dugout canoe and be reused after the attacker pulled it back with the attached cedar bark rope.

Some sort of reusable wrecking ball controlled with a gravity hook? Or boarding tubes.

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>>53859509
Finally, the Raven

>While frequently described as a "trickster", Haidas believe Raven or Yáahl[1] to be a complex reflection of one's own self. Raven can be a magician, a transformer, a potent creative force, ravenous debaucher but always a cultural hero. He is responsible for creating Haida Gwaii, releasing the sun from its tiny box and making the stars and the moon. In one story he released the first humans from a cockle shell on the beach; in another story he brought the first humans up out of the ground because he needed to fill up a party he was throwing. Raven stories on one level teach listeners how to live a good life, but usually by counterexample. Raven has been described as the greediest, most lecherous and mischievous creature known to the Haida, but at the same time Raven often helps humans in our encounters with other supernatural beings. Raven acquired such things as fresh water, salmon and the house for humans. Robert Bringhurst has noted that Raven never actually creates anything; he made the world by stealing, exchanging, redistributing, and generally moving things around.

To me this suggests that the Chapter are a people with humor, and not necessarily just stoic warriors. They're fond of banter and tricks. They use the unexpected nature of such things to catch their enemies off guard. They may even enjoy food, drink, and women as Space Wolves do. To slay an enemy is a great thing - to bring an enemy to confusion (usually just before you slay them) even better. Tricksters, not just ambush assassins and violent warriors

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>>53858364
I honestly don't know how true to folklore this is, but I remember a batman story where he symbolizes the Bat, and his enemy the Crow, or "Chubala".

Your chapter symbol reminded me of it. If true, this seems like a mythological tale of a long standing fight against Night Lords.

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/batman-shaman-1-batman-shaman/4000-218726/

>>53859466
>>53859509
Triremes had a similar weapon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_(weapon)

>>53859570
>>53859509
>>53859427
So to bring the idea into 40k we'd have:
>fleet based chapter
>very fond of ambush and ship boarding tactics, relying on trickery to confuse and disorient the enemy before swooping in for the kill with jump packs and orbital/low altitude drops
>love their food, drink and women, and generally like to have a good time - not serious all the time like regular marines
>have a lot of reverence and respect for the raven, who they believe to be a trickster spirit who goes and does what he pleases, as well as the twin-headed eagle that represents the imperium
>believe that becoming a marine is a religious passage that places them in the spirit world - they're the spirit warriors who guard the realms of mortal men from his enemies
>have a large belief in oral and written storytelling, and great tales of victory are brought back to the chapter's homeworld to be carved into a great wall for preservation and passed down through stories and songs to the rest of the planet
>librarians act as the shamans of their home world, who record the stories of the chapter, provide wisdom in trying times well as use their psychic might to slay the enemies of man
>have a great reverence for their ancestors who they believe to have passed onto the spirit world with them

This is all great, thanks again for the info dump. I think Liminal Crows is a good working name for the chapter. I'm gonna spend some time coming up with alternate color schemes for different companies and possibly some writefaggotry now.

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So who would be their primary enemies? Tau or Eldar seem like a good choice - they always seem to have a stick up their asses and could use a joke or two played on them.

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I had a similar idea recently,

I was going to make a Navajo-based chapter based around coyotes, using Space Wolf upgrade sprues and transfers and a turquoise colour scheme (both coyotes and the mineral turquoise being sacred to the Navajo)

>>53860764
God damn, that looks pretty good.

>>53860764
Looks really nice. Turqoise is definitely a good color to capture the southwestern NA feel.

Besides the pelts, what kind of markings/iconography are you planning on having? Any other major colors?