# Raven Guard Psykers? *Angel Exterminatus Spoilers*



## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

For those of you who have read the said novel, what did you make of the Raven Guard Sharrowkyn's ability to "wraith slip"? It seemed to me to be some sort of psychic teleportation rather than a physical skill. Especially during his battle with Lucius, he leaves Lucius stunned at how fast he is moving, completely out maneuvering and baffling the so called greatest (non-Primarch) swordsman alive.

He also seems to indicate that there are (were) plenty of other RG who could do it, so does this indicate a level of psyker within the RG not recognised as librarians?


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

Wasn't a fan of it, we were given no indication whatsoever that he was a psyker with magic-like abilities so seeing a 400-600 pound soldier slip by unnoticed like that didn't seem realistic. A Primarch doing that, as Corax has done in the past, however is a completely different story 

What was even cheesier was that Salamander with the x-ray vision who managed to spot Sharrowkyn. When questioned about his better-than-your-average Astartes vision, he said that it's because all Salamanders grew up in caves or something like that. I think only the Night Lords should be able to boast of superior un-augmented night vision.

Since I've brought it up, here is another thing I've seen that totally disregards the newer fluff and common sense in general given what we know about Astartes physiology. 

Why oh why do some squads of Astartes resort to using armor-mounted flashlights in pitch black environments? It's been stated many times that Astartes can literally see in the dark even without their helms and that their helms simply offer other vision modes and the ability to zoom in.


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## zerachiel76 (Feb 12, 2010)

I personally thought that since Corax had a similar ability it's not out of the question that a RG Astartes had it too. Maybe one of those abilities which manifested when the geneseed was fresh.

Re the Salamander, it was in very old fluff that all Sallies had limited Infra Red vision even without helmets on however since RG armour is stated to be modified so as not to show up on IR then this could be a plot oversight.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

I theorized this on the the bolthole forums, that because Corax has the ability to basically become invisible then perhaps it came through in the geneseed of his sons, just like in other legions where astartes share common flaws or positives from their Primarch.

Perhaps while Corax's ability is an active ability which he can control at will, the raven guard have a passive ability that they have to work at combining normal terrain and cover to make it work as well.

The reason as to why this isn't that noticeable in the modern 40k chapter is perhaps the teachings were lost after the massacre or after Corax disappeared they fell over time with the degradation of the geneseed or loss of teachers.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Words_of_Truth said:


> Perhaps while Corax's ability is an active ability which he can control at will, the raven guard have a passive ability that they have to work at combining normal terrain and cover to make it work as well.


It seems a bit different to Corax's ability in that he can make himself invisible to others, whereas Sharrowkyn seemed to be slipping from shadow to shadow without crossing the intervening space. It actually reminded me of the DE mandrakes abilities.


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

Yeah but if you think about it, if you have a limited stealth like ability which appears to allow you to jump from shadow to shadow then while corax ability makes you entirely invisible with control, the lesser version may make you invisible a bit so that you periodically seem to appear in different locations quickly.


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## BlackGuard (Sep 10, 2010)

> Why oh why do some squads of Astartes resort to using armor-mounted flashlights in pitch black environments? It's been stated many times that Astartes can literally see in the dark even without their helms and that their helms simply offer other vision modes and the ability to zoom in.


A very good question and one that will probably never be answered. If we go back to when Night Haunter broke out of his cell being guarded by the Emperor's Children and Imperial Fist -- the guards that entered the room to stop him turned on their lights. That, like so many other times, made no sense to me.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

BlackGuard said:


> A very good question and one that will probably never be answered. If we go back to when Night Haunter broke out of his cell being guarded by the Emperor's Children and Imperial Fist -- the guards that entered the room to stop him turned on their lights. That, like so many other times, made no sense to me.


Writer inconsistency and perhaps not being entirely sure of the lore for marines id guess, plus darkened rooms and turning on lights is classical suspense before something goes bad.


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## Reaper45 (Jun 21, 2011)

BlackGuard said:


> A very good question and one that will probably never be answered. If we go back to when Night Haunter broke out of his cell being guarded by the Emperor's Children and Imperial Fist -- the guards that entered the room to stop him turned on their lights. That, like so many other times, made no sense to me.


Sensors are easy to fool. The naked eye of an astartes isn't. There's a passage in the fall of damnos where two devastator sergeants fire lascannons aiming with this own eyes due to their targeting systems being corrupted by necrons.
Couple that fact in with the existant of haywire grenades it's easy to understand why.


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