IA: Bronze Revenants [W.I.P.]

[Venerable Sarmech]

This is my first IA, second draft. Hoping my edits improved what I already have, and still looking for more feedback!

 

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http://i.imgur.com/SxVN8.jpgCHAPTER NAME: ..............THE BRONZE REVENANTS

FOUNDING: ..................17_TH [M.35]

CHAPTER WORLD: .............NEOZEPT

FORTRESS MONASTERY: ........ETERNAL VOCATION

GENE-SEED (PREDECESSOR): ...IRON HANDS

ASSIGNMENT:.................ASTARTES PRAESES

SPECIALTY:..................BIONICS, MAJOR DEATHWATCH CONTRIBUTOR

STRENGTH:...................APPROX. 650 IN 999.41M

KNOWN DESCENDANTS: .........N/A

 

 

 

 

 

"Eliminate Weakness! Earn Your Redemption!"

 

 

R

ighteous fury and guilt over the tragic events which occurred during their founding, the Bronze Revenants have been fighting for millennia to rid themselves of the stigma. Overburdened with shame, these zealous warriors will stop at nothing to redeem themselves in the eyes of the Emperor. However, this obsession has at times led them into conflict not only with other Imperial forces, but within their own ranks as well.

 

 

Origins

Late in the 34th millennium, a Black Templar crusade fleet was in pursuit of a fleeing Ork war band that made planet fall on a desolate, nearly inhospitable death world called Neozept. Much to their surprise, they found that the world they had stumbled upon did in fact have a human habitation. During their engagements with the Orks, the Black Templar discovered that the natives of the world were willingly using the primitive weapons they had to fight against the Ork menace as well, with a ferocity that impressed the crusaders.

 

Once the Oks had been eliminated, the Black Templar had every intention of establishing a chapter keep on the world, because they recognized the potential that recruits from the death world would become excellent space marines. They were however, denied the privilege. In a unique event in the Black Templar’s history, they were prevented from establishing a chapter keep on the world because the High Lords of Terra themselves had requisitioned Neozept to become a chapter home world for a new Astartes Praeses chapter of space marines during the 17th founding. Furthermore, in what the Black Templar consider to this day as an insult to their honour, the new chapter would not be founded with the gene seed of their own Primarch, Rogal Dorn, but rather that of Ferrus Manus.

 

During the following decades of the establishment of the chapter, the people of Neozept came to learn about the wider Imperium. This had a curious effect on the people of Neozept. Prior to the arrival of the Black Templar they had no knowledge of the Imperium, and in fact did not even realise humans lived on other worlds. As such they were overcome with shame, in that they had forgotten the Emperor and his domains, let alone the rest of humanity.

 

 

The Darisian Treachery

Nearing the completion of the chapter’s founding, one particular marine was initiated that will be forever damned in the hearts of every Bronze Revenant. His name was Daris Yu-Vastor, and he was the first, and only, Librarian in the chapter’s history. Daris was recruited into the chapter primarily because he was a potent psyker, in fact the only one found on all of Neozept at the time. Unbeknownst to chapter recruiters, Daris had been hearing whispers in his head from daemonkind, promising him all manner of treasures for his allegiance.

 

After becoming initiated, he sought out and convinced an entire company worth of marines through his psykic machinations that the Imperium had actually abandoned Neozept and its people to the wretched death world, and now that they were space marines, they could take their revenge through a heinous act: construct and open Warp Gate on the surface of Neozept. Secretly, Daris and the members of his cadre did just that. They opened a warp gate, and allowed horrors of the warp itself to stream forth onto their home world. The Bronze Revenants were caught completely blind-sided. Since they were still in the process of founding their chapter, they had yet to engage in anything other than small scale battles, and were ill prepared for a full scale invasion. They fought the unstoppable tide with ferocious zeal and desperate urgency, but it was of little use against the Daemonic onslaught.

 

They were not without hope though, as once again the Black Templar joined them side by side on the battlefield. With renewed vigour that only reinforcements from unasked, unexpected but fully desired sources can provide, the fledgling chapter and the crusading “war gods” systematically destroyed the warp gate and cleansed all daemonic fiends on the planet, alongside most of their traitorous brethren. Not without a catastrophic price however. The Bronze Revenants had at best estimates just barely 600 marines in the chapter at the time. The invasion claimed the vast majority of the chapter’s forces, leaving them with less than 200. Amoung the dead included all but one of the detachment of Iron Hands marines assigned to train the chapter, and Iron Father Sarmech had been severely wounded to the point that he was placed within the confines of a Dreadnaught, the first in the Chapter. As if these losses were not significant enough, the instigator of it all, Daris Yu-Vastor, escaped from righteous justice through the warp gate prior to its destruction.

 

The Black Templar proceeded to provide veterans of their own to help guide and train the young chapter back to strength. Regardless how insulted the Black Templar were that the Bronze Revenants were not members of their own chapter, they nevertheless felt obliged to aid them, and became unofficial patrons of the Bronze Revenants. This arrangement would very quickly be tested, as members of the Inquisition would arrive to examine Neozept and the Bronze Revenants for any lingering traces of Chaotic taint, and if necessary, declare the chapter Excommunicate Traitoris. The Black Templar were vehement in their defence of the Bronze Revenants, but it was the Revenants themselves who stymied the Inquisition’s threat. Iron Father Sarmech, now acting as the Chapter Master within his Dreadnaught, pledged that forever more the Bronze Revenants would at all times dedicate an entire company’s worth of marines to the Deathwatch, as an act of penance. This was satisfactory to the Inquisition and the arrangement has never been broken.

 

 

Home World

The Bronze Revenants call Neozept their home, and house their Fortress Monastery, "Eternal Vocation", on the surface. All recruits for the chapter are drawn from the nomadic tribes which are scattered across the nearly uninhabitable landscape of the planet. It is found near the Eye of Terror in the Segmentum Obscurus, giving the chapter a strategic base of operations for fulfilling their duties as a member of the Astartes Praeses.

 

Neozept for all intents and purposes is a death world. For starters, the atmosphere of the planet is just barely adequate to sustain human life, and the entire world is covered in dense fog. There are constantly massive lightning storms all over the planet. The majority of the surface is one endless desert, though there are massive oceans as well. The water in these oceans is contaminated with a virulent toxin only found on Neozept, which causes the drinker to become paralysed, hallucinate, and have internal organ degradation, and in some cases even death.

Daris Yu-Vastor

Ever since he and his band of renegades commited high treason, Daris and his small retinue of marines that survived have constantly been a thorn in their side. Now imbued with the power of Chaos, these ageless warriors have intervened in several theaters of war that the Bronze Revenants have been engaged in. Rarely attempting to fight the Revenants head on, Daris has instead opted to deny them whatever objective they happened to be pursuing, be it the recovery of an important artifact, the protection of prominent individuals, and sometimes even saving an Imperial world from destruction.

It can take weeks for a victim to recover from the toxin, if at all.

 

For the non-human life on the world, there is relatively little that doesn’t pose a threat in some way to humans. Nearly all the plant life is carnivorous, and some species, such as the ‘Wretched Coil’, have been known to consume humans’ whole. Animal life is not exempt from the threat posed to humans as well, as the vast majority of the indigenous species on the world are capable of generating electric fields, both for protection and hunting, and some species produce electric fields powerful enough to kill humans, with the two most prominent examples being the ‘Gurilk’ and ‘Eon Serpent’. Combined with all this, the soil on Neozept is unsuited for any sort of farming, making agriculture an extremely taxing endeavour, and thus food supplies are not readily available.

 

It is unknown when, why or even how Neozept was initially colonised. The earliest known records of any kind in regards to the planet being inhabited came from the Black Templar task-force initially making planet fall. It can be theorized that Neozept may have been a lost colony established by an errant, forgotten Rogue Trader. Even still it could have potentially been outcasts from Imperial society, fleeing to the stars to avoid righteous persecution. Perhaps still the world was colonized even before the Age of the Imperium itself, and was simply passed over during the Great Crusade.

 

 

Recruitment

The recruitment practices of the Bronze Revenants are to an extent abnormal. As stated before they draw all their recruits from their home world of Neozept. One practice gleaned from the Iron Hands is that upon joining the ranks of their battle-brothers, every new recruit into the Chapter has their right hand replaced with a cybernetic in honour of Ferrus Manus. Since they dispise weakness like their forefathers, they Bronze Revenants are particularly strict in their recruitment procedures, and very few new recruits actually become full fledged marines. If recruits have managed to garner enough experience to become an Initiate, they are sent to serve in the Deathwatch for at least one full campaign before returning to Neozept. In this way the chapter has become a premiere contributor to the Deathwatch, and the Bronze Revenants have subsequently earned the distinction of being the only chapter in the Imperium to have had all their Initiates and higher ranked marines serve in the Deathwatch. However, due to the Bronze Revenants drawing recruits from only one world, and having particularly stringent recruitment measures, they take significantly longer than most chapters to replace their losses.

 

 

Beliefs

The distinctive beliefs of the Bronze Revenants, even if they are derived from their founding chapter, the Iron Hands, or their patrons, the Black Templar, are all focused around and amplified by their overbearing shame. The Shame is a mournful belief shared by all Bronze Revenants over their tragic beginnings, one which they hope to one day be rid of through service to Emperor. It was their Shame that prompted them to prostrate themselves to the Inquisition, and forever dedicate an entire company of battle brothers to the Deathwatch at all times. Their Shame however has led to them to fight almost out of desperation on the battlefield, for they feel that fighting against the enemies of the Imperium with anything less than everything they have is akin to heresy.

 

Their Shame also means they fully accepted their inherited beliefs from the Iron Hands that flesh is weak, and subsequently have dedicated themselves to purging all of their superhuman flesh to be replaced by incorruptible metal. As such they revere the Omnissiah as well, as prompted by their Shame, meaning that they feel through purging themselves of flesh, they will never again befall the weakness of it and turn from the Emperors light.

The 13th Black Crusade

The Bronze Revenants were notably absent during the latest invasion of Chaos forces coming from the Eye of Terror. The reason being was that simultaneously a world within Neozept’s star system was discovered to be a newly awakening Necron Tomb World. Subsequently, the entire chapter was deployed to fight against the rising Xenos threat, and eventually the Revenants were forced to use Extreminatus against the world. As a result of the campaign, the Bronze Revenants lost the entirety of their 2nd, 6th, and 7th companies, and retreated back to Neozept to recover their losses

Their Shame may be central to their beliefs, but their Rage is unnerving. Now whenever they witness others succumb to what they deem “The Great Weakness”, they turn into zealots of uncontrollable rage. Whenever Chaotic taint is present in an enemy force, the Bronze Revenants have been noted as being unable to maintain disciplined ranks and simply throw themselves at their enemies in a maelstrom of fury. This trait has on more than one occasion cost them dearly, but at the same time the Bronze Revenants have never left a battlefield with heretics and traitors still breathing. Here the Revenants inherited from the Black Templar an unwavering hatred of psykers, alongside of course the disastrous consequences of fielding one of their own, and now outright refuse to field Librarians in the chapter at all.

 

The Chapter worships the Emperor and the Omnissiah as gods, and Ferrus Manus as their Primarch. Some segments within the chapter have even taken to venerating Rogal Dorn, the Primarch of the Black Templar. This practice is not universally accepted and at times has even brought about violent clashes between members of the chapter. The fact they believe in the Emperor as a God, and the Omnissiah as well, has prompted other chapters to look down on the Revenants.

 

In regards to the Codex Astartes the chapter also venerates the text, but there are significant arguments over this as well. Since the Bronze Revenants were founded by the Iron Hands, and also granted patronage of the Black Templar, both chapters known for not being strict adherents to the Codex, the Bronze Revenants are divided over their reverence for the text. One philosophical faction within the chapter feels they should emulate their founders more, in an attempt to replicate their strength, zeal, and success. Whereas another faction argues that even more deviation will simply lead them further from the Emperor’s will, and as such result in heresy.

 

 

Organization

The Bronze Revenants deviate from the Codex Astartes in some notable, yet minor ways. First, they inherited and continue the practice of using a specialised role that combines both Chaplain and Techmarine, known within the Chapter as “Bronze Father”. However, unlike the Iron Hands, they still make use of Chaplains and infact will only allow a Bronze father to be promoted once a marine is fully qualified to serve as both a Chaplain and a Techmarine.

 

Next, on the eve of battle the Bronze Revenant’s have been known to anoint an Emperor’s Champion, a practice undoubtedly derived from the patronage of the Black Templar. In addition, due to their own history and relation with the Black Templar, the Bronze Revenants refuse to field Librarians, or even side with armies that field psykers of their own.

 

Finally, what would usually constitute the 9th company in any other chapter of marines is not present in the Bronze Revenants. Instead, they dub these marines “Penitents”, and there is a full company’s worth of marines always serving in the Deathwatch.

 

 

Combat Doctrine

Unlike other aspects of the chapter, there is little of note in regards to how the Bronze Revenants fight. Granted, whenever they are faced with a Daemonic or traitorous threat they devolve from a well disciplined force into one of barbaric savagery. That being said, baring a tendency to fight with a lack of tactical sophistication, the Bronze Revenants adhere to the Codex Astartes in how they wage their wars.

 

 

Geneseed

The Bronze Revenants use the geneseed of the Iron Hands and thus revere Ferrus Manus as their Primarch. They have thus inherited their propensity to abhor weakness in all forms and attempt to eliminate it at all turns. In addition to this, the predisposition of the chapter to fall into a berserker rage when fighting against forces of Chaos has led to suspicion that their geneseed has mutated further. As of yet there are no definitive signs of this, but it could still be the case.

[Andrew J]

Hmmm.

 

Well I have a couple things. First off the chapter would not be infamous, most chapters are anonymous space marines just doing their duty, if an Imperial citizen were to hear of one it would probably be one of the original legions/founding chapters who gained fame during the heresy. GW chapters are famous, DIY chapters are not except for maybe their local space.

 

Next Daris would never have made it through training with this hidden agenda and having worked with the cultists. In fact if the Black Templars had found out about Chaos cultists they probably would have exterminated the whole population for being associated with them. I dont think they would have spared much of anything, being overly zealous and fanatical about xenos and chaos. Might have to think that one over a little more. I just cant get on board with that part.

 

Just my first couple of thoughts.

[Venerable Sarmech]

Hmmm.

 

Well I have a couple things. First off the chapter would not be infamous, most chapters are anonymous space marines just doing their duty, if an Imperial citizen were to hear of one it would probably be one of the original legions/founding chapters who gained fame during the heresy. GW chapters are famous, DIY chapters are not except for maybe their local space.

 

Here I was mainly trying to over emphasize the tragic beginnings of the chapter as being well known, but it is true DIY chapters are not. I'll reword it.

 

Next Daris would never have made it through training with this hidden agenda and having worked with the cultists. In fact if the Black Templars had found out about Chaos cultists they probably would have exterminated the whole population for being associated with them. I dont think they would have spared much of anything, being overly zealous and fanatical about xenos and chaos. Might have to think that one over a little more. I just cant get on board with that part.

 

Just my first couple of thoughts.

 

Alright. I'll try and rework it to make it fit. I think I'll just get rid of the cultist link entirely and give Daris a new motive.

 

All the changes I make will be highlighted in red so it'll be easy to notice without having to re-read the entire thing.

 

Thanks for your help.