We are making our own heresy, with blackjack, and loyalists losing!

>Nurgle: Nobody yet

Maybe?

Adjusted from last thread:

The Crusader State know as the Kor Protectorate is run by Anders Kor, and his Legion the Paladins of Kor, is seen as radical and even marginally heretical by the other States. Frequently engaging with xenos, heretics, and other less-than-savory types has led most to come to the conclusion that Anders may not be unhappy with the Emperor's downfall. It was well know that before the Fall, the Paladins of Kor would more often than not refuse to acknowledge the Emperor's authority, and thus were at odds with the more loyal of the Emperor's Legions.

Yet, it seems that out of all the other States, Anders' is the most suited for this new era. Trade is booming, armies of well-equipped Stare Guardsmen are always ready to fight off invaders, and the Paladins themselves can be seen going on missions to secure the prosperity of the State.

While relations with the other States are tense at best, the Dark Imperium's with the State relationship is far more aggressive. While unconfirmed, there are reports of probing attacks by Chaos Space Marines all along the borders, and the friendlier heretics give warning that the Gods have marked Anders for death. Even the Eldar Farseers that speak with the State have seen that something may be coming to the Eastern Imperium, but will not specify what. Whatever it is, the State is prepared to fight.

Capital: New Hope

Technophile dark mechanicus nurglites who experiment with anything and make kickass warp posessed technobeasts can be VERY cool. Do it.

>technophile Nurglites
Do they spread computer viruses?

>Chaos Imperium to the west
>Tyranids invade from the east
Shit's gonna get real for the loyalists.

They don't HAVE to invade from the east. They could just as easily come from any other direction.

Given the Disunity of the Eastern Imperium, the Tyranids will fuck them over worse than canon. They'll be the Turks to the Eastern Empire.

No Astronomican means no mass invasion by the Tyranids. Admittedly, no Astronomican means that Navigators have no point of reference, so the cure may be worse than the disease.

There could still be smaller nid invasions. No reason to get rid of them wholesale.

Warp Beacons exist, but warp travel would be a lot slower and a lot more arduous. Forget fleets moving swiftly from place to place with any accuracy at all, Warp travel would be far, far more hazardous than canon.

Someone mentioned in the last thread smaller-scale astronomicans. I like that idea and I think it plays into the notion of fractured Crusader States. You can travel through the warp, but only for short distances and only when you're near Crusader space. Beyond that, things get...dangerous.

It makes for a much more isolated galaxy.

Sure. But you wouldn't be seeing hive fleet after hive fleet. It'd be more like probing fragments with more emphasis on the genestealers.

In other words, rather than scrapping the bugs or leaving them as-is, you should re-imagine them.

Are you assuming soul-binding still happens, or removing astropaths as well?

Regarding isolation, it's OK so far as it goes, but it does mean that your options for cross-pollination of the stories become more limited. GW painted themselves into this sort of corner by elevating a regional power (the Tau) into the main line of their continuity.

>What is the name of your primarch and legion? What is their number, and what are their heraldric symbols? What colors do your marines paint their armor?
Primarch Videric, leader of the Redeeming Legion, originally the Fire Templars. Crazed with lust for revenge against his former brothers, Videric made his legion adopt a new name to symbolize his quest for redemption against the traitors. An overly large legion, difficult to manage, and united in name only the Redeemers will often launch self sustained crusades against the Dark Imperium in the name of reconquest unless called to a higher purpose. Strict adherence to symbolism and dedication to the former Empire is mandated, anything else is night-on treason to the legion. The armor is painted in a

>What are your legion's tactics? Do they fight with cunning or strength? What sort of equipment do they favor? What sort of enemy would you call them for?
Being mainly a voidship-based legion save for a few planetary basions of strategic importance, there is a distinct preference for bombarding planets until they are sterile. Especially, if the planets are held by the enemy. Given the numbers of the legion, crushing the enemy under sheer numbers and determination is not uncommon either. However, given the size of the legion, and the lack of manufacturing capacity, any arms and armor are deemed acceptable. Anything that can be salvaged, will be salvaged. This also means the legion will help others in war, in exchange for equipment.
Is this an acceptable idea for a legion? If not, or there isn't room for more, that's fine.

Just to be sure: Jade Empire is under 'loyalist' control, correct?

Alright... let's see...
Gengrat Vannevar of the Behemoth Guard?

Raised in the Terrodyne Industrial Combine, working his way up through the works from the forge to Commandant of the entire Industrial Combine
His legion is clad in ivory plates with circuits and lightning devices, their emblem that of The Great Beast of Iron.

During the crusade, the legion made extensive use of auxiliary forces, often making use of penal battalions, prisoners of war, and servitors as cannon fodder, exhausting their enemies with an unending stream of worthless bodies before legionary boots crushed whatever remained beneath their relentless tread.
When time was short, the legion was noted for taking to the field in an array of customized heavy armor, most typically based on the Land Raider chassis, but often using less conventional vehicles, such as the Dracosan or even the Chimera.

They were among the foremost in integrating battle automata into the legion structure.

You call them in when the enemy is dug in, when a war of attrition is needed.

Their experimentation grew ever more unorthodox and unhinged, until the heresy, at which point contact with daemonic powers began.

Gengrat Vannevar sees Nurgle less as a master and more of a patron, who has chosen to bless his particular brand of experimentation.
Post heresy, the flensing pits and machine works of the legion produce strange machine-organism hybrids and foul daemon engines. malignant Silica Animus constructs and horrific biotic weaponry.

Where a legion like the Second Sons is practical, these guys are "creative" and by creative I mean they do things like feed insects daemon-blood and watch what happens when they're set free on an agro-world or a hive world.

>What is your legion's command structure? What are the highest ranking officers called? Does your primarch have some sort of war council like the Mournival or the Tetrarchs? Who are your Primarch's Equerry and what are their major deeds?
The Lord of Thunders, the regent of Lostregia, command the Legion in the absence of Engerand. Of course, now his absence is bound to be a little more permanent now that he is deceased. At the side of the Primarch/Regent are the Taranisian, the honour guard and councilors who also vote to choose a new Lord of Thunders from their ranks. Below them are the respective Masters of the Great Companies as well as the Lord Librarians (and the Chief Librarian, their own master). Librarians are prime advisors and act as 'court mages' of sort.

>How is your Legion's Crusader State or Chaos March run? Is it a wasteland of dead worlds with weeping mothers, or a thriving metropolis of glowing worlds? What is your region of space called, and why? What are your relationships with your neighbors?
Their Crusader State is extremely varied from planet-to-planet, as the Storm Hammers not good at empire-building. These worlds pay heavy tithes to the Legion in order to support their masters' constant crusading. Large armies are raised in order to fortify the borders.

The Storm Kingdom is ruled as a 'court' of sort which is similar in concept to the canonical High Lords.The Lord of Thunders is rarely there as he is either fighting at the border or handling political matters in his Legion. As a result the various Lords hold some sizeable power within the Storm Kingdom and some impressive freedom of action.

>Where is your Primarch at the end of the heresy? Does he rule a crusader state/chaos march? Is he dead? Is he lost somewhere in the Eye of Terror? Is he a Daemon Prince?
Engerand survived the Heresy only to be felled millenia later. He led a charge against a mighty Dark Imperial stronghold. By the time his ragged, weakened forces had conqueror the super-structure, Engerand's body and and armors were a wreck only held together by willpower, superior craftsmanship and (some believe) psychic powers. There had been several times Engerand had survived near-fatal injuries, spending time recovering so it was hoped he would once again rise. His Legion was unfortunately disapointed as the Primarch suffered a shameful death from his injuries, away from the battlefield and in the hands of Apothecaries powerless to stop his demise.

Haha, yes, that's the Sky Serpents.
Speaking of which:
>Structure
The Sky Serpent legion as a whole has a flexible and interlocking command structure. Individual chapters and companies are designed to be more or less self sufficient, but are not wholly interchangeable. Instead, various specialized formations exist at all levels, from Jaguar Warrior companies in many chapters to specialized chapters, such as the infamous Jade Lion or Ereshkigal Guard.
Independent of such formations, various warrior orders and rites existed. The best known outside the legion is probably the Raven Path, the legion's primary techno-archaeologists, but many other such groups exist, such as the Vulpine Talon, specializing in research and design, or the Threefold Gate, the legion's Librarius.
>Ranking Officers
The highest ranking officers and experts of the legion are assembled in the Chaotai.
The legion's two highest commanders are the Ministers of the Left and the Right. Slightly lower in seniority are the Cihuacoatl, a flexible council with a membership made up of the Masters of the various orders. Parallel to this, are the Tlatoani, a council drawn from the chapters of the legion. Any praetor level commander has the right to a seat in the Chaotai, but in practice, only a small subset attend the primarch at any given time.
>The Jade Empire
The Jade Empire is one of the nicer places in the galaxy. Xun Tohilcoatl would claim the nicest, but Alexios would doubtlessly disagree. The Jade Empire is run on the principles of rationalism and order, with a hybrid administration that includes the mortal inhabitants in the bureaucracy.

I'm thinking Malcador crashed there for a while after Terra fell and Xun and Malcador got along great. There's a fair bit of manufacturing going on, drawing from the Tindalan Mechanicum's school of thought. (Maybe Koriel Zeth made it out there too?)

Considering the proximity, I imagine the Storm Kingdom and Jade Empire are close allies and would trade heavily. I suppose Xun Tohilcoatl finds the Storm Kingdom awfully ineffective by comparison, what with its feudal hierarchy of Lords:

Local>Planet(>System if a system has more than one inhabited planet)>Sub-Sector>Sector and then finally those high ranking lords which sit at the council. That combined with how wildly different each planet is and how much leeway feuding nobles are given.

The Jade Emperor may also deal with the training and dispersion of psykers for warp beacons and the like, running the Black Ship equivalent, as well as the astropaths. The Jade Empire vigorously supports their allies in the Storm Kingdoms. The Celestial Court tries to stay on good terms with the Fists of Mars, though their unorthodox variant on the machine creed may strain relations at times.
Similarly, though the Imperium Minoris and Jade Empire are both very much on the same side, what the Jade Empire calls pragmatism, the Alexios has a much less kind name for. Similarly, Xun finds that Alexios is overly judgemental, rigid, and overly idealistic.
The Jade Emperor tries to stay on the good side of Anders, which mostly means not bothering them. The Jade Empire also openly negotiates with the Craftworld Eldar, under the assumption that they have a far more important common enemy. As a result, some craftworlds are allies, distant allies, but on the same side, while others cannot be dealt with. Like Sam-Hain and their Eldar supremacist agenda.
Similarly, some very few minor xenos races are granted protectorate status.

They are, of course, eternally at war with the bloodhounds and have been known to even strike against the core of the Dark Imperium itself, though never with great effect.
>Xun Tohilcoatl
He's alive and rebuilding as best he can and fortifying what will become The Jade Empire.

Huh. So does this mean that every so often, the Eastern Imperium gets together for a crusade, driving towards Terra?
And you know what they say about the 13th Crusade...

Seems like an interesting idea.

>Haha, yes, that's the Sky Serpents.
I had to make up names for the states in order to label them. Jade Empire seemed like it fit, and it also feels like a bit of a homage to the Jade Pyres from thread I.

>What is your legion's command structure? What are the highest ranking officers called? Does your primarch have some sort of war council like the Mournival or the Tetrarchs? Who are your Primarch's Equerry and what are their major deeds?

Alexios the White keeps close council with a selection of his Great Captains called the Pantheon. The number among the Pantheon is not fixed. Instead, any Great Captain Alexios finds worthy is promoted to the Pantheon. In times of greatness its ranks are numerous, but in hard times where few men achieve greatness, many seats in the Hall of Angels remain empty. At the end of the Heresy and the settling down of the Crusader States, the Pantheon sat three: Julianos of the First Company, Basil of the Third, and Tiberius of the Tenth. It was these three wise men who calmed Alexios' fury and convinced him to maintain what was left of the Emperor's legacy far from the Warmaster's reach.

>How is your Legion's Crusader State or Chaos March run? Is it a wasteland of dead worlds with weeping mothers, or a thriving metropolis of glowing worlds? What is your region of space called, and why? What are your relationships with your neighbors?

The Great Captains meet in the Hall of Angels in a form of advisory senate. Each Great Captain rules over a system or subjector in Imperium Minorum, and it is their duty to represent those worlds. However, the decisions of the senate are non-binding, and Alexios maintains despotic control officially. Great Captains among the Angels of Light are referred to as Autokrators.

>Where is your Primarch at the end of the heresy? Does he rule a crusader state/chaos march? Is he dead? Is he lost somewhere in the Eye of Terror? Is he a Daemon Prince?

Alexios rules from New Constantine.

We need a Loyalist Abbadon

Anders Kor's Official Relationship Guide

>The Emperor
Kor strongly dislikes/disliked the Emperor. He saw the Great Crusade as good, but the amount of civilian death due to the tactics of the other legions disgusted him. When Anders attempted to discuss this with the Emperor, he was told to do his duty, no matter the cost. This did not sit well.

>Malcador the Sigilite
Mostly positive, but his attempts to implement Chaplains in the Paladins were met with hostility.

>Alexios
More positive than negative, Anders thinks that Alexios views the average man as something similar to a pet. This difference in opinions, small or not, bothers Anders greatly.

>Engerand
Too headstrong. His death was entirely preventable, and Anders thinks that if Engerand had been more patient he could have been a positive force in the Eastern Imperium. Died too soon.

>Xun
Neutral. They seem to keep away from the Protectorate, which suits Anders just fine. Xun is much more callous than Anders can stand.

I'll eventually do more, once people solidify themselves.

>They rule an empire of mirrors.

So is that in physical space or the Warp? I'd imagine we stay mostly in the Warp, if only out of a desire to not die of old age.

IDK I was just trying to be poetic. It's reminiscent of what Fulgrim talks about when he dreams of the future.

Oathsworn user here, been kinda lurking, when was this decided?

Nothing is decided

...

I'd like my legion to not own any territory and just sort of mooch off Imperium worlds for recruits and materiel (or else raid it from those Protectorate wimps). It seems to fit the theme for them to spend most of their time innawarp, growing various sexual/combat organs.

Seconds Sons user here, I'll hopefully be able to post a write up on my legion, their history, the primarch, and maybe even a special unit or two tomorrow. I've got work, but it'll be a slow day so I'll drop in with what I'll be able to write.

Have some mood music and art for them in the meantime.

youtu.be/40JmEj0_aVM

Are Phosphex flame throwers a thing that already exists btw?

The couchsurfing /k/ommandos of the Heresy...

I wouldn't say that the Scions are obsessed with death as much as they're Tankred: The Chapter. Though there might be some interesting dynamics with the necrons once they start showing up.

Prospective new Legion for your consideration.

>What is the name of your primarch and legion? What is their number, and what are their heraldric symbols? What colors do your marines paint their armor?

Gehennus Rodran, Lord High Marshall of the ever-watching XVI, the Sentinels Legion.

Their heraldry is largely informal and oftentimes personal to the individual, but is mainly composed of various kinds of eyes.

Their armor is primarily grey with black and red as secondary and tertiary colors.

>What are your legion's tactics? Do they fight with cunning or strength? What sort of equipment do they favor?

The Sentinels' tactics revolve around simultaneous, lightning-fast, comparatively small-scale raids and skirmishes against multiple high-value targets, most often during times of heightened vulnerability (Middle of the night, during severe weather patterns, etc.)

The Sentinels value cunning and teamwork over personal prowess, each squad views itself as a brotherhood within the larger brotherhood.

Because of their tactics and training, the shotgun and the sniper rifle enjoys a ubiquity that nearly rivals that of the bolter within the Sentinels Legion.

>chapter
Er, legion. Which reminds me, is there anything similar to the codex astartes in this incarnation?

>What is your legion's command structure?
The Legion still follows the original command structure put in place at it's founding, with a major addition: the Wanderer Units. Wanderer units are made up of Space Marines from other Legions who have left their original Legion for various reasons (most commonly dissatisfaction or refusal to turn to Chaos). Wanderers are not considered "true Paladins", and therefore have their own command structure, with each unit overseen by a True Captain.

Wanderers do exactly that: they wander into the Contested Territory, and attempt to aid the planets that have been abandoned by the Fallen Imperium. Wanderers have no support whatsoever from the Protectorate, and thus must rely on themselves to procure any resources they may need, from food to ammunition.

>The Protectorate Council
Each planet in the Protectorate is allowed to send 1 civilian, 1 military, and 1 corporate representative to the Chambers of Determination on the capital of New Hope to participate in the Council of the Protectorate. The Council, led by Anders Kor, decides all matters that concern the future of the Protectorate. It is not entirely democratic, as the Primarch and the Paladins always have the last say, but it puts the citizens at ease to know their voices are being heard by their leaders. Each world is run directly through the Council, so all representatives have equal value, from agriworlds to hiveworlds.

>What are your relationships with your neighbors?
Neutral, unless attacked. Trade is done with all manner of heretics, loyalists, xenos, and everything in between.

>Where is your Primarch at the end of the heresy? Does he rule a crusader state/chaos march? Is he dead? Is he lost somewhere in the Eye of Terror? Is he a Daemon Prince?
At the end of the heresy, Anders relocates as many citizens from the Fallen Imperium as he can to the Protectorate. In the current year of the setting, he can be found on New Hope trying to secure the future.

For what it's worth, I love it.

>What is your legion's command structure? What are the highest ranking officers called? Does your primarch have some sort of war council like the Mournival or the Tetrarchs? Who are your Primarch's Equerry and what are their major deeds?

After the indefinite incapacitation of Sarco Funerus, the Undying Scions divided the governance of the legion among several groups of dreadnoughts, each ruling a different system in the primarch's name. As such, each group must be self sufficient enough to hold out against an enemy force until they can be relieved by their brothers. An Undying council's forces often includes ten companies of one hundred battle brothers as well as the vehicles and materiel required to support them. Once every ten years or in times of dire emergency the councils convene on Amaranth to discuss the future of the legion.

>How is your Legion's Crusader State or Chaos March run? Is it a wasteland of dead worlds with weeping mothers, or a thriving metropolis of glowing worlds? What is your region of space called, and why? What are your relationships with your neighbors?

The Undying Scions do not concern themselves with the local governments of their worlds aside from militarily. Astartes were made for one purpose and one purpose only, after all.

>Where is your Primarch at the end of the heresy? Does he rule a crusader state/chaos march? Is he dead? Is he lost somewhere in the Eye of Terror? Is he a Daemon Prince?

Sarco Funerus, one of the few who lead the defense of Terra, was given a dire curse by chaos sorcerers on the eve of the final battle: he was fully perceptive of the passage of time and events around him, but unable to move or speak. Upon discovering their seemingly comatose primarch his gene-sons were sent into disarray and we're unable to fully participate in the battle for Terra. Disgraced, they fled with their primarch upon the Emperor's death to their homeworld of Amaranth and its surrounding systems.

I like the idea of smaller warp lighthouses, fueled by PYSKERS. So there is a reason to still have the black ships.

In fact I can see The Black Traders being a coalition power within the crusader states, a collection of former rogue traders, navigator houses, and the group that wouldbhave become the schola astratum and inquisition. Their black ships travel from fief to fief 'dealing' in trained PYSKERS as navigators, astropaths, or lighthouse fuel. Also potentially other forms of slaves. I imagine they would be less welcome in some crusader states than others.

Instead of wanderer units, may I suggest calling them Hedgeknights or Errants?

>What sort of enemy would you call them for?

The Sentinels despise the perfidious Eldar above and beyond any other xeno. Should even a single Eldar be involved in any incident on Imperial Space, you wouldn't even have to call them, they'll volunteer.

>What does your Legion do during the Great Crusade? How early is the Primarch found, and where? What worlds to they conquer, and what xenos monstrosities to they face in the name of the Imperial Truth? Mark your conquests on the map.

During the Great Crusade the Sentinels were largely divided, by choice, throughout the entirety of Imperial Space laying waste to all manner of pirate fleets, corsair squadrons, and raider strongholds. They were also continuously hunting down dissidents, rebels, separatists, anarchists, and the like on innumerable Imperial Worlds and were always the first to be called upon when a newly-conquered world needed to be garrisoned to ensure Compliance.

(Other information will come as this universe becomes more fleshed out)

>What does your legion do during the Warmaster's Heresy? Are they loyalists, traitors, or renegades? Which legions do they fight the most? What are their major battles and actions during the Warmaster's campaign? How do they fare at the end? If your Primarch is a traitor or renegade, does he become a Daemon Prince? Mark your battles on the map.

Just prior to the Heresy, Gehennus is made vaguely aware, surreptitiously, by the Warmaster, of his plans. Unfortunately, the Loyalists are framed for it, the Warmaster using the Sentinels' distrust of sorcery against them, and are ambushed and attacked en-masse by the Sentinels throughout the Heresy itself.

>>What is your legion's command structure? What are the highest ranking officers called? Does your primarch have some sort of war council like the Mournival or the Tetrarchs? Who are your Primarch's Equerry and what are their major deeds?
During the Crusade, the Bloodhounds were broken into Hunting Packs, each of which joined different expeditionary fleets as it saw fit, with the blessing of the Primarch, of course. Balthasar's Blood Pack, his cadre of closest allies and most skilled huntsmen, can be joined only by invitation, and only after bringing the Primarch the corpse of an enemy he has not seen before. First among his pack is Cerberon, the Houndmaster, who served balthasar well, for he was skilled in the management of recruits and the regulation of a legion. Cerberon was known to call new recruits "litters of pups," whom he intended to raise into bloodthirsty warhounds.

>>How is your Legion's Crusader State or Chaos March run? Is it a wasteland of dead worlds with weeping mothers, or a thriving metropolis of glowing worlds? What is your region of space called, and why? What are your relationships with your neighbors?

The Hunting Grounds of the northern marches are a desolate place, but they are people. The Bloodhounds like to keep their game populations thriving, after all. Agriworlds, feudal worlds, and the occasional forgeworld all labor in terror, hoping that next time the Hounds come screaming from the sky, they will ask only for tithes. They pray that this time they will not be the prey. Balthasar's territory borders that of the Storm Hammers and the Sky Serpents, and his warbands frequently skirmish with them. Balthasar himself makes his throne of skulls on his homeworld of Atris, where the captured prey of a thousand worlds are fed to his daemonic menagerie.

+++ IMPERIAL MORALE TRANSMISSION EPSILON PI +++

THE EYES OF THE WARMASTER ARE UPON YOU!

He could be any officer of the watch. He could be your commander, or he could be the deckhand scrubbing the privy deck. He could be the enemy you face on the morrow. The Warmaster is among us, and he is well hidden. He watches over those who are faithful to him. If you deviate, if you falter in the face of the Warmaster's tasks, he will see it, you can be sure. His eyes are upon you at the dawn of every day, and the rise of every moon.

THE EYES OF THE WARMASTER ARE UPON YOU!

+++ MESSAGE REPEATS +++

Idea: Malcador escapes Terra and makes it to New Constantine. There he and Alexios develop the Imperial Truth: The belief that the Emperor has ascended to godhood. In the name of the now declared God-Emperor of Mankind, Malcador forms Astropathic chapels on strategic worlds in the crusader states. Some legions buy into the Cult, some don't. Maybe there's even fighting about it. But even worlds that disregard the imperial Truth allow Malcador's Black Ships to establish bases in their space, for the usefulness of Astropathic Beacons is invaluable.

The Imperial Cult and the Ecclesiarchy develop an Astartes U.N. They're the ones who call multi-legion crusades into the Dark Imperium. They temper the infighting among the legions as best they can, and try to keep them unified against the enemy, but that's a daunting task.

Maria Vespa, the Star of Morning.

>Concept
The background being established here is the death of the Imperium. Logically, the Loyalists hope for its rebirth, so their iconic figure should anticipate that with a story of death and resurrection. I have a decent origin below and will follow it up if other anons like this idea.

>Origin
Maria was born on Chacek, an obscure farming world shortly after the Great Crusade ended in treachery and bloodshed. Her home planet had little strategic significance and would not be formally assimilated into the Dark Imperium for some years.

During the conquest of Chacek, Maria fought as a member of a partisan band, but eventually faced the prospect of defeat. Unlike her fellows who chose to die or meekly submit, Maria Vespa boldly confronted a Dark Imperial officer and demanded that she be taken back to the throneworld so that she could perform a ritual of mourning after the conquest was announced. Though the cruel officer had little respect for such superstitions, he was taken by the young woman's spirit and decided to take the opportunity to degrade her. Just to win passage back to Terra, Maria had to give up her clothing. As the journey went on, her sponsor inflicted every humiliation and torture his depraved mind could come up with, always preceded by the choice to give up on the people of Chacek. Eventually, as the officer's ship broke warp in the Sol System itself, he made an ultimatum. Maria could give up her life and mourn her people as a corpse, or save herself.

A Dark Imperial officer bringing back a grisly trophy from a successful campaign was not unusual. None commented on the dead woman hanging from the banner of the conqueror of Chacek. Once the triumph had passed, Maria's body was dumped into the prison sinks to feed the light-starved masses beneath.

I am... Surprisingly okay with this.

I did suggest, in a half-joking way at the end of the first thread, that the judgement bringers could turn to nurgle in a 'fuck you emps, and least papa nurgle loves us' sort of way. Sort of silly but I could see the potential there.

youtube.com/watch?v=2bosouX_d8Y

This whole thing is shaping out to be super cool.

>How is your Legion's Crusader State or Chaos March run? Is it a wasteland of dead worlds with weeping mothers, or a thriving metropolis of glowing worlds? What is your region of space called, and why? What are your relationships with your neighbors?
The Silver Spears govern no worlds in the galaxy, for a warrior does not concern himself with such pettiness. He simply takes whatever he needs from those allowed to live under his protection. For the XIII Legion, this distinction extends to the Imperium’s entire non-astartes population, and they see no problem in descending upon an Imperial world to avail themselves of local materiel, potential recruits, or even sections of architecture. This disposition has put the Silver Spears at odds with other corrupted legions, most famously the Bloodhounds. To be fair, most of this rivalry can be attributed to the clashing personalities of both the primarchs and the gods they serve.

Such treatment is oftentimes also extended to nearby worlds in the crusader states, but at that point it is called raiding. It should come as no surprise that the legion at large sees this form of warfare as somewhat below them, and so tend to make use of large contingents of manic Slaaneshi cultists to compliment their own naval forces. Commanders within the legion have made it a point of competition to use smaller numbers of actual marines than their peers when conducting raiding operations, especially if the target worlds are guarded by loyalist astartes.

The Spears’ permanent residence is located in the deeper reaches of the Warp. It is a nameless, colossal, slightly impossible fortress granted them by the Prince of Excess himself. The gleaming walls seem to protect the legionnaires and their spoils from the worst mutative effects of the Aetherium, at least for now. It is a clearing house of bizarre pleasures and extreme excess, where sniping at marauding daemons from the battlements is considered a regular (and often necessary) pastime. However, the most infamous part in the palace is known as the Hall of Remembrance. In this grand corridor are arrayed hundreds, perhaps thousands of trophies, trinkets, and pieces of art, each commending the deeds of some great hero. The observer inevitably finds himself filled with a sense of swirling, non-specific pride in the glory which surrounds him, and as he makes his way down the hall, the feeling begins to crystalize into self-satisfaction. The faces on the portraits start to resemble that of the onlooker; memories of past heroics form in his mind. At the end of the room stands a formerly imperceptible collection of statues, each with a stupid grin etched into its face

Please tell me what you think, how it can be better worked into the universe, etc.

I like it. A bunch of Adonis-likes making themselves the perfect warrior.

This is great stuff. Perfectly Slaaneshi.

Gaze upon the glorious face of thine enemy, Khornate dog.

It's not like I hate you or anything, b-baka!

ONE DAY, BROTHER, I WILL TEAR OUT YOUR IMPETUOUS SPINE AND WEAR IT AS A BELT!

BUT THAT DAY IS NOT TODAY. COME, LET US HUNT THESE...CRUSADERS. THEY ARE FINE SPORT, AND THE WARMASTER COMMANDS IT.

Thank you kindly.

Idea: Our legions are actually pretty okay with each other besides the occasional resource theft. Khorne and Slaanesh fucking hate it but can't do shit because we're their favored champions.

Does Alexios get along with Malcador?

I'd been thinking he crashed with Xun for a while.

>Does Alexios get along with Malcador?
They're relatively similar chracters, actually. They're pragmatic, but not to the detriment of a sense of drama. They have a great deal of respect for the symbols of old Terra. They want to keep the world united and let humanity flourish.

Also, if the Sigilite came to Alexios and offered him the belief that the Emperor yet lived, in some way, then he would jump at it. He loved the Emperor dearly and his death affects him greatly.

Oh, then Alexios and Xun may be on much better terms than I'd been thinking.
I'd been imagining Alexios as a lot more Dorn-ish, with Xun as to Alexios as Malcador is to Dorn.

Quick question:

How far into the future of the AU are you guys projecting? Are you just looking at the first century after the Warmaster takes over, or are you positing that a lot of the Primarchs are still hanging around a hundred centuries later?

I've been assuming it's around 100 years after the Fall of the Emperor.

Alexios is a mixture of Gulliman and Fulgrim. He wants to build a beautiful empire the likes of which the galaxy has never seen. Everything he does is done with deliberation, and he pays studious attention to everything. He lacks the frivolity of Fulgrim but has the same appreciation for beauty. He is an expert in all manner of things, including War, but also art, music, arthitecture, and philosophy. His technical ability can often be uninspired, however, and his legion's penchant for explicitly written combat doctrines ends up being a danger when the Bloodhounds attack.

I imagine most of the primarchs don't remain all the way to 40k do, but a few might. I think the focus of our narrative is a few centuries after the heresy dies down. The Legion's kingdoms are somewhat established, there have been a few holy crusades for terra called. For now let's not speculate on the world of 40k.

That said, we should also be talking about the Great Crusade and the old glory days.

Gotcha. In that case, the rivalry is probably pretty friendly, with Xun having a lot more of the Khan and Alpharius in him when it comes to strategy, but being equally committed to a good empire.
It probably comes down to Alexios having seniority, along with the prestiege that comes along with going by the book (and having a book to go by)-- somehow Xun's own Art of War never quite gets completed and circulates in dozens of partial editions.

Are there any loyalist primarchs specialized in single combat?

The Great Crusade is pretty cool. Spreading the Imperial Truth, committing Xenocide, and perpetrating bloody assaults on planets that don't quite buy into this whole "unified empire of mankind" business.

Nothing for Maria, admittedly, but I'm OK with that.

Right here.

Excellent. We must have a battle, probably in the early Heresy, where you and I duel in full sight of our armies.

If you don't really want that, then are there any others you know about?

Totally fine with it, as long as you're alright with a bunch of Whirlwinds targeting you. It relaxes Anders.

Thank you. It would hardly be fair otherwise.

Anders is just so used to the explosions, he doesn't know if he can perform without them.

OK, after a bit of thought I think I have the resurrection angle.

>Rebirth

While Maria Vespa's body was displayed on Unholy Terra, her spirit wandered the Warp among the lost trillions slain in the Betrayal. Though the daemons of Chaos gorged themselves on human soulstuff, the vast slaughter wrought by the Warmaster's minions had filled the Empyrium with enough spirits to sate the appetites of the unholy for a time. Maria Vespa shone like a beacon to those whose lives had been spent in defiance of the Dark Imperium, and these proud, angry spirits began to flow into her essence, swelling her with psychic might. In the timeless mystery of the Warp, Maria Vespa grew strong enough to draw the ire of the Chaos Gods themselves, forcing her to flee back to the Materium and her own body.

In the prison-sinks of Unholy Terra, Maria Vespa drew breath once more. The great powers she had acquired in her sojourn through death were more than sufficient to protect her in that savage realm. In the darkest depths of the Warmaster's realm, she recruited her apostles from among those who have been consigned to the depths. Over the years, many have escaped from Unholy Terra, bringing word to Mankind that in the nightmare of the Dark Imperium, hope has been born anew.

So do we have an internal history yet? This whole thread is a lot of fucking confusing and needs a tl;dr

Nice.
Did she come into contact with fragments of the Emperor?

This () is about the best plot summary we have so far.

The Warmaster springs his trap with two surprise attacks: He has the Justice Bringers (or maybe the Silver Spears) hold a friendly tournament between legions which turns out to be an Istvaan-esque charnel house. He also musters the Blood Hounds, the Sky Serpents, and the Angels of Light together against a false enemy, then trick the two loyalists into thinking each other have gone traitor. By the time they figure it out the Bloodhound forces have them on the rout.

Other Traitor and Loyalist legions make their way to Terra for battle. There is a great siege between their forces, and just at the moment of victory, when it seems the Loyalists have won the day, the Warmaster appears and kills the emperor with a stab in the back. Warp storms ravage Terra as the Emperor achieves Apotheosis, and the Loyalists flee eastward to lick their wounds.

I'd rather be agnostic about that, because some people might want the Emperor to be a god of Order.

While the Warp Emperor is cool, in-canon it should be ambiguous whether or not he truly ascended to godhood.

Ill continue the Warhawks.

Pic related, the inspiration for the chapter turned legion.

>What is your legion's command structure? What are the highest ranking officers called? Does your primarch have some sort of war council like the Mournival or the Tetrarchs? Who are your Primarch's Equerry and what are their major deeds?

Command structure is loose, the legion favouring independence and initiative. In tn this way their are only really two command ranks and varying seniority within them. Strike Captains hold dominion over a self-sufficient force including naval assets and aerospace fighters. Force Commanders have authority over only a single asset, for example a ship, a wing of strike craft, a squad, or a company. This has led to some conflict however due to clashes of jurisdiction and technical authority. However the battle brothers are quick to acknowledge expert opinion and the value of experience in certain situations - less so however when working with other legions command structures.

The Primarch holds no special council, though does seek to surround himself with experts in various fields of war.

I haven't considered Equerrys yet - but I will and get back to it.

>How is your Legion's Crusader State or Chaos March run? Is it a wasteland of dead worlds with weeping mothers, or a thriving metropolis of glowing worlds? What is your region of space called, and why? What are your relationships with your neighbors?

The legion attempts to leave its conquered worlds in a prosperous state however dedicates little additional effort than is required. Likewise they do not seek to use unnecessary force in conquering but will utilise whatever weapons are required to ensure compliance. They

>Where is your Primarch at the end of the heresy?

He fell, records conflict as to if it was during or shortly after the heresy but that he has perished is without doubt.

>II Crimson Warhawks: Loyalist air superiority experts with spaceplanes and jump packs. Needs work.

woah woah woah. Jump packs are not a thing for the Warhawks, they are explicitly air mobile infantry. Ie: Regular infantry with air transports rather than jump infantry.

Assumptions were made. I figured the Crimson Warhawks are interested in rapid deployment, and jump packs are definitely a part of that. Thunderbirds/stormravens were designed to be disembarked from the sky by air-mobile infantry. IMO it fits pretty well with air superiority and highly mobile warfare.

The Hawks see themselves as hunters, in the sky and on land.

In battle they operate in purpose built well armed strike teams, often forgoing heavy weapons in favour of relying on close air support.

On Land their strike teams utilise stealth and focus on direct action tasks, short duration missions with a strong emphasis on seizing, destroying, capturing, exploiting situations.

They eschew decisive engagement unless they hold a position of dominance in terms of both fire and man power. This has led to accusations of cowardice and concerns that if forced into conventional battle they would be somehow inferior to legions who specialise in such domains.

I get that, Ill add more details about them to clarify especially why jump packs dont fit too well with their doctrine. Two major points is that they emphasise stealth and adaptability. They purpose arm their troops rather than have dedicated assault and devastator squads. If the task required fire support they will arm their brothers with weapons appropriate, likewise if they need to deploy via jump pack they will do that - but their order of battle includes only tactically versatile units.

>What is the name of your primarch and legion? What is their number, and what are their heraldric symbols? What colors do your marines paint their armor?
Brokha Zhahnamhe of the Extropian Collective. Their symbol is a circuit braided into the infinity lemniscate. Their armor is typically painted with mottled or streaked slate blue with copper highlights.

>What are your legion's tactics? Do they fight with cunning or strength? What sort of equipment do they favor? What sort of enemy would you call them for?
The Collective seeks to win the fight before it even begins through clever strategy, cunning deception, and exploitative use of any available force multipliers. They believe the body is just a machine, nothing more and as such they rely heavily upon cybernetic augmentation. It should be noted they favor improving the mental over the physical. The best example of this preference is the Immortal drone system which allows the marine to puppet multiple robotic drone bodies at once while still participating in combat themselves.

>What are your primarch's feelings about Sorcery and the Warp? What arguments or statements does he make at Nikaea?
You cannot effectively fight an enemy you do not understand. To deny it is to deliver a potent weapon into the hands of the enemy. Further more this would also cut Brokha and his legion off from their efforts to understand hopefully digitize the human soul to achieve immortality.

>What does your Legion do during the Great Crusade? How early is the Primarch found, and where? What worlds to they conquer, and what xenos monstrosities to they face in the name of the Imperial Truth?

Brokha hails from the Ahzhava System in the Segmentum Tempestus. Records would show the system consisting of pulsar with a handful of gas giants and an extensive asteroid field so there would have been little reason for a full Imperial fleet to arrive. When one did on accident they found the system was dotted with over a thousand titanic space colonies that were home to a technologically superior society of humans who had zero interest of joining the Imperium. It's possible the fleet may have been able to escape and limp back to friendly space but Brokha ensured that would never come to pass.

Brokha was a renegade in the inward facing society he grew up in and despite his extreme capabilities found his options stymied at every turn. When the Imperial fleet showed up though he finally had his chance to expand his horizons. Using his connections in the Colonies' underworld of criminals and malcontents he managed to hack into the centralized defense grid and usurp control of it giving the fleet the chance they needed to secure the Ahzhava System in the name of the Emperor.

His integration into the Imperial war machine was bumpy. One of the first things he did when he took control of his legion was to create a network to allow them to communicate mind-to-mind through neural interfaces where every marine's opinion was counted. This of course ran completely against the existing rigid hierarchy that dominated all military structures, leading to a number of embarrassing failures because his legion had not yet figured out how to effectively operate through such an ad hoc command structure where everyone was actively encouraged to analyze and question.

While they were highly effective against any world that Brokha and his legion would consider primitive they were seen as being uniquely merciful against advanced societies by command back on Terra. At Brokha's command the Collective was reluctant to do what they considered to be unnecessary damage to these societies and effort to take them whole. Too much destruction would reduce what they could contribute to the whole. Brokha always valued having new ideas brought forward, even if the conflicted with what he himself thought. Eventually though the orders would pit him more against xeno empires than wayward human states.

That had some issues too. Brokha himself was a consummate xenophile and loved nothing more than finding and understanding new things. As he saw the body, and thus the brain itself, as nothing more than a complex machine he did not see xenos that he was capable of understanding as fundamentally any different from human. Any biological differences could be corrected through cybernetics, any mental differences through discipline, and any social differences through proper integration policies. Simply put he saw resorting to physical force as something that should be beneath the majesty of something as grand and ambitious as the Imperium. While he was sure to keep this quiet to the rest of the Imperium it was no secret to his legion how he felt and many would come to share in his views as the crusade dragged on. In the end the best thing to do was throw the Extropian Collective at things they would never think the empathize with.

I'm wondering just how friendly the Protectorate should be with the various xenos species. Eldar have a history of stabbing the Paladins in the back, but at the same time the Paladins preach tolerance.

Also, because of location, unless the Tau take advantage of the collapsing Imperium, it would be rare to see one. Unless -and I'm just tossing out ideas- the Protectorate actively seeks out friendly xenos to settle in Protectorate space... What do you guys think?

>What does your legion do during the Warmaster's Heresy? Are they loyalists, traitors, or renegades? Which legions do they fight the most? What are their major battles and actions during the Warmaster's campaign? How do they fare at the end? If your Primarch is a traitor or renegade, does he become a Daemon Prince?
The Extropian Collective turns traitor, though only reluctantly. Brokha resents the Emperor's inflexibility regarding warp phenomenon and for not allowing him to tear down and expunge the atavistic cult that had a stranglehold on the Imperium's technological advancement. In his secretive studies of the warp Brokha believed he had finally managed to overcome the final hurdle in what he believed would be mankind's salvation, the full digitization of the mind and soul. After millions of simulations he concluded there was no way to simply convince the Emperor through dialogue alone and begrudging admitted that he would have to do it through force.

While the collective would take part in the fighting during the Heresy they did so primarily through robotic shells, only exposing anyone who hadn't been undergone the engram (the term he preferred to use for the collective sum of a person's mind and soul) uploading procedure. While the process did have some "issues" they were all things that he could work out later. While Extropian Collective fought the loyalists back some of their forces would be dispatched to intercept worlds targeted by their less inhibited brethren to upload their populations. This split focus lead ultimately to the Collective suffering greatly at the hands of the loyalists, though considering death was more an inconvenience than a true end at that point they didn't really care. So long as the marines were resolved enough to survive as digital consciousness in their network a body didn't matter.

In the end before the Fall of Terra the loyalists were able to reach Ahzhava Colonies and destroy the central astropathic matrix beacon, a massive computer system constructed in one of the space colonies to provide the required processing power to sustain the Collective's matrix. Getting it required fighting past several other space colonies converted into gargantuan laser cannons. When the fighting stopped much of the system was ruined and only a handful of colonies survived if barely. It would seem that Brokha and the Collective died with him... and that's exactly what he wanted everyone to think. In reality the Extropian Collective had used a third of its forces to establish a new matrix hub far away from the fighting where they could rebuild and bring billions of minds out of storage.

Good Idea.

> Raydon Falx - Primarch of the Crimson Warhawks

>Emperor
Chafes under his command, but believes in his vision - disagreed with the ban on psykers but obeyed the ruling.

>Malcador
The two have worked closely, He respects Malcadors wisdom, experience, and loyalty. Was asked by Malcador to act as eyes and ears throughout the campaign with his disjointed units fighting across the stars - and to report on their findings.

> I legion primarch.
Envious of his ability to build empires, but knows that his is the soul of a wanderer, and would hate being 'trapped' in a single place for too long.

> III primarch
untrusting of his loyalties until the Heresy, but otherwise they agree on most issues having similar outlooks.

> IV
Disapprove of methodology, and think they are shameful "hunters".

> V
Don't quite understand the fondness of machines but definitely a fan of the results.

> VI
Don't know how they would interact, but typically well if they were loyalist.

> VII
Most hated enemy, having fallen prey to the traitorus tournament. To this day hunting these traitors is always considered a top priority. A step or two below the devotion that DA hunt the fallen, the Warhawks definately hold the a grudge.

> VIII
Haven't read up about them yet.

> IX
Have close bonds, both legions being primer void combatants. Friendly rivalry most likely.

> X
Close bonds, most likely Falx's closest ally.

> XI
Up until the Heresy they worked closely together, and shared many battle honours. Was devastated by their betrayal.

> XII + VIII
Got nothing.

> XIV
The legion sees being trapped in dreadnoughts as a fate far worse than death, having a strong ancestor honouring culture. They would pity them, but also most likely hold them in high regard for the sacrifice they would have made to be incarcerated within the dreadnoughts armour

Interesting idea, how does their cybernetic network interact with chaos? Are they actually uploading into the warp?
Does scrap code infect it?

Or are they reinventing biotransferrence?
Or something totally different?

Intuitively, I feel as though something should be set up to go horribly, horribly wrong for the grimdark.

Suprisingly, he might actually like the organization, at least on the borders--with planets as self sufficient as possible, they're resistant to invasion and siege, ne?
Xun respects Engerand and I kind of imagine he has a sense of humor, which Xun would also appreciate.

Hmmm...Perhaps Xun is working on a great wall of star forts, the great wall of the Eastern Imperium.