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The Lure of Midnight Clad


Sanctimonius

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The Batman/Curze comparison is valid. Forget the 'no killing people world's greatest detective' thing, this is Batman hurled into the worst crime-ridden world imaginable with the oppressive brutality turned up to eleven. He is like the Dark Knight in that he rules through fear- he stops his foes because his methods and means are so terrifying that they would rather be good little citizens than cross him.

When I first saw the name of this topic, I thought we would be discussing why so many players like the Night Lords.  They do seem to be a fan-favorite of all the Traitor Legions, after all, and I'm sure there are some very interesting psychological reasons as to why that may be.

Guest ShinKosh

When I first saw the name of this topic, I thought we would be discussing why so many players like the Night Lords.  They do seem to be a fan-favorite of all the Traitor Legions, after all, and I'm sure there are some very interesting psychological reasons as to why that may be.

We just have have a really good PR guy.  No matter how much fluff GW tips onto a legion or one of those simple chapter folk, one (or three) really well wrote books with solid characters is enough to get people really into the legion.

Look at the competition:

 

Word Bearers: religious fanatics. Underfluffed religious fanatics until pretty recently.

World Eaters: Yes, yes, kill, maim, burn. We get it. Also, red? So overdone.

Death Guard: Oh, they don't even want to be traitors.

Iron Warriors: Real Chaos Marines don't build things. Also, Perturabo was some human's second in command, and he's still sulking about it.

Emperor's Children: You can't turn your back on them. And not in the fun way.

Thousand Sons: Also don't really want to be traitors.

Black Legion: We love Horus! We hate Horus! We love Horus! We hate Horus! We have like five names and color schemes! Make up your damn minds.

Alpha Legion: Too sneaky, and let humans do all the real fighting.

Night Lords: Went traitor before it was cool, yet still somehow fought at Istvaan. Are led by Batman. Kill people in exciting and creative ways. Eat fear. Have armor covered in lightning. Their Primarch dies to prove a philosophical point. Have Raptors. Their only possible weakness is that Doomrider may have been a Night Lord.

 

It's not even really a competition.

As ADB wrote being around both Abaddon & Huron, it's easy to see as how warriors flock to them. The idea of a "cult of personality" comes to mind immediately. So, sometimes a warlord is that charismatic that they can override the most base idea of survival of the fittest, which is a way to look at the night lords. But also bear in mind they are the galaxy's nihilists. They go out of their way to believe in nothing except their own hatred. And fight to live to hate another day. By any means necessary. Maybe I'm just reading to far into it.

 

"Have Raptors."

All legions have raptors. They had them before istivan. It says in the codex raptors were considered rare yes, but NO WHERE does it state that we of the VIII are the only ones with them.

Night lords were based of a book called "Heart of Darkness" NOT BATMAN.

 

Look at the competition:

Word Bearers: religious fanatics. Underfluffed religious fanatics until pretty recently.
World Eaters: Yes, yes, kill, maim, burn. We get it. Also, red? So overdone.
Death Guard: Oh, they don't even want to be traitors.
Iron Warriors: Real Chaos Marines don't build things. Also, Perturabo was some human's second in command, and he's still sulking about it.
Emperor's Children: You can't turn your back on them. And not in the fun way.
Thousand Sons: Also don't really want to be traitors.
Black Legion: We love Horus! We hate Horus! We love Horus! We hate Horus! We have like five names and color schemes! Make up your damn minds.
Alpha Legion: Too sneaky, and let humans do all the real fighting.
Night Lords: Went traitor before it was cool, yet still somehow fought at Istvaan. Are led by Batman. Kill people in exciting and creative ways. Eat fear. Have armor covered in lightning. Their Primarch dies to prove a philosophical point. Have Raptors. Their only possible weakness is that Doomrider may have been a Night Lord.

It's not even really a competition.



^This is hilarious.

The raptor legion concept is beloved by some and hated by others. I'm pretty indifferent about that though.

Yeah Spaz that's the sort of thing I was referring to, the "cult of personality".

 

Edit: Isn't Doomrider an Emperor's Children prince?

I think the raptor legion thing came about because of Sahaal. 1st Captain, IIRC? Also I believe the only "assault marine" to ever be Captain, or 1st Captain, or something. Also recall hearing he only trained ALL THE ASSAULT MARINES before VIII Legion peaced out, and when they did, I believe a great many of his "students" went with him. He's alsoalso (according to himself, anyway) Kurze's successor for head of the Legion, so he's kind of a big deal. He kind of earns it, too, what with his recovery of the Corona Nox and off the scale destruction that resulted. (silly cultists.) All this, and he has no model. :(

 

As for why I'm fascinated with the Night Lords as a player, I am aware of the comparisons made between the Kurze and Kurtz, M'Shen and Martin Sheen, etc. Great book/movie, and great basis for a Legion that focuses specifically on terror tactics. I've always kind of used the Space Batman thing jokingly, but I like my Space Conan idea a bit better now. They saw the Emprah for what he was long ago, and they HATE HIM SO HARD that there's no room in their heads for the whispers of the warp.

 

Stone cold killers and worse, with a single minded determination rivaled by, well, probably no one. Unless you count the Sisters of Battle, who make the Ultramarines look like heretics by comparison. But they're a whole different kind of crazy.

His recovery of the Corona Nox which he in fact took and ran away with, leaving his brothers to die. So in essence he himself is responsible for losing it in the first place..... As Kurze said too, many will claim to lead the legion. 

 

His recovery of the Corona Nox which he in fact took and ran away with, leaving his brothers to die. So in essence he himself is responsible for losing it in the first place..... As Kurze said too, many will claim to lead the legion. 

eehhh....

If I recall, he was doing what Kurze told him to do. (Minus maybe skulking off with the Corona, which fits with my mentioning of his assumption of leading the legion.) Kurze did tell his Legion to let the assassin go, so Sahall didn't "run off and leave his brothers to die." Plus, Eldar Trickery actually caused the Corona to be lost. Don't forget that.

I mean, we're talkin like... Night Lords running everywhere looking for an Imperial Assassin and then the Eldar are like "HEY GUYS WE HEARD YOU WERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD SO WE BROUGHT YOU A POT PIE. BUT NOT REALLY." 3rd party interference actually caused Sahaal and the Corona to be lost for 10 millennia, and really, if he hadn't skulked off with it the Eldar probably would have ganked it and it would never have been seen again. As it happened he got yanked into the warp and lost.

Sure, maybe he raided daddy's closet before he took the family car out for a drive that lasted a bit longer than anticipated, but technically, at least IMHO, Sahaal did the Legion a solid. Also obeyed his father's last order. Plus, he got the Corona back, and killed a whole mess of loyalists in the process. No harm done. :D

*Puts a bullet in the head of the thread before Kol comes back*

Okay, this was necessary why exactly?

 

@Derp: I think Tanith was referring to the fact that in one of Talos' many flashbacks, after he had killed the assassin, many of the Legion assaulted her ship in an effort to take back some of the trophies she had collected, one of which being the Corona Nox. While they were on her ship, the eldar attacked. Apparently the Attramentar and much of the rest of the First Company were onboard that ship and Sahaal went back to his own ship and ran away, leaving them to either die or find sanctuary on another ship. That's why there was only ever just one Astartes onboard during Lord of the Night.

Ah, I had forgotten about that bit, thanks for the reminder.

I remember I found it interesting that two characters that I liked both hated each other so much, just for being who they were, and yet never were even in the same books together. I'd like to see that, actually. Like Talos and Sahaal see each other from across the room and just punch the crap out of each other.

Get the authors to talk to each other and it might happen. ;)

 

Although, I did find it rather curious that Sahaal didn't try to muscle in during the events of Throne of Lies, but that was most likely due to Sahaal floating around in who knows what system and the aforementioned lack of communication between authors.


Vesper, on 31 Jan 2013 - 21:44, said:snapback.png

*Puts a bullet in the head of the thread before Kol comes back*


Okay, this was necessary why exactly?

Someone wrote the words... You know... Raptor Legion...

Someone said the words... Raptor Legion... Totally thought you'd jump on the occasion to scream at the top of your lungs how 3.5 broke Night Lords and almost started WW3.

That was a joke, but you ruined the effect, and it makes me sad.

Derp that was exactly what I was referring to. Obeying his father's last command or not, guess that's the difference between an obedient son and a loyal one.

 

On the topic of Sahaal and Talos, that would be an awesome book I think.

Didnt Curze say something along the line of "They only follow me because they fear me"?  An interesting prospect. The people that he would have killed hundreds of year before have become his sons, who fear him as a pyschopath. I dont think that to be a Night Lord is to follow or obey Curze as it may be with the other legions, but it is to BE Curze. To kill injustice, to kill corruption, to adhere to your own sense of order and fight for yourself.

 

Honestly in the year 40000 how many true Night Lords (those born on Nostromo) are still kicking. I would think that a good part of the legion are those which have been captured at a young age and turned. 

 

also Sons of a sunless world. FTW.

Well if that little, iddy, biddy, tiny tidbit about Sevatar actually surviving Terra is true, then I would say Sevatar since he was probably the only one that followed Curze out of something resembling loyalty. Although, by the end of it, I think Curze stopped caring about injustice sometime after he left Nostramo, but long before the Heresy. Somewhere along the line, something snapped and instead he went after whatever he did not see as pure. But that's only my opinion. Or more specifically part of my opinion.

I dont think that anyone can argue that something was wrong with Conrad. He was the red head step child. Perhaps Magnus may have understood what was happening to him, but I dont think that they had any sort of interaction. Curze went bat guano. No one can argue that. Be it chaos, or mental instability. He, Lord of the Night, was bat :cuss crazy. True, at the end thing were not about justice. But were about vindication, which is something that I think that many Night Lords still strive to carry out, even in death. 

 

If I don't make any sense, its because of beer.

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