IT: Lepers of Barbarus

[TDF]

Lepers of Barbarus

Origins

This individual tentatively identified as Haron Kaend

As the unity and enlightenment of the Great Crusade was torn down by the rebellion of Horus every member of the Legiones Astartes had to decide where his loyalty lay. The 4th Battalion, 3rd Great Company, XIV Legion, known as the Mortals’ Shield, was bitterly divided. More than half their number were betrayed on the death-ridden soil of Isstvan III. Those who followed their Primarch were viewed with suspicion and scorn by their brothers.

The 4th Battalion had long been set apart. Their early actions had seen them fight long campaigns away from the rest of the legion, with only the mortal men of the Imperial Army as support. They did not develop the contempt for mortals that many of their brothers held. The commanders of the 4th specifically requested assignments out on the fringes where they were free to operate as they saw fit.

During the Heresy the remainder of the 4th fought alongside traitor Army regiments on a series of backwater supply worlds along the southern galactic rim. It was only when Mortarion gathered the XIV for the voyage to Terra that the 4th rejoined their legion. They fell to the Destroyer Plague like the rest of the Death Guard.

Even after that the 4th shunned and were shunned by their brothers. During the Siege of Terra they were assigned to the XVII Legion, acting as the anvil on which the Chapter of the Radiant Star sought to drive the White Scars during the battles outside Lion’s Gate spaceport. During the chaos after Horus’ death the 4th fled with the rest of the traitors.

The Long War Begins

As the traitor legions alternately licked their wounds and settled grudges with their former allies the astartes of the 4th chose Sarendis Kranh, an unusually charismatic figure, as their new Commander. Kranh delved into the mysteries of Chaos and discovered the true nature of the Plague God, that of a creator of life and father to all. This brought great comfort to the men of the 4th, who had never been close to their father Mortarion and regarded his abandonment of them following his ascension to daemonhood with little more than resigned acceptance.

Despite having no allies amongst the traitor legions the 4th gathered a large complement of mortal soldiers; survivors of the Heresy, cultists from the Eye and more recent turncloaks from the resurgent Imperium. Kranh taught them all of the majesty of Nurgle and they in turn saw him as a great prophet, calling him Kranh the Blessed.

During the first of Abaddon’s black crusades Kranh the Blessed led his forces to the fortress world of Harjinn. With the blessing of Nurgle Kranh’s magic and daemonic allies were unstoppable. The world was on the verge of collapse when the Imperial forces suddenly rallied behind a mere mortal woman, Captain Agathe of the 5th Harjinn Mamelukes. The favour of Nurgle was inexplicably withdrawn, throwing Kranh and his forces into turmoil. Kranh ignored the pleas of his senior officers to withdraw, deluding himself into thinking Nurgle’s blessing would soon return. This fantasy lasted until his dying moments, engulfed in flames by a vengeful Captain Agathe.

For the surviving astartes of the 4th Battalion this was a seminal moment. Abandoned by first one father and then a second, friendless and alone. They left their mortal allies to die and fled into blackness of space. They were the 4th, the Mortals’ Shield, no longer. Now they were truly outcasts, worthless plague victims marked with despair and ill fortune. Now they were the Lepers of Barbarus.

Penitence

The Lepers of Barbarus believed they had failed their father Nurgle and sought to earn his forgiveness. With their prophet Kranh the Blessed dead the Lepers were leaderless. With no guidance they went wherever the warp would take them, blindly washing up on the shores of Imperial worlds every century or so, as time is measured in the realm of mortals. For the Lepers their voyages lasted anything from a day to a decade.

On arrival in system the Lepers would attack lonely outposts and rural hamlets, inflicting minimal casualties but utterly destroying any buildings, infrastructure, livestock or crops. Within days of their attacks vast numbers of refugees would flee from the countryside to the cities, carrying with them plague and fear.

By the time a planet’s military might could be gathered or offworld reinforcements could arrive it would already be too late. The disease-ridden cities would be plague houses, any survivors doomed to a slow death from starvation with the food supplies infected or destroyed.

The Lepers would return to their ships and set sail into the unknown.

Death

The Lepers of Barbarus met their end on the world of Narayan in 290.M36. They had been planetside for less than a day when a strike force of the Sanctors of Terror was spat from the fickle tides of the warp, months before it had even set sail. The ships of the Lepers turned to meet the Imperial fleet but were too slow. The battle was short, vicious, and ended with the Lepers’ flagship crash landing into the planets largest mountain range, obliterating an entire nation.

The Sanctors made landfall soon after. The Lepers were scattered across the surface of Narayan, attacking a score of defenceless targets. They resisted with the tenacity and fearlessness that characterises all sons of the XIV legion. Their death was prolonged and exacted a high price, but it was inevitable. And so the Lepers of Barbarus died as they had lived: despised, outcast and fatherless.

[MadSkoll]

good piece of work, I like it :)

[Lord-Captain Cepinari]

So they're slightly different Death Guard.

[TDF]

I suppose so. This was more about the story than coming up with something radically unique in terms of combat tactics or mentality. It's about the dichotomy between the Nurgle's fatherly aspect and the fact that he lives off of despair and hopelessness. He would abandon his loyal children just to enjoy the pain they feel from his rejection. And in their urge to please him they bring about more death and despair than can possibly be imagined.