Children of Armok

Children of Armok
The Children's Loyalist Sigil. The Children's Traitor Sigil.
Number	XIII
Founding	First Founding
Successors of	N/A
Primarch	Uriel Starikov
Homeworld	Perfidiae V
Allegiance	Chaos

This page details people, events, and organisations from The /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

Summary of Legion XIII, The Children of Armok

Legion Characteristics [Undergoing Rewrite]

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 defining, or great victories and 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 however, 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. 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 among the first to find out about it, or sometimes, be directly involved.

There are 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 for intrigue and espionage has made them borderline insane, unable to stop themselves from continuing their addictive plotting by finally taking control.

[WIP]Under Reconstruction[WIP]

[WIP] Under a rewrite and restructure[WIP]

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.

Legion Relationships

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.

Uriel himself doesn't have true 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 incredibly useful, and their knack for politics and persuasion means even the Primarchs can't help but enjoy their company.

Arelex Orannis of the War Scribes

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 acquiring more knowledge; one seeking to unlock the secrets of technology to further mankind, the other wanting to unlock the secrets of man for his own gain, but also to benefit mankind.

After the failure of the Heresy, Arelex begins rebuilding the Imperium. Uriel uses Arelex to get some of 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. But he also provided Arelex with use of some selected, 'clean' networks to help with ensuring that those Arelex puts in power, were not traitors. Of course, Uriel did this to engender trust in himself and the Children, but also to potentially have a means of feeding the Imperium false or accurate intelligence to further his goals.

Despite how much Uriel used Arelex, he did like the man, 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'.

Gaspard Lumey of the Void Angels

Uriel and the Children also get along with Gaspard of the Void Angels, although while their relationship is of mutual respect, under the surface they see eachother as opponents; Gaspard as the 'regulator', keeping his brothers in line, while Uriel is the opposite - pulling and pushing them away to suit his needs.

Before the Heresy, Uriel and Gaspard get along well, their competitiveness driving them to push eachother to higher levels. Their partnership of Lumey's 'bad cop', to Uriel's 'good cop' style was incredibly effective, especially in the Core Worlds Campaign. Following that campaign however, Uriel maybe having fallen to chaos, Uriel doctors his testimony and plays on his friendship to manipulate Lumey into being censured, and exiled with his legion.

But after the Heresy, and Lumey's return, their friendship develops a slightly darker tone, with Lumey wondering, but never truly knowing if Uriel was just played by Hektor, or if Uriel was involved somehow.

Cromwald Golgothos Aubrey Thomas Gaudin Brennus Bohemund Merrill Kranios Inferox Nathanog Tiran Osoros Octulus Alexandri Roman Albrecht Onyx Voidwatcher Johannes Sebastian Rex Tollund Oztal Thoren Grimm

damn thats a lot of relationships to write about... [WIP]

In the Traitor Legions, Uriel is close Aubrey of the Eternal Zealots, 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.

Legion Organisation

[UNDER REWRITE - WIP]The Children of Armok are pretty average by legion standards, but their organisation is as unorthodox as they come.

Only 50% of the Children's total legion strength is ever together at once, pursuing one campaign together; most often, the figure is around 30% or less of their full strength.

The rest of the Legion is spread out across the Imperium in small self-reliant groups, regularly travelling great distances to the sectors and systems they are deemed to be required in. The average Child of Armok will travel further in his lifetime, than 3 marines from any other legion. They do this as a means of maintaining, extending, and culling their intelligence networks to ensure they know everything they possibly can about the galaxy, and more importantly, the players in it.

The Children also have the Insidiators roaming the Imperiun, and the Emissarius, or liasons, attached to the other Primarch's legions, providing those legions with the worryingly accurate intelligence the Children have at their disposal, as well as watching on the legion they are attached to, and feeding what they see and hear back to Uriel.

The Children use a very dispersed organisational structure, dividing their legions into divisions, each individual division is referred to as 'a Body'.

Each 'body' is it's own self-contained, self-reliant combat force. Each 'body' is broken down further into a cell-style structure, compartmentalising each cell, and limiting their exposure. The 'body' is made up of the Head, Arms, Torso, and Legs.

The Head is the brains of the operation. And the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth if need be.

The Arms are the muscle of the operations. They do the on-the-ground shooting, and take part in the actual operations. The units committed to the field are called 'hands'. With a hand being made up of as few as 5 individual marines, and upwards in size as necessary for the scope of the operation.

The Legs do the legwork for the body as a whole. They are in charge of transportation, but are also entrusted with doing any pre-operation prep-work, ie scouting, infiltration, tailing targets etc. They operate in the field, but nearly always in support of the Arms.

The Torso makes up the largest part of the body, with reserve units to support any of the other sections as needed. They also maintain the body, including roles such as quartermaster, requisitions, armour, weapon, equipment, and vehicle maintenance and upgrading, logistics, and cleaning up after operations.

Leadership is selected on a case-by-case basis, often given to the Marine with the most experience. In fact, to hold any officer role in the Children you have to have served in a minimum number of campaigns before hand. This has 2 main ramifications for the Children's

Firstly, their leaders are experienced and tested individuals, who have proven their talents, and thus have the utmost respect and loyalty of the men under their command. This is why the sergeants insignia is that of a veteran.

Secondly, the average experience of the average squad member is far higher than most, due to the fact that so many marines survive to continue fighting, while only a relative handful of leadership roles are open.

Battlefield role is also treated in this meritocratic way - with all marines being trained to fill the role of assault, scout, heavy support, and tactical. If a Child of Armok displays the badge of his battlefield role, ie the 4 way arrow of the assault marines, it is because that marines had *earned* and proven his talents in that role. In general, the Children do not use insignia to denote their battlefield role to others. Only those who are veterans in that role bear the insignia.

This also means that the Children do not have dedicated 'veteran' squads, instead the veterans make up the specialised battlefield roles and leadership. The Terminator squads are rotated through the veterans, with only a handful of those who are deemed skilled and experienced enough getting permanent spots.

There is no scout companies either, with the scouts being made up equally of veterans and neophytes/brothers, training in the scout role.

Legion Infiltrators - The Insidiators

'Insidiators' or independent field agents - these are marines deemed to have skill sets that make them well suited to working alone or leading entire chapters outright. Displaying talent in all of the roles the Children have for officers, insidiator's are given their own jurisdiction to go where they please, and pursue the objectives they see as benefiting the Children in the short, or long-terms. They are occasionally given direct aims to achieve by their own chosen methods, but these are usually only when something needs to be done with the utmost speed and secrecy - this job falling to those most capable to achieve it. As a result, they are often on first name basis with Uriel himself, who commands the Insidiators directly. Operating under code names and aliases, they often pose as, or travel with rogue traders (or non-puritan Inquisitors post-Heresy) as they provide the insidiator with a good cover, and the means to achieve his ends.

In some cases, with Uriel's approval, the insidiator's will be assigned a 'body' to achieve their ends, posing as the higher command, thus keeping the 'Body' in the dark, and thus deniable. As a result of their covert nature, insidiators often eschew the use of their power armour, for less obvious garb or scout armour, but will always have their power armour available for any circumstance they can foresee they will require it. As a result of this, their power armour is nearly always repainted, only using the legion's colours when that serves a useful purpose.

Insidiators are believed to be recruited directly from the legions neophyte program, as no marine recognises them. In fact, the Insidiators are recruited from Group 13.

Specialist Ranks

The Children have 4 distinct ranks of 'Officer' relevant to their particular set of strategies. All officers above sergeant will rotate through training in each of the 4 roles, whereby they can pick a specialisation, or put themselves onto rotation.

Being on rotation means that the marine will be given command in one of the 4 areas, on a case-by-case basis, meaning a Child of Armok officer on rotation could be put on political operations for one campaign, then in the next might be assigned to guerrilla operations, or counter-intelligence the next. Rotation is generally only staffed by those who display equal talents in all areas, and are usually candidates for higher command later on.

- GO2 - Guerrilla Operations Officer - in charge of insurgencies, working with locals, and recruiting networks on the ground. Also responsible for on the ground political based long operations that require shooting and combat.

CIO - Counter Intelligence Officer - in charge of keeping the Children's operation secure, and managing exposure to outside influences. Deals with enemy spies, and internal informants recruited by the legion.

PO2 - Political Operations Officer - In charge of political interactions, usually of a subtle nature, but also small-scale or contained/controlled operations. In charge of political analysis, and interactions of the areas they are based in. Requires above average (by the Children's standard) abilities with language and persuasion.

ICO - Intelligence Case Officer - In charge of gathering intelligence for the Children. They tend to operate alone, or with a small squad, and are often isolated from the rest of the 'body' they are assigned to. They are responsible for setting up networks, and are usually those who make the initial connections with Xenos/Rogue Traders on behalf of the legion, before passing them off to a PO2.

The Children also have 2 special roles they assign to Marines who display impressive talents in the required areas.

'Emissarius', or legion liasons - these individuals have a good grasp of both intelligence, and counter-intelligence, but excel in political interactions, and have a great deal of diplomatic and inter-personal skill. They are assigned to other Space Marine Legions, and travel with them, working as a point of contact between the legion they are attached to and the Children, usually feeding intelligence and messages to the Primarchs/Leaders they are attached with. They also spy passively on the legion they are attached to, obtaining in depth intelligence on all the key individuals, legion and unit strengths, and current actions the attached legion is undertaking. They don't always find out everything, but that isn't their role - that is covered by the Childrens non-marine agents and ICO's.

Group 13

Group 13 is a secret sub-group inside the Children of Armok. Only Uriel, his command staff and advisors, the Insidiators, and Chapter Masters know of their existence. All of Group 13's marines are selected personally by Insidiators, the Group 13 commander, or Uriel himself. They use different armour colours, and even have to learn different mannerisms to the Children, so that no-one could link the two. Most notably, they bear no legion emblem, their pauldron painted jet black.

The recruits for Group 13 are spirited away in the middle of operations, usually in a situation that makes it look as though they were killed, where they are written up as 'dead/missing'. Their identities are officially killed off, and they have any identifying marks removed, from fingerprints to tattoos, even old wounds are grafted up and new ones made to make them impossible to identify, then they undergo facial reconstruction surgery. Once they are completely unrecognisable, they begin their official training into Group 13, which brings them up to incredibly high levels of skill and fitness, and fostering self-reliance and initiative.

Once training is complete, they are assigned to a section, whatever their previous rank was, they start in Group 13 as a squad member.

In Group 13, there is very little room for advancement - those that survive long enough to become leaders, are by that point hardened and skilled enough that death in battle is unlikely, the only real room for advancement that offers consistent opportunity, is as an Insidiator.

Insidiators are all former Group 13 members, given almost unlimited jurisdiction and direct oversight by Uriel, and of course the Group 13 commander, for whom they still operate under. Other than pursuing Legion specific aims, the Insidiators also prepare intelligence and ground work for the Group 13 troops, calling in the troops when the designated target is identified and investigated. Then Group 13 hit hard, fast, and with the element of complete and utter surprise.

Group 13's purpose is black flag operations, assassinations, and long-term infiltration missions, as well as undertaking kidnap/capture missions, and guarding and smuggling intelligence and items deemed critical to Uriel. Sometimes Group 13 conducts operations against the Children themselves, but usually they are involved in attacks on Imperials - these attacks designed to turn opinion, galvanise support, or manipulate troop movements to better aid the Children, and Uriels plans.

During the Heresy, Group 13 was responsible for cleansing the relatively few loyalists in the Childrens ranks. Only Arkady Balotin and a handful of his marines escaped, being pursued all the way to Terra by the Group 13 search and destroy squads, where their pursuers, presumed to be a traitor legion from the colours of their armour, were forced to withdraw.

Group 13 remains loyal to Uriel, operating on both sides of the legion (the loyalist side, and those in the traitor ranks) But they mostly operate on the Imperial side, it being where the black operations Group is most needed.

Non-Astartes Agents

[CURRENT WIP]

Legion Command Hierarchy

The Children of Armok have at least 2 separate Chains of Command. One official one, recorded by the Logista Corpus and datalooms, which is of a simple and uniform nature, and another far more complex one, on a record divulged by an Inquisior, before he was stranded in the warp. This record, though badly damaged in some place, survived, and gives those who dig deep into the records an insight into the possible inner workings of the Children of Armok.

The Children of Armok's chain of command.

Legion Combat Doctrine

Strategically, the Children are generalists, able to operate under any normal circumstances like any other legion can. But the Children's strength comes from their use of rapid tactical assaults mixed with their long term strategic insurgencies and counter-insurgencies to weaken and manipulate their foes.

Atypically to many legions, the Children always look for ways to minimize the fighting needed, by exploiting local politics, blackmailing targets, and using diplomacy to make their foes surrender or fall into line with the Imperial way. With xenos the Children often force them to leave, or more commonly lull them into thinking they are at peace with the Imperials, before mounting a mass of attacks to prevent any concentrated retaliation from occurring, then mopping up the xenos.

They also are very skilled at manipulating friends and foes alike into achieving the Childrens aims for them, without the Children having had to fire a shot, or be directly involved. In the Great Crusade, the Children, using their dispersed operational breakdown, would often work in conjunction with other legions, playing the 'good cop', willing to talk and peacefully bring the non-imperial worlds into line, leveraging themselves against the violent and unforgiving 'bad cop' of the other legions. Of course, the Children were actually using their diplomatic position to spy on the worlds and empires in question, and undertook very secretive raids and attacks on the worlds, weakening their means of detection, communication and defense, allowing the space marine legion they were working with at the time to attack with the minimum of resistance. Most notably, the Core Worlds were brought into line with this 'good cop/bad cop' strategy, with the Children working closely with the Void Angels - the terror tactics playing perfectly into the bad cop role, and allowing the Children to seem all the more reasonable and welcoming to deal with.

As for tactics, the Children are urban specialists. No other legion understands how to fight in cities as the Children do, having honed their skills over the centuries to incredibly scary levels. Its easy to contain situations the terrain does it for you. Cities are also closely linked with espionage, on account of most political and economic centers being located in cities.

The Children excel at contained tactical assaults - small, fast and very technical raids on well investigated targets, with a very specific goal. They get in fast, always using the element of surprise, and hit hard, grab/shoot/destroy the target, and get out before any response can be mounted. These raids always have a secure perimeter established, to contain any enemies/witnesses trying to escape, and reinforcements from getting in. (They operate like Swat or Counter-terrorists would do in a urban environment)

The Children also regularly make use of insurgency and counter insurgency tactics. Long, long campaigns aimed at destabilising the local status-quo through eroding their enemies public support, and using local media, and hearts-and-minds campaigns to win over the locals, and get them to provide assistance to the Children's operations. Then establishing pro-imperial (pro-Children) leaders in the chaos. They also excel at dealing with insurgencies, using their expertise, espionage skills and establish intelligence networks to root out cultists and insurgents and deal with them as the Children see fit.

The Group 13 branch of the Children of Armok undertake missions that cannot ever be linked back to the Children. They undertake assassinations, black flag operations (even sometimes against the Children themselves), kidnappings and capturing, and long term infiltration based raids, where the marines have to remain isolated behind enemy lines for incredibly long periods of time while still operating. As such, Group 13 is trained in all Imperial weapons, and many common non-imperial weapons, so as to keep them fighting when they run out of ammo for conventional space marine weaponry.

Notable Children Of Armok Legionaries

Artyem Bezhryukov

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Ignacy Gagarin

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Arkady Balotin

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Ozihel Faulken

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Oskarr Reinhardt

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Lucius Harrow

Non-Astartes Notables

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Annastasya Key

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Liev Sparatin

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Donovan Speer

Legion Appearance and Equipment

Legion Equipment

The Children of Armok make use of all weapons and equipment available to them, firmly believing in adapting to changing circumstances, and as such have no predisposition to any one weapon or piece of equipment.

They do however have a predisposition to specific patterns of weapons. The Children use a custom patter bolter: the Grizwold pattern bolter, a top loading (like a p90 but longer) lightweight bullpup system, designed to be compact and versatile, suited to their city-fighting predisposition, and the close confines that terrain offers. It can also be fitted with suppressors, sights, and extended barrels when necessary.

The Children also make extensive use of flashbang grenades, and incapacitating gas grenades (like tear gas, but also mustard gas if necessary). And demolition charges, which they normally have at least one marine carry on a mission. In addition to the demolition charges, the Children use meltabombs, and breaching/directional charges for ambushes and for creating entrances into buildings where the enemy won't be guarding - especially useful in the brutal close quarters combat of city fighting.

Each 'Body' division of the Children has it's own individual armoury, giving them access to all the equipment they may need for any eventuality.

Group 13 has a large stockpile of non-imperial weaponry on top of their normal armoury, including various patterns of stubbers, autoweapons, xenos weaponry, and chemical weaponry. These non standard weapons are only used when deemed necessary, but also for training, as Group 13's infiltration missions often make resupply impossible, forcing the Group marines to fight using whatever they can get their hands on.

Legion Colours

Uriel Starikov, Primarch of The Children of Armok

I would prefer not to discuss Uriel Starikov.

(Gaspard Lumey, private correspondence.)

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 lightly stubbled, his upper lip most prominently stubbled. 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 after that.

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, or a Power Sword in the shape of an ancient Perfidian curved cavalry sabre.

Wargear

Uriel himself has a set of weapons, considering himself both a collector, and a fighter, using a selection of whichever he feels like on a whim, or planned he would need. Its hard to tell why he does anything.

Although he mainly uses his custom Soltek pattern bolt pistol, the power warhammer and the power sabre, his interest and enthusiasm for exotic weapons, has lead him to have a considerable collection of close combat weapons, which he sometimes uses on a whim.

- He normally wields a power warhammer, wrought from pure silver encircled with bands of adamantium.

- A power sword in the shape of an ancient curved Perfidian Kazakh horseman sabre.

- A custom Soltek pattern bolt pistol - it's a revolver-style bolt pistol with 24 shots in a drum style magazine.

- And 2 adamantine combat daggers that are always concealed on his person, and seem to appear from nowhere.

He also has power weapons in the forms of kukri, scimitars, claymores, fencing sabres, falchion, gladius, khanjar, seax, machete, kris, dao, katana, halberds, spears, glaives, flails, morning stars, maces, khopesh, yataghan, tomahawks, and bearded axes. Some are gifts from other primarchs or Imperial forces, some Uriel commissioned from the Mechanicus.

[WIP]Under Reconstruction[WIP]

Youth

The world Uriel was found on, was rather advanced by most standards. They had even started to progress into space travel once again. But the world of Perfidiae V was still divided by nation states, with their armies and political agendas. Recovering in the aftermath of a great, world spanning war, the nations of Perfidiae V were forced to use politics, espionage, and intimidation to achieve their agendas. It was in this 'Cold War' state, that Uriel arrived on Perfidiae V.

Uriel was only a baby when Fyodor Zhilov found him in the forest located on the grounds of Fyodor's mansion. As a general, and spymaster of the formidable, and world-renowned KSB-13 intelligence agency, Zhilov didn't have much time for babies, but despite the cunning, ruthless, patience he was known for, Zhilov took the baby in anyway, putting the boy into the care of his many servants. Once he was of age, Uriel began to play games with the staff and children, occasionally getting into trouble by entering rooms Zhilov was using to hold meetings with government officials and his officers under his control. Uriel was an inquisitive child, always eager to learn, and this thirst for knowledge would be what saved Uriel. Uriel still very young, had walked in on Zhilov and his right hand man, Reinhardt Gerhlen. They were talking worriedly about the fact one of their spies had been caught by MAI, an enemy intelligence agency.

Gerhlen was insistent on killing the spy before he could spill any secrets, when Uriel asked a simple question "Why?" At first, Zhilov was furious, and was about to beat Uriel, but as he raised his fist, the question sunk in - why indeed? Zhilov laughed, confusing both Uriel who thought he was about to be beaten, and Gerhlen for the sudden change of mood.

Zhilov explained that the spy only knew so much, so he was worth more to the MAI as an active asset - thus Gerhlen could feed the spy new lies to tell along with the real truths he did know - sure the KSB13 would lose a bunch of established but still minor assets they had painstakingly developed over the years, but they had gained a much more valuable thing: a way to control the MAI's moves. Gerhlen caught on, so Zhilov explained to Uriel, that if the MAI thought that the KSB13 didn't know they had captured the agent, they would 'turn' him, or make him work for them instead, but continue to pretend to work for the KSB13. This way, MAI would believe the intelligence and secrets the captured agent would give them. But because the KSB13 *know* that the agent is working for the MAI, they can tell him lies, and mislead the MAI, or make them do things they wouldn't do otherwise.

Zhilov noted that Uriel seemed to understand, and decided to educate the boy as if he were his own son. As his education progressed, Uriel's thirst for knowledge, and aptitude for learning did not diminish, and his love for games and play lead him to Regicide. At first he didn't quite get how to think a few moves ahead, but due to the demanding standards Zhilov had Uriels mentors keep him under, Uriel prevailed, learning in the process that patience is a virtue, and that things fall into place over time, just like learning. As he grew into his teens, Uriel was able to beat almost everyone at Regicide, anyone except Zhilov, who was always 10 moves ahead of him, and sometimes Gerhlen who was actually a good match, despite the huge age difference.

Zhilov, a former world champion Regicide grand-master, who had in-part earned his moniker 'Starik' (meaning 'Old Man') through the patience and meticulous forethought that Regicide had imparted on him during his own youth, decided to shape Uriel into a grand-master too. It took some time to get Uriel to see so many moves ahead, but as Uriel grew up, the concept stuck, and Uriel became very good at predicting people's behaviour to stimuli. There was however, an unforeseen circumstance of teaching Uriel this; Uriel began pulling elaborate pranks on people, predicting how they would act, and laying his prank accordingly. At first Zhilov was frustrated by Uriel's apparent change of character, but Gerhlen would point out that to him that it's because Uriel was reading people and playing them against themselves - exactly what any good spy would do. With this new perspective, Zhilov ordered Gerhlen to take Uriel on as a trainee, and teach him the ropes.

And so once he had come of age, Uriel entered the world of espionage. Gerhlen placed Uriel in the field, under the direct supervision of an Ambassador, and would periodically check up on Uriel to see how he was getting on. Life under the Ambassador, Valentin Hesse, was not what Uriel had expected, or indeed trained for; He spent most of his time talking with dignitaries and accompanying Hesse on diplomatic trips to rival states leadership. But his thirst for knowledge still drove Uriel, and so he studied up on everyone he met, learned their likes and dislikes, and crucially, how best to play to them as an audience. Under Hesse, Uriel's verbal abilities increased to impressive levels, and as Uriel's accelerated growth kicked in, Uriel gained a commanding presence in whatever room he walked into - and it didn't take Uriel long to learn how to use that as a tool for his aims too. Despite his still rather minor role with the KSB13, Uriel had gained considerable political clout, having demonstrated his aptitude for understanding the positions and importance of the conflicting nations of Perfidiae V.

As the years passed, Uriel rose rapidly through the ranks of the KSB13, surviving purges, political and military flash-points, and even the capture of his friend and mentor Gerhlen, all the while learning secrets and finding ways to manipulate events well in advance, so that when the time came to deal with an identified threat, Uriel had already beaten them.

On his 27th year, Uriels adoptive father Zhilov passed away. Uriel was saddened by his loss, the old man having been instrumental in his rise, and responsible for the man Uriel was. The KSB13 chose Uriel to be the new leader, and giving him the moniker 'Starikov', meaning Son of the Old Man, as a sign of respect; acknowledging that Uriel was truly like 'Starik'(Old Man) Zhilov, a master of the 'Great Game' that is espionage.

The Coming of The Emperor

The arrival of the Emperor was not entirely the great event it was meant to be.

The Emperor's arrival was used as a weapon by the MAI, discrediting the various nations that worked with the KSB13 as working with 'Aliens' and 'Powers of Great Evil'. Uriel saw the situation unfolding, all caused by an event he couldn't have foreseen, it frustrated him. But he met with the Emperor, surrounded by the huge metal warriors he brought with him, and was informed of his true purpose, and a new plan formed in his mind. Uriel manipulated every contact and asset he could, using every last secret he had in his library - all in secret from behind the scenes. He covertly left for the border between one of the MAI's allied nations, telling the Emperor that he was merely going to fetch an important gift. Now in a position where he could enact his plan, he began his great ploy, and immediately got the result he wanted - total war at last. It was bloody right from the start, with every nation on the planet involved. Huge armies clashes all around the globe, and countless lives were lost in the first hours alone. It was with his 'scene' set, that Uriel enacted the final part of his great gambit - he allowed himself to be captured by the MAI.

Threatened with torture, and execution for espionage, Uriel's life was literally on the line to achieve his ends, and utterly destroy the KSB13's enemies, and all nation's who opposed their complete hegemony. What he had counted on, was a father protecting his child - and the Emperor was no different in that regard. The great metal warriors the Emperor had brought with him arrived to save the faux-surprised Uriel, slaying the MAI forces in the immediate area, and most importantly, took fire from the MAI. Due to the incredible armour, only one of the great metal warriors died, but this was enough to complete his goal - the Emperor's forces launched an all out attack on the MAI and all the armies of the nations who backed them. The Great War that Uriel had provoked was over by the end of the week - and the KSB13 were the only people in a position to capitalise on it.

The Great Game was over. Uriel had won. And he thanked his father, the Emperor, and took his appointed position at the head of the great legion put before him.

The Great Crusade

Before the discovery of Uriel, the Children of Armok were known by a different name, that has since been lost to the annals of history. Upon being reunited with Uriel, the legion was renamed the Children of Armok, Armok being Uriel's adoptive father Zhilov's codename during the 'Great Game'. It was one last acknowledgement of the great man by Uriel, who immediately set about reorganising his legion, and having them train hard to adopt the new methods he would bring with him. Being born from his genetic code, the Children took to the new methods of manipulation and espionage with great affinity - their own innate thirsts for knowledge, and aptitude at deceit pleasing Uriel.

Post-Heresy

Work In Progress

The Children faced some difficulties post-Heresy, coming under scrutiny from Lumey - but ultimately got through it

Legion Relationships

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. Uriel himself doesn't have true 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 incredibly useful, and their knack for politics and persuasion means even the Primarchs can't help but enjoy their company.

Hektor Cincinnatus, Wolves of Dawn

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Alexandri, Silver Cataphracts

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Arelex Orannis, War Scribes

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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 acquiring more knowledge; one seeking to unlock the secrets of technology to further mankind, the other wanting to unlock the secrets of man for his own gain, but also to benefit mankind. After the failure of the Heresy, Arelex begins rebuilding the Imperium. Uriel uses Arelex to get some of 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. But he also provided Arelex with use of some selected, 'clean' networks to help with ensuring that those Arelex puts in power, were not traitors. Of course, Uriel did this to engender trust in himself and the Children, but also to potentially have a means of feeding the Imperium false or accurate intelligence to further his goals. Despite how much Uriel used Arelex, he did like the man, 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'. [SUBJECT TO REWRITING]

Aubrey the Grey, Eternal Zealots

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Bohemond, Knights of Justice

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Brennus, Thunder Kings

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Cromwald Walgrun, Lions Rampant

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Darius Cyaxares, Sand Keepers

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Gaspard Lumey, Void Angels

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Uriel and the Children also get along with Gaspard of the Void Angels, although while their relationship is of mutual respect, under the surface they see eachother as opponents; Gaspard as the 'regulator', keeping his brothers in line, while Uriel is the opposite - pulling and pushing them away to suit his needs. Before the Heresy, Uriel and Gaspard get along well, their competitiveness driving them to push eachother to higher levels. Their partnership of Lumey's 'bad cop', to Uriel's 'good cop' style was incredibly effective, especially in the Core Worlds Campaign. Following that campaign however, Uriel maybe having fallen to chaos, Uriel doctors his testimony and plays on his friendship to manipulate Lumey into being censured, and exiled with his legion. But after the Heresy, and Lumey's return, their friendship develops a slightly darker tone, with Lumey wondering, but never truly knowing if Uriel was just played by Hektor, or if Uriel was involved somehow.

Golgothos, The Entombed

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Inferox, Sons of Fire

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Johannes Vrach, Life Bringers

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Kleisthenes, Scions of Europa

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Kranios, Horns of Ruin

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Nathanog, Gorgers

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Octullus Tyran, Eyes of the Emperor

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Onyx the Indestructible, Stone Men

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Rogerius Merrill, Iron Rangers

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Roman Albrecht, Steel Marshals

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Sebastian Rex, The Bulwark

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Thomas Gaudin, The Crusaders

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Thoren Grimm, Council of Iron

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Tiran Osoros, Scale Bearers

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Tollund Oztal, Mastadontii

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Voidwatcher, Black Augurs

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