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Kayvaan Shrike is the Raven Guard's master of guerrilla warfare. He was Shadow Captain of the 3rd Company, then became Master of Shadows, the Chapter's equivalent of Chapter Master, before stepping down to lead in the field.
He fights with lightning claws known as the Raven's Talons and uses a jump pack to strike from above. He is famous for the Targus campaign, where his company crippled a vast Ork invasion through guerrilla raids that killed its leaders and sowed chaos. He has also fought the T'au and the forces of Chaos. Kayvaan Shrike is a Raven Guard legend. He was Shadow Captain of the 3rd Company and later Master of Shadows. He embodies Corax's tactics of stealth and decapitation strikes. He became Chapter Master after Corvin Severax was killed in a T'au ambush during the Prefectia Campaign. In the Era Indomitus he gave up the role to Aethon Shaan and turned to fighting Hive Fleet Leviathan.
Origins
Shrike was born on the forge world Kiavahr and grew up as a runner, showing an uncanny gift for stealth long before the Raven Guard recruited him.
Shrike grew up in the hive cities of the forge world Kiavahr, where he ran messages for the Tarkal Guild. In his late teens a rival gang hunted him for a week; when cornered, he killed four of them, then escaped captivity after killing three more. Raven Guard Chaplains, who had watched the chase from the spires, took him as a recruit.
White Dwarf's Heroes and Villains feature fills in his youth on Kiavahr, where he ran messages for the Tarkal Guild. As a teenager he evaded rival gangers for more than a week and killed four pursuers before he was caught. He survived brutal torture, escaped and killed many more of them. The Raven Guard's Chaplains noticed him and took him to Deliverance despite his resistance. Codex Supplement: Raven Guard (8th edition) says he never explained the gang memory behind the name Kayvaan. He took Shrike from the hunting hawks of the Diagothian Mountains, which he admired during his trials for attacking seemingly stronger prey without warning.
Key events
- Made his name on Targus VIII, where his raids crippled the Orks of Waaagh! Skullkrak.
- Led the hunt for the daemon prince Voldorius alongside other Chapters.
- Fought the T'au Third Sphere Expansion on Prefectia, where Chapter Master Corvin Severax died in an ambush, leaving Shrike as Master of Shadows.
- Embraced the Primaris reinforcements of the Ultima Founding to rebuild his depleted Chapter.
- Resigned in favour of Aethon Shaan, whom he felt better embodied Corax's teachings, and led a campaign against Hive Fleet Leviathan.
Codex: Space Marines (5th edition) records that during the Targus fighting he heard that the Daemon Prince Kernax Voldorius had corrupted Quintus. There he formed an uneasy alliance with Kor'sarro Khan, despite the ancient rivalry between their Chapters, and the two killed Voldorius together. The codex also says he ignores requests for help from Guard and Navy commanders on fronts where the Orks are pressing hardest. He chooses worlds already abandoned to the greenskins, whose people are close to being wiped out. To them he is a rescuing angel. Dataslate: Storm Wing has him kill the T'au ambassador Myen O'Res on Lurid IX in 995.M41 while the envoy was trying to win over the population.
The Raven Guard supplement describes the Battle of Xalladin, where the Iron Hands and Imperial Fists nearly came to blows over a relic called the Brimstone Heart. Shrike quietly destroyed it. Warhammer Community's article on Aethon Shaan explains that he resigned because he saw Severax's recklessness in himself. He believed a Master of Shadows should master all three parts of Corax's Path of Shadow, not just the ambush he excelled at. He chose Shaan for winning victories with little bloodshed at Gelvia, Strigneth and Aescia II. The Raven's Talons are said to be lightning claws made by Corax himself after the Drop Site Massacre.
Battles & campaigns
- Targus VIII: He and the 3rd Company were stranded after their Thunderhawk was shot down, and they waged a guerrilla war against WAAAGH! Skullkrak.
- Prefectia (999.M41): After Severax died in a T'au ambush, Shrike became Master of Shadows.
- Bastior Sub-sector: He fought against Hive Fleet Leviathan.
Personality
Quiet, cunning and selfless. He values results over glory, even giving up his own command.
He is quiet and humble, preferring to let his actions speak for him. He values the lives of his warriors and civilians, and he is willing to sacrifice his own glory to win a war. His selflessness has earned him the respect of his brothers.
Weapons & Vehicles
An oversized servo-assisted armoured gauntlet sheathed in a matter-shredding energy field, capable of tearing open tank hulls and crush…
The signature .75-calibre rocket-propelled mass-reactive firearm of the Adeptus Astartes, firing self-propelled explosive bolts that de…
The brutal motorised tooth-bladed sword carried by Space Marines, Imperial Guard officers and Chaos renegades, chewing through armour a…
A heavily armed VTOL assault gunship and flying transport of the Adeptus Astartes and Grey Knights, capable of carrying both a full squ…
Close-combat Space Marines who descend on the enemy with jump packs, chainswords and bolt pistols.
Neophyte Space Marines who are not yet fully implanted, fighting as infiltrators, snipers and raiders.
Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.
Connections
Characters (1)
Factions
- Raven Guard primary faction
Related units (3)
Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.
Legacy
Shrike is the master of the Raven Guard's shadow war. His insurgencies have broken enemies far stronger than his forces, and he is Chapter Master in the Era Indomitus. He embodies the Chapter's belief that victory comes from guile and precise strikes rather than brute force, and that every warrior should be able to fight alone. He stands for the Raven Guard ideal that a leader should know when to step aside, as his resignation in favour of Aethon Shaan showed. His career is the model of the Raven Guard's Shadow Captains.
Appearances & sources
- Codex: Space Marines (Raven Guard background)
- Raven Guard short fiction
- Era Indomitus campaign books