Alexandri of Rosskar

Alexandri of Rosskar
Title/Honours	King of Rosskar [Surrendered], the Unifying Dictator, Greatfather Rosskar.
Discovered (world)	Rosskar
Discovered (period)	c.855.M30
Legion	Fifteenth
Great Crusade Command	38th Expedition Fleet
Heraldry/Sigil
Distinguishing Traits	Cautious, Pragmatic, Grim
Flaws	Callous, Ruthless
Fate	Assassinated

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

"A King is a man who assumes responsibility. He says "I was beaten", he does not say "My men were beaten"."

– (Sayings of Rosskar, Volume IV, 'Alexandri's Words')

Alexandri of Rosskar was the Primarch of the Fifteenth Legion; the Silver Cataphracts, known for their dour attitudes and utter lack of pride. The tactics of Alexandri were highly controversial relying on material warfare and deception, but his was the hand that allowed Terra to be saved by the Void Angels and the Steel Marshals. His potential to seize power in the shattered Imperium led to his assassination by the upper echelons of his Legion and by his own brother, Gaspard Lumey.

History

Youth

Looking back I now know history is much more the product of mayhem than of conspiracy. I never intended to become King, yet I am.

(Sayings of Rosskar IV, pg. 14)

In the ancient gene-laboratories of the Emperor, Primordial Entities that would later to be revealed as the four Gods of Chaos cast his sons adrift across space. Only Hektor was raised alongside his Father, while the others were sent to far-flung planets. Alexandri found himself sent to a remote, insular planet of Rosskar. Ancient Rosskar was divided along three continents, held in check by a techno-tyrannical Kingdom that spanned its globe. Alexandri landed upon Takuat, the largest and poorest of these states. His pod landed in a region known as the Northern Expanse, the largest stretch of forest on Rosskar. This forest same as any other on the ice-world was populated by the aggressive xeno-foliage and fauna that made it a chthonic nightmare to traverse. An order of middle-class freemen known as the "Frontiersmen" fought hard to reach the sight of the trailing comet, arriving at Alexandri's crashsite. These supertitious yet driven men were operating on a prophecy of the Silver Cataphract, a savior that would descend from the sky to rescue those on Rosskar. A being that would deliver them to another world. These men worked in service to Vityaza known as Lady Wisna, nicknamed Mistress of the North for her nearly undisputed control of Frontiersmen lodges of the Northern Expanse. The child rescued would be raised by Lady Wisna for the unique circumstances surrounding his "birth". Young Alexandri showed aptitude unlike any other pupil, growing up mentally and physically strong at an alarming rate. Raised alongside Wisna's daughter of similar years, Snježana, the difference couldn't be more palpable. At age twelve he joined his first frontier patrol, distinguishing himself in combat while still mastering his studies above Snježana's curriculum. At fifteen, he had mastered every form of mathematical system available to him and could recite Rosskan history from memory.

Alexandri was a servant of Bogumil the Cautious, the King of Rosskar. Bogumil ruled the same as his father and his father before him, with ruthless efficiency and terror. Two social classes existed during this time on Rosskar, the Qio which were a peasant class but close to slaves and the Vityaz which were techno-nobility. Bogumil ruled through his Vityaz nobility, sworn to service him in exchange for technology hidden away in the deepest vaults of Rosskar. Alexandri came to Bogumil's attention, seeing his prowess when Snježana was presented as a bride to Bogumil. Not only did Alexandri secure the marriage that would bring prestige to his house, but was commissioned as Marshal of Rosskar to keep oversight of Takaut. For the next twenty years of Alexandri's tenure, he crushed seventeen Qio revolts and two infamously large Vityaz uprisings. Bogumil in time grew to fear Alexandri's popularity among the Vityaz, and his conciliatory attitude towards the Qio class. This paranoia was only further inflamed by Snježana, pushing Bogumil towards further restrictions of Alexandri. For the Marshal's part, he took each abuse and loss of privilege in stride maintaining his oath of loyalty towards his King. Eventually Alexandri was relegated to a border posting where it all began, overlooking the Northern Expanse akin to a jumped up game warden. Alexandri took the posting in stride, reducing the incidents of animal incursion by eighty percent.

Bogumil's growing inward fear could not be fully contained however. Even in the end, he unleashed Rosskar's greatest weapon. A tool that had fallen into legend but once cemented the royal family's claim upon this white sphere. The Skhau-81-Z2 was a relic of another time, before mad constructs and warp-fire consumed the galaxy. The Skhau was capable of Mach-6, powered by a dual fusion engine that both powered its many jets and its weapon systems to fire laser weaponry of humanity's golden age. Snježana, either sensing the madness of Bogumil's act or reminding herself of familial loyalty secretly warned Alexandri of the coming conflagration. The Primarch only had minutes to escape, riding as hard south as he could before the remote controlled device unleashed a firestorm that immolated thousands, including the aging Lady Wisna. This would prove the final act of betrayal, forcing the Primarch to marshal together a conspiracy that would end with Bogumil's hanging. The Skhau-81-Z2 was destroyed with a precisely timed detonation of a nuclear weapon, built by the Primarch's own hands in order to destroy it. Once the act was done, Alexandri eliminated each and every single member of the royal family. Snježana still retaining her title as Queen, married Alexandri to cement his legitimacy as King over Rosskar and all its people and dominions. The marriage, much like that of his brother Hektor, was entirely for political reasons.

After this, Alexandri abolished the system of servitude effectively ending the slavery of the lower classes. The destruction of feudalism followed after, with the lands being overturned to the Kingship. A short civil war did ensue, with the outnumbered Vityaz only keeping a slight edge due to reliquaries of ancient weaponry. However soon enough superior generalship of Alexandri drove Vityaz to brink of extinction. Then he made his famous compromise to the disenfranchised class. The remaining Vityaz were allowed what land and possessions they had, in exchange for the ending of all social privileges. No more would the peasantry bow before them, or be sold and auctioned off for labor between them. Under Alexandri Rosskar flourished with new blossoming cities and industry. The forests were pushed back further than ever before as urban centers centralized, standardized administration with capable minds handpicked by the Primarch speeding the process up beyond measure.

Zlasta Curimin founded the Committee for Living, or commonly referred to simply as the Committee. Zlasta's organization incorporated the the old Frontiersmen lodge system into an expanded, concentrated effort to reduce the voracious forests and the fauna therein into manageable sectors. The King of Rosskar was sensitive to the changes Zlasta instituted, but his nostalgia for his early years among the Frontiersmen faded thanks to her results. No longer were the bastard sons and daughters of the Vityaz the only Frontiersmen, becoming a high paying profession with years of practical study and training to hone one's body towards the task. Alexandri plucked the genius Andrien Duško who used the now opened technological vaults to rediscover the art of voidcraft. For the first time, Alexandri's intellect was matched, and even succeeded by a mortal in Andrien. This inspired no small part of admiration in the Primarch. Healthy competition spurned as Alexandri spent what little free time he had going over Andrien's notes, reviewing his progress on incorporating various stellar craft. Rockets beyond counting, orbital stations that formed the basis of a new industry of asteroid mining. In only fifty years after King Alexandri Ibirien the First's reign, the Rosskan population had soared by five hundred percent and were beginning colonization of the stars.

The Silver Cataphract

Rosskar is Kuzgeta. Kuzgetan is Rosskan.

-Common Rosskan saying to explain the relationship between Rosskar and its colonies.

True to the prophecy that drove men to fight and die to save him, Alexandri drew Rosskar towards new worlds. The surrounding sector of space would be known as "Kuzgeta", meaning 'Land of Stars' in Rosskan. The first wave of colonists were sent out almost immediately upon the construction of Rosskar's first shipyard. These ships began spreading to nearly every habitable world at once. There was no shortage of colonists willing to be the first sacrificial lambs to the altar of Alexandri's stellar ambitions. Not all were capable though. The King chose the cream of his crop, separating the chaff through a series of rigorous tests to ensure viability of both genetic, intellectual, and emotional strength. From the foundation Alexandri understood the difficulties of maintaining a vast stellar realm. Direct, sometimes ruthless rule was inefficient and outright dangerous to the stability of the growing Kuzgeta region. Alexandri established a federation, establishing various rights and freedoms for each member state. He chose the initial rulers quite carefully, with plenty of agents in place to coerce circumstances towards his ends but did not influence daily life for the average Kuzgetan. No totalitarian dictatorships reigned for the weakness of these realms, but some feudal societies arose very similar to the old Vityaz while some burgeoning democracies arose along with anything inbetween. Alexandri, much like the Imperium that would soon come, only desired one facet among all his clients: loyalty.

After raids from Xenos attackers and small, petty human realms Alexandri immediately pushed for the establishment of the Kuzgetan Defensive Sphere. Each world must establish an industrial capacity towards interstellar construction soon as possible, with harsh punishments for those who lagged behind. With Alexandri's constant envoys pressing and the implied, direct, and overbearing threats led to each member managing to exceed production quotas. The Rosskan fleet was pitifully behind even the most meager fleet of the Great Crusade, but was large enough to scare off all but the most desperate void-brigand. A swarm of frigates supported by cruisers that would not be remiss in the Forty First Millennium. At the time, Alexandri did not establish a considerable ground presence imagining that warfare was entirely decided upon void-ship combat. Later the Primarch would remark this was short-sighted and costly, leading to an inadequacy when it came to situations requiring more delicate, precise weaponry to conserve resources.

Among the managing of a vast interstellar realm, the security of the various states including his home planet's Alexandri also saw out new projects. Given enough time he would be able to create flawed imitations of the Astartes, though never would they match the longevity and reproductive capabilities of the Emperor's Legionnaires. Various projects focused on examining and rebuilding the complexities of Dark Age technology, but each stalled when hitting hard deadlocks to understanding the fundamental concepts underlying plasma, gauss, and volkite weaponry. Without understanding them improvements could not be achieved. Alexandri's key achievement in his projects was the fostering of the Rosskar Covens. These Covens were nurtured based off the ancient legends of witches in the forests, which held some truth behind a secret society which trained young Psykers to keep their powers under control and hide among the general populace. After contacting these Covens, Alexandri located their leadership and wiped them out to the last. Those few survivors were recruited into his fold. The old lore was studied extensively, and Psykers were brought forward into a more stately, organized program under the same name.

Great Crusade

{{Topquote|I am asked, how could you do this? What drove you to surrender so readily, so willingly, when you had fought so hard before? These people are bold to question me like this, but heed my wisdom when I say I held no sadness over the loss of my Kingship.

A crown is only a hat that lets the snow in.|(Quote dated at 996.M30, after being questioned by his brother Primarch Inferox)

At first the Emperor's coming was met with glee and celebration. Alexandri himself was glad that there was a man he could call an equal, someone to ease the weight of ruling off his shoulders. He had no idea what the Emperor's actual position was, more akin to Alexandri's youthful days as a unifying warlord. This made Alexandri make the fateful remark that he'd be happy being nothing more than a Regent, managing the Imperium in the Emperor's Name, not his own. This brought a smile to his Father's face. A knowing smile.

Alexandri would never forgive his Father for this act, but he understood the necessity of accepting it. Rising up to oppose him was pointless, he was a being above him. Disappoint and failure were two things strong in Alexandri's mind. This time would be no different.

I cast my hand out, and the greatest warriors ever to cross the void leap to obey. But this is not true power. No, the leadership my father gives us all is our real strength.

Never once did the Silver Cataphracts refuse the call to arms when summoned. Due to the massive population of Rosskar the Legion's ranks swelled to the brim, and then spilled over. It was never clear if the Alexandri even once told the truth of the actual size of his Legion. To further add to this blatant growth of Astartes numbers, millions of regular human soldiers were introduced as part of the Legion as the Rosskar Strelky. The Strelky served as a valuable source of support during the Crusades, fighting as an auxiliary force to the Cataphracts main operations.

When not helping the Emperor or his fellow Primarchs however, Alexandri was eager to expand the realms of the Imperium on his own. Using envoys and trusted functionaries, a small portion of his Legion would act in the Emperor's name but obviously make sure certain worlds favored Rosskar as their destination of tithe payment. He searched for worlds either with unrealized industrial potential or low population, high resource worlds. A huge warmachine was forged form the tiny fiefdom he claimed to help fund his ever expanding Legion and auxiliary force. When rumors of a rising amount of Librarians in the Cataphracts came to light, along with reports of witches serving in the auxiliary, it became clear that Alexandri had great ambitions that might upset the balance of order in the Imperium. Still, even if Alexandri broke regulations, he was always loyal to humanity, understanding the Imperium's way was the best way. The Imperial Truth just needed bending.

His actions created great controversy as sometimes Alexandri would made ridiculous deals to secure peaceful surrender, and others he would be mercilessly swift in destroying whole planets. At a glance his decisions might be decided upon whim, but in fact it was all carefully calculated in his mind. In his mind, all that mattered was occupying planets with the least amount of loss. That is, overall loss. If a planet needed to be taken by brute force, it would be. If a planet could be talked down and negotiated with, it would. Alexandri's liberal approach to dealing with Xenos made some question his methods even more. But a few demonstrations of his disregard for alien life made it clear to all this was not another Aubrey The Grey.

Even though the loyalty of Alexandri was at times questioned, the Emperor knew the nature of his son from the few meetings they had. He was loyal, for he understood a civil war would bring too much needless ruin. And that the Emperor was the right being to unite humanity, just as Alexandri was the right man to unite Rosskar.

The Heresy

"Woe to Mankind this day. Pity those who have died on Terra, for it was all in vain. The enemy has achieved the ultimate victory. The sacrifices we made merely ensured they could not enjoy it."

– (Attributed to Alexandri after the Emperor's Enthronement.)

Personality

Appearance

Regal is the best word to describe Alexandri. A huge, flowing brown beard that goes down the front of Alexandri's power armour even in combat. Rosskar's unique sun and the planet's own society put an immense stress on the Primarch. He has aged whereas his own brothers have not. Dark circles have burrowed in deep into his eye sockets and many lines have formed on his face. Even specks of grey and white have touched his beard. All this only adds to his appearance as the iron-fisted ruler of Rosskar. He stands slightly taller than most other Primarchs, but not by much. His Terminator plate is adorned with silver-livery and symbols of the many Vityaz Houses crushed by his hand. Stylistic images of Rosskan Hounds form on the front of his armor, the emblem of his Legion and his own personal crest.

Wargear

Alexandry was known to go into battle with weapons and armor! That's right, he didn't fight naked like Lumey.

A fan's Attempt at Rules

WHOEVER WROTE ALEXANDRI, Fill in the flavor text bits.

	PTS	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Alexandri:	465	7	6	6	6	6	7	6	10	2+/4++

Unit type: Independent Character, Infantry.

Wargear: The Frost Plate!, Xilantai Breath, The Kogot

Special Rules: Adamantium Will, Bulky, Combined Tactics, Eternal Warrior, Fear, Fearless, Independent Character, It Will Not Die, Master of the Legion, Sire of Cataphracts.

The Frost Plate- (Flavor text) 2+/4++. All enemies charging take 1d6 overwatch hits at AP 4 S:5, every wound generated reduces enemy charge by 2 and all charges count as disordered

Xilantai Breath The Xilantai were beasts of myth on Rosskar, massive, not quite living, not quite dead, almost mechanical, not even the mighty Alexandri could kill one. After his father took him under his wing, he asked for a weapon that could conqueror anything, as many a sleepless night were spent contemplating his past failures. S4, AP3, Flamer Template, Haywire, Poison 4+, Rending, Shred.

'The Kogot '- Profile: S:U AP2 Shred, Paired (+1A), Master Crafted.

Combined Tactics- For each army slot, choose one of the following options. The option you choose applies to all units with Legiones Astartes: Silver Cataphracts in that slot (ergo, you don't get to mix and match within a slot).

Elites: Twin-Linked on their first round of shooting or hatred in their first combat.

Troops: Stubborn or Fleet.

Fast Attack: Furious Charge or -2 cover save against your shooting attacks.

Heavy Support: Relentless while in your own deployment zone or adding the Sunder USR to all shooting attacks for one round of shooting of your choice.

Sire of Cataphracts- (insert silver caraphract legion elites) may be taken as troop choices.

He's pretty middle of the road. Not terrible in a fight, but primarily focused on buffing his army. Being able to choose different buffs for each slot of your army gives you all kinds of tactical flexibility, and even though he's not a combat monster the same way some primarchs are, he's still going to eat 98% of things in combat.