Children of Armok
Summary of Legion VIII
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.
Legion Tactics
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.
Legion Equipment
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Legion Doctrine
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.
Uriel Starikov, Primarch of The Children of Armok
Appearance
The first things people will notice about Uriel is his easy going smile, and his large, knowing eyes - both alight with mischief and predatory glee. He often has his right eyebrow raised questioningly. His chin is well defined on his square jaw, and his cheeks are gaunt. His hair is dark brown, and kept short, high and tight, the top combed over neatly to the back (think like Ralph Fiennes in Schindlers List), and his face is clean shaven. Uriel has light, but not pale skin.
Uriel Starikov stands at a middling height among his Primarch brothers, neither tall, nor short. He has an incredible command of social interaction and a beguiling way with words - able to put someone completely at ease in one moment, and get them spoiling for a fight in the next, only to put them in hysterics.
His beguiling, friendly manner plays well into his mischievous facade. He loves pranks, and tricks, having learnt sleight of hand magic tricks and illusions in the courts on Perfidiae V as a young boy as a way to impress and beguile the lords and ladies with whom he spent most of his time. One of the smartest of the Primarchs, where most of his brothers intellects took them into the fields of medicine, technology, architecture, science, and the occult, Uriels intellectual pursuits brought him into the world of Politics and Espionage. Despite being a Primarch, and a skilled politician, Uriel is comfortable being in the background. He doesn't need fame, he courts it for political purposes, and political purposes alone.
His battle armour is no different from any other marine from his legion, apart from being crafted to a higher standard as befitting a Primarch, and larger to reflect his stature over his fellow marines. He wields a Power Warhammer, wrought from Silver, and a Automatic Power Crossbow.
Youth
Uriel was found as a babe by a bunch of nobles from one of the many nation-states of Perfidiae V, while out on a hunting trip. They took him back with them to the court of their ruler, King Frederick, where he was put into the care of the courts various servants. Once he was old enough, young Uriel began an education under the tutelage of the Rulers various scribes, members of the Order of Armok, a religious group, in the service of a powerful deity native to Perfidiae V, Armok, God of Knowledge, Secrets and Fate. He took to learning heartily, so with great amusement the court scribes let him loose in their library vaults, and thus began Uriels obsession with knowledge. His thirst for knowledge, his ability to grasp even complex events, and his boundless enthusiasm made him a favoured adopted-son of the scribes. And they taught him that Armok was not only the god of knowledge, secrets and fate, but also the patron deity of murder and anarchy. They told him of the Orders purpose - to appease Armok so that he would guide their fates to prosperity and safety. Uriel ate it up. It seemed Uriel was bound for the life of with the Order of Armok, and preparations were made to induct him formally as an apprentice, which Uriel met with ecstatic glee. But fate would weave a different path for Uriel, as one day, as he poured over the vast tomes of knowledge, he found something strange. The King, Frederick, was in fact not the son of who he regularly and openly claimed to be descended from. The proof sat right there in front of his very eyes. Uriel decided he would ask someone in court - maybe they would know.
And that is how Uriel found himself in the dungeon. He didn't understand - he hadn't lied about anything, but he was the one in trouble. And that is where Uriel met the Kings spymaster, Lord Reinhardt von Gehlen. Gehlen had a reputation as a scary individual. He didn't look scary at all; he was short, wiry, and plain. So the young Uriel asked Gehlen why people were scared of a man with his physique, and Gehlen, intrigued and surprised that the young Primarch showed no fear of him, responded simply "Because I know all of their secrets."
Uriel would spend a month in that dungeon, talking with Gehlen about what he knew, and what he intended to do with his knowledge. And as the month passed, Uriel's natural charisma, thirst for knowledge, and apparent understanding of how people worked won Gehlen over, and he offered to take Uriel on as an apprentice. His obsession with the scribes forgotten, Uriel hastily agreed.
Uriel was trained thoroughly over the course of his early teen years, Uriel learned the ways of espionage, strategy, and politics, as well began to perfect his persuasion and oratory talents.
By the time Uriel's accelerated growth became apparent, he was already running his own small network for Gehlen confined to the interior of the nation to catch enemy agents. But as his talents grew, his morals and perspective on the world changed. Right and wrong had become just a means to colour a person's opinion to get what you want - morality had become a tool, to be harnessed and unleashed when it suited Uriel. He stopped seeing people as just people, instead beginning to see people in terms of their value as a potential asset for his networks.