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The Lost and Forgotten: Building the II Legion

Athrawes

By Athrawes
in + WORKS IN PROGRESS +

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  • 2 weeks later...
Athrawes Venerable Brother

Athrawes

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The Sage's world burned around him. The Wolves last act of suicidal cunning had seen the Io Orbital Plate crippled. Doomed to fall gracelessly from the heavens onto the world below, covering its surface in atomic fire, and chocking its once beautiful skies in darkness. Even through the storm, he could sense the malice ebbing from the tear in reality. 

 

It would have sickened him had he still the capacity to feel. The last few weeks had robbed him of that, and so much more. Besides, in a few short hours, either way, the tear would become immaterial. This world was cracking apart. Even if the invaders left this moment, with peace in their churning hearts, this world was doomed, and the tear would die with it. 

 

He opened his eyes, though he couldn't remember closing them. He was no longer alone.

 

The warrior across from him stood impassive. His form radiated violence, but his posture conveyed unease. That was surprising. Of all the things he expected to see in the warriors eyes, contempt, fury, even sadness, unease was not expected. Even the thought that there was some arena in which he was anything but dominant rang as a falsehood, sat poorly against the backdrop of the world in which they both found themselves.

 

The shared Silence lasted for several minutes. Finally the Sage spoke.

 

"Do you remember, when it was just the two of us? When the Favored was still bound to our father's side, it was our brotherhood alone, together. Do you remember?"

"I remember."

"And yet-"

"And yet."

 

"It was always going to be you." The sage continued, "He would never do this himself, it's not his way. He spent millennia behind the scenes positioning pieces. He is unknowable, even to me. We talked he and I, our conversations were long, and yet I only ever skimmed the surface of him."

 

The warrior shifted uncomfortably, speaking up as emotion compelled him.

 

"You knew." It was an accusation, bitter with hurt. " You saw this?"

 

"No." The word was heavy. The ache of it brought unknowing feeling back to the Sages heart. 

 

"But those eyes of yours, you once told me-" The Warrior struggled, as he always did, with the right words, "the things you have seen."

 

The sage, sensing the Warriors unease, interceded before the thought could be finished.

 

"If you are looking for absolution from me, a concession that this was unavoidable, you will not find it here Warrior."

 

"I have to do this." The words sounded week, and the warrior loathed the way they tasted coming from his mouth. Weakness should have been all but crafted out of a being like him. And yet, his engineered intellect fumbled at this moment for the strength at the core him, that the Warrior once found so much comfort from. To his shame, he hid behind the words, as he spoke them, knowing they were untrue. "I am not like you." He said with a harshness he no longer felt. "I can't draw an arbitrary line in the sand and say 'no further.'"

 

The Sage chuckled darkly, not in derision but in sadness. "You are exactly like me, Of all the others, you know me the best." 

 

The Warrior said nothing. After all, he couldn't find it within himself to disagree, even though a quiet part of him cried out to. Sighing, in an all too human fashion, The Warrior began to draw his blade and stepped closer.

 

The Sage nodded to himself, knowing what must come next. "I will not make it easy" he said, " but then nothing about our lives was intended for ease. You must know this, Warrior,  that as you have come for me, he will one day come for you. This warning is my last gift to you."

 

Before the Warrior could respond, the Sage was in motion. Wings of lightning arcing from his back.

 

A world burned, and two brothers hearts broke.

 

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/de6b8a19-c887-4a5b-bbd1-5f5ea500e953.jpg

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Nomus Sardauk Venerable Brother

Nomus Sardauk

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The Sage's world burned around him. The Wolves last act of suicidal cunning had seen the Io Orbital Plate crippled. Doomed to fall gracelessly from the heavens onto the world below, covering its surface in atomic fire, and chocking its once beautiful skies in darkness. Even through the storm, he could sense the malice ebbing from the tear in reality.

 

It would have sickened him if had still the capacity to feel. The last few weeks had robbed him of that, and so much more. Besides, in a few short hours, either way, the tear would become immaterial. This world was cracking apart. Even if the invaders left this moment, with peach in their churning hearts, this world was doomed, and the tear would die with it.

 

He opened his eyes, though he couldn't remember closing them. He was no longer alone.

 

The warrior across from him stood impassive. His form radiated violence, but his posture conveyed unease. That was surprising. Of all the things he expected to see in the warriors eyes, contempt, fury, even sadness, unease was not expected. Even the thought that there was some arena in which he was anything but dominant rang as a falsehood, sat poorly against the backdrop of the world in which they both found themselves.

 

The shared Silence lasted for several minutes. Finally the Sage spoke.

 

"Do you remember, when it was just the two of us? When the Favored was still bound to our father's side, it was our brotherhood alone, together. Do you remember?"

 

"I remember."

 

"And yet-"

 

"And yet."

 

"It was always going to be you." The sage continued, "He would never do this himself, it's not his way. He spent millennia beyhind the scenes positioning pieces. He is unknowable, even to me. We talked he and I, our conversations were long, and yet I only ever skimmed the surface of him."

 

The warrior shifted uncomfortably, speaking up as emotion compelled him.

 

"You knew." It was an accusation, bitter with hurt. " You saw this?"

 

"No." The word was heavy. The ache of it brought unknowing feeling back to the Sages heart.

 

"But those eyes of yours, you once told me-" The Warrior struggled, as he always did, with the right words, "the things you have seen."

 

The sage, sensing the Warriors unease, interceded before the thought could be finished.

 

"If you are looking for absolution from me, a concession that this was unavoidable, you will not find it here Warrior."

 

"I have to do this." The words sounded week, and the warrior loathed the way they tasted coming from his mouth. "I am not like you. I can't draw an arbitrary line in the sand and say 'no further.'"

 

The Sage chuckled darkly, not in derision but in sadness. "You are exactly like me, Of all the others, you know me the best."

 

The Warrior nodded, after all he couldn't find it within himself to disagree, even though a quiet part of him cried out to. Sighing, in a very human fashion, The Warrior began to draw his blade and stepped closer.

 

The Sage nodded to himself, knowing it must come to this. "I will not make it easy" he said, " but then nothing about our lives was intended for ease. You must know this, Warrior, that as you have come for me, he will one day come for you. This warning is my last gift to you."

 

Before the Warrior could respond, the Sage was in motion. Wings of lightning arcing from his back.

 

A world burned, and two brothers hearts broke.

 

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/de6b8a19-c887-4a5b-bbd1-5f5ea500e953.jpg

Chills. Real, genuine chills from reading that, you really captured the feeling of sorrow and regret, especially from Russ. You can tell the Executioner's mantle is one he's still struggling with.

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Kelborn Venerable Brother

Kelborn

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That was just insane.

So well written, I really felt like watching a movie or like I was there, too.

Every time I see a new post in this thread, I'm excited of what waits for me. By now, I was never disappointed. Thank you. :)

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Athrawes Venerable Brother

Athrawes

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Three, does Icarion really refer to his brothers solely by nicknames? 

 

No, but for the painting Ibrahem is working on, he was basing it from the working title "The Warrior and the Sage"

 

"The warrior and the Sage" was a poem from Fuedal Japan about two brothers separated at birth. They grow up and become great leaders of their different villages. When their villages come into conflict, they mistakenly kill each other when they first meet. They Die realizing as they look upon one another that they are brothers, in each others arms, they are horrified by the way fate betrayed them.

 

I thought it was a fitting way to portray the death of one of the missing Primarchs as more of an allegory, as opposed to just a straight piece of fluff.

 

I assumed that whether or not people had heard of the allegory, that it would still be an obvious stylistic choice to leave their names/descriptors as simply The Warrior/The Sage. Apparently it might have been a mistake.

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GhostMalone Novitiate

GhostMalone

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No it wasn't a mistake it was poetic and it fits your theme perfectly.

 

For some one to criticize that is not worth worrying over. It translates to the project flawlessly and adds that depth that we forget the primarchs have with each other. In reality they are all cut from the same cloth and don't need words and descriptions.

 

When they are in each others presence they are but 1 of 20 in all the universe that can truly relate so there is understanding in how the fluff is presented.

 

It's almost like looking in the mirror yet seeing a slightly altered reflection. And you nailed it with that piece

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simison Venerable Brother

simison

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To be fair, I had thought it might've been a stylistic choice, but I chuckled at the thought of Icarion coming with up all these nicknames for his brothers. And, if I'm not 100% sure, I'd like to ask because you know what they say about assumptions. So, don't be concerned about sending the wrong message.

 

Still, I'm curious, what would Icarion's nicknames be for the rest of his brothers? Or about the Brotherhood of the Lost Primarchs?

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MikhalLeNoir Venerable Brother

MikhalLeNoir

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I have some. You can guess to whom they belong :)

 

The dandy one, the sneaky one, tge biig.....what the f...is this one, the unkillable one, the pervert with the mask one, dr. Zoidberg, indian squirrel, etc. I have to think on more ;)

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KrautScientist Veteran

KrautScientist

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Just like the other guys, I got goosebumps reading that piece of background -- excellent stuff. Like many others, I basically consider the Lightning Bearers actual canon by now, and I really wish GW/FW would just start including them into the official material. It's not like they'll be coming up with a better II Legion any time soon (or, realistically, any II Legion at all...).

 

One thing that seems especially interesting to me is to compare your scene above with Leman Russ facing Angron during the Night of the Wolf (as described by ABD in Betrayer): In your scene, he still seems remorseful and also utterly ill at ease with his role as the Executioner, whereas he has more or less accepted it (and even seems strangely proud of his function) by the time of Betrayer. I think comparing both scenes makes for an interesting study of Leman Russ basically easing into his role after killing Icarion. It must have been a gradual process, but it's interesting to speculate that, having killed a brother as close to him as Icarion, something vital inside him broke and he found it far easier afterwards to move against his own brothers.

 

EDIT: Oh, and extra kudos for the shout out to that Japanese folk tale: That's the kind of metatextual stuff I enjoy, because it greatly adds to the scene if you're aware of it, but the story still totally works without the RL connection. :)

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  • 1 month later...
Athrawes Venerable Brother

Athrawes

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It Came from the Depths

 

"Fire from my eyes,

 

Darkness encroaching quickly,

 

Music growing soft.

 

Hope springing forth from the ashes,

 

As Leviathan from the depths."

 

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/f07e09b8-01f0-4e8f-aaa3-556c0e365275.jpg

 

My conversion of the Leviathan Dreadnought is just about finished. The goal was to convert it into a similar style to my Contemptor, including features like the swirling star patterns, Furin wind chimes and purity scrits and even another death poem draped on the front of its hull.

 

For comparison, here he is next to my contemptor:

 

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/1980fb18-8727-4480-bc12-f4dd82695b41.jpg

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Athrawes Venerable Brother

Athrawes

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Color Test:

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i327/nickfayette1/color%20test-01.jpg

 

+++

 

The Leviathan is now Base coated and washed, I'll be doing detail work tomorrow and should be able to post a wip photo. It is a beautiful kit, and utterly massive.

 

For the time being, I'd like to share with you the color test of Icarion's Fall. This is basically a quick sketch which has had color added, nothing is even close to finished but it should give broad representation of the piece that Ibrahem has been working on for the last few months with me.

 

As always, thanks for dropping in.

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KrautScientist Veteran

KrautScientist

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While I love the sketch and most of the test colours, I think Russ' armour needs to be a bit more different, colour-wise, from Icarion's. As it stands, both look like members of the same legion. A duller grey would work better for the wolf-king's armour, if you ask me.

 

Anyway, this thread never fails to inspire!

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