The /tg/ Heresy

One fine evening on /tg/, a bunch of creatively-minded anons got together to come up with their very own Primarch and Astartes Legion. This proved very popular, and it wasn't long before /tg/ decided to take everyone's fluff, put it together into their own self-contained alternate universe, and tell the age-old story of the Horus Heresy.

Hence, The /tg/ Heresy.

The GoogleDoc for this can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TAl_Rh3q0UR3cqX6Pbn-4TnB87BS-GrFrax-ErtOL2E/edit Sup/tg/ links can be found within the Googledoc.

Okay guys, be excellent to one another and don’t fuck this up

Legion Overview

The Twenty Six Space Marine Legions of the Great Crusade
Number	Name	Primarch	Homeworld	Loyalty
I	Knights of Justice	Bohemond	Hydegate	Loyal
II	War Scribes	Arelex Orannis	Whitestone (Destroyed), now Fleet-based.	Loyal
III	Silver Spears	Maranthos Egille	homeworld	Traitor
IV	Sons of Fire	Inferox "The Burned King"	Crematoria	Traitor
V	Void Angels	Gaspard Lumey	Ciban	Loyal
VI	The Entombed	Golgothos	Sepulchra	Loyal
VII	Scions of Europa	Kleisthenes	Europa, Segmentum Obscurus	Loyal
VIII	Children of Armok	Uriel Starikov	homeworld	Traitor
IX	Machine Guard	Fjordous Machenis	homeworld	Loyal
X	The Crusaders	Thomas Gaudin	homeworld	Loyal
XI	Wolves of Dawn/Heralds of Hektor	Hektor Cincinnatus	homeworld	Traitor
XII	Life Bringers	Johannes Vrach	Rai (destroyed), now Eden (Demon World in the Eye of Terror)	Traitor
XIII	Nova Defenders	Rook North	Rylethon	Loyal
XIV	Black Augurs	The Voidwatcher	Ostium	Traitor
XV	Argent Legion	Malphas	Thiros	Traitor
XVI	Eternal Zealots	Aubrey The Grey	homeworld	Traitor
XVII	Gorgers	Nathanog	homeworld	Traitor
XVIII	Sand Keepers	Darius Cyaxares	Simurgh	Loyal
XIX	Eyes of the Emperor	Octullus Tyran	homeworld	Loyal
XX	Iron Rangers	Merrill	Profi Tiroedd	Traitor
XXI	Council of Iron	Thoren Grimm	Titan	Traitor
XXII	Thunder Kings	Brennus	Alessia (destroyed), now multiple worlds	Loyal
XXIII	Silver Cataphracts	???	homeworld	Loyal
XXIV	Mastodontii	Tollund Ötztal	Tisenjoch	Traitor
XXV	Scale Bearers	Tiran Osoros	Jera Syk	Loyal
XXV	Steel Marshalls	Roman Albrecht	homeworld	Loyal
XXVI	Stone Men	Onyx the Indestructible	Neolithicus(destroyed)	Loyal

The Loyalist Primarchs

Bohemond, Primarch of The Knights of Justice

Appearance

Youth

The Coming of The Emperor

The Great Crusade

The Heresy

Post-Heresy

Arelex Orannis, Primarch of The War Scribes

Appearance

Arelex is a bald mass of scar tissue and burn marks, signs of a lifetime spent delving into dangerous places in search of relics and lore, and the price that must be paid when attempting to divine the secrets of archaeotechnology. The right side of his jaw has much of the flesh removed, a grim reminder of his near-death on Isstvan. Shorter in stature than most Primarchs, he stands only a few inches taller than the average Space Marine, though quite a bit broader at the shoulder. His upper body and arms are overdeveloped, and somewhat simian in appearance. Though his body is frightening, his pale green eyes are almost kind.

The armor he wears is a force-shielded patchwork of different relics retrieved from ancient cities and tombs, a bulky, custom fit affair of enormous size painted dark grey and trimmed in brass. Atop each shoulder is a compact pattern of Heavy Bolter, which Arelex can control and fire with mental uplink cables. When he takes the field, Arelex brings another pair of advanced, compact Heavy Bolters, one slung underneath each mighty arm like a Terminator would carry an Assault Cannon. Each of these four guns, both shoulder mounted and arm mounted, draw from a wide array of different specialty ammo, ensuring that whatever challenges Arelex might face, he has the proper bullet for the job.

When the four Heavy Bolters aren't enough, Arelex instead wields a large Graviton Projector, normally used as a crew served device for carving out hunks of marble from the deep mines of Whitestone and lifting them to the surface. With this tool, Arelex can push, pull, crush and toss foes as the situation warrants.

Youth

Arelex's pod took a very hard landing, pounding through the crust of his homeworld Whitestone. Underneath the planet's extensive deposits of valuable marble lay an endless maze of geothermal vents and boiling springs. The marble miners and carvers were astounded to see an infant drifting down the boiling rivers, and they managed to catch him before he plunged into a massive lagoon which surely would have been Arelex's end. Though burned severely, the infant was alive, and the miners took Arelex's arrival to be a blessing, giving him over to be raised by the priesthood of Whitestone.

Whitestone was an ancient land, full of relics, ruins, and holy buildings, and Arelex delighted in exploring all of them. The restrictive life of a priest never sat well with him, and he began taking greater and greater risks in his adventures. More than once he was severely injured, spending months in the hospital. Arelex never intentionally rose to a position of power on his homeworld, for he was singularly bad at connecting with the people, preferring the company of the natural world and the cleverest technical works of Man.

Still, almost despite himself, the people of Whitestone rallied around him, seeing his larger size and intelligence as a sign of deific blessing, and the priesthood encouraged this, using Arelex as a somewhat unwitting idol to control the people. He ruled in their name, doling out reward and punishment at their request, but whenever possible he retreated to the wilderness to continue his explorations.

Over time, a few people of Whitestone followed their "prophet" into the wilderness, pursuing Arelex wherever he went. These people at least, Arelex could understand, they were fellow seekers like himself, driven by wanderlust and a need to learn. While the priesthood spoke in his name to the masses, this new cult began to grow in number behind the scenes.

The Coming of The Emperor

Whitestone was very close to Terra, indeed many of the finest Terran monuments and halls of power are made with marble from Whitestone, and the trade links with Terra, though almost destroyed many times, had endured even through the terrible Warp Storms before the Eye of Terror's formation. Thusly, Whitestone was one of the earliest worlds to be visited by the Emperor, and Arelex was the second Primarch to be discovered.

The Emperor was most unimpressed by a Primarch who had not mastered his world, and was disappointed that Arelex was content to let the priesthood rule in his name. The Imperial Creed forbade such religious organizations, and the Emperor tracked Arelex into the wilderness in order to speak with him. Horrified by his son's ruined appearance, the Emperor was nevertheless drawn to Arelex's love of humanity. Almost singlehandedly, Arelex had brought his world from the precipice of disaster to a technological Renaissance, powered by the wisdom of ancient Man. Unlike most men, Arelex kept nothing for himself, destroying that which was unsafe, and giving freely of himself that which was useful.

This generosity, though useful, could not be permitted to make His son soft, and the Emperor knew that no Primarch could be allowed to remain a passive observer of the galaxy. The Emperor ordered Arelex to lead his people, and tear down the priesthood that was parasitically using Arelex to their own ends. The debate lasted several hours, because Arelex was reluctant to slay those who had raised him. What exactly was said to finally convince Arelex to go to war is unknown, but all that Arelex himself ever said was that the Emperor "Showed me what I needed to see".

Taking up his personal armament, an enormously powerful hand-held gravitic device formerly used to carve out immense loads of marble from Whitestone and lift it out of the mines, Arelex systematically tore down what had been built in his name. Denouncing the parasites who had ruled Whitestone, he commanded his people to serve the Emperor just as they had been serving himself.

The Great Crusade

Joining Arelex on the Crusade were the warriors of the II Legion, almost one hundred thousand strong and chomping at the bit for their Primarch to rejoin them. Despite the Emperor's urging, the II Legion's conquests were slow and methodical, driven by an insatiable urge to thoroughly examine the conquered planets, seeking treasures undreamed of in the technologically deprived Imperium. Though their blades were bathed in blood, the II Legion held the pen in equal regard to the sword, and for that, they were derisively dubbed the Scribes of War by the other Primarchs (Who?), later adopted by the II Legion as a title of honor and shortened to War Scribes.

Most of the marvels they recovered remained with the Legion, but quite a few of the Great Crusade's weapon types came from Imperial re-engineering of relics gathered by the War Scribes, and this contributed to the success of other Legions, buying the War Scribes a modicum of tolerance for their slow pace of advance. The War Scribes conquered the least number of planets for the Imperium, mostly securing a broad swath of worlds in the Ultima Segmentum near the Galactic Core, but they also strengthened those planets more than almost any other Primarch, ensuring their economies, militaries, and technological levels were as robust as possible, forming a strong bulwark for the innermost heart of the Imperium, guarding the way to Terra against threats from the Galactic Far East.

Over time, almost 10,000 of the most aggressive War Scribes split into smaller squads, ranging far and wide across the Galaxy in scouting expeditions, and their reconnaissance proved quite valuable to Imperial strategy and planning. Arelex himself was responsible for integrating the data, developing the skills he honed in mapping his entire world and applying them to the entire Galaxy. More and more, Arelex found himself drawing up the maps and plans of the Great Crusade alongside the Emperor, and though the burden of overall command was never his, and Arelex would never be Warmaster, his logistical and planning talents were woven into many aspects of the Great Crusade.

Unfortunately, his Legion was too easily blinded by their own gear, and despite their best efforts, could not focus themselves on the task of conquest as well as the other Legions could. More and more, the War Scribes came to rely on simplistic tactics, assuming that their superior weaponry and armor would see them through any challenge. Though they and their Primarch could understand how the Galaxy needed to be conquered on a grand scale, actually making it happen on the tactical level eluded them.

One unforeseen side effect of the War Scribes thoroughness in their conquests was the formation of a group of planets highly dedicated to the principles that Arelex espoused; exploration, renewal, a love of learning, and a refusal to let personal differences cloud their vision of the greater Imperium. Over time, these worlds near the Galactic Core, a few dozen in number, became known as Atalantos, a realm where the past had not completely vanished, and the glories of old were forever in the minds of the people, driving them to regain them. Whitestone was not among these worlds, being so close to Terra and now firmly integrated into the Imperium, and so the War Scribes primarily recruited from Atalantos, the world for which the area was named.

Arelex forged friendships with several other Primarchs (Needs more info on who, exactly), and while some were true friends, some preyed on Arelex's detachment and naturally trusting nature, and sealed the doom of his Legion on Isstvan.

The Heresy

Sent to Isstvan to bring the Traitor Legions in line alongside several other Loyalists, Arelex threw himself into the fray with gusto. Betrayal enraged the Primarch, as familial loyalty was one of his deepest-held values, and he was unusually focused on the task at hand. Fearlessly, the War Scribes advanced, certain that their careful planning and superior firepower would carry the day.

Unfortunately, the Traitor Legions had studied the War Scribes well, and the Black Augurs along with several other Traitor Legions, completely outmaneuvered the War Scribes, throwing them into complete disarray with a series of well planned strikes form every quarter. Arelex nearly suffered a complete mental breakdown when confronted with the truth of what his traitorous brothers represented, and what they wanted to do to the Imperium, and at the critical moment, could offer no advice and gave no orders to the Legion. He was unprepared for Chaos, and unprepared to slaughter those he had once called brothers, and out of 90,000 War Scribes deployed, only 3,000 survived to drag Arelex off the field and evacuate him.

Retreating to the Basilikon Atalantos, greatest fortress of Atalantos, Arelex entered a deep depression, smouldering with anger and feelings of betrayal. Shame at the needless loss of his Legion burned him from within, and the faces of all his soldiers he had gotten killed with his incompetence paraded themselves through his nightmares. No more was Arelex a warrior who fought for peace and knowledge, this Primarch had become a rampaging monster, gathering the most powerful, most inhumane archaeotech he could muster, and unleashing them indiscriminately on any planet that even vaguely hinted at betraying the Imperium.

More than a hundred worlds burned, rendered blasted wastelands at the touch of weapons not seen for thousands of years. The Ultima Segmentum near the Galactic Core reeled at Arelex's wrath. Many traitors were killed, but far more innocents were delivered unto the pyres of paranoia. The Emperor issued an edict demanding that Arelex return to Terra and participate in its defense, where the Emperor could talk some sense into the uncontrolled Primarch, but the message was never delivered. It fell to another Loyalist Primarch (Who?) to calm Arelex and remind him of his duty.

Battered and broken, the War Scribes merely followed their Primarch, going where he ordered them, and killing what he told them to. They did not participate in the Defense of Terra, heaping shame upon failure.

Post-Heresy

Once the fires of the Heresy had cooled, Arelex's talents were critically needed. With the Emperor now on the Throne, no one else had the high-level vision to even try and put the Imperium back to rights. In his immeasurable shame and self-hatred for his failure to save his father, Arelex threw himself into the task with an almost insane fervor, welding the broken fragments of Imperial politics together into a structure that lives on to this day, the various political and administrative branches of the Adeptus Terra. Arelex put the first High Lords in power, and to this day, the bond between the War Scribes and the Adeptus Terra is ironclad.

The Codex Astartes was written by Arelex at the behest of the other Loyalist Primarchs, who desired that he should organise their thoughts and hard-earned experience that it might never be lost to the Imperium. Though most of the tactical advice was drawn from more competent Primarchs, it was Arelex who set up the decentralized nature of the Astartes, and the Codex is a wonder of organization and clarity. Few chapters adhere to its strictures absolutely, but as a reference material there are very few chapters that have never drawn from the Codex's stored wisdom.

Arelex's greatest struggle was curtailing the Mechanicus. Sensing an opportunity after the Emperor's withdrawal from power, a shadow war between the High Lords, backed by Arelex, and the Mechanicus began. The Mechanicus desired complete control of the Imperium from behind the Throne, and for the center of true power to be Mars, not Terra. Though a balance of power and many compromises were eventually reached, leading to the present-day situation, the Mechanicus came to hate Arelex for denying them absolute power.

Finally, matters came to a head on Whitestone, where the Mechanicus confronted Arelex and the War Scribes. They had finally come to the conclusion that the thorn in their side had to be removed, and were willing to deploy multiple Titan Legions and an ocean of Skitarii to silence Arelex forever. If the Mechanicus couldn't rule the Imperium from Mars, at least they would ensure that the Imperium could never live without their consent and technology. Arelex represented a wild card, a force potentially capable of breaking their stranglehold on machinery, and that could not be allowed. Whitestone convulsed as Dark Age weaponry was unleashed by both sides, and the fight was so apocalyptic that the planet itself began to come apart.

Arelex, seeing that even at the last he had failed, resolved that his Chapter, his Second Founding scions, and their Successors must live on. Opening a hailing frequency to the Grand Magos in charge of the invasion fleet, Arelex offered his life for his children's. If he would agree to let the Mechanicus kill him, then his blood would buy a truce forevermore, and the War Scribes would merely gather technology, consenting to let the Mechanicus control how technology was dispersed within the Imperium.

The accord was sealed in blood, and as Whitestone came apart, Arelex was wiped from the Galaxy in its death throes. The War Scribes and their Successors would never attempt to challenge the Mechanicus, and though the two factions would never hold the other in a positive light, they would lay down their arms and coexist. In this, Arelex showed his Legion that for the good of the Imperium, the greatest of sacrifices may be required, and the memory of their Primarch's voluntary death indelibly shaped the War Scribes and their Successors' psychology.

At the very end, Arelex charged his children with a simple task, to "Become better men than I", for at the end of his life, Arelex deemed his failures to outweigh his successes. The interpretation of what exactly his final message means is a point of much debate among the War Scribes and their Successors.

The death of a Loyal Primarch at the hands of forces ostensibly loyal to the Imperium was covered up, and to the Imperium as a whole, Arelex is a Primarch who failed his Emperor, but atoned with everything he had to offer and turned back to the path of righteous servitude. Few worship his legacy as they do with other, more noble Primarchs, but many pay him respect for what he accomplished after the Emperor's interment.

Gaspard Lumey, Primarch of The Void Angels

Appearance

Lumey is broad-shouldered and olive-skinned, with expressive, thoughtful eyes. He is given to sneering and rolling his eyes. While other Primarchs far exceed Lumey's ability to inspire trust, loyalty and respect, he is the master of sowing suspicion, envy and discontent.

Youth

Raised on a relatively civilized world, the young Primarch's first career was as a journalist, condemning the monarchs and aristocrats that ruled Ciban. As unrest grew, Lumey was thrust to the fore as the leader of a popular rebellion.

The Coming of The Emperor

The Great Crusade

At the Council of Nikaea, Lumey took the podium to demand strict regulations of psykers. However his bitterness towards The Voidseer drove his case beyond all reason, leading to a universal condemnation of "any and all traffic with the Irrational."

The Heresy

Lumey's open contempt for the other Primarchs put the Void Angels in a unique position during the Heresy. Nobody at all sought their aid, leaving the Legion to sift through the news reports and assemble its own picture of the rebellion. Lumey slowly drifted his forces towards Sol and arrived in time for a token clash with the Black Augurs - just enough that he could be deemed a Loyalist.

Post-Heresy

Golgothos, Primarch of The Entombed

Appearance

Youth

The Coming of The Emperor

The Great Crusade

The Heresy

Post-Heresy

Kleisthenes, Primarch of The Scions of Europa

Appearance Average height and bulk by Primarch standards, short light-brown hair, and deep-set grey eyes, lending him with a focused countenance. he was a man who carried himself with an air of determination and authority.

Youth Kleisthenes' gestation pod landed on the planet Europa, a Civilized World named after a continent of ancient Terra that possessed a Greco-Roman culture and fairly advanced technology - though the secrets of Warp travel had been lost - with varying empires and republics. Kleisthenes was adopted by an aristocratic family of the rising Vitruvian Empire and was given a patrician's education, learning history, rhetoric, art, statesmanship, and warfare, excelling in all fields, but particularly the last. His fast maturation and great strength was not unnoticed, and it was not long before Kleisthenes became a great general in the empire's armies, leading them to great victories against the other powers of Europa. When civil war broke out in the Vitruvian Empire, Kleisthenes managed to swiftly reunite the empire with himself as its ruler, and in the following years managed to unite all of Europa under under his rule.

The Coming of The Emperor It was not long after Kleisthenes united his planet under the banner of the newly-christened Europan Empire that the Emperor of Man arrived to find His son, offering him a place at his side and a Legion of Astartes to lead on His Great Crusade throughout the galaxy. Kleisthenes accepted immediately, eager to meet his long-lost brothers and journey out into the stars which had beckoned to him all his life. All he asked was that the Emperor let the great soldiers of Europa join his legion on the Crusade, and the Emperor, seeing the fine warriors that Kleisthenes had conquered his planet with, agreed. Kleisthene's soldiers were made into Astartes, and hence the Scions of Europa were born.

The Great Crusade Kleisthene's first years of the Crusade were spent both partly at the side of the Emperor and at the side of his fellow Primarchs. He led his armies with skill, creativity, and bravery, molding them into the Astartes we know today. Kleisthenes made good friends with many of his brothers, and was present with them at the Triumph of Ullanor, the height of their glory ... Kleisthenes could not have known how soon many of their friendships would fall to ruin.

The Heresy Kleisthenes and his Scions of Europa were fortunate enough not to be one of the legions betrayed in the Drop Site massacre, and as such, fought ferociously throughout the rest of the Hektor heresy, culminating at the Siege of Terra, where the Scions fought alongside the Crusaders, Thunder Kings, and many others against the Traitor legionss. Kleisthenes played his greatest role in the Heresy during the final confrontation between the Emperor - joined by Kleisthenes and his fellow Primarch, Thomas Gaudin - and Warmaster Hektor aboard the traitor's flagship, the Sun Chariot. When Kleisthenes and Hektor fought, Kelisthenes was mortally wounded by Hektor, but not before placing the apocryphal flaw in Hektor's armor, allowing the Emperor to achieve victory over his traitorous son one and for all.

Post-Heresy After the battle aboard the Sun Chariot, Kleisthenes' body was recovered along with the Emperor's by Thomas Gaudin, and was placed in a stasis chamber. Caught in a state between life and death, the Primarch now lies on his home planet of Europa, eternal vigil kept over him by his Scions.

Fjordous Machenis, Primarch of The Machine Guard

Appearance

Youth

The Coming of The Emperor

The Great Crusade

The Heresy

Post-Heresy

Thomas Gaudin, Primarch of The Crusaders

Appearance

Youth

The Coming of The Emperor

The Great Crusade

The Heresy

Post-Heresy

Tiran Osoros, Primarch of The Scale Bearers

Appearance

8'7" tall, dark-skinned, black hair in short braids, yellow eyes. Green scales on arms below elbow, upper back, and legs below knee. Armor has a not-Stegosaur skull on the left pauldron, but is otherwise just upscaled from his Legion's armor. Wields a power mace.

Youth

When the genetor-pod fell to the surface of Jera Syk, landing in the jungle near the village of Gand Wanunlen, few could have guessed that the child within would grow up to unify the planet. An old hunter named Ayl Osoros found the child two days after he landed, first witnessing the strange ability of the young Primarch - his command over the great saurians of the jungles. Already, he had befriended a three-horned, white-scaled hatchling. For thirteen years, the boy grew without a name of his own, known only as Ayl's son. That all changed when he repelled an attack on the village's food stores by the carnivorous pack hunters called Tirans. Fighting alongside his animal companion, who he had come to name Keradops, or "Hard-Headed," he killed the pack's leaders and convinced the rest to stand down. In honor of his defeat and taming of these creatures, the boy was named after them.

Eventually, Tiran, after teaching his village to ride the beasts he commanded, began a campaign of conquest against the rival villages in the area, such as Sorn Hafen, Hyl Crek, and Yrash Pak. Each of these and others were brought under the dominion of the Gand Wanunlens, and their surviving soldiers brought into the army. The saurians of the jungles, now known by the collective name Sors, were the unstoppable instrument of Tiran's victories. The war lasted for some twelve years, and Tiran, as a Primarch, grew larger than all but the village's best armorers could account for. On the night that he and Keradops were to ride into the village of Larun Tya and complete the unification of the known world, however...

The Coming of The Emperor

...great plumes of smoke and flame descended from the heavens, rivaling the stars in their brightness. As the great buring Sors (so far as anyone could tell) landed near Larun Tya, a group of massive men in strange armor stepped forth, flanking a man who dwarfed even them. Tiran found himself strangely drawn to this man, whose armor shone like the lightning and seemed harder than stone. Instructing Keradops to guard his army, the leader of Gand Wanunlen's grand force stepped onto the great starship. At the break of dawn, he returned, wielding a great mace and clad in armor of green and bronze colors. He explained to his people the revelations he recieved - that he had been created and chosen by a ruler of many men to conquer beyond these villages, but that he first had a job to finish on his homeworld. With the aid of the Sors, Tiran completed his conquest of Jera Syk within a year, having found evidence of other continents on the planet in Larun Tya itself. In doing so, he brought the world under proper Imperial rule, and was in turn united at last with his Legion. The Primarch of the Scale Bearers was truly home at last.

The Great Crusade

With the planet secure and his Legion bequeathed to his command, Tiran took to the stars with renewed fervor. After conquering several minor worlds and establishing further populations of Sors, Tiran led a full half of the Scale Bearers into the Palia Ceen system, hoping to quickly capture the small, relatively primitive human cultures there. Instead, however, Tiran was dealt one of his greatest defeats at the hands of an unidentified Eldar Craftworld. The Eldar sabotaged the food supplies of the Legion, assumedly somehow knowing about their defunct Preomnor organs, then routed them time and time again on the battlefield. Some 2,000 Scale Bearers were lost during that campaign, and the system was only captured by Imperial Army forces after the mysterious departure of the Craftworld, which appeared to have achieved its objective. Refusing to let this setback deter him, Tiran took his Legion to world after world, bringing the myriad jungles of the stars into Imperial rule. However, on the dead world of Meteon, Tiran met his greatest rival - the Ork Warboss Sarkus. Sarkus had been leading a massive WAAAGH throughout the nearby systems, and he was especially fond of running roughshod through his opponents with Squiggoths. This parallel to the Scale Bearers' use of Sors was uncanny, and contributed to the deaths of over 3,000 Marines. One Marine, Krate Shias, came close to killing the Warboss himself, but Sarkus' Power Klaw and immense strength proved too much for the superhuman. The battle was ultimately lost, and even with the casualties on the Ork side, the WAAAGH now outnumbered the Legion ten to one. Now, however, the Legion had a target for revenge - as did Keradops, who had become an old and massive Sor by this point, and did not take being beaten and scarred by Sarkus' personal Squiggoth lightly. Some manner of respite and recovery came for the Scale Bearers during the Cleansing of Kras Xenkoh. After marching their Sors across the planet and eliminating the local mutants (who were later discerned to be Chaos-aligned, based on the Legion's records), they were able to establish a Sors population on the world and recruit from among the human populace. The most noteworthy of these recruits would turn out to be one Lukas Ilion, whose carnivorous serpentine Sor, Aleph, led the pack that attacked and killed Warboss Sarkus when the Legion met the WAAAGH again on Henom IX. Keradops, meanwhile, finally had his revenge against Sarkus' Squiggoth, defeating it in single combat and goring it on his horns. Even with this symbolic victory, the Scale Bearers were only at half strength when terrible news came - several Legions, led by the Wolves of Dawn, had turned against the Emperor himself!

The Heresy

Having heard about the massacre at Istvaan III, Tiran rushed his Legion towards Istvaan 5 in an effort to stop the traitors before they could gain ground. However, he was intercepted by [insert traitor legion here] and killed in single combat. The elderly, enraged Keradops, seeing his master and oldest friend fall, rushed at the enemy with reckless abandon, felling dozens before finally being consumed in tank fire. His sacrifice, however, allowed the Scale Bearers to escape and lick their wounds. Lukas, the oldest remaining member of the Legion, decided to head for Terra to warn their father the Emperor of the treachery, but a Warp Storm prevented the Marines from ever reaching Mankind's holy homeworld. By the time the Warp Storm over the planet Krate Shias receded, the Heresy was already over, and the Imperium was in shambles. The Legion itself was much worse for wear - the interception that cost them their Primarch had also reduced the Legion to a mere 650 Astartes. While gene-seed was technically in good supply, the chaos of the Heresy and the low population of Krate Shias had left them with no real recruitment options.

Post-Heresy

The Primarch himself has performed no action since his demise during the Hektor Heresy.

Darius Cyaxares, Primarch of the Sand Keepers

Appearance

Youth

When Darius was stolen away by the chaos gods and sent tumbling through the warp his containment pod was damaged, causing the young babe to awaken. As he opened his eyes to cry the warp damaged his eyes. Moments later he landed upon the deserts of the Feudal world of Simurgh, where he was soon found by a caravan of traders. At first glance the merchants knew this boy was special, for his eyes now two pools of liquid silver, constantly shifting and swirling in different directions.

They immediately took the boy to the nearest temple and delivered him to the priests. The holymen of this feral world had long dabbled in ancient mysticism and sorcery and recognized his great potential. Undeterred by Darius's blindness, they trained him in the ways of magic and divination. Eventually Darius mastered all that his teachers had to show him, and people from all over the planet flocked to him to have their futures told. When the four kings of the planet heard of his power, they each tried to use his prophetic powers against each other, but Darius refused.

Instead he foretold that a golden light would come from the heavens to reveal their true destiny. Angered by this, each of the kings tried to take him by force, either through trickery, bribery, or use of their armies, yet with his divination and psychic ability the "All-seer" outsmarted them all, eventually defeating all of them.

The Coming of The Emperor

However, after defeating the four kings, Simurgh began to grow more and more unstable, as other power hungry warlords, would-be kings and conquerors continued to surface to take their place, all wanting the same thing the four kings wanted.Time and time again Darius defeated these opponents, but not matter how many he toppled or what he tried the resulting power vacuum led to an endless chain of war and intrigue. It was as if the greedy nature of man was some kind of Hydra, no matter how many heads he cut off, more simply grew.

Seeking an answer, Darius began a great fasting and dove deep into prophecy but what he saw horrified him. The stars burned as a malevolent darkness engulfed it all . A war, a war without end! Scarred by his visions, Darius had all but given up when suddenly a golden light descended from the heavens and out stepped a stranger unlike anyone Darius had ever seen.Intrigued by this stranger, Darius invited him to his temple to meet him. This stranger was none other than the Emperor himself. The two conversed by many days straight.

The emperor was disappointed in his son. As a priest, Darius had never wanted to rule content to his studies, meditations and religious teachings. It went against everything the emperor had bred him for. He explained to Darius the evils of religion and allowing the people to go astray of the Imperial Truth. Convincing Darius to take up the responsibility he was destined to, the Emperor granted him a single company from the 23rd legion and a month to set things right, as a final test that Darius had learned all that the emperor had taught him.

Taking command of personally trained them in the arts of sorcery and the planets most noble weapon, the Shotel. Taking up the blade of an ancient king, Darius led his men across the planet on a great crusade.

When the emperor returned, he was not disappointed. Darius had cast-off the religion that had bound him to inaction and taken control of the planet for himself. The emperors methods and his Imperial Truth had proven itself to Darius and brought peace to the war-torn planet. Eternally grateful to his father for the lesson, Darius bowed his head and proclaimed the planet now belonged to the emperor. With that the Emperor bid his son to rise, welcoming him to the Great Crusade and granting him command of the 23rd Legion in its entirety.

((TL:DR : Darius is trained to be magic prophet on planet by religion. People in power keep trying to use Darius for their own gains, forcing Darius to kill them. However because of his religious teaching Darius refused to take power himself, and feeling self entitled the people of the planet keep fucking everything up until the Emperor convinces Darius of the Imperial Truth and to step it up. Darius is grateful for the lesson and now loyal to the Emprah))

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Octullus Tyran, Primarch of The Eyes of the Emperor

Appearance Considerably smaller and thinner than most Primarchs. Had large green owl like eyes, and a wild mess of black hair he keeps tied back. Switches between shaven, fu Manchu, and goatee.

Youth Raised on a gas giant with limited visibility , lived under tutelage of bounty hunting monks that used the warp to locate their targets

The Coming of The Emperor When emperor comes, challenges him to rifelry contest across the city to find and hit the targets. Emperor picks up gun, shoots once, blows through all targets at once. He then is taken to lead his legion

The Great Crusade Lead Eyes in defence operations and protected many forge worlds. They also took a liking to bionics, and became friends of Ad mech.

The Heresy Sent along with other forces, Hektor personally threatened to kill each and every one of them if they did not help the Traitors. They participated in the drop site massacre, acting as ranged support. Continued shortly to help traitors before escaping. They reappeared during the battle of mars, helped loyalists.

Post-Heresy Initially refused to bow before the codex, they bent knee when their primarch disappeared into the warp. They split into 3 chapters, 2 of them sucsessors, one the original legion

Brennus, Primarch of The Thunder Kings

Appearance

Brennus' appearance reflects his upbringing, with the Thunder King Primarch as much as chieftain as he is a warlord and commander of men. He stands at equal height with the Voidwatcher, and possesses a similarly thin build. His pale cheeks and face are marred by tribal stigmas and tattoos, the blue ink showing detailed caricatures of various scenes of both his life and Alessia's history. Most notable is the blue starburst extending out from his left eye; the great serpent writing across the right side of his face. Where the marines of his legion oft bear only the sigil of their tribe, Brennus wears them all, that of each tribe.

He bears his straw-colored hair long and down, keeping it in short braids much like his similarly long beard. To many that gaze upon him, he looks like a barbarian warlord of old, brought into the modern era without any apparent difficulty. His eyes are slate-grey, betraying little, but lacking the fire--the passion--so many of his brothers show in them.

His wargear, though masterfully forged and crafted, has little in the way of ostentation. It is a single suit, more similar to the standard Astartes armor than Terminator. Alessian runes are carved into the sides of his armor, and his belt--a gift from the Emperor--is the most ornate thing he bears; displaying in finely cut goldleaf Brennus' Last Council on Alessia with the tribes. His signature weapon is a relic powersword, bearing the lightning bolt of his Legion upon its pommel, named Fear-Eater, alongside a large, kite-shaped shield.

Youth

Alessia was a world of seemingly infinite, teeming forests, stretching from one end of every continent to the other. Hills and mountains broke up these woodlands with some regularity, and it was upon one of these isolated hills which Brennus' pod came to land. The tribesmen that found him saw a babe, its fist seized around the throat of a dead Thunderhawk--one of the great, predatory birds reputed to control lightning on Alessia--and immediately adopted him, viewing their find as an enormously good omen.

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Silver Cataphracts Primarch, Primarch of The Silver Cataphracts

Appearance

Youth

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Roman Albrecht, Primarch of The Steel Marshalls

Appearance

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Rook North, Primarch of The Nova Defenders

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Onyx, Primarch of The Stone Men

Appearance Onyx was a massive ox of a man, 20 ft tall and with the strength to almost rival that of the emperor. he was simple, however, certainly not a learned scholar. He had a a bald head, grizzled features, and a glorious muttonchops/viking beard combo. His skin was a tan grey, almost as if he was constantly covered in the very stone he worked. Youth He landed on a slightly primitive agri-world, where he became a stone worker. Onyx effortlessly drove into the rock, as if it was water and he was wading through it. He saw his fellow workers toil more rigorously, as they were mere mortals. he honored these men, for though they were less powerful than he; they gave more than their weight in spirit and will. This impacted the primarch deeply, and when he saw the gross mistreatment of the workers by their superiors, he set out to usurp these aristocratic rulers. He staged an armed revolt, conquering his local lord in mere days. upon seeing his indulgent throne, he crushed it with his bare hands. He spread the dust over the people, shouting "THIS IS YOURS NOW". He continued on to all the nations of the planet, doing the same. the regents would often try to bribe him, convince him, tell him "you are the real menace!". he listened not to the words of these politicians. they angered him. any of these nations would have failed on their own, but under the protection of onyx, they were prosperous.

The Coming of The Emperor after becoming the ruler of the planet, the emperor and his crusading astartes came to retrieve him. after his history of mistrust of politicians, he challenged the emperor to a duel. the emperor tried to tell him that he was his father, but onyx would not listen to his words. tired, the emperor convinced him to settle for an arm wrestle. the match lasted for 3 days, and on the fourth, the table shattered, leaving the two remaining for 12 hours. at the very last minute, the emperor drove onyx's tiring into the ground, fracturing the granite. onyx finally accepted the emperor's words, knowing that only his true father could beat him in a test of strength.

The Great Crusade Onyx and his Stone Men traveled the far reaches of the galaxy, fighting all manner of foes. He lead one of the strongest legions in the imperium, and became incredibly prideful.

The Heresy with the destruction of Neolithus and the slaughtering of his battle brothers, onyx became confused and lost. At the battle of Istvaan, he was torn between his battle brothers, choosing to simply hold his ground rather than risk attacking the wrong side. He sought the council of his father, the emperor, only to find Terra under siege. disheartened by the loss of the great Everest and most of his chapter, him and his Stone Men retreated to deep space.

Post-Heresy It is said that Onyx regained his faith in the emperor after centuries of thought, though reports suggest he may have died or gone missing during the Stone Men's crusades at the edge of the galaxy.

The Traitor Primarchs

Maranthos Egille, Primarch of The Silver Spears

Appearance

Youth

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Inferox The Burned King, Primarch of The Sons of Fire

Appearance Towering, Dark Skinned, Near-African features. His skin is mostly burned.

Youth

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Uriel Starikov, Primarch of The Children of Armok

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Hektor Cincinnatus, Primarch of The Wolves of Dawn/Heralds of Hektor

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Johannes, Primarch of The Life Bringers

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The Voidwatcher, Primarch of The Black Augurs Legion

Appearance Tall, taller than most of his brothers but thinner and less bulky than most as well. Generally wears a full hooded set of robes when outside of his imposing combat attire. His skin is deathly pallid and criss-crossed with dark veins and arcane tattoos/brands. His most distinguishing feature however are his pure black eyes. Though they remain inert orbs most of the time they react to the use of the Voidwatcher's psychic abilities. When he is having visions of the future in any scenario they flicker with illumination, like glowing nebulas and the night sky. The colours and twisting patterns reflect the content of his visions. When in combat they glow with a fierce, ethereal white flame that shimmers with hues of purple and blue. His visage is normally hidden behind the mask he inherited from his "father's" culture but his eyes are always visible.

Youth The young Primarch that would later be known simply as The Voidwatcher crash landed on the hive moon of Ostium. The boys pod crashed into one of the highest towers of the land, crushing a woman and her newborn in their birthing bed. The father of the aforementioned crushed newborn was an incredibly high ranking member of the controlling organisation on the planet, known as the Vates. The Vates were deeply superstitious and had their rituals anchored in sorcery so the man took it as a sign that he must adopt the star child. The child grew quickly and learned even faster. It rapidly drew the attention of the other Vates who were disturbed by the child's demonic gaze but intrigued by it's grasp of their culture and politics.

The father gave a title to the boy instead of naming him (as is the custom of the Vates) and declared that he would be known as The Voidwatcher. After his titling his father and the high Vates lords took him down into the bowels of the planetoid spanning city, down through tunnels and elevators to the very core of the moon. There they presented him with the source of the Vates mystic power, an Enormous Cyclopean black stone gate. It stood in the centre of a chamber whose walls were decorated with innumerable masks. It's threshold instead of containing a door, or even nothing, arced with strange black lighting and a humming portal churned like a maelstrom at it's centre. The assembled Vates explained that the gate was the source of their black magicks and the masks they wear that empower them. The gate offered him these things in return for one simple thing,worship and the sacrifice of human lives souls. They also claimed that artefacts of extraordinary power lay through the gate but none could survive it's power. Not wanting to be made a pawn of what should be a simple inanimate object The Voidwatcher rejected these terms and declared " I will have these treasure that lie beyond, not some trinket and party tricks." The Vates gasped and tried to restrain the young Primarch as he strode towards the gateway, but it was to no avail. The Voidwatcher thrust his arm deep into the crackling portal and howled in pain. His superhuman durability and pure psychic will protecting him from the lashes of dark lighting and being torn apart by the tumult of the portal long enough that he was able to grasp something from the other side. He pulled his burnt hand free of the portal, now clutching an enormous arcane glaive. It's blade crackled with the same black lightning as the door and a obsidian crystal thrummed behind it's blade. The gathered sorcerers stood in shock and amazement. The Primarch simply brushed past them and strode upwards, grabbing a mask from the wall and heading back towards the halls of the Vates.

From there the Primarch rose through their ranks incredibly quickly, becoming a member of the council in record time, an high council member in less, the head of the council in yet less, and finally rule of all of Ostium. His opponents were either bullied into submission with psychic visions of their doom, the physical intimidation of the Primarch, or outright killed with gouts of black energy from the Voidwatchers glaive. One of those that found their end confronting Voidwatcher was his own father, who attempted to stop him annexing all the other Vates properties during his final coup.

The Coming of The Emperor When the Emperor discovered Ostium the Voidwatcher had long foreseen his arrival. His true father was created with feasts and merry making and the quiet burial of the gate beneath his palace. The Emperor rejected his hospitality however and asked for the Primarchs aid in conquering the galaxy. The Voidwatcher leapt at the opportunity to gain more arcane power and acquire more esoteric relics. He took control of his legion and quickly integrated the practises of trance like prescience that came naturally to him and unnaturally to the Vates of his home-world. His legion would henceforth be known as the Black Augurs. When the Emperor offered the Voidwatcher armour and technology he eagerly accept but turned down all the weapons in the Empire in favour of the glaive that would come to be known as The Undoing of Man.

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After the Heresy was completed the Voidwatcher retired to his flagship and took to the stars with his legion in search of more arcane secrets to discover and use. After a few centuries of this wandering alone on the edges of civilized space or the Eye of Terror the Voidwatcher decided it was time for him to venture into the uncharted void of space in search of arcane lore. He left behind his Vates to create their own covens among the stars and compete and quarrel amongst themselves as their namesake had once done on Ostium. He did this in order to ensure constant progression and improvement amongst the remains of his legion. With this final decree he boarded the smallest combat worthy vessel he possessed and took it and it's crew into the void. He has not been seen or heard of since.

Malphas, Primarch of The Argent Legion

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Aubrey The Grey, Primarch of The Eternal Zealots

Appearance

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Sebastian Rex, Primarch of The Bulwark

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Rogerius Merrill, Primarch of The Iron Rangers

Appearance

Merrill is smaller than almost all of the other Primarchs, yet still stands head and shoulders above your average Space Marine, with dark, reddish skin, and long, black hair, shaved along the sides. He is also considered softer of features, and, in comparison, seems one of the most unassuming.

He is also among the physically weakest of the Primarchs, but what he lacks in brute strength, he makes up for in speed and cunning. His signature weapon is the spear, both for the sentimentality of being raised with one on Profi Tiroedd, and for its gains of reach and defensive uses in combat.

His armor seems a bit less bulky than most,keeping his arms and neck exposed, with a large cloak and hood. The ensemble constantly shifts colors to blend in with his surroundings, however it never really manages to keep him fully concealed.

Youth

Upon his landing on Profi Tiroedd, he was found by one of the local tribes, who raised him as their own, and gave him his name. They taught him the necessities of living in the forest. How to hunt, track, gather food, and how to fight. However, his tribe was one of the smallest and weakest, and so, had to stay constantly on the run, else be targeted for raids and attacks by other, larger tribes. Merrill was a quick learner, though, and rapidly adapted to every problem thrown his way. Eventually, though too young to be considered for the position, he was unofficially made chieftain. It was at this point he made a decision: no more running. The tribe would never again have to flee for its own safety. With that in mind, he began a number of small raids against the more warlike neighbors, burning longhouses, stealing, and destroying supplies under cover of darkness before returning to their own tribe. Eventually, this led to assassinating the leaders of the tribes that would oppose them. As he slowly destroyed the larger tribes, others came to join him. Slowly, either by diplomacy, surrender, or annihilation, he united all of the tribes under his own rule, and created a council of elders to act as advisers and lesser rulers.

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Thoren Grimm, Primarch of The Council of Iron

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Tollund Ötztal, Primarch of The Mastodontii Legion

Appearance

Youth Tisenjoch is a world of great open steppes, and cold glaciars, locked in an eternal ice age. The people there live in great mobile towns that follow the herds of Mastodon as they trek back and forth. Life is hard, and the clans were ruled by a caste of tech-priests who maintained their mobile homes. Trade and Warfare between the great mobile towns was common, with battles between them akin to the naval battles of old Terra, with small high-speed ground-carts duelling in the shadow of the mobile towns as they pounded away at one another.

It was into this world that Ötztal was hurled. As luck would have it, he was discovered by a foraging party and taken to the mobile town of Umbaraka. There he swiftly grew to maturity, gaining his first Mastodon Kill at age 10, and making a spear for himself out of its tusks. Then came the day his town was assaulted and taken by a great mobile city, Maiyebord. His family and friends were enslaved, and he too was forced to work in the great machine pits beneath the rolling city, helping to keep it moving.

Ötztal was always an optimistic soul, who saw that there was always a solution, a way out. Even in slavery he refused to ever give up. He could not see the point in the towns fighting. There was plenty of space and food to go around, and he would not take the strong simply taking for the sake of it. He swore to unite all the peoples, and end the wars which plagued his home.

Five times he tried to escape. Four times he was recaptured. The angry city-dwellers had him cuffed, collared, and hung great weights from his limbs, all in an effort to prevent him, but he would never give up. Ever. And finally he escaped, and fled from the rolling city into the steppes.

He found another town, and upon meeting their leaders convinced them to join him. So he set off, uniting rolling town after rolling town into a league of mobile cities, and storming and taking those who refused to join him. Finally he led a mighty assault on Maiyebord, only to find his once-family were already dead. Enraged, he had all the rulers of the city staked out in the steppe and trampled to death by Mastodons.

The Coming of The Emperor Several years later, the Emperor came to Tisenjoch and Ötztal met with him. The meeting was cool at first, and Ötztal instinctively distrusted this outsider. Eventually he challenged him to a hunt. The one to claim the larger Mastodon would win. Ötztal spent a month tracking he great herds, until he brought down a mighty beast. But upon returning to Neu Umbaraka, he found the Stranger had claimed two, both bigger by far than his. Ötztal was enraged, and tried to attack the stranger, but the stranger easily defeated him, and revealed himself as his true Father, the Emperor. Even then there was acrimony, but finally Ötztal was convinced to leave his world and take command of the XXIV Legion, the Steel Wing, which he renamed the Mastodontii

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Nathanog, The Endless Mouth, Primarch of The Gorgers

Appearance Caucasian with a pale complexion. Dark, long, and untamed hair. Overall an handsome face if it was not for the abhorrent size his mouth can open and the gigantic, inhuman tooth in it.

Youth Born on a medieval world, Nathanog lived anonymously for decades in the forests, hunting and feeding on the strong beasts living there, feared by the humans of this world. But one day, a disease spread through the planet, mutating the already strong beasts into engines of terror and slaughter. The humans grew desperate, as more and more civilized land was destroyed by the rampage of the mutant beasts, until the day Nathanog was seen slaying one of the beasts by himself.

The humans had no choice, they followed him, learning from him how to kill the mutants, how to trap and slaughter them. They called their new leader Nathan. But the help of Nathan had a price, he would force the humans to eat the mutated monsters, many died but those who survived grew strong, and as Nathan expanded his strength and his pack from lands to lands, castles to castles, the humans slowly claimed back their world. As the best grew small, Nathan only had one choice if he wanted his thirst for hunting to be satisfied, conquer the planet and feed on all those that would oppose him. And so he did, followed by the strongest of his pack, he went on a blood march that would set the planet ablaze but that would ultimately see him crowned as his sole master, Nathan-Og, the Endless Mouth.

The Coming of The Emperor Then happened what only a few saw coming, with no more conquests to be had, Nathanog proceeded to hunt his own, those he had raised to strength now were fine preys and would sate his thirst for violence. This is when the Emperor arrived and managed to save both his Son and his planet by controlling and calming his Hunger. The Emperor offered his son an army and the perfect opportunity, a galaxy full of enemies to prey upon.

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The Loyalist Legions

Knights of Justice Legion

Close combat fast attack, no Not!Culture They are fast and surgical. Hold a code of honour most highly, and are rather zealous and stubborn. Tricked by the Traitor legions in an Istvaan V style scenario, and has spent post heresy trying to recover their huge losses. Like to get up close and personal to bash/slice in skulls. For flavour, I imagine a KoJ war council happening something like this -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez6wfJWVCeI Substitute "God wills it!" for "The Emperor wills it!" or another suitable phrase.

Steel Marshals Legion

Close Combat siege specialists, possibly Not!Arabic Even tempered, noble, and pragmatic. Their siege methods are archaic, using massed shielded infantry, slow but armoured transports, and massive Harbinger Siege Towers like the Terrans of Old. They succeed through their natural toughness, armour, and their exceptional skill at close combat.

They almost completely eschew firearms and traditional vehicles in favor of melee weaponry, and often use custom reinforced boarding shields. They will often challenge enemies to duels, and have more power swords than most legions, including a unique variant called the Austrich Pattern Power Blade. The blade is lighter and somewhat thinner, allowing for a serious of rapid strikes instead of a few overpowering attacks.

Silver Cataphracts Legion

Siege specialists, Not!Russians Dour and sombre to the point of fatalism, the Cataphracts can seem unmotivated at times. They do however get shit done. They are very effective siege warriors, preferring to breach fortifications then charge in with heavy weapons supporting the assault. Despite their fatalistic nature, they enjoy a good drink.

Sand Keepers Legion

Close Combat specialists, hyper-religious, sorcerers, Not!Persians

"None can escape their fate!"

They are fierce, and zealous, undying followers of the Emperor and His Will. Almost every member of the legion carries a shotel, a traditionally noble weapon from their home world of Simurgh, as their close combat weapon, though some have been converted into power weapon variants and fewer still hold wonderous enchantments bestowed upon them by the priests of the All-Seer. The legion also has a high number of psykers that make use of divination in order to locate their enemy before attacking en masse while bombarding them with psychic sorcery from afar.

Due to their Primarchs close ties to prophecies, divination and sorcery the legion as a whole believes heavily in fate and destiny. To them the emperor is the shepherd that will guide humanity to its ultimate destiny. In their minds only the Emperor in all his glory and the ideals he represents are truly immortal, and that it is the ultimate fate of all else to eventually perish.

The Immortals

The prestiged 1st company of the Sand Keepers. This company was originally the one that the emperor gave to Darius to conquer his home world. As the 1st company, every member is equipped with terminator armor, power shotel and storm bolters though many favored trading in their bolters for storm shields instead. Sargents of the Immortals are always psykers trained in the arts of divination and pyromancy and given a Force shotel instead. In order to keep up the illusion that they are truly immortal, the 1st company was always kept at 100%. Upon death an Immortals armor will instantly teleport them back into space where a ship can retrieve their corpse and equipment. A suitable member from the legion is then elected to replace the fallen immortal, being listed as KIA and taking on the name of the previous immortal. It is indeed a great honor to be risen to an Immortal as marines inherit the deeds and glory that the name has accumulated up to that point.

The Crusaders Legion

Armored Warfare Specialists. Tactically Flexible. Peacekeeping Force Zealous, but tempered. They make a point of being fair and honourable where they can. Were second most powerful legion after the Heresy. Offered a logical and well thought out alternative to the Codex offered by the Scions of Europa. The alternative is a change in the chain of command of the Chapter. This change included the new "Lieutenant" rank, who was given command over two squads which form a single "troop". Other changes included dissolving Devastators and Assault Marines into only Tactical Marine squads which are armed with specialist gear depending on individual skills, mission objectives and enemies faced. Despite this, the Crusaders still field a unit of flyer marines, which armed with plasma, melta, flame and krak weapons act as a shock/anti armor unit. Designed to drop in and either lock down or destroy large enemy units e.g. Carnifex, Heavy Tanks and Battle Suits. They can also be used to scatter groups of enemies with their flamers and destroy key structures. Once these objectives have been completed the Shock Marines then retreat behind friendly lines to rearm and refuel. Due to this tactical flexibility the Crusaders have taken the role of a peacekeeping force. Sending fleets out to patrol their section of the galaxy, they also keep a sizable force planet side to mobilize as a quick reaction force or to reinforce other Legions if needed.

Void Angels Legion

Brooding philosopher-kings

The Void Angels have long been the most suspect of the Loyalist Space Marines. Their forces scarcely fought in the Heresy, Gaspard Lumey refused to divide his legion, nor is there any record of the Primarch's death or disappearance. Some say he still lives, and every teller of such tales has a new and more outlandish location for Lumey's eternal chamber.

War Scribes Legion

Generalists, Tech-lovers

Cautious, methodical, and predictable, and have an odd tendency to be brilliant when planning grand campaigns, but being more uncertain than most in the maelstrom of personal combat at the tactical level. Some Legions appreciate the War Scribes’ oversight of their wars, and others deride them for percieved cowardice. They lack the bloodlust that most other Legions are known for, preferring a solid, relentless advance, backed by the highest technology they can muster. Where other legions favour boldness, the Scribes favour tried and proven methods, and do not deviate from them. They are dour warriors, not given to emotion on the battlefield, but to those that earn their trust, they will go to the ends of the Galaxy to assist them in their times of need. Their favored weapons are Dark Age relics, and the Legion is replete with them compared to almost any other Imperial force. Even in the 40th Millennium, the Chapter and its successors will have access to much that the rest of the galaxy has forgotten.

They disagree with the Mechanicus in many areas, not least of which is their refusal to hoard technology. The War Scribes do not innovate technology, but they do reverse-engineer it at every opportunity, and disseminate the information to the worlds they conquer, and to the Imperium as a whole when possible. Unfortunately, after the Heresy, the Mechanicus forced the War Scribes to do no more than gather technology, and there is bad blood between them. Any knowledge they do share is almost exclusively limited to the Atalantos Worlds they rule as overseers, for they cannot risk the ire of the Mechanicus too directly. Though the War Scribes aren’t inclined toward political maneuvering, they’ve had to learn to balance the other pillars of the Imperium against the Mechanicus to maintain their autonomy. It is fortunate that they have the authority of being a First Founding Legion to support them.

Space Marines know no fear, but the War Scribes don’t handle Chaos incursions very well, mentally or tactically. They can’t predict the unpredictable, and this puts them at a steep disadvantage. Against Material foes though, their brutally powerful relic weaponry makes them a force to be reckoned with.

Because of the Scribes love for knowledge, predictability, and the written word, the War Scribes were encouraged by the other legions and their Primarchs to author the Codex Astartes following the events of the Heresy, with the help of the Crusaders, Steel Marshals, Thunder Kings, and Scions.

The Isstvan Massacre nearly destroyed the entire Legion, and they were completely unprepared for their betrayal at the hands of the Traitor Legions. Despite being a respectably large Legion of nearly 90,000 warriors, only one in thirty Marines survived Isstvan, leaving a bare 3,000 to carry their Primarch back home. The only reason the Legion remains a viable force to this day is the large number of small squads dispatched galaxy-wide to hunt relics, these numbered almost 10,000 and were called back to brace the Legion. Without those reinforcements, which the Mechanicus had no knowledge of, the War Scribes would surely have been annihilated when the Mechanicus attempted to sear their homeworld to the bedrock in an attempt to remove the War Scribes' Primarch from impeding their goals to control the Imperium from Mars, rather than Terra.

As it now stands, the War Scribes are a fleet-based chapter, operating within the loose confederation of worlds known as the Atalantos Worlds, for though the Legion survived, their planet was torn asunder in the apocalyptic clash of forbidden, ancient technology. For the briefest of instants, they and the Mechanicus fought as Dark Age Mankind might have, holding nothing back. The War Scribes Chapter of the 40th Millennium looks much like it did in the 30th, wielding Crusade-era weaponry alongside handfuls of even more ancient relics. They defend their treasures jealously, still remembering their defeat at the hands of the Mechanicus.

Notable successors

Knights Draconian Sort-of Not!BlackTemplars. The first Chapter Master of the Knights Draconian, Nicholai Galilei, served as liaison officer to The Entombed during the Istvaan V campaign. While recovering from the wounds he suffered there, Galilei criticised the War Scribes' strategy for failing to properly co-operate with the other legions present. While the critique was not harshly worded, it created considerable controversy - especially because Arelex Orannis, busy with other duties, did not publicly reply. Internal dissent within the War Scribes made the break-up of the legion for the Second Founding painless: those who agreed with Galilei left, those who disagreed remained in their original colours. Subsequent bust-ups with The Entombed and the Eyes of the Emperor left an embittered Knights Draconian believing that co-operation is largely impossible. Big fans of the Inquisition.

Scale Bearers Legion

Jungle warfare specialists who fight alongside the reptilian warbeasts known as Sors (native to Jer Asyk) and often use them as mounts. They have deployed biological weaponry on occasion as well, most notably on Kras Xenkoh. (They probably learned it from the Life Bringers - this could also be why they don't use it anymore.) Led by the Primarch Tiran Osoros until his death during the Hektor Heresy. Their homeworld of Jer Asyk is covered in vast jungles, and serves as their main source of recruits as they replenish their numbers, but other worlds have contributed Astartes to the Legion, including Kras Xenkoh and Krate Shias.

Their defeat at the hands of [insert traitor legion here] early on in the Heresy left them numbering less than 700, and their efforts to rebuild since then have proven only moderately fruitful. By the 41st Milennium, the Scale Bearers would likely hover around Chapter strength, rather than the just over 10,000 that followed Tiran into the Great Crusade. Regardless of these setbacks, the Scale Bearers continue to serve the Imperium with everything they can muster.

Thunder Kings Legion

Generalists, Repentant, Not!Celts Even-tempered, proud, and noble. The Thunder Kings took the Heresy badly, with more than half of their legion fighting for Hektor and his Traitors. They are now repentant, trying to quietly clean up their mess. They are renown for taking a cautious, methodical approach to warfare, and favour combined armed tactics over any single focused doctrine.

It is rumored that the Thunder Kings claim descent from similar genetic stock as the Thunder Warriors of old, and are simultaneously the subject of interest and revile as a consequence. They are larger than the majority of other Astartes, yet exhibit no other outward signs that’d betray such lineage.

During the Heresy, seven of the twelve tribes abandoned the Emperor and Brennus, heading towards Terra to assist Hektor Cincinnatus. Four of the remaining tribes set out in the same direction, assisting loyalist forces in various skirmishes and battles in the vicinity of the Sol system. It would be almost a year before Brennus lifted himself from Alessia, burning the world behind him, and took his last remaining tribe--his personal one--with him to Terra.

In the modern era, the tribal structure has been disbanded, and the Chapter no longer recruits from a single world. The loyalist tribes were instead broken off into their own individual Chapters, and are known to maintain close ties to the original Thunder Kings--who are all of Brennus’ original tribe. The Chapter is now mostly Codex Astartes adherent, at least with regards to organization, though it still maintains more Marines than is considered standard--owing to its extended garrison duties in many locations. Most notable is still their fondness for unified tactics, and it is unsurprising to see the Thunder Kings working alongside their brother chapters or with regular Imperial forces in the conduct of a combined front against a greater enemy.

Following the voluntary burning of Alessia, the Thunder Kings instead now recruit from a multitude of planets spread out over a gauntlet of stars known as the Soctis Cluster. With several black holes orbiting the periphery of the cluster, the habitable planets scattered throughout the Cluster are habitually bombarded by erratic seasons, exotic radiation, and altogether experience harsh conditions. It is from these worlds that the Thunder King recruits are drawn, with a permanent garrison maintained on each one.

Eyes of the Emperor Legion

Ranged specialists, craftsmen Paranoid, wary, and skittish by nature, the Eyes of the Emperor favored engaging their enemies at range,mostly focusing on heavy artillery, mechanical warfare and Sniping ability. As such, they spent a lot time crafting and maintaining equipment - they have gotten rather good at it. When presented a foe, they will become some what obsessed with it, trying to learn, understand and predict their targets moves to the extreme, playing a intricate game of battlefield chess as they continually deploy, redeploy and maneuver the battlefield, trying to get as into their maximum range. They are ridiculed by some close combat oriented legions, but have a good relationship with the mechanicus, and were present in the defense of Mars. Many of their Astartes brethren distrust them and They are especially despised by Imperial Guard commanders, as they often, accidentally, treat the guard as a meat shield while they keep at a range.

Originally forced into helping the Traitors in return for not being destroyed, they regrettably participated in the drop site massacre. They eventually turned on the Traitors, when they saw what had become of some of the cult marines under the sway of the chaos gods. Fearing that the same would happen to them, and compelled by what some would say was the only courageous act in their existence, they broke off from the main traitor fleet and deployed on mars, to help with the defense effort. For many days the Eyes of the Emperor fought, even equipping them selves with jump packs to get some what closer to the enemy with their shot guns. Although valiant, they were heavily injured during the offense and many were killed. Of their original strength, only a few thousand remained.

Their Primarch, Octullus Tyran was raised on the Gas Giant of Illobian. Drifting among the clouds of oxygen lied the station where he was found, and raised. He soon found he was capable of reading the minds of others, But this proved to be a curse at the time, as he was overswept with the fears and worries of the entire station. He was soon found and taken under the wing of a sect of monk bounty hunters on the planet, who took pity on the scared child, and trained him into helping control his powers to his advantage, along with the ways of ranged combat. Although he would spend most of his time hunting down, and even killing criminals, he still felt pings of fear and pity when he saw their faces and read their minds. Many years later, a new comer arrived, and demanded that . Deciding Challenging the new comer to a test of skill, he watched confidently as the man walked up to the podium, took the worn rifle, and hit all two thousand targets placed around the city in a single shot. Astonished, Octullus quickly bent knee, and watched as the Emperor revealed himself and told him of his origin. He quickly took command of the Radiance Warriors, who Octullus promptly renamed the Eyes of the Emperor, due to the omnipotent gaze of the Emperor

They are divergent from most of the other marine factions via their tactics and troop selection, as they equip most of their Tactical marines Stalker Bolters, their Assualt marines Storm Bolters, their Terminators either Autocannons, Havoc Launchers or Plasma Cannons. They also make extensive use of Tarantula Auto Turrets, Tech Thralls, Servitors, and other expendable units to keep the enemy from closing on them.

• Chaplains meditate in isolation for hours upon hours trying to commune with the Emperor. They also can channel a small bit of their Prinarchs power to probe the minds of suspected marines

• Dreadnoughts are basically walking altars that rarely enter combat. When they do, they are armred with missile launchers to prevent them from being damaged. They also have their former visiage carved onto the front of the dreadnought

• Assault marines are actually based on a volunteer basis, and upon doing so, are considered dead until they get past their time volunteered. They must take up a vow of silence, and either take a regular bolter or dual wield dual chain hooks.

• Neophytes are paired up with a tactical to learn under the marines, and for each neophyte trained, they implant a veteran bolt in their fore head. They nay also use seals instead

• They are seven vows of purity that each neophyte must take to become a full fledged space marine. Each one concides with a organ except the last one, which is the bonding of the suit, neophyte and optic eye.

• Brothers are encouraged to consult every other marine under and above their command for advice on upcoming campaigns and other actions. Every decision is meditated upon, every deployment carefully considered

• When fighting a oponnet, they will usually plan days, weeks and months ahead to the very last second, and will base their plans on specifically how the enemy reacts. They are so well timed, there is cases of them firing with such timing, aim and precision, that they were able to kill entire flanks of enemy. They are famous for their saturation attacks as well, leading enemies into death traps of rocks and heavy weaponry

Scions of Europa Legion

Tactical Marines, Greco-Roman inspired ethos and culture The Scions are defined primarily by their bravery and their combination of discipline and tactical flexibility, allowing them to work well both as a single Legion and in conjunction with others, coordinating the strengths of the Legions with each other in combined engagements. However, their bravery has proved to be a double-edged sword, as they refuse to retreat unless under the most dire of circumstances, so they suffer higher losses than normal. Their emphasis on tactical flexibility results in higher numbers of Tactical Squads, and all marines in the Legion are trained in basic proficiency of all standard weapons. For some reason, they lack psykers among their ranks.

Many of the Legion drew their initial recruits both from Holy Terra and the planet Europa - hence the Legion's name - a world named after a continent of ancient Terra that emerged from the Age of Strife with much of its technology and traditions intact - passed down since the first colonists settled there. Their bronze-painted armor, trimmed with gold and cloaked in red, is an homage to the old Terran warriors of Europa.

Machine Guard Legion

Vehicle users. Ranged Preference. Reluctant to pick sides in a fight between brothers, eventually siding - after some considerable pressure from the Omegon Annihalators - with the Emperor. They favour fast and unconventional tactics. Serious, wild, and sometimes reckless through bravado and heroics. The use of vehicles in this fashion wins them no points with the Ad Mech but it is proven to be effective. Their geneseed insofar has been stable but they lost a great many number on Istvaan V and were left powerless for the remainder of the Heresy Era. They have slowly been rebuilding their numbers and their stockpiles but still lack behind severely. Each marine is a trained pilot of any vehicle they could encounter in their service life and a trained marksman but they lack severely in close combat ability and the only ones considered of acceptable skill was the primarch himself and most of the honour guard assault marines.

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The Entombed Legion

Defensive specialists, death/tomb theme. The Entombed suffer from a fault in their geneseed which makes it incredibly difficult to reclaim genetic stock from the fallen. To compensate for their difficulty in recouping losses, The Entombed have opted to wear much heavier armour. The legion consits almost entirely of Terminators, Centurions, and Dreadnoughts. Apothecaries have prominent leadership roles, and every squad of Terminators is lead by an Apothecary in terminator armour called an Undertaker.

During the Horus Heresy, they lost seven of their ten companies to a chemical attack by the Life Bringers, and have sworn bloody vengeance against the worshippers of Nurgle. The Entombed do not generally concern themselves with external conflicts, opting instead to sit on their barren, grey homeworld of Sepulchra, fighting an endless war against the Orks native to their system. Only two battle barges regularly patrol the galaxy, searching for signs of the Life Bringers. If even a hint of Life Bringer activity is discovered, The Entombed will attack in full force. The Entombed would glass ten thousand planets if it meant killing only ten Life Bringers.

The chemical weapons of the Life Bringers left the surviving Entombed permanently wounded. Their lungs are scarred and poxy, and far too fragile to breathe the bad air of the home world, or the smoke of a battlefield. As such, The Entombed are locked eternally within the controlled atmospheres of their armour. They remove their armour only within the confines of their own battle barges, or at their fortress monastery, The Catacomb.

The Entombed field a unique Ossuary Pattern Dreadnought, with thicker armour and armed with the Demolisher Cannons usually seen on Vindicators. The Primarch of The Entombed, Golgothos, is interred in one such Dreadnought. Many Entombed choose to decorate their armour with skull iconography, and Entombed Dreadnoughts have recesses on the front, where the skulls of fallen battle-brothers are interred.

After the War Scribes failed to inform The Entombed of the incomming artillery barrage on Istvaan V which doomed their chapter, The Entombed declared them Nonexistant. The Entombed do not recognize that the War Scribes exist. In battle, The Entombed will place their artillery without regard for War Scribes, and march past Scribes as they are slaughtered, without even turning their heads. When the Knights Draconian, a War Scribes successor chapter, came to ask for The Entombed's forgiveness years later, Chief Undertaker Erebus replied to their apology with, "How Can I accept what I cannot hear? How can I forgive one who does not exist?"

After the massacre at Istvaan V, Golgothos gathered up 100 Venerable dreadnoughts, all mortally wounded at Istvaan V, and rode intot he Eye of Terror on the battle barge Catafalque. He would get his vengeance at any price. Golgothos and Johannes have fought on numerous occasions, but Johannes' mastery at healing is so great that he has recovered from the grievous wounds caused by Golgothos' dreadnought.

In Golgothos' absence they are lead by Erebus, Lord of the Grave, who is Chief Apothecary of The Entombed. He is proactive, but practical. Erebus chooses to let his Companies be used as auxiliaries for the other Legions, used as supplementary shock troops. He refuses to commit his troops to any risky endeavers, as he cannot bear even a single lost marine. He loathes Xenos, believing as his primarch does that humans are gods sent to purge the galaxy of inhuman filth.

Stone Men Legion

larger than usual, brutish, and slow The Stone Men are hulking behemoths of space marines. clad in a stony ore found in asteroids and wielding powerfists and meltaguns, they are nearly indestructible, yet moderately small in number and almost completely unable to increase the size of their ranks. they are all rather simple, preferring to stay away from politics and intrigue. they know only one thing: the enemies of the Imperium are great. we must be greater.

Before the great heresy, the Stone Men were over 50,000 strong, and commanded the largest and most powerful guns in the Imperium. They maintained a fleet of over 1,000 ships, the greatest of all being Mount Everest, the largest battle-barge ever created. from their fortified rocky homeworld, Neolithus, the Stone Men were an unrivaled force in the galaxy. their undoing, however, came from an even greater force from outside of this universe. the forces of chaos repaid the hubris of the Stone Men by besieging their homeworld and slaughtering their brothers. Neolithus was consumed by the warp, and tzeentch smiled a wicked grimace. the remaining 15,000 marines and the entire fleet traveled to Isstvan, pursuing a distress signal from their fellow astartes (whom they thought were also being assailed by chaos). they arrived to find their own battle brothers fighting each other, and the confused chapter launched a full-on assault into the frenzy. after the loyalist marines fleeted thanks to the massive diversion the Stone Men created, the Stone Men themselves retreated, unwilling to risk the massive casualties they had endured on their homeworld. the remaining fleet managed to escape to holy terra. onyx wished to seek guidance from his father, but when he arrived he found that even terra itself was under attack! they attempted to defend the sol system from hordes of ravenous daemons and chaos space marines. this ended in disaster when the pride of the Stone Men, the great Mount Everest summit-class battle barge was besieged by chaos. in a last ditch effort to ensure the survival of the remaining Stone Men, the Grand Admiral regis Tungsten and a force of 5,000 naval marines held their ground long enough to let the remainders escape. the Admiral then sent the battle barge careening into the eternal flames of the sun, ensuring it would never fall to chaos. (although reports suggest that it may have been salvaged from the warp by the ruinous powers themselves, so great its power was) weakened and only 7,000 in number, the stone men forsook the Imperium, retreating into deep space. they locked onto the farthest object they could find and disappeared for 10,000 years.

New reports from far flung fringe worlds describe a possible return of the Stone Men. Imperial forces under attack by tyranids reported meteorites using warp-travel bombarding tyranid forces. They also describe 12 ft tall astartes in ancient, cracked armor smashing and melting entire swarms with archaic weaponry. it is this Inquisitor's opinion that the Stone Men are out there, right now, safeguarding the imperium from threats unknown. things even we may not comprehend. they are silent guardians, waiting at the gates of the milky way, waiting for the enemy.

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Nova Defenders Legion

Band of Brothers

When the Emperor discovered him, Rook North was far from a great leader, nor even a particularly fine warrior for all his natural potential. Understanding that his son had made the best of what Rylethon had to offer, the Emperor took the unusual step of inducting North into the Thirteenth Legion without introducing him as their Primarch and commander.

Of course, North passed through training with superlative results. He was the best recruit the Thirteenth had ever had. The quietness imposed by isolation broke down, and Rook was soon one of the guys, cracking dirty jokes and slapping skin like the rest of the ordinary men.

Needless to say, when North's true identity was revealed, the Thirteenth's officers were somewhat surprised to find out that they had been bossing about their progenitor for twelve months. "Brother Rook", as he would always be to the Nova Defenders, waved away apologies and the chance to right wrongs. Learning the way of the warrior alongside his men bonded North and his Legion as brothers, a tradition that would define the Nova Defenders.

Notable Successors

IRONSIDES "Silent but deadly"

Rook North was a lot of things to a lot of people, but his men mostly saw him as their friend. While Nova Defenders were certainly disciplined, their willingness to obey came from understanding that their commander valued them as people. North's final sacrifice proved that he had never put himself before the rest of the Legion.

As the Nova Defenders prepared to depart for Terra and the final battle of the Heresy, Todd Baker, their best scout, was assigned the task of finding and securing North's body until relief arrived. It's said that the whole Legion volunteered, but in the end a hand-picked squad of twelve were sent. After a harrowing three years, constantly on the move, first seeking out the primarch's body then protecting it from Traitors, Baker's "Ironsides", as they called themselves, were all extracted and shipped back to Rylethon.

Only three had survived the ordeal, and they were changed men. They still gave smiles - small ones - when their comrades joked and laughed, but the long patrol had enforced a habit of silence. Come the Second Founding they weren't turned out of the Nova Defenders, but it wasn't hard to see that the Ironsides had their own tradition and it was one worth preserving.

Settled on the ice world of Whitestead, the Ironsides have kept quiet. They honour the Codex Astartes, but place an emphasis on infiltration and light infantry tactics. Ironsides tend to rely on other Chapters or the Imperial Guard to provide heavy firepower. They find it pretty easy to work alongside other imperial forces, and are particularly loyal to their Founding Chapter. If sometimes the Ironsides have had to refuse a call from Rylethon, it's always been with good reason.

LIONHEARTS "Stubborn to the end"

The Nova Defenders arrived late - very late - to the battle at Terra, and made the fateful decision to run the guns of the Traitor fleet rather than be bystanders. By this stage of the campaign, Third Company was in the best shape, so they were chosen to secure the landing zone. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, from losses on the landing to a Traitor counter-attack to hold-ups with reinforcements.

When he touched down on Holy Terra, Charlie Wade was a sergeant. By the time the main body of the Nova Defenders joined Third Company, Wade was in command. He'd been lucky - every other officer in Third Company was dead, along with nine in ten of the men. For the rest of his life, Wade would insist that he never would have been promoted any other way.

He also liked to joke that his luck ran out when the shooting stopped on Terra. When the Nova Defenders were broken up to form Chapters, people started talking about how the legendary Third Company ought to be honoured as a new Chapter. Wade and the other survivors hated the idea, tried to fight it, but were eventually forced to form the leadership of the "Lionhearts". They didn't like the name, either.

For all the griping at their start, the Lionhearts have been a success, chalking up an impressive battle record and showing little deterioration in their geneseed. About the worst that can be said of the Lionhearts is that they're all stubborn by nature, and most are cantankerous. No other Chapter is quite as averse to drop tactics. "Once was enough," the Lionhearts say.

Traitor Legions

Silver Spears Legion

Slaanesh, melee focused slaanesh legion with imperial rome theme, notEmperors Children Oppulent, excessive, hedonistic. They favour any method, but are easily baited by their emotional nature. They are a tough legion to face due to their obsession with training and constant striving for supremacy. They were present on Istvaan and Terra.

The Bulwark Legion

Renegade not heretics, siege defense and empire building focused

First known as the Qarin Sentinels, the Legion followed the Emperor on his Great Crusade, developing their innate talents for defense and infrastructure. They forged a bond with the other legions, many of whom were able to swap concepts and experiences of siege with the Sentinels.

Then, on a world named Arelon the legion found its lost Primarch, Sebastian Rex. Sebastian had been found in the forests, and had been looked after by the populace of a small city, constantly predated on by roaming bandit armies and the neighbouring nations and Great Cities. Over the course of his time on Arelon, Sebastian managed to take that small city, and turn it into a sprawling empire, the Jewel and capital city of all of Arelon. He had done this by meticulously, and patiently, fortifying the small city state and all of its conquests and the infrastructure linking them, so that they made an interlocking, interlinked web of citadels that protected each other and their cities. At first Sebastian would not listen to the Emperor, believing the Emperor to be a bigger, space-faring foe like he had faced on Arelon, one that he and his people would weather like a storm.

The Emperor ordered the Silver Cataphracts and the Steel Marshalls to use their siege expertise to force Sebastian out. They did so with ease, although the defenses did give them far more trouble than they expected, their advanced weaponry and tactics reduced the defenses to rubble. Seeing his empire, all he had built in ruins, Sebastian wept, but he remained steadfast, standing in front of the main gatehouse to the capital, that was still just about intact, and challenged his foes to duel him. He fought off many foes, fighting for hours on end, sustaining great wounds but shrugging them all off. Bloody and beginning to tire, Sebastian finally challenged the emperor himself to duel him as his final gambit.

The Emperor did not accept the duel, but chose to speak with Sebastian, explaining why he had come, and what Sebastians destiny was; to fortify the stars in the name of his father, the Emperor. Sebastian accepted this, agreeing to do his best for his father, but the seeds of resentment were already sown in his soul. His legion, renamed the Gatekeepers after their Sebastians heroic last stand on Arelon, now followed the Great Crusade, reinforcing and garrisoning strategic positions - using what he learned at the hands of the Cataphracts and the Marshalls to good use, and together with advanced technology, began perfecting the art of siege defense.

As the Great Crusade progressed, Sebastian began carving out his own network of highly defended, incredibly fortified planets, and steadily expanded this burgeoning empire until he had a prosperous sector under his control, benefiting from the regular patrols and heavy defenses, the sector economy became robust, constantly growing to keep up with the demand for construction materials and defensive weapons and space ships soared. He made friends with Arelex of the War Scribes, and Uriel Starikov of the Children of Armok.

As his empire grew and strengthened, Sebastian, and the Gatekeepers involvement in the crusades waned. And by the time the Heresy began, it had been some time since Sebastian and his legion had done more than fortify and defend against xenos attacks. Not knowing who to side with, and remembering the pain he felt at having his mightiest achievement reduced to rubble by the Emperor, Sebastian declared his neutrality, taking his now considerable personal empire with him.

The 'Crucible

As the Heresy raged, Sebastian was contacted by Uriel Starikov of the Children of Armok, and warned that his legions rivals, the Silver Cataphracts, and the Steel Marshals were en-route to his empire to force him to join them, as they had done back on Arelon. Images of his sector spanning empire reduces to rubble and glass like his first empire enraged Sebastian, and he began preparations to welcome his former brothers with concrete and steel. As one final insult to his oncoming foes, he sent a personal message to their Primarchs.

"You will now know us as the Bulwark. For we will break you upon our mighty defenses and laugh at your death. You will be destroyed in the Crucible I lay before you, but take solace knowing that we will forge your remains into new walls to crush all those who follow in your ill-fated footsteps. We are the Bulwark. Bring us your best. For we will take them all!"

Little did Sebastian know that the the two loyalist legions had been dispatched to provide assistance to the Bulwark, as Sebastians little corner of the Imperium was perhaps the safest and most secure loyalist sector in the whole galaxy. The Loyalists had planned to use it as a base for a second front, to lure the Traitors into the masterfully crafted defenses of the Bulwark Empire or attack them from behind if they marched on Terra. The Crucible Challenge came as a shock, but assuming the Bulwarks message to mean they had joined Hektors side, the Cataphtacts and the Marshals did not hesitate in preparing for battle.

The Crucible itself was made up of 4 worlds and 2 space stations, all garrisoned and fortified beyond normal necessity or logic. They were dug in for a long, bloody siege. The Crucible would last the rest of the heresy, and outmatch the Siege of Terra in scale and brutality. Ultimately, the Crucible would leave the Bulwark victorious, but having sustained heavy losses themselves, losing around 55% of their legion. The Cataphracts and the Marshals suffer an estimated 65% and 52% casualty rate respectively. Towards the end of the battle, seeing him in person, Sebastian challenged the Marshalls Primarch, Roman Albrecht to single combat. Roman was a far superior fighter, and lead the fight, but Sebastian's skill at defending kept the duel locked into a stalemate. As both Primarch's anger and desire to best their rival took over them, they began to ignore the battle that had temporarily lulled to watch the two giants duel. Finally, Sebastian struck; parrying a sword stroke, he disarmed Roman, and gave him no respite - not even stopping to gloat. Roman's head flew, and the silence that followed it was deafening. A Primarch, the mightiest of the mighty, save the Emperor of mankind himself, was dead. Before the head of Roman had even hit the floor, the carnage resumed at a higher force than before - deafening cheers from the Bulwark, and cries of anguish and sorrow fueled rage from the Marhsals. Sebastian stood, sword in the air, relishing in the feeling - he had bested one of the 2 mortals responsible for his people, his empire back on Arelon, being destroyed. The feeling did not last long. He had suffered some minor wounds during the fight, but they had weakened him, and he returned to his fortified battle lines. Later in the battle, Sebastian would face the Cataphracts Primarch Constantine while defending a breach in the curtain wall of the capital of the 4th and final world. Constantine was not as close a match for Sebastian as Roman was, but due to Sebastians wounds, Constantine was able to get the upper hand, and mortally wounded Sebastian with a powerful strike from his master-crafted power halberd. Before he succumbed to his wound however, Sebastian grabbed the halberds shaft, and pulled himself down the blade, so he was face to face with his rival brother, nothing but hatred on Sebastians face, but a look of remorse on the face of Constantine. Sebastian tried to say something, and Constantine leant in to hear his brothers last words over the din of battle. "Bring us your best, for we will take them all." He trailed off into laughter, that quickly became a coughing fit as blood poured out of his lips. His lips that smiled. Constantine looked confused, then was engulfed in an explosion that sent all those in a 30 radius flying. Constantine was not dead, but he was no longer conscious; the blast had ripped his lower body clean from the rest of him, and hurled his upper body up, and into the rubble of an outer wall. The apothecaries were able to keep him alive miraculously, but Constantine Komnemnos was in a deep coma, and would never be the same again.

The Bulwark Legion Itself

Serious, driven, and dour, the Bulwark are fierce defenders, and value personal toughness and stubbornness. Despite not being a heretic, they refuse to bow to the Emperor. Or the Traitor legions for that matter. They are repopulating the legion faster than most, but still maintaining the care taken pre-heresy for it.

Each chapter sized division of the Bulwark is called a 'Bastion' and is given their own world to maintain and fortify. Each Bastion supports the other Bastions near it by using traditional transport, or warp-gates to quickly access the next world. The Command Structure is referred to as the 'Keep' as well as having the traditional Chaplains, Librarians, Techmarines, and Apothecaries, they have an entire company called the 'Knights of [insert name of world they are based on]' whose sole purpose is to protect the Commanders in battle and when off-duty.

The Bulwark believe in defending the infrastructure and strategic locations heavily, but will leave other areas undefended following the adage that if you defend everything, you defend nothing. They do however design their fortifications so that every location outside of the walls is a set close distance from a Gate.

On the offensive the Bulwark have limitless patience. They will land in multiple areas in force, all equidistant from each other. Then they begin quickly fortifying the surrounding area, secure that, then begin constructing real fortifications, beginning with pre-forged and pre-fabricated components for rapid deployment. Once these pre-fab fortresses are complete, they begin truly constructing their webs of fortresses. It is by no means fast, but it is an inexorable, meticulous, and methodical advance, that will slowly but surely strategically strangle you until you are forced to attack them, on their terms, in their purpose built fortifications.

After the Heresy

Following the aftermath of the Crucible, and the now finished Heresy, the Bulwark return to their original business of building an Empire, and focus on rebuilding their decimated legion, which they do reasonably faster than most, due to their Empires strong economy, and all the gene-seed they could recover and steal from the dead at the Crucible.

They keep true to their promise and have their old fortifications rebuilt using the smelted down and crushed remains of their foes. Roman Albrecht's dead body is sealed in plas-glass, normally used for void windows, and sent to their fortress monastery, where his body watches over the main gate, a testament to all who would try and siege the Bulwark.

Black Augurs Legion

Not!Wizards, Ambush and Trap Focused Not!Nightlords/Not!ThousandSons They use fast and brutal tactics, favouring ambushes and any way they can inflict morale damage on their foes. They didn't fall to chaos, but did choose to fight on Hektors side. They were present at the Istvaan V scenario that nearly destroyed the strength of the Knights of Justice, the Entombed, and War Scribes. The Black Augurs as a whole are known for their lightning reflexs and psychic precognition.

Augury and Foresight

The Black Augurs have many arcane rituals and practices that they claim channels their foresight. Chanting and burning of incense in combat, inscribing ruins and esoteric symbols directly onto their armaments, and focusing on a single thing to discern prophecies from it. Most Black Augur marines can simply channel their combat focus into being able to predict the very near future, dodging bullet and sword swings and knowing when to fire on an enemy behind cover can both come to Black Augur when he enters a trance like battle focus. The things most often used to discern the farther future are the black void of space, storms (solar, thunder, cosmic, etc.), large groups of animals, and the patterns of explosions and debris. A special assault regiment called the Haruspices (Haruspex singular) even claim to be able to discern the future in the blood and viscera of their enemies and so use chain weapons to produce as much of these two things as they can.

Powerful psykers known as the Vates act as the legions Librarians and can channel many mind based powers with their disturbing incantations. All can project visions of doom and death into the minds of their enemies to demoralize and confuse as well as cause intense pain in the minds of individuals or small groups. The more powerful can project visions of unimaginable horror and the future death of all their opponents hold dear directly into their minds, often causing them to go mad with grief or anguish. The most powerful of the Vates as well as the Primarch himself can channel their will so fiercely into another's mind that the strong willed will often black out and the weak's brains boil out of every orifice or explode.

Weaknesses and Shortcomings While incredibly potent as a tactical tool it is recommended that the common marine try to avoid going into a trance of prescience for too long in battle as they may discern momentary flashes of possible death. This is incredibly painful and distressing to such an extent that more than a few marines have had a vision of their death that is quickly followed by their actual death as a result.

On a more universal scale many members of the legion often suffer from horrific visions while in stasis after a hard fought battle and many neophytes suffer from visions of several of their deaths far in the future while becoming a marine. Even the Voidwatcher is beset by visions of death and suffering in the future. There is a close to even balance of horrific visions of torture and death and tactically helpful visions or visions of victory some might still see the precognition as a whole a "flaw". Though the Black Augurs themselves would be loathe for you to say it to one in person.

Heresy The Black Augurs were one of the Emperors legions that turned traitor during the Hektor Heresy. While other legions and higher ups in the empire had long had some misgivings about the legion of sorcerers and warlocks the Black Augurs had long had suspicions they were not trusted as well as other legions. Their strange mystic rituals and unsettling arcane practices had even drawn the ire of the Emperor on occasion, especially when used around civilians. It was simple for Hektor to convince the Voidwatcher and his legion that some of their visions of a disgusting, stagnant, witchhunting, empire were not far off and that they would never truly be excepted into the Big E's unified humanity. They quickly joined the forces of the renegade legions but resisted the pull of the Chaos gods. Though farther down the line in the Heresy some mentions and devotions to Tzeentch were made he was never their patron. This was because whenever a Black Augur thought seriously about descending along the path of Chaos they were wracked with horrific visions of demonic torture by whatever is providing their visions and listening to their incantation.

Life Bringers Legion

Nurgle, biological/chemical warfare focused resident Nurgle Marines, but not quite death guard. Pragmatic and logical to the extreme, they would rather eradicate a world and rebuild it with terraforming, than have to fix it as it is. Highly protective of their battle brothers and allies. All officers cross-train as apothecaries and perform those tasks in addition to combat duties. Extensively used biowarfare before the heresy, were present both at Istvaan V, and at Terra. Became Nurgles chosen legion, incorporating his diseases etc into their weapons. Still believe they are healers freeing the galaxy from corruption, they continue to purge planets and reseed them with new life even after the Heresy in their warped view of a green paradise. This usually looks like a rotten mix between Catachan and Nurgle's garden where only their cultists, genetically adapted and mutated for that biome, can survive for long.

File:Life Bringer marine.jpg

Mastodontii Legion

The Mastadontii are like a glacier, a slow moving tidal wave of armour that can sweep away any foe. Hailing from the frigid tundra world of Tisenjoch, where great rolling cities skate across the ice and steppe, the Mastodontii make extensive use of vehicles for rapid deployments and heavy support. Despite their frigid world, they are optimistic by nature, and will keep trying until they persevere, hammering foes into submission with heavy armour. They joined the traitors when their idealism in the Imperium was destroyed, and they saw the Imperium as the rapidly stagnating form it was becoming, with Chaos offering the only solution.

Council of Iron

heavy armament offensive assault resident angry marines/?? The Council does not bend. They are ridiculously stoic and utterly unfazeable. They are more stubborn than dwarves when their will is opposed. their Marines inevitable march towards their enemies while using some of the heaviest armament possible. best when harnessed as an offensive role instead of defensive.

Eternal Zealots Legion

aka The Betrayed

Proud, Zealous and self-righteous, the Zealots were the first chapter turned by the Children of Armok, and were used to turn Hektor himself. They desired to be shining examples of what Medicae and Fair tolerance to all castes and Xenos alike, using a Xenos Auxiliary that is widely debated upon within the Imperium. This open-mindedness and somewhat naive perspective of the universe lead to their downfall however, as their Xeno Allies enacted a Coup coup d'etat, set into motion by the Children of Armok.

The Betrayal

Aubrey was leading his Legion, upon the Warmasters orders, to recapture a human colony, to bring it back to the Imperium, however, things had been set in motion by Uriel, Primarch of the Children of Armok. Whilst in combat with the heavily fortified foe, the Tarellians, the Zealots Xeno Auxiliary, as well as the host of the homeworld of Aubrey and his legion, had began their Coup.

The Captain of the 1st Company had been felled, and a number of the Xenos were beset upon him and his Legion.

He survived, wounded and set out a message to his homeworld, the third of the Legion stationed there to keep an eye on the Xenos, on the Emperors strict orders. There was no response from the homeworld and he feared the worst, however his hands were tied, he couldn't pull out of the world without withstanding un-needed losses, so he called out to one of his brothers, Bohemond.

Bohemond rushed to the planet, vengeance in his heart, these filthy xenos had betrayed his brother, regardless of his Naivety, when he landed, he was received with the glares of the Captains of the Eternal Zealots as the Knights of Justice opened fire on the Tarellians, only for the Zealots to return fire.

The messages from the Primarch had been intercepted by the group responsible for the betrayal, a large anti-Imperium faction, they had manipulated the message, reporting the Captains stationed there that Aubrey had been slain by Bohemond and he had come to the planet; Lazarus, the homeworld to finish the job.

The fighting lasted for a week before A wounded Aubrey and Uriel, who arrived in time to bolster his forces on the world, for him to arrive there. Aubrey was livid, most of his forces were killed, he shouted, bellowed and threatened to beat Bohemond, they were about to come to blows before Uriel stepped in, saying his must return to his legion...

Aubrey was contacted by the Emperor, his face stern and unamused. He bereted the Primarch for allowing this to happen, reminding him of what he said the day he arrived to Lazarus, that Xenos were never to be trusted, that they were treacherous, selfish beings that wanted nought but their own advancement, not theirs. Aubrey was silent through the entire communcation, until the Emperor, after reminding him of his naivety and his disappointment with him, that Bohemond has been ordered to purge the system of the Xenos and he was to stand down while they did their work. The Primarch said with a sorrowful heart that he understood, he went then to watch, as the people who raised him from infancy burned for their betrayal. He felt it was unjust. He felt sorrow. He felt rage.

The Heresy

After the betrayal, their Primarch threw himself further into his studies of magicks, to be used for an alternate form of healing, It was then that Uriel, Primarch of the Children of the Armok, introduced to a race of Chaos worshiping Xenos; The Cyfecti.

A race close to the Eye of Terror, who worshipped the Great Eye and the mighty beings that dwelt within. Uriel had kept this secret, in the hopes it could be used and no other would be so easy to fall to this bait then Aubrey. When contacted by the Zealots, they invited them down and Aubrey was witness to a summoning of a Daemon, which spoke to him. Thus was his eyes opened, showing him the proof of these magicks, giving Aubrey the deal he could never refuse, in the name of medicine.

Aubrey used these powers to corrupt the wounded Warmaster Hektor and cause him to fall to Chaos.

Aubrey wanted an Imperium, a better Imperium, where men and xenos could live in prosperity, this was his vision and no one could get in his way now he had a god on his side, His legion believed now, fully, that they would be the ones to lead a new Imperium, A perfect Imperium. The Eternal Zealots then soon believed that the loyalists were beneath them and should therefore, die, the name of Aubreys new Imperium.

Now with zealotry and fanaticism, the Eternal Zealots pursue Mankind and the Imperium, world by world, shrugging off their hippocratic oaths of healing, in favour of cutting out the tumour that is corpse emperors followers, so that he may heal the Imperium and shape it into his own image.

Combat Doctrine

They favour close combat and fast attack tactics. The legion used to an over abundance of medically trained marines, Now they favour simply crushing their foes, crushing the weak under foot, no time to heal the sick and wounded, when there is more important matters, letting the sorcerers bother with healing their allies. They also employ Centaur styled Devastators, inspired from the Interex warriors, however a dark twist has come in the form of the Cult of the Juggernaut, fusing marines with the bodies of Juggernauts. They will take any opportunity to duel a loyalist marine, to prove their superiority - especially since gaining the favour of dark gods.

Cult Of the Juggernaut

Following on from their Loyalist days, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Companies, who were the foremost users of the "Astartes Centaur Exo-Suit" found themselves presented by their Xeno allies, the Juggernaut, a daemonic steed.

The Captains, Cyllarus, Hylonome and Kinnaras, then sat and their entire companies pledged to Khorne, upon a battlefield of 10,000 dead...that their armour may be blessed with such power, such rage of the steed, they would use their burning passion and hatred for the ones who betrayed them, assaulted them, that they would in his name and turn that tragedy upon them, a thousand fold.

Khorne listened...The Blood God was amused that a Legion that was thought to belong to Tzeentch, that 3,000 men would pledge to him...and he gave them that gift.

In a flurry of red energies, the Astartes changed...their legs shifted and changed into the headless bodies of the steeds they had once seen, made of living metal and burning blood, soon the armourers equipped their bodies with the heavy weapons they once wielded, so the Cult of Juggernaut was born.

Devastators would continue to use the Centaur suit, until they would be interred by a Khornate ritual, becoming a shard of the Legions rage, Half Daemon, Half Astartes.

The Argent Legion=

Undivided, surgical strike focused was a loyalist at the beginning of the Heresy, due to hatred of Sons of Fire and Black Augurs primarchs, they turned traitor for reasons currently unknown. They use surgical strikes and ambushes. They seize control of strategic strongpoints and disable the enemies ability to fight. They were innovative and competitive by nature, which drove them to extreme arrogance, but they were always friendly, if a bit over-bearing with their arrogant nature. How this has changed no-one knows.

Iron Rangers Legion

Undivided, assasination focused The Iron Rangers are pragmatists. They don't need to use a direct and costly assault when a sneaky assassination would get the job done. They are taught to work alone or in small groups, often using guerrilla tactics, or supplementing other forces. Utilizing these strategies, they have outfought much larger well equipped foes. They are obsessed with technology, all of it, and will pursue any new developments they can find. Often seen with upgraded equipment incorporating Dark Age and xenos technology. Hektor promised them the secrets of Mars, in exchange for their military support and aid in developing a virus for the Mechanicum based on their infected AI's. They never got there, however, being confronted by the [INSERT CHAPTER HERE] en route to Terra.

Pre-Heresy Tactics Before falling to Chaos, the Iron Rangers preferred diplomacy over force. When force was required, they would often merely launch small strikes against individual leaders that opposed them, to reduce collateral damage and make transitions more or less peaceful. When possible, they would use methods harder to trace back to themselves (poison, utilizing local weaponry to make it look like an in-house job). When they were required to be fielded in larger campaigns, they rarely attacked in full. They had a threefold plan for working in Campaigns. Their Tactical Squads (and some Captains/Command Squads) would split into small teams to bolster and assist whatever allied regular human forces were available, in the form of additional training, better equipment, strategic/tactical advisors, additional, specialized firepower, and the morale boost of fighting next to Space Marines. Their scouts would deploy to set up Observation Posts and various Rally Points and Forward Operating Bases, whilst their Jetbikes, Skimmers, Assault Marines, and Air Power would be delivering hit-and-run missions against enemy Supply and Communications lines, Supply/Equipment Depots/Caches, destroying key strategic and defensive assets, and assassinations of High Value Leaders. As a result, most campaigns the credit went to whatever forces they were allied with, which left them seeming to be the weakest of the Legions, rather than being credited as one of the most subtle and inspired strategic thinkers.

Wolves of Dawn/Heralds of Hektor

Undivided, standard combat focused Greek companion/fraternity feel. They prized brotherhood and fraternity above all else. Corrupted by the Eternal Zealots, and pushed down the path to beginning the Heresy. They were the most even-keeled of all the legions - able to enjoy themselves as well as be serious when required. Their fall was the greatest shock, as if the most well-rounded could fall, what does that mean for the other legions? Upon the death of Hektor, his council, the Heralds of Apollo, briefly fought to decide who would take his place. Agamemnon, leader of the Wolves of Dawns first company would rise triumphant, and after the heresy, would repeatedly try to out-achieve his Primarch. The Wolves were the largest legion before the Heresy, and now make up a large percentage of most of the Traitor legions attacks.

The Sons of Fire Legion==

The Burned King was always a twisted soul. Twisted like a flame. The Sons of Fire are no different, obsessed with burning. Everything. They set entire systems ablaze for the Emperor, but they found a new master in Khorne. Before the Heresy, they tried to mask their all consuming desires for fire with a cold, calm and ruthless exterior, which broke down when Khorne claimed their souls. They were present on Terra and the Burned King is now a daemon prince. On Istvaan they collected all of the dead loyalists, and burned their bodies and armour to slag and ash, before piling their scorched skulls in a pyramid inside of a captured ship, and firing it into the Warp.

Their Primarch is Inferox, the Burned King, the Fire Rider.

Horns of Ruin Legion

Undivided, Siege Masters Horns of Ruin suffer from the same interest in destruction as their Primarch. The homeworld that Kranios had chosen his Legionaries from was one that he had torn to the ground in order to conquer, and they had little care for the building of anything if it was not meant to destory. Though this made them excellent at the art of besieging an enemy fortress, it did not in any way endear them to the local populaces of the Imperium. Kranios was quick to fall to Chaos. He did not find the idea standing idly by once the Great Crusade had been finished to be as near as tempting as the never ending war that Hektor's new Gods had promised.

Though they may be of Chaos Undivided they have still roused the ire of Slaanesh againts them. The Prince of Chaos detests them for destroying the works of her followers and leaving nothing but grey wastes wherever they go.

Children of Armok Legion

Tzeentch, manipulation, espionage, and politically focused AlphaLegion meets WordBearers with Cold War spy games and politics thrown in.

The Children of Armok are the Original Traitor legion. They discovered the Chaos Gods, and realised after some discussions with the God who they would later know as Tzeentch, they discovered a great tool for their agenda. They kept their corruption a secret, an easy thing to do in a Legion who are naturally suited to deceit and espionage, but they did begin to plot. The Children started the whole Heresy by corrupting the Eternal Zealots to be used as their legion-sized deniable asset. They did this to have a controllable asset that would corrupt Hektor while keeping their own hands clean. They saw Hektor as their route to greater power and knowledge, especially access to Mars, which is one of the many things the Children seek. Abnormal for a space marine legion, the Children make extensive use of espionage networks, and diplomacy/politics, preferring to force an enemy into a friend, or turn an enemy on itself. Both sides think the Children dragged their feet, but ultimately sided with them. This left the Children in their desired position - between two hostile forces they could play against each other for their own personal gain.

The Children and their relationships with the other Legions

The other legions like the Children as they always say the right thing, and seem to be on everyone's side in personal/legion disputes. They are also liked for their prankster and jovial nature. In fact, the prank is the oldest tradition in the Children, but since the fall the once innocent prank has become something far more sinister, with often lethal tricks played on unsuspecting rival legions and imperial forces in a never ending game of espionage one-upsmanship. But Uriel doesn't have friends among the other Primarchs, to him they are just powerful assets. But that doesn't stop him, or his legion from enjoying themselves with the other Primarchs and Legions. Most don't trust the Children entirely, but their constant ability to be useful, and their knack for politics and persuasion means even the Primarchs can't help but enjoy their company. Only Nicholai Galilei, Chapter Master of the Knights Draconian, a War Scribes successor, through an intense study of various reports and data, saw part of the way through Uriel's facade, knowing him to be false, even if he had no concrete proof, and openly hated him, much to the bewilderment of the other Primarch's and Chapter Masters who saw Uriel as a great conversationalist, helpful advisor and an entertaining prankster. Uriel was particularly close with Arelex, for Arelex had his own vast libraries and hoards of knowledge and tech that Uriel wanted access to, but also because both had a burning passion for more knowledge. Uriel also used Arelex to get his agents secretly embedded into the Imperial Government set up by Arelex after the Heresy; Uriel would provide 'suitable candidates' for various positions, after having carefully doctored and backed up the agents stories to make them the best candidates. Despite how much Uriel used Arelex, he did like the Primarch, finding a kindred spirit with the same thirst for knowledge he had. It upset Uriel when he had to manipulate the Mechanicum into making Arelex 'disappear'. in the Traitor Legions, Uriel is close Aubrey of the Black Augurs, Inferox of the Sons of Fire, and Krainos of the Horns of Ruins, who work well as aggressors for the Childrens schemes, and love a good chance to test their mettle against the Loyalists.

The Children's methods, motivations, and facts

Nothing is ever what it seems with the Children. Duplicity and deceit are their strongest suits, and they have grown in skill and power to become one of the most dangerous threats to the Imperium, having their supporters and sleeper agents embedded into all the major infrastructure of the Imperium. Why they do not use their full power is a mystery only Tzeentch and Uriel know. Maybe they love the 'great game' too much, that in their insane web of lies, they are starting to actively perpetuate it for its own sake. Of course nobody knows all of this, and to the outside eye, the Children look like a rather uninspiring legion, with no great victories or defeats to speak of. But that's exactly how the Children like it.

They are motivated by acquiring secrets, and plotting and scheming to further their own and Tzeentch's agenda's. They have no time, save passing respect for the other gods; their relationship with Tzeentch is wary at best - which is partly why Tzeentch favors them as he does: he finds them so much fun to deal with... They make use of Psykers, but no more than any other Legion would, seeing Psykers as just another tool to use despite Tzeentch's love of magic, they leave that aspect up to other Legions. They also prefer to eschew any mutations, any that become mutated are sent to join the Childrens Fallen Chapters to keep them hidden, but for the most part, mutations are extremely rare, and often concealable anyway. Uriel Starikov's greatest, most secret obsession is to gain access to the Black Library, and through the Black Augurs, has managed to broker some deals with the Dark Eldar, mostly by informing them of good places to raid for their slaves. In return they give the Children of Armok access to the webway. This clandestine invasion of the webway is why the Eldar are the Children's greatest foe - both the Eldar and the Children are engaged in a galaxy spanning clandestine war, usually fighting via proxies and the manipulation of unwitting pawns in their 'great game'.

You can bet that now matter what is happening in the galaxy, the Children of Armok will either know about it, be the first to find out about it, or more likely, be directly involved. Their espionage networks run so far and so deep, that there are entire sectors where nearly all of the officials are under their control, often without knowing about it. There are even rumours that claim that some among the members of the Council of the High Lords of Terra themselves are under the sway of the Children. They don't seem to have any plan to use their network to do any great damage, maybe it's just a back up plan, maybe it's part of a milennia spanning plot, or maybe Tzeentch and their predisposition fir intrigue and espionage has made them borderline insane, unable to stop themselves from continuing their addictive plotting by finally taking control.

The Children of Armok after the Heresy

Since the Hektor Heresy, the Children of Armok have started to slowly but steadily, gain more negative attention. Partly for their lack of following the Codex, which has drawn pressure from the Crusaders who want the Children to adopt the Codex they helped write. But The Children are also attracting negative attention from the more puritanical and skeptical factions of the Inquisition who are beginning to wonder how the Children get such accurate intelligence on the Traitors without being tainted themselves. For now they are relatively safe though, as the Children have sleeper agents and informers embedded in the Puritan faction, keeping them ahead of the hunt, and also enjoy the open support from the Radical Inquisitors, who quite often have similar aims to Uriel.

In short, the Children are playing a galactic balancing act, a balancing act they have methodically and patiently rigged for their benefit.

The Gorgers Legion

Khorne, eternal hunters, only feed on the strong, absorb the strengths of their victims

A Feral/Medieval feel, The Not!WorldEaters. After the discovery of their Primarch, the Gorges were to be used by the Emperor as an Astartes force that would exponentially grow in strength battles after battles through the absorption of their foes and would then provide him with a force that very few could rival. Unfortunately the meddling of Khorne weakened the control the Primarch and the Emperor had on the Hunger of the Legion. Left in a state where only constant hunting could prevent them from going mad or dying, it became more and more difficult for the Gorges to find adequate preys. But then came the offer of Betrayal. A promise that the Gorges would participate in One Hunt that would provide with an immense amount of preys of the finest quality, their own loyalist brothers. The offer was too good for the Gorges to pass on, pledging their allegiance to Khorne and promising the remains of their hunts to the Skull Throne, the Gorges embarked in the heresy with their stomachs ready for the feast.

Timeline

DISCOVERY ORDER OF THE PRIMARCHS

1) Hektor Cincinnatus

2) Arelex

3) Thomas Gaudin

4) Kranios

5) Uriel Starikov

6) Darius Cyaxares

7) Thoren Grimm

8) Bohemond

9) Rook North

10) Kleisthenes

11) The Voidwatcher

12) Alexandri

13) Gaspard Lumey

14)

15) Tollund Ötztal

16)

17) Inferox the Burned King

18)

19)

20)

21) Ocullus Tyran

22)

23) Golgothos

24) Aubrey The Grey

25) Onyx the Indestructible

The First Betrayal

Once the truth was revealed, it was only a matter of time before the Emperor would be moved to censure the Eternal Zealots. The links of cause and effect are poorly recorded, but it seems that the Emperor waited for some time after the initial reports of Xenos Traffiking and support reached his court. That He sent missions to assay many more worlds conquered by the Zealots is known. We can only speculate as to why: perhaps He did not want to believe it of His son, perhaps He wanted to be sure, perhaps He was simply gathering information before acting.

Istvaan III:

Events are being told for those unfamiliar with the battle. Pic semi-related.

Hektor responded to a distress signal from the already captured world of Istvaan III. He returns, stating that the price of falling from the path of enlightenment must be a public display of humiliation, electing to wipe out the local government by way of deploying 5 legions to the planet. Those elected were the Silver Spears, the Mastodontii, the Council of Iron, the Sons of Fire, the Eternal Zealots,The Eyes of the Emperor and the Wolves of Dawn. The fighting seemed unusually harsh, however the plan seemed solid, and was playing out very much as was thought. However, the handpicked ground troops got word that there was another plan in motion. Hektor had planned to have all loyalist troops on the ground, and condemn the planet to Exterminatus via Lifeeater Virus. They managed to seek cover, forcing Hektor to ground troops once the planet was clear, stretching the battle to over a month. The purpose of the plan was twofold: to cull the members still loyal to the Emperor, while simultaneously forcing those Legions to commit. Any objections/additions/alterations?

Istvaan V

The Istvaan V legions were the Entombed, the Knights of Justice, the Machine Guard and the War Scribes (mainly cos 2 of those legions creators seemed to have left the thread)

Angered and blinded by their betrayal, Golgothos chose to deploy all 10 companies on Istvaan V, holding not a single marine in reserve. He cut off the Black Augur's air support and deployed his Legion at a strongpoint, a narrow causeway between two lakes he knew the Augurs would have to move through if they wished to rendezvous with the other traitor legions. The Augurs called to the Life Bringers for support, and they opted to bombard the site with artillery shells loaded with gas. The bombardment killed eight entire companies of Entombed, without offering a single target to return fire upon. The Entombed's geneseed flaw means that all geneseed recovery has an 80% failure rate. Suffering such massive losses, The Entombed were forced to return to their homeworld, and have never recovered.

In revenge for the destruction of their homeworld, the Eternal Zealots fall upon the Knights of Justice with unprecedented fury. Aubrey strikes swiftly into the staging areas, destroying many of the Loyalist gunships before they can even leave the ground and catches Bohemond's forces out in the open. The Knights of Justice are forced to fight a gritty defensive battle, a battle for which they are doctrinally ill-suited. The battle culminates in a savage duel between the two Primarchs that leaves Bohemond dead along with the vast majority of his Legion, and Aubrey firmly in the hands of Chaos.

Ultima Segmentum

After the success of Ishvaan V Hektor had now crippled a few of the loyalist legions, but not all. Thanks to the intervention of the Stonemen the loyalists were able to quit the field and make a hasty retreat back into Imperial space. Hektor would not be able to rely on the same tricks the next time. The majority of Hektor's traitor legions were now gathered around him and many had taken substantial losses while there were still many loyalist legions at full strength for him to contend with.

By now all would of heard of his treachery and would no doubt be racing to defend their false emperor. As great a general as he was, even Hektor doubted he would be able to defeat the Emperor if he was able to unite the remaining loyalists into a single fleet. No, if he wanted to fulfill his destiny as the savior of mankind he would have to learn some new tricks. He did not need to defeat every loyalist legion, merely delay them from helping their emperor.

At least 4 loyalists still remained in the Ultima Segmentum on the other side of the Maelstrom. With only two paths around the Maelstrom if the traitors were able to block off both ways then the loyalists would never be able to reach Holy Terra. Speaking with his brothers, Hektor dispatched Voidwatcher and his Black Augur to the south of the Maelstrom, where they would conjure a second warp storm using their sorcery that would block any from trying to pass. However there was still the northern path and so the War-master approached his brother Uriel. Knowing of Uriel's relations with Sebastian he convinced Uriel to trick Sebastian into constructing a series of super fortresses known as "The Crucible" to bar the loyalists way.

A series of battles erupted in the sector as the Loyalists indeed tried to reach Terra. The first was the Battle of Belahaam, where Darius and his Sand Keepers intercepted Voidwatcher and his Augur's in the middle of the ritual to summon the warp storm. After a pitched battle Darius was ultimately unable to stop the spell was swallowed into the storm. With Voidwatchers success the remaining 2 loyalists, the Steel Marshalls and the Silver Cataphrants were forced to slowly fight their way through the Bulwark Crucible. In the final assault both Sebastian and Alexandri are killed, and though the loyalists triumph they are too late to help Terra.

Terra

The Zealots are the first openly traitor legion, playing the role the word bearers did, while the Children of Armok were the original traitors, and play the role Erebus does in the books and being the one to corrupt notLorgar.

The Zealots were acting unwittingly as agents for the Children of Armok, and through them Hektor And this shit starts from there.

Is there going to be a Calth/Shadow Crusade analogue? What Legion has its own stellar empire for the Sons of Fire to burn to the ground?

And our AU's alternative to the Iron Cage is the Crucible - a challenge by the more renegade than outright traitor Bulwark, vs the Steelmarshalls and the Silver Cataphracts

At the time of the Istvaan III Atrocity, a precise estimate of the Sons of Fire’s fighting strength and disposition was difficult to make. The Sons often fought as a small number of large scale deployments, with the bulk under the Burned King formed into the 13th Expeditionary fleet, and the Sigillite’s Agents were disliked and kept at arms length. Best estimates of their observed strength were around 150,000 Space Marines, placing the Sons of Fire in the middle to high levels of comparative strength amongst its contemporary fellow Space Marine Legions. They were also well-supplied and supported by the Legio Ignis (Fire Kings) Titan Legion and a fleet of at least sixty capital class vessels. It is commonly estimated that of all the Traitor Legions that had fought at Istvaan III in the purge of the Loyalist faction within their ranks, it had been the Sons who had suffered the greatest casualties, with well over 35,000 Legionaries believed to have met their deaths on both sides. Aside from the many wounded, it is recorded that a number had succumbed entirely during the protracted fighting to an insane pyromania and had to be forcibly restrained and removed back to the the fleet for containment, lest they burn even their allies to ash.

Okay, so we need to work out who’s going to be on Terra The Entombed took too many casualties to be present on Terra Scions were present on Terra, fighting their most hated rivals, the Silver Spear.

The eyes of the Emperor mainly attended to Mars during the siege of Terra, trying to protect the foundries and factories. It is during this time where they display their braveness, using ancient DaoT weaponry to literally snipe and assassinate the commanders of Traitor Titnas, and plunging in close to the front line with storm bolter armed assault marines . They kind of fill out the void of the Dark Angels role of being the indecisive chapter and the Iron Hands as being the chapter to loose their primarch totally.

Crusaders were also present on Terra, as were the Marshalls, Cataphracts, and parts of the War Scribes (I envision the Scribes as being spread out everywhere a lot, always recovering their information and recording knowledge) (Yeah, the Scribes are a Legion only in name, in practice they’d have been fairly spread out during the Crusade, with a central force of maybe 30-50k marines, and lots of squads all over the place.)

The Thunder Kings arrived both in support of and in opposition to Imperial forces, with Brennus arriving with several thousand less than his traitorous captain Selioax managed to muster. It’s possible he was aboard when the Emperor and co. confronted Hektor, though he need not necessarily take the place of Dorn or whatever Not!Dorn we choose for putting the Emperor into his throne. Selioax survived, but both Thunder Kings factions sustained enormous casualties throughout the Siege of Terra.

The final confrontation against Hektor aboard his flagship, the Sun Chariot, involved the Emperor and the Primarchs Kleisthenes and Gaudin. When Kleisthenes and hektor fought, Kelisthenes was mortally wounded by Hektor (and later placed in stasis), but not before placing the apocryphal flaw in Hektor's armor. The Emperor then fought Hektor personally. When Hektor's victory seemed apparent, a lone Guardsmen by the name of Ollanius Pius appeared to hold the line against Hektor. Pius was killed almost instantly by Hektor, but this galvanized the Emperor to rise up and slay Hektor completely, body and soul. Gaudin was the one to recover the bodies of the Emperor and Kleisthenes, spurring him on to help the War Scribes write the Codex Astartes to help prevent the travesties of the Hektor Heresy from ever happening again.

The Jovian & Saturnian Theatre

Terra and Mars were not the only theatres of significance in the Sol system, with the Jovian and Saturnian moons also important strategic objectives for other sides. Europa, Titan, Enceladus, Ganymede, and a handful other moons were fairly well populated, and also host to plethora industries or mining ventures that would be extremely useful for the maintenance of the war effort in the system. The massive gas mining stations which orbited Saturn since the Dark Age of Technology were especially valued, and much of the fuel for the Emperor’s vessels originated from these massive archaeotech refineries.

It was thus unsurprising that the Voidwatcher moved to secure these facilities promptly after his arrival in the system. Riding a high from their victory in the Isstvan system, they swept aside the various local forces present, established a security cordon around Saturn and its moons, and secured the majority of the facilities. With full control of the spacelanes not yet entirely established, the Black Augurs were forced to pull away the majority of their space-based forces to deal with emergent threats on the outer end of the star system, where loyalist forces were still a nuisance.

It was during this critical moment when the Thunder Kings arrived, running the blockade around Charon and forcing a sizable contingent of Black Augurs into pursuit. Four tribes, totalling some seventy-thousand marines between them, preceded their Primarch in breaking into Sol; making for Terra on a very direct axis of approach. Unfortunately for the Loyalists, the disposition of Traitorous forces was such that it proved impossible to approach Terra so readily, and so the majority of Thunder King forces would be forced to remain in the outer star system for the majority of the Battle of Terra.

Commander Anibalos took the Bleeding Crowns and the Grinning Ghosts tribes, totalling some forty-thousand marines, and deposited them along the moons of Saturn while Commander Cnaios took the Mountain Breakers and the Star-Eaters, totalling another thirty-five thousand, to Jupiter’s moons. Despite the advantage in numbers traitorous forces enjoyed in space, their need to maintain ships at the system’s peripheries to intercept Loyalist reinforcements as well as to blockade the various worlds they were besieging, allowed the Thunder Kings fleet to remain relatively intact. It was never able to establish even local space superiority, on account of the sizable Black Augurs fleet presence, but the clever use of both Saturn’s and Jupiter’s depleted rings in hiding the Thunder Kings fleet would allow for its intermittent use in operational offensives throughout the duration of the conflict.

Of all the other moons, Titan and Ganymede would prove to be the most contested. As important transit points for much of the material the gas refining stations put out, as well as possessing many such refining facilities themselves, they were highly sought after by both sides. The initial Thunder Kings landings managed to overwhelm the standing Black Augurs garrisons in much the same manner as they themselves had overwhelmed the mortal defenders, and so resecured the planets mostly intact.

However, they soon faced a concerted counter-attack and invasion by the Black Augurs. It was to turn into a moon-hopping campaign, with both sides jumping from moon to moon in an attempt to take strategic points before their enemy--or to seize them when an opportunity presented itself from their enemy. No better example exists than Silacos’ gambit, when the Commander of the Star-Eaters tribe opportunistically left a skeleton garrison on Europa, gathered the majority of the Thunder Kings fleet, and scattered his forces across the outer Jovian moons while the Mountain Breakers were defending Ganymede. For a brief while, at least, the control of the defense batteries on those outer moons provided the Thunder Kings space superiority in that front of the theatre.

Writefaggotry

Burning Worlds

The world was on fire.

One could not tell if it was day or night from the eternal glow, or the ash that choked the sky. The battlefield was a picture of hell, the hell man had once believed in before the Imperial Truth had swept such superstition away. But here and now, that mythical hell was reborn upon Yaga Prime, sending countless souls to damnation.

Striding through the flames, the Sons of Fire burned everything before them. The human defenders of this world, who had refused to abandon their gods and beliefs, were now either ash or small bands of fleeing survivors, each being run down and burned one after the other.

The war had, been won in a single hour and twenty-seven minutes, though the battle still raged on three weeks later. One hour twenty-seven minutes. That had been how long it had taken for his ships to cripple the enemy fleet, and fire-bomb every single major city on the planet. Over half the enemy flotilla had been lost in the opening salvoes, the rest in the hours and days after. The wreckage now orbited the capital planet, the heart of this system. Following that, twenty-four Modalis-class atmospheric missiles had been launched from the Eternal Conflagration at the surface of Yaga Prime. Each targeted a key strategic location, major cities, strategic hubs, and within seconds billions had burned. Thus, the war for Yaga Prime was won in one hour twenty-seven minutes. In the months that followed, all that remained was to complete the cull.

First Captain Emiya could feel the blistering heat inside the confines of his Terminator Plate. That meant that outside the temperature must be blistering, near that of the Plasma Reactors his suit had once been designed for. He strode dispassionately through the carnage, through the fire, flanked by his standard bearer Kleast, the standard singed at the edges, and master of signal Amerauk. The first company was at the heart of the pursuit, passing the blazing hulks of tanks and troop carriers. The crackling sound of burning flesh was everywhere, and the smell, the smell of burned man. That smell was lodged in the nasal cavities of every last Son of Fire. Most loved that smell. Emiya disliked it. I am in the wrong Legion. I take no pleasure in what I have to do. Most of his brothers took glee in burning all before them, the sickness that it seemed consumed more and more of his Brothers. Even before their Primarch had joined them, the Legion had taken to the use of flame weapons more often than not. Emiya had been young then, and had hoped their Primarch would be a great leader, one who could stand shoulder to shoulder with his Brothers as the Crusade pushed ever onwards. Then they had found their liege lord, and all had changed. “Emiya,” A deep, booming voice suddenly crackled through the vox. He knew instantly who it was. His Primarch. The Burned King. The Fire Rider. Inferox. “You are needed. One of the Sigillite’s spawn has arrived to see our progress, and I need you here with me.” “And why is that sire?” “So you can restrain me if I get fed up of her twittering and want to see how well she burns.” He could see in his kind’s eye the Primarch’s mighty flame-claw gauntlets flexing. Inferox was hardly co-operative. He was pointed at a world, and told to burn it. To have a representative of the Regent of Terra come, had to mean something was up. “I’m on my way,” Emiya began, but the line was already dead.

“Kleast? Contact Captain Tamyo and tell him command’s passed to him. I have been summoned.” “The Primarch?” “Who else?” Kleast lowered the standard as he turned to Emiya. “Keep him calm. The last thing we need is another ‘accidental’ death. Emperor knows we’ve had enough of them in the past.”

The Emperor's Justice

“Let those who desire the Emperor's justice step forward!” Bohemond's voice echoed off the bare walls of the Palace of Justice with authority and conviction. The throng immediately fell silent, and the militiawoman policing the crowd gestured for the first supplicants to approach. They were somewhat hesitant about approaching the seated Space Marine, but a swift jab in the smalls of their backs with the militiawoman's pike propelled them forward.

“Who are you who, and why do you seek the Emperor's justice?” Bohemond found comfort in the old ritual. He had practised a variation of it before being reunited with his father, and throughout the Great Crusade he had made a point of holding court on each world the Knights of Justice had brought into the Imperium. Was the Emperor not an Emperor for all mankind? Did all mankind not benefit from His rule? Did all of mankind not benefit and deserve His justice?

“Balthazar, farmer of Mindan province m'lord,” mumbled the first figure, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the floor. “G-G-Greigor, merchant of Mindan province m'lord,” stammered the second. Bohemond noted that he was dressed somewhat finer clothes than the farmer, and clutched a feathered cap in his trembling hands. He had dispensed justice to all stations of people throughout the Imperium, from feral tribesman barely capable of civilised speech to his fellow Primarchs and their Legions, and this case would receive just as much attention as one of the conflicts Bohemond had resolved between his brothers.

“This man didn't pay me a fair price for my livestock!” Balthazar pointed accusingly at the merchant. “He claimed he had little coin but I know that's not true, I saw he had more!” So it was a matter of coin, it often was with these commoners. Part of him wanted to scream at these men for wasting his time, for holding him here whilst he could be chasing down the renegades and traitors and following the last command of his father – but what did these simpletons know of that? How could they know of the Great Betrayal? How could they understand the scale of the suffering wrought on the Imperium by Hextor and his cohorts? How could they understand a love so great that an Emperor had for all mankind he would kill his own children? They could not, but they could make sense of it here in this dispute, and thus the message would spread to others. Now more than ever in these dark times were stories of Imperial virtue needed.

“And this is true?” Bohemond questioned the merchant, fixing his gaze upon him.

“W-w-well yes m'lord, I did have more, but I was saving it to buy from other farmers so that they would have coin to buy food,” squirmed the merchant, desperately looking everywhere but at the Space Marine. “And the only reason Balthazar knew I had more money was because he broke into my wagon and forced open my lockbox!”

It was now the farmer's turn to feel the eyes of the Primarch fall upon him. Bohemond did not even need to speak a word before the words began to tumble out of the farmer's mouth.

“M'lord, he had more coin than I've ever seen! More than I saw that time we collected that sum for the orphans of the plague. He could've easily afforded to give me more, I've got seven mouths to feed and...” “That's a lie!” The merchant protested. “It wasn't nearly as much as he claims, and besides Balthazar only has four children!” “Well they eat so much it feel like seve...”

“SILENCE!” Bohemond's yell almost bowled the two men over. “Greigor, do you deny withholding funds from Balthazar?” “N-n-no m'lord.” “And you, Balthazar, do you deny violating a man's property? No protests, a simple yes or no.” Balthazar opened his mouth as if to say something, but simply shook his head.

“Then I am ready to give the Emperor's judgement,” Bohemond pronounced. “Greigor, to not give a man or his efforts their due worth can lead to the direst of circumstances. Some of my brothers felt slighted by their kin, and as a result it has led to anger, defiance and even rebellion.” This revelation brought a gasp of shock from the assembled crowd, who had up until now remained silent. “I therefore order you to pay Balthazar a sum equivalent to a fair price for his stock no later than forty days from now.” Balthazar's face took on an incredibly arrogant look, one that painfully reminded Bohemond of one of his fallen siblings. “I have not finished,” Bohemond snapped. “Balthazar, I spoke to Greigor about respect. Would you rather that Greigor had broken into your dwelling and simply taken your livestock? No, you would not. Society cannot function if we deviate from our laws, and committing one offence for the sake of righting a previous one is unjust and incorrect. You will therefore be fined the sum of money Greigor will pay you, payable no less than one day after you have received the coin, and thus the Emperor has given justice on this matter. Give thanks for this justice.”

“We give thanks for this justice!” The militiawoman began to chant, and soon the crowd took it up.

“We give thanks for this justice!”

“We give thanks for this justice!”

“We give thanks for this justice!”

Bohemond smiled and gave thanks.

The Duel at Isstvan V

‘I have long waited for this moment, Bohemond,’ replied Aubrey, ‘ever since you purged by brothers with vengeance in your heart. Ever since you humiliated me, and left me before our false father’s judgement. For years I have dreamt of this reckoning. Only one of us will walk away from this, you know that.’

‘I know that,’ agreed Bohemond.

‘You betrayed me and my brothers,’ said Aubrey, and Bohemond was surprised to hear genuine emotion in his brother’s voice. ‘You cast them down and purged them, because they were not human. Because they were Xenos,’ the last part coming out as a hateful hiss.

‘I did what I had to do because your eyes needed to be opened,’ answered Bohemond. ‘Xenos were never our friends, they were always against us. Father thought you knew better, he thought you’d understand. But you were naive, you never saw the threat they posed until too late. And now look at you, turning on us in the heat of battle.’

‘You turned on us. You shamed us and humiliated us. You will not do so again.’

‘Then you shall all die!’ snarled Bohemond. ‘Hektor is mad. Look at all this death! How can this be right? You will hang from Traitor’s Gibbet for this sedition, for I am the Emperor’s loyal servant and through me his will and vengeance will be done.’

‘The Emperor is a spent force,’ snapped Aubrey. ‘Even now he whittles away on some trivia in the dungeons of Terra while his realm is in flames. Even now he gives up on hope in favour of his own selfish desires. Are those the actions of a being fit to rule the galaxy?’

‘No more words,’ Bohemond adopted a combat stance with his blade. ‘Come then, brother. Let us decide this, you and I. For eternity.’

The battlefield fell silent as Aubrey drew his own blades, a matching pair of Black blades with snakes wrapped around the blade and outwards, forming both the guard and the hilt. The din of the battlefield could not mask the sound as they slid from their sheathes like the snakes that adorned them, before Aubrey, scorned son, spurned healer, bitter warlord and herald of the true gods, took his stance.

Both swords pointed towards the dirt as he put his right foot forward, shifted his body forwards, his silver locks draping down, only a single, almost glowing, piercing, emerald eye peered out from the shadows.

"For Lazarus."

Aubrey struck first, moving faster than thought, his cloak swirling about him. Bohemond met the blow with his mighty blade, and a radial wave shot out from it, throwing up the ash in swirling clouds.

Bohemond grunted as he blocked the incoming blades. He moved far more slowly than Aubrey, but everything he did was solid, dense, and indomitable, every movement clinical, a ruthless economy of muscle and motion, each thrust and parry executed to perfection without the audacity of dramatic flair.

Bohemond’s blade wove an exquisite dance, while Aubrey’s blades slashed at Bohemond with wild abandon, and the air rang with the clash of metal against metal, with the fizzing crack of opposing power fields.

Bohemond wrenched his blade back, the silver steel breaking through the air in lashing chops, blurring into a crescent that reflected the flames that lit the sky above. Each carving strike crashed against Aubrey’s blocking blades. Both warriors moved beyond mortal capability, with speed that defied sight. Yet one was a knight, a champion of justice and honour, the other a visionary whose vision had turned dark, and who fought with savage relish against his hated foe. Aubrey’s grin had been a brittle facade at the best of times since the fall of Lazarus. Now it turned to glass.

Aubrey beat away a sword-strike and went for Bohemond’s gorget with his other blade. At the last minute he jutted the blade down, slipped below the defence and cut a long gash in the primarch’s breastplate. This time the blade cut deep, paring already fractured armour and delving into the ribcage below.

Bohemond roared in painand jerked clear, cracking Aubrey’s blades away with his own mighty sword and staggering backwards.

He now snarled defiantly, turning his pain to anger, fuelling his body with rage and barrelling back at him, smashing him with perfectly directed sword-blows. Aubrey lurched away, stumbling across the uneven dirt carpeted with the bodies of his Legion and Bohemonds, while Bohemond lumbered after him. More blows came in – hard, heavy, earth-shaking blows, blows to sunder armour and shatter steel. Aubrey was driven further, only barely able to weather the explosion of fury directed at him. His armour was cut apart and his body battered and bruised by his once-brother’s sustained assault.

‘Die,’ Bohemond breathed. Desperation ruined his voice, rasping it from bleeding lips. ‘You should never have survived that tainted world you call home. Father should have ended you when he saw how fall you’d fallen, the company you kept.’

Summoning up one last burst of energy, Aubrey bludgeoned aside the mighty blade and pulled away, beckoning his adversary to come after him. Bohemond followed, his armour cut apart, his mighty sword slick with blood. A vengeful Knight, come to avenge his sons.

Aubrey held position, panting hard, trying to drag up energy for the final clash. His hearts thudded, his lungs burned. He held his twin blades poised, waiting for his enemy to move.

Come to me. You can see my weakness.

Howling anger, Bohemond did just that, and Aubrey took his chance.

One blade took the mighty sword, as he stepped to one side. The other blade flicked out, biting deep into the breastplate of his brother’s armour, and the Lord of the the Knights of Justice screamed, a sound that sould never have existed in the mortal realm as his breastplate gave in and the blade bit deep into his flesh. Hot blood sprayed from the wound and the mighty black blade slid from Bohemond’s hand as he snarled in fierce agony.

As Bohemond crouched, bleeding, he began to speak into his Vox, giving final orders to his sons as they tried to flee the field. He knew his fate, he knew he was done, but he had one last oath of defiance left to give.

Aubrey smiled down upon him, drawing his blades back. His vengeance was nigh, his victory complete. This would be a message to all who follow the False Emperor, all who refused the promise of the future, all who cast him down as a weakling, a Xeno-Lover.

His serpentine Black Blade clove the air as it swept towards Bohemond. Unnatural warp-forged steel met the iron flesh of a primarch, its aberrant edge cutting through Bohemond’s skin, muscle and bone with a shrieking howl that echoed in realms beyond those knowable to mortals.

Blood and the monumental energies, the very fabric of creation bound within the meat and gristle of one of the Emperor’s sons erupted from the wound, and Aubrey fell back as the searing powers blinded him, dropping the black sword to his side. He heard a shrieking wail, as of a choir of banshees, whip around him as phantom, skeletal hands clawed at him, and a thousand voices tore at his mind.

Bohemond was dead. His head peered up at him, sightless eyes staring in accusation, his lips still moving with an unfinished curse upon them.

‘Thus was ever your fate Brother,’ Aubrey whispered to the head at his feet. ‘Lazarus is avenged.’

The Skeleton in the Caves

As a babe, the Primarch whould come to be known as Golgothos crash landed on a desolate, grey planet known as Sepulchra. The surface of Sepulchra were inhospitable badlands, with gale force winds kicking up dust storms which could rip the flesh off a man. Fortunately, Golgothos' pod crashed with such force that it pierced through the surface into the caverns below, and it is in these caverns that Golgothos made his home.

As a child, Golgothos lived by foraging for caveworms and scraping moss off of walls. As he grew, he began to hunt larger and larger game. The beasts of Sepulchra fell to his bare hands, and Golgothos would consume everything, leaving only the bones behind.

However, Golgothos' life was not safe, for deep within the caverns lived a clan of Orks. Many times as he was feeding, Golgothos would be discovered by wandering Orks, and be forced to flee. For many years he was forced to live cautiously, fleeing before the echos of Ork grunts.

It was not until he was a man grown that Golgothos chose to face the Orks in battle. The Orks had driven all game from the caverns, and so Golgothos was starving. Delirious and exhausted, Golgothos wandered passageways he had never been to before. Stumbling around a bend, he happened upon three Orks, arguing over the roasting corpse of a cave drake. Golgothos attacked the Orks with a ferocity he did not know he had posessed, kicking, clawing, biting, with his screams of fury echoing across the planet. The Orks never stood a chance.

After that, armed with an Ork Choppa, Golgothos grew to enjoy hunting orks. The Orks came to call him "Da skellytun in da caves," and told eachother tales of the bony creature which ripped apart Orks with its bare hands. Eventually, Warboss Skullgub decided he had had enough, and rallied his Orks to hunt Golgothos.

For months, Skullgub harried Golgothos. While Golgothos was mighty, he could not face hordes of Orks at once, and so he was forced to make numerous tactical retreats. Fleeing before the echoing CLANKS of Skullgub's mega armour, Golgothos came upon a pair of massive metal blast doors. Golgothos had never seen anything man made before, and so he marveled at the doors. However, he was quickly ripped out of his confusion by the CLANK CLANK CLANK of skullgub's approach. Golgothos banged his fists against the control panel in desperation, and miraculously, the door opened.

Within, Golgothos found polished metal hallways, with deep recesses in the walls. In each recess he found the ancient, dusty remains of a man: Golgothos had happened upon a crashed Catacomb Ship from the dark age of technology. He went deeper into the ship, looking for some choke point or other tactical advantage, and found it: A door leading into a personal Tomb. He looked within, and found, laying on a Beir, a well dressed skeleton. The skeleton was decorated with gold jewelry and gems, as well as medals which marked him as a military officer. On the officer's hand, dull grey and coated with a layer of dust, was an ancient Power Fist. With his mighty new weapon, and an advantageous choke point, Golgothos was able to drive off Skullgub's Orks.

The Discovery had confused Golgothos, however. He had never seen another human being before, never even conceived of the possibility that there were others. And yet, here in this catacomb, he had found the skeletal remains of hundreds of men. Golgothos began to think that Men were gods, or perhaps demons, meant to torment the Orks. He spent the next few years guarding the catacombs, and tending to the remains of what he believed to be fallen gods.

Eventually, Skullgub managed to corner Golgothos away from home as he was hunting. Outnumbered, outmatched, and staring down the gob of a gigantic mega armoured warboss, Golgothos called out to the gods for aid. With a loud CRASH, the roof before him caved in, and before Golgothos' tear-filled eyes was a Drop Pod of the Imperium of Man. From this Drop Pod emerged the Emperor himself, along with some of his mighty Space Marines. The Emperor cleaved Skullgub in two with his mighty power sword, and the Marines made short work of the remaining Orks.

The Emperor offered Golgothos a mighty legion to lead, and Golgothos required no convincing. As far as Golgothos was concerned, before him stood the King of the Gods, and such a being should not be questioned. The Emperor did not approve of Golgothos' superstition, but at least it was superstition of human superiority. Golgothos was given the VI Legion, which he named The Entombed.

The Entombed maintain Golgothos' faith to this day, believing humans to be Gods, sent to punish impure and inferior xenos. They guard their fortress monastary, called the Catacomb, and pay much respect to the dead.

The Burning of Alessia

His grey eyes flickered across the assembled data-screens, darting from one end of the cycling display to the other. The faint green backlight from the screens were all that illuminated the large circular chamber, with the logic engines and tactical displays making up the vast majority of the room's walls.

He drew in a slow breath, turning over this puzzle in his mind. This was his throne-room, his sanctum, his greatest hall—and today he had naught left to him but one final tribe, the eponymous Thunder Kings, where twelve ought together stand. He did not bear his sword and shield today, and the screens did not display the miasma of information he found so much beauty and truth in. There was nothing to command today, and his patience—infinite as it was—had long begun to set into weariness and bitterness.

Agrica had stood with him, solemn and silent as a statue throughout it all. The tall, fair-haired Astartes looked as if he might have been handsome once, but a lifetime of war had imparted upon him a steel jaw and plentiful other skin regrafts along his face. He'd kept his eyes forward for all these long weeks, imparting some small . . comfort to the brooding Primarch. He didn't have to stay. He should have gone, to fight for whomever he thought best, but he did.

It was a long while before Brennus finally spoke, his ordinarily calm, thunderous voice now sounding soft, and solemn.

“I know now my failure,” he said, looking towards Agrica. If the Astartes was alarmed, he gave no notice, and merely turned to straight back at his progenitor. “Where one legion should stand, I have created twelve. Respectively united by shared fraternity, perhaps—but what was I but their commander, in truth? Not a father.”

Agrica said nothing. Not yet.

Brennus continued, pausing only briefly to examine his son's expression. As he looked back towards the screens and continued, a wry smile now appeared on his face.

“It is fitting that only one tribe remains. Only one legion. Agrica, I am proud and flattered that you waited here, where you need not have. There must be one legion. One,” the Primarch spat out. His form shook as an uncharacteristic vehemence seized him, his throne groaning as he now—after weeks—finally stood.

“Not all that have fallen are vanquished,” faithfully intoned Agrica, bobbing his head slightly forward.

Brennus let out a withering sigh, each heavy step causing the machines around him to rattle. He stalked towards the heavy door leading out from his throne-room, pausing just one pace before it. Agrica now too moved forward, taking up a position beside his master. “We are not yet fallen,” Brennus whispered, “Not yet. I cannot forgive Selioax, however—and I cannot forgive Alessia. It must burn.”

And though it pained him, Agrica agreed.

The Cleansing of Red Death

The primarch's pod landed on a jungle world Rai, the isolated centers of human civilization there maintained 19th century level technology. Quickly found and given to an orphanage, he was adopted by a surgeon from an old lineage of healers, even though he already had 5 children. His eldest daughter worked at that orphanage as a caretaker and took a liking to the strange boy that fell from the sky, eventually convincing her parents to take him in. The boy was given the name Johannes and became part of the Vrach family, his new parents and siblings raising him as one of their own. Johannes in turn loved his new family as well, and especially admired his father and his work healing the wounded and diseased. He took a big interest towards medicine and biology and displayed great talent in those fields, soon matching and even surpassing his adoptive father's abilities. Always working together they gathered planet-wide renown as the greatest doctors and brilliant researchers, finding cures for many of the diseases and disorders that previously affected the population. Life expectancy rose considerably, the technology and overall living standards soon followed as the people could now advance further into the depths of the jungle without fear of the many deadly spores from plants and contagious plagues carried by insects in the untamed rainforests.

Unfortunately, it didn't last. An exploration team looking for metal deposits deep in the wilds found the remains of a strange, ancient ruin. Archeologists followed, unearthing alien artifacts and metal tablets with writings in an unknown language. It is said that one of them must have started it, because at the same time a new, horrific disease appeared: the Red Death. It spread through cities like wildfire, the bodies of the infected slowly mutating uncontrollably until they became a writhing mass of organs that could no longer function as a single body and finally succumbed to death. As the best medical experts of the time, the Vrach family did their best to ease the suffering, but in spite of Johannes best efforts, no cure could be found. Slowly but surely the settlements of Rai emptied, both from infection and infighting as the healthy desperately formed closed enclaves and violently attacked anybody attempting to enter out of fear of bringing the Red Death in. To make matters worse, the doctors treating the infected started to succumb to the disease as well. Immune due to his superhuman physique but forced to watch his beloved family suffer from a plague he couldn't cure, Johannes grew increasingly desperate, spending days and nights in his lab, but to no avail. As he stood over a fresh grave of his youngest sister, the last of the Vrach bloodline, a large construct appeared in the sky. Giant, gold-armored warriors stepped on the planet.

Johannes almost begged the Emperor to save Rai, accepting his offer to take command of a space marine legion immediately. The magos biologis sent to analyze the situation reported that the Red Death is impossible to cure, so the Emperor ordered a complete purge of all infected regions as well as most of the deep jungle. Watching from space as Rai burned, Johannes now knew what his duty was.

Everything that is tainted must be eradicated, only then can new life flourish. Only those who sealed themselves in closed enclaves on Rai survived, and so must he bring new worlds to the Imperium: attempting to integrate or replace indigenous cultures, solve their problems and create economic ties is folly, for just like the Legions Astartes brought the light of the Imperium to the natives, so can their delusions and corruption infect the Imperium. When the worlds are wiped clean new life can be brought upon them, and then it will flourish, free of taint.

As a primarch, Johannes taught these ideas to his legion. He carried an advanced Narthecium of his own design onto the battlefield, focusing on providing aid to the wounded over the destruction of his enemies. Like him, the Life Bringers are healers and researchers first, warriors second, their officers cross-training as apothecaries and carrying medical equipment in addition to their combat duties. They are grim and determined in battle, but genuinely caring for their allies.

The Battle of Belahaam

Darius had sensed the growing darkness long before the first astro-projections had come bearing the ill news of what had happened at Ishtvaan V. Darius felt sick to his stomach. How could this had happened, and worse how could he not have seen this. He had visited all his brother primarchs and had often looked into their futures. If only he had dove deeper....

No matter, it was too late to dwell on past mistakes. All Darius could do now was look to the future and hope he could still make a difference. Rallying his legion for Holy Terra not knowing what he would soon be getting into. As they drew close to Belahaam, a sector near Nocturne, Darius felt a massive flux in the warp. The Voidwatcher and his legion had begun secretly operating in the region, using the ancient text provided by Uriel. Realizing what was going on, Darius began channeling a spell to contain the growing storm, but it required his complete attention to maintain.

Having corrupted near by Guard and PDF over to chaos used their fleet to engage Darius. He didn't care if they succeeded or not, they were merely the bait. As they engaged the traitor guard fleet, the Black Augur's fleet appeared from behind, though the psychics of the Keepers had already foresaw this and quickly turned ships to face the new threat. In reality this was yet another distraction as several Black Augur squads began boarding the Sand Keeper ships. Several ships were sabotaged before the Keepers realized what was going on and several pitched battles erupted on the ships.

Meanwhile on the surface of Nocturne, The Sand Keepers 1st company, the Immortals deep struck down near the site of the ritual only to find a swarm of guardsmen and a Black Augur company defending it. The crazed cultists bellowed and shrieked incoherently as they charged them and the terminators quickly ran to meet them. As the lines crashed into each other there was never any doubt as to who would be the victor, even the Augur could do little against their mighty terminator armor. The guards fell in droves all around the Immortals as they advanced, among every other one. But this was another trap! When the Immortals got about half way through the guardsmen and cultists several units of Black Augur tanks had surrounded them. Soon the thunderous roar of cannon fire descended upon the Immortals. Armed with power weapons and storm bolters, there was little the Immortals could do even with their psykers.

Without a choice they pressed on, ignoring as the cannons rained death upon them, but it slowed them enough to allow the Children of Amrok to regroup and redouble their efforts. The bloody battle raged on with the Immortals inching their way forward while being hounded by the tanks the whole way. When they finally arrived they quickly went to work cutting down the last of the Children of Amrok, however, it was too late.

Darius's battleship, the Argent Sphinx lurched and rumbled as cannon fire pierced its hull. Every shake threatened to break his concentration on the spell that was holding back the warp storm. His legion was fighting hard to commandeer enough ships to even the odds but every death only made it harder. With every scream of pain and dying thought the warp stirred, fighting to get out of his grasp. Sweat trickled down his forehead and along his face.

On the bridge of the Argent Sphinx a Lord of Change materialized itself before Darius along with a host of Flamers of Tzeetch. The crew did their best to defend against it. Torrents of Warp flame and doom bolts flew in every direction and many of the proud Keepers died where they stood. The greater daemon slew marine and librarian alike with ease until it reached Darius. Knowing he would have to defend himself, Darius released his spell over the warp to block a doom bolt.

At that moment the battle was lost. In a flash the warp storm erupted from the ritual site on the planet, engulfing The Immortals and the remaining guardsmen on the planet. The voidwatcher shook his head slowly as his brothers entire legion was caught and dragged into the storm. It was a shame that Darius did not see how foolish the Emperor's cause was. In the end he was just another blind fool.

Assorted Other Material

Primarch Stats

Inferox The Burned King

Inferox, the Burned King, the Fire Rider, Primarch of the Sons of Fire: WS7 BS5 S7 T7 W6 I5 A4 LD10 SV2+/3++

Unit Composition •1 (Unique)

Unit Type •Infantry (Character)

Wargear •Armour of Hades •Flame-Claw Gauntlets •Phosphex grenade launcher

Special Rules •Primarch •Soul of Fire •Sire of the Sons of Fire •Very Bulky

Sire of the Sons of Fire Inferox is the pinnacle of his Legion, the dispenser of justice and the bestower of favour. All his sons aspire to be one with the flame like him, and fight all the harder under his eyes. All models with the Legiones Astartes (Sons of Fire) rule may re-roll the dice when using flamer based weapons in defensive fire, and gain the Crusader special rule. In addition all Medusas, Basilisks and Whirlwinds in an army led by Inferox may take Phosphex ammunition.

Soul of Fire The blazing heart of his pitiless legion, Inferox epitomised the power of unchained fire, its ability to consume all and leave nothing behind. Inferox is immune to all flamer based weaponry, and Fusion, Melta, Plasma and Volkite weaponry have their strength reduced by 2 when firing at him. In addition all his shooting attacks have the shred special rule.

Armour of Hades This blazing suit of armour, wreathed in flames gives Inferox a fearsome visage, and makes it harder for foes to hit him. The Armour of Hades confers a 2+/3++ save, and in addition all successful hits against him in close combat must be re-rolled.

Flame-Claw Gauntlets The Primarch’s signature weapons, these can both project streams of tainted fire at range, or else be used as devastating close-combat weapons. They have two profiles, one for the ranged shots, and the other for close-combat attacks.

Flame-Claw Gauntlets (Ranged) Range: Template Strength: 6 Ap 3 Type: Assault 1, Shred, Ignores Cover

Flame-Claw Gauntlets (Combat) Range: Melee Strength: 8 Ap: 2 Type: Melee, Shred, Murderous Strike, Paired (+1 Attack)

Phosphex grenade launcher This weapon fires the deadly, earth-tainting Phosphex to utterly purge Inferox’s enemies. Range: 18” Strength: 5 Ap 2 Type: Assault 1, Crawling Fire, Lingering Death

The Entombed Chapter Tactics

Undertaker: Elites slot apothecaries in terminator armour. For every Undertaker, you may take a squad of Terminators as a troops choice.

Erebus, Lord of the Grave: 2+ poison weapon but very low WS. High T and many W. Improves the FNP of the entire army by 1.