“You are Astartes indeed, and that will never alter. But you are a Death Guard no longer. You are a ghost, a figure that stands between light and dark, trapped amid the grey. And I have need of such a man.”

Malcador to Nathaniel GARRO.

Name: The Setting Sons.

Founding: unregistered but thought to be M31 prior to the siege of Terra.

Gene seed: Dusk Raiders

Predecessor: officially unknown but it is known to the Chapter to be that of The Traitor Mortarians taken from Nathaniel GARRO and Roboute Guilliman.

 

 

Origin:  Much of the Setting Sons history remains in mystery and secrecy or has been purposefully removed from archives.

The truth of the founding of the Setting Sons is not widely known.  They are a secretive, silent arm of the Administratum charged with protecting the Agri and Industrial worlds that produce the huge quantities of Biblus Ligare, Corium, plumbum and other copiae of the Administratum from raiders and incursions by Xenos and forces of chaos alike.  It is hard unrelenting, thankless work.  There is no glory in it.  But someone has to do it.

 

However according to legend, the Setting Sons began as a project during the final days of the Horus Heresy. Prompted by the constant complaints of Ossian the Chancellor of the Imperial estate, Malcador the Sigilite foresaw that events following the immediate aftermath of the Heresy would likely end at such a great personal cost to the Administatum that it would be prevented from actively defending mankind from the great threat by running out of supplies for the Administration of the forces needed to fight Chaos, Daemons and the Xenos, so he set in motion a plan to form a defence against such undersupply. Malcador was well aware of the organisational difficulties and politics of getting the many Legions of Astartes to deploy rapidly to seemingly less important threats.

While forming the Grey Knights Malcador the Sigilite had searched across the Imperium for men suitable to fight the Daemon and took this opportunity to create a small force of superhuman Space marines that could defend supplies where the local militia were failing.

 

Battle Cry: “Manes in armis sumus, Pulvis et umbra sumus” - We are ghosts in armour, we are dust and shadow.

Chapter Motto: “Calamus gladio potentior est. Calamum custodi.” - The pen is mightier than the sword, guard the pen.

 

Appearance:  Austere.  As sons of Nathaniel Garro their legs and torso are painted purple grey, the colour of the 7th Company and this is also the colour of the dusk sky a reference to the Dusk Raiders from whom the Legion trace their roots.  Their arms, shoulders and back pack are left grey as were the Dusk raiders, but as another reference, their right hands are painted red as being the red right hand of the Emperor.  Their Chapter badge is a half black disc representing the setting son with two horizontal lines. The first low from the left two thirds across, the second above it from the right, two thirds across.  This also roughly forms an S.

As predominantly night fighters they eschew shiny things, their weapons are blackened and their markings of rank and aquilla are of dulled steel.

Their company number is written in white Roman Numerals in the bottom right hand corner of their right pouldron where space is available.  Where it is not available the right or left knee is used.

 

 

 

Gene-Seed:  Rumour has it that Malcador the Sigillite was impressed by Nathaniel GARRO, who became the hand of the Sigillite, he was curious to see if treachery was genetic or could be eradicated.  Garro’s loyalty to the Emperor outweighed his devotion to his Primarch.  To this end, in the last chapters of the Horus Heresy Malcador had a gene-seed taken from GARRO and sent it to TITAN,  Malcador felt that combining the traitor Mortarions gene seed from the faithful GARRO with that of the stability of Guillimans gene-seed a new super faithful Marine could be developed.  Thus when TITAN and the Grey Knights returned from the warp, the Setting Sons emerged.

 

Deficiences: As followers of the cult of Garro the brothers are insular and silent. Speech used for anything but the arts martial is frowned upon.

The cult of Garro also breeds absolute hatred of Traitors.  The combination of their psycho surgery following recruitment and Intense hypnotherapy into the cult at the early stages of a novices training can cause a novice brother to become so enraged with hatred that they become suicidally berserk, driven to purge the galaxy of the Traitor.  It takes the presence of a more experienced member of the Chapter a Venerable brother(Chaplain) to maintain a level of order in novice units.

 

Recruitment:

Recruitment of Setting Sons is a by product of the Grey Knights recruitment process.  Unlike most Space Marine Chapters, the Grey Knight recruits are often drawn directly from the Black Ships after they return to Terra by the Gatherers. They are then brought to the Chamber of Trials on Titan for testing. The most advanced bio-engineering and psycho-surgery available is utilized to condition the Neophytes, and each recruit must pass the six hundred and sixty six Rituals of Detestation, to prove that he is capable of withstanding horrors that would break even the greatest of 'normal' Space Marines.  The recruit also has the majority of their memories and personality erased. Those Neophytes who do not live up to their Psychic potential to join the Grey Knights are placed with the Setting Sons.  This has been known to give rise to the nickname “the rejects” amongst the Grey Knights.

These Novices are then separated into groups and each is assigned to a Venerable Brother, who will oversee their further training and deploy on the Battleline as a Chaplain and Sergeant. 

 

Chapter size:  777.  Unlike the 666 of the Grey Knights the Setting Sons hold the number 7 dear.  Each of the 7 companies of the Chapter have a self contained disposition of 1 Captain, 10 supporting specialists and Venerable brothers and 100 fighting units which include battleline and heavy support.  Each company can then operate alone to defend and hold a beleaguered supply  planet either until the threat has been eliminated or the process of getting reinforcements have been Requested, Authorised and Despatched from other Chapters at which point, prior to their arrival the Setting Sons withdraw unseen.

 

Fleet based on the Flagship Castell FABER.

 

Beliefs and Dogmas: The cult of Garro worships the Martyr Nathaniel Garro who they are conditioned to see as their Progenitor who was murdered by the Traitorous Coward Mortarian.  They are Ascetics.  They live in silence reflecting on Koan to eliminate any thoughts of self.  They spend time in meditation to become one with the way which is one with the Emperor and the Emperors will.  They shun glory, signs of prestige and other decorations.

 

Combat Doctrine: The Setting Sons tend toward full frontal, vicious hand to hand assaults.  Setting Sons look to swiftly purge their foe with a maddened ferocity and do not shy away from dying a noble death in the protection of the Emperors supplies.  Their greater numbers are of Noviciate brothers known as “Student Brothers”, having been indoctrinated in the Cult of Garro but with little time to practice the selflessness desired in a veteran, tend toward Berserking.  It has been noted that their fury has a similar effect on them as the “Black Rage” of the Blood Angels death companies.  This has proven to be a desirable trait of the Battleline who quickly overwhelm their foes in close combat.  Unfortunately without a practiced, virtuous brother who forms part of the Chapters Chaplaincy known as an Oshō present they can go too far and become undisciplined.  To this end each unit of battleline  Student brothers is attached to an Oshō to ensure sufficient numbers remain disciplined and can continue their training to, eventually, become Veteran Unsui Brothers in support roles

 

Notable Campaigns: The cult of Garro is said to be based on a "special transmission outside scriptures and records which does not stand upon words". As a result of this the Chapter does not record its many conflicts.  The mere fact that other Imperial forces are able to continue with their heroic and some would say “more glamorous” work is enough for the Brothers of the Setting Sons.

 

Notable relics:

The most prized is said to be the pieces of Libertas recovered after the battle of Nathaniel Garro and Mortarion.

The Narthecium of Crispin Jones the Apothecary.  It is said that more limbs had been stapled back onto marines after battle than the marines had use of.  Jones was given the nickname “Staples” and the Narthecium was affectionately known as Jones’s staple gun.

 

Notable members:

Chapter Master the Certenon Proditor Commander Daniel Tey.

Shukuteki Norris “the death bringer” Staedtler.

Captain William Horatio SMITH

Brother Stan RYMANS

Apothecary Crispin “Staples” JONES

Dreadnaught The Venerable Malcolm BISLEY.

The Venerable Sgt Francis “Frank” Xerox.