Blood Jaguars

Blood Jaguars
Undecided
Battle Cry	Salvation Through Sacrifice
Number	?
Founding	M34
Successors of	Flesh Tearers
Successor Chapters	None
Chapter Master	Xipet T'otec
Primarch	Sanguinius
Homeworld	Tenocit
Strength	400, discluding the Death Company
Specialty	Terror Tactics
Allegiance	Imperium
Colours	Undecided

The Blood Jaguars are a chapter once again created from the Deathwatch Chapter creation table. The result was an Aztec-themed Flesh Tearers chapter. And it is glorious.

Summary

A Blood Jaguar undertaking the Black Road to the Sun. Note Macahuitl-Pattern chainsword and Tenocit-pattern Boltgun. Pic by Marauder.

The Blood Jaguars are a chapter with a history of violence. One could go so far as to say that it is in fact their geneseed itself that contributed to what they are today. Founded in M34 for the specific purpose of fighting Orks, and parented by the infamous Flesh Tearers; They, like their predecessor, suffer from the Black Rage at a higher rate than other Blood Angels successors. An attempt to correct this was made in their founding, but failed to prevent the Red Thirst and Black Rage from occurring at the same level as the rest of the Blood Angels successors. In fact, it may have made the Red Thirst even worse, if certain rumors whispered hold true.

At some point in time, the Blood Jaguars home sector was swallowed by a warp storm that lasted 2000 years. During this time Xipet T'otec rose to the position of chapter master and enacted major reforms, earning him much respect in the chapter. After the warpstorm ended the Blood Jaguars emerged entirely divergent from the Codex. Gone were the Devestator squads, and in came chain bladed bolters, scout squads ripping apart Orks in frenzied close combat, and a Death Company whose acts of terror cause entire cities to commit suicide rather than face them. Suspected of Khornate worship on multiple occasions though never found tainted outside of the occasional Battle Brother whom they kill themselves, the Blood Jaguars have a rocky relationship with the rest of the Adeptus Astartes and Inquisition. Despite this, the Chapter still seconds Brothers to the Deathwatch, though the eye of suspicion never leaves them.

The Blood Jaguars homeworld, Tenocit, is a jungled hive world, notorious for it's massive felinid predators, and large avian carnivores. Recruits are trained in the harsh jungles, expected to fight and kill predators with little more than stone knives they craft themselves and carry with them for the rest of their time with the chapter. Harsh survival and combat-trials are favoured over years of disciplined apprenticeship, to ensure that every Blood Jaguar will be able to adapt if separated from the group, as often happens in the dense jungles of Tenocit. A strong emphasis on self-sufficiency, coupled with relentless drills, forms an instinctive awareness of battlefield movements, momentum and finding weakness in the enemy lines. Indeed, particularly zealous Jaguars sometimes sacrifices themselves in displays of individual courage and bloodthirst, in order to saw terror in the hearts of opponents, creating panic and disorder where there previously were none.

Homeworld

Tenocit, homeworld of the Blood Jaguars, is a hive world unlike virtually any other, for instead of pollution-choked wastelands, the landscape of the planet is verdant primordial jungle. Tendrils of creepers and dense forest reach right up to the very walls around most hives on Tenocit, save for the planetary capital of Technochtitlan, which is situated at the centre of a vast lake. Technochtitlan Hive is separated into four sections; the Spire of the Stars being the primary spaceport, the Spire of the Sun being dedicated to the Ecclesiarchy, the Spire of Offerings houses the planetary governor and Administratum, and the Spire of the Earth is where workers live. The Hives of Tenocit are much more pyramidal than most Imperial Hives, which seems to have its roots in the cultural practices of the native peoples in the Age of Strife. Tenocit’s unusually verdant geography owes its survival to two factors. The first is the high oxygen content of the atmosphere; around 38% as opposed to a more typical 21% on colonised worlds. This would be of little consequence if not for the second factor, which is a unique fungus, Mortem Sacco, that grows around the roots of most trees on Tenocit. This heterotroph looks unremarkable at first, save for the bulbous sack-like growths that characterise it, but it is how it produces these tubers that makes it invaluable. The fungus actively absorbs heavy metals and harmful chemicals from the soil and air, storing them in the growths it produces. When full, the sealed bulbs drop off and, protected by a tough shell, remain safely isolated for decades. The fungus does this for two reasons; the first is simply survival; by removing these harmful substances from the soil, the trees the fungus needs to grow on are more likely to survive and reach new heights. The other is that the storage of these materials is simply a by-product of the fungus taking in nutrients for itself. The Imperium naturally has seen the value of Mortem Sacco and several unsuccessful attempts have been made to transplant the fungus to the many Imperial worlds choked by pollution. Unfortunately, Mortem Sacco requires a high level of atmospheric oxygen to survive, and on all the worlds it has been taken to thus far, it has failed to take hold. For the inhabitants of Tenocit, the fungus is considered a blessing from the Sun Emperor and the bulbs are regularly collected from accessible regions of jungle and brought to the Hives, where they are crushed and the industrial useful substances within them extracted. Collection of the bulbs can be highly profitable; one consortium has risen to the status of the nobility solely through harvesting.

Fortress Monestary

The Fortress Monastery of the Blood Jaguars sits atop the ruined Hive of Xolotl, deep in the untamed jungles of Tenocit. Formally the Hive governor’s palace, the Monastery is known by its local name of Tehuantepec, which loosely translated into low Gothic means “The hill of wild animals”. Another translation however is “The hill of Daemons”, and given the history of the Hive, this is quite fitting. The palace is situated on the site of the Blood Jaguar’s greatest victory; the defeat of the Daemon incursion lead by the Daemon Prince of Malal, C’rtez. In the ruins of the governor’s mansion, the titanic warp spawn fought in single combat with T’otec, Chapter Master of the Blood Jaguars whilst his battle brothers engaged the daemon’s forces. Cornered, with no lines of retreat, every Blood Jaguar fought with unbridled ferocity, but it was T’otec who showed the greatest savagery. Though the Chapter Master’s skin was flayed from his body, he pressed on, and in one final move drove his barbed power fist deep into the daemon’s chest, and pulled out its still beating heart. With the death of their general the warp storm shuddered, and the remaining daemons and fled into the immaterium, leaving the Blood Jaguars standing amidst utter destruction. Their master finally collapsed from his wounds, but was interred in the holy sarcophagus of a Dreadnought, where he still resides. At the centre of the monastery sits the Chapter’s most prized relic: the heart of C’rtez, still held firm by the gauntlet that plucked it from the daemon’s body. A stasis field prevents the heart from being reclaimed by the warp, and it is said that if ever it beats once more, C’rtez has been reborn, and the Chapter will stop at nothing to hunt down and destroy the beast again. On the walls that once held paintings and priceless trinkets, stone carvings tell the story of T’otec’s duel and the battle for the Hive, along with the history of the chapter. Where once the lord’s throne sat, a great altar has been erected, and it is here that heretics and daemons are sacrificed to the Sun Emperor.

A Heritage of Hatred Excavated

In a massive showing of rage and honor, the Blood Jaguars set out to find the remnants of the force belonging to the daemon prince that "killed" their chapter master then completely and utterly eviscerate them. They were able to find them and lay siege to their forces that included a titan. Partway into the fight it became clear a second group was engaged with the chaos forces, as the titan disengaged from combat surrounded on the ground by orks. Fully engaged in combat with chaos with no troops to send after the titan, they could only look on horrified at the sight of the very xenos scum that they were founded to destroy walking off with a piece of the very group they had sworn to obliterate in the name of their chapter master. (This section is poorly written consider revising.)

The Order of the Martyred Heart

Every year, many youths travel to attempt to climb the pyramid of the gods, to be chosen to become a Blood Jaguar. Both boys and girls set off, but only boys arrive at the pyramid for the rite of ascension. Stories and rumour spread from hive to hive, talking about horrific monsters that prey on those who travel in the thick jungle, or of the women being chosen by the Blood Jaguars as their brides.

The truth of the matter is a well kept secret.

On the far side of the planet from the Blood Jaguars' fortress monestary lies a small convent of the Adepta Sororitas, located on an island in the middle of a colossal river, they are members of the Order of the Martyred Heart, an offshoot of the Order of the Valourous Heart. The Sisters track down each girl attempting to do what none have before done, and seize them, taking them back to their convent, where they are raised and trained in the lessons of the Martyred Heart.

The Martyred Heart and Blood Jaguars are allies, and it is not unknown for the Martyred Heart to provide artillery support for the Jaguars in battle.

Important Members

Xipet T'otec: Chapter Master Xipet T'otec is a figure of legend among the Blood Jaguars. Possessing bloodlust, self-control, and a tactical mind, he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the Chapter Master in M38, while the warp storm still isolated Tenocit from the rest of the Imperium. Though changes to the battle doctrine of the Blood Jaguars had unofficially been occuring for the 2000 years of isolation, T'otec made these changes part of the standard organization of the Chapter, disregarding the Codex in many ways. Soon after, a warp incursion on their homeworld occured, and the Blood Jaguars rose to meet it. T'otec faced C'rtez a Daemon Prince of Malal in hand to hand combat, and songs are still sung by the people of Tenocit of that day. Battered, broken, and skinned alive, T'otec emerged the victor, shoving his gauntlet into it's chest and ripping it from his body before kicking the corpse off the top of the hab spire. Interred in a dreadnaught soon after, he still is officially the Chapter Master of the Blood Jaguars, though he has not been awakened in two centuries.

Quotes

"You will be of a different sacrifice. You have the honor of feeding the giver of life. Our altar is beneath you. His table is not. All psykers are meant for the life giver's table." - Blood Jaguar Chaplain, talking to a psyker captured and convicted of murder, formerly scheduled to meet execution as a sacrifice of the Blood Jaguars

Deathwatch Rules

Founding: M34

Primoginator: Blood Angels

Predecessor: Flesh Tearers

Codex Demeanor: Purity Above All

Chapter Flaw: Eye to Eye

Codex Adherence: Unique

Combat Specialty: Terror Tactics

Solo Mode: Uses the Flesh Tearers, as described in Honor the Chapter.

Attack Pattern: Uses the Flesh Tearers, as described in Honor the Chapter.

Defensive Stance: Courage Under Fire, as described in Rites of Battle.

Primarchs Curse: Uses the Flesh Tearers, as described in Honor the Chapter.

Chapter Advance Table: Uses the Flesh Tearers, as described in Honor the Chapter.

Psychic Powers: Uses the Flesh Tearers, as described in Honor the Chapter.

Restriction: Cannot be Devastators