LordGrise Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Okies, herein the first pass on the story of the Emperor's Undertakers. I'm kinda coming at this backwards; I have never played Space Marines - the ones I have aren't even built, most of them, and the story is purely to satisfy my inner story's need to know why a Spearhead Detachment of any Loyalist Space Marine Chapter would hang out with Commander Longshot's Force Echo. please be gentle... Extracted from: A Guide to an Index AstartesBy Commissar MolotovOrigins: When was your Chapter formed? Mid M35; 17th Founding, perhaps Why were they created? The Emperor's Undertakers were Founded to make up for losses among the Chapters in the run-up to the Age of Apostasy. Who leads them? Tobias the Breaker, the Chapter Master of the Emperor's Undertakers, fought in the Great Crusade and knew the Emperor when he walked among them. He was there for the Heresy, and was a founding member of the Imperial Fists when the First Chapters were created. He was a member of the training cadre for the Fill-in-the-blanks, and stayed with them as a Brother-sergeant. When the What-do-you-call-'ems were Founded, he served in that Chapter's training cadre, and then stayed on again as a Brother-Captain. Eventually the Emperor's Undertakers were Founded, and the former Brother-Captain was offered his greatest Undertaking... Have they suffered any setbacks? Their greatest setback was their first one; their original homeworld suffered Exterminatus during the Age of Apostasy on the orders of Goge Vandire while the majority of the Chapter was dispersed responding to Orc and Chaos Marine attacks throughout the Segmentum. Since then the Chapter has been space-based. They still retain title to the system, and have successfully taken advantage of the situation by exploiting the mineral wealth of the asteroid field their homeworld has become, as well as offering extraction rights to the two gas giants present in the system. Did any other Imperial organizations help them in their earliest stages? In the immediate aftermath of the loss of the Chapter's's homeworld, the Adeptus Mechanicus offered to make good the materiel losses in return for long-term gas extraction and mining leases. The Emperor's Undertakers have enjoyed cordial relations with the Mechanicus ever since. Additionally, the Emperor's Undertakers at any given time have roughly ten percent of their number serving in the DeathWatch. Are they known for any glorious battles or disastrous defeats? The Emperor's Undertakers do not claim the sort of fame other Chapters can and do; while others are seeking Glory, someone must secure the borders, patrol the dark places, and protect the common good. Does your Chapter have a homeworld? The Emperor's Undertakers have a home system, called Naltire, but their homeworld (Naltire One) suffered Exterminatus during the Age of Apostasy on the orders of Goge Vandire. Where is it? In the Galactic East, 'above' Ultramar What is it like? Naltire is a G-class star. Starting closest in and working out, there are two major asteroid fields, two gas giants, and a number of cometary bodies. The inner asteroid field used to be Naltire One. How has your home system affected your Chapter? Loss of Naltire One forced the Chapter to become space based. The Chapter is comfortable in the zero-gee environment, and is used to thinking in four dimensions (three spatial plus time) AKA Time-on-Target. Even if your Chapter doesn't have a homeworld, they may have a base of operations - a space station, a moon, an asteroid or even a Battle Barge. Tell us about it! I don't know how many ships of what classes to assign to them Where is your Chapter located in the galaxy? The Chapter patrols the Eastern Border regions; they routinely liase with the forces of Ultramar when in the area How would someone track the Chapter down? Easiest would be thru one of the listening posts they maintain in the Naltire system Where do the Emperor's Undertakers recruit from? They make them. The Emperor's Undertakers will frequently offer to see to the interment or transport to home ground of IG and Arbites members that they fought alongside and who impressed them; they will explain that one of the duties of their ultimate forbear was to serve as the Emperor's representative during burial details, and that during the Great Crusade he was called the Emperor's Undertaker. If the deceased has no known interment preferences, or if he or she is unidentified, the Chapter will offer to launch the deceased into the system primary, thereby sending them to the Emperor's Light. While preparing the bodies, the Chaplains will take tissue samples. These are transported to one of the Chapter's ships, where they clone these individuals and raise them on one of the Chapter's ships. How do the Emperor's undetakers regard Humanity as a whole? The Emperor's Undertakers are guided by the principles driving the Great Crusade; the protection of Humanity is paramount. Ignorance and superstition are the worst enemies of the Imperium. Whar rituals do the Emperor's Undertakers follow? The Emperor's Undertakers will frequently offer to see to the interment or transport to home ground of IG and Arbites members that impress them; they will explain that one of the duties of their ultimate forbear was to serve as the Emperor's representative during burial details, that he was literally the Emperor's Undertaker, and that they wish to honor those who have laid down their lives for the Emperor. A much more private ritual the Emperor's Undertakers first perform during training is the consumption of a small quantity of their trainer's blood so that the skills might be learned more easily. This ritual is observed again with the relevant Brother-Captain's blood at the induction into a Company, and the Chapter Master's blood at promotion above Sergeant. Combat Doctrine: How does your Chapter fight? I need them to be a CQB force, to keep the baddies from melee-ing my Tau, so there is that... but I really don't know; I haven't played them yet. As a space-based force, they would do boarding actions and corridor fights, and lots of deep strikes, I think. Are there any examples of your Chapter's battle-history? I haven't played them yet, so no. Is your Chapter organized as per the writings of the Codex Astartes? As far as I know and understand it, yes. There are probably some minor changes. Beliefs: What comprises your Chapter's belief system? The Emperor is not a God; but he may be well on the way to being one - Tobias has seen it all, and some of it he can't explain. Humans are the Space Marine's weaker siblings, and must be protected from those things he cannot possibly win against; that being said, strength must be fostered whenever possible. Ignorance and Superstition are Humanity's worst enemies. Exterminatus should be a last resort, and if it must be imposed, then whomever orders it ought to be required to be present on site, so they might be immediately available to the Emperor to explain. The Tau are Humanity's best hope to recover what they have lost, and must be protected even as Humanity is protected. Why does your Chapter hold these beliefs? T The first three Tobias had from the Emperor and passed on to his Chapter; the fourth the entire Chapter came to after losing thier homeworld to a madman's orders and a fanatic's unwillingness to think; and the fifth is from a combination of fighting the Tau during the Damocles Crusade (The Emperor's Undertakers were one of the Chapters that successfully protested the Exterminatus order on Dal'ynth) and the Writ Tobias obtained from the Omega Vault while he served in the DeathWatch as a Watch Captain following the Damocles Crusade. It specifically instructs the Space Marines to protect the Tau, because they are largely immune to Chaos and will help usher in a renaissance of Humanity. How have these beliefs affected your Chapter? With the concurrence and support of his Captains and Chaplains, The Emperor's Undertakers have expanded their Area of Operations to enclude the Tau Empire. Tobias has showed the Writ he recieved to the DeathWatch, who can testify as to it's provenance; the Mechanicus, who have pronounced it genuine; to the Ultramarines, who are satisfied it is legitimate, and to the other space-based Space Marine Chapters, who have promised Tobias support and perhaps more critically, warning if movement against the Chapter or the Tau is initiated.Geneseed: Which Primarch does your Chapter descend from? Guilliman. Is your Chapter aware of its genetic legacy, or have they lost their records? They know their history, although all the originals were destroyed on Naltire One. Which Chapter was your Chapter created from? A fourth-generation successor Chapter of the Ultramarines, although Tobias himself was an Ultramarine Legionnaire. Why have you chosen that gene-seed? Because the Ally Chart has the Tau BBs with vanilla SMs, which points me at the Ultramarines. Has your gene-seed mutated in any way? Yes; the ability to draw memories from flesh and blood is particularly strong with the Emperor's Undertakers, so much so that it features in the Chapter's Rituals. Battle Cry: What gets said? I don't have one yet. Who says it? I don't have one yet. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demus Ragnok Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Alright first welcome to the Liber, glad to have you. Second your chapter master would have been 4587 years old at the time of the chapters founding. There is debate as to whether space marines are in fact immortal or not but an UM legionaire as your chapter master is just a bit too much awesome in the sauce. Also you say Tobias was a member of the Imperial Fists chapter but an Ultra legionaire. Fists chapter came from the Fists Legion, Ultramarine chapter from the Ultramarine legion and so worth. If your training cadre/ first chapter master was a fist your chapter would more than likely be Fist successors or vice versa. You can seperate the history of your chapter from the table top. Your game play doesn't have to influence your chapters history as written here. But it can if that is what you want. I'm just saying don't tie yourself down and deny yourself room for creativity. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/#findComment-3307038 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octavulg Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 The Emperor's Undertakers were Founded to make up for losses among the Chapters in the run-up to the Age of Apostasy.I gotta say, the name really doesn't appeal. First, undertakers aren't intrinsically scary. Second, it's really long. What are you trying to evoke with the name?Tobias the Breaker, the Chapter Master of the Emperor's Undertakers, fought in the Great Crusade and knew the Emperor when he walked among them. He was there for the Heresy, and was a founding member of the Imperial Fists when the First Chapters were created. He was a member of the training cadre for the Fill-in-the-blanks, and stayed with them as a Brother-sergeant. When the What-do-you-call-'ems were Founded, he served in that Chapter's training cadre, and then stayed on again as a Brother-Captain. Eventually the Emperor's Undertakers were Founded, and the former Brother-Captain was offered his greatest Undertaking...Impossible. A Marine from the Great Crusade might be able to make it to the Third Founding (especially if he spent a lot of time in the Warp or something). But the Second and Fifth Foundings are over two thousand years apart. And you want to be in M35, which is even less possible.I don't know how many ships of what classes to assign to themFirst, that's not what the question's asking. Second, one or two Battle Barges, four to six Strike Cruisers and about fifteen Rapid Strike Vessels would be a healthy fleet.They make them. The Emperor's Undertakers will frequently offer to see to the interment or transport to home ground of IG and Arbites members that they fought alongside and who impressed them; they will explain that one of the duties of their ultimate forbear was to serve as the Emperor's representative during burial details, and that during the Great Crusade he was called the Emperor's Undertaker. If the deceased has no known interment preferences, or if he or she is unidentified, the Chapter will offer to launch the deceased into the system primary, thereby sending them to the Emperor's Light. While preparing the bodies, the Chaplains will take tissue samples. These are transported to one of the Chapter's ships, where they clone these individuals and raise them on one of the Chapter's ships.Cloning is effectively impossible in 40K - the only person who really does it is Fabius Bile. The Ad Mech view it as a dark art. The Raven Guard tried it. It went really badly.The Emperor's Undertakers are guided by the principles driving the Great Crusade; the protection of Humanity is paramount. Ignorance and superstition are the worst enemies of the Imperium.Except the Emperor kept Chaos secret from the Imperium...I need them to be a CQB force, to keep the baddies from melee-ing my Tau, so there is that... but I really don't know; I haven't played them yet. As a space-based force, they would do boarding actions and corridor fights, and lots of deep strikes, I think.It'd certainly be fairly practical for a Space Marine chapter to fight almost exclusively in space. I mean, it's in the damn name.I haven't played them yet, so no.Making them up's OK. Millenia of history are useful for that.The Tau are Humanity's best hope to recover what they have lost, and must be protected even as Humanity is protected.That's massively, amazingly, totally, incredibly, utterly heretical. OMG so heretical. Remember the IF Captain meeting the Tau in the 3e Codex? And that, as I recall, was AFTER the Damocles Crusade.the fourth the entire Chapter came to after losing thier homeworld to a madman's orders and a fanatic's unwillingness to think; and the fifth is from a combination of fighting the Tau during the Damocles Crusade (The Emperor's Undertakers were one of the Chapters that successfully protested the Exterminatus order on Dal'ynth) and the Writ Tobias obtained from the Omega Vault while he served in the DeathWatch as a Watch Captain following the Damocles Crusade. It specifically instructs the Space Marines to protect the Tau, because they are largely immune to Chaos and will help usher in a renaissance of Humanity.This all makes basically no sense without more context and explanation.With the concurrence and support of his Captains and Chaplains, The Emperor's Undertakers have expanded their Area of Operations to enclude the Tau Empire. Tobias has showed the Writ he recieved to the DeathWatch, who can testify as to it's provenance; the Mechanicus, who have pronounced it genuine; to the Ultramarines, who are satisfied it is legitimate, and to the other space-based Space Marine Chapters, who have promised Tobias support and perhaps more critically, warning if movement against the Chapter or the Tau is initiated....Uh, no. You've just committed large chunks of the Imperium to massive heresy. First, that's massively out of character for pretty much all the organizations you mention (including your own chapter, really. See the earlier bits about Space Marines rather hating aliens). Second, it rather destroys the ability of most readers to accept your chapter as part of their universe. Which is fine if you don't care about that, of course. It'd be one thing for your chapter to think they owed the Tau protection for whatever reason. For them to be enthusiastic about it, and for other Imperial organizations to go along with it just comes across as bad writing. Guilliman.Not if Tobias is from the Imperial Fists, they don't. * * * What are you trying to do with these guys? Do you just want them to fight alongside your Tau? If so, there's a lot of ways you could go - most obvious, having them be uncomfortable with it but believe they have to is more believable than them being enthusiastic (especially if they went so far as to actually fight each other about it). That, or have them run into the usual Tau indoctrination-type stuff. Right now they're unambiguously into it, and that just isn't grim or dark enough for the far future where there is only war. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/#findComment-3307046 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demus Ragnok Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 ON the cloning thing. Vat grown bodies are used in the imperium aren't they? Not clones but invetro artificially gestated humans to be made into servitors and the like? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/#findComment-3307051 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octavulg Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 They may do the iron womb thing, yeah. No cloning, though, apparently. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/#findComment-3307053 Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordGrise Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 First away, Ragnok and Octavulg, thank you for taking a look. See below for the short form corrections, and below that for the start of debate. Imperial Fists vs Guiliman - whoops! That's what I get for working on this so late. ::sigh:: My bad there. Corrected to read Ultramarines. Chapter Master's age - very well. Then the memory in the flesh thingie carries down the millennia... problem is, that feels more like Sanguinus's line, and I do NOT want the Red Thirst, let alone the Black Rage. I want the memories of the Great Crusade to be the guiding principle of the Chapter. History of the Chapter - I figured this was where I could get myself in deepest, so I ducked - I simply do not know the fluff well enough to be comfortable, and I can read only so fast. Not to mention a couple of the Omnibuses I've picked up are simply gah reads for me - it's a bad sign when I want to reach into the book and smack the so-called hero. .. On the Name of the Chapter - First, the name is a play on the word. An undertaker deals with the dead, but to undertake a task is to accept responsibility for it. I like puns - you have no idea how deeply I've had to bury the urge. It's been a grave issue; I've had to dig deep within myself. But I think the body of text I've left here so far ought to speak for itself. Clearly I am currently corpos mentis... On Tobias' age - I really do not see the issue here. Given some of the other mutations that have come up - in core product, no less - not aging doesn't seem that much to me; it's not like I'm claiming he's literally immortal. Any number of UM Legionnaires might have had it - they just didn't survive all the dang enemy fire. Nor am I claiming Tobias was tight with the Emperor; he wasn't, but he had more than long-distance contact. It's not critical, though; GW already provided the work-around. I am well aware that wasn't what the question was asking; but my answer was legit; Claiming, for example, a Virgo class battlecarrier or an Imperator-class Fleet Command Ship might have gotten me in trouble. Claiming a Sovereign-class battleship... ::grins and ducks:: even if the name Enterprise would have gone along with the second meaning of Undertaker. Thank you for the guidance on a reasonable fleet, man. On cloning - I am not referring to perfect copies with memories and so forth - I am referring to creating embryos that are then brought to term, decanted, and allowed to mature, then are implanted with the relevant organs. Or is this not good either? Principles of the Great Crusade, from the Big Book, page 168: "The Emperor preaches three great truths in his reconquest of the galaxy: genetic corruption must be sought out and eradicated; psykers are to be rooted out, kept in control, and handed over to Imperial Agents for evaluation; Destructive aliens are to be rendered powerless." Key word for me in that third one? Destructive. My personal bias is in the issues with ignorance and religious superstition taking the place of rational thinking. i like to think the Emperor would be horrified by what has been wrought in His Name. And that brings us to the central dilemma... Tau and Space Marines working together for extended periods of time. Here's how I see it: i refer us all to the 6th Edition ally chart, Big Book, pgs 112-113. Battle Brothers - I quote: "This category covers the strongest of alliances, two or more armies striving towards a common goal. Battle Brothers have absolute trust in their comrades, treating them as an extension of their own forces." And also, "Battle Brothers are treated as friendly units from all points of view. This means, for example, that Battle Brothers can be joined by allied Independent Characters." and "Are counted as being friendly units for the targeting of psychic powers, abilities, and so on." Now, I know the Big Book giveth, and the FAQs taketh away... but I take this to indicate a seismic change in fluff is underway within GW. We should get a much better picture when the Tau Codex drops, hopefully this summer. Humanity NEEDS the Tau, on so many levels it's not funny. The Empire will not make it even another thousand years without the Tau. Conversely, the Tau NEED Humanity, and without them will not survive long-term. I know, it's Kool-aid. But I'm not the one what mixed this particular batch up; I'm just serving it forth, gentles all. Ingredients are right there to be inspected. Now - Heresy? Yup, by prior standards, absolutely. Hence a Writ, in the Emperor's Hand, comes into my Chapter Master's hand. Where did it come from? The Omega Vault is a Deus ex Machina installed by GW within DeathWatch HQ. Go ahead, read it up. The question for me is, would that suffice? My Lady and Wife calls; I must respond, or risk the Wrath of She Who Must Be Obeyed. I'll come back on tonight. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/#findComment-3307262 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demus Ragnok Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Well Commander Dante of the Blood Angels is over 1000 years old and that is considered beyond normal for astartes. (I think) If your not cloning and just stealing genetic material, I guess thats alright. If you want to hold to the ideals of the great crusade the last thing you should do is "protect the Tau". Have you seen the guns those little blue guys have. If that ain't destructive xenos nothing is. Besides during the crusade countless populations and cultures of HUMANS were wiped out because of genetic modification like splicing in xenos DNA. Or simple misunderstandings, the Interex come to mind. The superstition and ignorance of 40k was born of the ideologies the Emperor forced upon Terra and the galaxy in 30k. The Emperor was not a nice guy nor was he honorable or honest. He had an agenda and it didn't envolve being friendly with xenos. Thats not to say that a space marine wouldn't ally with intelligent well equiped xenos against some other threat. But they wouldn't be inviting them to bring the kids over to play. Or maybe they would Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/#findComment-3307290 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octavulg Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Quote Chapter Master's age - very well. Then the memory in the flesh thingie carries down the millennia... problem is, that feels more like Sanguinus's line, and I do NOT want the Red Thirst, let alone the Black Rage. I want the memories of the Great Crusade to be the guiding principle of the Chapter. You don't need him to do it personally. Save his blood, give a little bit to each initiate, so they remember the Great Crusade. Have the chapter very, very worried about what will happen when it runs out. Hell, have his body kept alive by horrific techno-science, producing new blood, even if the rest of him is long since dead. Far more horrible. Quote History of the Chapter - I figured this was where I could get myself in deepest, so I ducked - I simply do not know the fluff well enough to be comfortable, and I can read only so fast. Not to mention a couple of the Omnibuses I've picked up are simply gah reads for me - it's a bad sign when I want to reach into the book and smack the so-called hero. .. There's your problem. The Black Library is one of the worst possible avenues for absorbing fluff. 1) Much of it is turgid. 2) Much of it is really, really overly concerned with how the hero totally smacked that Eldar up. 3) It's concerned with the actons of an individual, not with the wider universe. 4) A lot of the authors tend to do things that make their pet characters teeth-grindingly important without due cause. Or things that are teeth-grindingly stupid (my spider legs are a sign of the Emperor's favor!) 5) It's all a lot longer than codices. 6) It tends to assume you're already a moderately big fan. For stuff about Space Marines...the Librarium is down. Read the DIY Resources we have stickied. Read the Octaguide. Trawl around Lexicanum a bit. That should help with some of it. Quote On the Name of the Chapter - First, the name is a play on the word. An undertaker deals with the dead, but to undertake a task is to accept responsibility for it. I like puns - you have no idea how deeply I've had to bury the urge. It's been a grave issue; I've had to dig deep within myself. But I think the body of text I've left here so far ought to speak for itself. Clearly I am currently corpos mentis... Ho ho, and indeed, ho. If you must keep it, I'd switch it to Undertakers of Whatevertheirhomeworldwas. Though, really, no matter what, they sound like guys who prepare corpses for burial (and not in the "by killing them" sense. Not even impliedly). Quote On Tobias' age - I really do not see the issue here. Given some of the other mutations that have come up - in core product, no less - not aging doesn't seem that much to me; it's not like I'm claiming he's literally immortal. Any number of UM Legionnaires might have had it - they just didn't survive all the dang enemy fire. Nor am I claiming Tobias was tight with the Emperor; he wasn't, but he had more than long-distance contact. It's not critical, though; GW already provided the work-around. The oldest known Space Marines we have in the fluff are Bjorn the Fell-Handed (fought with Russ and the Emperor, but is in a Dreadnought, and barely wakes up any more), Dante of the Blood Angels (just over 1100, but the BA are unusually long-lived), and Cassius of the Ultramarines (almost 400). Battle Brothers in the Deathwing short story expect to live a couple of centuries. And they DO age (Cassius has white hair). Put simply, Space Marines have an upper limit on their lifespans. Living longer than that would be suspicious. Living so long you remembered the Great Crusade would probably make you some kind of worshipped relic. Or, of course, be damned as a mutant and a heretic. Because the most notable survivors of the Great Crusade in modern 40K are the forces of Chaos. Mutations aren't generally seen as good things. Indeed, they're something to be worked against. They're signs of genetic corruption and Chaos. Living a long time might be a sign of good things, yes. But it also might be a sign of Chaos and mutation, and the longer it goes on the greater the chances of somebody thinking that. Also, if he's so damn special we'd have heard of him by now (and Bjorn the Fell-Handed WOULDN'T be so special). And I'm not really sure why you'd need Tobias to live forever, anyway. Quote On cloning - I am not referring to perfect copies with memories and so forth - I am referring to creating embryos that are then brought to term, decanted, and allowed to mature, then are implanted with the relevant organs. Or is this not good either? My understanding is no, it's not. Honestly, the fluff seems a bit confused on the point - it's damned as impossible and evil, except for all the organizations that seem to do it. But when Space Marines try it, it doesn't work out - have a look here. Quote Principles of the Great Crusade, from the Big Book, page 168: "The Emperor preaches three great truths in his reconquest of the galaxy: genetic corruption must be sought out and eradicated; psykers are to be rooted out, kept in control, and handed over to Imperial Agents for evaluation; Destructive aliens are to be rendered powerless." Key word for me in that third one? Destructive. My personal bias is in the issues with ignorance and religious superstition taking the place of rational thinking. i like to think the Emperor would be horrified by what has been wrought in His Name. Except let's take a look at what the Emperor actually does. Name an alien race that was accepted into the Imperium. You can't. Because all aliens were destructive. And were wiped out. The Imperium may be a horrible, intolerant society, but they learned that from watching the Emperor. It would make sense to incorporate the Eldar. The Emperor never tried. Bear in mind that, to all appearances, the Emperor is either a dick or stupid. Always has been (hell, you can realize that just from how he handles Angron). Also, living forever is some kind of genetic corruption... Quote I refer us all to the 6th Edition ally chart, Big Book, pgs 112-113. Battle Brothers - I quote: "This category covers the strongest of alliances, two or more armies striving towards a common goal. Battle Brothers have absolute trust in their comrades, treating them as an extension of their own forces." And also, "Battle Brothers are treated as friendly units from all points of view. This means, for example, that Battle Brothers can be joined by allied Independent Characters." and "Are counted as being friendly units for the targeting of psychic powers, abilities, and so on." Now, I know the Big Book giveth, and the FAQs taketh away... but I take this to indicate a seismic change in fluff is underway within GW. We should get a much better picture when the Tau Codex drops, hopefully this summer. Humanity NEEDS the Tau, on so many levels it's not funny. The Empire will not make it even another thousand years without the Tau. Conversely, the Tau NEED Humanity, and without them will not survive long-term. I know, it's Kool-aid. But I'm not the one what mixed this particular batch up; I'm just serving it forth, gentles all. Ingredients are right there to be inspected. Really? The Allies chart.The alien-hating Black Templars can ally with the Dark Eldar. The Blood Angels can't. The alien-hating, standoffish Dark Angels and Black Templars both trust the Eldar as allies of convenience. The alien-hating Dark Angels can ally with Orks. The Blood Angels can't. The Tau are described in the DE Codex as willingly allying with the Dark Eldar at one point, yet now apparently trust them on the same level as Daemons (admittedly, the DE did betray them, but they've also been at war with half the other armies they can ally with). And most importantly for these purposes: the Tau can apparently trust the Space Marines more than the Imperial Guard. You know, the forces that they actually have in their armies now and who are willing to negotiate. And that's just from looking for a few minutes. Plus, the BRB describes how the Departmento Munitorum sees the Tau as likely to be another massive warzone, so I don't think the chumminess is as inevitable as you think. In any case, the Imperium isn't going to make it another five years at the rate things are going. Adding the Tau might increase that to six. But more to the point, the Imperium doesn't take the rational steps it would need to take in order to stave off its own destruction. They're simply not willing to do so. Quote Now - Heresy? Yup, by prior standards, absolutely. Hence a Writ, in the Emperor's Hand, comes into my Chapter Master's hand. Where did it come from? The Omega Vault is a Deus ex Machina installed by GW within DeathWatch HQ. Go ahead, read it up. The question for me is, would that suffice? First, it's installed by Fantasy Flight. The Deathwatch series also explained how the Salamanders had the most mutated geneseed of all the Space Marine chapters, apparently including in this the guys who fall into murderous rages, the guys whose successor chapter collapsed over genetic instability and turn into werewolves, and the guys who need to be propped up by genetic shipments from Mars. They're not perfect. Second, no, that wouldn't suffice, because it's massive heresy and because the Emperor was on the Golden Throne before the Tau were discovered. Few would believe it. Even those who did would be suspicious. And those who didn't might respond violently. That's the thing. You have your chapter, without even blinking, accept working with the Tau. Closely. That's weird. And you have other Space Marine organizations accepting this, which is even weirder. Third, it's there for hooks for RPG campaigns. Using it in a shared universe (assuming you want people to accept your chapter into theirs, which you don't necessarily) doesn't work as well, since everyone has to accept what's happening with it (in order to accept what's going on into their view of the universe, that is). Note that I'm not opposed to your guys working with the Tau. It's more the way they're completely OK with it and everyone else is, too. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/#findComment-3307327 Share on other sites More sharing options...
EzekyleVIII Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Jokaero are aliens I thought? The imperium is a place of mass hypocrisy, (example mutant hating, yet ogryns/ratlings, then the psykers bt only because the imperium would die without them) and as such I don't feel overly concerned by the tau love. No one knows how old a space marine can truly be, however I'd be inclined to pop him in stasis and wheel him out only in direst need Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/#findComment-3307436 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octavulg Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Ogryns and Ratlings are stable (and have their own planets). And abhumans still aren't exactly loved. Mutants are unstable - they don't breed true. Also, mutants are usually twisted by Chaos. Ogryns, Ratlings, and most other abhumans evolved. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271423-wip-first-draft-the-emperors-undertakers/#findComment-3307439 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.