Lords of Oblivion "V2.0"

[Allerka]

To be honest, the High Paladin Allerka is obvious "Mary Sue".

- he is over 1000 years old for no apparent reason.

I haven't gotten to that yet.

 

 

- he is super-deadly combatant.

Oh no! A Space Marine killed something! Clearly this means he's a Mary Sue! :lol:

 

 

 

They come to a world called Andruin, on the outskirts of the warzone, and lend their aid to the Angels Paradox in their fight against the forces of Chaos and the Necrons.

Angels Paradox? You could call them Emperor's Gardeners as well. ;)

Huh?

 

(for the record, that's the name of a friend's Chapter I fought alongside with during the EoT campaign, hence their mention here.)

 

 

Knowing to refuse would turn the Dremori into enemies, Allerka accepts to the shock of his allies. The other Chapters demand he revoke his alliance, but Allerka refuses and the other three Chapters withdraw from the battle, leaving the Lords of Oblivion to their fate.

This line is problematic at best. Why did he not consult the decision with the other Chapter first? He should know, what will be their reaction to the alliance with Dremori.

I didn't say he didn't consult them, but he knows the Dremori are powerful enough that having them as an enemy would see Firien and probably his Chapter destroyed. He took a risk in the hopes he could convince the other Chapters to go along with it for now, and it didn't work out that way. I suppose I can tweak the language a little to better convey that.

[NightrawenII]

- he is super-deadly combatant.

Oh no! A Space Marine killed something! Clearly this means he's a Mary Sue! :)

Depends on how do you write the battles, if he is killing stuff right, left and center without breaking sweat, then he is a OBVIOUS "Mary Sue". :lol:

 

(for the record, that's the name of a friend's Chapter I fought alongside with during the EoT campaign, hence their mention here.)

I thought so :P , but it's silly name to be honest.

 

I didn't say he didn't consult them, but he knows the Dremori are powerful enough that having them as an enemy would see Firien and probably his Chapter destroyed. He took a risk in the hopes he could convince the other Chapters to go along with it for now, and it didn't work out that way. I suppose I can tweak the language a little to better convey that.

How did he known that Dremori are powerful?

He has forces of three Chapters as his allies, he really don't need a help of filthy xenos. This just shows, how is your Chapter too meek-willed and naïve for Space Marines Chapter.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

- he is super-deadly combatant.

Oh no! A Space Marine killed something! Clearly this means he's a Mary Sue! :)

Depends on how do you write the battles, if he is killing stuff right, left and center without breaking sweat, then he is a OBVIOUS "Mary Sue". :P

 

Depends what he's killing; rebels or "minor" Xenos and he possibly wouldn't break a sweat.

[Allerka]

Depends on how do you write the battles, if he is killing stuff right, left and center without breaking sweat, then he is a OBVIOUS "Mary Sue". :to:

At no point have I written he plows through entire enemy armies on his own. At most, he kills a warboss with the help of other Librarians, and he defeats a Lord of Change but gets badly wounded in the process. I think that qualifies as breaking a sweat. :cuss

 

 

I thought so ;) , but it's silly name to be honest.

Meh. No more silly than many other Chapter names.

 

 

How did he known that Dremori are powerful?

He has forces of three Chapters as his allies, he really don't need a help of filthy xenos. This just shows, how is your Chapter too meek-willed and naïve for Space Marines Chapter.

It does come across as a little confusing here due to the summarized nature of the conflict, but the full codex will have a much more detailed account. Basically the four Chapters (the Lords of Oblivion being the only one present in its entirety, BTW) are gaining little ground (in large part due to Faldred knowing their tactics), then the Dremori show up and purge an entire continent of the enemy in a matter of days before they go to see Allerka (they know all about the Lords of Oblivion, they've been watching this whole time), and offer an alliance to defeat the Dremori. Allerka agrees to ensure the Dremori don't attack the Imperial forces (as some small elements were destroyed as "collateral damage"), and talks to the other Chapter Masters (or whoever's in charge) to try and convince them to go along with the alliance. As explained above, the other Chapters don't approve, lengthy arguments ensue, and they leave. Was it the right thing to do? Allerka thinks so, but obviously not everyone's going to agree with him.

 

 

Depends what he's killing; rebels or "minor" Xenos and he possibly wouldn't break a sweat.

Exactly. Space Marines are DESIGNED to kill stuff with ease. Even the really nasty stuff isn't guaranteed to win, and there's plenty of examples of over-the-top killings far in excess of anything I've written here in the various GW books.

[Allerka]

Anyway, moving on to the Organization section. Here's the full-length one. I can't imagine there's too much that needs to be summarized here, given how short it already is.

 

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Organization

 

The Lords of Oblivion began as a Codex Chapter, owing to their being a Successor of the Brazen Claws rather than the Iron Hands, and have remained as such for most of their service. However, following the Salvation of Firien campaign, some organizational changes began to take place in the Chapter. After learning that Faldred the Foul was somehow able to obtain at least a partial, if not a full, copy of the Chapter’s Codex Astartes, the Lords of Oblivion realized how the knowledge gleaned was able to give Faldred valuable insight into the tactics and capabilities of the Chapter’s fighting forces.

 

Fearing future abuses of this knowledge, and realizing that Faldred could disseminate this knowledge to other enemies of the Chapter, High Paladin Allerka authorized his Captains to deviate from the Codex norms in regards to Company organization and size, as well as the tactical doctrine of each. It is his hope that this alteration will make the Chapter’s tactics and capabilities less apparent to its enemies. Squad and Company markings for every last unit in the Chapter were also altered to a scheme not present in the Codex Astartes, drawing on the written language of the Dremori.

 

Owing to the Chapter’s proclivities for psychic combat, the Lords of Oblivion also boast what is likely one of the largest Librariums in the Imperium. Even with the Chapter devastated and far below optimal strength, the number of Librarians at its command is greater than many other Chapters at full strength. In addition, most of the officers of the Chapter are junior psykers in their own right; though not powerful enough to become full Librarians, they are able to use their lesser talents to their advantage both offensively and defensively. These powers manifest themselves in a variety of ways, and the Chapter has divided its psykers into a dozen different Orders depending on the nature of their powers.

 

At the least, most officers have developed basic techniques to safeguard themselves and those around them from psychic assault. This defense is further augmented by the regular deployment of full Librarians with every battle force, who not only train extensively in protecting against psychic assault so much so that their ability to dispel the effects of the warp is nearly unrivaled, but are capable of bolstering the resolve of their Battle-Brothers. As such, it is far from uncommon for Librarians to serve as much as leaders as the Captains and the Command Sergeants.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

These powers manifest themselves in a variety of ways, and the Chapter has divided its psykers into a dozen different Orders depending on the nature of their powers.

 

Sounds very like the Thousand Sons in A Thousand Sons, maybe someone liked your idea? :P

[Allerka]

These powers manifest themselves in a variety of ways, and the Chapter has divided its psykers into a dozen different Orders depending on the nature of their powers.

 

Sounds very like the Thousand Sons in A Thousand Sons, maybe someone liked your idea? :D

Heh, no, it's the other way around in this case. I really liked how they operated in that book (it was a heavy inspiration to finally re-doing my article), and wanted to try and do something similar (though obviously not just calling them cults). I'm open to suggestions in that field to help distinguish them from the Thousand Sons. Maybe organized more along the lines of family ties/bloodlines or geographical regions of Firien? Almost like rival groups or clans within the Chapter jockeying for favor to keep each other on their toes. Also open to alternative names besides "Orders".

[Captain Juan Juarez]

These powers manifest themselves in a variety of ways, and the Chapter has divided its psykers into a dozen different Orders depending on the nature of their powers.

 

Sounds very like the Thousand Sons in A Thousand Sons, maybe someone liked your idea? :P

Heh, no, it's the other way around in this case. I really liked how they operated in that book (it was a heavy inspiration to finally re-doing my article), and wanted to try and do something similar (though obviously not just calling them cults). I'm open to suggestions in that field to help distinguish them from the Thousand Sons. Maybe organized more along the lines of family ties/bloodlines or geographical regions of Firien? Almost like rival groups or clans within the Chapter jockeying for favor to keep each other on their toes. Also open to alternative names besides "Orders".

 

I think the concept works quite well, but it depends how strong he idea is to you as is Vs. how much further you think it can be developed.

 

Geographical lines might work best if your populace is very diverse; differences in genetics/evolution might lead to different ways in which the powers manifest - so that anyone from Area 1 might be more predisposed towards being able to form mental shields, whilst Area 2 natives might mnaifest some form of foresight, with the occasional "anomaly" cropping up in each area.

[Allerka]

I think the concept works quite well, but it depends how strong he idea is to you as is Vs. how much further you think it can be developed.

 

Geographical lines might work best if your populace is very diverse; differences in genetics/evolution might lead to different ways in which the powers manifest - so that anyone from Area 1 might be more predisposed towards being able to form mental shields, whilst Area 2 natives might mnaifest some form of foresight, with the occasional "anomaly" cropping up in each area.

Well, that's the crux of it. What else can we add to the idea? As far as geographical divisions go, Firien has four continents: Sharula (mostly farmlands with some desert and jungle regions, and took the most damage in the Salvation of Firien), Eskar (mostly mountains, heavy mining industry and the regional capital is a floating fortress/city), Yuran (mostly deserts, with the people living in the coastal jungles, also has exceptionally deadly predators, even for Firien), and Decia (has the bulk of the population, numerous forests, the Fortress-Monastery for the Chapter, and saw more fighting in the Salvation of Firien than any other continent). All these lands are split into various regional territories, whose borders change over the years as powers arise, go to war with each other, and fall into dust. This is seen more as an act of culling the weak, as it were, rather than any particularly petty bickering (usually, anyway :D), as all territories swear total allegiance to the Imperium. After the Lords of Oblivion get set up, the Chapter Master of course becomes the de-facto governor of the planet (rather than the position going to whichever territory's ruler is in power when the spot opens up), with the lesser territories subservient to him. The Chapter has almost completely stayed out of the fighting, letting the people of Firien keep each other on their toes and strong, though they reserve the right to demand an immediate cessation of hostilities for any reason (again, this is rarely invoked).

 

Looking at my old map of the planet, I notice that, if one divided it up into approximate geographic areas based on major rivers, it actually splits up into 12 sections exactly. Two of the regions were completely devastated by the daemonic invasion, with three more nearly destroyed, and only one region that didn't take any damage during the campaign (though one more also took only minor damage), and the rest taking partial damage. Obviously that'd factor into the lore a bit, with those particular Orders being weakened/depleted after the Salvation.

 

Speaking of which, I should come up with names and what the exact powers of each of the Orders are. In Codex: Lords of Oblivion, I have "Gifts of Oblivion" which are just Space Wolf Sagas with different names, those can count as seven of the Orders. I also have "Untapped Power" as a unit upgrade, which is the equivalent of Mark of the Wulfen, for an eighth, and this can be renamed to something else along the lines of being a pyrokine or able to project bolts of lightning/energy in terms of the offensive power (kind of a hybrid of the Pyrae and and Pavoni cults, I suppose). I also have Sergeant Lucius, who's basically described in one story as being a telekine, i.e. able to project "force barriers" that protect his squad, as well as use them to screw with or hurt enemies, so that's number nine. Prophecy/foresight seems an obvious tenth power. Perhaps telepathy as an eleventh? Would make for a nice means of backup communication if conventional voxes are down or something. I'll have to come back to the last power.

 

So basically anyone who develops psychic powers falls into one of the Orders, and if they develop their powers enough to master more than one Gift, then they can join the Librarium as a Lexicanium and go from there (so the Librarians are those who master multiple Orders or develop other non-standard powers). Given I use C:SM, C:SW, and C:BA depending on which particular part of the Chapter I'm representing for that game, it'd definitely be hard to come up with orders to account for all 26 powers between the three books :cuss).

 

I suppose I can work on some details on what the differences between the different regions are, as well as which powers are for which regions (I already have a few picked out, since they're obvious choices). But that won't be going into this article, so not much need to go into too much detail here, heh. For now, we should probably just move on to the next section after I write a summarized Organization (though it'll probably be mostly the same).

[Allerka]

Apologies for the long silence, yay finals season. Anyway, let's move on, since we're almost done! Fairly short, not much room for slimming down, but it covers the most pertinent details of how the Chapter fights post-reorganization.

 

Current Disposition

 

After six years of rebuilding, the Chapter has nearly returned to half-strength, with five of its Companies active once again. Each is now significantly different from the other. Captain Tyrion’s 2nd Company is the only one that resembles a traditional Battle Company. Captain Tiburin has altered the training doctrine for his Company to have a far heavier emphasis on close-combat and the almost total eschewing of long-range weaponry, owing to his own personal style of combat. Captain Jor’hale and his 4th Company have gone in the opposite route, honing his Company’s long-range firepower to a deadly zenith. Captain Ith’mak has deviated the furthest from the Codex. Inspired by the effective results the cavalry units of Firien’s Imperial Guard had during the recent campaign, he has begun training his Astartes on how to tame the largest and most vicious of the sauroks, a massive reptilian predator of Firien, and ride these mighty creatures into battle. He has also collected a large stable of other deadly predators from Firien, which he deploys in battle alongside his Space Marines. Though highly unorthodox, he has experienced tremendous success with these tactics.

[Allerka]

Ok, finals are finally done, and I can spend the next three weeks writing stuff until my eyes bleed. The bulk of my writing will be focused on my video game project and assorted lore behind that, but I think I can squeeze in finishing up this dealie here, as well as maybe getting started on the full-blown background section for the full codex.

 

Anyway, that brings us to the final section, the two addendums. The first is on High Paladin Allerka, and the second is on the Scriptum Oblivionis, the Chapter's main method of recording their history (and helps further detail their character). Combined they add up to just over 450 words, making the total word count a little under 2,700 words, right smack in the 2000-3000 range we're trying to do the FA articles at. ;)

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Addendum: High Paladin Allerka

Though highly visible in the first centuries of his Chapter’s service, eager to form alliances with other Imperial forces and learn from his more experienced peers, he has become increasingly reclusive as time has gone on, to the point where he is rarely seen outside the Chapter, except by his closest allies. And now with most of the Chapter’s allies having forsaken them after the Salvation of Firien, he is little more than a figure of legend or rumor. His Chapter retains their full faith in him, however, and will brook no insult or slander given voice by others.

 

Perhaps part of why Allerka remains so enigmatic are rumors concerning his age. If records are to be believed, the High Paladin who led the defense of Firien in 999.M41 is the same man who partook in the Chapter’s Founding over a millennium ago. While such a long lifespan is not unheard of among Space Marines, it has still made some with knowledge of this wonder if there is not some other reason for his longevity, particularly in light of his tremendous psychic power.

 

He has mastered five of the Orders, more than any other in the Chapter, and has even developed his skills in directions unique to him. Some of these rely on his sword, an arcane blade he calls Dremori. Where and how he obtained this sword, he has never said, but its effectiveness is beyond question, as it channels Allerka’s psychic rage to such devastating effect that not even warp-based defenses can stop it.

 

 

Addendum: Scriptum Oblivionis

Part of the drive of the Lords of Oblivion to expunge any mental weakness is to also counteract the fallacy of memory. To this end, the Chapter maintains the Scriptum Oblivionis, a massive tome detailing all the battles and successes of the Lords of Oblivion. Though all Chapters maintain a tradition of recording their history, the Scriptum Oblivionis differs from the norm. Rather than being compiled after a battle by the Chapter’s Librarians, its Battle-Brothers write the would-be entries, often while a campaign is still in progress and the memories fresh in their minds.

 

After a campaign is concluded, those Battle-Brothers who participated share and compare the stories they have written, with all semblance of rank temporarily forgotten as the best story is chosen. The chosen entry is then inscribed into the Scriptum Oblivionis, to serve as an epic chronicle of the Chapter’s deeds, and even a guide as past victories are looked to for inspiration in regards to a current problem. Therefore, the Scriptum Oblivionis serves as much as a tactical document for the Lords of Oblivion as the Codex Astartes.