-IA- The Lions of Taliskahr

[Hevra]

Origins

 

The Lions of Taliskahr were founded as part of the eighth great founding of the Legiones Astartes and were tasked primarily with the defence of the Jarevo system following several incursions of renegades and traitor marines. Taking their name from the primary world of the system, the Lions have fought for millennia to uphold the Emperor’s mandate, most notably in the Rigoth Uprising and the Andreskar Rebellion.

 

History

 

The data-slates of the Adeptus Mechanicus record that the Lions were formed from the gene-seed of Rogal Dorn, and the steadfast and stoic nature of the chapter mark them as true sons of Dorn. The first Chapter Master was an Imperial Fist named Tarexus, who chose to name the chapter after the most fearsome predators native to the system primary, hoping that his marines would show the same qualities of ferocity, power and loyalty inherent in the huge dusk-lions that roamed Taliskahr.

 

Settling onto the planet’s largest moon, Tarexus oversaw construction of the fortress-monastery and orbital defences using equipment gifted by the Fists to the fledgling chapter. Forges and armouries were built on the lunar surface and the Lions of Taliskahr prepared to watch the stars in the Emperor’s name. Recruits are taken from the subterranean tribes who inhabit the honeycomb-like caverns of the planet.

 

Homeworld

 

The Jarevo system consists of four planets; twin temperate worlds in an interdependent orbit named Seradon and Seradar, a cold and barren planet on a far flung orbit around the sun, and Taliskahr, a dry but fertile world. With the exception of the lifeless ball of rock known simply as Jarevo IV, the system supported a not insignificant population and a thriving industry based on the refining of an amethyst coloured crystalline substance named Taliskite after the planet it was first discovered on. All three habitable planets had substantial deposits of the gem-like material; Jarevo’s position on the fringe of habitable space meant that although surveyed by the exploratory arm of the Adeptus Administratum and settled sparsely, the population did not increase above minimal levels until the discovery of Taliskite.

 

Taliskahr contained by far the largest deposits of the mineral, and the largest population centres were founded there. The climate and geography were similar to the veldts and savannahs of Africa on Terra, and the planet’s two land masses supported a rich and complex ecosystem. Early settlers soon adapted to the violet-hued sunlight and lively weather patterns, which consisted of long dry spells punctuated by sudden thunderstorms.

 

It is not recorded which of these pioneers discovered the useful qualities inherent in the rich purple rock formations which studded all three planets’ geology, but samples sent back to Terra for analysis revealed that the unassuming crystals could boost the control and marginally increase the latent strength of psykers. Although unsure how exactly the Taliskite worked, the Administratum nonetheless set about constructing vast mining complexes and huge manufactoria to refine the raw crystals.

 

However, before the first multi-billion ton ore freighter had even slid clear of the docking slips and set out for Jarevo’s hyper limit with it’s precious cargo, the orbital defense alarms started to wail, and the universe seemed to stagger as a huge rift tore across the skies a mere light year from Taliskahr. Hundreds of blue-gold mutated hulls poured through the rift, ship after ship carrying traitor marines dedicated to Tzeentch which powered relentlessly towards the inner system.

 

The thin defences in place were woefully inadequate to deal with the Chaos incursion, and although the Jarevians fought valiantly, they were no match for the implacable and relentless march of the Thousand Sons. Only on Taliskahr itself did any of the populace survive; the farsighted governor of the northernmost landmass evacuated as many civilians as possible into the honeycomb of caverns and tunnels beneath the planet’s surface, sealing blast doors behind them and retreating deep beneath the ground, to await a rescue that never came. The engineers and techs amongst the refugees had taken with them the means for their survival; nutrient vats and bio-organic reprocessing machinery. Coupled with the native fungi growing deep underground, and the occasional subterranean invertebrate, the Taliskahri clung to life with a fierce determination to surive.

 

Unfortunately for the Chaos marines, and fortunately indeed for the Imperium, the Taliskite veins which were the target of the Sons’ incursion were rendered completely psychically sterile by the death agonies of the sixteen million inhabitants of the inner planets. The rich amethyst crystals cracked across all three worlds simultaneously, the vibrant purple fading as waves of psychic distress crashed across them like a roiling sea. Deprived of their objective, the Chaos warriors maliciously virus bombed the Jarevian worlds. Seradon and Seradar were reduced to airless rocky wastelands as their atmosphere was stripped away; Taliskahr however was plunged into a constant swirling windstorm, a howling and scourging wind that stripped the planet of life and light. Today, the planet is a shadowy world in constant darkness, with an irradiated atmosphere that would kill an unaltered human within seconds.

 

For millennia the Jarevo system lay dormant; no ships entered as few were willing to risk the warp storms to visit such an ill-fated place, especially as the rift left behind by the Sons offered a constant terror of invasion. It was only with the loss of an industrial world in the next system over from Jarevo to a marauding warband that the High Lords sought to impose stability upon the region again; and thus the Lions of Taliskahr were founded.

 

In present times, the Lions have stamped the Imperial writ large across the galaxy. Swiftly annihilating the Emperor’s enemies from nearby systems, the chapter moved into Jarevo and constructed a fortress-monastery on Taliskahr’s largest moon. Although basing themselves so close to Taliskahr is by no means ideal due to being cut off from the Imperium with tiresome but unpredictable regularity by warp storms, the chapter need to be able to respond quickly if the warp rift should flare and disgorge heretics and mutants once more.

 

Combat Doctrine

 

True to their heritage as sons of Dorn, the Lions specialise in hard hitting siege breaking – particularly with respect to ship to ship boarding actions and smashing enemy fortifications on hive worlds. Few chapters can claim to be as experienced and skilled at tunnel-fighting or street-to-street cleansing as the Lions, although this focus has led to them being considered inflexible and less effective in other types of action. The Lions are tenacious and resolute, but they do not willingly throw away the lives of battle-brothers – better to retreat, regroup, and attack again.

Chapter Organisation

 

As laid down in the Codex, the chapter maintains ten companies of marines. The first company consists of the most experienced Lions, who rotate amongst the battle-companies in small detachments, to share their wisdom and experience. The chapter possesses a goodly amount of Terminator Armour, and although a third of the suits are kept on Taliskahr in case of rift activity, there are often brothers in Terminator Armour on deployment.

 

The second through fifth companies are generally of the mix laid out in the Codex Astartes, although dedicated bike squads are rarely used due to the usual theatre of deployment not favouring the smaller, lighter vehicles for heavy action. The Lions make use of Whirlwinds, Vindicators and Thunderfire Cannons, as well as Land Raider Redeemers to levy a devastating artillery barrage on fortifications before sending in assault marines and Terminators to take and hold ground. Infantry favour flamers and other cover negating weapons, along with heavy bolters to lay down scything fire against lightly armoured targets.

 

The sixth through ninth companies are reserve companies, and are tasked with standing watch over the warp rift in the Jarevo system when not fielded in support of the battle companies. The tenth company consists of scouts, who are rotated through the battle companies to gain experience and provide valuable field intelligence. The tenth company often supply scout bike squads for forward observation and spotting.

 

Due to the technological regression suffered by the descendants of those who survived the planetwide eradication of surface life, specialists are revered amongst the battle brothers. Apothecaries in particular have a high status, as a legacy of the cultural mores practiced by the Taliskahri. Techmarines are also held in high regard, and are not treated with the distant regard that most chapters show – the Taliskahri are only too aware that their continued survival depends on the machines deep below the surface of the planet, so those who understand the mysteries of such creations are worthy of praise indeed.

 

Those who managed to flee into the relative haven of the caverns below the surface were bitter indeed about the psychogenic crystals which drew the attention of the Ruinous Powers and devastated their lives. Over the millennia spent sequestered underground, those children showing psychic talent were winnowed out of the tribes like lice, and sacrificed in dark ceremonies to avert evil spirits. Sacrificial victims are the only exception to the customs governing the recycling and consumption of the dead; it is an unthinkable taboo to honour the psyker in such a manner.

 

As a result, librarians are scarce amongst the Lions; it is unusual for a Taliskahri to not only develop latent psychic talents in the age range of the recruitment to the Astartes, but also to survive the trials and be accepted into the chapter. Anyone showing psychic gifts before or after that small window of time is invariably sacrificed – the Lions refuse even to send the failed trialist for mindwiping and servitor programming if they have displayed any trace of psychic ability.

The most powerful of the Librarians active in the chapter wears black rather than the traditional blue, and is shunned by the battle brethren he protects. Only his lexicania and codiciers associate freely with him, and he puts his name and clan behind him – from the moment he becomes Chief Librarian he is known simply as the ‘Forsaken Lion’.

 

Chapter Beliefs

 

Spending so long underground in an unforgiving and harsh environment has influenced the native Taliskahri beliefs. There is a dichotomy of reverence for the tribe’s healers and shaman, the healers caring for the body without, while the shaman look after the body within. Only the shaman are permitted to enter the caverns containing the ancient nutrient vats, and only they can prepare the bodies of the deceased for processing.

 

As the Taliskahri have so few resources to survive on, the bodies of the dead are fed into the nutrient vats with great reverence and ceremony. These machines were installed by the refugees who fled underground to escape the destruction of their planet by the Chaos marines. While none of the natives understand how they work, all are aware that their existence depends on these arcane contraptions. The vats render down the bodies lowered into them, crushing bones and liquefying organs into small blocks of hyper-concentrated matter which is an essential part of the daily diet.

 

The vats also inject vital nutrients into these blocks, most notably ones that the human body cannot produce by itself – for example, a life underground means vitamin D is impossible to create.

 

Certain bones are removed from the bodies before they are reprocessed; fingerbones are most common due to the small impact removing them from the food chain will have. Very occasionally a great and respected member of the tribe may have a femur or scapula decorated and kept in the tribal gathering place. These bones are used in rituals and ceremonies, and serve as a permanent reminder of the departed.

 

Wasting anything is anathema to the Taliskahri – life is both precious and hard, and it is seen as a great betrayal to not re-enter the cycle of life by having one’s corpse reprocessed. The tribes do not fear death, as in their eyes, they never truly die – they live on after death by being ingested by their relatives and tribe-mates.

 

This belief is such a core part of the Taliskahri soul that it transcends the trials, hardships and transformation of becoming a Space Marine. The Lions will fight viciously to recover the bodies of fallen brethren, not just to recover the precious gene-seed, but also to retrieve the body for ritual consumption after the battle. It is considered a great shame to leave a dead Lion on the battlefield.

 

Gene-Seed

 

The Imperial Fist gene-seed used to create the Lions means that they do not have a Betcher’s Gland or a Sus-an Membrane. Since the creation of the Chapter, gene-seed tithes reveal an overdeveloped Omophagea. The Lions take the tithes very seriously, and have never failed to send the required amount back to the Adeptus.

 

Battlecry

 

Hear Us Roar!

[Hevra]

I will add in the Chapter colours when I work out how to do them properly - and I'll play with the BB code tutorial as well.

 

Please C&C - I am shockingly awful at getting timelines straight so if I've done something stupid please let me know.

 

Also be gentle with me; I am an enthusiastic beginner so my depth of knowledge is pretty shallow :)

 

H

[RagingGriffon]

A few quick notes because I am working on my Renegade Chapter as well (shamless plug for The Crimson Warlords)

 

- I like the idea of recruits being taken from subterranean tribes. I have never seen that before. Kudos!

- I started to go cross-eyed reading the first two paragraphs of "Homeworld." It seemed... like a technical read-out. I didn't like it until the thrid paragraph until you started talking about the mineral and why the Imperium cared about those planets. Also, take out "Africa." I doubt "Africa" exists on Terra, and I am pretty sure all of Terra is city-scaped now.

- I felt like the transition from Tzeentch assault to the founding of your Chapter was weak. I feel like if the High Lords were ging to mine this ore then they would send lots of protection. Then to go from large Warp Storm to stamping it out in one paragraph was a bit thin.

- I think paragraphs 5-7 should be moved from Combat Doctrine" to "Beliefs"

- I really like the dead being "recycled" into the nutrient vats (Soylent Green is.... PEOPLE!)

- Expand on the waste not-want not theme you got going on. I like it.

- Last, I feel like "Lions" don't really fit with siege, and underground theme you got going on. Believe me, I love lions, and I have been trying to incorporate lion heraldry into my Chapters for quite some time, and it hasn't worked well. I am not telling you to change your Chapters name, but just think if the name matches their "feel."

 

Good start! I'll keep my eye on this.

[Hevra]

A few quick notes because I am working on my Renegade Chapter as well (shamless plug for The Crimson Warlords)

 

- I like the idea of recruits being taken from subterranean tribes. I have never seen that before. Kudos!

- I started to go cross-eyed reading the first two paragraphs of "Homeworld." It seemed... like a technical read-out. I didn't like it until the thrid paragraph until you started talking about the mineral and why the Imperium cared about those planets. Also, take out "Africa." I doubt "Africa" exists on Terra, and I am pretty sure all of Terra is city-scaped now.

- I felt like the transition from Tzeentch assault to the founding of your Chapter was weak. I feel like if the High Lords were ging to mine this ore then they would send lots of protection. Then to go from large Warp Storm to stamping it out in one paragraph was a bit thin.

- I think paragraphs 5-7 should be moved from Combat Doctrine" to "Beliefs"

- I really like the dead being "recycled" into the nutrient vats (Soylent Green is.... PEOPLE!)

- Expand on the waste not-want not theme you got going on. I like it.

- Last, I feel like "Lions" don't really fit with siege, and underground theme you got going on. Believe me, I love lions, and I have been trying to incorporate lion heraldry into my Chapters for quite some time, and it hasn't worked well. I am not telling you to change your Chapters name, but just think if the name matches their "feel."

 

Good start! I'll keep my eye on this.

 

Thank you very much for the input!

 

This has been a fairly disjointed process mainly because I'm writing the IA on the sly at work hehe, have to keep minimising and coming back to it after doing other stuff.

 

I had a look at your DIY chapter, it was a good read! I do enjoy looking through other people's creative efforts on here and the standard and helpfulness of the C&C is great :lol:

 

I will rewrite the parts suggested - do you think it would be OK if I cut out the High Lord's knowledge of the Taliskite, and had the Chaos incursion earlier in the process - so that the discovery about the crystal's properties was made but the Tzeentchians came stomping before any dispatches were sent back to Terra? That would explain why the system got stomped so easily and why there was no strong Imperial presence when it happened.

 

I love lions too :lol: and tigers, but people always expect stripes and I don't have that steady a hand, hehe! I'm open to changing the name - I just have issues thinking of something that doesn't sound bad. Can you suggest anything? My other half helpfully told me to rename them the Moles :D

 

H

[Hemal]

I'd say that the system was probably quite heavily defended maybe by a battlefleet, due to teh possible liabilites and benefts of the Taliksite ore. maybe the Taliksite rich veins are actually a function of maybe a Maiden Wolrd? Once word got out about this ore, the Thousand Sons were alerted - but hundreds of ships is probably over-cooking the mark, perhaps several archaic battleships and a Space Hulk or two? This force would still overmatch a typical Imperial formation with 2-3 senior capital ships and several lighter capital ship units, coupled with a few escort squadrons, and the stable warp rift was deliberately left opened by the Chaos marines so they could come and go at will - except the plan to harvest the crystals obviously back-fired....

 

Forming a Marine chapter to combat the rift is a bit of underkill though - I would say that there would also be space docks, hundreds of defense monitors and several dozen battle-stations on the surrounding systems to provide adequate security against incursions...