Black Augurs

Summary of Legion XIV

Not!Wizards, Ambush and Trap Focused Not!Nightlords/Not!ThousandSons They use fast and brutal tactics, favouring ambushes and any way they can get an upper hand on their foes. Hostages, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and massacres to antagonize they're opponent are never out of the question. The legion is known not just for their sorcery and psychic power but also for their lust for power. The Black Augurs are raised from a the world of Ostium, who was once ruled by sorcerous meritocracy where anyone who could, scheme, work, or fight their way to the top could control all those below them without question. Though after the coming of the Emperor the sorcery was quietly swept under the rug the spirit of ambition and survival of the fittest is still instilled in all the planets inhabitants. The Black Augurs have inherited this vicious ambition through their Primarch as well as his psychic ability. The entire legion is constantly competing within itself, every legionnaire scheming to take the position of his superior, from the lowliest acolyte to the Voidwatcher himself.

Legion Disposition

The Black Augurs live to gain power. The legion inherited a meritocratic mindset from their homeworld of Ostium where everyone is expected to try to advance in society through any means necessary. Because of this every Augur believes he is pitted against not just the foes of the Emperor but also every single one of his battle brothers at any given time. Every marine must constantly be trying to advance his status within the legion, be that through training relentlessly to earn battlefield honour, studying ancient tomes to glean new and powerful sorcerous ability, or scheming endlessly to usurp his superiors position. This mentality of constant conflict has bred the Voidwatcher's sons to be on constant guard to the point of paranoia but also means that each Black Augur marine is constantly improving himself past the point of another legion's.

The legion also views the standard Imperial citizen as an expendable resource, something to be used and discarded once they're usefulness is finished. This disdain comes from the fact that not only do most citizens not try to move past their station, and are therefore either lazy or weakwilled, but also because they do not possess even rudimentary psychic skills. This also bleeds over into some of their brother space marines, legions with lower numbers of psykers are viewed as unworthy to be sons of the Emperor and only those with a high population of them are viewed with any respect. This is, of course, with a few exceptions.

Legion Tactics

The Black Augurs generally specialize in sneak attacks and ambushes, where they can put their precognitive abilities to best use. During the Crusades they preferred to use trickery and some diplomacy to conquer worlds. When that failed it only required one or two engagements to break the spirit of a worlds defence in the face of an army of seemingly magical superhumans. They most commonly preferred to fight in close quarters, (jungles, underhives, etc.) where their psychic abilities and quick reflexes could prove most useful. During the Heresy they were commonly deployed alongside other legions to support their shortcomings in direct ranged combat. They also proved adept at channelling the ruinous powers and summoning daemons during that time. Something that many of their loyalist brothers had long feared.

Augury and Foresight

The Black Augurs have many arcane rituals and practices that they claim channels their foresight and psychic abilities. 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. The elite terminators 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 almost exclusively massive power glaives to produce as much of these two things as they can.

Sorcery

The higher ranking members of the Black Augurs all practice sorcery to some degree and to truly excel in the legion one must immerse themselves in it. Powerful psykers known as the Vates act as the legions Librarians and Captains. They can can channel a huge number of psychic powers with their disturbing incantations and sorcerous rites. 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. Many high ranking Vates can project blades or projectiles of invisible psychic energy, cleaving or blasting their foes with a flick of the wrist. 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.

Legion Equipment

The Black Augurs paint scheme is, obviously, mainly black. The bulk of the marine's power armour is black with a of burnished gold and pale white as a highlight or accent colour. The iconography of the legion focuses on birds and eyes. Their legion icon is the all-seeing eye inset in a pyramid but many marines choose to depict other symbols as well; including abstract birds (usually owls and ravens), slitted eyes, and numerous runes or hieroglyphs. The marines are actually expected to inscribe the later onto their armour directly as a means of enhancing their abilities and to prove they've researched the arcane. Many marines carry tomes, scrolls, esoteric totems and icons, and various artefacts on their person at all times.

Stryx Pattern Terminator, this pattern of Tactical Dreadnought Armor is unique to the Black Augur's Haruspex formations. Its design bears resemblance to the Aegis Terminator Armor worn by the Grey Knights and the Tartaros Pattern armor, as such it looks like the former, but with the later's helmet. These suits of armor have a built in Psychic Hood for defense against hostile psykers as well as Runes engraved into the armor with the intent of amplifying the wearers own powers. Frequently the armor's ranged weapons are mounted on the forearm of the user to accommodate usage of the Legion's trade mark weapon, the Force Glaive.

The 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 they used them 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.

Notable Legionnaires

The Bloodseer - A long time veteran of the Black Augurs, having been with them since their creation on Terra, he has witnessed first-hand the Legions change from the Brotherhood it had been, to the squabbling power mad force it has become. His personal prowess in the ways of war, combined with his knack for leadership, his psychic abilities and own desires of power helped earn him his lofty position as Master of the Haruspex. Once he could have been considered a handsome man, with his blue eyes and close cropped black hair, but an enemy Sniper changed that during his time as a Sergeant, were it not for his helmet he would be dead. The right side of his face is now scared and his eye replaced with a cybernetic replacement, since the incident he has his helm on at all times on the battle field. He wears Stryx Pattern Terminator Armor, his Breastplate features the armor’s name sake prominently. From the time of his initial induction to the Haruspex, and continuing long after his elevation to Captain he wields a Force Glaive and wrist mounted Combi-Bolter and has a Personal Teleporter pack. At some point in the Heresy the Glaive is destroyed in a duel, it is then replaced with a Daemon Sword that had been found some time in the Legion’s past and kept in the Haruspex’s armory under stasis lock.

The Voidwatcher, Primarch of The Black Augurs Legion

Appearance

Tall, taller than most of his brothers but lither and more graceful then them as well. His skin is deathly pallid and criss-crossed with dark veins and arcane tattoos/brands. His face was gaunt with an aquiline nose and deep set eyes. A wry mocking smile could often be seen upon his thin pale lips. Apart from his tattoos and veins his skin was flawless and not beset by any lines or scars. His most distinguishing feature however are his eyes, blank and staring off into the distance, as if he cannot focus on anything, constantly possessing a thousand yard stare.

In battle the Voidwatcher is truly a sight to behold. His armour is incised with hundreds of glowing symbols and he carries innumerable texts and scrolls that often billow behind him. His armour lower half almost more of an armoured coat or robe, with long flowing faulds that extend down to touch the ground. His armour was lighter than most of his brothers, instead relying on his enchantments and psychic wards to protect him. His armour did not possess a full helmet, instead having a hood and the mask he inherited from his fathers culture. These facts combined with his extremely fluid motion and the fact he constantly had incense burning on him at all times rendered him almost ethereal. A figure gliding across the battlefield, wreathed in smoke and Warp energies, cutting down all in his path.

Outside of combat the Voidwatcher would usually wear a full black robe with his mask.

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 gate and an 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 greeted 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.

Post-Heresy

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.