Guardians of the Covenant - but what covenant? (fluff!)

[Epimetheus13]

Hi all,

 

I'm a long-time WFB player who's just made the flip into W40K with Dark Angels, starting a Guardians of the Covenant army using the DV set. I've always loved the W40K universe and backstory, but I haven't found much official info on the Guardians.

 

Since my armies always have a theme or backstory, I wanted to write and share my take on who the Guardians actually are... What Covenant are they guarding? Why don't they seem to be as involved as their Brethren in hunting Fallen? W40k.wikia says they care more for the "common" men and women - why might that be?

 

BTW, I am indebted to the creative work of Revan88, who posts incredible stuff on the Sons of Mortikah site. This fluff builds on some of his cool ideas (see his post at: http://guardiansotc.blogspot.ca/2013/06/guardians-of-covenant-fluff.html) but takes it in a slightly different direction.

 

Here's my fluff, would love to hear additional ideas. BTW, if the Guardians are referenced in any Black Library books, I'd love to hear about it.

 

=========

 

"Kneel, Brother Epimetheus," intoned the Dominus, his voice deep and rattling, like far-off echoes of thunder.

 

Clad in crimson robes over silver power armour, Brother Epimetheus approached the seated Astartes, reverently knelt and bowed his head.

 

"By your deeds and dedication, you merit a station among our most inspiring heroes. By your treatise on the Paradox of Ultramar, you have demonstrated the wisdom and intellect to stand among the most learned of our Order. You have been found worthy of joining the Convenio Arcanum."

 

"I am humble a servant of the Chapter, master Dominus," replied Epimetheus.

 

"As you honour the Chapter with your actions and insight, so we shall honour you with knowledge. It is your duty to bear this knowledge as befits your oaths to the Chapter and the Emperor."  The Dominus paused briefly to steel his will.

 

"We are the Guardians of the Covenant.  Of what Covenant do we keep?"

 

"The Covenant made between father and son, between our Great Emperor and our Patriarch, Lion El'Jonson," replied Brother Epimetheus.

 

"And of what does the Covenant pledge?"

 

"To honour the bond forged between the Emperor and the Lion, first of his lost sons. To obey the pact by which our primogenitors swore fealty to the Emperor's service as his First Legion. To be a shield for humanity against a dark galaxy of alien horrors. Of this, every initiate knows."

 

"True. Yet you do not know the "why"... There is a deeper truth, which none but the Convenio Arcanum may be entrusted with, a truth which must now burden your soul and spur your duty."

 

"You know how our Patriarch left Caliban to fight at the Emperor's side against the Traitor's hordes. You know how many of our Brother Legions turned away from the Emperor's Light to seek the succor of the Ruinous Powers. What you do not know...is that many of our ancestors' own brethren on Caliban also joined in foul rebellion."

 

Brother Epimetheus' head snapped up.  The Dominus stood, his eyes locked upon the Marine.

 

"It is true," he continued. "Led astray by the Lion's closest companion, Luthor, they fell from grace and cast their lot with the Traitor Horus. Like the Traitor, they were crushed and scattered to the farthest reaches of space and time. Yet they persist still, in hidden and secret corners of the galaxy. They must be brought to justice for their crimes, and no Son of the Lion can ever be Forgiven in the Emperor's eyes until all the Fallen have been hunted down. This is the sacred duty of all Unforgiven Chapters, led by our primogenitors, the Dark Angels."

 

"The duty of all Unforgiven...except us. In our Brother Angels' zeal to fulfill this duty, they have been forced to, on occasion, neglect their other oaths. They have ignored pleas of aid from allies, stood aside by while populations perished...or worse. This has been necessary for the redemption of the blood that runs in all our veins, but these transgressions nevertheless threaten to bring down the judgement of the Inquisition - who, should they learn the truth, would damn us all with Excommunication."

 

"Thus did the Grand Masters of the Unforgiven call for the founding of a new Chapter to honour the Covenant that formed the basis of all Legions and all Adeptus Astartes that followed. To fulfil the promise of the First Legion and awaken lesser men to great deeds through acts of heroism."

 

"We are the conscience of the Unforgiven. We must neglect our own duty to hunt the Fallen to fulfil a hundredfold the duties that our Brother Chapters must put aside. And for our sins, we shall be twice-damned and Unforgiven until our Brothers succeed in returning every last Fallen to the Emperor's Light."

 

The Dominus laid a gentle hand on Epimetheus' shoulder. "This the truth which you have shown yourself worthy to bear. Your valor and heroism has already served as an inspiration to human men and women on countless worlds. Let this truth drive your mind and heart to redoubled efforts against the xenos. Knowledge is power - guard it well, and we shall speak further of the Fall on the morrow."

[Growler67]

Have you read the Wiki (found with a 5 second Google):  http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Guardians_of_the_Covenant

[Epimetheus13]

Have you read the Wiki (found with a 5 second Google):  http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Guardians_of_the_Covenant

For sure - I reference it in my post. But the wiki doesn't answer "why" so I wanted to take my own stab at it. What did you think?

[facmanpob]

Try the link in my sig for the "official" B&C unofficial fluff :)

[facmanpob]

Or is it the unofficial official fluff? ;)

[FerociousBeast]

Very nice Epimetheus! Well written.

[Solaceon]

First of all, thanks for referring to my blog. I feel honoured to have inspired you. The stuff you've written tickles my brain to write some more myself!

If possible, I'd like to brainstorm a bit with you on your take on the Guardians' fluff. I've written a lot, not all of it published on my blog, I've also read a lot of other folks takes on the fluff, including the Index Astartes article on B&S. But I really would like to share ideas and come to new insights. Stuff I've written is far from holy, and changes can always occur.

 

The focal points I tend to build around are the following:

-Equal time to study and warfare, resulting in a Neophyte earning his Robes and his Power Armour.

-Deviation from regular Unforgiven Chapters; no longer actively hunting the Fallen due to remote location in the galaxy.

-Heavy use of High Gothic(Latinized) terminology in the Chapter.

-Mortikah VII being civilised but still a bit feudal due to remoteness with the Fortress Monastery high in the mountains.

 

Though I've been a silent member of B&S for a long time, posting all my stuff here seems a little daunting at times, so I haven't gotten around to it.  But might be I will, some day soon.

 

Cheers!

 

Revan88

[Solaceon]

_{Thruth be told, I never really gave much thought nor description as to what is the Covenant they are guarding. What you have written about in your little jewel of fluff makes quite a lot of sense.}

_{Add to that, I've made a list of all the Companies in the Chapters, what their function is and what their leaders are or might be. Most Company Masters are random names, some I have actually made and painted as a miniature though.}

_{I'd love to post it in its entirety, but it's too big I'm afraid.}

_{You could check it out here: http://guardiansotc.blogspot.nl/2013/08/lore-of-guardians-of-covenant-chapter.html}

_{I'd rather not have posted the link because I don't want to make blatant advertising for my blog, but alas, it's too big to post.}

 

_-Revan88

[Tiger9gamer]

Wow. Solaceon that is an amazing amount of fluff. It Goes over quite a bit and explains how the covenant could operate and fight. I really like the names of the companies too! Also, Awesome piece of fluff up top!

I think I may use this and the IA facman wrote as a mix for my army fluff to be honest His idea about how the monastery is great. The part about the Old Dark Angels being hard-wired inside the Libraries is awesome!

Although I wouldn't think about them just leaving the Hunt... Maybe they lead all those crusades into the Halo stars because Fallen might be in there hiding?

[Epimetheus13]

Thanks for the kudos everyone! The great thing about playing an official Chapter with very little official fluff is all the ideas that everyone has, and you can pick, mix and build on it any way you like.

 

facmanpeob, I hadn't seen that fluff before. I really like the idea of Techmarines merging themselves into their databases...almost mirroring the Emperor himself on his golden throne! I also really like the idea of the GotC style of warfare as very knowledge-driven, full reconnaissance - I have a bunch of ideas about a knowledge-themed Chapter, and wasn't sure whether to use those ideas for a Raven Guard successor chapter or use them to the GotC.

 

Solaceon, very happy to brainstorm and share more ideas about Chapter fluff! I really like the idea of the Practicum and Theoreticum, as well as the GotC standing apart from other Unforgiven. I still haven't fully figured out in my mind what would drive the Chapter to be so monastic and record data (or works of art) so diligently; would be glad to bounce ideas. I also want to write soem fluff on what the recruitment process might be, but haven't turned my mind to it yet.