The Grail Wardens: a Liber Astartes Group Project

[Olis]

So... have we decided on what's going on now? Do have an agreed upon premise (after three pages) for this campaign?

[Arkangilos]

"Yes" XD

[Olis]

"Yes" XD

 

I'll be honest - I'm feeling kinda lazy. Which post is it in? :lol:

[Arkangilos]

I don't know if it's been consolidated or not, but5 it really starts with a response to my post

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/313265-knights-of-the-grailwardens-of-the-grailquesting-knights/?p=4167398

[Doctor Perils]

Yep, I think the premise is set down. Here's a little pseudo-timeline:

1. A set of chapters conquer a sector, where they find a Warp Rift
2. Together, they have a lot of trouble stopping the Daemons coming back in, so a set of Librarians forge an artefact that shuts the rift, thanks to a special ritual. (or else an ancient xenos artefact)
3. This artefact is the Grail (name still to be found), where the chapter masters and highest ranked veterans of the chapters pour a drop of their blood, to seal the gate.
4. This ritual also serves as a blood oath, meaning that all descendents of the oath-swearers are honour bound to protect the Grail and the sector, no matter the cost.
5. to protect this grail, the chapters each send a squad (at least), but only the highest ranking members of these "Grail Wardens" are permitted inside the temple where the Grail is kept, as a security measure basically.
6. Millenia go by where there the different chapters are all doing their thing
7. up until the moment where a massive chaos incursion attacks that sector, with the specific goal of opening the warp rift
8. They are further aided by traitors within the Grail Wardens.
9. The remains of the first chapters and their descendent chapters (since they are of the same "blood") return to the sector in order to defend it, but they find everything in tatters. (this might be around M38)
10. they then launch a crusade to recover the grail

A quick and rough outline of what's been decided Please tell me if I've forgotten anything, and I'll change it in the first post.

Edited September 10, 2015 by Lord Thørn

[Arkangilos]

We will also uncover a betrayal that led to it being stolen in the first place. Maybe we don't know about the betrayal yet (but it did happen), and we uncover it later.

 

And I like the Librarians doing it more than the xenos. They could have sacrificed themselves, and it is their blood that holds the oath together. Aaaah yeah.

[Sir Perfluous]

Great! Though we might want to check to see if SlaveToDarkness is alright with his chapter being the betrayers, or, indeed, if everybody else is.

 

Well now to put fingers to keyboard (or pen to paper for you old-schoolers out there) and create the rest. I think it was suggested earlier that we create our own sector for all this to take place in. Is that still going ahead? And if we're going the full hog, we could write battle histories, detailed timelines, stories, details about the chapters' relationships, the histories and characters of the Grail Wardens... Ooh, yes. Y'know what? I think I'd better start now regardless just to let out some steam. I'll be back soon with filing cabinets.

[Sir Perfluous]

As it seems we really are moving on to other areas, if nobody has anything to add, I'll kick things off wih a quick description of my chapter's homeworld - Avalon.

 

OVERVIEW:

Avalon is a largish moon shattered in the course of an ancient war. Half of the world is a mountainous and valley filled forest, where humans live in a feudal stage, waging endless wars against each other. The other half lies shattered in great clusters of rock and dust, a continent-sized scar on the moon's face, the ground that once filled it drifting in great earthbergs overhead.

(The shattered bit would look a bit like this, though obviously not still firey, if you want a pictoral description. I have my own picture somewhere, which I'll put up when I can find it. http://cdn.desktopwallpapers4.me/wallpapers/fantasy/1920x1080/1/2917-exploding-planet-1920x1080-fantasy-wallpaper.jpg)

 

It orbits the gas giant Golgotha, a planet surrounded by rings that are the remenants of Avalon's twin planet, Avalon Prime.

 

HISTORY

Avalon was once known as Avalon Beta, and its twin, Avalon Prime was a verdant, bustling agri-world. Prime was huge, a planet in its own right, and provided the Imperium with the greatest volume of crops of all agri-worlds in the sector. The people there lived in relative peace for many years - though they still paid the Tithe, they remained mostly ignored by the major wars that occured nearby. This all changed, however, when violent warp-storms blocked off the main supply routes from Golgotha and its moons. Abandoned by the Imperium, the moon decended into war and anarchy, as the people struggled to exist without Imperial support. After the Warp-storms subsided, Prime was left a war-torn land inhabited by savages. Over the years, their society began to rebuild until by the coming of the (insert chapter name), at which point they were at a Feudal stage. The Marines came to the world on one of their crusades, and stumbled across something of enormous power on the moon of Avalon Beta. And so it was that they based their forces there, building the great fortress-monastery of Caerbannog on its surface. The Marines were content to watch the moon of Avalon Prime from afar for a time, befoe eventually making their presence known in a great display of force to the people. The populace of Prime had for many ages only remembered the Imperium in legends, so regarded the Marines as holy champions. The marines in turn realised that the ideas of warfare and the codes of honour followed by the people of Avalon Prime closely matched those that they themselves employed. Thus, they began recruiting from those who lived on the world.

 

Things proceeded in this fashion for a time, until the coming of a great warband of Chaos to the planet of Golgotha in persuit of whatever it was that the marines of Avalon Beta were keeping in their fortress-monastery. The Siege of Avalon was a long and bloody battle, which eventually culminated in the utter destruction of Avalon Prime. And by destruction, I mean detonation. The debris collided with force into Beta, causing the great shattered landscape that exists today. The only survivors of the destroyed moon were those rescued by the Marines and taken back to Beta, afterwards known simply as Avalon. The battle was eventually won, but at great cost.

 

AVALON NOW

In the "present day", the shattered remenants of Prime have arranged themselves into rings, covering the entire planet of Golgotha with a thin asteroid "shell". Avalon exists at the heart of this shell, the debris offering ideal protection against attack. The survivors of the destruction of Avalon Prime now live much as before, in a state of constant warfare that makes them ideal Marine recruits.

 

TL;DR: Well you should have. It was awesome.

 

 

That was a brief (haha) history of this particular planet and its moons. Hopefully it'll be the forst of many created for the sector. Feel free to give feedback on it, tweak bits to fit our fluff if it's out of place etc.

[EesiOh]

• 

   

• Primarch.................. Sanguinius
• Founding Chapter... Blood Angels
• Founding................. 4th 
• Homeworld.............. Gelarys
• Chapter Speciality... Assualt Marines, and Thunderhak/Stormraven assualts
• Organisation............ Slight Codex Divergence
• Grail Wardens ...... One squad
• Crusade Forces...... The 6th company (all scouts must spend sometimes with the 6th before becoming fully fledged battle brothers)

[Olis]

Yep, I think the premise is set down. Here's a little pseudo-timeline:

1. A set of chapters conquer a sector, where they find a Warp Rift
2. Together, they have a lot of trouble stopping the Daemons coming back in, so a set of Librarians forge an artefact that shuts the rift, thanks to a special ritual. (or else an ancient xenos artefact)
3. This artefact is the Grail (name still to be found), where the chapter masters and highest ranked veterans of the chapters pour a drop of their blood, to seal the gate.
4. This ritual also serves as a blood oath, meaning that all descendents of the oath-swearers are honour bound to protect the Grail and the sector, no matter the cost.
5. to protect this grail, the chapters each send a squad (at least), but only the highest ranking members of these "Grail Wardens" are permitted inside the temple where the Grail is kept, as a security measure basically.
6. Millenia go by where there the different chapters are all doing their thing
7. up until the moment where a massive chaos incursion attacks that sector, with the specific goal of opening the warp rift
8. They are further aided by traitors within the Grail Wardens.
9. The remains of the first chapters and their descendent chapters (since they are of the same "blood") return to the sector in order to defend it, but they find everything in tatters. (this might be around M38)
10. they then launch a crusade to recover the grail

A quick and rough outline of what's been decided Please tell me if I've forgotten anything, and I'll change it in the first post.

 

How exactly are we going to go about this? DIY IAs? Stories? Something similar to the Liber Cluster?

[EesiOh]

I think either how the Cluster does it, or maybe stories? or maybe everything? or maybe make a google dox about the whole thing in general and everyone adds their bit? idk

 

 

Yep, I think the premise is set down. Here's a little pseudo-timeline:

1. A set of chapters conquer a sector, where they find a Warp Rift
2. Together, they have a lot of trouble stopping the Daemons coming back in, so a set of Librarians forge an artefact that shuts the rift, thanks to a special ritual. (or else an ancient xenos artefact)
3. This artefact is the Grail (name still to be found), where the chapter masters and highest ranked veterans of the chapters pour a drop of their blood, to seal the gate.
4. This ritual also serves as a blood oath, meaning that all descendents of the oath-swearers are honour bound to protect the Grail and the sector, no matter the cost.
5. to protect this grail, the chapters each send a squad (at least), but only the highest ranking members of these "Grail Wardens" are permitted inside the temple where the Grail is kept, as a security measure basically.
6. Millenia go by where there the different chapters are all doing their thing
7. up until the moment where a massive chaos incursion attacks that sector, with the specific goal of opening the warp rift
8. They are further aided by traitors within the Grail Wardens.
9. The remains of the first chapters and their descendent chapters (since they are of the same "blood") return to the sector in order to defend it, but they find everything in tatters. (this might be around M38)
10. they then launch a crusade to recover the grail

A quick and rough outline of what's been decided Please tell me if I've forgotten anything, and I'll change it in the first post.

 

How exactly are we going to go about this? DIY IAs? Stories? Something similar to the Liber Cluster?

 

[Kelborn]

I think a mix between DIY IAs and the Cluster would make sense.

 

We could use a one thread as a general overview (timeline, locations, notable conflicts, etc.) which affects all participating forces and each of you writes their own IA with further details.

[Doctor Perils]

I agree with Kelborn, I'd envision this as a project where we can all participate in creating the Grail Wardens, their sector and stories associated with the grail and the sector, especially for the Crusade and Quest when it is stolen; at the same time, everybody can develop their own IAs independently: they'd all have a section to do with how their links to the Grail Wardens work, but for most of their history would mainly work as normal chapters on their own.

 

However, I'd rather we didn't compare it too much to the Liber Cluster: that is a massive undertaking. I'd see this on a much much smaller in scope.

[Olis]

Alright then, well, if we're going by the process set down in post #80, then let us begin with outlining just who those Chapters were (or at least, clues to who they were if the Imperium has mostly forgotten them).

[Doctor Perils]

Alright then, well, if we're going by the process set down in post #80, then let us begin with outlining just who those Chapters were (or at least, clues to who they were if the Imperium has mostly forgotten them).

 

Yeah, I agree.

I'd definitely see the Sanguinary Crusaders and the Crimson Knights as part of the original alliance that attacked the sector. In addition I think that the (now-extinct) common ancestor that had been discussed could work.

I could also envision a Dark Angel successor that would be fully destroyed during or shortly after this crusade.

 

This campaign could probably be called the Red Crusade, since at least two of the chapters taking part have got a synonym to "Red" in their names. I'm afraid that talking about blood would have too many Khornate or Blood Angel connotations.

[Olis]

Cool. The Red Crusade. So far we have - 

 

Blood Angel descent:

• Sanguinary Crusaders
• Unnamed/undecided common ancestor

 

Dark Angel descent:

• Unnamed chapter (Extinct)

 

Imperial Fist descent:

• Crimson Knights

 

 

That's it so far. Shall we limit this group to, say, nine Chapters?

Edited September 16, 2015 by Olis

[Doctor Perils]

Cool. The Red Crusade. So far we have - 

 

Blood Angel descent:

• Sanguinary Crusaders
• Crimson Knights
• Unnamed/undecided common ancestor

 

Dark Angels descent:

• Unnamed chapter (Extinct)

 

 

That's it so far, although logically, an Imperial Fists successor would be there, too. Shall we limit this group to, say, nine Chapters?

Well the Crimson Knights are actually Imperial Fists successors.

 

I think that those four chapters should be enough for an Imperial Sector, especially if the whole chapters take part (that would be the case of the Dark Angels descendant chapter for instance).

 

However, depending on the date of the Red Crusade, more chapters might need to take part for continuity's sake in that case, a limit of 9 chapters seems reasonable (even if it's only a couple of companies taking part each time)

I'd be partial to placing the Red Crusade quite early (before the 6th founding) what do you all think ?

 

Also, I'd like everybody to remind us the basic information concerning your chapters (name, founding chapter, founding date, specialties, colours, relationship to the Grail Wardens etc.), for an easy reference in this thread (for a couple of examples, I've placed the Crimson Host's and the Archangels' in the first post)

 

 

Also, Olis, are you confirming the participation of the Red Sentinels ?

Edited September 16, 2015 by Lord Thørn

[Olis]

Bugger. I'll, uh, edit that bit. 

 

http://images-cdn.9gag.com/photo/210543_700b_v1.jpg

[Doctor Perils]

  No worries mate

 

So for the Red Sentinels ? It isn't a problem if you stay still as a possibility but it would be cool to know

[Olis]

Well, if I'm going to keep pitching in, I might as well be a part of this. ;)

[Doctor Perils]

       

  Yay !

       

[Kelborn]

I do have a Dark Angels successor chapter, basing on the paladin archetype, lurking in the depths of my computer, called the Silver Hands. And yeah, I was inspired by the Warcraft's Silver Hand and yeah it has been some years since I worked on them.

 

But, maybe they could fit in.

[Sir Perfluous]

The Knights Resplendant would probably need to be on that list of they end up betraying the Wardens.

 

Though I'm going to have to admit to a certain amount of confusion concerning the origins of the other Warden chapters. Are they all successors of the unknown chapter? Because to me, in my admittedly nonexpert opinion, it would seem a bit odd if that many successors of the same chapter were all created to guard the one sector. It would probably seem to be a bit of a drain on resources, especially if up to nine chapters were already there. I may be misreading/interpreting things, but it would be fairly abnormal, wouldn't it?

Edited September 16, 2015 by Sir Perfluous

[Doctor Perils]

More Hands ?

 

Well, if you're willing to kill off your chapter then it could work. Or even if we don't kill them off... However, it might be complicated to make it work in conjunction with the hunt for the Fallen, so we'd have to discuss that.

 

(The problems with the Hunt was the main reason I was proposing we kill them off quite early)

 

If you are willing to pledge these Dark Angels successors, would you be willing to change their name and colour ? I think it would be nice to stick to red chapters for the red crusade, and I'm sort of afraid that "silver hands" sounds extremely like "iron hands"...

 

 

 

The Knights Resplendant would probably need to be on that list of they end up betraying the Wardens.

Though I'm going to have to admit to a certain amount of confusion concerning the origins of the other Warden chapters. Are they all successors of the unknown chapter? Because to me, in my admittedly nonexpert opinion, it would seem a bit odd if that many successors of the same chapter were all created to guard the one sector. It would probably seem to be a bit of a drain on resources, especially if up to nine chapters were already there. I may be misreading/interpreting things, but it would be fairly abnormal, wouldn't it?

 

Well I thought that the Chapters would all be dispersed after the Red Crusade, and the successors would therefore not be created to defend that sector. However, veteran chapters of the Red Crusade would find their successors, to tell them about the Blood Oath.

Otherwise, I do understand and agree with your concerns of having too many chapters defending one sector.

 

The Knights Resplendent could also be successors of one of those older chapters.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Lord Thørn

[Sir Perfluous]

Great, thanks or clearing that up. Does that mean that all Blood Angels are decended from the common ancestor then?