The Crimson Shades

[Valkyrion]

Origins:

The origins of the Crimson Shades are theorised to date back to the latter part of the 36th Millennium or the early years of the 37th, although their exact founding is unclear. All that is known of the chapters early history is orders to quell a rebellion on the world of Orphian Secundus issued 293.M37.

Within days of arriving, a warp storm of immense proportions hit the world and for three thousand years Orphian Secundus was engulfed by the warp.

In 001.M38, the Bell of Lost Souls tolled a thousand times and the Crimson Shades were declared lost.

 

On the surface of the planet, the Crimson Shades fought back to back with the Orphian PDF against a tide of daemons, but could not gain a foothold. Slowly but surely the defenders were pushed back and rallied at the most defensible part of the planet; Hive Calatalcus.

Every man, woman and child who could hold a gun took up arms against the horde as the Crimson Shades conducted hit and run attacks against the most dangerous foes.

From the relative safety of space, the chapter was able to conduct orbital bombardments and supply drops, but ammunition was starting to run low.

Suddenly, the attacks on the surface stopped, but so to had the supply drops. Contact with the fleet had been lost. Over the next few nights dozens of explosions lit up the night sky, the tell tale signs of a ships destruction.

 

The daemonic horde seemed to treble in size and threw itself against the walls of the Hive. Casualties mounted and ammunition ran low until rumours began to circulate amongst the PDF of a growing force in the north, the indigenous tribesmen of the deserts seemingly able to will the daemons out of existence.

Initially dismissed by the space marines as little more than hopeful fantasy, the campaign for the chapter to locate this miracle grew louder and louder.

Eventually, and against chapter orders, Codicier Vermalean took a Land Speeder and headed of to the north.

 

Vermalean witnessed what he would later describe as the Emperor’s Will made manifest. Barely a hundred unarmed people, many of them children, were holding back a thousand strong horde of daemons. Some were chanting their enemies destruction, others fought with the fury of the Emperor himself whilst more still seemed to harness the power of the warp against its own children.

Vermalean could feel his own power surging through him in the presence of the tribesmen and joined with the psychic torrent. Finding himself in the midst of the tribesmen he felt their hands grasp at his armour. Without reason, Vermalean handed his Force Stave to a young boy who held it up to the sky.

Time seemed to stand still as the energy of the tribe was channelled through the Force weapon before erupting in an explosion of massive psychic force.

As Vermalean blinked away the blinding light he thought he saw a figure in golden armour silhouetting the young boy. All of the daemons were gone.

 

The war continued for another three thousand years with the chapter forced to recruit from amongst the hivers and reduced almost to a purely close combat force as ammunition ran out. Their main defence against the daemons now came from the chapter Librarium, with Vermalean successfully campaigning for the recruitment of the youngest of the tribesmen into the chapter under his command and tutelage.

 

Ultimately, the war was won not by bolter or blade, but by the fickle nature of chaos. In 893.M40, three and half thousand years after it first commenced, the warp storm abated, taking with it the entire daemonic force.

[Ace Debonair]

Interesting, but it's what happens after the war that is the important part.

 

What effect did disappearing for so long and learning to rely heavily on librarians/melee tactics have on the Chapter in the long run? ^_^

[Valkyrion]

I think that might depend on the answer to this Inquisition related question;

 

SM Chapter spends three thousand years on (pretty much) a daemon world.

Daemons gone.

Chapter no doubt tested and found pure.

 

What happens to the planet and the people? If the chapter tried hard enough, could it claim the world as their homeworld, or is it just going to be nuked?

Will the people be 'relocated' and new ignorant folk brought on world, if the planet is allowed to live?

[Valkyrion]

A couple of tidbits - like the boxed out mini articles in GW IA's which is like 'Chapter Master XXXXX' or 'XXXX World'.

 

The Tribe:

The Tribe were the original inhabitants of Orphian Secundus, stretching back thousands of years.

When the Imperium brought the planet under their control, the Tribe were simply ignored; neither numerous enough to pose a threat nor enlightened enough to embrace the Imperium.

Slowly, as the world was given over to industry and Hives erupted from the surface, the Tribe migrated to the near uninhabitable north, a massive, lifeless desert under the constant heat of the sun.

Prior to the daemonic invasion, the Tribe were a primitive people, unclothed and without a discernible language, using tools fashioned from stone to hunt, but all that was to change.

 

By the time Codicier Vermalean encountered the Tribe for the first time, the Tribe had manifested incredible psychic powers and had seemingly mastered the Imperial tongue over night.

The Tribe allowed themselves to be studied by the Librarian, with the Elder, a man called Abimel, claiming 'Yesterday we knew not of your Emperor, today we are Him.'

 

Cries of daemonic influence were quickly silenced by the Librarian and the Tribe willingly allowed the Chaplains and Apothecaries to conduct any necessary tests.

Seemingly free of taint, the Tribe ably supported the chapter until Vermalean successfully petitioned for the recruitment of the youngest into the chapter.

 

 

Codicier Vermalean and the Revelation Daemonicum:

Codicier Vermalean, though outranked by no less than thirteen individuals at the time of his death, is widely regarded as the single most important individual in the chapter’s history.

It is he that discovered the Tribe and it is he that reorganised the Librarium with the addition of the Tribe.

Though his power was weak compared to both his superiors and the newly inducted Tribe, his determination and enthusiasm to both forge a new history for his chapter and rediscover the past would shape the entire chapter in the years to come.

 

Almost a century after the discovery of the Tribe, Vermalean lay mortally wounded. In the next six days of his life, together with the members of the Tribe that had been inducted into the chapter, Vermalean wrote the Revelation Daemonicum, a tome listing the 1083 daemons he believed responsible for the destruction of the chapters Battle Barge and all recorded history of the chapter.

In the years that followed, the Reveltion Daemonicum would play an increasingly important role in shaping the chapters future as the need to rediscover their identity would soon become all consuming.

[Valkyrion]

Ignore me all you want, I'm gonna keep writing here... :lol:

 

 

Organisation:

The Crimson Shades broadly follow the chapter organisation laid out in the Codex Astartes, though often with a slightly heavier emphasis on bike or land speeder squadrons in place of traditional tactical or assault squads.

 

The most obvious difference in organisation is the chapters Librarium.

Officially replacing the 6th Company, the Librarium operates as a dedicated battle company in its own right, rather than a separate entity of individuals that are appointed to the battle companies.

The commander of the Librarium is always the Chief Librarian and the company contains all ranks from Chief Librarian down to Acolytum. Usually arranged in units of five, squads of Acolytum take to the field under the charge of a Lexicanium, whilst Codiciers take charge of terminator armoured Lexicanium. Once an Acolytum has reached the rank of Codicier or Epistolary he may then be sent to serve with a battle company.

The Librarium is an autonomous unit within the chapter organisation and the Librarians within are intensely stern individuals, aloof and above their brothers in all respects. When elements of the Librarium take to the field with the battle companies the tension is often palpable, the battle brothers recoiling from the intensity of their psychic brethren.

The Librarium has no say in chapter command and cannot be commanded of, though when the Chief Librarian calls for war, the Chapter Master invariably listens.

 

Another noteworthy difference that stems from the war on Orphian Secundus is that the commander of the 2nd Company is always the Master of Sanctity. Although in theory the company is organised as a standard battle company, in reality it is much more assault oriented and elevation to the company is conducted by the Chaplains within the rest of the companies who notice those individuals who fight as though the Emperor’s life depended on it.

 

 

 

Beliefs:

The beliefs of the Crimson Shades share much in common with many space marine chapters in that they do not revere the Emperor as a god, but as the most powerful man to have lived.

Unlike other chapters, however, the Crimson Shades believe that the Emperor is leading humanity to full psychic awakening and that through the Emperor’s touch mankind will finally evolve into a fully psychic race, though the only evidence of this is the manifestation of psychic powers within the Tribe.

 

Similarly, the chapter believes that through the Librarium, the Emperor is guiding the chapter to its final revelation when the truth of their past will be revealed.

Whilst it is the responsibility of the Librarium to locate the daemons listed within the Revelation Daemonicum, it is the duty of the Chaplains to record and detail the information garnered from the banished daemons.

 

 

 

Geneseed:

The geneseed of the Crimson Shades is remarkably stable. Even after prolonged exposure to the warp the chapter passed all tests the Inquisition could conduct without the slightest hint of mental or physical degradation.

Whether or not it could be considered a flaw is questionable, but the chapter as a whole seems to experience uncanny good fortune when travelling through the warp where even the most troublesome routes are traversed without incident or delay even whilst other vessels accompanying the chapter on the same routes experience delay.

Outwardly the chapter claims ignorance, citing the skills of their navigators, but inwardly the chapter knows they are guided by the hand of the Emperor.

[Ace Debonair]

I think that might depend on the answer to this Inquisition related question;

 

SM Chapter spends three thousand years on (pretty much) a daemon world.

Daemons gone.

Chapter no doubt tested and found pure.

 

What happens to the planet and the people? If the chapter tried hard enough, could it claim the world as their homeworld, or is it just going to be nuked?

Will the people be 'relocated' and new ignorant folk brought on world, if the planet is allowed to live?

 

Good question. I think the right answer in this case is: Depends on what you feel would give your Chapter the most character.

 

If you really want it to make an impact, then the choice could be viewed as either fighting a long, political game for the sake of a planet that will never truly be free of the threat of exterminatus if the Chapter is seen to put a foot wrong, or watching as the world they fought so long and so hard to protect getting vaporized before their eyes.

 

Also, just because I'm busy doesn't mean I'm ingoring you. ^_^