Liber Challenge - Amber Dragons

[Aqui]

Amber Dragons: Defenders of Lapetus, Liberators of fire

"In the beginning, the Gods brought forth terrible creatures. Ones that brought the realm of Man low. After so many years, other beings came, ones that were themselves were beyond the comprehension of Man and tore our nemesis from the skies. Their bones now bound to the earth and scoured by the winds that once bore them, their power is now wielded by our saviours, kept jealously from us. Despite our pleas, this power remains far beyond us, always just out of reach...

Was the price of salvation too great?"

The world of Lapetus is a barbaric one. Creatures soared on limitless air currents, preying on the hapless humans below. Over time, the humans bound these Dragons as they called them, to the earth, stealing their greatest strength - fire. With this strength, the humans flourished, for a time. But the ease that this gift made to their lives made them complacent. They did not realise that these beasts had an unknowable intelligence. The Dragons plotted their revenge, freedom the foremost desire in their hearts. Subjugated, the humans were forced to the dark, living in caves, when once they lived in cities of splendour. In desperation, they turned to sacrifice in an effort to placate the monstrous foe. For a time it worked, but the Dragons grew too many, having no natural predator themselves. The humans had become weak, cowed by their lack of strength and conviction. But salvation eventually came, in the form of beings who claimed to be heralds of Him on Earth. Seeing the plight of the natives, they took it upon themselves to rid the world of all but one of these beasts. The skies were no longer a threat to the natives, but the power they had stolen was lost forever. Reduced to beseeching their new protectors for fire and the now holy Promethium, a question is often asked but never, ever voiced. Is destruction of their oppressors worth the loss of the command of fire? Have they replaced one subjugator for another?
And the fate of the last Dragon. Did it perish? If it did not, will it return to finally exact revenge?

Origins of the Chapter

The arrival of an exploratory force of Space Marines hailing from the Salamanders Chapter made planet fall following up on leads of the whereabouts of their Primarch, Vulkan they had pieced together slowly over centuries. They had heard that many years before, a giant of the darkest skin with burning red eyes had come to Lapetus, his agenda unknown. The Lapetians were frightened by his appearance, but their curiosity would not be denied. The giant taught them of the Emperor, his vision in the Imperium, but such ideas were too complicated to the mortals, so Vulkan taught them of fire. How it was more than a way of cooking food, of keeping them warm. He showed them that it could make metal become pliable, that it would allow them to make weapons to defend themselves. He told them that it was pure. Harsh, but pure. He explained that it was a universal truth and that he would one day return to teach them more.

He never did. Millennia passed and his teaching were misremembered. Twisted. The Lapetians remembered the forging of metal, but not the purity. They took the fire, overstretched their reach and in doing so, brought about their enslavement for a time.

Then the giants came. Not as imposing as their father, but giants nonetheless. They demanded to hear the legend, and were shocked to hear his teachings so abused. They considered abandoning the mortals, deciding that it was not for them to offer them salvation as their father had done, but in his name they did so anyway, reluctantly. The Dragons were destroyed but for one, the King. The humans assumed it destroyed too, as they never saw it again. The truth, however, was far different.

Seeing potential to bolster an Imperial presence in this sector of space, the successor Chapter, the Amber Dragons were created to reteach the natives worship in Him on Earth, and more importantly to the Chapter itself, the true teachings of Vulkan.

The fate of the Dragon King

Since the destruction of the creatures the Lapetians call Dragons, the fate of the King, a Dragon of dark orange scales is often pondered by the various tribes. It is speculated that he will one day return, when their superhuman protectors can not, or some have muttered darkly, will not defend them. Others say that he is dead, that age or a final battle ended its life. Sightings of a massive skeleton in the Menoetius desert seem to confirm the latter. The truth is different, however. The beast from which the desert is named is chained, bound by Adamantium steel deep below the Fortress Monastery to prevent it from exacting its revenge, both on the Chapter and the humans that captured it centuries ago. Only the Chapter Master and the Company Captains know the truth, a secret that marks their assent to command and the most intimate part of the Chapters' rites. Captains must face the beast and take from it a scale from its hide. Whilst it is bound tight, it is more than capable of attacking, it's fiery breath easily able of incinerating anyone foolish enough to lower their guard. The scale is incorporated into the right Pauldron after being encased in Adamantium and is their badge of office.

Doctine and recruitment

The Chapter follow the Promethean Cult exactly, as any successor of the Salamander Chapter would. They are harsher in their dealings with humans, especially on Lapetus than their parent Chapter, contemptuous of their charges due to the abuse of Vulkans' teachings. They see the natives as indolent, complacent and not fully deserving of the gifts their Primarch had bestowed upon them. To weed out the weak, potential recruits are expected to recite the teachings of the Promethean Cult exactly, before any physical challenges are met. Those that fail are never seen again, outcasts from their tribes, their shame casting a long shadow upon their elders. Those who succeed are told that they must locate the Fortress Monastery situated in the volcanically active north lands and make a pilgrimage. If they can reach it, then they have a chance. The one and a half thousand mile journey has claimed countless lives, as smaller, but no less dangerous life forms see the chance to fill their stomachs with a rare but tasty morsel.

Chapter Organisation

Typically for a successor Chapter of the Salamanders, they have seven Companies, larger than is marked in the Codex Astartes. Heat based weapons are much favoured within the Chapter, to wield such a weapon bestows great honour to the bearer.

Notable Campaigns

The Liberation of Sydar

The Amber Dragons were ordered to assist in Liberating the Shrine World from the machinations of the Traitor Marine warband the Bahltimyr Reavers. Heavy casualties were sustained by the Chapter including two full squads from the First Company. Many Sisters from the Order of the Dauntless Spirit died during the course of many weeks, the traitors too heavily dug in within the confines of the largest Shrine. The allied forces uncovered a sinister cabal who's objective was to release a Daemon Princess of Slaanesh, bound to a Sister named Annabelle Chrysanthemum. The binding ultimately failed, but not before the world was eventually declared unsaveable. It was virus bombed from orbit to prevent any followers of Chaos escaping, although the Bahltimyr Reavers had managed to retreat. Such was the strength of the bond between both Imperial factions, the Amber Dragons bestowed an honour mark to their Sistren, one that the Order bear with pride.

The pursuit of the Bahltimyr Reavers

Over the course of a century, the Amber Dragons were seconded to assist the Steel Wings Chapter in eradicating their former Cousin Chapter. The Steel Wings, notoriously guarded and suspicious, even for Sons of Ferrus Manus, were nevertheless more accommodating of their Brothers than was typical and had whittled the traitors forces significantly. Cornering them on the planet Chobu, it was thought that their days were numbered as casualties sustained approached untenable levels. But, once again the followers of Tzeentch managed to evade their final judgement. Captain Ambustio and Iron Lord Hubros have sworn a Blood Oath to ensure that one day, their despicable deeds will be met with retribution.

Notable Characters

Captain Ambustio - Vulkans' Anvil. A Marine who commands the respect of his peers. Having led the First Company for one hundred years, his tactical acumen is valued by the Chapter Master, Agni. His one fault, was to allow his lament of his fallen Brothers in the Campaign against the Bahltimyr Reavers to cloud his judgement further, resulting in the deaths of another ten Marines and twenty five Sisters of the Order of the Dauntless Spirit. His armour is engraved with their names, a reminder of that dark day.

Chapter Master Agni - Has led the Chapter for three hundred years and has many accolades to his name. His watchful eye of the Lapetians has kept their wilful abuse of his Primarch teachings in check. He has doubts over keeping the creature known as Menoetius alive, its continued existence a potential threat if it ever escapes. For now, he keeps the beast in check, hoping one day that he may present the beast to Vulkan as an honour gift.

Geneseed

The purity of their genetic code has not deviated since their inception and is comparable to the parent Chapter. Notable differences include a much lighter skin, but is still significantly darker than a son of Lapetus. Their eyes are uniformly a yellow or amber in colour rather than the fiery red known for their geneline.

Battlecry

"For Vulkan!"

[Aqui]

This is version four of this Chapters' IA

I think I actually have something here, although I dare say there will be some things that need attention.

Edit:

I was thinking - rather than the humans outright capturing the dragons and stealing fire, perhaps the dragons offered it to them first, only for them to be bound, resulting in the dragons' eventual subjugation of the tribes, before the Salamanders liberating the planet? The over all/vague/hopefully not too derivative theme is on how Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and gave it to humans.

I'll sleep on it and revise as is necessary

[Stercus]

I quite like this. I wasn't aware that salamander successors also followed the seven companies structure.

[Conn Eremon]

Considering there are zero confirmed Salamander successors, and I don't believe we have the organizational structure of the presumed successors, I think it was Aquilanus simply making his own mark in a typical for 40k, contradictory manner. Kind of like my Salamander successor, done for the same Challenge, calling out fleet-based Chapters as the Space Marine equivalent of the homeless.

 

Looks good, Aqui, though I would like to see more to their Notable Campaigns than "they do stuff with my other DIYs." :D

[Aqui]

I quite like this. I wasn't aware that salamander successors also followed the seven companies structure.

Considering there are zero confirmed Salamander successors, and I don't believe we have the organizational structure of the presumed successors, I think it was Aquilanus simply making his own mark in a typical for 40k, contradictory manner. Kind of like my Salamander successor, done for the same Challenge, calling out fleet-based Chapters as the Space Marine equivalent of the homeless.

That was the general intention. As Conn said - there are no confirmed Salamander successors in canon, but I once saw Kurgans' excellent blog on Space Marine Chapters that are Orange in colour (I think it was called the Cult of Orange and as it was a B+C blog, it's not available at present ) and thought that I'd do a Sallies successor

Looks good, Aqui, though I would like to see more to their Notable Campaigns than "they do stuff with my other DIYs."

I haven't finished it yet What I have put are place markers for now. And you know I can't resist mixing in my other DIY's.

Who needs canon Chapters anyway?

I'm glad I'm the right track with this though. It makes a change to revisit an IA and actually hit the ball than make a strike

[Conn Eremon]

I haven't finished it yet What I have put are place markers for now. And you know I can't resist mixing in my other DIY's.

Who needs canon Chapters anyway?

Heh, don't I know it. I just made 18 DIY concepts specifically for Notable Campaigns. :D

[Aqui]

I've updated the notable campaigns part, and whilst there is more I could add, for now, I think it's complete enough. If I have a brain wave before the deadline, I'll add it in.

[That Guy Matt]

I like this. You have what I see as the key elements of a good DIY, character and plausibility. They feel much like the Salamanders but with a twist (and quite a clever one at that).