Search the Community

A Liber Astartes Group Project This thread collects the main discussions surrounding the Liber Astartes Group Project concerning the so-called “Grail Wardens” – an alliance of several chapters descending from the Blood Angels formed around the goal of protecting the artefact known as the “Grail” – as well as their opponents, both within the Imperium and without. We shall aim on keeping this first post updated, though sometimes these may be rather sporadic. Introduction There are three main factions that take part in this project: the Grail Wardens (sometimes also called the Red Crusaders), the Imperial faction, and the Chaos faction. The Astartes that would one day become known as the Grail Wardens once lead the Red Crusade against secessionist forces in the aftermath of the Nova Terra Interregnum and the Age of Apostasy. During this campaign, they encountered a strong Daemonic presence on the Cardinal World of Golgotha, entities that had corrupted a large portion of the population of the world, and threatened to spread its influence to the rest of the Byzantyne Sector. With effort, the participants in the Red Crusade finally beat back the Daemonic forces, and a conclave of Librarians of the chapters succeeded in closing the Golgothane Rift, empowering a strange artefact known only as the Grail in order to bind it in that state. However, the war on Golgotha was not won without cost. A full Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes was immolated to save the lives of the uncounted billions and trillions of the inhabitants of the sector, and all of the Chief Librarians perished during the ritual of binding. Countless more casualties were suffered by the Red Crusaders, not only within the ranks of the Space Marines, but also of the allied forces, including several great heroes of the Questoris Familia. In order for these sacrifices to not be worthless, the remaining Chapter Masters of the Red Crusaders came together and swore a pact of protection of the Grail, as they knew that – should the artefact fall into the wrong hands – it could become an unstoppable weapon against the Imperium. Librarians and Sanguinary Priests of the chapters witnessed the oath, and bound it within the very blood of these Chapter Masters, so that it could never be forgotten by themselves or their heirs. And thus were born the Grail Wardens, not only an alliance of chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, but also a brotherhood of warriors, sworn to protect the Imperium, through the protection of a single Relic. The Temple Guard, the innermost circle of protectors of the Grail, counted only {12} Astartes, spiritual successors of the original librarians who sealed the Golgothane Rift: they were the only ones to be allowed to witness the Grail's true form. Centuries, passed; Millenia even, and the Grail Wardens stood firm in the face of adversity: three times they threw back the assaults of Eldar Corsairs; they withstood an Ork Waaagh with casualties of three men; they defeated the invasion of the renegade Lord Cinderscar the Decaying… How could they have known that the canker had been in their midst even when they were created? It is the beginning of the 38th Millenium, and the Grail Wardens have had five centuries of calm. Though they certainly can't be considered to have been considered lax, at the least they let their guard down. It seems that this was enough for certain members of the brotherhood to start listening to whispers hidden deep inside their souls and their blood. And, from one day to the next, the Grail disappeared, the Temple Guard exterminated, and only a handful of the Order of the Grail Wardens surviving a vicious attack from the {Chaos Warband}, aided by certain traitors within the Order. Within a few months, the Chapter Masters of the Grail Wardens had convened to discuss their course of action. None denied the primordial importance of recovering the Grail, as its absence on Golgotha could spell the end of the Byzantane Sector; however, the high officers could not decide on a plan. Some, like the Sanguinary Crusaders and the Knights Revenant advocated a massed military campaign against all the historical foes of Golgotha, a second Red Crusade; others, such as the Red Sentinels, thought that a more prudent course of action would be painstaking research of the facts, and a more focused hunt. All debate was ended when the last Chapter Master of the convocation arrived: as the doors to the meeting room were pushed open, all were ready to greet their cousin of the Knights Resplendent. However, only shouts would cross their lips, as they discovered not only that he was accompanied by his honour guard, but also that all of them had grown atrocious mutations: the full extent of the Knights Resplendent's treachery finally revealed, the Chapter Masters reached for their weapons... The tragic combat was over in minutes, but during that short period {3} of their kin where dead. Though the Knights' trap was ultimately unsuccessful, neither were any captured to be questioned, and the Lord of the Knights had teleported back off the planet. Outside the doors, the Masters discovered hundreds more of their warriors dead, and their respective fleets had taken damage: though the chapters were far from crippled, the brotherhood had been sundered. {} Three main factions are part of this project: the Grail Wardens, the Chaos Faction and the Imperials. Grail Wardens Line of {a} - Sanguinary Crusaders Line of {b} - Carmine Cardinals (ext) - Red Sentinels - Silver Sons (ext) - Crimson Host (Imperial – Crimson Cohort) line of {c} - Knights Revenant - Knights Resplendent (Chaos) Line of {d} - Archangels - {Crimson Knights} Chaos Faction - Knights Resplendent - {The other warband} - The Confederacy of Mahkhg'Gtahvedd Imperial Faction - Order of the Abyss - House Valcorian - Crimson Cohort Timeline Here's a little pseudo-timeline:A set of chapters conquer a sector, where they find a Warp RiftThis campaign is called the Red Crusade Together, they have a lot of trouble stopping the Daemons coming back in, so a set of Librarians forge an artefact that shuts the rift, thanks to a special ritual. (or else an ancient xenos artefact) This artefact is the Grail (name still to be found), where the chapter masters and highest ranked veterans of the chapters pour a drop of their blood, to seal the gate. This ritual also serves as a blood oath, meaning that all descendents of the oath-swearers are honour bound to protect the Grail and the sector, no matter the cost. to protect this grail, the chapters each send a squad (at least), but only the highest ranking members of these "Grail Wardens" are permitted inside the temple where the Grail is kept, as a security measure basically. Millenia go by where there the different chapters are all doing their thing up until the moment where a massive chaos incursion attacks that sector, with the specific goal of opening the warp rift. They are further aided by traitors within the Grail Wardens. The remains of the first chapters and their descendent chapters (since they are of the same "blood") return to the sector in order to defend it, but they find everything in tatters. (this might be around M38) they then launch a crusade to recover the grail A quick and rough outline of what's been decided Please tell me if I've forgotten anything, and I'll change it in the first post. Minigiant's updated Timeline Arkangilos's Plot Summary Other Brainstorming Members and Associated Forces Grail Wardens Arkangilos and the Sanguinary Crusaders Older Brainstorming