Twilight Ravens

[jmp_mydog]

Twilight Ravens

 

Founding: M36 (possibly 21st founding)

Geneseed: Unknown

Homeworld: Coracina

 

http://twilightemporium.squarespace.com/storage/twilightraven.jpg

 

Origins:

The Twilight Ravens were originally founded as a fleet-based rapid response force. The origins of the chapter are vague at best, according to the chapter’s librarium sometime in early M37 the chapter’s fleet was ambushed by Waagh Gutsmasha, during the vicious space battle the chapters fleet was decimated with the loss of their warp capable orbital space station and several strike cruisers. The chapters twin battle barges and remaining fleet were recalled.

 

The surviving members of the chapter were redeployed to the eastern fringe and granted permission by the High Lords of Terra to claim Coracina, a night world, as a homeworld. Over the course of the next several decades the chapter rebuilt, and eventually grew to full fighting strength.

 

Unwilling to risk such a devastating loss again, Chapter Master Atratus declared that the 7th-9th companies would remain on Coracina to as a reserve force (tasked with training, recruiting and defending their homeworld) while the 2nd-6th companies would be distributed amongst the fleet to act as a rapid response force. Each company would then be tasked with maintaining their assigned fleet and responding to threats as they come up. The 1st and 10th companies would be dispersed throughout the chapter.

 

Combat Doctrine:

The Twilight Ravens follow the Codex Astrates as one of the greatest military works of all time. However the chapter recognizes that circumstances will often dictate a divergence to deal with the ever changing threats to the Imperium of man.

 

Each company operates as an autonomous force, and the captains of each company dictate the tactics they employ. For example the 4th company prefers rapid insertion to eliminate threats are confused the enemy and as such rely more heavily on assault squads to accomplish this goal. While the 5th company has experience in protracted sieges and as such rely heavily on their battle tanks and dreadnought to break through enemy defenses and crush their foes.

 

Organization:

After facing near annihilation in M37 the Twilight Ravens have done their best to keep their history and geneseed safe in the event of another catastrophe. As such each of the active battle companies travel with their own stores of geneseed as well as extensive records of the chapters history and records from M37 onward.

 

Each company acts independently of the chapter as a whole and will only come together to fight as a whole in the direst of circumstances.

 

The Twilight Ravens worship the Emperor as a great warrior who became a god. Locked in a state of perpetual death, the Emperor of Man has moved beyond the state of mortal beings.

 

Superstition runs deep within the chapter and battle-brothers have been know to experience visions of the future. It is unknown if these visions are the result of latent psychic powers or the result of some flaw in the chapters geneseed. What is certain is every battle-brother, does not fear death but rather embraces it as the final gift of the God-Emperorer, bestowed on those who have loyal fought for his glory.

 

Occasionally on the eve of battle some battle-brothers may experience visions of their own demise. Often the company chaplain will segregate these battle brothers from their squads and lead them into battle himself. Convinced that they are destined to die for the glory of the Emperor, these battle brothers fight with unmatched fury. These "Bringers of Woe" are led to battle by the company chaplain, daring to cheat fate and bring about death on their own terms.

 

Geneseed:

All records of the geneseed stock used to create the Twilight Ravens has been lost to history. Adepts analyzing the tithes of the chapter have notice some similarities to the line of Corax. However the Twilight Ravens do not appear to share the flaws of the Raven Guard which has led Adepts to dismiss the notion as implausible. To date the tithes submitted for analysis to Terra have come back pure with minor deviation. This has left Imperial Scholars baffled as to the cause of the visions some battle brothers share.

 

Homeworld:

Located in the Galactic East, Coracina is a world that seldom sees the sun. An atmospheric anomaly prevents light from reaching the surface of the planet. As such the world is bathed in a perpetual twilight.

This lack of true sun have spawned a diverse ecology of giant fungal forests.

 

Dense mountainous terrain dominates most of the planet, with the fungal forests dominating the valleys. Large raptors prowl the skies eager to prey on anything that breaks cover. The shallow seas are home to numerous varieties of algae blooms and fierce reptilian predators.

 

The planet is home to several hive cities which exploit the rich mineral deposits and fungus crop to contribute to the Imperial war machine.

 

The Twilight Ravens fortress monastery, know as the Dark Tower, dominates the southern pole of the planet.

Candidates are recruited from the most ruthless of the hive gangs as well as the outlying tribes that inhabit the fungal forests. Every decade the Master of Recruits descends into the wilds of the underhives and depths of the fungal forests to bear witness to the gladiatorial games. The survivors if the games are then further tested and eventually begin the process of becoming a battle brother.

 

Chapter Timeline:

M36 – Chapter Founding

 

213.M37 – Decimation of the Chapter Fleet at the hands of Waagh Gutsmasha

 

220.M37 – Fortress Monastery established at Coracina

 

214.M39 – Second and Third Company involved in the ending of the Coronus Technocracy Uprising

 

500.M39 – A revolt of several Astrates Chapters on the far edge of the Eastern Fringe, leads to a small scale civil war. Multiple companies are sent to protect shipping interests and put down the wayward chapters.

 

051.M40 – 6th Company tasked with exterminating H’rud infestation on several agriworlds of the R’ea System. Sergeant Viro takes command after Captain Cygnis falls to friendly fire. The guard commander responsible is summarily executed for incompetence.

 

113.M40 – The second and fourth companies are task with putting an end to the Iron Lord, a renegade Magnos leading the secession of numerous forgeworlds. Later it is determined a pact with the foul xenos Eldar led the Magos to seek forbidden technologies.

 

131.M40 – Waagh Skullkraka, threatens Coracina, all companies are recalled to stop the advance of the Ork horde. Chapter Master Cyrus perishes during an engagement on the desert moon Forlorn Dreams.

 

888.M40 – The appearance of a massive space hulk, designated Annihilation of Hope, near the vital Darthis system spurs the 3rd company to action. The hulk is found to be invested with Genestealers. However to possibility of lost STC templates makes the destruction of the hulk impossible. After a series of boarding missions the hulk is believed to be cleansed, and turned over to Imperial Salvage operations.

 

903.M40 – The 3rd company is recalled to the Darthis System. Numerous hives are embroiled in revolt. Further investigation leads Imperial Authorities to trace the sources back to a religious cult, The True Face of Divinity. The PDF forces are compromised with numerous high level officials who are also cult members. During the conflict there are numerous reports of creatures resembling Genestealers. Perhaps the Hulk was not cleansed ... the seeds of doubt spur Captain Striatus to abandon his post and join the ranks of the Bringers of Woe. He fails to survive the campaign leaving the 3rd company in turmoil.

 

757.M41 – Several companies are tasked with halting the expansion of the rising Tau Empire.

 

888.M41 – A larger than average contingent of battle brothers are sent to serve as part of the Death Watch. The growing threat of Xenos incursion leds to the desire of the chapter to better equip themselves to deal with the threat.

 

920.M41 – The chapter finds itself spread thin as numerous system in the galactic east are beset on all side by corsairs, civil unrest and xenos invasion. The 6th company battle barge, Scourge of Corvus, is lost in a vicious battle with chaos renegades.

 

998.M41 – The fifth company sees extensive action throughout the Third War of Armageddon, essentially tasked with garrison and clean-up duty, the company longs for redeployment.

 

999.M41 – The 2nd, 3rd and 6th companies answer the call for help. They participate in numerous boarding actions to repel the invaders. Chaplain Nero of the second suffers grievous injuries during a raid on the pleasure planet XXXXX. He is later entombed within a revered suit of dreadnought armour. He continues to keep the faith of the chapter.

[jmp_mydog]

I'm slowly working through this. My goal is to have an interesting chapter that can use multiple codexes as an army list. I'm not sure about the Bringers of Woe. It feels somewhat forced.

I really like the idea of something similar to the cursed knights, death company or something similar to reinforce the idea of battle brothers overcome with visions of death.

 

If anything if might have to go because it feels awkward, any suggestions on a better solution?

 

You can follow the building painting process of my force here: twilightemporium.net

[CantonWC]

Honesty is my policy. Prepare for imminent destruction.

 

Founding: M36 (possibly 21st founding)

Geneseed: Unknown

 

Ugh, not this again. Look, just read what I wrote for another thread:

 

Nooo. Not this again. Alright look, I don't know how familiar you are with 40k, but unknown gene-seed is just, you don't want to do it. I have seen so many Chapters with 'unknown gene-seed' and I have literally been back to this forum for only a month, that should tell you something about how lazy and cliched this plot hook is.

 

If you are trying to emulate the Blood Ravens, then don't. Just because a Chapter does something doesn't make it a good idea. The Blood Ravens do a lot of things that are considered taboo in the Liber, they would not last two minutes here.

 

Furthermore, unknown gene-seed falls apart once you realize a few things:

 

AdMech can test the gene-seed, compare it to other Chapters and figure out which Primarch it came from. There are only nine Loyalist Primarchs, and many of them exhibit distinct traits such as missing organs.

 

The Imperium may be bad at record keeping, but this simply isn't going to happen with the Adeptus Astartes, some of the Imperium's most powerful and prestigious institutions. There has to be a record somewhere.

 

Heritage is so important to the Space Marines. How is that they can simply forget who they are? How is it that no one told the new generation which Primarch they came from?

 

The origins of the chapter are vague at best, according to the chapter’s librarium sometime in early M37 the chapter’s fleet was ambushed by Waagh Gutsmasha, during the vicious space battle the chapters fleet was decimated with the loss of multiple cruisers as well as their warp capable orbital

space station.

 

I think I know what's going on here. A lot of DIY Chapters I have seen have a storyline where they get owned, presumably to avoid making them look like Mary Sues. Well let me tell ya, a Mary Sue Chapter may be bad, but a Chapter full of losers is just as bad. It's a concept called Anti-Sue.

 

Learn to balance it out. If there were that many Chapters running around getting their butts kicked, don't you think the Imperium would have fallen long ago?

 

By the way, if your Chapter lost a bunch of cruisers and a space station, then they're probably extinct.

 

Unwilling to risk such a devastating lost again, Chapter Master Atratus declared that the 7th-9th companies would remain on Coracina to train, recruit and defend their homeworld; while the 2nd-6th companies would be distributed amongst the fleet to act as a rapid response force.

 

That's about three hundred Marines sitting around not doing anything. My advice is have them learn from their mistakes and be a little smarter about their fighting.

 

Superstition runs deep within the chapter and battle-brother have been know to experience visions of the future. It is unknown if these visions are the result of latent psychic powers or the result of some flaw in the chapters geneseed. Occasionally on the eve of battle some battle-brothers may experience visions of their own demise. Often the company chaplain will segregate these battle brothers from their squads and lead them into battle himself. Convinced that they are destined to die these battle brothers fight with unmatched fury. The company chaplain will lead these “Bringers of Woe” to deal death to those who challenge the chapter.

 

Sounds like the Death Company.

 

The visions of death are interesting. Try looking up the Mortifactors, a Chapter obsessed with death. I'm sure you can spin this into something interesting instead of making Death Company that are really not Death Company, they're just kind of similar.

 

Adepts analyzing the tithes of the chapter have notice some similarities to the line of Corax. However the Twilight Ravens do not appear to share the flaws of the Raven Guard which has led Adepts to dismiss the notion as implausible.

 

So they're not Corax, except they really are Corax? Just read above again. Pick a Primarch and roll with it.

 

CWC out.

[jmp_mydog]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I've been researching the cursed founding chapters and looking into the actual number of chapters founded. Most of them do not have a listing for geneseed (except the lamenters). I realize it's a bit of a cop-out, however the material I've read indicates that the geneseed of this founding was tampered with and therefore may make it difficult to confirm. Still it is a bit cliche and may need to be revisited.

 

The near annihilation of the chapter early in their history is really just a plot hook to explain the lost records, and potential for further corruption/degredation of the geneseed.

 

Initially my goal was to do a Raven Guard Successor, however further research indicted that they have very few successor chapters, and the recent flood of successors from forgeworld caused me to abandon the idea.

 

Keeping 3 companies stationed at the homeworld as a reserve force seems to be on par with other chapters, I'm not sure where the issue is here?

 

Thanks for the input about the mortifactors, I'm going back through the books I own that reference them. It seems that numerous chapters as of late have some type of special "flawed" force. The Mantis warriors have the Religiousa (sp?) so I'm going to expand on this. I've been considering mixing the saguinary guard with the forgeworld raven guard kit to create the "Bringers of Woe" Not sure about the name though.

 

I really can't stand the Blood Raven Fluff and don't want to be compared or otherwise thought of in the same vein. I've been working with the fluff for this army since 2002 and am finally getting it to the point I feel comfortable sharing. So I appreciate all your feedback to eliminate any loop-holes or weak plot hooks.

 

I've been trying to highlight the losses in the chapter timeline, as their obsession with death/grief ect would keep those top of mind to avoid by repeating history.

[seaglen]

So far it looks ok. The death company idea does sound forced though, however the idea of visions of their own death is interesting. pehaps you could play on this so they seek out the vision they had, thus realising it in their own way. 'fateseekers' would be a cool name for these guys.

 

as for the corax thing, im making a WIP chapter from that sucession. just because a chapter has few successors, it doesnt mean you cant make one (unless we are talking baout Russ...).

 

keep it up!

 

one other thing i might have to say....

the timeline. I for one love these things (see my above thread) but as for IAs they really are not needed. Many people have mentioned the lenght of my own one, and the uselessness it plays, but I for one like a bit of browsing through the ancient history of chapters like that.

[Octavulg]

The Twilight Ravens were originally founded as a fleet-based rapid response force. The origins of the chapter are vague at best, according to the chapter’s librarium sometime in early M37 the chapter’s fleet was ambushed by Waagh Gutsmasha, during the vicious space battle the chapters fleet was decimated with the loss of their warp capable orbital space station and several strike cruisers. The chapters twin battle barges and remaining fleet were recalled.

 

If it was an orbital space station, how did the Orks ambush it? Surely the Chapter's home system was decently defended...

 

Each company operates as an autonomous force, and the captains of each company dictate the tactics they employ. For example the 4th company prefers rapid insertion to eliminate threats are confused the enemy and as such rely more heavily on assault squads to accomplish this goal. While the 5th company has experience in protracted sieges and as such rely heavily on their battle tanks and dreadnought to break through enemy defenses and crush their foes.

 

What about the Captains of the First and of the 10th, who don't have unified commands? What about the Captains of the 7th through 9th, who are always working together?

 

The Twilight Ravens worship the Emperor as a great warrior who became a god. Locked in a state of perpetual death, the Emperor of Man has moved beyond the state of mortal beings.

 

Where did this come from?

 

213.M37 – Decimation of the Chapter Fleet at the hands of Waagh Gutsmasha

 

220.M37 – Fortress Monastery established at Coracina

 

214.M39 – Second and Third Company involved in the ending of the Coronus Technocracy Uprising

 

500.M39 – A revolt of several Astrates Chapters on the far edge of the Eastern Fringe, leads to a small scale civil war. Multiple companies are sent to protect shipping interests and put down the wayward chapters.

 

051.M40 – 6th Company tasked with exterminating H’rud infestation on several agriworlds of the R’ea System. Sergeant Viro takes command after Captain Cygnis falls to friendly fire. The guard commander responsible is summarily executed for incompetence.

 

113.M40 – The second and fourth companies are task with putting an end to the Iron Lord, a renegade Magnos leading the secession of numerous forgeworlds. Later it is determined a pact with the foul xenos Eldar led the Magos to seek forbidden technologies.

 

131.M40 – Waagh Skullkraka, threatens Coracina, all companies are recalled to stop the advance of the Ork horde. Chapter Master Cyrus perishes during an engagement on the desert moon Forlorn Dreams.

 

888.M40 – The appearance of a massive space hulk, designated Annihilation of Hope, near the vital Darthis system spurs the 3rd company to action. The hulk is found to be invested with Genestealers. However to possibility of lost STC templates makes the destruction of the hulk impossible. After a series of boarding missions the hulk is believed to be cleansed, and turned over to Imperial Salvage operations.

 

903.M40 – The 3rd company is recalled to the Darthis System. Numerous hives are embroiled in revolt. Further investigation leads Imperial Authorities to trace the sources back to a religious cult, The True Face of Divinity. The PDF forces are compromised with numerous high level officials who are also cult members. During the conflict there are numerous reports of creatures resembling Genestealers. Perhaps the Hulk was not cleansed ... the seeds of doubt spur Captain Striatus to abandon his post and join the ranks of the Bringers of Woe. He fails to survive the campaign leaving the 3rd company in turmoil.

 

757.M41 – Several companies are tasked with halting the expansion of the rising Tau Empire.

 

888.M41 – A larger than average contingent of battle brothers are sent to serve as part of the Death Watch. The growing threat of Xenos incursion leds to the desire of the chapter to better equip themselves to deal with the threat.

 

920.M41 – The chapter finds itself spread thin as numerous system in the galactic east are beset on all side by corsairs, civil unrest and xenos invasion. The 6th company battle barge, Scourge of Corvus, is lost in a vicious battle with chaos renegades.

 

998.M41 – The fifth company sees extensive action throughout the Third War of Armageddon, essentially tasked with garrison and clean-up duty, the company longs for redeployment.

 

999.M41 – The 2nd, 3rd and 6th companies answer the call for help. They participate in numerous boarding actions to repel the invaders. Chaplain Nero of the second suffers grievous injuries during a raid on the pleasure planet XXXXX. He is later entombed within a revered suit of dreadnought armour. He continues to keep the faith of the chapter.

 

Honestly, I'm not sure any of this is necessary. All Chapters have a great and glorious battle history - unless it adds something particular to our knowledge of the Chapter, this stuff is neither necessary nor distinctive.

 

I'd expect a timeline to include defining events, in any case. A lot of these don't seem that important.

 

* * *

 

So what are they all about, then? Right now, there doesn't seem to be that much to them. That's not necessarily bad, but it definitely isn't a full IA. Which isn't necessarily wrong, but you've adopted a lot of the trappings.