++Blood for the Blood God: Daemonkin community++

[Tenebris]

For those wondering why the Khorne Daemonkin are in the Daemons forum I think I can answer. The reason is simple, the Daemons are the reason for the existence of the Daemonkin warbands. Most of the warbands worship a specific Greater Daemon of Khorne or one of his dreaded daemonic legions. It goes without saying that the Daemonkin are a much more spiritually connected entity than for example a classic Chaos warband and it is understandable that they live, fight and die for their daemonic patrons. 

 

I admit that the new lore is much more reminiscent of the D&D universe were planar entities do reward their followers with boons and lesser daemons in return for faithful service or for sustenance from "faith and worship". This sort of symbiotic relationship between daemon and men is clear in the Daemonkin warbands and though they are out for the blood and the skulls, the end result is to bring forth a daemonic legion and allow its existence in real space. 

 

I think that the Daemonkin are the next stepping stone in the evolution of the Chaos mythos and should rightfully be represented as the heralds of the daemonic legions and its daemonic generals. 

 

Let your axes sing brothers of the Daemonkin, let blood flow for the generals of brass and flame will come forth and reap a harvest in Khorne's name. 

[Scribe]

I agree, its an evolutionary step for CSM, I think thats why I've come around to it so quickly. 

[Adra'Melek]

It'll be interesting see what happens next for daemons/CSM. Was the Daemonkin book just something they put out due to end times? Or is it a sign of things to come? If they do plan out 2 years in advance I can't see its success/failure impacting on immediate releases but might the long term.

 

Anyway, my WIP army long is found at the link below:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/285810-the-infernal-guard-fall-to-insanity/

 

Daemonkin stuff starts around about page 12. The whole thread starts with an alternative Legion army (Mortarion on Nocturne, named Adra'Melek). The Legion falls to Khorne. My Daemonkin Warband will be a splinter force that got ripped through the warp to the real universe. So the core will be of the Infernal Guard, but others have joined them. The focus of the rage is the Imperium as they see it as an abomination of the Emperor's plan and the Golden Throne as abuse of his remains, they wish to release him from his prison and let him fade into the warp.

 

The Brass Dragons, worshippers of T'labldell'phuzda, 'The Blooded', Bloodthirster of the Sixth Host.

[Larkyn]

I offer the Charnel Wraiths to the fury of the Blood God. Chieftain Skarra Cadeyrn, The Battle King of Chuvin, will be more than pleased to shed blood in his God's name.

 

I got my Daemonkin Warband box, and I eagerly await the ETL so I can fully begin praising the Blood God.

[Conn Eremon]

So before I get this codex for its lore, I have a question on its potential relevance to my World Eaters warband. They are very, very heavily tied to their blood gods, daemonic entities bound to obsidian hearts they take into themselves as a form of possession/union. The one bound to their Chaos Lord is a powerful daemon, and together they improve their standing in the Blood God's court with rather frequent bouts of fratricidal rages.

 

What does the Khorne Daemonkind lore have to say about possessed?

[Scribe]

Possessed are one step towards the Daemonic and are seen as a stepping stone towards ascension. They are Elite within the ranks from what I can see and favoured.

[Adra'Melek]

The whole idea behind these armies is that they start out 'human' and as they kill and die daemons replace the mortal members. So it's all about daemons coming into the physical realm without the inherent instability and Possessing seems a reasonable way of achieving the same thing. But I would say that it seems the human members don't really have a permanence of other armies. They are fodder in every sense, all of them. Even the Lord is there as a vessel for a DP or BT. That's the feeling I get anyway. As long as the obsidean hearts are transferable it should work.

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

Khorne cares not from where the blood flows.

[Conn Eremon]

Well, the idea behind how their possession works is that, first of all, to be a part of this warband, to become Astartes, one must have this secondary heart grafted into them (or replace their secondary heart, if a renegade Astartes). All have the vessel of a dark god inside of them. Rejection rates are high even for a Chaos Warband, with most burning from the inside out and others turning into mindless automatons of butchering. The former are garbage, their obsidian hearts retrieved and their burned bones discarded. The latter make great cannon fodder.

 

Those who survive and master the process are, in a sense, possessed. But I like exploring different ways to approach a familiar subject. So these daemons, their blood gods, are not of any currently known type. I see those we already know of, like the Thirsters, as but a fraction of the riot of diversity yhat is the breeds of Chaos. These blood gods are something different. As is the details of the possession. The blood gods are ancient, unknowable entities. While they are not without their own sentience or identity, what they lend to the communion is not a separate intelligence but the animal hunger for bloodshed. It is a raw, primitive presence. The consciousness, the identity of the man remains his own. However, variations are common. Nearly all have had their identities shifted by the imprinting of their blood god, becoming something new, something different than either and yet like both. Many are ruled by the hunger. The minds of some are more daemon than man. But they are never of two minds. They are both the man and the god.

[Scribe]

I think that could fit conceptually into Daemonkin. The Scriptures of Slaughter are not a widely known thing, and its the attempt to mirror the hierarchy of Khorne's Legions which really make the Daemonkin what they are.

 

That said, your approach could be just one more way to get to that divine ascension, if you wanted it to be.

[Khornestar]

Arctos Gorehowl is the equivalent of a daemon prince, in the sense that he and his warp dragon are the same soul. If they are destroyed, they return to the warp to return another day when summoned back by the Brass Stampede. This is the story of their union that also gives a bit of insight into the strength and makeup of his legion:

 

With a grunt, Arctos Gorehowl yanked the blade of Heartseeker from within the smoking mouth of the fallen bloodthirster. The daemon-spear was unblemished by the beast’s flaming breath, nearly vibrating with delight at bathing in the blood and brain matter of its greater cousin, whose corpse twitched on the blood-caked sand of the arena.

 

Arctos’ equerry Viconius strode from the crowd of spectators to his master’s side. Ornate brass power armor obscured the once beautiful Astartes within. A son of Sanguinius in a former life, now another slave to the blood god.

 

Gorehowl silently passed Heartseeker to his equerry, and reached for the hilt of the rune-encrusted scimitar at his waist. Pulled free of its sheath, the curved blade began to growl like a dog fighting over a bone. With his free hand, the warlord raised the slain bloodthirster’s head by the icon of Khorne crowning its cranium. It took three vicious strokes of the growling blade to hack through the spine and neck muscles before loosing a bark of delight when it finally severed the massive head.

 

Roaring in triumph, Gorehowl lifted the mangled head before the gathered throngs of Khorne, blood pouring over his scorched armor. The warriors of the Brass Stampede erupted in a roar of their own at their master’s victory, joined by the daemons of the fallen bloodthirster’s legion. A new lord had risen to lead their hosts, proven mightier than the last in the sand of a million pulverized skulls.

 

“Bloodfather! Your son offers you tribute!”

 

Forked bolts of crimson lightning split the sky above the arena, thunder booming Khorne’s approval of one champion slaughtering another. The dark clouds began glowing, lightning spitting and crackling from within the voluminous gloom.

 

The sound of thunder was almost like laughter; a god’s amusement at the squabbles of playthings desperate for his approval. And yet, he was pleased.

 

A shape broke through the darkness of the clouds like a meteor, red electricity arcing in its wake. Folded wings and a long tail became visible as the shape plummeted toward the arena.

 

Viconius chuckled. “Another thirster to slay, is it?”

 

“No,” Arctos uttered while slowly lowering his victim’s severed head. “Something else. Something we’ve never seen before.” He quickly sheathed his scimitar and extended his hand toward his equerry, his gaze never leaving the descending monster. His gauntleted fingers closed around the shaft of Heartseeker.

 

The creature’s great wings unfurled a split second before it slammed into the ground, spraying bonesand across the arena. Four mighty limbs supported the daemon’s massive body, each ending in wicked talons. A thick, serpentine neck held its head aloft: horned, crested; with eyes that conveyed the unbridled malice of its spirit. Screeching, it stomped toward the warlord and his equerry.

 

Gorehowl smiled beneath his helm. “A warp dragon.”

 

Viconius stepped away, having no right to engage the beast alongside his master. The glory of a skull champion’s challenge is not willingly shared with his underlings. A part of him was eager for his master’s death. If the equerry had the chance to slay the dragon in Arctos Gorehowl’s blood, command of the new legion would pass to him. But first, the warlord would have to fall.

 

Arctos thrust his spear skyward, unfazed by the dragon’s approach. As he did, a bolt of crimson lightning struck the spear, its energy coruscating down the blade, through the shaft, and over the surface of the warlord's fire-blackened suit of power armor. A change came over Gorehowl – an understanding. Muffled laughter was audible even through the battered brass faceplate of his horned helm.

 

The dragon folded its wings and halted its advance a dozen paces from the lord of the Brass Stampede. Arctos took a spinning step forward, gathering momentum to toss the bloodthirster’s severed head at the dragon.

 

Thick jaws snapped shut around the head, crunching into the skull and mangling its brass icon. The great daemon lifted its head and neck to swallow the prize, now a lump in its throat descending toward the furnace of hellfire within. Sated, it lowered its head to lock eyes with Gorehowl.

 

Arctos dragged Heartseeker’s blade across the palm of his gauntlet, effortlessly slicing through the ceramite and into his flesh beneath. He clenched his fist and raised it to the side, a steady rivulet of blood streaming forth which the dragon greedily gulped down.

 

The warp dragon bowed its body, revealing a saddle between the shoulders of its wings. Arctos Gorehowl mounted the beast, and again the legions of Khorne gloriously roared to the triumph of their lord.

 

Now the equerry understood. He turned to the slaughter-brothers standing beside him. “Behold his ascension.”

 

Though not physically reformed as daemonic royalty, Arctos Gorehowl was forever soul-bonded to the dragon, inseparable and everliving. The galaxy was already fearful of the carnage wrought by the Brass Stampede, but a new terror cast a winged shadow to herald the bloodshed to come.

[Scribe]

I like it! You have a model for Arctos?

[Khornestar]

I'm building him.

 

For the warp dragon: Carnosaur body, balrog wings, horns from some CSM helmet. Possibly spare bloodthirster horns from the new kit, but I haven't found a position that looks good yet.

 

For Arctos, I'm using the bloodletter helm from the Wrathmongers kit, and a spear from the Skullcrushers kit. Not totally sure on his body yet. Really depends on how I position the saddle or whatever he ends up riding on. There's only so much space between the dragon's wings/shoulders, and I want it to look "realistic" enough that he can fight while mounted. I reeeeeeally wanted him to use an axe, but a spear just makes much more sense from a mount like a dragon. Doesn't mean he can't have backup weapons or something, we'll see. Still very preliminary.

 

I love putting so much thought into this, haha.

[Scribe]

Awesome!

 

That Bloodletter helm is making me contemplate the $60 or whatever it is for that kit, its the only thing I really really want. :D

[Khornestar]

It is a great kit. Closer to 50 if you get it via discounted 3rd party retailers, way cheaper if you just by the single head off of eBay, if you felt so inclined. There are enough bits that it's worth it to me, though still an arm and a leg.

[Adra'Melek]

Warmongers is definitely a great kit. Loads of goodies in it even if you're purpose is for a single item, I'm sure you'll find other things you want. I used some bits for my bikes (bits at the back).

 

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-24wxMrXrKro/VTK8Qzc5LnI/AAAAAAAAAO8/QRle_bVQzC0/s2048-no/IMG_1276.JPG

[Targetlock]

working through my Daemonkin at the moment, Slaughtercult mostly finished and Gorepack are finished, planning on adding some heavy stuff next probably a helbrute and a maulerfiend. my warband is my own creation just needs background and a name :) will post pics are some point.

[Scribe]

My Wrath WIP test model if folks havent seen it.

[Khornestar]

Looking really good. Is that an aspiring champion?

[Scribe]

Yeah for my CSM squad. :]

[Khornestar]

You definitely chose the most badass of the raptor chainswords, that thing is brutal.

[Scribe]

Yeah, I used the rest on his squad, waiting for ETL.

[Kol Saresk]

It does look very nice. And it just might be the photo, but the white looks a bit chalky? One thing that was suggested to me in the last ETL is too try and paint it in very thin layers and built up to where you want it to be.

[Adra'Melek]

Those colours do look sweet together. Really good to see Khorne marines that aren't just red and brass.

[Scribe]

It does look very nice. And it just might be the photo, but the white looks a bit chalky? One thing that was suggested to me in the last ETL is too try and paint it in very thin layers and built up to where you want it to be.

 

Yeah the helm has too many layers as I tried different approaches to the white. :]