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The Fall Of Seraph - Histories of the IXth


JackDaw

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  • 2 weeks later...

Reflections of the Father - the Leopards Roar

"Be silent in that solitude,
   Which is not loneliness—for then
The spirits of the dead who stood
   In life before thee are again
In death around thee—and their will
Shall overshadow thee: be still. "

Fragment from the lost Pre-Unification works of Edal Len’Po, circa late M1.

"What more is there to say of us? We fought, where others would have fallen. Ours was a pure fury, the fury of the Angelus that our Father so closely resembled. His wrath was our wrath, no matter that we did not know where he was. Ascelpus and the others of Leopard-9 were the exemplars of that wrath, unceasing in their fury and unbreakable in their will."
From Blood on the Steel: the lives of Seraph
Bastian Ortega, once named Icarium, of the IXth Legion Astartes.

 


*Image Codicium accessed: Visual cortex stimulation commencing
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*Display: Fireteam Tertius, Leopard-9 Tactical of Seraph Company, IXth Legion Asartes

 

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_095313_zps60f9a498.jpg

 

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112721_zpsc22df8a2.jpghttp://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112449_zpsd26cddee.jpg


Alejandro and Ortiz, as close as brothers. They rose to become Angels together and it is fitting that they died together. Holding a corner hab-unit against the Eaters for over five hours, along with Duroc, before collapsing it around their heads and the heads of the Eater Cataphractii that stormed them. We heard them die across the vox-net, calling for each other. We missed their laughter, the jokes that came so easily to them, but their deaths took a heavy price from the Eaters. Alejandro bore the pelt of a Terran gene-rebred Leopard, for which the units of Seraph were named, a singular gift from a remembrancer he had once rescued and who had commissioned the animal to be vat-grown so that he could thank his Angel properly. The simplistic representation of our Fathers wings on Ortiz's pauldron was inspired by the cave-art of his near-feral tribe on Baal, a people who forever remembered him as the child who became a legend.
 

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112740_zpsce91be16.jpg


There is beauty and art to be found in all things, and Duroc saw it within mathematics, the endless possibilities of numbers. Few outside of our Mechanicum comrades could share in his passion, but we loved him the more for it. I remember that the Mark III plate he wore until Signus was inscribed with the most beautiful arcs and parabolas, all derived from the purity of mathematics. He died to Cataphractii axes, experimental MarkVI armour chewed and shattered, Phobos bolter barrel warped from his rate of fire.
 

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112657_zpsf1b5f15a.jpg


Legionary Hawl, one of the oldest of Seraph. He spoke rarely, and when he did it was usually only offer words of bitterness and cynicism. He was not well liked but none of us doubted his skill with arms, nor his control over his rage. Holding his memories, I weep at the beauty of his favoured memory - our Father, pulling a human child from the wreckage of a city. It is the gentlest image in Hawl's life, a moment of pure compassion amongst a lifetime of war. I miss his caustic nature and I despair that none of Seraph knew the truth of the beauty he held in his head.

 

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112538_zpsfc956ebd.jpg

The Angels of Blood we call ourselves, and it is blood that holds our Legions sacrament. Every squad amongst the Ninth Legion has its own grail, its own symbol of what we hold inside our augmented bodies. We are the grails, every one of us, we are the vessels of our Fathers strength and will and purpose. Hyro Ascelpus understood this, and never failed in his duties. Bearing the grail is a heavy honour, one Ascelpus accepted with great fervour. Ever vocal, ever fiery in his oratory, he was not always easy to be around but we all respected him. He died in the grip of the Rage, teeth bared and buried in the neck of the Eater champion that gutted him with power claws, fallen from the ideals that he had espoused as a grail-keeper.

*Vulnera Angelus:

 

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112551_zpsbf6175a2.jpg


None of us walked the Fall without bearing wounds of our own, augmented bodies bearing an ever-increasing tally of pain and agony. But we are Astartes, Angels, and it takes a great deal to end us. After losing his eye to a howling Nails-lost Eaters hands, Ascelpus joked that his vision had never been clearer, that he finally saw the Eaters for the rabid animals that they were. He wept blood until the moment he died.

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*Image codicium access revoked: Visual cortex showing stress markers

Glad to see another post from you JackDaw. I have a nitpick, and a question. Nitpick first. Your marine with a Grail (Ascelpus?) has a large gap between his arm and shoulder pad, which takes away from an otherwise sterling model. Question next. Where do you get the intro pieces for your posts? Some I recognise, but many I don't. Are the poems of your own composition, or borrowed from another setting?

 

Have you got that teleporter pack painted up yet?

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

Evening chaps, and thanks for your continued interest and kind words :)

 

1000Heathens - thanks very much brother. Think I'm hitting my stride with these guys now, finding them easier to paint. Very much enjoyed all the extra little details on Ascelpus, nice break of pace after doing the line Astartes.

 

Barabbas Solagon - lovely, that's exactly the effect I was going for :)

 

SanguiniusReborn - thanks man, glad to hear you liked it. Hawl's favourite memory is one of my favourite touches as well, think the Angels especially benefit from more human touches like that.

 

Commissar Molotov - ah thanks buddy :)

 

Deathspectresgt7 - cheers man

 

DaemonPrinceDragor - More to come man, don't you worry :) Thanks for the kind words, good to hear you enjoy the background.

 

Brother Dallo - The poetry is all from Edgar Allen Poe's work. Aside from The Raven, the majority of his poetry was kind of a gothic romance/tragedy style, fits perfectly for the flavour of 30K I'm trying to get across. The piece that opened the entire thread is from my favourite poem, The Conqueror Worm. Every other piece of intro text is from my own head, save the graffiti in the first post, which is a Stranglers lyric...

I checked over Ascelpus - I can see what you mean about a gap in the pics, but it's a trick of the shading and washes, the shoulder is flush on the model itself. Bit of a bugger that it's done that though. Backpack-wise, it is in place and the mini is ready for undercoating - I'm finishing off the Tactical chaps first though.

 

Marine7312000 - thanks fella, glad they work for you.

 

In terms of progress then, I'm currently painting up the last 5 Tactical - the red armour has been done but everything else is still to be done. Shouldn't take long though, as I said earlier I'm finding the Angels stupidly quick to paint, especially compared to my Iron Talons. Assembly wise i have hit a slight snag in running out of the 30mm bases I'm using, so I can't really put anything else together aside from the last 3 Scimitars. Trying to find somewhere cheap that sells the bases though so all is not lost, and I should hopefully be getting a resin crack injection soon that will give me everything I need to finish off the army. Just gotta decide if a Contemptor fits or not.....

 

Another update coming in the next few days, introducing the last of Leopard-9 Tactical.

 

Cheers all,

Jack

 

 

Couple of quick replies chaps and chappess before the next installment goes up....

 

Daemonclaw - apologies man, missed your comment earlier. I do try and make each Astartes look individual while still part of an overall whole, good to know its working.

 

Flint13 - haha juicy is good ;) I'm pretty happy with it, its a nice rich red, very Blanchey in its finish to my eyes. Different to the red on my Talons as well, which is a good thing. i was a big unsure of doing this much red but its working out nicely.

 

Brother Dallo - I'm actually running out of decent Poe quotes now, will have to find another source.

Iron In The Blood

"They fought like the heroes of legend, of old myth. Achillon, Herakles, Ector of Troy - their spirits lived on in the bodies of Seraph Company and wrought their wrath upon the Eaters. Inariel and Leopard-9 were the iron, the spine that never broke, that spited the Eaters with their very refusal to lay down and die."
From Blood on the Steel: the lives of Seraph
Bastian Ortega, once named Icarium, of the IXth Legion Astartes.


*Image Codicium accessed: Visual cortex stimulation commencing
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*Display: Fireteam Primus, Leopard-9 Tactical of Seraph Company, IXth Legion Asartes


http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112846_zps7738c7a8.jpg

Legionary Ximinez, KIA day 11 of the Fall

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112821_zpsf6055400.jpg

Legionary Rafe, KIA day 13 of the Fall

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112901_zpsbde4adb2.jpg
Legionary Eli, KIA day 13 of the Fall

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112834_zps6dabc85d.jpg
Legionary Dallo, KIA day 20 of the Fall

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/20141001_112809_zps00be5f2c.jpg
Sirio Dumas, named Inariel,commanding Leopard-9 Tactical. KIA day 20 of the Fall

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*Image Codicium access released: Visual cortex stimulation ended

I think my favourite bits of this fantastically evocative blog is the use of specialist parts on regular marines – touches like Eli's left forearm (taken from the comms officer?) help sell the army as a cohesive whole; and I think that's a really important part of building a force that works as a group rather than simply a collection of individuals. 

 

The thoughtful, understated posing builds on the muted atmosphere that the background helps build, too. The best bit about it is that the grittier touches (like Ascelpus' gouged-out eye) give the opportunity for contrast; so the heroes can either fit in alongside with the same feel, or be very different – the inspiring angels that humanity needed during the siege.

 

Three mechadendrites up, JackDaw!

I have to agree with Reyner. I do look quite spiffing as a Blood Angel. It's strange. I was messing about with that torso for for an assault marine for my Angels Encarmine yesterday, and he also had a bionic arm. Great minds, and all that eh? I'm slightly saddened that you kill me off, but I imagine the survival rate on Terra wasn't great. At least I outlive my squad mates.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with his background, and that of his squad.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

Evening chaps, hope things are good and thank you as ever for your continued enthusiam :) Apologies for the silence over the last few days but have been busy getting some writing done - Freelancing is fun, but doesnt leave much time for anything else. Incidentally, if anyone does fancy hiring my talents as an ink-slinger, fiction or non-fiction, just drop me a pm http://www.warseer.com/forums/warseer/images/smilies/wink.png

Progress wise, the last 5 Tactical are probably 60% done - the reds, blacks and silvers are done, the gold is on the way and then its just bases and detailing. Shouldnt be too much longer for them. After that though, I have hit a small roadblock in that I have run out of the 30mm bases I've been using and enough bits to assemble more chaps. Fear not though, just means I'll probably have to work on the Scimitars and 5 Assault I already have assembled. That and I'll get distracted by =][=28 again.....

 

SanguiniusReborn - thanks man, you'll hear all about them soon, I promise. And every badass Angel needs a beard. I might have to sculpt one onto my Consul... Andf Inariel may be Terran-born, I haven't decided yet.

 

Flint13 - ah the Emperors Children are too fancy for beards. The Ninth however, well, beards are sent straight from heaven.

 

Barabbas Solagon - glad you like him mate. Dumas has been there since the Founding, so is he is proper old-school. Doesn't like his new gun.

 

Greyall - cheers fella, always makes me happy knowing my stuff has inspired someone.

 

Marine7312000 - thanks man, more to come

 

Apologist - thanks very much mate, such praise means loads coming from you. Eli's arm is indeed from the Master of Signals, like you say, little touches like that I've tried to include to make the units work as a whole while still having some individuaity and character to each chap. Have to reign myself in sometimes, but I think I'm having more fun with these than I did with my Iron Talons. Hopefully the background will carry these Astartes on in being the tragic inspiring Angels that humanity needed, but lost. 

 

Reyner - thanks man, Dallo was one of my favourite chaps as well, there's a nice sense of simmering anger to him.

 

Brother Dallo - if it makes you feel any better man, all my Angels die. You made it to the end though, falling like a true Angel.

 

And because I can't leave you all without something, there's this:

 

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/The%20Fall%20of%20Seraph/EatersandAngels2_zps31a98b78.jpg

These streets run red with blood and rage. Terra bleeds as we do. Terra rages, as we do.

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