ADB Interview featuring some info about the first BL book

[incinerator950]

I believe those Warbands survive based on the two mutually ignoring each other. Thanks.

 

Now I can keep the Wolves of Horus on my list of Chaos Undecided backburner.

[A D-B]

The Chosen of Abaddon must be something quite organic. People fall out of grace, while other rise. At least, that's how I picture it.

Is there a structure in the Ezekarion, or is it more something that shifts constantly, with blurry numbers and stuff like that ? (It's a confuse way to ask : "Can I make my warlord a member of the Ezekarion following the Ghost War ? Or is the whole thing locked ?").

 

Bloody good question. 

 

There aren't many in the Ezekarion - and those within it aren't always Chaos Marines. They're the absolute pinnacle of Black Legion leadership: the ruling council of Chaos in a way, and the gathering of warlords, viziers, and near-equals that Abaddon trusts above any others. You're dead right about the fluidity, though to get into it is significantly more difficult than getting out of it, as they're intensely loyal to Abaddon and trusted to infinity and beyond.

 

I don't want to shoot down anyone's army plans or infer the Black Legion's top tier is rigidly set, so I plan to intentionally leave the full number and identity of the Ezekarion a little vague - even when they're all gathered later in the series. But they're all very close and know one another very well - even those who hate each other.

 

tl;dr -- Sure, yeah, you can do that.

[Vesper]

 

The Chosen of Abaddon must be something quite organic. People fall out of grace, while other rise. At least, that's how I picture it.

Is there a structure in the Ezekarion, or is it more something that shifts constantly, with blurry numbers and stuff like that ? (It's a confuse way to ask : "Can I make my warlord a member of the Ezekarion following the Ghost War ? Or is the whole thing locked ?").

 

Bloody good question. 

 

There aren't many in the Ezekarion - and those within it aren't always Chaos Marines. They're the absolute pinnacle of Black Legion leadership: the ruling council of Chaos in a way, and the gathering of warlords, viziers, and near-equals that Abaddon trusts above any others. You're dead right about the fluidity, though to get into it is significantly more difficult than getting out of it, as they're intensely loyal to Abaddon and trusted to infinity and beyond.

 

I don't want to shoot down anyone's army plans or infer the Black Legion's top tier is rigidly set, so I plan to intentionally leave the full number and identity of the Ezekarion a little vague - even when they're all gathered later in the series. But they're all very close and know one another very well - even those who hate each other.

 

tl;dr -- Sure, yeah, you can do that.

 

Fantastic ! My warlord is supposed to be pretty much a low rank Black Legion lord until the Ghost War where he shows his valor to Abaddon by offering him the skulls of two Chapter Masters. Then Abaddon allowed his small pirate-like warband to grow to a brutal force. I like that thing we've been told about Davroth and Zhufor, where they accomplish dark deeds in order to get Abaddon's favour and increase their power thanks to the big man.

 

I can't wait to get a picture of the diversity of the Black Legion. With entire armies of humans (and maybe even human members of the Ezekarion), weird Xenos inhabitants of the Eye, Daemons... And I have the feeling the Eye will kinda look like France during the Hundred Years War, with the Black Plague kicking in and stuff. Quite a place to live in, dangerous, beautiful and terrible. Even though it might be a complete nightmare to write about the weird effect the Warp has on time.

 

Still have a little question, are only Astartes called Black Legionnaires, or any random human soldier under Black Legion leadership is also called that way ?

[Karthak]

 

Off topic, will we be seeing more of the Thriced-Cursed mentioned in the codex n the upcoming series?

 

Yes and no. I had plans for the second novel to deal with the conquest and subsuming of other Son of Horus warbands long before the BL supplement was conceived (it was in the first synopses for the opening trilogy handed in years ago), so "Horus-loyal" Son of Horus warbands are an interesting subject. And I don't want to invalidate anyone's army by killing them all off, but nor can I pretend they're a very big deal. Abaddon has a lot to do and a lot to deal with. Those guys are fairly small-fry in the grand scheme of things.

 

On a related note, this came up a while back, and I kept this reply handy:

 

"If you look at the True Sons et al, if these guys are so important in terms of making examples of out of them, it doesn't stand to reason that Abaddon would wait several thousand years to do it, and let several of them carry on living. It's even less likely he'd struggle to catch them for several thousand years, given the resources he has at his disposal.

Plus, he's just not that petty. It's really not something he'd go out of his way to deal with. He's a warlord playing a thousand games of Chess at once, all in his own head, by memory, while living in Hell itself where reality bends to his will. The primary ethos behind the Black Legion is that it's not enslaved to the past - not to the Sons of Horus's legacy, nor the primarch that gave them the name. If a few scattered warbands want to carry on that legacy of what he considers abject failure, he's pretty much fine with it. He'll kill them if he crosses their paths, just like any warband that annoys him or gets in the way.

 

Last but not least, the Black Legion is about willingness. He doesn't curbstomp every warband and demand they follow him for kicks, as he'd have a Legion of untrustworthy A-holes. He offers destruction or union to those warbands he respects, or those of use to him. Those he can't trust (such as, say, ones that have literally worshipped Horus for several thousand years...) he'd just destroy or ignore. There's no logic, reason, or rhyme in doing otherwise.

 

EDIT: I'm sure there are plenty of untrustworthy A-holes, mind you, i.e. the line from Star Wars: "The Imperial senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away. The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station." But it's a fine line between what an actually skilled, controlled warlord would tolerate, and what's just a liability.

 

Horus isn't this respected genius in the Eye of Terror. He's the King of Failures that damned them to living in Hell. A few warbands following his memory aren't a threat to Abaddon's authority, they're a bunch of deluded exiles who don't realise, or don't care, that they're a joke to the Nine Legions."

 

Something regarding Horus that I've been wondering about. Does anyone among the Nine Legions know that just before he died, Horus regretted what he had done? And if they don't know, would it even have an impact, now that Horus is apparently remembered with contempt? Wouldn't at least some among them feel like they just got kicked in the nuts if they heard that the guy who got the whole "rebel against the Emperor" ball rolling ended up thinking he had made a huge mistake?

[daveNYC]

So it's from Khayon's point of view as he's talking to the Inquisition?  Nice.  That leaves the ambiguity that he could be telling them the truth, half-truth, or a grab bag of lies in order to further his/Abaddon's agenda.  That's not even getting into whether this is set up as a transcript of the interrogation, which would leave it open to 'edits for clarity' on the part of the big =I=.

 

Hopefully there will be some (vague) mention of what Abaddon plans to do once he burns Terra.

[Kol Saresk]

Hmm, I wonder if the "Four Chosen" are like the Dread Pirate Roberts, ie the name is the title and the person who possesses it is simply assuming a name. Wait, no, don't answer that. i just got an idea for my own fluff. Stay away A D-B!

[Midnightmare]

I apologize for liking so many of your posts A D-B, but this series is going to be something special to me judging by your teasers so far.

[hummus]

 

 

Off topic, will we be seeing more of the Thriced-Cursed mentioned in the codex n the upcoming series?

 

Yes and no. I had plans for the second novel to deal with the conquest and subsuming of other Son of Horus warbands long before the BL supplement was conceived (it was in the first synopses for the opening trilogy handed in years ago), so "Horus-loyal" Son of Horus warbands are an interesting subject. And I don't want to invalidate anyone's army by killing them all off, but nor can I pretend they're a very big deal. Abaddon has a lot to do and a lot to deal with. Those guys are fairly small-fry in the grand scheme of things.

 

On a related note, this came up a while back, and I kept this reply handy:

 

"If you look at the True Sons et al, if these guys are so important in terms of making examples of out of them, it doesn't stand to reason that Abaddon would wait several thousand years to do it, and let several of them carry on living. It's even less likely he'd struggle to catch them for several thousand years, given the resources he has at his disposal.

Plus, he's just not that petty. It's really not something he'd go out of his way to deal with. He's a warlord playing a thousand games of Chess at once, all in his own head, by memory, while living in Hell itself where reality bends to his will. The primary ethos behind the Black Legion is that it's not enslaved to the past - not to the Sons of Horus's legacy, nor the primarch that gave them the name. If a few scattered warbands want to carry on that legacy of what he considers abject failure, he's pretty much fine with it. He'll kill them if he crosses their paths, just like any warband that annoys him or gets in the way.

 

Last but not least, the Black Legion is about willingness. He doesn't curbstomp every warband and demand they follow him for kicks, as he'd have a Legion of untrustworthy A-holes. He offers destruction or union to those warbands he respects, or those of use to him. Those he can't trust (such as, say, ones that have literally worshipped Horus for several thousand years...) he'd just destroy or ignore. There's no logic, reason, or rhyme in doing otherwise.

 

EDIT: I'm sure there are plenty of untrustworthy A-holes, mind you, i.e. the line from Star Wars: "The Imperial senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away. The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station." But it's a fine line between what an actually skilled, controlled warlord would tolerate, and what's just a liability.

 

Horus isn't this respected genius in the Eye of Terror. He's the King of Failures that damned them to living in Hell. A few warbands following his memory aren't a threat to Abaddon's authority, they're a bunch of deluded exiles who don't realise, or don't care, that they're a joke to the Nine Legions."

 

Something regarding Horus that I've been wondering about. Does anyone among the Nine Legions know that just before he died, Horus regretted what he had done? And if they don't know, would it even have an impact, now that Horus is apparently remembered with contempt? Wouldn't at least some among them feel like they just got kicked in the nuts if they heard that the guy who got the whole "rebel against the Emperor" ball rolling ended up thinking he had made a huge mistake?

 

If you are going from the fluff from the story in the lost and the damned, then i can't see how anyone else would know as he only 

retrieves his sanity right at the end before the emperor snuffs him out once and for all

[Vesper]

In some artworks, the Emperor and Horus are surrounded by Sons of Horus marines and a couple Custodes. For instance :

 

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111011103905/d__/dow/images/b/b9/Emperor_vs_Horus.jpg

[Kol Saresk]

Although since Sanguinius' last moments were literally imprinted onto the IX Legion gene-seed and Horus' death affected the entirety of the Traitor forces, where Sanguinius and Ferrus only affected their respective Legions, it is possible that some witnessed it, or had the knowledge psychically implanted into their subconscious, or maybe even into their gene-seed for a later recipient-descendant to witness it as a fever-dream.

[hummus]

Quoting lost and the damned p183(although its probably been retconned) 'One by one they die. In the end the emperor stands alone. Then and only then is he allowed to enter the presence of Horus.'

[Phantomzero17]

I really have to agree with ADB's view on Dragon Lance.  Twas a fun campaign setting and I loved the novel series but the first two trilogies are only great because of nostalgia and the following meh.

[Son of Carnelian]

An incredibly cool and wide-ranging interview. Beyond excited for the Black Legion series now! 

[Strazhakov]

Very interesting interview! Even more exited about Talon of Horus now. The BL Legion supplement did a good job on fleshing out Abbadon more and this is just what we need.

I always thought it was strange that the big bad of the setting got so little screentime. No wonder people misinterpreted his story and came up with the horrible armless meme.

 

Also the cover is (imho) the best depiction of Abbadon next to the classic 2nd edition codex cover. Now if only he could get a new model.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

ADB, would it be too much of a spoiler for you to tell us whether Kayon's still kicking around as of the 13th crusade? And, if so, what a rough sketch of his usual set up might be? Power armor? Terminator? Prince?

Avoiding as many spoilers as I can, from the prologue Khayon is apparently unwillingly in the custody of the Inquisition, relaying the tale of Abaddon and the Black Legion, at some point in early 999.M41. As the book goes on, more about his exact circumstances are revealed - including exactly where he is and why he's there.

As for his setup, that changes a few times over 10,000 years. The Imperium tends to think he's Zaraphiston or Ygethmor, however, along with 800 other titles and names. That should give you a vague idea.

Did you play Dragon Age 2 and then write the beginning..?

[Yogi]

Since your here ADB, I will say it was a nice informative interview (I hadn't heard most of the info). 

 

It's especially cool, the idea that the Imperium just doesn't know that much about the Black Legion. My favourite character in Gaunt Ghost's is Mabbon Etogaur the thrice traitor. The whole scenario of the Imperium holding a high rank chaos worshipper out of desperate need, but fearful of the corruption he represents, is my slaanesh approved pleasure. Is he corrupting us now, with his malicious accent and spiteful words? What if its all lies? We should kill him and be done with it. But, what if the intel is good? What if there is an advantage here, just waiting to be extracted out of this wretch? All the while the Chaos captive is there, exhausted, tortured, defiant. Giving just enough to live, perhaps this is part of some mad plan, or perhaps he was too slow. Either way forcing himself to display strength, to radiate that trademark chaos arrogance, but at the same time he knows odds are he is dead. The reverse is also cool, like you did with Slaydo's honour guard fella. But you can't catch Throne worship so its no the same.

 

I was always gonna read this book. But now I really wanna read it.

 

I do hope there are some Sons of Horus other then Abbadon who are central.

 

Thought for the day: Vraal was the greatest Night Lord who ever lived. 

[Vesper]

I do hope there are some Sons of Horus other then Abbadon who are central.

Falkus "Widowmaker" Kibre lives !

[Clone]

 

I do hope there are some Sons of Horus other then Abbadon who are central.

Falkus "Widowmaker" Kibre lives !

 

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/500x/51302420.jpg

[Sception]

I really have to agree with ADB's view on Dragon Lance.  Twas a fun campaign setting and I loved the novel series but the first two trilogies are only great because of nostalgia and the following meh.

Dragonlance never did much for me. It and Greyhawk and the Realms all just sort of blended together in my head as vague generic fantasy stock. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I read and played an awful lot of that, but it never captured my imagination like some of the more distinctive settings like Darksun or Spelljammer or Planescape or Eberron.

[the jeske]

Funny enough my wife works on scenery for DL the musical .

[Phantomzero17]

 

I really have to agree with ADB's view on Dragon Lance.  Twas a fun campaign setting and I loved the novel series but the first two trilogies are only great because of nostalgia and the following meh.

Dragonlance never did much for me. It and Greyhawk and the Realms all just sort of blended together in my head as vague generic fantasy stock. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I read and played an awful lot of that, but it never captured my imagination like some of the more distinctive settings like Darksun or Spelljammer or Planescape or Eberron.

 

Eberron probably has my most time logged in DnD.  Still as far as RPGs go I was always more of a Shadowrun player.

 

I wish I could find a group for Deathwatch locally.

[Sception]

for the recent 40k games, I prefer Dark Heresy or rogue trader to the guard or space marine based games (loyalist or chaos). The inquisitorial retinue or, especially, rogue trader crew concepts just leave things a lot more open for the party to choose their own objectives & how to attain them. There's just more room for role play & diverse character building that way, imo. Though I've always been tempted by the black crusade books, if only for pretty pictures & fluff.

[Emperors Immortals]

BC is very fun, its open and pretty fluid. Its the only one ive really enjoyed playing so far, though OnlyWar was pretty good too.

 

Also, the fluff and pictures are pure gold, the Slaanesh book alone has me hooked....uh-oh...

[daboarder]

 

The Chosen of Abaddon must be something quite organic. People fall out of grace, while other rise. At least, that's how I picture it.

Is there a structure in the Ezekarion, or is it more something that shifts constantly, with blurry numbers and stuff like that ? (It's a confuse way to ask : "Can I make my warlord a member of the Ezekarion following the Ghost War ? Or is the whole thing locked ?").

 

Bloody good question. 

 

There aren't many in the Ezekarion - and those within it aren't always Chaos Marines. They're the absolute pinnacle of Black Legion leadership: the ruling council of Chaos in a way, and the gathering of warlords, viziers, and near-equals that Abaddon trusts above any others. You're dead right about the fluidity, though to get into it is significantly more difficult than getting out of it, as they're intensely loyal to Abaddon and trusted to infinity and beyond.

 

I don't want to shoot down anyone's army plans or infer the Black Legion's top tier is rigidly set, so I plan to intentionally leave the full number and identity of the Ezekarion a little vague - even when they're all gathered later in the series. But they're all very close and know one another very well - even those who hate each other.

 

tl;dr -- Sure, yeah, you can do that.

 

This is why I like you A-D-B, you get that this is a setting not a story