The Artifactors

[TheReclusiarch]

Hello everyone!

Here's the background and lore for my DIY Space Marine Chapter, The Artifactors. I'd really suggest downloading the pdf, but I'll write it out here as well. For those of you who play the Deathwatch RPG I've included the rules to create an Artifactor battle-brother in the pdf as well!

Artifactor pdf (include extra graphics and rules)

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ARTIFACTORS

Background and lore

Origins
The Artifactor Chapter was founded in the early years of the 37^th millennium in a response to an powerful Ork Waagh. At that point in time they were called The Emerald Knights and it was not until a century later that they changed their name to the Artifactors. The reason for this was the discovery of the artifact Aurelius, an incredible suit of Tactical Dreadnought Armour bristling with power from ages past. Seeing the power of artifacts created in early days of the Imperium, the Emerald Knights changed their name to The Artifactors and made it their Chapter’s goal to find and retrieve ancient artifacts so they might once again be of use to the Emperor’s servants.

Gene-Seed
The Artifactors, like most other chapters, was created using the Ultramarines gene-seed. The Artifactors are very proud to have such a prestigious heritage and have great respect for not only the Ultramarines, but also their fellow Ultramarine successor chapters. To this day the gene-stock has remained pure and unaltered.

Codex Demeanor
The Ancient Way
The Artifactors fully believe that if the Imperium is to survive they need the power of archeotech; ancient technologies, relics and powers long since lost. For an Artifactor the recovery of such artifacts is of outmost importance because it serves not only to strengthen the Chapter, but for an Artifactor it also represents the salvation of the Imperium. This dogma is imprinted in all recruits from their first gene-treatment and by the time they become full battle-brothers they will not hesitate to give their lives in the pursuit and recovery of archeotech, as long as the relic in turn have been deemed worthy of recovery. While the Chapter believes that ancient technologies will aid in the fight against the enemies of the Imperium, there are paths they will not take. Any and all artifacts they recover must be, without a doubt, created by Imperial hands and untainted by the vile forces of Chaos.

For an Artifactor to succeed in his mission he is trained not only to find and exploit minute details in his surroundings but also in more scholastic pursuits, such as cryptology, astromancy and administratum, but especially archeotech. When a squad is formed it’s not uncommon for each battle-brother to be a specialist in a specific topic. This gives the squad the ability to better analyze and investigate leads that could potentially pave the way to the recovery of artifacts, leads that might slip by other, less knowledgeable, relic hunters.

Some Chapters might find their ways tedious, slow and out of place, and the Inquisition is always wary of any organization with too much knowledge. That said, once the Artifactors commit to a battlefield they are just as furious and deadly as any other Astartes.

Figure of Legend: Kyros Kareel
The First Chapter Master of the Artifactors (then called The Emerald Knights) was Kyros Kareel, seconded from the Novamarines chapter to lead the newly created Chapter. It was Kyros who, after great hardship and many trials, found the ancient artifact Aurelius. This discovery set the Chapter upon the path of the relic hunter and Kyros is universally celebrated for this turn of events.


Home World
The Artifactor’s home world is the planet of Hesperos Prime, the first planet of the Galleneos system. The Fortress Monastery of the Artifactors is built on a huge artificial island surrounded by vast forests and mountain ridges, far away from any civilized parts of the world. While the world might seem idyllic it is far from; great saurasian predators roam the forests and great frost lizards and winter snakes dominate the mountainside. Also, for almost three weeks each year the entire planet is covered in raging lighting storms, storms caused by microbes dispersed by the brilliant blue crystals on the polar caps. It’s not uncommon for the Artifactors to use this time for recruitment, making potential recruits make the highly dangerous journey from their castles to the Fortress Monastery.

The Artifactors rule their home world from a distance but they are far from unknown to the feudal civilization that makes up the majority of the population of Hesperos Prime. The Fortress Monastery is something of a legend, but one people know exist. The Artifactors interact with the population, although only during recruitment. At that time the massive Adeptus Astartes gather with the Lords and Ladies in the Castle of Judgement to be presented with potential candidates. Many of these Lords and Ladies have made it their life’s’ work to breed and train candidates for this most prestigious of occasions.

Organization and Combat Doctrine
The Artifactors follow and adhere to the Codex as it was laid out by the Ultramarine Primarch Roboute Guilliman. In both rituals and combat they refer to the wisdom of the Codex Astartes. While some Chapters specialize and excel in one area of combat, Chapters who follow the Codex Astartes make use of most combat doctrines, but none at the expense of the other. While not specialized, they remain flexible and ready and willing to change approach when they feel it is necessary.

The one minor divergence the Artifactors have is in how they display veteran status. Instead of colouring the helmet in a different colour as is suggested by the Codex, the Artifactors all have gold helmets, recruit to veteran. Instead the colour red and more baroque and decorated shoulder pads are used to represent seniority. The reason for the golden helmets can be traced back to the golden helmet incorporated into the ancient armour Aurelius, the first ever artifact found by the Artifactors. The gold serves as an act of remembrance, dedication and brotherhood. It stands as a stark reminder to each and every battle-brother of their most crucial of missions; to make the Impeirum becomes stronger by finding and utilizing the artifacts of ages past.

Despite this small deviance, the Artifactors believe the Codex Astartes to be more than a guideline; it’s a set of rules which should be followed, especially in combat. This can make them, like many other Codex Chapters, somewhat vary of Chapters who have diverged from this holy tome to make up their own organization, rituals and combat doctrines.

Beliefs
The Chapter holds the Emperor as the ultimate object for their devotion but also venerates their first Chapter Master, Kyros, which actions shaped the entire Chapter. In the end, though, The Emperor was the catalyst for all the ancient Imperial artifacts in the galaxy, and so is the main figure in almost all of the Artifactors’ rituals.

Friends and Enemies

The Inquisition is both a friend and an enemy of the Artifactors. Many believe that tampering with ancient artifacts can be dangerous, and rightly so, and more than once have the Artifactors come into contact with both chaos-tainted and Xeno made relics. Even though the Artifactors always claim to destroy such objects, the Inquisition is not always convinced and keeps a keen eye on the chapter.

On the other hand the Inquisition cannot deny the valuable insight and experience the Artifactors can bring forth when it comes to finding ancient technologies, or in fact, anything that is hidden – a most valuable skill to the Inquisition.

Heraldry
The Chapter symbol for the Artifactor is a golden chalice with the cup in the form of a skull. It is taken from ancient legends where the chalice was a potent symbol for powerful and legendary artifacts.

Battle Cry
“With the power of the ancients!”

Notable battles and events
M37.112 – In the aftermath of a substantial orbital bombardment Chapter Master Kyros discovers a tomb on the planet of Opticus. After several trials of both wit and strength he retrieves the relic Aurelius, an ancient suit of Tactical Dreadnought Armour. This powerful armour changes the dogma of the Emerald Knights which in turn renames themselves the Artifactors, becoming a chapter of relic hunters.
M37.122 – The Artifactors comes under investigation of the Ordo Hereticus when they find out about the Chapter’s new purpose. No evidence of corruption is found, but the Inquisitors leave with troubled minds.
M37.128 – With the aid of Aurelius and a newfound strength of purpose the Artifactors completes the destruction of the massive Waagh! that they were created to fight. With their duty fulfilled, the chapter now dedicates most of its companies to hunt and recover artifacts and relics.
M38.356 – The Artifactors’ 4^th company battle the forces of Chaos upon the world of Surge. The Chaos Lord leading the heretic forces wields a tremendously powerful power maul that crushes all in his path while all blows in return are deflected by his enchanted terminator armour. In an amazing feat of skill the Chapter Champion disarms the Chaos Lord, but even unarmed, the Lord refuses to be vanquished. In desperation an augmented Astra Militarum officer grabs the Chaos Lord’s maul and, with blind luck, manages to severely wound him. The fourth company chaplain witnesses this and immediately destroys both the officer and the chaos weapon with a mighty blow from his thunder hammer. Without the aid of the chaos weapon the imperial forces quickly succumb to the chaos forces. Only a handful of Artifactors manages to escape the battle alive.
M38.558 - The Artifactors are routed from a dig site containing at least one relic weapon after Eldar forces suddenly materialize out of nowhere. The losses are minimal but when the Artifactors counter-attacks the dig site is destroyed and any and all relics gone. With the aid of rogue traders the Artifactors manages to tracks down the Eldar responsible for the heist and destroy them. The relics are nowhere to be found.
M39.191 – The Artifactors unwittingly awakens a Necron Tomb world as they search for the relic “Honour’s Call”, an ancient Storm Shield. Initially the battle goes against the Space Marines, but after a prolonged campaign the Artifactors manages to retrieve the shield and slay the lord of the tomb. thanks to the deployment of the Artifactor’s Chapter Master, wearing the mighty relic armour Aurelius.
M39.887 – The Artifactors aid the Inquisition to track down and destroy no less than 54 Tech-priests accused of tech heresy. The nest of this secret cult is later discovered and their leader, Tech Magos Barrok, is destroyed by the hand of Assault Squad Atlas.
M40.090 – After several centuries since the search began, The Artifactors 2^nd Company uncovers the Helios Armory; a large stash of ancient weapons and armour. While old, many of the artifacts are by no means extraordinary, but the Artifactors manages to find a handful of powerful relic weapons.
M41.980 – Animosity among the Relictors and the Artifactors grows as the Artifactors rightly suspects the Relictors to be using chaos tainted artifacts. While the Artifactors do not act on this information themselves, the matter is brought before the Inquisition.
M41.999 – A prolonged campaign against the upstart Tau Empire forces both armies into a stalemate. When allied Astra Militarum reinforcements arrive both sides are battered and bloody, but unbowed.

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And that's it! Feedback and comments more than welcome!
For pictures of Artifactor models, go to the Hall of Honour Artifactor topic.

[Lysimachus]

I like this Chapter (and your army is brilliant) but I do think it's a bit odd that just finding the TDA should immediately change their name/purpose/everything. Might it not be better if they found it, then completed their first campaign primarily thanks to said artefact, and seeing the value of these ancient objects, decide that they must recover as many as possible?

[TheReclusiarch]

That makes sense, Strike Captain Lysimachus! :) 

[Veteran Sergeant]

Minor spelling error: outmost should be utmost.

 

As a thematic gripe, I dislike the idea that a chapter could be created in response to a Waaagh. It takes many decades, if not a century or more, to stand up a Space Marine Chapter. This isn't the kind of thing that happens as a response to current events. Perhaps a previous Chapter being wiped out by a Waagh and that leaving a power vacuum or a sector without any Marine assets to call upon. I know this is part of FFG's chapter origins table, but it seems so silly. A Chapter being stood up and assigned near a growing Ork empire to help prevent a Waaaagh seems pausible though.

 

Otherwise, it's an interesting effort. I like the paint job and symbol-work on your miniatures.

[Messor]

While hunting down artifacts is a sensible goal, the difficulty is even knowing where to look. I would assume the Chapter has had enough success in this goal to warrant changing their name, so I suggest touching on the methods they use to hunt down these ancient treasures, and maybe some more of those exploits. Great chapter, though, and the .pdf looks great!

[Conn Eremon]

Minor spelling error: outmost should be utmost.

 

As a thematic gripe, I dislike the idea that a chapter could be created in response to a Waaagh. It takes many decades, if not a century or more, to stand up a Space Marine Chapter. This isn't the kind of thing that happens as a response to current events. Perhaps a previous Chapter being wiped out by a Waagh and that leaving a power vacuum or a sector without any Marine assets to call upon. I know this is part of FFG's chapter origins table, but it seems so silly. A Chapter being stood up and assigned near a growing Ork empire to help prevent a Waaaagh seems pausible though.

 

Otherwise, it's an interesting effort. I like the paint job and symbol-work on your miniatures.

Sorry if this sounds like I am being contrary, but seeing that kind of gripe is actually one of my gripes. I get what you mean, and it's not exactly wrong, but it doesn't actually invalidate anything. Using the OP example, there are a number of ways in which an Ork WAAAGH! could very well have been a primary factor in this Chapter's creation, at any point during that process. From the very beginning, when a Founding is just being declared, Chapter 674 could be tagged as intended to counter a recent greenskin invasion upon . . . I don't know, "graduation." The fact that this may take a whole century is perfectly in keeping with how slow Imperial responses can be. Or it could be at the very end of the process, with the Chapter's maiden mission targeted straight for an invasion in progress.

 

And to be clear, FFG does not have this as part of its origin tables. It has the Millennia, to determine general age, and a very generic, broad 'Why.' If FFG was used for this article, likely what was rolled was "Counter."

[Sergeant Lowe]

I like the idea