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The Kabal of The Shredding Tear is a relatively young one, around nine hundred years old; it is few in number, and its main strength is the fact that so few know it even exists; the members wear no insignia, and have no uniform colors, so witnesses will have nothing to report to anyone else. The Kabal consists of a little over a hundred members. The Chief Archon, Kalanal Erest, is a master of striking from the shadows, preferring to launch his attacks in the dead of night and leave as few witnesses as possible. In the closing years of M38, a Kabal scouting party emerged from a lost webway gate, and found themselves over an embattled world; a force of Marines Malevolent ships were engaged in a firefight with another Astartes Fleet.

The Dragons of Karavak had been formed in the twenty first founding, known as the Cursed Founding. Every chapter created in that dark century has come to an awful end, and the Dragons Of Karavak were no different; they were birthed from the Gene Seed of the Salamanders, and inherited their Progenitor's demonic appearance; coal black skin and glowing red eyes. However, they did not inherit the Promethean Cult, nor the Salamanders' love for civilians. What they displayed instead was an utter disregard for their own safety, and from that, a love for Plasma weapons. Their self destructive tendencies weren't out of line for Space Marines, but during a war against an Ork Waaagh!, the Orks had taken an Inquisitor's daughter and Acolyte as slaves, and the Inquisitor requested the Dragons save her. The Dragons ignored the Inquisitor, and shelled the Ork Compound from orbit. In anger, the Inquisitor assumed the Dragons had acted deliberately, and declared them Excommunicate Traitoris. The Marines Malevolent, who approved of the slaughter of heretics, attacked the Dragon's homeworld of Karavak at the Inquisition's request.

The Kabal of The Shredding Tear, were it not for Archon Erest, would have attacked the two Astartes fleets indiscriminately. Erest, however, saw more than just two divided enemies. He saw a golden opportunity. Picking mostly at random, he directed his fleet to only attack the Marines Malevolent. Faced with enemies both behind and to the front, the Malevolent took the wisest choice, and made their escape into the warp, but not before launching several Virus Bombs at Karavak, ruining the planet.

Contrary to all the Dragons of Karavak expected, the Kabal opened negotiations. The Kabal of The Shredding Tear was weak; the Dragons of Karavak could provide the muscle the Kabal needed. The Kabal, in their raids, captured many humans; those the Dragons wanted could be taken as new recruits, and the Dragons could avoid Imperial retribution by hiding in the Webway. So one of the most unsteady alliances in history born.