Life Bringers

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

Life Bringers
Battle Cry	"Paradise awaits!"
Number	XII
Original Homeworld	Rai
Current Homeworld	Eden
Primarch	Johannes Vrach
Specialty	biological and chemical warfare, terraforming
Allegiance	Nurgle
Colours	white and red

Summary of Legion XII

Numeration: The XIIth Legion

Primogenator: Johannes Vrach (Also known as "The Healer")

Cognomen (Prior): The Brothers of Death

Observed Strategic Tendencies: Biochemical Warfare, Orbital Virus Bombings, Total Planetary Purgation and Reconstruction, Application of Combat Medicine.

Noteworthy Domains: The Cordian System (Primary), Tithe Rights to the Hapit, Renyl, Nuroux and Pulmn Systems.

Alliegence: Traitoris Perdita

"The galaxy is filled with all manner of disease, and it is our responsibility to eradicate the illness within man no matter how harsh the treatment may be."

-Apothecary-Captain Phillipus Aureus at the Cleansing of Styphus.

Legion History

The XIIth Squad of the Sacred Band

Those men who lead the Brothers of Death during were among the most fool-hearty warriors in the Sacred Band, only three of their number survived to meet their primarch. The squads were brutally effective at hive clearing, utilizing flamers and noxious chem grenades to cause chaos within the structures before marching in themselves. Even for astartes these methods were extremely risky, but none could deny the XIIth's effectiveness, and Hektor himself was an admirer of their seeming courage. The squad received numerous accolades during the Unification Wars, which they received with characteristic humility.

The members of the 12th Squad

• Harel Meglin, the Angel of Death (deceased; at the Merican pacification)
• Theophrastus Salk, the Somber (deceased; sacrificed himself at the close of the Nuroux campaign)
• Hashimoto the Red (deceased; at the Pulmn Campaign)
• Mafran Marchesani, Brother to All (deceased; at the Pulmn Campaign)
• Whitten Bennedik, the Nightingale (deceased; unknown time after the Unification Wars)
• Hipocene Bubastus, Oathkeeper (deceased; at the Merican pacification)
• Gaius Martinus Vira, the Reaper (survived to become Plague Doctor)
• Vanheim Paracel, the Happy Death (deceased; unknown time between the Pulmn and Renyl campaigns)
• Edentis Pneuren, the War-Doctor (Survived to become Chief Apothecary)
• Wilmut Sachs; (surivied to become High Genetor)

Legion Doctrine

Life Bringers' stock of gene-seed was noted to be of a consistently excellent quality during their service to the Emperor, their High Genetors were fastidious in their duties. Marines were known to be the most robust and long-lived of any in the Imperium's service, outpacing their peers by nearly a hundred years on average. The astartes of the XIIth Legion viewed each other as family, and those who had served longest were respected, and they were exceptionally close-knit and devoted to each other. The terminator-armored High Apothecary-Captains and Plague Doctors were among the most respected, most held records of service in curing the galaxy

The Life Bringers collected recruits of high intelligence from the various worlds in their domain, but all wore the complex braiding patterns in memorial to lost Rai. Some developed the primarch's dark skin, but most had his melancholic and meticulous nature. Every officer received specialized apothecary training and was expected to perform this role for their brothers in combat, those who dedicated their lives to this role were viewed with deep respect. Even those without specialized training used medical terminology casually.

Legion Organization

Before the were reunited with their primarch, the Brothers of Death were known for vicious clearing actions against entrenched hostile forces, specifically hive clearing. The legion was no stranger to biochemical warfare before being reunited with their primarch, utilizing it as the preferred first-line tactic, but their tendency to follow up these actions with massed close infantry seemed an unacceptable risk to Johannes. Where they had previously strode alongside death, the legion would now bring life, and with it a change in strategy. No longer were the men of the XIIth expected to march unprotected into the hazard-zones they had created, they went from the among the most reckless legions to the most judicious when it came to the safety of its marines.

Under Johannes, each officer of the newly christened Life Bringers were taught in the ways of the medicine and biology. Sergeants were charged first with responsibility over the well-being of their men, this held paramount importance in the consideration of command roles. Dedicated apothecaries within the legion still existed, they are deployed to the areas of fiercest fighting in order to best perform their unique role on the battlefield. Gene-seed of the fallen was largely collected by the officers of a given squad, so dedicated apothecaries were free to unleash their myriad of terrible biochemical weapons on their enemies or tend to marines whose grave wounds would have ordinarily left them as casualties for the remainder of the battle. The most feared of their number are the Plague Masters, dedicated apothecaries with a talent for turning their craft to war.

The legion's favor for chemical weaponry increased drastically with their primarch's discovery, quickly going from a reliable tactic to outright dogma. Where the legion was once known for close assault, bombardment and ranged combat soon became the norm. At the first sign of a planet's resistance, marines are recalled and numerous low-air assaults and bombardments begin in an effort to remove any defenses. Once anti-air weapons have been crippled, the Life Bringers' fleet drops its terrible payload. Genetically engineered plagues and vitriolic chemicals are blasted into major population centers, whole forests are cleared, and what remains living is reduced to a sickly rendition of its former being. The robust marines then drop onto the poisoned soil below and meticulously eradicate all that lives, their superhuman immunity and equipment keeping them protected from the death which surrounds them.

There were no better cultivators than the XIIth legion, they were as thorough in scouring worlds as they were at terraforming them. The new planets left behind by the Life Bringers were lush and fertile, and the engineered flora and fauna introduced by the legion were always hardier and more bountiful than those they replaced. A High Genetor assigned to the rebuilding of a world treated it as he pinnacle of his art, ensuring its ecosystem could thrive no matter the imbalances wrought upon it. The legion was beloved by those few populations who survived an encounter with it, diseases afflicting the population were cured and they were welcomed as brothers to the Imperium. Planets would be uplifted with generative technology similar to that used on the worlds the legion eradicated, ensuring a cornucopia for the loyal.

The XIIth were often deployed alongside their brother legions during protracted or difficult campaigns where their talent for aiding the injured was of the most utility. Some of these legions saw the Life Bringers as a mere utility force, unable to do much alone, but those who fought alongside them knew they delivered death better than most. Most of the XIIth were well-liked by their fellows for their kindness and dedication to their fellows, and there are many tales of Life Bringers giving up their lives in an attempt to save those of their allies, while others saw their distaste for combat as suspect and their focus on healing was a needless detriment to the Imperium's advance.

Following the Hektor Heresy, the Life Bringers tactics changed very little, they still rely on bombardments and ranged attacks to erase cohesive resistance. Life Bringers marines now have little to fear from being caught in the blast of a virus-bomb, so drop pods are launched alongside the biochemical strike. The bloated plague marines joyfully stride out amidst the toxic explosions, led by skeletal Plague Doctors carrying needleguns. Plague Masters joyously give the gifts of their latest experiments and genetic alterations to their foes, eagerly charting the effects of some new contagion as their enemies fall. The war with disease has been made into an unholy peace, and the formerly sober marines are now a twisted and joyous foil to what they once were.

Legion Equipment

File:Life Bringer marine.jpg

The Brothers of Death legion were slightly over strength, with an abundance of terminator armor compared to their fellows. By the time of their primarch's discovery, the legion's reckless nature left them drastically under strength. Following their re-branding, the XIIth Legion's Terminator armor has been reserved for the most skilled battlefield apothecaries, the Plague Masters, with the idea that their role benefited most from added protection. Whirlwind tanks are the preferred mechanized unit of the legion, and are often utilized in its bombardments, but the legion's numbers of armored vehicles deviate very little from the average. Following its primarch's discovery, the XIIth became well known for its officers carrying the standard equipment of the apothecary and the adoption of the narthecium as a close combat weapon.

Naval Forces of the XIIth Legion

The fleet of the XIIth Legion was of great importance to its main strategy of orbital assault. The Life Bringers converted a number of ships to suit their various ends. Roughly 100 escorts were converted for the transport of the wounded and diseased, these ambulances were equipped with a number of advanced life support technologies. Others were turned to less benevolent ends, many of these ships were utilized in the mass deployment of the horrific toxins of the legion. Even larger ships, such as the cruiser Man's Cure, which famously poisoned the entire population of the heretical hive world Qinn with caustic Zobyn gas.

Johannes Vrach sought to exemplify his values in each part of his legion, so some battle barges functioned as dedicated research stations or hospitals. Many times these were left to oversee particularly difficult epidemics away from the bulk of the fleet, dedicating themselves entirely to their research. Besides these few notable exceptions, the Life Bringers maintain the remainder of their spacefleet in a fairly conventional manner. Though the legion started with a larger than average number of ships, the reckless nature of their tactics as the Brothers of Death led to the loss of many ships, including their original Gloriana-class battleship. At the time of the Heresy the XIIth legion had 20 conventional battle barges, with 8 being turned to research and applications, as well as 26 battleships. At this time, the Life Bringers also held 244 light cruisers, 87 heavy cruisers, 112 destroyers, and 784 escorts turned to various ends under their control

Valetudinarium

The massive vessel which acts as the flagship of the XIIth legion is unlike those of the other astartes fleets, being an artifact of the Dark Age of Technology. The ship itself is monumental and, before the discovery of the legion's primarch, utilized its unique and powerful weapons systems to devastate many planets with initial bombardments. The ship was repurposed by Johannes Vrach to suit his own ends, eventually becoming known the largest and most advanced medical research and treatment facility in the Empire. Though it does still have formidable offensive and defensive weapons, the Valetudinarium is never willingly brought into the fire zone, as it's purpose as a center for scientific work is paramount to the primarch.

The mammoth ship contains city-sized wings dedicated to curing the many diseases which afflict mankind, these hospitals are the front line in Johannes war against disease and are constantly abuzz with activity. The genetic engineering labs of the High Genetors which maintain the legion's gene-seed are second only to those of the Emperor himself, their research into designing hardier and more useful life is unique among the legions. Biochemical weapons labs are constantly at work developing new and more efficient ways to eradicate the impure, the nightmarish scouring compounds and tailor-made viri that the Life Bringers employ are developed here.

Notable Members

Plague Doctor Gaius Martinus Vira

The thin and disturbingly tall Vira is bone white in complexion, lending the greatest of the Plague Doctors a stark contrast in appearance to the Primarch he has long served. Though they differ so greatly in appearance, they bear the same somber expression and oft furrowed brow, as well as the same grave seriousness. Vira is completely hairless, having long-since destroyed his follicles by enduring the backlash of the myriad of chemical weapons in his employ. His prominent brow, sunken eyes, and prominent cheekbones lend to his frighteningly skeletal appearance, but he was known to be quite kind.

Vira was the longest serving member of the Life Bringers, having earned his name long before the discovery of its Primarch. It was he who was the first of the legion's Plague Doctors and the founder of it's practices. Along with Wilmut Sachs and Edentis Pneuren, who led the Genetory and Apothecarium respectively, Vira was among the most influential in the legion. Unlike Sachs and Pneuren, who survived their tenure in the Brothers of Death by avoiding combat in favor of medical treatment, Vira survived by sheer fortitude and combat skill. He was the most pragmatic of the legion's commanders, favoring more subtle tactics, and it was he who forged the biochemical warfare strategies which guide the legion to this day.

Unlike his two surviving brothers in the Sacred Band, Vira could never develop a close relationship with Vrach. Though they were always polite, there was an unspoken rift between the two. Vira privately commented that he believed it was due to the primarch's inability to distance Vira from the death his biochemical assaults caused so many of their brothers, as those who walked the path of the Plague Doctor tended to fall by their own devices somewhat often. Whatever it truly was, this rift worsened as Vrach began his Infernal Experiments and the creation of the Plague Marines.

By the time of the Heresy, Vira and some 70 battle-brothers stood alone against hundreds of marines in a legion that embraced an unholy alliance with death itself. The Reaper and his men saw no choice but to run, their biochemical weapons were useless against their monstrous brothers. Though they lost nearly half their number in flight, the Reaper and his men escaped aboard the cruiser Eden's Burden and into the void.

High Genetor Wilmut Sachs, the Devil of Vischmauz

"He was my brother, the most brilliant man I had ever met, save Johannes or the Emperor himself. I loved him, but he could not love. All that could be said of Vrach, he did what he did out of love. Sachs did what he did for no reason other than that he could, that was why he was so wonderful, and that was why he became the disgusting monster that could kill a sweet man like Edentis. It was my responsibility to look after my brothers, I failed them, and now I will hunt down the man who caused all this and end his life."

-Gaius Vira to Sebastion Rex,The Meeting at Duranesh

Wilmut Sachs was a round man even before his corruption, he naturally gave the appearance of being soft despite his enhanced physiology. He wears a mustache and a monocle, both of which he has come to be known for. His doughy face and watery eyes give off the impression of a pudgy infant, but this is in direct conflict with the nature of their owner. Sachs, called the Devil of Vischmauz, is uniquely selfish among his legion and extremely calculating. His skill with genetic manipulation and engineering is among the greatest in the galaxy, and his time in Brothers of Death hardened him to its application. He probed areas that others never sought and was eventually responsible for introducing corruption into the Life Bringers through Vrach.

Though Sachs' hand in the discovery of the Bringers' process for creating Plague Marines is his most famous, it is hardly his sole accomplishment. The Great Sacrifice at Vischmauz, where Sachs and Vrach unleashed the Unmaker Plague on a massive encampment of combined loyalist forces and earned his name, the horrors that the few unlikely survivors described were so great as to lead to their madness and eventual purgation, though many imperial scientists theorized this was due to the disease afflicting their very souls. The system-wide infection, whose principal symptoms involved the dissolving of connective tissue and the eventual collapse of the victim into a pile of organs and bone, ate at vast swathes the Imperium for centuries and recurs even in the 41st millennium.

Since the heresy, Sachs has earned a name for himself as a potent Genetor for-hire. Tales of his experiments, both those which have resulted in better and brighter marines and those which created unspeakable nightmare men comprised of mouths and numb swollen limbs. There are so many different forms his craft takes, as it is often subject more to function than aesthetics, and Sachs' dark eldar teaching is clearly evident in this. The Devil of Vischmauz carries a pair of potent liquifier guns with him on the field of battle, carried aloft by spindly limbs grafted to his underside, in order to test out his new creations. This is rarely anything less than a spectacular show for his followers.

Johannes Vrach, Primarch of The Life Bringers

Johannes Vrach, the Bringer of Life

Johannes Vrach was a quiet and sober-minded man, his brow was constantly furrowed and his eyes far away. The few that were close to him knew that Johannes was the kindest of his brothers, he could never allow suffering to go unabated and felt personally responsible for every man under him. Every loss, whether on the battlefield or in the field hospitals, wore heavily on his broad shoulders. Johannes was shaped, prior to his discovery, by the horrific loss of his large adopted family and clan to a terrible plague. For all his might and medical skill, he was powerless in the face of death. The Great Crusade was always secondary to the primarch's real goal, victory in the war against infirmity and disease, and the dark actions he took in 'winning' this war will forever mark his name.