Nature vs. Nurture, the What If? edition

[Gree]

The fate of Sanguinius, the Angel of Colchis, was a tragic one. The angelic infant landed on Colchis, a world torn apart by religion. There the young Primarch grew to manhood, becoming a beauteous angel, revered by lesser men. To the pilgrims of Colchis, Sanguinius was a divine creature, a savior sent from the heavens by their god. To the young Primarch, who did not understand why he was alone blessed by wings and strength beyond mortal men, this provided him with a sense of purpose.

 

Consoled by his foster father, a cleric named Kor Phaeron, Sanguinius led the armies of Colchis in unifying the world. The Angel of Colchis became the God-King of Colchis, with billions offering blood-sacrifice and praise in his name.

 

Then the Emperor arrived.

 

Sanguinius’s worldview was brutally crushed as he at last met a being more radiant and divine than himself. The Emperor was horrified by what he had found, one of his own sons becoming exactly what the Emperor himself tried so hard to avoid.

 

Sanguinius was humiliated in front of his own former worshipers as the Emperor brutally rebuked him and informed him of the cruel truth. He was no divine creature, rather the Emperor’s mundane son, who was destined to led his armies in war across the galaxy.

 

Sanguinius ascended to command of the XVII Legion, renaming them the Celestial Angels, but he became bitter and twisted. Sanguinius’s mood hardly improved when he saw the Imperium’s general stance on mutation.

 

The Angel of Colchis eventually saw himself as the Emperor’s pet mutant. A slave-warrior sent to do his dirty work. His Legion adopted their Primarch’s bitter personality, and they were known to offer no mercy to conquered worlds.

 

Eventually though, Sanguinius found comfort in his prophetic dreams. It is speculated by later Imperial historians that Sanguinius had a latent psychic powers, powers that led him into communion with the Dark Gods of the warp.

 

Kor Phaeron provided guidance to the Primarch, inducting him in the ways of the old gods of Colchis. Here Sanguinius at last found true purpose as the divine messenger he always thought himself to be. He drank deep of the forbidden knowledge of Chaos.

 

When the Great Atrocity began, it was the Celestial Angels were among the first to raise the flag of rebellion against the Emperor. Sanguinius was the first to become a Daemon Prince, transforming into a vampiric winged being of blood and fire.

[Conn Eremon]

Y'know, when I originally made the list on the first page, it was Alpharius who had Cthonia. Ended up changing it, but I still think it'd fit. Imagine if the Twins were a well-known, highly effective pair that felt no need to exceed the standards of already established brothers? You could keep the style of war. A Warmaster who is everywhere.

 

Or imagine an Alpharius who loses Omegon before the Emperor arrives? Or vice versa.

[Hyaenidae]

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[Gree]

@Gree: Outstanding. I approve highly. Would you mind if I added your Macragge Angron and Colchis Sanguinius to our little project, good sir?

Sure no problem.

 

Anyone else mind if I do Magnus on Nocturne? I've got a pretty cracking idea.

[Hyaenidae]

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[Marshal Rohr]

This thread is like the 30k version of bioshock infinite.

[Conn Eremon]

Go for it, Gree. Heathens is already doing a Caliban Magnus, but nobody should feel restricted by it in this thread.

 

If we end up creating a alternate Heresy, in the appropriate forum, we can discuss what is kept. Here, in this thread, no limits.

[Gree]

Go for it, Gree. Heathens is already doing a Caliban Magnus, but nobody should feel restricted by it in this thread.

Ah, I forgot about the Caliban Magnus. It's no problem. I just got a new idea anyway with Mortarion leading the Inferno Reapers Legion on Nocturne anyway.

[Hyaenidae]

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[Brother Heinrich]

Got all my notes jotted down for Curze on Baal, gonna grab a glass of wine with the wife then get cranking. Before I begin I need some key info on what we have so far as to who's going traitor and who fights the Emperor at the battle for terra. Think you guys are really gonna enjoy what I have in mind.

[Conn Eremon]

That has not been discussed. I think we should wait until we have a consensus on the whole cast before determining their roles later on.

 

Edit: First post edited to show everyone's progress and current assignments.

 

The remaining Primarchs are Leman Russ, Corax, and Jaghatai Khan. The remaining homeworlds are Inwit, Cthonia and *fleet of unknown origins*.

 

If I could make some siggestions, what about Russ for the unknown Alpharius-like origins, Corax for Cthonia and the Warmaster title and the Khan with Inwit.

 

I'll be picking one to work on, waiting for some inspiration to strike.

 

Again, however, NO RESTRICTIONS.

[Hyaenidae]

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[Kol Saresk]

That has not been discussed. I think we should wait until we have a consensus on the whole cast before determining their roles later on.

Alternative. Maybe make a table of sorts into the first post. We can do by listing the primarchs, and then the planets they have been done on with hyperlinks to the corresponding posts within the planet's name. And then we can vote on the favorite potentials. Granted, ones like Heathens where it shows multiple Primarchs could get iffy, but one or two more could be used as "anchor stories".

 

EDIT: Or Heathens' idea.

[Conn Eremon]

Doing it off of my smartphone makes hyperlinking extremely difficult and annoying. If anyone else wants to do this, I will edit their post into my First Post. Either way, I got a lesser semblance of such up now.

 

As edited into my previous post.

[Kol Saresk]

Ah okay. Might have to go through some old threads to dig up the coding, but I'll see what I can do.

[Hyaenidae]

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[Conn Eremon]

Haven't actually read yours yet, Heathens, though I will. As I submit mine, though, I have to point out that a Primarch's Legion would be the same. So the First is the Palatine's, on Mundus Planus. Magnus would still be master of the Fifteenth. The only thing that has changed is his world of origin.

 

I give you:

 

Horus Lupercal, Master of the Luna Wolves and the Imperium's watchful eye, was struck suddenly on all sides by an enemy fleet. Ships of all sizes, some rivalling even his own Vengeful Fury, and of exceedingly unique design appeared from around the system's planetoids without warning. The Sixty-Fourth Expedition found itself under heavy fire from every vector of space. Within the initial volleys, Horus saw sixteen blips disappear on his HUD display. However, his attention was fixated not on his own ships but on what was clearly the enemy fleet's flagship. It was of monstrous design, large enough to equal that of the moons he and his Legion originated and received their name. Every inch of it was covered in gold, its surfaces reflecting enough starlight to be blinding to the eyes of mortal men. And it was familiar.

 

When the Imperial ships arrived in orbit over Kiavahr and its moon for the first time, it had Jagad Tai at its head. Horus and Jagad built an easy friendship between them, speaking of their times on their homeworld before discovery. One story stood out clearest of all to Horus at this moment. There had been on his home world of Inwit a famous shipwright who had, for their Emperor, built a magnificent vessel to carry him across his Empire among the stars. It was made of pure white-iron, as of the snows that nurtured Jagad and the Scar clan, and it was the size of a small moon. But on its maiden voyage, as Jagad watched on the great orbital forge that had built it, disaster struck. Its crew, taken from a distant world known for suffering repeated raids, mutinied. The ship that would have been christened the White Scar focused its fire on its escorts and fled. Jagad had hunted for it, but had never found it again, a thought that haunted him. Horus saw the vessel, when watching the recorded abduction. Against all reason, the White Scar was here, at the head of this ramshackle assortment of raiders.

 

Horus organized a unit of boarders immediately, and with a small force of Terminators teleported onto the heavily gilded White Scar. The Luna Wolves met with heavy, clearly human, resistance, however it stood little chance against the implacable might of the Legiones Astartes. Agapito Nev, First Captain of the Luna Wolves and Master of the Fangs, the Luna Wolves Terminator forces, was the first to breach the enemy bridge. There, they met with the first true resistance and he was forced to retreat and wait for his Primarch. In the first rush, six Terminators were destroyed by a red and gold blur that laughed with exuberance as it killed. The second rush, this time led by Horus himself, saw only two killed by the same blur before it was halted by the Primarch. In truth, all who witnessed it believed that it was not Horus that had physically stopped him, but the pirate captain who had paused upon seeing a being like himself. Standing still, he wore red garments, the only armor visible the heavy amount of gold hanging off of him. He stood tall, by a hair taller than Horus himself. And what a hair. A thick blonde mane not unlike Lord Magnus' was tied behind his head in a severe ponytail, while a heavily oiled beard hung to his chest. He and Horus stared at each other for a single, intense second. And then Leman Goldenbeard roared in laughter.

[Kol Saresk]

The blade art of the Dancing Sword, nice touch.

 

EDIT: Leman Goldenbeard, lol.

[Hyaenidae]

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[Castellan Michael]

This nature vs. nurture debate is great! Glad I am not the only one who thinks about this stuff. I am a mental health councilor and can see how much both are the rational behind the primarchs. It is partly why the personal stories behind the character development of the 18 is so fun to read. Their individual psychosocial development is so obtuse we can clearly see the path ways that will lead them, but we can also see that the Big-E left them all with biological predispositions that have strong influences upon them. With such strong biological forces pushing their idiosyncrasies how easy it still seems to change or influence their stories by the simple variations of nurture.

 

My personal favorite is Curze. His life on Nostramo was a dichotomy. His lack of any emotional bonds or support coupled with the depraved culture of Nostramo became a morale dilemma where his imperative was to use his innate abilities to battle evil. Obvious biological temperaments pushed him to stand against nefarious members of the populace. These very same malevolent social influences twisted his over all psychological development. Curze lacked empathy and failed to see the value in life and potentialism outside of his own. His tyrannical rule seems to be polar from where it began saving the innocent and helpless. The culpability lies within Object Relations Theory. Russ at least had his wolf pack to ground him, Curze lack of object relations leaves us looking at his often T.O.M. deficits (like autism). It seems many primarchs have trouble seeing any perspectives but there own, and all suffer to some extent from a close familial bonds but Curze it seems is classic.

[Kol Saresk]

 

 

The blade art of the Dancing Sword, nice touch.

Google translator is awesome, lol

Sometimes. I have a very small(like seriously, it is tiny) passing knowledge of Gaelic through my grandparents. Its mostly Welsh though since that's what they speaked. The only things I can say are "Shame on you" and "dirty pig"(the polite version, I think).

[Conn Eremon]

Google translator tells me that means "order sword." :p

 

And oh my god yes. Best one yet, I feel, though I am likely biased in this case. A Gaelic Magnus, with Native American elements. Just awesome.

 

Which brings me to something. I like Kol's idea of having them all up and available for us to vote on. But we should also be equal across the board and not just choose all of those from Heathens or Wade, as examples. This Magnus definitely gets my vote, though.

[Hyaenidae]

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[Hyaenidae]

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[Wade Garrett]

The Haunted certainly has my vote, although I do wonder what style of warfare he'd have for his sons...I'm imagining brutal straightforward assaults, with a preference for blades and fists over ranged combat, sort of like the Black Templars.