Scorpion# Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Hi, I'm looking at designing my own chapter again as my previous effort ran out of steam and I lost focus on it. I'm trying to start from scratch and having read some of the Imperial Fists fluff I am interested in possibly having a chapter that recruits from Hive Worlds. However I am struggling to visualise how a chapter would be able to identify the juveniles that may make aspirants, purely as there would be millions/billions of them. how would they observe them, test them etc Can anyone advise? i am thinking along the lines of underground gladiator / fight clubs,but why would juveniles be fighting there? Would they have the strength etc? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I would say that you have to consider the two traditional forms of aspirant approval: Trial by combat and trial by endurance. So, for a trial by combat (the easiest to envision and the easiest to write about) you could go the route of aspirant vs aspirant or perhaps aspirant vs animal. Either way they would have to be monumental tasks that normally would have your average Imperial citizen run far, far away from. Perhaps a grand tourny every ten years or so with literally thousands whittled down to a few dozen? Or maybe few hundred pre-selected individuals prove their worth and defeat a peer before the eyes of their betters. Maybe there's a breed of beast in the underhives that is a prize worthy of ascension to marine-hood? As for trial by endurance; these contests traditionally involve the aspirants attempting to get to a pre-designated place (a fortress-monastery or a spaceport or somesuch) through environments and challenges which are simply very, very lethal. Maybe the fortress-monastery is situated deep in the ash wastes of your hiveworld or it's parked within treacherous sulphur fields. Whichever you choose, make sure the endeavour is suitably dangerous and impressive. :angry: Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2989209 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Something Wycked Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 In the Sons of Dorn novel, the Fists are shown recruiting from a Feudal world; they descend on a battlefield and scoop up all the warriors they can get their hands on. You could achieve something similar on your hive world, with the various hives at war with each other more often than not. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2989261 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun Grilled Bacon Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 hmm... Gang Wars - The chapter observes these, and recruits the best Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2989276 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorpion# Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 hmm... Gang Wars - The chapter observes these, and recruits the best How would the chapter observe these? I imagine the wars would take place in the depths of a hive city & mainly hidden from view. I imagine they would not welcome outsiders or would Chaplains be able to wander the underhives, talk to gangs etc? Would these make 10-14 yr olds tough enough for Space Marines? I'm liking the idea of a beast to hunt, I am currently thinking along the lines of: On the hive world in the long distant past a hive rebelled and was sacked, all that is left is the ruins in the middle of the ash wastes. In these ruins creatures have evolved, among them is the terrifying 'XXX' a hunter that stalks the ruins at night. The chapter have set the challenge that anybody who is able to travel across the fearsome ash wastes, to the abandoned hive city, kill the 'XXX' beast and then bring the head to the Chapters recruitment fortress-chapel located at the top of a mountain on the far side of the ash wastes will be chosen to join the chapter. Would that fit? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2989302 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I'm liking the idea of a beast to hunt, I am currently thinking along the lines of: On the hive world in the long distant past a hive rebelled and was sacked, all that is left is the ruins in the middle of the ash wastes. In these ruins creatures have evolved, among them is the terrifying 'XXX' a hunter that stalks the ruins at night. The chapter have set the challenge that anybody who is able to travel across the fearsome ash wastes, to the abandoned hive city, kill the 'XXX' beast and then bring the head to the Chapters recruitment fortress-chapel located at the top of a mountain on the far side of the ash wastes will be chosen to join the chapter. Would that fit? It's a decent thought. If I may expand upon that kernel of an idea: How about the beast being an albino species with a lack of eyes? (Can you tell I just saw a David Attenborough nature documentary? :sweat:) It'd make for a fearsome beastie with long antennas and a whitish hide, hunting by touch, sound and/or echo-location. Sound good? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2989327 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lysimachus Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I could see that working. It's the day to day life of gang fights, raiding into other gangs territory, etc, etc that would be the ongoing training ground, then as a final test of combat ability, endurance and the resolve needed to become a Marine you'd have the lost Hive. Side points: Cool idea Olisredan's had about the beasties, you could even maker them familiar to the aspirants in that every Hive has them but on a much much smaller scale, pests rather than terrors, but in the abandoned Hive they've become something more... Also, you could even make it that the Chapter has taken over the upper levels of the abandoned Hive themselves, so it is their Fortress Monastery. Brainstorming running away with me now but you could even make it part of their history that the Chapter's first mission was to end the rebellion centered around this Hive, that they were the ones originally responsible for emptying/ruining it and then afterwards someone thinks 'hmm, actually, this might be a good place to set up shop...' Edit: Just re-read what you said about the FM, that it's just a recruitment chapel thing on the planet. Still, I'd suggest making it within the Hive. That's a very epic image, of fighting your way all through the dilapidated ruins of the Hive, up and up, until you reach the very tip of the spire where you find an awesome gothic cathedral (perhaps manned by an ancient Chapter serf/retired Battle Brother). Very Grimdark. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2989627 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Something Wycked Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 That's a very epic image, of fighting your way all through the dilapidated ruins of the Hive, up and up, until you reach the very tip of the spire where you find an awesome gothic cathedral (perhaps manned by an ancient Chapter serf/retired Battle Brother). Very Grimdark. Beautiful. :D Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2989819 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorpion# Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Thanks for the ideas they are excellent! :D I was planning on having the chapter fleet based with this as their main recruitment world but I will have a re-thin,k the idea of the top of the hive being the Fortress Monastery is very appealing! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2989837 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I was planning on having the chapter fleet based with this as their main recruitment world but I will have a re-thin,k the idea of the top of the hive being the Fortress Monastery is very appealing! Well, they could have been fleet based before setting up shop - perhaps the whole hive/fortress-monastery thing only occurred a few hundred years ago, perhaps a millenia. I must say Lysimachus put forward some cracking ideas. Excellent suggestions, brother. :jaw: Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2989920 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew J Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I second Lysimachus on that! Novel good sir! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2990019 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destecado Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 It has long been suggested that the Cult of the Redemption might have affiliations with the Inquisition or the ecclisiarchy. Death cultists can also be found within the war bands of Inquisitors. What about your Space Marine chapter employing a gang to test or watch the various gangs and select candidates. You could borrow on the tropes of the Valkyries from Norse myth…and maybe that of the Amazons. I’m picturing a symbiotic relationship between the chapter and the female gang. One of the tests or traps along the road to becoming an aspirant could be giving into bodily delights. A marine must foreswear such pleasures. If an aspirant delves too deeply into such vices, they prove themselves vulnerable to the temptations of Slaanesh. The female gang / matriarchy undertakes this task because it benefits them as well. The space marines are seeking the best and purest recruits, who would also be the best potential mates for members of the matriarchy. They gain the benefit of strong breeders, without having to worry that they will stick around. Those who prove worthy will be moving on to advance in their training towards becoming Space Marines. The female children are kept by the matriarchy and the male children are given away to families in the underhive. Most aspirants may not even know that they have fathered children. They certainly do not know the sex. Having children would be a weakness for a Space marine. There is also the risk of bonds of blood conflicting with the filial bonds between battle brothers. Male infants must prove their worthiness to be counted among the company of the Space Marines. Even though a space marine does not know if he has a daughter or sister within the matriarchy, there is a special bond that each feels towards this female gang. The reason I suggest the use of a female gang rather than one that is mixed or all male, is because the females woulld have less to gain by impeding the advancement of a worthy aspirant. They can not become space marines themselves, unlike male gang members, who might try to invalidate candidates not from their own gang. The personifcation of justice (impartiality) is a blindfolded female figure holding a set of scales. The female gang would in a sence be the physical embodiment of Justitia, Maat, Isis, etc. How does this sound? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2990214 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kierdale Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 hmm... Gang Wars - The chapter observes these, and recruits the best Just an idea off the top of my head, but the Chapter could actually instigate gang wars in the lower levels of the hive(s). Send in their scouts `undercover`, posing as a new gang on the scene, causing a gang-war between the present gangs...and taking the cream of the survivors. Good training for the scouts, and provides new recuits. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2990312 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lysimachus Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I was planning on having the chapter fleet based with this as their main recruitment world but I will have a re-thin,k the idea of the top of the hive being the Fortress Monastery is very appealing! Actually, I wonder if fleet based would work better if you went with the dilapidated Hive thing. After all, if there is whole (massively heavy!) FM in the top of it, they can't let it become too ruined, simply from a structural and also defensive viewpoint. Not such an issue if it's just a recruiting chapel. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2990357 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leofric Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 The other option is to do it the way the Fire Angels (and many non-hiveworld chapters) do Namely hold a regular challenge/pit fight/gauntlet run every few years and scoop up the winners/survivors If there are multiple hives with no access to each other then you do a recruitment circuit, returning to the same hive every three years or so to get the next 'crop' of potential aspirants, if there is any chance of access from other hives, you just stay in the same place and it just adds to the aspirants challenge. If its not particularly lethal than it can be insinuated into the plantery customs/traditions as a rite of passage/test of manhood etc and the chapter just takes the highest scorers (this is how the Dark angels gained aspirants in the Angels of Darkness novel). If it is more lethal then the perceived reward can be actually getting out of the Hive and offworld totally - often a desirable concept to the denizens of a hive (nevermind that what awaits you is probably worse once you've left, the aspirants don't need to know that :) ) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2991433 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorpion# Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Just to check - what age are Space Marines normally recruited? I thought it was around 0-14, is that correct, or could they be older? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2991705 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destecado Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Just to check - what age are Space Marines normally recruited? I thought it was around 0-14, is that correct, or could they be older? I don't think that marines are recruited in utero. :P The age of recruitment would usually be around the onset of peuberty 10 or 12-14 years of age. There are however environmental and biological factors that delay its onset. Malnutrition, systemic disease, defects of the reproductive system affecting the release of testosterone, etc. You are talking about recruiting from the underhive, so these factors might come into play. I'm not saying that it will the same in every case, but chronological age might no longer be the best marker. There might be other tests involved to determine developemental age. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2991733 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olis Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Just to check - what age are Space Marines normally recruited? I thought it was around 0-14, is that correct, or could they be older? Considering the first three phases of implants can be put in between the ages of ten to fourteen, I'd say this would be the canon age bracket for recruitment. I would, however, speculate that the age at which recruits are picked up could be as low as, say, eight years Terran standard. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/246933-recruiting-on-hive-worlds/#findComment-2991934 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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