IA: Martyrs Vermilion 3.5

[Epistolary Exander]

Hi.

 

Below is the revised version of my DIY chapter the Martyrs Vermilion, enjoy.

 

With only their belief in the Great Martyr & their Librarians to the for, the Martyrs have eradicated their enemies from within & without the Imperium. For the chapter’s very beliefs are the Martyrs greatest asset & the chapter’s weakest link…

 

Origins.

The origins of the Martyrs Vermilion chapter has become lost in the anarchy of Imperial history, but the chapter is believed to be an Astartes Praeses chapter. Imperial records show the chapter regularly fighting in the surrounding sectors of the Eye of Terror over the last 4 millennia. Many scholars argue the Martyrs chapter symbol of a crimson eye represents the chapter’s role in guarding against the horrors that assail from the Eye of Terror.

 

Despite the clear link between the Martyrs & the Eye of Terror. There are battlefield reports showing the grey & crimson zealots of the chapter in far flung Imperial systems thousands of light years away from the Eye of Terror, often accompanied by Thorian Inquisitors.

 

The Martyrs Vermilion are known to be experts in ship to ship boarding actions, exemplary even by the high standards of the their Astartes peers. The Imperial Navy has reported the chapter employing its skill in intercepting & destroying several high profile space hulks in the region around the Eye of Terror.

 

The chapter is currently believed to be heavily deployed against Abbadon’s 13th Black Crusade, untilising the entirety of the Chapters resources in conducting operations against the Despoilers fleet to prevent traitor resupply & reinforcing combat theatres. Unfortunately with the chaos of Despoilers invasion neither the Great Wolf or Lord Castellan Creed have received any word from the Martyrs. The chapter’s highly autonomous nature & the isolation of the Martyrs common deployments make contact with Imperial authorities highly problematic. Although it has been noted by Lord Castellan Creed that the current mayhem of the region provides plenty of cover for the chapter’s enemies to maneuver against the Martyrs Vermilion.

 

Homeworld.

It is clear to anyone investigating the Martyrs Vermilion that the chapter has no planet it calls home. This is supported by reports of the Martyrs having a large number of fleet assets including forge ships, indicating the chapter is of a crusading nature. The chapter is not known to recruit from any specific world. Despite the high numbers of feral & medieval worlds in the sectors surrounding the Eye of Terror. This suggests the Martyrs take their recruits from the worlds & environments they fight in.

 

The chapter’s proximity to the Eye of Terror has been theorised to explain the Martyrs high numbers of Librarians within the chapter. The sectors around the Eye of Terror are known to Imperial Authorities to have above average rates of psychic mutation with the general populace.

 

Beliefs.

The Martyrs Vermilion is known to have a radical twist to accepted Imperial doctrine. The chapter believes in the divine superiority of mankind over other species. But the Emperor’s chosen form of humanity is that of the psyker. Instead of actively fearing the psychic mutation, the Martyrs actively embrace psykers. Many would say more than any body of Astartes since the Thousand Sons Legion. This radical belief system has had a huge effect of the chapter, actively affecting the chapter’s organisation & combat doctrine.

 

The key to the chapters embrace of psykers is the belief that the Emperor is a God. That the Martyrs believe they must strive to be as close to the God-Emperor as an individually can be. The Emperor is known to be being of immense psychic might & the chapter views pyskers as being the chosen sons of their God.

 

The Martyrs Vermilion refers to the God-Emperor as the Great Martyr. The Martyrs believe the Emperor committed the ultimate act of martyrdom when he slew the arch traitor Horus. The chapter believes this single act saved humanity from the evil of chaos. This created a debt of honour between the Great Martyr & mankind. The chapter’s brethren try to emulate the Great Martyrs martyrdom against the enemies of mankind in an attempt to expunge their debt.

 

The Martyrs believe that Mechanicum illicitly imprisoned the Great Martyr in the Golden Throne, instead of allowing his martyrdom to succeed. This belief is source of tension between the chapter’s brethren & the chapter’s techmarines.

 

The Martyrs hold Astartes librarians as the Great Martyrs chosen subjects his divine angels of retribution. For who can be closer to the Great Martyr than his chosen sons, given the Emperors own flesh to persecute his enemies. Few would argue against this belief, after seeing the fury manifest in each of the chapter’s Librarians. For the Martyrs there is no horror worse than a Chaos Sorcerer, there can be no mercy shown to such a fallen being. This hatred is especially present when the chapter engages members of the Thousand Sons traitor legion.

 

The Martyrs are known to venerate Rogal Dorn as the God-Emperor’s chosen son, After all Dorn was the Great Martyr’s praetorian & lieutenant, the commander of the his armed forces after the defection of the Warmaster. This is the direct contradiction to how the Martyrs view Roboute Guilliman, calling him to be the Silent Usurper. For Guilliman did force Dorn to reorganise his forces, under the threat of extermination.

 

In records of many major engagements show the Martyrs fielding an Emperor’s Champion is present. It has been proposed in some circles of the Inquisition that chapter believes the Black Visions of Emperor’s Champion is the process of the Great Martyr inhabiting the battle brother. This is so he can actively intervene to protect his divine people.

 

The crimson eye chapter symbol is prominent in the chapter’s imagery & beliefs. The crimson eye represents the Martyrs sacred duty to guard against the horrors of the Eye of Terror. The eye also represents the ignorance of common citizens to the dangers & the sacrifices that the Astartes must make to protect them. The eye is also synonymous with chapter’s veterans; every brother who attains the rank of veteran receives an bionic eye.

 

The Martyrs have their weapons painted crimson, this being the colour of red. This depicts the Martyrs holy duty to shed the blood in the name of the Great Martyr. With this often being the blood his enemies, but occasionally the blood of the chapter’s brethren.

 

The chapter’s brethren have a clear disdain for guerilla tactics & refuse to undertake them. Yet the chapter has been known to employ their light skirmish vehicles in these roles. The chapter is able to achieve this because their vehicles are crewed by the chapter surfs. This practice gives individual marines the chance of martyrdom at the hands of their enemies.

 

The Martyrs Extreme belief system, often leads to friction with other Imperial organisations. This at times has often created powerful enemies if the chapter who would gladly see the Martyrs declared Excommunicate Traitoris. The Martyrs are protected from this dire threat by the Eregon Cabal.

 

The Eregon Cabal are a group of Thorian Inquisitors, which have a symbiotic relationship with the Martyrs. The 2 factions from a natural foil each other, with many over lapping beliefs in their doctrines. The Eregon Cabal strives to counter the threat of Excommunicate Traitoris to the Martyrs within the Inquisition. The Martyrs provides a powerful military assistance to any Eregon Inquisitor when a threat demands Astartes attention. The Martyrs Librarians frequently commit considerable resources to the Eregon Cabal, sending companies to far-flung corners of the Imperium with these shadowy individuals

 

Combat Doctrine.

“ When they attack, we charge right back. When they dig, we dig them out. When they martyr my warriors, we expunge their cities.” Epistolary-Captain Exander.

 

This quote exemplifies the Martyrs combat doctrine of brutal close quarter fighting to outdo & eradicate the Great Martyrs foes. This ethos leads to swift brutal engagements, where the enemy usually takes excessive casualties. The Martyrs are known to commit this with the use of various assault elements advancing under a fire umbrella provided by mobile fire support.

 

The martyrs have not been observed to deploy their skirmish formations in a lead scout role, traditional to Astartes armoured columns. Instead it is believed the chapter relies on their Librarians precognitive abilities & their foes warp auras to track their enemies.

 

Organisation.

The Martyrs Vermilion have been observed to be a divergent codex chapter. This is because chapter’s beliefs & common combat theatre have influenced the chapter’s unit composition.

 

The Martyrs have 8 battle companies, with no scout company. Each company is responsible for the induction of its own neophytes. This is because each battle company operates autonomously in the surrounding areas of the Eye of the Terror. It is known that each aspirant follows the path of scout, devastator & tactical before being allowed to join the martyr squads.

 

The bulk of the chapter’s combat strength is made of its zealous assault squads, which are called Martyr Squads. The Martyrs are known to have a limited number of devastator squads with chapters fire support usually supplied by various vehicles. The Martyrs are known to use codex weapon load outs for its squads.

 

Each battle company has been observed to have its own veteran cadre to provide its captain with an elite warrior element. Despite this the chapter’s 1st Company is the only company which utilises the chapter’s TDA suits.

 

He chapter’s biggest & highest profile departure from the codes astartes is in the chapter’s command structure. The chapter is ruled by exclusively Librarians, fitting in with the chapter’s belief in the supremacy of psykers.

 

For each company of martyrs is lead by an Epistolary-Captain. The chapters’ 1st company forms the personal household of the Chapter Master. This means the Martyrs have no 1st Company Captain. Each Epistolary-Captain is elected from the members of the Librarium. It is very rare for Codicier to be elected to lead one of the chapter’s battle companies.

 

The Martyrs Vermilion Librarium has been amalgamated with the Reclusium. This has meant that the chapters Librarians fulfil the role of the chapter’s chaplains. This means that each company has upto a couple of Librarians seconded, to it to monitor its spiritual well being & to record the chapter’s deeds. The chapter’s rank & file revere the seconded Librarians within their midst.

 

The Librarium has small cadre of veteran battle brothers called the Vermilion Guard. It is a great honour for a marine to be selected to join the vaunted ranks of the Vermilion Guard, for the Vermilion Guard are the custodians of the Librarium & its Librarians. The Vermilion Guard are known to be equipped with special bolter ammunition created by their psychic masters. It is quite common for each marine of the Vermilion Guard to have many bionic implants, as each battle brother will willingly through himself before any foe of their Librarians.

 

The highest rank a non-psyker can achieve is to be the Chapter Champion. To achieve this rank a brethren must win a series of ritual combat from the amongst the chapter’s veterans. It is a great honour for a veteran to win the tournament. For the chapter’s Librarians seek the advice of the Chapter’s Champions opinions on many issues.

 

The Martyr’s techmarines are the only members of the chapter’s head quarter staff who are non-psykers & are known to have little influence on chapter policies. The techmarines are ostracized from the bulk of the chapter. This is due to the techmarines affiliation with the Mechanicum, for who the bulk of the chapter holds in contempt. For their part the chapter’s techmarines carry out their tasks in diligent solitude, with the blood red of the Mechanicum on proudly gleaming on their armour.

 

The Martyrs Vermilion are known to have average volume of all vehicles found within the codex astartes, with dreadnoughts being the sole exception to this. The Martyrs Vermilion have only been observed to utilise small numbers of venerable dreadnoughts. This can be accounted for because the all the Martyrs endeavour to commit martyrdom. A marine cannot accomplish this goal if he is to be incarcerated with a dreadnought sarcophagus. The Martyrs dreadnoughts are known to be bitter but logical individuals, lacking the fervent faith of the general chapter. This is because the incumbent marines are from the time before the chapter developed its radical beliefs. It can only be imagined how the Martyrs dreadnoughts have handled waking up to see their beloved chapter descend into witch worshipping zealots.

 

The chapter is known to have a large number of chapter surfs for which the chapter uses to crew its vehicles & to man its extensive fleet. It is a the greatest honour for a serf to be crew the chapters vehicles, to carry & support their masters in the holy task of exterminating the Great Martyrs enemies.

 

Due to the Martyrs crusading the nature, the chapter has a large & established fleet. The precise make up the Martyrs navy in unclear, but the Martyrs are known to have a typical mix of Battle Barges, Strike Cruisers, rapid strike vessels & forge ships. The Venerable Battle Barge His Will is known to be the chapter’s Fortress Monastery & is often observed accompanied with the Forge Ship Red Dorn.

 

Geneseed.

The Martyrs are known to be progeny of the Imperial Fists, with the chapter showing common characters of the lineage of Rogal Dorn. The Martyrs are known to field an Emperor’s Champions, along with the chapter’s extremely stubborn nature are a common traits that are found in Dorn’s progeny.

 

It is known that the Martyrs Vermilion geneseed is highly stable & has no noticeable signs of mutation. It is believed that the Martyrs lake the zygotes for the Sus-an Membrane & the Betchers Gland.

 

The chapter’s brethren quest for martyrdom has been attributed by some scholars to their heritage. The act of martyrdom can be viewed as the absolute act of self-harm. If this theory is true, it would mean that all of Dorn’s progeny have slightly mutated geneseed.

 

Battlecry.

“Bye His Will”.

 

The Eye & the Talon.

By far the most famous combat action of the Martyrs Vermilion occurred in early M37 & has been dubbed by Imperial historians as Battle of Bleeding Talons. The Battle of Bleeding Talons was the final battle of the Regen 5 Heresy & was fought between Imperial Forces of the Blaxus Prime & Renegade Frozen Talons Astartes Chapter. The Battle of Bleeding Talons was fought over the Forge World of Blaxus Prime. Blaxus Prime is one of the Mechanicum’s main fabricator of warships for the Adeptus Astartes, producing ships for dozens of chapters.

 

The Regen 5 Heresy began when the Chapter Master Nashgad of the Frozen Talons led his chapter in campaign of carnage against Imperial worlds of the Blaxus Sub-Sector. After a year of butchery the Frozen Talons arrived within the Blaxus System. Spearheaded by their battle barges Bloodied Talon & Claw of Dominion, the Frozen Talons launched their assault straight for the primary shipyard. The planetary defenses proved to be no match for the brutal power of the Frozen Talons fleet. The renegade Astartes began orbital drops to neutralise the planets ground defenses.

 

In his arrogance Nashgad removed the Bloodied Talon & Claw of Dominion away from the battle towards the most constructed vessels at anchor. As the Frozen Talons battle barges lowered their shields to begin the transfer of personnel that the traitor vessels became lit to the cosmos with dozens of explosions across their Port sides. Epistolary-Captain Exander powered up the venerable Battle Barge Prodigal & commenced a devastating attack on the renegade vessels. The Claw of Dominion bore the brunt of Exander’s fury, receiving several hits from the Prodigal’s bombardment cannon. With its shields down the Claw of Dominion was severely crippled & forced to disengage to escape the righteous salvo.

 

Nashgad commanded the Bloodied Talon to come about to target Prodigal, but to his fury he found that his ship was unable to maneuver. Exander had initiated a boarding action with a series of teleports & a wave of boarding torpedoes, which saw the Martyrs board the Bloodied Talon’s aiming for ship’s engineering section. Foreseeing his demise Nashgad & his retinue fought their way to the Bloodied Talon’s launch bays & the salvation of the Claw of Dominion.

 

With the loss of their commander & their flagship the remnants of the Frozen Talon’s fleet broke from Blaxus Prime orbit & fled the system. This cowardly act stranded their ground forces to the wrath of the Martyrs & the Mechanicum’s skitarii. Instead of pursuing the fleeing traitor fleet Exander claimed the Bloodied Talon by right conquest renaming her Crimson Death. The Mechanicum protested against this action, demanding that the Bloodied Talon be given over as compensation against the carnage from Frozen Talons actions. Exander mindful of the Mechanicum’s false imprisonment of the Great Martyr ignored them & withdrew to meet the rest of the Martyrs Vermilion fighting against Waaagh Gorgitz.

 

The Martyrs Vermilion most prominent foe is the traitor Frozen Talons chapter, with a blood feud consuming hundreds of marines & fleet assets from both chapters. The Martyr’s have successfully hunted down & eliminated several Frozen Talon warbands over the last 4 millennia. The Martyrs success has cost the chapter dearly with many of its marines being martyred in the process of these victories. The feud has not been entirely one sided with the Martyrs suffering horrendous losses in the ignominious defeat of Nashgad’s Revenge.

 

Ive tried to take on board the feedback regarding the previous IA, in this version of the Martyrs fluff. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

 

Exander.

[XKhalilX]

C &C:

 

1. pick a founding. the cliche "lost in imperial records/geneseed unknown" is extremely cliche and overdone, so suggestion is to pick (no cursed founding).

 

2. if the 13th black crusade has officially established fluff as to who fought in it, don't include your chapter in it. I am not sure if the 13th BC has a listing, if it doesn't by all means add your guys but ONLY if it is relevant to the direction of the chapter.

 

3. having all psyker HQ- No, no no. simply put librarians are unbalanced, for as much as they are trusted to a degree as loyal astartes, a psyker is apsyker nonetheless. This would nott happen EVER. period. Librarians may have a strong influence in the chapter, but having them ALL lead is a definite no.

 

4. anti-techmarine view: again then the chapter would not function. if they dont trust their brothers, then they cant trust the vehicles there brothers so tirelessly maintain. This wouldn't happen. Distrust to the admech yes is a possibility, but distrusting your loyal astartes kin is another. It would make no sense at all. Techmarines manage a HUGE part of the chapter, without them or trusting them, your chapter is literally not feasible.

[Epistolary Exander]

Thanks for the feedback, but I can explain your points in relation to the IA. The Martyrs are going to have detractors because of readical beliefs & deviant organisation.

 

1) The Martyrs founding is not known because the chapter has changed name as part of the process of developing its belief. As such the original name is not known to outsiders & so its founding would not be known.

 

2) The 13th Black Crusade is established fluff which GW are kindly ignoring, just look at the Relictors. The Martyrs are supposed to be fighting in the campaign as its they are an Astartes Praeses chapter, but havent clearly established them there. Also the end result of the campaign was of the entire theatre being a continued conflict & so its not unreasonable to have the Martyrs taking part in the theatre.

 

3) There is nothing saying the a chapter cant have Librarians in leading the chapter. Its even been known for Librarians to be Chapter Masters, as happened to the Blood Ravens. Look it at from a Martyrs battle brother point of view, who are you going to take orders from, a guy like you or 1 of your Gods avatars?

 

4) The Martyrs do trust their techmarines work, they bulk of the chapter just refuses to associate with the techmarines. The bulk any chapters maintenance & fabrication is done by the chapter's surfs & it is normal in most space marine chapters for their techmarines spend most of their time away from their brethren when they work in the armoury. In the case of the Martyrs the techmarines just spend more time in the armoury.

 

Hope that clarifies a few issues.

 

Exander.

[XKhalilX]

Thanks for the feedback, but I can explain your points in relation to the IA. The Martyrs are going to have detractors because of readical beliefs & deviant organisation.

 

1) The Martyrs founding is not known because the chapter has changed name as part of the process of developing its belief. As such the original name is not known to outsiders & so its founding would not be known.

 

2) The 13th Black Crusade is established fluff which GW are kindly ignoring, just look at the Relictors. The Martyrs are supposed to be fighting in the campaign as its they are an Astartes Praeses chapter, but havent clearly established them there. Also the end result of the campaign was of the entire theatre being a continued conflict & so its not unreasonable to have the Martyrs taking part in the theatre.

 

3) There is nothing saying the a chapter cant have Librarians in leading the chapter. Its even been known for Librarians to be Chapter Masters, as happened to the Blood Ravens. Look it at from a Martyrs battle brother point of view, who are you going to take orders from, a guy like you or 1 of your Gods avatars?

 

4) The Martyrs do trust their techmarines work, they bulk of the chapter just refuses to associate with the techmarines. The bulk any chapters maintenance & fabrication is done by the chapter's surfs & it is normal in most space marine chapters for their techmarines spend most of their time away from their brethren when they work in the armoury. In the case of the Martyrs the techmarines just spend more time in the armoury.

 

Hope that clarifies a few issues.

 

Exander.

 

1. to me in my opinion, that shows a lack of imagination, simply saying its a mystery/its unknown, is lack of creativity. not too mention the chances of it going into the librarium are very slim. im not a librarium person, but based on what i have seen, your chances are slim to none. if it doesnt add anything to your chapter, it is needed simply put. it adds nothing to the chapter so having a founding is not a problem. the whole name change thing. why would they do that? just because a chapter changes name doesnt mean the imperium wouldnt know. SOMEONE WOULD. you cannot escape the eyes of Holy Terra forever. It just isnt reasonable

 

2. my bad i forgot the 13th was the last current BC, so your guys are more than welcome to join the fray. I was thinking there was more then 13.

 

3. never use the Blood Ravens as an example LOL. They are an anomaly written by Goto, who knew and continues to know nothing about 40k. AND, based on the BR fluff, they had a librarian leading the chapter ONLY ONCE, and that was due to EXTREME circumstances. it was and is not normal for the Blood Ravens, it was cirmcumstantial. as it should be for all chapters, its never the norm to have a psyker be a CM. a psyker is too unstable to hold such command. not too mention their tactical savvy wouldnt be as grea IMHO based on their demeanour, theyd be busying themselves with librarium work, not tactical command strategy.

 

example: the IH love their technology and Omnissiah, but are Techmarine/Iron Fathers ever in a captain or command role? NO. they can act as commanding officer in certaion situations but are never PERMANENT commanders.

 

4. sorry not buying it. there your brothers. your gene kin, while most see techmarines as a bit odd, they wouldnt never "disassociate" from them.

 

i dont mean to be so gruff, but the same things ive seen people try to pull time and time and time and time and time again in their IA. it never works.

[XKhalilX]

what you could do is have a librarian command a special squad(s). for example my Children of Eternity, within the 1st company it is split, a captain takes control of the termie marines and sternguard, and Chaplain takes command of the vanguard elites.

 

Chaplains in the BA and their successors take hold of death company. Chaplain Cassius of the ultras takes control of the Nid vets.

 

You could have a Librarian hold command over a select group of marines. that I don't see issue with, as it is unique and something special. but to run an entire company let alone an entire chapter just doesn't jive with the standard. its one thing to be unique but to go against traditional protocol to a high degree doesnt work. ask anyone what they think of CS GOTO or even James Swallow with his Blood Angels books, and you will see what I mean.

[Epistolary Exander]

Thanks for your feedback & it has made me think about what I should do with the Martyrs fluff. Your second post has made you seem less like a fluff nazi & Ive read your Sons of Eternity IA (was quite interesting). My aim was to collect feedback on the quality of my fluff & etc. If the IA was to go into the Librarium Id be honoured but I think there needs to be a complete rewrite (which I think needs doing) not the editing Ive done. The fundamental fluff is sound & you will need better argument to disprove that.

 

What you have to remember the IA is from the point of view of the standard Martyr battle brothers, who are psyker worshiping zealots. They have little interest in what people outside the chapter thinks, they'd just dismiss you as not being 1 of Great Martyrs chosen sons.

 

1) All the High Lords of Terra do is order th founding of new chapters, they dont keep track them. No one not even the Mechanicum knows how many space chapters there are let alone their identities. The sheer size of the Imperium makes it impossible for the High Lords to know everything. It is not unknown to take hundreds of years for the High Lords to recieve data, or for transmissions to get lost in the warp. Therefore the origins of my chapter fists perfectly in with the fluff. The Martyrs beliefs dominate everything about the chapter, they're going to change their name to something fitting.

 

Yes it may be case of lack of creativity, but I see you using that to argue for IAs to be similiar to yours in format.

 

2) Yes in most cases Librarians would never get to command position, but the Martyrs arent normal. Their beliefs wont allow them to. As I said the normal marines would just ignore any normal marine captains, when you have their gods avator stood before them. The Epistolary-Captains are not going to be poor captains in a command role. They are freed from their duties in the Librarium meaning they dedicate themselves to the role of command & they are going to fluant in tactics/ strategy learnt from their time studying txts. To top that off there Epistolaries! Which means they use powers to enhance their combat abilities. Along with them being precogs/ sensing enemies by their warp auras. You've got a pretty powerful commander in charge of the chapter's companies.

 

3) Disassociate means simply you choose not to hang around someone. That doesnt imply the Martyrs dont trust the Martyr techmarines or their work. As you said the Martyrs techmarines are genekin, they would trust their brothers work. The fluff also says that techmarines spend an aweful a lot time away from their genekin, so the Martyrs attitude towards their techmarines doesnt have a huge impact on the running of the chapter. It just shows how biggotted the Martyrs have become.

 

I apologise if I seem a bit terse, I just feel you are being narrow minded in your interpretation of the fluff. Your opinion is similiar to what the Martyrs would have to deal with from some Imperial organisations, but the Astartes are only answerable to the Emperor. Its for reason alone they have endured for so long in the Imperium.

 

Exander.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Very first thing...

 

 

Break up the massive blocks of text, go take a gander at BBCode Tutorial

[XKhalilX]

"Yes it may be case of lack of creativity, but I see you using that to argue for IAs to be similiar to yours in format."

 

what is similar to my IA in format? Every IA is similar in format.

 

Simply put, not knowing a founding or a geneseed I believe is a cop out for most people. Its vital to a chapter to know the chapter's genetic traits and founding to know what was going on during the time and why they were created and why which geneseed was used. Being unknown adds nothing to a chapter and takes away alot from a chapter.

 

i don't think I am being narrowminded. The Blood Ravens were led by a librarian by a CM once. The Souldrinkers are currently led by a Librarian (a mutated one no less). Both chapters have had or currently have a Librarian as their CM for extremely circumstantial reasons. This is not the norm in either of the chapters. I am not being arrogant when I say most people would agree with this assessment. It is what it is.

 

I think you can certainly have Librarians pray a very influential role in the chapter, but commanding the chapter just simply doesn't work. For as "stable" as adeptus astartes Librarians may seem, they are always mentally dancing with the warp. Sometimes they are seduced by it and we know what happens. Why do you think Black Templars have such a distaste for psykers, even loyal marines like Librarians from other chapters. There is a reason they don't trust them. They are not stable or balanced personalities. Their physiological makeup would never allow it. One needs to be balanced and tactful to be a captain or CM. That isn't is Librarian. Would I rather have Calgar or Tiberius be leading? Would I rather have Dante or Mephiston? For souldrinkers, would I rather have Captain Luko or Librarian Sarpedon? In the first two, we see the honor roll of Calgar as well as Tiberius, but we know who is the obvious choice to lead his men. For the second, who would in their right mind want Mephiston leading a 1000 strong? Mephiston is by far one of my most favorite characters in 40k EVER, period, but I would never want him leading a company or a chapter, the man is simply put, sociopathic and off. He reminds me of John Doe from the movie SEVEN. and for the last, the Librarian (i.e. Sarpedon) has been put in a commander role, and LOOK at what he has become AND what has become of the chapter since he was put in command. I think Sarpedon is another awesome character, but to put it bluntly and honestly, as a captain/chapter master, he is an EPIC FAILURE. EPIC on massive proportions. Were it not for his mutation, Sarpedon would have been usurped ages ago, its only due to his mutated spidery body that has kept him in power. Luko would make a much better commander, not to mention Luko is one of the only Souldrinkers not to be mutated.

 

I just feel its suicidal for a chapter to be commanded by psykers. It would lead to eventual downfall as seen by Souldrinkers.

 

I think having Librarians play an influential role is a much more viable idea then having them being captains and chapter masters on top of being librarians. Its like apples and oranges. Just like you never see techmarines or chaplains in captain/CM positions, the two are so different in their approach, tactics, and their area of expertise, it just doesn't jive.

 

You can do what you wish, of course, its your IA. I am simply stating that within the structured 40k fluff, this just doesn't work. That is my opinion and I am sticking to it :)

 

I'm not sold on the chapter name, but if you are, that is what counts. You have color scheme idea yet? chapter symbol?

 

Exander, regardless of what you do, you have a very unique idea and I look forward to it being fleshed out over time. I like that their fanatics, in fact I love it. Space marines are crazy and zealous enough, give them a belief in a deity and they are pretty much sociopathic wackjobs. That=beautiful. Plus, it makes my Children of Eternity not the only religious nutters in power armour. :P

[Captain Juan Juarez]

...but the Astartes are only answerable to the Emperor. Its for reason alone they have endured for so long in the Imperium.

 

Exander.

 

Hold your horses there...

 

Incorrect.

 

The Adeptus Astartes, although they don't often admit to it, are answerable to the Holy Inquisition; one of the few Imperial Organisitions that has the power to have them purged.

[Epistolary Exander]

Thanks for both of your replies.

 

@ Captain: I will break down the IA article when ive got time to read to the coding thread (which isnt going to be for a week or to, but I'm more likely to do a substantial rewrite, which will take longer).

 

Yes the Inquisition have the authority to, but thats only because they do in the name of the Emperor. Also it takes a lot of effort to for an inquisitor to bring an Astartes chapter to heel, especially as chapters can ignore inquisitors requests for access/ troops. I geuss this makes us both right on the this subject ;) .

 

@ XKhalilX: I appreciate your input, its why posted the IA. Ive never read the sould drinkers books, so I cant comment on that.

 

What I meant by format of IA was by that you allow a specific series of events to define your chapters character, my chapter developed their beliefs over time. The martyrs are going to know their founding & their previous name. My point is that the imperium doesnt. the martyrs faith has affected everything about the chapter, its who they are & thats what the imperium knows. As you said they've become wackjobs :P.

 

I dont deny that in normal circiumstances Librarians would never get into positions of power, but Im happy to keep the Librarians as having control of over the chapter. Yes they may not be socially upto it ( I will look into this in the rewrite) but the point is the Martyrs brethren want it that way & for me personally its a logical step from the chapters beliefs. This part of the fluff has been the same for the last 5 years of the different versions of my chapter's fluff. Yes I do have a colour scheme & chapter badge done for the Martyrs. I'm not sure if I will put them up on this thread or wait for the re write.

 

Id just like to say that Ive had a lot input from commissar molotov with my chapter's fluff, which is 1 of the reasons why im confident of my Martyrs fitting in within 40 universe. Im not discrediting anyones input, as Ive acted on most of the feedback I get with each successive version of the IA.

 

I am aware that chapter is highly likely to be destroyed by the inquisition. I may actually have this happen in the rewrite, but I dont want it to be too similiar to the thousand sons. Saying that the imperium is predictable ^_^ .

 

Many thanks again. Exander.

[XKhalilX]

well if Molotav says it can work, then he must be right. So now I am even MORE intrigued as to how this could work based on my own viewpoints. I will keep watching this thread ;)

 

dont let the inqusition kill em off, wheres the fun in that!? let the big "I" finally not get there way ;)

 

now has the chapter always held such radical views since their very beginning? or has this unique belief developed overtime? and if from beginning, was it a central figure in the orginal cadre of marines that really solidified this belief? or if the second view and much later, was it a person or an event?

 

isn't having 7' tall superhuman religious wackjobs with chainswords and gigantic guns FUN! I think yes!

[Epistolary Exander]

Thanks for your enthusiasm & it is fun working with 8' tall nutters ^_^ .

 

The Martyrs have always been psyker worshipping martyrs, if anything they've become more codex organised over the years. In the original IA the chapter developed their beliefs in the events when their homeworld was attacked, but that was dropped along with the homeoworld because it didnt add anything to the IA.

 

My current thought is that the beliefs were developed over time after their founding. Im happy for them to be Imperial Fist successors. The traits of martyrdom in close combat, can be viewed as excessive version of the IF desire for self harm & practice of dueling. It wouldnt be hard for those IF traits to become exaggerated like this other successive generations. I like the implications this has on the chapter's dreadnought.

 

I think the biggest problem with the IA is my ability to express my vision of the Martyrs on paper, that should improve with more practice. I'd like to do a rewrite, because I want to dove tail it with a Frozen Talons IA.

 

Ive tried to get it accross the peril the chapter lives in because of their beliefs. Its only because of the machinations of the Eregon Cabal that keep the Martyrs from the chopping block, ideally in the next version I'll this is as subtext as the shadow war. With the thorian inquisitors having to scheme against the Martyrs enemies & vice verser.

 

Thanks again for your input, there is a lot of potential if I can pull this off.

 

Exander.

[XKhalilX]

as IF geneseed if that is what u go for, should be an interesting relationship with the Black Templars LOL :yuck:

[Epistolary Exander]

Lol. It would make for an interesting relationship with the templars, I'd imagine 1 chapter or the other would just refuse fight with the other after some incident ;) . Im sure the BTs will learn the need for librarians after it ^_^ .

 

Im happy for them to just have their beliefs & for outsiders to guess how they develope them. The martyrs are not going to tell anyone how become deviant zealots out pride & ignorance.

 

Thanks again for the feedback. Exander.