Index Tratoris: The Deodand.

[Pavement Artist]

A comparatively young renegade element,”The Deodand” have been reported to have been active for less than 600 years. The group operates in small scattered cells with no reported centralised base of operations or home world (N.B The majority of traitor elements are known to dwell within the area of space known as the “Eye of Terror”, The nature of warp space making any cartographic efforts futile and extremely hazardous. Therefore we can assume “The Deodand” do indeed have a centralised settlement, though it remains hidden to us.

These cells have been reported operating far from each other in hundreds of theatres of conflict. The small number of operatives in each cell mean that when possible, the warband attaches it's Astartes to that of a larger gathering of heretic forces. This would offer them a modicum of protection from retribution by his Emperor's most righteous forces, as well as offering cover for their insidious activities.

The Group seem to concern themselves largely with the acquisition of heretical texts and artistic pieces, their hunger for such blasphemous knowledge seeing them spread wide across the galaxy. Recent activities have seen the warband seeking artefacts of a dazzling variety, all which are hoarded by their leader, Adhemar Tral. Intelligence suggests that these objects have some sort of significance when gathered together, that they hold some form of psychic potential is undeniable and should the warband attain what they need, it is to believed that they would be able to unleash a psychic conflagration of unprecedented scale.

Embrace the pattern, Embrace your death.

Ghorstangrad and the death of the Emperor's Swords

The origins of the traitor splinter group known as “The Deodand” or amongst other circles as “The Emperor's death gift”, can be traced back to the schism that tore the Astartes chapter known as the “Emperor's swords” apart, midway through the 40th millenium. Years of covert subversion by the hands of the Alpha Legion traitor legion placed trigger phrases secreted within the society of the planet Ghorstangrad- home world and main recruitment hub of the Emperor's swords. The carefully implanted images and phrases steadily began to inculcate upon the younger generations of Ghorstangrad's population, including those youths who were taken as aspirants to the chapter's fortress monastery.

Years later, the Alpha Legion attacked in force from the depths of the warp. Their attack was far from conventional and left the imperial defences baffled as the foe bombarded the planet with a riotous clash of hypnotic, multi-coloured patterns and bursts of discordant noise. Unbeknownst to the population, this strange barrage was a carefully planned hypnotic pattern, designed to awaken the nascent personalities buried within the corrupted youths of Ghorstangrad, in particular- those who had been inducted within the ranks of the Emperor's swords.

These aspirants woke as if from a dream and fell upon their brother's with bolter and blade. Within a day, the chapter was shattered, the only survivors, those who's lives had been twisted and guided by the Alpha Legion for so many years. Most joined the legion, embracing the traitors as liberators, either ignorant of or simply ignoring the dichotomy of their lives.
Others broke off into smaller warbands, taking upon their own heraldry and plying the stars as piratical raiders or joining with a larger force on a distant war torn world.
It is from one of these splinter groups that The Deodand are thought to have been born.

Only a Sergeant at the time of the event that destroyed his chapter, Adehmar Tral was one of the Astartes who had been corrupted by the insiduous cyphers and triggers planted by the Alpha legion. In the wake of the schism, he openly rejected the offer to join an Alpha legion cell, instead, taking command of the Support Cruiser Comnenus Along with fifty of his fellow battle brothers and headed out into the void.

Tral and his brothers spent the next few years as so many renegade elements do, engaging in piratical raids of minor Imperial backwaters and terrorising interstellar shipping lanes. As his company began to suffer losses, it seemed that Adhemar's rebellious little element would soon be lost to memory- an insignificant footnote within the long history of an uncaring universe. However, that was all about to change upon the surface of the planet Styx.

Styx and the many truths.

Styx was a little known Administratum world out towards the eastern fringes of the galaxy. It's history had been one of unremarkable mass clerical servitude to Terra, up until M.40.675 when a mass of the planet's populace rose up in the name of the ruinous powers. Pockets of chaos cultists began blasphemous rituals across the planet's surface, sacrificing loyal Administratum adepts in their thousands, soaking the ground with vitae in order to appease their unearthly masters.

The uprising soon came to the attention of Dark apostle Jeremarkus Kreed of the Word Bearers legion. Tearing into real space above Styx, he descended to the planet with his company, wishing to see with his own eyes, this display of supreme faith.
The planet's surface burned with the fires of conflict as isolated pockets of PDF troops and loyal adepts fought a desperate war to hold back the insidious enemy forces. Soon the conflict brought other war bands to Styx, their vessels seemingly drawn to the burning world as if to a lodestone. One such vessel was the Comnenus.

Adhemar Tral and his band joined in the conflict, slaughtering hundreds of the resisting imperials before they joined up with Kreed and his company. Beneath the fires of a colossal hive city, Tral and his Astartes observed the dark rituals performed by the brothers of Lorgar's legion as they carved subtle sigils and patterns within the ruined foundations of the city. The ritual ripped a tear in real space, expelling a flood of daemons onto the surface. Tral watched, rapt as the shimmering, incorporeal forces descended upon the populace, their chitters and howls carrying on the night air.

Adhemar petitioned the Apostle for the knowledge that he possessed. Kreed was wary, for Tral's legion seemed reluctant to embrace the cult of undivided as wholly as his own brothers and yet he sensed a great hunger within the young warrior, a trait he shared with Kreed's primarch, the Urizen. As the planet around them shuddered in it's death throes, Adhemar learned of chaos and the many rituals that could be used to harness it's power. Though this knowledge was bountiful and gleefully lapped up by the young Astartes, the Dark Apostle was carefully to with hold a great deal of knowledge, reasoning that such power was the reserve of only the extremely devout.

Nevertheless, the Comnenus Left orbit of Styx, filled with transformed warriors. Adhemar could no longer be content with pitiful raiding activities; his eyes had been opened to Chaos and the influence it had over every living thing in the universe.
The revelation was staggering, for most of his life he had been raised under the belief that the God Emperor of mankind saw and influenced everything. Now that lie was shattered completely as he saw the face of true omnipotence. For weeks, he ensconced himself within his chambers, poring over texts gifted to him by the Word Bearers, opening his mind to universal truths. He saw the tendrils of chaos and the way they seeped into the fabric of everything and everyone. His mind flared with symbols and patterns that repeated endlessly throughout thousands of civilisations and histories.

Cadizky and the universal pattern.

Enlightened, Adhemar brought these new truths to outlying Imperial worlds, falling upon the populace with terrible fury and a cold purpose. Often latching on to other warbands, the would revel in the destruction being wrought. In the wake of these conflagrations, Tral and his Astartes would practise the rites shown to them by Lorgar's legion, scarring landscapes with beautiful, unholy symbols.

Adhemar found his hunger for knowledge far from abated by the scraps that he had been fed by the Word Bearer's apostle. In order to abate this need, he split his Astartes into several smaller cells, sending them from the Comnenus and attaching them to the warbands of other warlords. Casting his net wide, Tral began the search for other arcane knowledge.

The most defining discovery of the war band to date is the trove of texts and schematics uncovered aboard the space hulk designated Purgation's reach. Adhemar and the warriors that remained with him on the Comnenus, boarded the twisted conglomeration of vessels, fighting their way through the labyrinthine corridors, purging the twisted mass of Ork lootas and Tyranid bio forms that still thrived within the hulk. Though primarily a boarding action intended to scavenge for armour and other materials of war, Tral and his Astartes happened upon a chest in the upper reaches of the vessel, a rune and chain bound box that thrummed with power.
A cursory inspection revealed that this section of the hulk was in fact the bastardised remnants of an ancient chaos cruiser. Ordering his men back to the Comnenus, Adhemar returned with the chest.

Inside, the chest contained reams of texts ranging from mere cantrips to instructions for creating a continent sized warp gates. Tral absorbed this information greedily, hoarding it with all the other acquired texts, It seemed he had collated all of the lore acquired from the hulk until he happened upon an unassuming roll of papers at the bottom of the chest. Unfurling them, he saw that they were a series of notes and blueprints for grand constructs. Reading curiously, Adhemar discovered that they were in fact blueprints by the infamous heretical architect Theodor Cadizsky. (INQUISITOR'S NOTE- SEE REF. Eustis Majoris.). Each design contained complex lines and shapes that harnessed the power of the warp, aligning it's destructive potential on a grand scale. Cadizsky had faced censure by the inquisition centuries before and all of his works had believed to have been seized and destroyed. Such a cache of knowledge was an unprecedented prize and a boon to Adhemar's quest for learning.

Within Cadizsky's notes, the architect had also made mention of smaller artefacts that could be used in minor alignments for either small scale daemonic incursions or as part of a grander mesh of symbols and patterns (such as with the blueprints). Cadizsky cited that objects that were the cause of a death were of particular potency. He called these Deodands and theorised that the psychic potential held within in these could power a ruinous ritual of unprecedented scale.

Adhemar immediately recalled the scattered elements of his warband together on board the Comnenus. In low orbit, in the shadow of an Imperial grave world, he enlightened his brothers of the knowledge he had acquired and of their new purpose- to bring about the grand cataclysm theorised by Cadizsky. The architect had written that should one gather enough elements of psychic potential and placed them in the correct matter, that theoretically it would be possible to align all of the chaotic elements throughout the galaxy, creating a vast net of warp power. Cadizsky called this the “Universal pattern” and Adhemar embraced it whole heartedly as his new cause. The brother's finally christened themselves, taking on the name of “The Deodand” in honour of the great treasures that they were to seek. Informally, Adhemar bestowed upon them the moniker of “The Emperor's death gift.” Vowing that by his great works, he would entrap the corpse god's realm within a nightmarish web.

Organisation

Since their split from the nascent elements of the Emperor's swords, The Deodand have mostly operated in small groups of fifty or so warriors scattered around the galaxy. The warband favour low key operations, normally operating in the shadow of a larger conflict containing multiple warbands of different legions. This allows The Deodand a modicum of freedom to undergo their more esoteric pursuits in the shadow of a larger conflagration.
As such, The Deodand favour infantry based forces with their armoured elements being kept largely concealed until needed. The bulk of a Deodand warband consists of squads of veteran Astartes who are skilled in infiltrating enemy positions. This specialisation has made their warriors sought after in theatres where large enemy armour deployment is expected.

In honour of the teachings gifted to them by the Word Bearer's legion, The Deodand occasionally harness the power of summoned daemons on the battlefield, though their ability is far eclipsed by the brethren of Lorgar's legion and as such, summonings are only undertaken by The Deodand in larger scale engagements.

The Terminator elite of the warband refer to themselves as “The gift” and seem to play the role of bodyguard to Adhemar Tral. “The
Gift” prefer assault based weaponry. Eschewing the mid range support weaponry at their disposal.

Adhemar Tral still controls the warband, though throughout the centuries he has gathered a cadre of lieutenants around him. Nominally, these lieutenants control the cells of Deodand Astartes that are spread throughout the galaxy.
In organisational terms, The Deodand appear to emulate the Word Bearers in that it's commanders are similar to the acolytes and apostles of that legion. However, it should be noted that the focus of these commanders is to foster the intellectual and martial nature of their troops, as opposed to the spiritual. It Is these lieutenants who have provisional custody of any relics uncovered by their cells until the warband gathers together, at which time, they are handed over to Adhemar and placed within his chambers on board the Comnenus.

Though the original number of Adhemar Tral's warband was around Fifty Astartes, The Deodand's ranks have been swollen by recruits from various renegade chapters. Tral maintains a welcoming attitude, openly encouraging those Astartes of a particularly inquisitive nature to join his ranks, promising them enlightenment and a wealth of knowledge. Despite their split after the fall of Ghorstangrad, in recent years, Tral has sought to foster ties with the Alpha Legion. These has led to an influx of recruits from worlds that have been corrupted in a similar manner to Ghorstengrad.
Of course, the wandering Fabius Bile has added his cloned Astartes to the ranks of The Deodand, in exchange for a number of increasingly esoteric rewards.

The Deodand has remained largely fleet based since it's creation, the nature of it's mission benefiting from a greater freedom of movement. However, within the Eye of terror, Adhemar Tral has begun to cultivate a vast library for his collected relics upon the blasted surface of an ancient eldar maiden world. This desolate orb also acts as the place of gathering when the Warband meets every 30 years to collect it's gathered artifacts.

Central operations of the warband are linked to the vessel Comnenus. Though originally a support class vessel, the ship has since subsumed bastardised elements from destroyed enemy ships as well as having benefitted from enhancements made by Dark Mechanicum forces, in exchange for any information the warband uncovers pertaining to lost technology. This has increased the Comnenus' Tonnage considerably, reports making her just shy of a battle barge.

The rest of the warband consists of several smaller vessels. Whilst still possessing of the firepower customary of Astarte's vessels, the strength of these ships lie in their speed. Deodand doctrine dictates that their vessels are usually held in orbit, hidden from larger fleet elements, allowing the Astartes to perform their work in secret.
Whilst if gathered In one place, The Deodand would possess a larger fleet element than most legions, the proliferation of smaller vessels means that they are lacking in heavy firepower.

[Pavement Artist]

Bumpage in hopes for any comments or criticism.

[Pavement Artist]

Come on folks, no comments?

[Arkangilos]

I'll read it when I get back, so don't give up hope :)

[Pavement Artist]

You're a gent :)

[Arkangilos]

It sounds good :).

You got the Alpha Legion's tactics down, and I like the modelling off of the Word Bearers.

 

Do they favor any of the Gods? Or do they favor them all equally?

Do they have many mutations?

Do they "worship" the gods? Or seek to use them as tools as many others do?

 

I would like to see a beliefs section. If you look at one of my chapters, the Unholy Chosen, somewhere on the second or third page, you can sort of see an example from my traitors beliefs. If you so choose.

[Pavement Artist]

Thanks Telancius.

 

1.) They dont favour any particular God. They follow chaos in its undivided form. I see it as being a much abstract force for them. They're much more interested in how the power of Chaos as a whole pervades the fabric of the material world, hence their fascination with relics and occult patterns. Worship of one particular deity would just be a dilution of that concept for them. I doubt itd interest them that much to slave themselves to Tzeentch or Nurgle exclusively.

 

2.) They will have possessed as part of their force. Im going to make these Marines who give themselves up to binding rituals found in the materials that the chapter uncover. The idea being that each single possesed marine is the result of a completely different ritual, be it from arcane tattoos or a larger ritual based on the alignment of an entire city.

 

3.) Its a bit of a weird middle ground (stupidly non commital i know sorry). They have the pragmatic ethos of the Alpha legion in that they dont see any value in being beholden to one tactical trait but on the flip side, there is an undeniable allure with these occult items that drive them. They dont dismiss the God's outright as part of the Night lords may have, but they do have a fascination with chaos in a way that could be argued as a religious fervour. Again, chaos is more of a mercurial force of nature to them and what interests them is how it interacts and constantly filters through into our universe.

 

Thanks for the comments anyway!

[Arkangilos]

No problem.

All of those answers you gave should have a way to fit into your IA. It would fit well under a beliefs section, which would explain those answers before any of the questions are asked.

[Pavement Artist]

Good idea sir, shall make amendments.

[JaM_TW]

Looks good to me too. Interesting at least, it's always good to see an I:T in this forum.

[Pavement Artist]

It's always baffled me that there arent more. Just seems theres so much more creative scope with a chaos legion.

[Arkangilos]

Like mine who wear flesh. Did you read mine?