Persecutors, MK II

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

(Current heraldry is at bottom of post)

Edited the section on the scourge, as i wanted a flaw without being a Blood Angels facsimilie. I will be adding segemnts with major engagements, important characters, detail on individual structures within the chapter soon(ish), as well as fleshing out their relationship with the Inquisition.

Chapter Symbol is gauntlet clenching a demonic snake, like the one representing Horus

Persecutors

For 4 Millennia the Persecutors have devoted themselves to the deliverance of those Astartes who have turned from the Emperor’s light. Possessed of a remarkable resistance to the energies of the Warp that stems from a unique genetic trait found on the homeworld from which they recruit, they are renowned for their strict enforcement of Imperial Law wherever they go. Although their close links with the Inquisition would normally make other Imperial allies wary of them, their expertise in fighting Chaos Space Marines has garnered them a begrudging respect from any who have served alongside the Chapter.

Origins:

The Origins of the Persecutors are closely linked with a specific genetic divergence possessed by the populace from which their numbers are drawn. Halfway through M34, long-distance scanners that had been monitoring ongoing warp storm activity in a system to the Western edge of Segmentum Obscurus detected a rapid collapse in the Warp Storm’s structural integrity, until it eventually diminished into a small, low-energy Warp Rift close to the system’s sun. The system had been inaccessible for almost three centuries, and for the entirety of this period, contact with the system’s one inhabited planet had been impossible, all due to the nefarious energies radiated by the warp storm.

:)

“Alpha Legion units have retreated, and most of the heretic mob has been eliminated. Company casualties have been minimal, but consolidation actions have been limited by traps and countermeasures set up during the traitor withdrawal” Sergeant Nikeas paused, waiting for his Captain’s response.

“Alpha Legion deaths?” Lykos inquired, the setting sun glittering along the edges his resplendent Power Armour as he turned to face the sergeant.

“Less than originally estimated, evidence suggests the majority of their forces began their extraction as soon as our vessels entered the system, and only a small rearguard was left to cover their retreat, along with the traitor horde. Reviewed force estimates suggest that all remaining Alpha Legion operatives have been eliminated, but their guerrilla tactics reduced their casualties considerably, which is why their removal has taken much longer than would have been necessary conventionally.”

Lykos closed his eyes. Despite his training, as an Astartes and as a Persecutor, these treacherous fiends always found a way to survive, a way to escape. Even though his hatred for this foe was distilled from almost two centuries of bloodshed, he could not help but find a begrudging respect for some of his most wily of opponents.

He was startled from his reverie by the growl of engines, and turned to see an Aquila Shuttle approaching the spire’s landing apron. Whatever the fate of his renegade enemies, there was a corruption here he could deal with. Immediately.

As if reading his captain’s thoughts, Nikeas said cautiously: “Although the immediate threat has been removed, sir, the Alpha Legion was only able to mobilise such a large movement due to widespread criminality and corruption. Brothers within the Hive have been able to administer justice on an individual basis, but the problem is too deep rooted....I don’t like it. I’m not naive enough to think we can change this place, but my gut tells me something must be done.”

“You’re right Solon, It isn’t our place to try and manipulate this world, but I trust you – and your gut – enough to see the truth in your words. The hellfire of redemption will burn this place clean, but it is not your or my task. Let the Inquisition judge this planet, and do as they see fit.” Straton Lykos, Captain of the 4th turned away from his sergeant, gazing into the dark corridor created as the Shuttle’s boarding ramp descended. “However, brother, there is one small token of vindication to be reaped this day.”

“Forge-Brother, are the fleet vessels prepared for extraction?” Lykos inquired over his shoulder. Servos in his immense Artificer Armour hissing gently as he approached, Techmarine Barthandelos delivered his report in the emotionless style typical of his brotherhood. “Affirmative. Extraction craft are en-route and fleet ships are preparing for warp-jump. Further delay would be inadvisable.”

“Noted” Lykos replied, returning his gaze to the approaching figures.

“Astartes. I hope this interruption is important. Your intervention has left my administration with considerable amounts of work to do.” Planetary Governor Fletcher was tall, hawkish and blunt, exactly what Lykos had been expecting.

“Indeed Governor, the matter I wish to discuss relates directly to your future.”

“Please enlighten me, I cannot abide the suspense” the woman spat, unimpressed by the awe-inspiring figure before her.

“As we first suspected, the Alpha Legion chose this planet for a reason. The millions of civilians they managed to turn to their dark cause were weak. Weak for a reason. The levels of depravity, crime and corruption amongst the populace are above what is acceptable.”

“Spare me your baseless judgements, you have no authority to make such claims” the Governor replied, rising anger appearing in her tone.

Ignoring her, the Lykos continued; “with further investigation, these findings can be easily attributed to the staggering levels of black-market trade and narcotics dealings within the populace. Indeed, it appears that the custodian policy is to ignore the narcotics trade entirely, a policy approved by you, and enforced by officials that make their living mainly in bribes.”

“Your quarrel with the legal administration does not concern me. That policy was introduced to reduce the impact of a socially accepted culture of drug use amongst the population. By legalising such substances, the trade can be monitored and controlled. I do not care what you think on the matter.”

Governor Fletcher’s insolence was at odds with the extreme unease expressed by her retinue’s behaviour. Sergeant Nikeas grinned. Already the Captain’s presence was making the Governor’s underlings fearful, but she was cut from a different cloth. Her arrogance would soon fade.

“Legalising - no. There has been no official amendment, which is within your power, to the local Imperial Charter. A number of the substances being ignored by you and your underlings are specifically recognised by Imperial Law. All you have done is implement a policy that is completely illegal.”

In an instant the smugness drained from Governor Fletcher’s face. She hesitantly took a step back.

“Your actions lead to the corruption and death of millions, allowing the traitor Alpha Legion a foothold into this region of Imperial space. Your mind would break considering what the Inquisition would do to you. My punishment will be considerably more...lenient.”

The sound of a round entering the barrel of Lykos’s bolter was deafening amidst the sudden silence of the landing apron. As the governor’s Stormtrooper bodyguards raised their lasguns, the howl of bolter rounds took over as First Sergeant Nikeas and Techmarine Barthandelos executed each of them, painting the apron crimson as the rest of Fletcher’s retinue tried to flee.

“You cannot do this. The law can be changed, amended. You will have no charge to prosecute” the desperation in the Planetary Governor’s voice was edged with terror.

“Too late. The dead are piled on the streets for all to see. The law is final.”

“I AM the law!”

As the bolter round entered the Governor’s skull, her grey matter joined the gore spilling from the corpses of her retinue.

“No: here, at this moment in time, I am the law.”

Captain Lykos turned from the grisly scene.

“Brother Barthandelos, objective terminated. Proceed with extraction.”

Inquisitorial investigators alongside a detachment of Adepta Sororitus personnel were swiftly dispatched to the system, their destination: Charybodis Prime, the only planet within the system’s habitable zone. It was suggested that survival of a relatively large number of the last known inhabitants’ descendants could be possible, as the nuclei of the Warp storm had been deeper within the system, and it was separated from Charybodis Prime by a considerable asteroid belt. Although travel in these conditions, even by vessels with considerable shielding was prohibitively dangerous, the planet’s magnetosphere and atmosphere could have preserved life.

However, if life did remain, then the warp energies radiated by the storm could easily have corrupted the remaining population, and the system was immediately placed under quarantine whilst the Inquisition investigated the planet’s surface. What they found was much changed from records of its original geography. Massive continental shifts had occurred, and evidence of entire regions destroyed by volcanic eruptions of incredible scale were evident across the planet. Lush vegetation that had once covered the entire planet had retreated to the edges of the oceans and massive wastelands now dominated large areas of the planet’s surface.

Upon making planet-fall, the taskforce encountered evidence of habitation, and eventually made contact with the human population. Although they were prepared to purge the entire population if they exhibited signs of corruption, those they encountered showed no signs of mutation whatsoever.

Upon investigation, the planet’s inhabitants told of a series of horrific wars caused by the strife and disaster emanating from the warp storm. Mutant hordes fought with those who remained pure, but over time more and more of the populace was corrupted. Around a century after the warp storm had begun, a small sect of warriors emerged, all possessing a common ancestor. They exhibited a complete resistance to the touch of Chaos which ravaged most of the population. Together they helped defend one of the only bastions of uncorrupted humans on the planet, and their successive victories brought them opulence and wealth. Over successive generations, they added to the settlement’s gene pool, and more and more of its inhabitants exhibited this resistance to the corrupting influences of the warp. Eventually the small nation had grown large enough to challenge the mutant hordes which rampaged the wastelands dominating much of the planet, and in a series of successively bloody crusades, they united the straggling groups of relatively pure humans, and killed off the violent mutant cults which opposed them.

This prompted a swift reaction from the Inquisition; Adeptus Mechanicum Biologis personnel were quickly dispatched, and the system was quarantined as they began to investigate this incredible resistance to Chaos. Once identified as a genetic trait that was seemingly unique to Charybodis Prime, the Inquisition began attempting to exploit it. Their attempts to identify the specific sequence of genetic code that caused the resistance proved futile, and their initial plans to use it to genetically engineer humans were waylaid. However, plans for the 22nd founding of Space Marines were already set in motion, and they theorized that if a Chapter drew their numbers from Charybodis Prime’s population they might continue to exhibit this innate resistance to the energies of Chaos.

After a series of tests performed on volunteers from Charybodis Prime, utilizing geneseed drawn from the Rogal Dorn’s line, the process was deemed successful. However, rather than create a Chapter that would function as prescribed by the Codex Astartes; a flexible force designed to combat all the enemies of mankind, the Inquisition deemed that this resistance to the Warp would best be exploited in a force of space marines specializing in the elimination of traitor Astartes. The High Lords of Terra accepted, but ordered that the Chapter would have to maintain close ties to the Inquisition, for a Chapter purposed with annihilating Space Marines would be a very powerful enemy if they ever turned renegade.

Homeworld:

History:

Charybodis Prime is a world located close to the Eye of Terror. Throughout the hardships its people have seen, they have developed into a harsh rugged people, with a strict sense of honor and justice. However, once their lives were dictated by fear and chaos; a period stemming from the planet’s twin, Charybodis Secundus.

Secundus was, in M34 assaulted by the Daemonic forces of Chaos which soon over-whelmed the planet’s paltry defenses. By the time adequate Imperial Forces had arrived, Charybodis Secundus was well on the way to becoming a Daemon World. In order to defeat the occupying forces, the Navy presence targeted the epicenter of a global ritual which would finally complete the planet’s ascension to a realm of Chaos. A simultaneous orbital strike upon this target decimated the Daemonic forces, but had unexpected consequences.

The attack had occurred as the ritual was reaching its climax, and the raw firepower of the ordnance unleashed the dark energies which were being accumulated by the daemonic ceremony. A detonation of unbelievable magnitude destroyed the majority of the orbiting fleet, and as the energies tore a rent into the immaterium, the planet was split asunder.

Charybodis Secundus had been obliterated, and in its place now resides a partial tear in realspace. Although it has not yet proved sufficient to facilitate another

Daemonic incursion, this rift radiates warp energies, occasionally unleashing a minor warp storm, and remaining a stark reminder of the system’s history.

Named by Imperial officials as Warp Anomaly 738, it has become know to the inhabitants of Charybodis Prime as “The Abyss”.

Hanging in the skies of Charybodis Prime like a baleful second moon, The Abyss’s effects on the populace of Prime soon became noticeable. Partially shielded from The Abyss by an asteroid belt within the Charybodis system, bizarre and unpredictable anomalies began cropping up all over Prime. Devastating weather that occurred without warning decimated settlements, erratic tidal events occurred all over the planet’s surface and natural disasters became all the more frequent, as cities and infrastructure were decimated by apocalyptic tectonic activity.

When Prime’s next generation of inhabitants was born, the true effects of Charybodis Secundus’s demise became apparent. Mutation was rife and totally unpredictable. It occurred at random and its effects ranged from the invisible to the nightmarish. At first, terror broke out and anarchy reined; violence and panic spreading from town to town. Factions formed and broke, “purists” seeking to eliminate all signs of mutation; “moderates” trying to unite as many as possible to retain some semblance of civilization and subhuman cults, spurred on by doom-seeking prophets spreading their sermons of war and Armageddon.

For 10 decades war raged; a cycle of violence obliterated much of the planet’s culture and historical records, whilst the morbid red omen of The Abyss continued to sow terror among the population. All the while the Imperium seemed oblivious to the plight of Charybodis’s inhabitants. After dedicating so much manpower and supplies to the attempted reclamation of Charybodis Secundus, the Imperial Navy and Guard had completely with-drawn its units from the system, and officially placed it under quarantine. Unable to ascertain the impact of the new warp anomaly due to the interference it created, other conflicts in the sector demanded all Imperial attention and Charybodis was abandoned to its fate.

Near to the end of the first century since Charybodis Secundus’s destruction, a legend was rising. After their home was incinerated by a marauding band of mutants, a small “Order” of warriors, all bound by blood set out on a self-destructive warpath to avenge those who were slaughtered in the failed defense of their abode. It was during this penitent quest that they were involved in the defense of Eternal Hope. A small settlement existing despite the odds, Eternal Hope had drawn survivors from hundreds of miles across to shelter from the horrors of the wastes. However, it’s almost impossible decades of survival did not go unnoticed. In need of supplies and water, the Order paused from their creed of eternal war, but they were not the only group attracted to this speck of civilization. A nameless demagogue had discovered the whereabouts of Eternal Hope, and led a force of crazed anarchists, heinous cultists and corrupted mutants to raze the settlement to the ground.

In most circumstances, Eternal Hope would have been overrun and its inhabitants massacred by the demagogue’s horde. However, the Order, which had faced almost two decades of bloody battle in the wastes, saw this as an opportunity to purge the foul brethren of those who had sundered their home. At first the despoilers’ assault wreaked bloody carnage, and despite heavy losses inflicted by Eternal Hope’s defenders, the anarchistic mob began to push the uncorrupted survivors back. When the Order launched their counter-attack, the Demagogue’s horde was devastated. Not only did these fanatical warriors posses combat skills forged in the heat of battle, but over time it had become obvious that they were blessed with a resistance to the corrupting powers of the Abyss and the ruinous energies wielded by its most depraved devotees.

Pre-empting their attack with a barrage of explosives, the Order poured fire into their opponent’s mass, and then closed into melee proximity. Their zeal and courage easily overcame the horde’s animalistic savagery, breaking the resolve of the corrupted forces, and driving them back into the wastes – not before, however, the Order had claimed the Demagogue’s head.

The defense of Eternal Hope - although relatively minor - would act as a turning point for the inhabitants. Welcomed into the community of Eternal Hope, the Order finally turned their backs on exile after twenty years of constant war. Accepted and praised as heroes, they grew wealthy and powerful, and added their seed to Eternal Hope’s gene pool. As their children grew into strong, healthy adults people began to realize their offspring were blessed with the same resistance to the Abyss’s influence that had made the Order legends. Two-and-a-half decades after the Order’s arrival at Eternal Hope, their children took up their creed of order through bloodshed, and began a crusade to unite the disparate remnants of Prime’s uncorrupted survivors and purge the raiders and mutants that had threatened to wipe them out.

As the sparse settlements of the remaining pure inhabitants were united one by one, the crusade began to gain momentum, and a force consisting of less than one hundred warriors grew into an army of legend. At its head fought the zealous sons and daughters of the Order, and over time, their offspring took up the fight; spreading the genetic resistance their grandparents had born even as the Order died one by one; passing into Legend, to be venerated for eons. Christened the Sagittari by their followers, the descendants of the Order went from a small band of crusading warriors to a dynasty.

For almost a century what became known as the Unification War raged, as settlements grew, territory was claimed and blood was spilled on a massive scale. Not only did the forces of the Sagittari have to cross toxic wastelands, brave horrific weather patterns spawned by the Abyss and defeat the savagely mutated predators that populated the desolate remnants of Charybodis Prime; but they had to contend with the wily intelligence of their foes’ twisted minds.

As the fires of war spread, the conflict heightened on a global scale. Factions that had existed merely to survive united under the banner of the Sagittari and dived into the war of attrition. The conflict lasted for almost a century.

When the forces of the Sagittari had finally put an end to the brutalities inflicted by their foes, the mutant hordes had been eradicated. The scattered remnants of civilization had been unified and for the first time in over two hundred years, the inhabitants of the planet could live without the fear of being slaughtered by those corrupted by the Abyss. As if in response to the failure of its cursed scions, the Abyss’s power began to wane gradually over a series of decades, allowing the survivors to begin to scratch a new life from the corpse of their former civilization.

As the people of Charybodis Prime started to rebuild their shattered homeworld, the Abyss receded, its effects no longer as prominent as memory told. Although the horrific warp-spawned geological and meteorological chaos had subsided, the more subtle influences of the Abyss remained, and it became an almost religious symbol for darkness and corruption, a malevolent omen in the night sky.

Finally, after almost three centuries of isolation, in the middle of M34, the energies of the Abyss had dissipated enough to allow passage to Charybodis Prime. The Ordo Hereticus taskforce that made first contact disembarked onto a planet that was so distanced from original records as to be another world. Once a verdant wilderness of majestic mountains and stormy seas, Charybodis Prime had become a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Acrid fumes leaked from huge fissures in the ground, deserts of ash stretched into the distance and blasted ruins were all that remained of the planet’s once prosperous cities.

Soon thereafter, the system was quarantined and Adeptus Mechanicus Biologis facilities were set up on Charybodis Prime, as Inquisitorial officials rushed to investigate the bizarre genetic anomaly that the planet’s populace seemed to possess. Seen by some more radical Inquisitors as a new weapon to be used in the eternal struggle against the ruinous powers, hundreds of people were taken for study in these facilities, many becoming “martyrs for the cause”. Despite the best efforts of Mechanicum Biologis and Medicae personnel, attempts to replicate or transfer what became known as the Sagittari Gene were unsuccessful, and hopes of utilizing this asset by replicating it in other agents of the Imperium were abandoned.

However, certain members of the Inquisition were reluctant to let what could potentially be a considerable tactical advantage rest. It was suggested that rather than reproducing the Sagittari Gene, those who possessed it could be harnessed as a weapon against the forces of Chaos, and if its traits could be retained throughout the geneseed implantation process, then a Space Marine Chapter could be formed that would be an incredibly powerful tool with which to vanquish these twisted foes.

Status:

Charybodis Prime is now classified as a death world, its bleak wilderness hostile to life in all but a few secluded coastal areas, where simple plant life has regained control. However, even the fragile remaining ecosystem is mainly hostile to human life. Due to the Abyss’s mutating energies, almost all forms of native life are toxic or carnivorous, making simple survival brutal in the extreme, and the men and women of Charybodis Prime must depend upon genetically-engineered cattle species and nutrient vats if they are not to fall prey to the endless desolation. This human populace groups together in the skeletons of the planet’s cities, inhabiting new structures that rise above the devastated ruins of former habitation centers, whilst other survivors wander the wastes in nomadic groups, scraping a living from the artifacts of the planet’s former splendor.

Whilst the Persecutors mainly inhabit the Crucible, orbiting far above the planet’s surface, they do maintain facilities on Charybodis Prime’s surface, including a number of mines and manufactorum bases, which supply raw materials and basic components to the Fortress-Monastery.

The Crucible:

The Persecutor’s space-borne Fortress Monastery, The Crucible is an orbital station that hangs above the skies of Charybodis Prime. Carved from peregrinus, Prime’s second moon, The Crucible acts not only as the chapter’s sanctum and base of operations, but also as the core of their intelligence network.

Amongst the most censored data on the Persecutors involves that which resides in the Crucible’s dark heart. Within the chapter’s Librarium complex resides a zone known as the Profundum. Housed within are repositories of data on renegade warbands and Legions. Accrued over millennium, obtained from first hand data and the records of other Astartes chapters, this information forms the basis of almost all the Persecutors’ tactical doctrine. The Profundum also contains recovered traitor wargear, and these features make it one of the highest security areas within the Crucible, but its true secrets are more closely guarded still. Overseen by the High Chaplain and Chief Apothecary, within the depths of the Profundum reside unknown numbers of captured renegade Astartes. With precise knowledge of Space Marine physiology, Persecutor Apothecaries extract every possible scrap of information from the twisted minds of the Profundum’s heretical inhabitants. Although deaths from torture are rare, each captive usually devolves into madness, years of constant abuse pushing their minds to breaking. It is even whispered amongst the few that know of the prisoners’ existence that there is one whom has resided in the Profundum since the Chapter’s creation.

Combat Doctrine:

Throughout their lives as Space Marines, Persecutors hone their art of warfare to combating their own kind, Astartes. They train to fight every known renegade Marine fighting style, learn the strengths and weaknesses of their own, enhanced physiques and are equipped with the very best weapons suited to destroying Traitor Marines, ruthlessly and efficiently. They do still school themselves in more Codex teachings on warfare, as they must always be prepared to fight any opponent, even though they focus on Chaos Space Marines.

Unlike their progenitors, they do not view the Codex Astartes as a prescriptive tome, and have gathered information from many sources, including other Space Marine Chapters to compile their own tactical volume: the Liber Excommunicae, which details precise tactical doctrine for dealing with Traitor Marine warbands on an individual basis, as well as general strategies for fighting Renegades. The Persecutors practice swift, brutal surprise attacks, as it is of utmost importance that their often elusive prey does not know of their presence or intention before they attack. To do this they depend on reliable, up-to-date intelligence. Fortunately, they have a very close relationship with the Inquisition, and have access to their spy networks for the purpose of intelligence gathering. However, this relationship works both ways, as the reason for the Inquisition’s keen interest is that they represent a very dangerous possible threat: despite their enhanced resistance to the influence of Chaos, they are trained to eliminate Space Marines. If they ever turned renegade, they would represent a terrible prospect, a force specifically designed to destroy the most elite warrior the Imperium possesses.

On the battle field, the Persecutors practice combined arms with incredible precision. They centre their battle-lines around a core of infantry, providing suppressing fire and attrition specialization. These are supported by long-range fire support, who work to whittle down the enemy and keep them pinned in place. Flanking fast attack units harass the enemy and keep them distracted, whilst heavy-hitting assault forces teleport or attack via drop-pod. Infiltrating units that have previously been sabotaging supplies, enemy compounds and vehicles attack from the rear, whilst air support units eliminate enemy fliers and provide withering aerial firepower, as simultaneous precision orbital strikes from the Fleet decimate enemy positions.

Almost all battles are engaged immediately after a Warp-jump, to retain the element of surprise. This means even the Chapters heavy support ground vehicles have to be very mobile, and large numbers of drop-pods, Thunderhawk transports and gunships alongside dropships are maintained by the Persecutors.

Geneseed:

The Persecutors were founded using Excoriators geneseed, which has proven to combine very well with the distinctive genetic traits of the inhabitants of Charybodis Prime. Like all of Rogal Dorn’s sons, the Persecutors feature a lack of the Sus-an Membrane and Betcher’s Gland possessed by other Chapters.

Although originally a small select group, the Sagitarii Gene possessed by the Sagitarii has spread more widely amongst the population since the unification war, and the Persecutors recruit only those possessing the gene in question. One limiting factor in this respect is the limited number of psychic aspirants, as the Avenger Gene prevents the random mutation in an embryo that leads to most cases of psychic potential. Instead the only way a Persecutors marine can have psychic abilities is if there is a bloodline that previously featured psychic talent and then developed or inherited the Sagitarii Gene during the decades after Charybodis Secundus’s destruction. There is only one such known bloodline within the Sagitarii, rendering Librarians within the chapter relatively rare. Although the geneseed of the Excoriators was extremely pure, a demand specified by the Inquisition preceding the Chapter’s creation, the unique nature of the Sagitarii gene had an unexpected reaction with Rogal Dorn’s geneseed, known amongst the Persecutors as the Scourge.

The Scourge:

The only flaw that seems to be possessed by the Persecutors is a closely guarded secret, known to but a few high-ranking members of the Inquisition outside the chapter, the Scourge is a psychological state that has profound effects on a Battle Brother’s physiology over time. Its origins relate closely to those of The Order, whose genetic deviance – the Saggitari gene – all Persecutors possess.

The Saggitari gene, which is even more highly classified than the Persecutors’ existence, is barely understood by the scholars of the Imperium. Any attempts at splicing it into the DNA of those who are not native the Charybodis Prime have been unsuccessful, if not disastrous, and the way in which it protects its bearers from the influence of Chaos is completely unknown. The only real conclusion that can be drawn from Inquisitorial investigations is that the gene enables some form of latent psychic potential in those who possess it, which may enable them to better resist the influence of the Ruinous Powers. The Scourge stands as testament to this.

Space Marines are warriors who must face unbelievable tests of endurance, mentally and physically. They are incredibly difficult to break, and horror is an emotion they are trained to overcome. When a Persecutor marine faces a situation which will lead to near certain death, when they must achieve feats unimaginable to save the lives of their Battle-Brothers, when they must fight on through wounds that are potentially lethal, then the Scourge is a dangerous threat.

It manifests as a subconscious prophetic ability, with the sufferer experiencing momentary foresight, random and unpredictable. A Scourge-Brother- as they are known - may be able to combat a foe much more skilled than he and prevail, avoid a lethal blow, or hurl his brothers away from an unforeseen threat. This ability stems from the latent psychic potential enabled by the Saggitari gene. Whenever the need is dire enough, this psychic power develops, allowing a form of precognition, albeit uncontrollable. The awakening is believed to stem from a psychological condition, known as “Dorn’s Darkness” possessed by their progenators, the Excoriators.

In the immediate circumstance of its emergence, the Scourge is a boon, and can potentially turn the tide of battle. However, the fear it is awarded by the Persecutors soon becomes clear. Over time, the brief prophecies become more frequent, leaving the sufferer unable to sleep, with random visions interrupting everything a marine does. After a matter of weeks, this precognition becomes more malevolent. The Scourge-Brother begins to see the future deaths of those around him, and each new face awakens sights of grisly demises. Soon after this, a single vision begins to dominate the mind of each sufferer: their own death. With the frequency of the prophecies accelerating with each day passed, a point is reached when the Scourge-Brother’s every waking moment is an endless nightmare, as they witness themselves dying over and over again, alongside the lives of their companions ending just as viciously. If a sufferer survives to reach this state, their minds soon collapse into madness, and what was once a proud and valiant Space Marine becomes a gibbering wreck.

Because the Scourge is so dangerous, the Persecutors treat Scourge-Brothers with great care. As soon as an individual marine exhibits symptoms of the flaw, they are removed from their normal position within the Chapter. They are recorded in the Chapter’s annals as Killed in Action, and a service is held in their honor as if for any other Persecutor. From that point onward, they are Scourge Brothers, the living dead.

Castigator-Apothecaries, who are trained in ways to monitor and slow the Scourge, organize these brothers into Deliverance Squads, which are deployed at the behest of the First Castigator to the forefront of different warzones. Often deployed separately from other Persecutors, Deliverance Squads are used as terror-units, where an entire squad of warriors which can dodge a fatal attack or pinpoint an enemy’s weak spot soon sows fear in the ranks of the enemy. In between deployments, Scourge-Brothers are stored in stasis to slow the effect of their flaw, but their effectiveness in combat gradually decreases in time. In battle, the minds of some are so fractured that they run screaming into the distance, discovered later with their statuesque power armor covered in scratches and self-inflicted wounds, the mouths of their corpses distended from their death shrieks. Some have even turned upon their brothers in combat, the visions of their companions’ deaths fulfilled by their own hands. The Castigator Apothecaries will ultimately deliver the Emperor’s Justice to many of these warriors, all glory lost as they gradually degenerate into mindless husks.

Organization:

The persecutors are a mainly codex-adherent chapter, but their organizational structure does diverge somewhat. To account for the specific abnormalities of the Scourge, a specific division was set up within the chapter. Separate from the normal command structure, Scourge Deliverance Units are contained within the Chaplaincy. These units consist Persecutor marines who have fallen to the Scourge. Formerly of any rank, when a Battle-Brother enters the Scourge, he is listed as killed in action, and to all intents and purposes, has died. All semblance of personality eradicated by the Scourge, only the Chapter’s Chaplains know of a Scourge-Brother’s true fate.

The Persecutors maintain a higher than average number of scouts, because their duties are essential to the success of the Chapter’s engagements. This is because, although the Chapter has access to some of the Inquisition’s information networks, scouts are necessary to collect specific data from planned assault sites. They gather intelligence, sabotage supplies and eliminate troublesome individuals, ensuring that form the moment Persecutor ships arrive in the system, they have the upper hand.

Other minor divergences involve the operation of the 8th and 9th companies. Rather than acting solely to replenish the Chapter’s battle companies, these companies are each split into two divisions. Each division comprises of approximately 50 marines, and is lead either by the company’s Captain or Chaplain. Each division operates mainly autonomously, and is assigned to other Companies for specific engagements. This flexibility furthers the Persecutors’ strategic role, allowing them to adjust their tactics to specific Renegade forces.

Beliefs:

Like most Chapters, the Persecutors regard the Emperor as an almost messianic figure, but do not believe he is a God. They maintain a standard number of Chaplains (in addition to Castigator-Chaplains), but these figures have the added duty of being the bearers of the Liber Excommunicatum, a tome which lists every Chapter of Space Marines that have turned from the Emperor’s light. Every Persecutors Initiate learns every passage from the Liber Excommunicatum, and as such knows every one of these Chapters and Legions by heart, alongside their fighting styles, specific tactics to combat them and how to recognize their dark livery in battle.

The Persecutors despise unlawfulness, a belief stemming from religious philosophies that claim the destruction of Charybodis Secundus was a result of widespread criminality amongst the populace, leading to their eventual descent into heresy. They will ruthlessly eliminate any unjust, criminal or slightly corrupt human they come across, as they see it as their duty to destroy any perpetrator of crimes within the Imperium or without. This, however can lead to tensions within allied Imperial forces, as there are records of them brutally executing any Imperial officials who they suspect of gambling illegally, possessing stolen property or accepting bribes. Unfortunately crimes such as these are often rife in the units of the Imperial Guard, and with their tendency to arrive suddenly, unannounced in a system, the Persecutors have a reputation of shedding Imperial blood. Their heavy-handed punishments have often been related to those of the Iron Hands, and their links to the Inquisition mean they are often held in suspicion.

The Chapter maintains links with the Adeptus Mechanicum, and sends a quota of their Marines to train in the ways of the Omnissiah.

Battle-Cry:

Unknown.

The Sons of the Abyss are said to chant the names of their dead almost hypnotically in preparation for battle.

Tactical:

Veteran:

Captain:

Im not really sure about the colour scheme to be honest. Although I think the Red/Black/White ties in well with the Chapter's relationship with the Inquisition and the Sisters of Battle, Im beginning to wonder whether it has too many colours to be striking, and whether the use of both teal and white as spot colours is too much. Advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

This is still pretty WIP, so please feel free to comment with any criticism (constructive please!) and other thoughts.

Thanks.

[Octavulg]

“Alpha Legion units have retreated, and most of the heretic mob has been eliminated. Company casualties have been minimal, but consolidation actions have been limited by traps and countermeasures set up during the traitor withdrawal” Sergeant Nikeas paused, waiting for his Captain’s response.

Sidebars are great when they're short. This isn't short. It's not even medium. Also, reading dialogue in centered text is a pain in the ass.

A good-sized IA will be 3000 words. This sidebar is 1000 words. Think about it.

This prompted a swift reaction from the Inquisition; Adeptus Mechanicum Biologis personnel were quickly dispatched, and the system was quarantined as they began to investigate this incredible resistance to Chaos. Once identified as a genetic trait that was seemingly unique to Charybodis Prime, the Inquisition began attempting to exploit it. Their attempts to identify the specific sequence of genetic code that caused the resistance proved futile, and their initial plans to use it to genetically engineer humans were waylaid. However, plans for the 22nd founding of Space Marines were already set in motion, and they theorized that if a Chapter drew their numbers from Charybodis Prime’s population they might continue to exhibit this innate resistance to the energies of Chaos.

This feels too convenient, and too nice, and too awesome. I thus am not fond of this in its current format. Plus, this basically makes your chapter better than the Grey Knights at resisting Chaos. That's not cool (and not logical).

However, you could make it appropriately dark and horrible by just switching it to the 21st Founding, having the geneseed be adapted, and having the population wiped out by the experimentation process. Then the side-effects of the Cursed Founding discourage any further use. Explains why the folks haven't been rounded up for breeding programs, to boot. And it also allows you to give them some drawbacks to balance out the massive convenience of such a genetic advantage. And fits thematicaly with the Imperium's usual ability to wreck a good thing.

Later note: since you went and gave them something of a drawback, a Cursed Founding would make even more sense.

History:

Having now read most of that...none of it mattered. Especially since you'd already provided the short version above. Detail needs to be interesting and tell us something new.

Also, 1600 words on the history of the chapter's home world is almost as bad an idea as a 1000 word sidebar. Possibly worse, since the sidebar is at least about the chapter directly.

Charybodis Prime is now classified as a death world, its bleak wilderness hostile to life in all but a few secluded coastal areas, where simple plant life has regained control. However, even the fragile remaining ecosystem is mainly hostile to human life. Due to the Abyss’s mutating energies, almost all forms of native life are toxic or carnivorous, making simple survival brutal in the extreme, and the men and women of Charybodis Prime must depend upon genetically-engineered cattle species and nutrient vats if they are not to fall prey to the endless desolation. This human populace groups together in the skeletons of the planet’s cities, inhabiting new structures that rise above the devastated ruins of former habitation centers, whilst other survivors wander the wastes in nomadic groups, scraping a living from the artifacts of the planet’s former splendor.

Whilst the Persecutors mainly inhabit the Crucible, orbiting far above the planet’s surface, they do maintain facilities on Charybodis Prime’s surface, including a number of mines and manufactorum bases, which supply raw materials and basic components to the Fortress--Monastery.

This is much more reasonable for a description of a home world.

The Saggitari gene, which is even more highly classified than the Persecutors’ existence, is barely understood by the scholars of the Imperium. Any attempts at splicing it into the DNA of those who are not native the Charybodis Prime have been unsuccessful, if not disastrous, and the way in which it protects its bearers from the influence of Chaos is completely unknown. The only real conclusion that can be drawn from Inquisitorial investigations is that the gene enables some form of latent psychic potential in those who possess it, which may enable them to better resist the influence of the Ruinous Powers. The Scourge stands as testament to this.

The Warp does not work this way.

Being a psychic gives you a presence in the Warp and makes you look tasty. Being a latent psychic gives you that without any of the benefits of being psychically active. Being more psychic doesn't make you more resistant. It's a contradiction in terms.

If it changed their Warp presence somehow, that might make sense. Made it more subtle, perhaps. Or made psychic influences pass through them somehow (which would fit nicely with the Scourge). But just being latently psychic is a drawback, not a strength, and without further explanation seems weird.

In the immediate circumstance of its emergence, the Scourge is a boon, and can potentially turn the tide of battle. However, the fear it is awarded by the Persecutors soon becomes clear. Over time, the brief prophecies become more frequent, leaving the sufferer unable to sleep, with random visions interrupting everything a marine does. After a matter of weeks, this precognition becomes more malevolent. The Scourge-Brother begins to see the future deaths of those around him, and each new face awakens sights of grisly demises. Soon after this, a single vision begins to dominate the mind of each sufferer: their own death. With the frequency of the prophecies accelerating with each day passed, a point is reached when the Scourge-Brother’s every waking moment is an endless nightmare, as they witness themselves dying over and over again, alongside the lives of their companions ending just as viciously. If a sufferer survives to reach this state, their minds soon collapse into madness, and what was once a proud and valiant Space Marine becomes a gibbering wreck.

For some reason, I like this idea.

* * *

I like them, except for the too-often-used gimmick of Chaos resistance. However, I like them enough that I think if you made them Cursed Founding (which they effectively are already) and killed off their home world, it could work well.

I think you need to go through and figure out whether you really like some of the more lengthy sections.

I'm not a huge fan of the color scheme, though I'm not opposed to it. It just doesn't seem to fit with the chapter to me.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

That was some nice threadomancy there, brother - thanks for the feedback

“Alpha Legion units have retreated, and most of the heretic mob has been eliminated. Company casualties have been minimal, but consolidation actions have been limited by traps and countermeasures set up during the traitor withdrawal” Sergeant Nikeas paused, waiting for his Captain’s response.

Sidebars are great when they're short. This isn't short. It's not even medium. Also, reading dialogue in centered text is a pain in the ass.

A good-sized IA will be 3000 words. This sidebar is 1000 words. Think about it.

Yeah, to be honest the whole IA is pretty disjointed - the sidebar was written seperately from other sections because I wanted to feature some background for a bunch of characters I aim to flesh out in the future. Its not even particularly well written, so I'm probably going to bin it all together.

This prompted a swift reaction from the Inquisition; Adeptus Mechanicum Biologis personnel were quickly dispatched, and the system was quarantined as they began to investigate this incredible resistance to Chaos. Once identified as a genetic trait that was seemingly unique to Charybodis Prime, the Inquisition began attempting to exploit it. Their attempts to identify the specific sequence of genetic code that caused the resistance proved futile, and their initial plans to use it to genetically engineer humans were waylaid. However, plans for the 22nd founding of Space Marines were already set in motion, and they theorized that if a Chapter drew their numbers from Charybodis Prime’s population they might continue to exhibit this innate resistance to the energies of Chaos.

This feels too convenient, and too nice, and too awesome. I thus am not fond of this in its current format. Plus, this basically makes your chapter better than the Grey Knights at resisting Chaos. That's not cool (and not logical).

However, you could make it appropriately dark and horrible by just switching it to the 21st Founding, having the geneseed be adapted, and having the population wiped out by the experimentation process. Then the side-effects of the Cursed Founding discourage any further use. Explains why the folks haven't been rounded up for breeding programs, to boot. And it also allows you to give them some drawbacks to balance out the massive convenience of such a genetic advantage. And fits thematicaly with the Imperium's usual ability to wreck a good thing.

Later note: since you went and gave them something of a drawback, a Cursed Founding would make even more sense.

Yeah, because this thread is pretty old, I posted the section on the Scourge seperately and the feedback made me realise how irrational the whole advantage thing is. Therefore I scrapped the whole latent psycher thing recently and went back to canon. I decided to have Charybodis Prime populated mainly by psychic blanks, with a weak presence in the warp, meaning that they are more resistant to warp energies, but by no means full blown pariahs - which would explain the Persecutors advantage.

The Cursed founding is an absolutely awesome idea ( ) - as it would suit the character of the Persecutors even better. This is how I would adjust the fluff:

After the whole warp storm thing with Charybodis Secundus, the Imperium realises the storm has abated (a good few centuries later than it had actually ceased - lazy Imperium) - and so Administratum personnel head back over to organise tithes and such. Various officials that accompany them discover that a large proportion of the population (maybe 1/4 ?)exhibits a strain of the blank genetic mutation.

Consequently, the Inquisition quarantines the system, and millions of its inhabitants are shipped to the nearest forge world for experimentation by the admech as their scalpel hands begin to get twitchy.

Whilst the Mechanicum begin experimentation (under Inquisition supervision) on the hapless civilians, the anomaly in the Charybodis system belches fort another warp storm (instigated by growing unrest on Prime at the abduction of the locals) and civil war breaks out on prime. The system is again isolated as the non-blank portions of the population of Prime fight a brutal war against their chaos - resistant counterparts, spurred on by the emergence of demon-worshipping cults.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of the "volunteer" Charybodians die as the experiments become increasingly more brutal as the patience of the overseeing Inquisitors dwindles. Whilst general attempts to produce hordes of Blank humans fail, more radical elements within the Biologis Officials succeed in engineering Excoriator geneseed to feature the blank strain, and those of the test subjects considered viable begin the process of becoming astartes.

The warp storm begins to dwindle, allowing much needed imperial support into the system. However, the brutalities of the war have left Prime shattered, as factions commit atrocities just to survive. Considered too unstable for the Imperium's tastes, exterminatus is authorised and Charybodis Prime is wiped clean of all life.

The semblances of a Chapter begin to form as the new astartes perform amicably, and the remaining subjects (now mainly the second generation from the original abductees) are considered of little further use, with those too damadged by the experiments slaughtered and the majority sent to repopulate their sterile homeworld.

However, distraught at what has happened, the citizens return to find their world obliterated, with allmost all information of what happened censored. As the last Charybodians that remember what their homeworld was once like die (many taking their own lives) civil unrest once again rears its head, as hatred of the Imperium that slaughtered their kinsmen and brutalised their parents spreads like wildfire.

The Persecutors are officially formed, and demonstrations of their battle prowess take place to impress the officials of the Imperium as their first tour of duty sees them slaughtering renegades on [Planet X]. Oficially baptised in the fires of war, the Persecutors return to Charybodis Prime to set foot on their ancestral homeland for the first time.

As they land, the uprising soon becomes aparrent and their transports are mobbed by the rage-fuelled populace.

The Inquisition orders them to cleanse the world once more, and the fresh Astartes slughter their erstwhile kin, many butchering people they knew from their incarceration.

The Chapter is born from the blood of their kinsmen. Not a single child is spared.

So its pretty brutal - the beginning of their curse.

History:

Having now read most of that...none of it mattered. Especially since you'd already provided the short version above. Detail needs to be interesting and tell us something new.

Also, 1600 words on the history of the chapter's home world is almost as bad an idea as a 1000 word sidebar. Possibly worse, since the sidebar is at least about the chapter directly.

Charybodis Prime is now classified as a death world, its bleak wilderness hostile to life in all but a few secluded coastal areas, where simple plant life has regained control. However, even the fragile remaining ecosystem is mainly hostile to human life. Due to the Abyss’s mutating energies, almost all forms of native life are toxic or carnivorous, making simple survival brutal in the extreme, and the men and women of Charybodis Prime must depend upon genetically-engineered cattle species and nutrient vats if they are not to fall prey to the endless desolation. This human populace groups together in the skeletons of the planet’s cities, inhabiting new structures that rise above the devastated ruins of former habitation centers, whilst other survivors wander the wastes in nomadic groups, scraping a living from the artifacts of the planet’s former splendor.

Whilst the Persecutors mainly inhabit the Crucible, orbiting far above the planet’s surface, they do maintain facilities on Charybodis Prime’s surface, including a number of mines and manufactorum bases, which supply raw materials and basic components to the Fortress--Monastery.

This is much more reasonable for a description of a home world.

The Saggitari gene, which is even more highly classified than the Persecutors’ existence, is barely understood by the scholars of the Imperium. Any attempts at splicing it into the DNA of those who are not native the Charybodis Prime have been unsuccessful, if not disastrous, and the way in which it protects its bearers from the influence of Chaos is completely unknown. The only real conclusion that can be drawn from Inquisitorial investigations is that the gene enables some form of latent psychic potential in those who possess it, which may enable them to better resist the influence of the Ruinous Powers. The Scourge stands as testament to this.

The Warp does not work this way.

Being a psychic gives you a presence in the Warp and makes you look tasty. Being a latent psychic gives you that without any of the benefits of being psychically active. Being more psychic doesn't make you more resistant. It's a contradiction in terms.

If it changed their Warp presence somehow, that might make sense. Made it more subtle, perhaps. Or made psychic influences pass through them somehow (which would fit nicely with the Scourge). But just being latently psychic is a drawback, not a strength, and without further explanation seems weird.

In the immediate circumstance of its emergence, the Scourge is a boon, and can potentially turn the tide of battle. However, the fear it is awarded by the Persecutors soon becomes clear. Over time, the brief prophecies become more frequent, leaving the sufferer unable to sleep, with random visions interrupting everything a marine does. After a matter of weeks, this precognition becomes more malevolent. The Scourge-Brother begins to see the future deaths of those around him, and each new face awakens sights of grisly demises. Soon after this, a single vision begins to dominate the mind of each sufferer: their own death. With the frequency of the prophecies accelerating with each day passed, a point is reached when the Scourge-Brother’s every waking moment is an endless nightmare, as they witness themselves dying over and over again, alongside the lives of their companions ending just as viciously. If a sufferer survives to reach this state, their minds soon collapse into madness, and what was once a proud and valiant Space Marine becomes a gibbering wreck.

For some reason, I like this idea.

Haha, that is quite a strange coincidence. Because of the removal of latent psychic power, the premonition seems a tad dodgy. However, I could link it to the excoriators' Dorn's Darkness - with them experiencing hallucinations of slaughtering themselves, their brothers and any ally they have encountered in a twisted flashback to the genocide they commited right after their founding. The wierd "cursed" bit is that the more recent generations of marines didnt experience the "2nd rasing of Charybodis Prime" but experience eerily similar halucinations if they succumb to the scourge. Ultimate result is the same - madness and death.

* * *

I like them, except for the too-often-used gimmick of Chaos resistance. However, I like them enough that I think if you made them Cursed Founding (which they effectively are already) and killed off their home world, it could work well.

I think you need to go through and figure out whether you really like some of the more lengthy sections.

I'm not a huge fan of the color scheme, though I'm not opposed to it. It just doesn't seem to fit with the chapter to me.

Thanks again, Octavulg - the cursed founding is an awesome idea - and making them darker and more horrific really helps with their ties to the Inquisition.

Right - lots of re-writing to do!

[Octavulg]

That was some nice threadomancy there, brother - thanks for the feedback laugh.png

Tis a dark and terrible science we study oft in the Librarium.

Alternately, I was bored.

Yeah, to be honest the whole IA is pretty disjointed - the sidebar was written seperately from other sections because I wanted to feature some background for a bunch of characters I aim to flesh out in the future. Its not even particularly well written, so I'm probably going to bin it all together.

Keep it around somewhere. Things are often useful in time.

So its pretty brutal - the beginning of their curse.

I love this so much I would marry it if my fiancee were cool with it.

She's not.

That's probably for the best.

Haha, that is quite a strange coincidence. Because of the removal of latent psychic power, the premonition seems a tad dodgy. However, I could link it to the excoriators' Dorn's Darkness - with them experiencing hallucinations of slaughtering themselves, their brothers and any ally they have encountered in a twisted flashback to the genocide they commited right after their founding. The wierd "cursed" bit is that the more recent generations of marines didnt experience the "2nd rasing of Charybodis Prime" but experience eerily similar halucinations if they succumb to the scourge. Ultimate result is the same - madness and death.

Could work as that. Could also work as just being weird. I mean, this is the Cursed Founding and the Warp and all of that.

Right - lots of re-writing to do! pinch.gif

I think you'll be fine.