Shadow Wardens WIP

[Gripharius]

Since my chapter takes great pride in hunting the enemies of man, I thought it would be a good idea for them to be strong allies with the Deathwatch.

 

Once again, I would go the opposite direction.  I would have them removed from all Imperial and other ties, wholly withdrawn as much as possible, including from the Deathwatch.

 

Again, this is because I view the Tolkien elves as so removed and detached from the rest of the "Age of Man" in Tolkien's works.  I would have the Chapter be loyal and follow orders when they are sent, but always in their own way and on their own time-table.  I'd have them be very reticient about seconding members to the Deathwatch, avoid sending in their geneseed tithe, avoid allying with other forces (Imperial and otherwise).  And even when they did ally with other forces or serve in the Deathwatch, they still remained at a distance, detached.

 

If you want your commanders to go through some additional training or achieve some exceptional feat before advancement, instead of having them serve in the Deathwatch, I'd have them do something else internal to the Chapter.  Maybe hunt some certain beast with only primitive weapons and without armor, maybe successfully lead a squad of Marines on a certain quest, maybe spend a certian amount of time in mediation and achieve some higher state of consciousness.  But something unique to the Chapter.

 

I would have their equipment be the oldest and most ancient, bedecked with hand-crafted wooden handles and accents, repaired and restored again and again by the Chapter's equivalent of Techmarines.  I'd call these "Techmarines" something more elven, and have them be even more religious and magic based than the average Techmarine.  Not the gangly, servo-laden, half-machine Techmarines common to other Chapters, but something more elven.  Something more akin to curators of museum relics, or a priesthood devoted to the care and keeping of religious icons.  I would keep their training internal to the Chapter, knowledge passed down from one to another in a master/apprentice relationship.  No sending them off to Mars to become half Cog-heads.

 

Just some thoughts.

[Resarys]

If you wanted to take that further, the techmarines could be completely absent, and the librarians could take over those duties, as each piece of equipment and wargear is a living piece of history. That would, in itself, distance the chapter from the rest of the Imperium. Perhaps a name like "Keepers" or "Conservators". And, if not the actualy librarians themselves, the branch that does the duties of techmarines could exist within the Librarium, and be psykers or not.

[Tiberius Cato]

Very interesting ideas brothers. I particularly like the idea of combining librarians and techmarines.

Also, in regard to not being reclusive to joining the Deathwatch, I think it would fit better for them to want to be part of it because it'sa honour bestowed upon them by the Emperor; they are elevated to an even more difficult hunt to test their skills.

But everything else I agree with. The Deathwatch could be another reason they are mostly detached from the Imperium however. They could have many brothers elect to remain with the Deathwatch thus causing them to be further under strength. Not only does the geneseed not take to some recruits, the chapter also loses brothers to the Deathwatch. So, with their chapter existence in danger they are reluctant to jump into the breach and they are often slow to act unless the event directly affects the chapter.

[Resarys]

The Deathwatch has a group called Black Shields, who, unlike normal brothers who retain Chapter colours on one shoulder pad, bear no such markings, committing themselves fully to the Deathwatch.

 

Perhaps a Shadow Warden loses touch with his Chapter, becoming so intent on the hunt (or, conversely, having failed a hunt) regardless - the hunt becomes an obsession for whatever reason, overriding their other traditions and artistry. (Or any of a million reasons, but this would help cement the hunt as an aspect of the Chapter, rather than "hunt-themed" vs elven-themed.) Seeing himself as having lost his way, or perhaps even the Chapter does, as well, he exiles himself to the Black Shields.

[Tiberius Cato]

I like that very much. Perhaps many it is becoming common that brothers elect to become black shields as they are able to hunt almost constantly, where as in their chapter they are usually at the will of their commander sending them off to battle after much of the conflict has been resolved by other forces.

[Teetengee]

hmmm, black shields dark elves....

[Tiberius Cato]

Good suggestion! :)

[Tiberius Cato]

Hm, that could be a vehicle to employ Brother Gripharius' suggestion. The chapter has become reluctant to second brothers to the Deathwatch because of the high risk of Shadow Wardens leaving their chapter to become black shields.

[Resarys]

If you like the idea of dark elves, you may want to take another look at Tolkien's own dark elves, which are less Drizzet, and more.... never hoofed it overland to see a glowy tree. They were thus considered "lesser" and were in fact less, well, "powerful" is a small word for it, but it fits.

 

And that works with the black shields, as well. The Wardens' "dark elves" are those they lose to the black shields, for whatever reason, not necessarily the more modern, evil sexy under-dweller dark elves.

[Tiberius Cato]

My thoughts exactly Brother Resarys! They lose some power by abandoning the chapter to singlemindedly hunt xenos purely for sport(sounds kind of heretical to me) and maybe becomeing too focused and becoming much less flexible.

[Resarys]

It actually might also be that they become TOO flexible, no longer able to operate within the confines of the Chapter. The Deathwatch offers all sorts of amazing and bizarre wargear and tactics, after all. A Warden might see the way things work there - see the purity of the hunt above and beyond even his Chapter's own traditions and, if he is the sort to already have thrown himself into the hunt more than is usual, become so engrossed with it that when he returns to the Deathwatch, he does so as a Black Shield.

[Tiberius Cato]

Yes, I think that would work better. That could create tension between the chapter and the Ordo Xenos. Maybe the chapter believes the Ordo is intentionally taking their marines as an indirect method to slowly whittle the chapter away to nonexistence.

[Teetengee]

Welp, that is one way to collect the gene tithe.

[Tiberius Cato]

I don't know why, but that inspired me to take a route in which my chapter will slowly become renegade. They believe that the Emperor's will is no longer being carried out by many imperial organisations and have begun to withhold geneseed from the Adeptus Mechanicus and that the inquisition is using a "slow burn" method to eliminate the chapter.

[Teetengee]

Bwahahahahahahah!!!!!! Welcome to the fold (please leave your land speeders at the door.).

[Tiberius Cato]

I can forsee a tense relationship with the (dark) eldar and slaanesh in the not too distant future.

[Teetengee]

If they do end up turning rogue, I would suggest they start letting corrupted members into the deathwatch in the attempt to turn it from the inside. Perhaps starting off they would just be looking to find out why so many of their men are getting seconded (so initially it looks like they are not resisting as much anymore) they might become paranoid as they continue to be unable to find out why they are being slowly torn down by this absorption.

[Tiberius Cato]

That could be an interesting turn of events, especially with brothers already electing to remain in the Deathwatch, they wouldn't know their home chapter would be turning it's back on the Imperium.

[Tiberius Cato]

As the chapter slides into chaos, how do you all think they would become, brothers? I was thinking they would begin to aquire more trophies than before, taking great pride in displaying their prowess. They could worship Khorne and Slaanesh, collecting skulls to venerate the blood god and venerate slaanesh through glorious feast made possible due to their addiction to the wild hunt.

[Olis]

Do bear in mind that a poisoned mind is likely to be found out by a cursory investigation by the resident Librarian of a Deathwatch Watch Station. Corruption from within a chamber militant of the Inquisition is not a terribly plausible situation.

[Tiberius Cato]

Very true, brother. The way I see it unfolding, they attempt to atleast cripple the chamber militant and ultimately fail. Thus exposing their heresy to the Imperium and causing them to be declared excommunicate traitoris. They then flee their homeworld with all the weaponry they can grab and head towards the one place all renegades end up, the Eye of Terror.

They would eventually fall to the ruinous powers of chaos and splitting, some become worshippers of Khorne and others following Slaanesh.

[Tiberius Cato]

I've been rethinking the becoming renegades. If say a company of battle brothers were to turn renegade, would the chapter be declared heretics? Or I guess the question i'm asking is how many marines can turn their back on the imperium before the inquisition sets out to destroy the chapter?

[Conn Eremon]

It really depends on how the rest of the Chapter reacts, the source, type and spread of corruption, and the kind of Inquisitor(s) and other Imperial groups involved. So long as you do it believably, pretty much any scenario goes. From total excommunication and extermination to Penitence Crusade to it being handled in-house, the greater Imperium unaware.

 

To use one if my DIYs as an example, my Imperial Dragons lose their greatest veterans and psychically-attuned brothers to corruption and suffer an unexpected insurrection that completely decapitates the Chapter's leadership. The Inquisition gets involved because the Chapter up to that point was high profile and living large. The greater majority of base battle-brothers that survive the initial betrayal, led by the few surviving Captains, willingly fight alongside the Inquisitors and other Imperial forces pulled in to destroy the rogue elements. Though some of these rogue elements survive and escape, the Chapter ultimately expunge the traitors from their midst.

 

The Inquisitor in command of the Imperial forces, and with whom the fate of the loyal brothers rests, is of the Isstvanian (I think this is right) type, and actually feels that this struggle has made those who remained loyal even greater than before. However, they failed to fully destroy the final remnants of the traitors, and so the Chapter is issued to take a Penitence Crusade for a century and tasked to hunt the survivors down. After a century has passed, the traitors have been split into two distinctive warbands and fled. The original Inquisitor lives still, and renews the Penitence Crusade.

 

Ultimately these two War bands survive, either by capitalizing on the favors of Tzeentch or by embroiling themselves in the Eye of Terror and being incorporated into a greater Iron Warrior host. The Inquisitor that succeeds the original is blissfully forgiving, and releases what few Imperial Dragons survive from their oath of penitence. The Chapter survives, but in the process was unmade totally and remade into something completely new. The experience was all-encompassing and pervaded the Chapter psyche for millennia to come.

 

Sorry, I have a tendency to ramble on about my own ideas. :sweat:

 

Hopefully, it will give you something to think about and maybe an idea will occur on how to handle it within your own Chapter.

[Olis]

The Inquisitor in command of the Imperial forces, and with whom the fate of the loyal brothers rests, is of the Isstvanian (I think this is right) type, and actually feels that this struggle has made those who remained loyal even greater than before. However, they failed to fully destroy the final remnants of the traitors, and so the Chapter is issued to take a Penitence Crusade for a century and tasked to hunt the survivors down. After a century has passed, the traitors have been split into two distinctive warbands and fled. The original Inquisitor lives still, and renews the Penitence Crusade.

 

You're correct, brother.

[Tiberius Cato]

That is really interesting Brother Cormac, I hope you don't mind if I use it and change it a tad. The two warbands thing is pretty cool and I feel like that could be adapted to this chapter as well, one worshipping Khorne and the other Slaanesh.

I think that it would also contribute greatly to the age of elves is ending concept that i'm implementing in this chapter. I can imagine the chapter's officers and masters dscussing the future of the chapter, as their numbers are dangerously low, maybe four or five companies in total, due to brothers electing to stay in the Deathwatch and two companies turning to chaos.

I will have to work out how the worship of Khorne and Slaanesh work their way into the chapter, possibly corrupted librarians, which could potentially be a means for changing the roles of specialist brothers and seeing the purging of psykers from the chapter.