BlackRaptor93 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Hello B&C! I am back after a very long Hiatus with my first fully fledged attempt at an IA. Comments/suggestions welcome! History And Origins Eternal Marauders – to say that this is an official given by the members of the Warband themselves would be misleading. As far as Imperial records show, this was a name originated on the planet of Altus. Nowhere else in the eastern fringes is it used or referenced before 143.M40, a phenomenon that for many years baffled the Inquisitor (one Irellius Bane) who had taken interest in exactly who these ‘Eternal Marauders’ where. Little information could be at first gleaned from prior engagements, nothing that hinted at who or what they where or why this name was only found on Altus. Straight away the name was found to not belong to any sort of spiritual deity or previous inhabitants of Altus, at least not on face value. Locals did not know either, only speaking of ancient legends that surrounded them, and yet something about this unsettled the Inquisitor. It was only when Irellius dug deeper did he find the horrifying truth. It was during one of his expeditions into the great caverns that burrowed deep into Altus that he stumbled, quite by chance, upon a large sealed off cavern - hidden so well, in fact, that it was only due to an explosion meant to clear some debris that where blocking his route did Irellius find the side chamber. Inside it contained detailed cave drawings that dated back to when the planet was first colonised in M36. There, quite clearly identifiable despite the age, was a figure daubed in power armour, but it was difficult to tell the chapter it was from. It held a boltgun, and along with others of similar design, where mowing down what looked to be locals. As the reality sunk in, Irellius looked around. The same scene was copied, more or less, increasingly well done, all across the walls. From tribal to modern, the same thing had been repeated in regular intervals. What was perhaps most disturbing of all, however, was the same figure was popping up over and over again. And now Irellius realised he was looking upon the blasphemous figures of fallen Space Marines, and it looked to be the exact same group. It was impossible, it should have been, for it to be the same person, and yet it clearly was. He noted, too, that the drawings seemed to picture people being dragged away – dead or alive he could not tell – by the marines. Irellius fled the side cave and called in support from his ship to study the drawings. He had a very strong suspicion that these where the ‘Eternal Marauders’ so found in Altus legend. A group of traitors who had somehow kept coming back over the millennia, despite knowing full well the improbability of this – Space Marines simply did not live that long. It was when he once again ventured into the caves several days later than he would meet his untimely end. While exploring the side cavern once more, Irellius stumbled upon a second exit from the chamber, a side tunnel leading deeper into the crust. Not wanting to take any chances (and knowing full well that he should have reported back to the Inquisition, yet wished to explore further) he send a contingent of his personal guard – two squads of Storm troopers – down into the tunnel. From the Vox chatter, it became clear something was wrong. Some of the men began to whisper of a plan to ‘Make us One’ and to ‘Embrace The Meld’. The transmissions abruptly ended with sounds of lasfire and screaming. Irellius himself now decided to investigate. What he found, however, disturbed him to his very core – both squads had apparently massacred each other and then been fired upon by another source. The one survivor was mad, scrawling over the walls with the blood of his comrades. Irellius shot him dead, and before he could turn around was obliterated by a bolter shell that tore his chest out. With Irellius dead, his ship set off to leave system as fast as possible – whether down to a desire to share what has happened or cowardice it is not known – but found its path blocked by a massive asteroid like structure that spilled from the warp. It dwarfed the ship, and as the pilots desperately attempted to turn and open fire, a massive fanged maw opened in the rock’s side and promptly devoured the ship whole, before vanishing into the warp. As it was however, only the last few seconds where recorded by the satellites around Altus – many who later viewed it where left puzzled as to just what this clearly Daemonic thing was doing so far away from the Eye of Terror without any clear purpose. As it was, however, the event was pushed into the backburner, not least because Irellius Bane was not particularly liked among his peers for his unorthodox methods. Many years passed before reports of these ‘Marauders’ would surface again, this time in neighbouring systems. The first – and most well documented - attack thus far by the Marauders was heralded by many of the patients on the Medical station of Titana, suffering from dementia, in which they would attack others, whisper such phrases as 'They Are Coming' and perform extreme self mutilation. Worried it was down to some sort of mass infection, the medical staff aboard the Titana attempted a quarantine that was cut short by the arrival of a contingent of twenty Marauders – slipping unnoticed through the sensor fields using their large Asteroid – boarding the station. The exact details of the attack is not known, though the one survivor reported that it they brought with them large beasts made of multiple corpses that flailed and writhed and devoured all in their path. This lone survivor was executed for fear of being tainted by Chaos. Since this, the ‘Eternal Marauders’ have not been seen very much, although reports of similar events of madness have been reported on other small outposts and moons shortly before contact was lost. It is believed this Warband are responsible. Homeworld The Eternal Marauders operate from two distinct locations - although one remains hidden, the other is most often seen. The first is the large asteroid that is neither inanimate or alive; a fusion of Daemon and rock. It is known that this creature acts and transport for the Warband when they are raiding; what exactly is inside is not known. It is believed to have been tamed, not created, though again this is all conjecture. Indeed, it is entirely possible this 'sentient asteroid' is tamed in promise of devouring ships now and again - which also give the Marauders technological access they would have to risk men to get otherwise. The second is perhaps the most astounding; beneath the surface of Altus, far beyond sensor range nor chance of accidental discover within the millionth pesentile, are rows upon rows of statis chambers, in which the Warband are kept for extended periods of time, only awakening ever few hundred or thousand years. The reason for this is two fold; not only are the Marauders obsessed with finding immortality, but each one in turn suffers from a disorder from one of their organs that is slowly killing them - and so they must minimize time they spend in 'real space'. Exactly how old they are is not known because of this, but it is known the leader, one Katha Rallus, is at least five millennia - though most of this was spent asleep. It is believed that these stasis chambers are slowly beginning to break down, however, and have had the detrimental effect of reacting upon the Marine's advanced organs. This presents them with a problem, because while they wish to remain pure, the Stasis chambers are what have kept them alive for as long as they have without having to resort to lengths such as living solely inside the Eye of Terror, which would run the risk of possession and other such things they wish to avoid. Beliefs As noted before, the Eternal Marauders believe that at the very end of the universe, when everything ceases to be, a small group of the strongest in the galaxy will rise up to become the new creators; pathogens of a new millennia, while absorbing everything of the old universe. To be ready for this, they both take great lengths to improve their bodies and live to see this great occurrence - but whether they will have to take it one step further is yet to be seen. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/222648-ia-diabolical-the-eternal-marauders/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRaptor93 Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 Expanded reasons to Organ failure across the group; fleshed out beliefs, added a little in the history. C&C Welcome! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/222648-ia-diabolical-the-eternal-marauders/#findComment-2662345 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Scytha Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Like the name but I must say I can't help wondering if there exist part-time marauders too? ^_^ Two quick points. Having that planet colonized at M36 sounds a bit late. I could be wrong but most human colonization took place as I've understood it before the age of strife. It could have been repopulated at M36 though. As noted before, the Eternal Marauders believe that at the very end of the universe, when everything ceases to be, a small group of the strongest in the galaxy will rise up to become the new creators; pathogens of a new millennia, while absorbing everything of the old universe. To be ready for this, they both take great lengths to improve their bodies and live to see this great occurrence - but whether they will have to take it one step further is yet to be seen. This part sounds just weird. First of we're talking of the destruction of a universe and the creation of a new universe. Seeing how our own universe is 13.6 BILLIONS plus change years old, that's 13.600.000 millennia, just makes it kind of short sighted to just talking about millennia and not something far grander. Secondly, is it possible that you meant pantheon, a group of gods like the ones in Norse or Greek mythology, instead of pathogens, infectious agents? Still, making them pathogens viral carriers of disease is a rather novel idea how information and life could pass from one universe to another and very very nurgelish. I've always believed that Nurgle really is a fertility god. ;) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/222648-ia-diabolical-the-eternal-marauders/#findComment-2662403 Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRaptor93 Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 Thankyou for your reply, LS! Haha, there probably are! These guys are only part time... they get long lie-ins of a morning, thats for sure ;) I did mean Pantheons! Thank-you for correcting me - i thought something was wrong ^_^ A millennia is a little small, yes, i'll change it now! I should mention, Katha is really far far older than 5 millennia. He's one of the originals from the Emperor's Children from the HH, where he fled to ensure his own survival. He worships Slaanesh but does so in private, which is also partly why he wishes to create the perfect body. In fact, he has no plans to facilitate the others onto this new universe - he's going to (eventually) absorb them all into himself - and the planet - when he has the means. Which will of course cause the self destruction of the warband itself, but even so... Instant favor in the Gods Eyes. Actually he's facilitated plans to get tracked back to the world so he can take a few thousand extra souls with him. Indeed, i can see him having to balance between Slaanesh and Nurgle - albeit arch enemies but it will facilitate his plans. And unlike the others, he is going to eventually become a Daemon Prince to see him through to the new universe. After all, what good is a mortal body that could be destroyed? He's a grand schemer, who'd arguably be a better Tzeenchian for just how well he's tricked the others. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/222648-ia-diabolical-the-eternal-marauders/#findComment-2662412 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrata Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I like the idea but at the moment it feels confused and strange. I think this is mainly due to the two different methods taken in the article - at first we have it from the Imperial persepctive and not knowing anything. This is followed by sections from the bands perspective with deep knowledge and thinking about the Chapter. Then it is back to not knowing. You need to decide which one you want to do, whether you want to do it from an Imperial view with lots of conjecture, guess-work and we don't knows (they will need to know more then they know now). Or you do it from the band's perspective and you know everything about them. It depends on how much you have down about them. If you have the talent to write it well, but don't quite have all the details down, you could easily do it from an Inquisitors point of view. However, if you have lots down on paper, you will want to do it from the Marauders' point of view to ensure you can get it all across. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/222648-ia-diabolical-the-eternal-marauders/#findComment-2664726 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generating Random Name... Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Nice, one thing though: why is it an "IA Diabolical"? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/222648-ia-diabolical-the-eternal-marauders/#findComment-2664914 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrata Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Because an Index Diabolical (ID) would be stupid... Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/222648-ia-diabolical-the-eternal-marauders/#findComment-2664979 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heru Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Don't short hand the name to "the Marauders", there is already an official 2nd Founding (White Scar successor) Space Marine Chapter with that name. Many years passed before reports of these ‘Marauders’ would surface again In this bit though drop the captial M and simply make it 'marauders'. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/222648-ia-diabolical-the-eternal-marauders/#findComment-2665013 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generating Random Name... Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Because an Index Diabolical (ID) would be stupid... Doesn't sound too bad to me, but I'll trust your superior knowledge. I was only wondering because I'd never seen one before. *OP* who had taken interest in exactly who these ‘Eternal Marauders’ where just a little spelling mistake. Why do the "Eternal Marauders" surface occasionally, to "keep their hand in"? or appease their Chaos gods? GNR Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/222648-ia-diabolical-the-eternal-marauders/#findComment-2665491 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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