Chapter Idea(s) & Outline [Imperial Voices]

[Rolepgeek]

So for a while now, I've had some chapter ideas floating around in my head. They've come and gone, been more or less serious and/or fitting, fluff-wise, and so on. However, one that's stuck with me, that I'd like to eventually create an Index Astartes about(at least, my first IA, as I hope to make a few more), are the Imperial Voices. Ecclesiarchy/Ally-loving Choir Marines with a focus on teamwork, coordination, inspiration, and singing.

 

Originally, I had thought to make them Loyalist Word Bearers(thus their name being similar to Imperial Heralds), before A. reading more about the Word Bearers, and B. reading the DIY guides. However, their sheer fanatic devotion to the Emperor as a God is basically unchanged; the original idea had been that when the God-Emperor told the Imperial Heralds to stop worshipping him, the Choirboys of the Imperial Voices went "Yes, God-Emperor, whatever you say, God-Emperor!". Again, not having them be that anymore, though I don't really want them to be Ultramarines-lineage successors, either, partially because of their rather...non-Codex organisational practices. I'm hoping to get ideas and feedback about them, but if not I can use this thread to just lay out the outline for the eventual IA.

 

A few more pieces about them that I have developed or need to develop more(everything else is basically undone):

• Instead of Chaplains and Librarians, they have Orators, who are both, as the Imperial Voices can barely conceive of betraying their God, and the Orators believe they provide an outlet for the Emperor's voice(their psychic powers manifest similarly to how you'd expect for song-based marines). Orators also occupy a high position of status due to the Chapters religious emphasis, and will often serve as liaisons to speak with non-marines when necessary.
• Their Lyman's Ear has mutated and is extremely sensitive; they can hear extraordinarily well, even for Space Marines. This has the downside, however, of them being able to hear white noise even more clearly, and being unable to filter it out as just that; white noise. This results in aggravation and jumpiness if they cannot soothe themselves, which they primarily accomplish through music. They can still hear slight noises, and are aware of them, but they are able to concentrate on the music instead rather than being continually distracted and irritated by slight noises not in harmony. Their power armor is specially designed/modified to mute or dull most sounds so that the marines can avoid being deafened every time they fire their bolter(hyperbole, but nonetheless). As one might expect, they make Noise Marines priority targets, and on the occasion a Brother is corrupted, it is often a Noise Marine they will become, though this is thankfully as rare or more so than within other chapters, and Orators are excellent at picking out lies from someone's voice, even with the voice training initiates undergo that would allow them to better conceal such.
• Due to this mutation, they can also pick out individual voices from a choir, have nigh-universal perfect pitch, and make out words from what would otherwise be indistinct garbling. The most important aspect to this, however, is the fact that due to battle consisting almost entirely of loud noises, shouting, and horrific sounds such as metal shearing, whilst in battle, they sing as a chorus, their Vox channels almost constantly open. Their songs also form a sort of code for which they can communicate information in battle; shifting notes, or changing songs, indicates various information or orders that can be and is communicated constantly, as long practice means they are excellent at improvising shifts between songs or refrains without disrupting their brothers concentration.
• Their Chapter is not organised into ten Companies of 100; it is instead organised into sixteen Choirs of 60 marines each, as well as a High Chorus which contains the elite members of the Chapter and nominally numbers 40. Their Armamentarium is known as the Instrumentarium, bearing the instruments of war that they bring into battle, most of which are organised into the Orchestra, containing the majority of their vehicles and equipment, and dispatches specialty gear to Choirs as needed, as each Choir is largely self-sufficient for the task it is purposed for. Each Choir is designed, outfitted, and to some extent, trained, to fill specific roles in battle or fight in certain styles. The 13th Choir, for example, is primarily specialized in boarding actions, and particularly Space Hulks.
• Due to their closeness with the Ecclesiarchy and typical willingness to assist or fulfill the Ecclesiarchy's requests, in addition to their own need for high voices within the Choir(as, unfortunately, the process to turn out into a Space Marine rarely allows for a tenor voice to be retained; such is the drawback of being a seven-foot tall genetically engineered killing machine), Sisters of Battle frequently accompany the Voices. This also informs their smaller Choir size, as it means SoB are able to stay on the same ships as the Space Marines, and most Strike Cruisers home to a Choir bear a similarly sized contingent of Sisters. Most Sisters are from the Order of the Ringing[Resonant?] Bell (I swear I thought of all this before seeing the Order of the Thundering Choir or even registering for the Bolter and Chainsword, and I might at some point ask Dark Apostle Thirst if they would be willing to interlink the Chapter and Order somehow; I have avoided reading his creation for the moment to avoid accidentally stealing ideas from him), as they usually sing with the Voices and thus require excellent vocal abilities.
• Similarly, they often accompany or assist Imperial Guard regiments far more directly than most Chapters, serving to inspire and instruct the Guardsmen to better allow them to fulfill what the Emperor demands of them. Imperial Guardsmen serving with or under the Chapter tend to have significantly lengthened lifespans past deployment. Significantly lengthened for Guardsmen, at least.
• The only reason the Inquisition has not dropped the hammer on them for all of this non-conformity is the Ecclesiarchy. What the Black Templars are to the High Lords of Terra, and the Minotaurs are to the Inquisition, the Imperial Voices are(in a way; less than the others, but still) to the Ecclesiarchy. That, combined with their immediately evident faith and continuous action(though they are not technically on a Crusade), enables them to continue as they have been. However, it seems likely this cannot last, for the Inquisition has been growing more and more irritated with the Voices...

That's all I really got so far. Their Dreadnoughts might have vox casters/laud hailers built in/attached to broadcast their songs to ally and enemy alike, to bolster morale while demoralizing the enemy with the chorus of their own damnation, but I'm less sure about that by far.

 

Thoughts? Things I got horribly wrong? Ideas?

[Olis]

Okay, I'll bite seeing as no-one else has yet. The thing with this Chapter, to me, is that the flaws inherent to their mutation seem... a bit toothless (if they can be countered so easily). Added on top of that, space marines have pretty good hearing anyway - certainly much better than unaugmented humans at least. Perhaps instead of heightened senses, you should just give them a flaw. Like having synesthesia, or something.

[Rolepgeek]

Thanks for the feedback! I hadn't really thought of it that way before (maybe the way I wrote it made it seem like they have it perfectly under control), and I'd mostly thought of it as a way to explain their focus on music. Synesthesia would certainly be interesting, but it would also put them a bit closer to the border between perfectly loyal and Slaaneshi, and I'm not sure how it would occur, since synesthesia tends to be something wrong in the brain, rather than the eyes or ears and so on. Should I expand on the ways that it hinders them, or worsen the flaws compared to how well they can deal with them? Since it's the Lyman's Ear, maybe they have difficulty with Drop Pods or rapid insertion from Thunderhawks?

 

I'd originally intended it to be somewhat like the Raven Guards' oversensitive Occulobes; it doesn't cripple them, and their helmets can help dim lights to acceptable levels, but it's still not exactly helpful if they aren't in their chosen environment. Perhaps a bit worse, since they've built their Chapter around it, I suppose. I think you're right though; they don't really have a characteristic flaw at the moment, and flaws are what define a character/chapter's personality, far more than strengths, which simply defines their appearance.

 

I have thought of a bit more to add, though; again, all criticism is welcome, since I'm not sure how well I did this.

 

• Other than the hymns and songs they sing, their signature battlecry would be: "Sing His Name!"
• Homeworld is a Feral/Death World turned Shrine World turned back to Feral/Death World and now technically a Shrine World again. After being the site of an old important campaign/battle and the death place of a hero of the Imperium, it was made a Shrine world despite it's dangers. When an Ork WAAAGH(or other Xeno infestation, as Chaos would warrant Exterminatus regardless) swept through the local sector, it was essentially lost for a time. When it was regained, the locals had managed to survive, but so had the Orks/Xenos, and in quantity. When Exterminatus was called for, the Ecclesiarchy threw a fit about losing relics and a shrine world, and the (Inquisition?Imperial Guard?) relented, deciding to instead launch a campaign to clear out the infestation. While partially successful, once the major relic sites were secured and it was ascertained that they would almost certainly remain so, much of the interest in the world was lost. However, as the Xenos were still present on the world, the world was continually/on-again-off-again in the middle of a miniature crusade carried out by locals and occasionally assistance from nearby IG or Space Marines if they seem in danger of being overwhelmed. When the Imperial Voices were founded, the faith of the populace (due to it's traditions from being a Shrine World), their need for assistance in keeping the Orks back/down, and the hardiness such bred in them, lent a certain attraction to it as their Homeworld. 

[Olis]

Hmm. I'm not sure about the homeworld, tbh. There seems to be a lot going on there, perhaps an unnecessary amount. So, we have a planet basically at constant war with alien invaders that used to be a shrine world. Why exactly would the marines chose to settle on a contested world (or a world blackened by an extensive campaign to eliminate the Orks)? Faith can be found anywhere, so what makes this planet more appealing than the next warzone? I'm assuming Orks would be a major/constant threat at least considering they seem to have been around for a long time. Also to consider is how depleted the population would be - Ork infestations tend to shorten average lifespans by quite a lot.

[Rolepgeek]

Well, part of the idea was that the Initiates would be able to support the populace against the Orks as part of their training. The Orks are mostly feralby this point, a constant threat as a whole, but not all the time for individual communities. Part of the reason it's effectively a death world is because of the Orks. It's not contested per se; unless a major WAAAGH started up, if Orks threatened to overtake the world, the Guard could step in pretty easily and put a stop to it. It's just that cleansing the world completely was believed to take too long and the regiments were needed elsewhere, so they left the locals to take care of it. And they've been surviving remarkably well.

 

Although, I think I confused myself in that I intended them to be fleet-based, so it's a primary recruiting world, rather. Though I'm less sure of that now.

[Ace Debonair]

Other than the hymns and songs they sing, their signature battlecry would be: "Sing His Name!"

...If that's a Galavant reference, then this is my new favourite Chapter.

I'll read the rest later when I'm not in a rush, but I just had to get that out there!

EDIT:

Having read through everything, it all sounds pretty good to me, with the exception of the ork-infested-shrine-world they use as a homeworld - it seems a bit bizzarre that a world that is both a Space Marine recruitment world AND a Shrine World somehow wouldn't be considered important enough for either the Chapter or the Ecclesiarchy to order a proper purge of the greenskins.

Especially when you make mention that the Ecclesiarchy was at one time worried about losing the world to the orks - even if they couldn't manage it alone, the Ecclesiarchy and the Chapter themselves would almost certainly work together to flat-out destroy any ork presence.

[Delta E.T]

I would stay away from using traitor gene-seed. It seems like the go-to thing for chapters that don't resemble the loyal legions is to somehow being descended from a traitor gene-line. Do not do this. Its overused, shaky at best lore wise and throws away an opportunity for story telling. In your case I would say unknown, due to your unusual mutation, and instead of making ties with a traitor force, it allows you to describe your unique gene-line. It also gives you a chance to show how and why your chapter became so pious instead of coping out and saying that its just from their genes. It would make your chapter more interesting.

Also with the altered company size, I'm okay with this one. You gave a fairly valid explanation as to why your chapter deviates, but I also feel like that you could have a specific historic reason why these choirs are are only 60 maned and are for specific purposes rather than tactical versatility like the battle companies. Its rare to decide that a new organisational pattern is better than an old one in the backwards Imperium, although marines have a bit more freedom in this. Perhaps some situation forced 16 veterans, all who specialized in a different field, to lead chapter throughout a war with 60 men each? You could have a brilliant idea for this deviation, please tell us!

The gene mutation looks fine to me, a bunch of singing marines is pretty interesting and unique, to me at least. Mutation is normally seen as a crippling flaw, but using it as a quirk is fine too, as long as it doesn't make them too advantaged

They seem to have a large list of friends and few enemies. Imperial Guard, Sisters, and even the Ecclesiarchy (!). And only one major enemy, the Inquisition. While its not exactly uncommon for marines to have a lot of allies, I believe that you could develop why they on such good terms with all of these organisations. Maybe they are forced to take missions from the Ecclesiarchy that they don't necessarily agree with? They could have more enemies as well, everyone hates the inquisiton, but I liked the idea of noise marines. They seem like the perfect nemesis. Maybe you should have a rogue slaaneshi offshot that the chapter has sworn to hunt

I am aware that this is a work in project but hey you did ask for feedback and I feel this could improve it . Other than that I liked you core idea and with a few developments I feel this could become into a great chapter

[Rolepgeek]

Ace Debonair: It was not a reference to Galavant, though it might be now...:D As for the homeworld, the idea was that the primary relic sites had been acquired, it serves as good training for the Chapter(and helps make sure to create the right sort of recruits), and it's mostly under control, and why purge greenskins when there's heretics to kill? Though, more than one person now has commented on it, so I'll probably be taking a look at it again to see if I can figure something else out that would be better.

 

Delta E.T: Indeed, I had decided against it, and said so, in the original post, thought I can see how the manner in which I typed it would be confusing (I ramble a lot). I have a basic history for the chapter bashed out now, partially due to your suggestions, but I'll leave that for last as an 'update'. I went with 60 marines because 16*60 is 960, and 960+40 is the iconic thousand ground-based infantry marines of a Chapter (I'm of the mind that there's more like 1400-1600 Marines total, counting vehicle drivers, recruiters and trainers before they become Scouts, ship crews, and etc., but those are covered in large part by the Orchestra). I did have the idea for them being forced to spread out more than most Chapters during a protracted war, and the groups eventually resolved into the new Choirs, as they'd been under the command of, perhaps, as you said, a veteran(I'd just been thinking they'd ended up taking certain roles due to necessity and first and as time wore on it became their specialty).

 

Sisters and Ecclesiarchy are kinda one and the same, though I go back and forth on Imperial Guard, since I'm not sure whether to make them popular with regiments because they're nice and teach you to sing and don't demand you die pointlessly, or disliked because having a Space Marine as a Commissar can be terrifying, and basically impossible to have die to 'Orkish Snipers with Lasguns' without bringing some major purge down from on high. I'm also wondering now, if, like you said, adding more enemies would be a good idea. I had the idea of them not getting along particularly well with the Adeptus Mechanicus(thus also at least partially explaining why they have the dedicated Orchestra) due to sticking mufflers, mics, or speakers on everything.

 

As for Slaanesh...I don't really want to make them Dark Angels like that too much, but an aversion of the typical 'swear to hunt fallen' might be interesting. Perhaps there's a reason sixth Choir is left empty. Or maybe it's part of the reason they decided to make Throne-Damned sure their Librarians were loyal, and so made Orators. Maybe they thought there wasn't enough separation of power, and decided to go further with the Imperial Guard route, to make sure a full Company of mostly self-sufficient and adaptable Space Marines never fell to Chaos without sufficient barrier. Perhaps there's even a reason they always surround themselves with Sisters of Battle and Ecclesiarchy Priests, thought it would certainly never be any fear of falling to Chaos and wanting to have as big of a buffer or kill-team to die to as possible around. Certainly it has nothing to do with the Slaaneshi Warband that's been harassing the Chapter and capturing live marines before turning them to the Dark Gods. Those Marines that get left in a room with their mouth and neck numbed, strapped so they cannot even make a rhythm, forced to hear every little infuriating noise until it drives them past the brink of madness...that certainly has nothing to do with it.

 

Which reminds me; I do intend to make their mutation a bit more of a flaw; not a ridiculous or DOOM one or anything close, but enough so that it's a bit more than simply an excuse to have Song Marines.

 

• Mutation is such that they have issues when not being allowed to cope in their usual way; without music, they will slowly go insane as every little thing digs at them. In order to sleep, they usually need either sensory deprivation rooms(for sound, at least), or more commonly so their own heartbeat doesn't keep them awake, what amount to lullabies. That have to be kept going through the night. There's a reason the Chapter prefers to spend the night on their Battle Barges and Strike Cruisers when possible.
• The Voiceless. A detachment made up of those marines who have lost their ability to sing or hear (augmetics are never truly the same; the flesh is only weak if one lets it be(the Orchestra disagrees, but they aren't usually singing)), they are those precious and tormented few who cannot sing with their brothers, and condition themselves to man the Throne up and deal with a few measly sounds. They are typically discharged via suicide mission when they've gone insane, which can take quite a while, depending on the willpower of the marine in question. Such squads are often led by newer Voiceless members who cannot find the heart to go on until such madness takes them, and simply wish to serve the Emperor and the Chapter in one final way.
• Dislike Servitors, because they cannot sing from the heart, regardless of whether the heart is still attached. Augmetics are not the same as flesh and blood voices. Ever. Not to the Voices. Needless to say....Mechanicus don't appreciate being told this.
• Oh yes, there is no recruiting Choir. Every Choir is mostly self-sufficient in that respect.
• Very basic chapter history: Founded to retake Shrine Worlds/to make the Ecclesiarchy stop whining. End up being mentored by the [note sure yet] Chapter, and early history is mostly them being the Ecclesiarchy's monkeys and/or lapdogs. Ecclesiarch says jump, Imperial Voices say "FOR THE EMPEROR". This lessens a bit over time, and their first scandal involves one of their more powerful Librarians becoming one of the first Voiceless, before there was a detachment for it. They get corrupted by Slaanesh. As they are assigned to the fourth company, and the Imperial Voices had always had a decently close relationship to their Librarians compared to other Chapters, due to the Librarians being the ones keeping records of the songs and all, they manage to corrupt most of Fourth Company and bits and pieces of other companies, especially Tenth(it's unsure how long tenth company was being so subtly and slightly corrupted for...and how many marines came out of it during that time...), and a combination of voice training they'd received for songs and the Librarian's newfound magic/old psychic powers keeps the Company Chaplain from finding out before it's too late.
• Que somewhere around a fifth to a quarter of the chapter falling to Chaos, a rather large penitent crusade ensues to deal with the heresystorm the Librarian kicked up throughout their sector and make up for their wrongs, while they desperately try to fill their ranks again before the Noise Marines start finding 'recruits' of their own. Either here or a little later is when the organizational changes occur, but here is definitely where the first Orators start being trained and the like. Or something. Working closely with Sisters of Battle here to purge heretical worlds also probably sets the ball rolling for them to take up lodgings with the Company, as the traditions get started due to a lack of available vessels to use, being forced to ride with Ecclesiarchy or Imperial vessels rather than use their own. Which also helps explain the split up as it's difficult to fit a full hundred marines as well as Guard Regiments or Sisters of Battle to boot.

 

 

Alright so the history's not 'very basic' but it's still very much in the rough concept stages of things. Thoughts? Suggestions? Things I've maybe screwed up with?

[Ace Debonair]

Ace Debonair: It was not a reference to Galavant, though it might be now...

Good enough for me!

As for the homeworld, the idea was that the primary relic sites had been acquired, it serves as good training for the Chapter(and helps make sure to create the right sort of recruits), and it's mostly under control, and why purge greenskins when there's heretics to kill? Though, more than one person now has commented on it, so I'll probably be taking a look at it again to see if I can figure something else out that would be better.

There's a couple of reasons it stands out.

Orks are a big threat to the Imperium - they're basically everywhere and the Imperium does lose worlds to rampaging groups of Orks, even in battles where the Imperial Guard, Space Marines, or Sisters Of Battle get involved. They're not something the Imperium shows mercy to, pretty much ever.

So, having a world that is both important to the Ecclesiarchy and to a Space Marine Chapter where both factions are suddenly content to let a group of orks (arguably one of mankind's greatest enemies on a galactic scale) live on that world is rather out of character for both the Imperial Church and a Space Marine Chapter.

Possibly the best way to get the effect I think you're looking for would be to replace the orks with some dangerous native wildlife or possibly invent some primitive, low-tech xenos race of your own - using any of the existing 'big threat' xenos would only give you the same situation as the Orks.

If they're not a well-known enemy of mankind who are responsible for some of the Imperium's biggest conflicts, then you'd get the situation you want - everyone would like them gone, but there's other, more important threats to deal with and the people of [HOMEWORLD NAME] have turned hunting your new aliens/wildlife into a tradition or sport or something similar, so their numbers never get large enough to threaten anywhere important on the homeworld.

Of course, there are probably other solutions to the problem as well, if inventing new species doesn't sit well with you, but I thought I'd just throw an idea out there.

[Rolepgeek]

That makes sense, I suppose. I was looking at Dawn of War, since it's some of the only resources I have in terms of lore(I'm afraid I can't afford the SM Codex, and I'm comparatively new to the hobby in any case), where the Blood Ravens recruiting worlds had Orks on them, and the lore concerning Orks which basically ensures you can't completely rid yourself of them with anything less than an Exterminatus. The other idea was that while it was a Shrine World, and the Ecclesiarchy was unwilling to let it be either abandoned or destroyed, it was not a major one; so long as they holy relic sites are secure, there are heretics to kill. I was unsure when I wrote it whether it should be Orks or a different, lesser, Xeno threat(Orks seem more like dangerous pests than galaxy-wide menaces, when not in a WAAAGH!), but I wasn't sure how a different threat would ever take over a Shrine world.

 

On a related note, I'm having trouble thinking of names; both for marines and for the homeworld. Doing things like Brother Marcatti or Conductor(name for Captains) Staccatius seems a bit too on the nose, and I'd rather make only a very few composer references...but I'm not sure what to do, really, other than 'generic' space marine names.

[Delta E.T]

Ah, Dawn of War. One of the better 40k games in terms of lore anyway. But I wouldn't rely on it too much

Remember space marines are almost the best solution to any problem when it comes to war. If something is considered to be impossible, well, normally it's 'impossible without space marines'. There are exception of course, but if you want your space marines to cleanse a population of aliens, it is usually possible, if not without losses. If your recruitment/home world has a bad ork/other species problem, usually that is the first priority that is taken care off. Letting them run around killing the natives is not exactly the best idea, even if there are other threats in the area, you have to make sure that at least your home-base is secure.

Names are tricky. They are other threads for this, but as a starting point you can take a real-life earth culture, translate words that represent concepts such as 'Justice' or 'Death', mix a few letters/make it easier to read and you can adjust it as a name

I'd recommend at this point to start organizing your thoughts and ideas into a complete or cohesive document, such as an IA, to continue on from here. If you are keen on this chapter, this would be the next step, and it would make it much easier for others to read and critique you. It seems like you have enough material to get the majority of one done, and any other thoughts/issues would be much easier to identify.