The Dragons of Oricalcos: Step-by-Step DIY Creation

[Andurin Marvak]

Hello, Bolter and Chainsword. It's been some time since I dabbled in the highly enjoyable fictional worlds of Games Workshop.

 

It's good to be back.

 

Some time ago, I attempted to bullrush a DIY chapter into existence, complete with a hackneyed IA article and all, which was, of course, nowhere near up to snuff. I recall being incredibly frustrated with my incompetence, and what I saw as overly harsh criticism of my work. As it turns out, that was merely my ignorance talking, and my inexperience in dealing with what I can only label a form of fan-fiction. I'm much more suited to creating my own universe and writing within my own rules than I am working in the "limiting" domain of others.

 

That said, because of all the false starts and emergency-brake-wrecking stops that were part of my first attempt at starting my own Chapter of Space Marines from the ground up, I've decided to take a different approach. Namely, one not only infinitely more relaxing for me (Which is why I have the hobby in the first place, of course.), but more beneficial to this community as a whole. There are undoubtedly going to be more persons like myself in the future who want to charge in half-cocked and go crazy with the creative process, and to save them the sweat-equity I've already spent, I'll be using this thread to go about things in a more public, detailed, sensible manner.

 

To that end, this thread will function something like a blog, where I go from start (rudimentary ideas and how I came to them) to finish (a highly polished IA article among various bits of fiction and other such things) over a lazily stretched-out period of time. All the while I'll be accepting comments and criticism that should only add to the usefullness of this topic. I expect that updates of varying size should be forthcoming at max twice a week and at minimum once a month, depending on my available free time.

 

So, to that end, welcome, and keep an eye out for the first update, coming soon to a Power-Armored Forum near you: "Planting a Seed: First Thoughts and Inspirations"

[Ace Debonair]

Sounds good, man, sounds good.

Always remember, you don't actually have to make an IA or similar article for your chapter, and can just expand as much or as little as you like on your DIY, much in the fashion Heru Talon is currently doing with his Iron Raptors.

That said, if an IA is your goal, then that's cool too. I'll keep an eye on this thread and do whatever I can to help where possible.

Also, welcome back to the Liber.

[JeffTibbetts]

Bring it on, brother. I'm bashing out my first IA myself. Been working on it for years in my head, and now I'm hoping to get it down once and for all. I'd be happy to help if I can. 

[Andurin Marvak]

Thank you, Ace, for the welcome and the offer of aide.

Edit: Also, thank you, Jeff, I was writing this when you posted.

 

And so it begins: "Planting a Seed: First Thoughts and Inspirations"

 

One of the best mental images I had when I first mulled through starting my own Space Marine chapter was one of a golden warrior atop a mighty dragon. Granted, the idea of a Space Marine using any sort of creature as a mount is undoubtedly a little odd, unless of course you are a Space Wolf. In that case, you get Gruff McGruff with a bionic eye to ride around on. I decided to keep that idea as a central visual theme for the chapter, and work from there. This led to several counts-as rules messed ups later on, which I eventually resolved, but was well worth the extra trouble.

 

So, marines riding dragons. I suppose if they're going to ride anything, it might as well be something massive, mythical, and worthy of their ceramite-clad buns.

 

The figure I had initially envisioned was also knightly in design and gravitas, and that feel I kept in working out the rest of the chapter's visual appeal, as well as their go-to philosophy and way of life. So now that I had a rudimentary ball of Space Marine to mould, the question then came: who the heck are these guys from, anyway? Who they daddy is?

 

I immediately ruled out several options for parent chapters, most of them being cool in their own right, but too bloodthirsty or angsty for me to mesh with the noble knightly ideal I was envisioning. I mean, a Crimson Fist seems more at home downing some cervesa (I am slightly multi-lingual, emphasis on the only-know-a-handful-of-words) in a gritty bar room while the Imperial Fists are too busy dying horribly on parapets against overwhelming odds. Space Wolves, along with having gene-seed that positively won't work to boot, would be starting a drunken brawl at that same bar because some Boyz parked their wartrukk on a thunderwolf's tail in the alley out back. Black Templars bodysurf along neophytes to get closer to the enemy, and I think I saw some Dark Angels beating up some guy with eight-pointed tattoos in the alley behind the wartrakk. The Iron Hands were busy trying to replace the thunderwolf's damaged tail with more bionics, and I couldn't even find the Raven Guard.

 

So I had the Blood Angels, Ultramarines, and Salamanders left. All of them have a civilized, noble, more humane feel to them, and since I wanted my boys to interact with their homeworld's populace, the Boys in Blue and Marines in tha Hood looked especially appetizing. I bet you've already guessed what lineage I chose, based upon the dragon-riding theme, haven't you?

 

Well, it wasn't the Salamanders. I'll admit, the connection between fire, dragons, and this chapter is pretty strong, and the Sons of Vulkan are one of my favorite chapters. I will most likely do a kill-team of them someday, along with the other guys I liked yet rejected, the Ultramarines. The thing is, the Sallies are more reserved, more inclined to be the quiet workhorse of a team who does great things but is rarely appreciated for it. It's one of the reasons they're so human and humane, and I love them for it. Heck, I think as hobbyists we can all appreciate their love of craftsmanship. The Ultramarine's personality was likewise an issue. Despite the negative press, they are not glory-hoggers, and are more like the fellow in a group who leads by word and suggestion, and functions as an exceddingly competent brain. These guys run their own star system, where life is better than it is most other Imperial places. I can respect that, and wanted to include something like it in my own chapter, but their general attitude did not fit what I was going for.

 

Which was a level of heroic nobility so intense it almost becomes hammy. If anyone ever watched Beast Wars growing up, Silverbolt is frighteningly close to what I wanted. These guys had to be so awe-inspiring, that even though they weren't trying to, and actively worked to remain humble and lift up others who contributed to the victory, they would get the lion's share of the credit. In other words, genuinely GOOD human beings who inspire by both word and deed.

 

And, after all, who had the most heroic Primarch of them all? And who continues, despite tainted geneseed and inner turmoil, to be unshakeably heroic? Why, the Blood Angels, of course.

 

So there you have it, folks. A Blood Angels successor chapter is born. Now for it to start gurgling and drooling like a toddler! Stay tuned for the next part: "Feeding Baby: Fleshing out the Chapter"

[JeffTibbetts]

You mean they're literally or figuratively dragon-riding? And I think it makes good sense to make them BA successors, so long as you don't mess with the thirst too much. In many ways I think it opens up great tension to make them achingly perfect, ideal, heroic etc. and then have this terrible, dark secret. It's what the BA are all about in many ways. Reminds me of old stories of a utopia that is built upon a lie or the suffering of a minority. I mean, this is grimdark and NOBODY is purely good. Right? 

[Andurin Marvak]

The Veterans, specifically, what would normally be considered the First Company, would be able to ride dragons. Not in the magical sense, of course, but if the native wildlife of your homeworld looks like a dragon, roars like a dragon, and breathes fire like a dragon, then it might as well be a dragon.

 

As for the geneseed curse, well, you'll see how they deal with that. These guys are more tragically heroic in awful, gut-wrenching earnest than covering their darker nature with gold-plated virtue.

[Conn Eremon]

A Chapter inspired by Silverbolt of the Beast Wars?

 

You have my attention.

[NightrawenII]

The Veterans, specifically, what would normally be considered the First Company, would be able to ride dragons. Not in the magical sense, of course, but if the native wildlife of your homeworld looks like a dragon, roars like a dragon, and breathes fire like a dragon, then it might as well be a dragon.

Yeah and this apex predator, which stands atop of food chain, would be all eager to carry your dudes in the battle. I can totally see that...

Seriously guys, there is a reason why humans ride horses and not lions.

[Hrvat]

Though then again Space Wolves ride Rhino sized Wolves

[Andurin Marvak]

if we can domesticate dogs, and have things like war elephants in real life, and in Warhammer Fantasy they do even crazier things, AND if the Eldar Exodites can pretty much ride dinosaurs to war just fine....AND if the Space Wolves can master top predators that can get as big as small transport tanks....

 

I think I'm good. Especially if I flesh out the concept to actually make sense for what it is. For example, it's not like they'll just go outside, beat some alpha male dragon down, and presto, new mount! Rest assured, I'll use more than sparing knowledge of animal husbandry and zoological park practices in the explanation.

 

Oh, and Cormac: "Oh dark venom of my heart....."

[Tonal]

Good start, I'm liking everything about it so far, but for the dragons.

 

For me, it's not so much if it's actually possible, but rather that it's a fairly cliche topic and could mar an otherwise awesome looking chapter if not done properly. I mean, even the Salamander's absurdly close relationship with Nocturne's Drakes doesn't have them ride the creatures.

 

Regardless, I eagerly look forward to your next update!

[NightrawenII]

Well, I'm not saying that it's impossible, with enough effort why not, but the question is; Why bother? The Exodites are wild guys on wild planet, the Space Wolves have thing for wolves. Why would your guys ride dragons? Because it's cool? Well, the first AA platform will disagree...

[Andurin Marvak]

Rest assured, fellow Liberites, all will be revealed as time goes on, including the reasons why they would choose to even consider dragon-riding in the first place and how they manage to do it in battle without being shot out of the sky with relative ease. And now, on with the update!

 

"Feeding Baby: Fleshing out the Chapter"

 

So, a Blood Angels successor with a Knightly theme. What to do with this...what to do with this...Well, for starters, I decided selecting a Homeworld would be a good idea. I really like how the Ultramarines manage to govern Ultramar, and I wanted to reflect that with this chapter, so I started off by choosing the "Star System" option. Initially, several "special snowflake" options bounced around in my head, but none of that really worked and having the "perfect system" is not all that creative or enjoyable when you think about it. I did, however, manage to select a suitable name: Oricalcos, primary planet of the Oricalcan System. It sort of dribbled out of a vague memory I had of the Yugi-oh cartoon from my childhood, something to do with seeing a dragon on screen and hearing some villain caterwauling on about a "Seal of Oricalcos". I found out more recently that my ear-to-letter spelling is incorrect, but this is the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, so I'm keeping it. That name chosen, I fleshed out the system a tiny bit. A main, feudal-style agri-world with basic Imperial level technology, on the fringe of the Imperium somewhere. Some barren mining planets for ores in the same system (Considering I had no idea what orichalcum was at the time, it was a pretty fortunate slip of the mind.). Just an average system in a galaxy of them, that was my intent.

 

Putting the question of "Why bother with Marines on the frontier?" aside for the moment, I switched to battle tactics. Since they were knightly, I figured an emphasis on close-combat would come naturally, especially using rapid-delivery vehicles to get them locking blades with the enemy. And after all, they ARE descended from the Blood Angels. So I began looking for rulesets to accomodate both this and actually having a dragon-rider suitably reperesented on the 40k tabletop. My first, and admittedly most boneheaded choice, was Space Wolves, because I knew they could be hard-driving choppy marines with lots of "hero" choices and they had Canis Wolfborn, who I assumed could represent the dragon-riding commander. But, several tactica readings later, I realized this was a poor selection for what I wanted, and was tempted to use Chaos Space Marines with winged Daemon Princes.

 

Then something glorious happened. The new Blood Angels codex was released, and it suddenly became possible to have an entire army born aloft by assault aircraft and jump packs, but a librarian dreadnought that could turn into jump infantry and use a strength 10 force weapon to rip apart literally anything. And thus I thought I had found perfection. It was during this time period, before Sixth Edition, that the Dragons of Oricalcos were envisioned as a knightly order descending from the skies out of Storm Ravens and Thunderhawks, deepstriking just about everything right into the most hard-fought parts of the battle-field. Some mediocre to poor fiction was written about daring aerial assault/rescues, and the Chapter came into its own in regards to battle-doctrine. Basically, whenever possible, DYNAMIC ENTRY in and hack everything apart while they're standing there drooling in awe/gibbering in fear.

 

And then 6th edition came....and Dreadnoughts were easier to kill. So instead of worrying about rules I focused on backstory, system building, etc. But something else happened. I played a game using my Nids (current army) among friends, one of which had some Grey Knights. That day, I learned in passing about how Dreadknights could become jump troops. The possibility did not dawn on me until months later that I could use something so hated fluff-wise to represent something else on the table. And thus, for the sake of being able to accurately represent a monstrous creature that could breathe fire, fly, and tear apart tanks and other monstrous creatures on the tabletop, I switched to a codex famous for cheese. What came next helped me flesh out the fluff as I worked around the crunch in that codex.

 

Up Next: "Marines? But we done got Billy Ray and his boys!: Giving the Chapter a reason to Exist"

[Captain Nightengel]

The thing is, by and large who cares what space marines are mounted on. That AA gun you were talking about would also do the same to bikes. Which are also ridiculous as vehicles of war for anyone but Orcs. I mean Orks, woops. 

 

If he creates something cool by trying to write a chapter for some rules. Then more power to him. 

 

You have a good start, Andurin. I would say make the model you want first and worry about the rules later. As long as you have a scheme that isn't one of the famous chapters you can play them as anyone you want. (So long as the models have the right gear which is generally pretty homogeneous) 

[Andurin Marvak]

So, why would anyone put a chapter of Space Marines on the frontier of anywhere, when a properly run PDF force or agents of the Mechanicus could do just as well? Initially, I ran through several ideas that like many facets of the original Dragons, were poorly executed and very forced. They ranged from prophecy and intervention by Sanguinius (the elements of which I retained, but in a much more reasonable, reserved fashion that actually makes sense and avoids an intense amount of Mary Sue-ing) to things as mundane as a lack of functioning Imperial Authority in the area.

 

In the end, the reason for their creation was a toning-down and inter-linking of all previous visions of the Chapter. I opted to have them located on the farthest reaches of the Northeastern Fringe, where the light of the Astronomicon is dimmest and the reach of the Imperium is crippled by a grand stretch of distance. Add in some very active xeno and human piracy, the Imperium's need to shore up a fast failing bulwark, and rumblings of Renegade and Greenskin alike jumping at the chance to fill in the power vacuum, and you have reason for Humanity's Finest to get involved. Add some admittedly minor holy sites of Sanguinius' and AdMech mining operations with decreasing cost-effectiveness due to distance (until the Astartes show up) to taste, and you have a well-flavored home-system. My next updates will be a first draft of sorts on the early history of the chapter, and a background of the Oricalcan System itself.

[Tanner151]

When will the next section be out?

[Andurin Marvak]

Right now, Tanner!

 

Background of the Oricalcan System

 

At the time of the Great Crusade, Oricalcos was a thriving feudal world fed by its many farms and made rich by the export of useful ores mined from the two dead planets and many asteroid belts in its home system. The planet was largely governed and defended by the Knights of Oricalcos and their Men at Arms, and while life could still be brutal at times, generally everyone could make do by working hard and following the rigorous code of honor that was the cornerstone of their culture. Very little of this changed after the planet was brought into the Imperium of Man.

 

Legends state that it was Sanguinius who brought the population into the fold, and no record of any serious opposition to this movement has been found. It appears that the arguments made by the Primarch were so convincing, that the council of Knights he spoke before took steps to ratify the changes almost immediately. The whole of the planet was swift to follow suite, for the Angelic Primarch was not one blind to the things a man requires from his superiors. He gave them what they needed: vindication, higher purpose, and above all, proof that his cause was one worthy of making their own. For six days after the High Council hearing, he did little else but travel the planet with only a handful of his best and most noble Astartes, speaking to great crowds in all the largest cities of Oricalcos. And on the way to each destination, he made a sincere point of stopping to aide the local populace in matters of peril or dire need. Everywhere he went, his words and deeds were received with the same eagerness as they had been among the high and mighty of the planet.

 

So it was that on the seventh day since his planetfall that he stood before a crowd of over a billion souls in the capital and declared the system united with the Imperium of Man. Furthermore, in recognition of the Knights of Oricalcos' esteemed position and role in society at large, he declared them the official defenders of the Oricalcan System, that the people might know that their long lauded guardians would retain their command now and forever. In every other military matter, the Astartes Legions, the Imperial Army, and Imperial Navy would reign supreme, but in Oricalcan Space, the Knight's word was Law.

 

However, not all was as the Emperor would have wished.

 

Sanguinius, appreciating that his work was largely done, went about his father's business and left the planet to those officials and dignitaries which handled such things. What he had not expected was that his arguments and charisma had done far more than win the hearts and minds of the people. He had, in truth, won the soul of Oricalcos on the Council Chamber floor and every town square that he had spoken in, however humble. In a fashion similar to that of Lorgar's homeworld, the Emperor rapidly became recognized as the true form of the deity they had already worshipped, with Sanguinius and his brothers as demi-god messenger children born as heirs to the universe. When the predecessors of the Adeptus Adminstratum arrived, what they found waiting both perplexed and pleasantly surprised them. The Knights had done some financial and military repositioning, and already had men, supplies, and currency waiting to be funneled into the Great Crusade. Pleased with the situation, the diplomats moved on to other tasks and the administrators made the necessary adjustments in their own records, and the Oricalcan System went to war for the Emperor. Shortly afterward, the Mechanicus arrived and set up an appropriately sized mining operation in the area. As long as the tithes flowed well and disturbances of the peace remained at their usual low levels, they bothered little with meddling in the affairs of the common folk, or the religious community of the system.

 

Then Horus and the Traitor Legions shattered the Emperor's dream.

 

Word of the far-off happenings was erratic and garbled. Most Imperial Officials either headed toward Terra or were called elsewhere to places of greater need, mostly due to the fact that the Oricalcans appeared to be more than capable of taking care of themselves for the time being. Those warriors who had left the system were all slain in the civil war. The surviving Oricalcans spent most of their time praying alongside their usual tasks, and the Knights began to heavily fortify the entire planet in case the Traitors dared show their cowardly, scheming faces. The entire system had readied itself for a conflict that never even came within lightyears of it.

 

Yet, all manner of records and legends mark well the day that Sanguinius was slain. Very little is known about the veracity of these numerous and varied accounts, and the tales range for the absurd to the awe-inspiring. Apparitions, miracles, disasters, and uncanny coincidences abound. Whatever the case may be, what is known for certain is that the populace was already wrought with mourning for the Primarch by the time word of his sacrifice actually reached them. Mourned too was the similarly slain Ollanius Pius, though only after word of the events at the Seige of Terra had already arrived. Services were held system-wide for over a month before life even began to seem normal or swing back towards daily routine.

 

Time passed. And all was not well. Over the centuries, with only occasional contact with the rest of the Imperium, those left in charge of the Mechanicus and Administratum operations began to realize that it would be a simple matter to play smoke and mirrors with the actual running of their offices, and thereby carve themselves out a nice little cushioned seat on the frontier. It happened slowly, over a great length of time. First, neighboring human colonies, Imperial and otherwise, found themselves at the mercy of suprisingly well-armed pirates. They were eventually overrun and the area surrounding Oricalcos became rife with those looking for freedom from the restirictions of lawful civilization. Then the pirates came for the Oricalcans, and with little aide from the Imperium forthcoming, the Knights began to find themselves under-manned, out-gunned, and poorly supplied. What was not learned until it was far too late was that certain corrupt beaurocrats had planned it that way.

 

With the planetary leadership now either crippled or working with the lawless, the situation spiraled rapidly out of control. Most of the holy sites and cathedrals became dens of iniquity, where clergy not worthy of the name grew fat on excessive, thug-enforced tithes and greasy-fisted peddlers hawked religious wares of dubious origin. Gangers and cut-throats of all types could be found in most urban areas, and often pressed those who looked strong enough into service for the Mechanicus, where they were either made into servitors or worked to death in the ore mines. The few who held out against this rampant corruption did what they could, and groups like the Oricalcan Labor Union and the Sisters of Sanguinius were instrumental in helping the Knights maintain at least a semblance of order.

 

As Fate would have it, the sudden appearance of brutal Eldar pirates and the rise to power of several Warbosses that wrested control of several nearby systems, alongside the whispers of darker deeds and depraved rituals among the remaining human pirate dens turned out to be the beginning of the system's salvation.

 

The first call for help came from the Mechanicus, who were tired of the damage being dealt by ork raids and starting to realize that their current forces were not equipped for such frequent, intense engagements. For a few decades, they were able to bolster their defenses by hiring some of the thugs they had previously traded with. This temporary solution only lasted as long as the degenerates found the employment profitable, and when the Eldar pirates began taking captives whose faces and limbs made appearances on the twisted monstrosities they brought to battle, any and all contracts were immediately considered void. The next attempt at solving this increasingly costly problem was simply to request more munitions and manpower from their superiors, but even then, the orks became too numerous and the Eldar too bold for the security force to stop.

 

It was then that the good men and women who still fought for the Oricalcan System made their desparate gambit. Long had they waited, slowly gathering information and resources for the inevitable day when their opponents would overstep their bounds. A combined force led by the Grand Master of the Knights of Oricalcos, the Steward of the Oricalcan Labor Union, and the Mother Superior of the Sisters of Sanguinius made a dramatic appearance before the Magos. After the dust had settled, they delivered their ultimatum: either the Magos would begin using his influence among his peers to call for aide to better protect the system, or they would violently depose him and his followers and expose the full measure of his corruption. They left as suddenly as they had come.

 

Their bluff worked. While it was doubtful that even their united efforts could successfully overthrow the full might of all the gangs, pirates, and agents of the Mechanicus themselves, they did know that they could leave them so weakened that the system would be entirely overrun with the year. They had backed the Magos into a corner. He could choose to fight them, risk his defeat and a return in bondage to the wrath of his superiors, or do as they ask and invite those who held his reigns to investigate the situation and possibly uncover his treachery and power-mongering. Even if he won the bloody civil war, he understood all too well how easily those who survived would be devoured by the voracious xenos that hounded the edges of the system. While he had his own very secure means of escape, not only would he have to start over again in a position less likely to provide such profit, but he would also have to give account for his failures, exposing himself to discovery once again. In the end, he decided that working with his detractors to silence their wagging tongues was the best option. At least then he stood a greater chance of keeping the wool over everyone's eyes, as long as his reports continued to spread misinformation to his benefit.

 

From this point, it actually took several decades for the Magos to garner support for reinforcements to be sent to the system. Granted, he did have the entire star system and the assorted systems still within Imperial Space surrounding it backing him in this plea, but as always, the grinding of the rusted gears of the Administratum in receiving this massive influx of supporting evidence complicated the process. Even with the precise application of threats and bribery that he brought to the table, simply getting their cause to be considered by his superiors took several times as long as he had planned. And once that mammoth task was complete, he was now forced to wait on the edge of a knife, for while his superiors moved ever so slowly toward the final goal, he had to contend with the enemies at hand. Naturally, it was hard to convince any of them that he was not simply delaying things on purpose, to serve his own ends, and every month that passed further deepened the tensions between them. The Oricalcan System entered a state similar to that of Terra during the years of the Cold War, as both sides fenced politically and jockeyed fiercely to stay in control of the situation. At five separate occasions, full-scale violence nearly broke out and sent the system crumbling into dust and flames. That it managed to survive was due entirely to the skill and tact of the leaders belonging to either side. The successor to the previous Mother Superior of the Sisters of Sanguinius was instrumental in this, as under her leadership, the order, unable to initiate violence by their own laws, often placed themselves in harm's way to stop minor conflicts before they escalated. Those hired thugs and devotees of the local Mechanicus knew not to harm them, for in so doing they risked the wrath of the entire system, and those loyal to Oricalcos would never willingly put one of the Order in harm's way.

 

When the response finally did come, everyone who had asked for it was in shock. After much deliberation, it had been decided that simply shoring up the local military bulwark with several regiments of Imperial Guard and their attached Naval assets would, at best, be a temporary and utterly flawed solution. The area simply did not have enough resources to support a military force of the size necessary, and even lacked the infrastructure to distribute these non-existent resources properly. Because of its remote location, supplying them from the outside would quickly become a drain on time and effort that less backwater systems close enough could not sustain for any length of time. The need for something small, highly mobile, self-sufficient, and near autonomous was required. And after repeated urgings of assorted Adeptus Mechanicus officials for action, the founding of a new chapter of Astartes was decided upon. The new chapter's duties would include not only the defense of the Oricalcan System, but the reclamation of all formerly Imperial Assets nearby and the training of a local military structure once those assets were retaken. Due to the Magos' efforts, their charge also included the protection and support of any and all Mechanicus mining activity in the area.

[JeffTibbetts]

No fun without a struggle, bro. Conflict is interesting. Maybe a popular uprising or a nationalist faction doesn't like the elite telling them what to do, especially when they decide to go in with extraterrestrials. Perhaps Sangunius has to go talk to 'the people' and convince them it's in their best interest. If he only meets with this council, he can't awe the population. Code or not, people rarely take change like this at their leader's word. 

[Knurd]

Definitely liking this so far. I'm working on vampire monk theme for my Sons of Sanguinius. Which is the reason that I had to point out that Dracula meant the "dragon." So this definitely goes with the BA. 

[Andurin Marvak]

That's a very good point, Jeff, and as you can see, I've taken it to heart.

Insein, while I knew what Dracula means, I'd never made the link before. Who knows, maybe our successors can make beautiful fanfiction together or something when they're done.

[Knurd]

I'm game for some co-op fan fiction once my Chapter is fleshed out. Just started re-writing my IA and putting it through the gauntlet in the forums. 

[Andurin Marvak]

Well, I've added a bit more. NOW it's starting to look more like the grimdarkness we all know and love!

[Andurin Marvak]

A tad more added, after a long hiatus due to my old computer dying.

[JeffTibbetts]

A tad more added, after a long hiatus due to my old computer dying.

 

Ouch. I feel your pain, brother. Move everything to the cloud. All of it. ;) 

[Andurin Marvak]

Maaan, I've been busy. I added a few paragraphs, and continued to lose my fight with that weird coding text which keeps freaking showing up after I make an edit.