Black Book - Insurrection (PUBLISHED)

[Sigismund229]

No I don't think so. You could just sy "poisoned his mimd againstthe Emperor"

[MikhalLeNoir]

Or "ignite the doubts", "strenghten the doubts"

[simison]

No I don't think so. You could just sy "poisoned his mimd againstthe Emperor"

 

Was seeing if I could go with something else, but eh, what works, works. 

[Nomus Sardauk]

Or "ignite the doubts", "strenghten the doubts"

Inflamed is a good word.

[bluntblade]

I like inflaming. You could also say Icarion played on Koschei's doubts

[MikhalLeNoir]

Played is cool

[simison]

Looks all good to me!

 

Excellent, that wraps up the Godslayer's history section. Now, I've read over the Organization chapter, and it needs some work. Forgeworld typically divides this chapter into three parts: the general section, Command Hierarchy, and War Disposition. 

 

The general section is where you explain how the legion is organized (which you've gotten a good start on), their typical attitude toward war, whatever combat specialties they employ, and so on.

 

The Command Hierarchy is all about how a marine gets promoted, the various responsibilities of the officer corps, and any elite bodies within the legion, like advisory councils and Primarch bodyguard details. The Zmeyazyka would go here, along with the Pariahs getting promotions. 

 

Finally, the War Disposition answers two basic questions. One, how big is the legion in raw numbers? Two, where and how is the legion deployed at the start of the Insurrection. Your last paragraph answers the latter question with the emphasis on the legion staying in the 67th. 

 

Overall, you've gotten the first few blocks down, and you just need to expand on everything. In your first paragraph, you end with a comment on Brotherhood transfers are common in the Godslayers. Why is that? Is it to promote inter-legion interaction? Questions like these can easily help get this chapter to proper size. 

 

Finally, I found the Lost Brotherhoods part hilarious. 

[Grifftofer]

Ok. So I thought I'd show how things stand at the moment. There's not been too much change due to my free time being somewhat restricted recently, but I'm hoping to get some more stuff done in the next few weeks.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4m6e6tme6shwwk9/BotL%20Book%201-%20Insurrection%289%29.pdf?dl=0

 

I know there are some pretty big changes to be done in the Iron Bears rules section, but I couldn't find the equipment/unit changes that would be implemented when I tried. So if someone knows what those changes are I'd be grateful for the info and will update things asap.

[Nomus Sardauk]

A few things I've noticed that may need correcting;

1. On Page 17, the Death of the Bear, why is the symbol in the header the CoD Ghosts skull? Is that a leftover from when we were going over concepts for the Grave Stalkers' logo?

2. The Godslayers header on page 29 and Scions Hospitaller header on Page 32 have the Grave Stalkers' bloody fist icon instead of their own.

[MikhalLeNoir]

I thought those were placeholders

A few things I've noticed that may need correcting;

1. On Page 17, the Death of the Bear, why is the symbol in the header the CoD Ghosts skull? Is that a leftover from when we were going over concepts for the Grave Stalkers' logo?

2.

[Nomus Sardauk]

Oh are they? My bad, my work isn't braining properly today. :o

[Chief Captain Redd]

@Griff I'll send you a DM tonight with the edited Bears' rules.

[Grifftofer]

Cheers :) That'll be a big help

[bluntblade]

I've altered a few Scions things and one Bears bit. Mostly inserting name-drops, it's all in the thread but I'll PM them too.

 

By the way, thinking of the Prosecution, I'm thinking of the Scions' role less as hypocrisy than seeking a compromise, as the Khan tries with the Librarius. Pionus and his officers come to fear the backlash that the hardliners will trigger, quite aside from their problems with how far the likes of Kozja are going. They succeed, but at the cost of their friendship with several Legions.

[simison]

As far as legion size, right now, the Godslayers are at 163k at the start of the Insurrection. This is an early number before we established that the Great Crusade lasted additional decades. I suggested everyone take a simple 10%, at least, or perhaps a 20% increase if their legion was particularly focused on empire-building. The Harbingers have the Madrigal Sphere, the Crimson Lions have Mycenae, while the Halcyon Wardens often procure recruitment rights from many of the worlds they liberate.

 

So, I definitely suggest the Godslayers are bumped up to 180k. Should they go higher, and, if so, why?

[Big Bad Squig]

Sure, and I can't think of any reason why they would need to be over 180k

[simison]

War Disposition

Unlike other Traitor Legions who would engage in lengthy, secretive campaigns to eradicate the Loyalist elements within their ranks, the Godslayers would see few potential turncoats threatening to reveal the Stormlord's machinations as preparations were made. While there were Godslayers who had not forgotten their oaths to the Emperor, many of them were swayed by their Primarch's idealistic words and his sincere beliefs. The very few who resisted Koschei would not live long, whether or not they expired on the battlefield or in dark hallways. As such, when the Day of Revelation came, the Godslayers numbered a little over 180,000 marines strong, the few who were executed were barely noticed among the logicians as recruits filled in the vacant slots. 

 

The majority of the Godslayers Legion was contained within the 67^th Expeditionary Fleet, headed by Koschei Kharkovic himself, making it one of the largest Imperial Expeditions.  Despite this, on occasion those officers held in the Primarch’s esteem would be granted the privilege of a fleet of their own. These fleets were rare in number, and small, often acting as a supplementary force to a larger number of Imperial Army soldiers or Titans.  Fewer still are the elusive Lost Brotherhoods, long forgotten Expeditionary Fleets perhaps dating back to before the discovery of Zbruch, or containing Terrans too stubborn or violent to adapt to the changes made by Kharkovic to his Legion. After being out of contact for so long with the Great Crusade, these Lost Brotherhoods had been removed from the rolls and had not been counted among the 180,000. Several would return during the Insurrection and would prove to be a thorn in the Traitor's side, representing the last formations of loyal Godslayers.

 

[How's this?] 

[Big Bad Squig]

Looks all good.

[Chief Captain Redd]

I was thinking of the increase in the Bears numbers by 20% to maybe 195k and I like the concept because overall we could increase the day of reckoning death toll to 100,000-110,000. And I could add to the 6th Wartribe's numbers to show a better defended Three Fires which is how I want it portrayed as a bastion for Loyalists.

[simison]

Organisation and Structure within the Legion

                A sprawling legion, the Godslayers are nonetheless united in their adherence to their Primarch’s vision.  The Eighth Legion is organised into Brotherhoods, each number approximately five thousand astartes and under the leadership of seven officers.  Unlike other legions (of which the Eagle Warriors are a notable example), Brotherhoods are not dominated by marines hailing from either Zbruch or Terra, with the Primarch and his council striving for an even mix.  Transfer between Brotherhoods is common, with some legionnaires having served in near half of all the Legion’s Brotherhoods throughout their lifespan.

                Similar to the septumvirates that govern Brotherhoods, the Godslayers Legion is ruled not solely by the Primarch himself, but by the Primarch’s Council, a grouping of ten captains and the Kharkovic himself.  Each of these ten captains are assigned three Brotherhoods, from which the captains will relay requests and messages to the Primarch.

 

                Zbruchan culture maintains that one’s ancestry must be honoured, and, as such, Dreadnoughts are a respected part of the Godslayers Legion.  More numerous than those of many other legions, Dreadnoughts of the Godslayers are granted the honour of garrisoning Zbruch.  Kept in the massive system of catacombs and vaults underneath Hive Primus known as the Caves of the Dead, the Dreadnoughts’ slumber is watched over by the Venerable Warden Lazarus, a Contemptor-class Dreadnought who predates the subjugation of the Sol System.

               

                Given the Godslayers’ skill in attrition and siege warfare, it is only fitting that a significant number of the Legion are contained within Breacher squads.  The elite formations known as Obolochka in Zbruchan form an important part of each Godslayer Brotherhood, and are an evolution of the Breacher Siege Squads found in every legion.  TheObolochka, when not on the front lines of a battle, are commonly used as defensive parties to repel boarders from Godslayer spacecraft.

 

Legion Command Hierarchy

   While promotion to the position of captain can be on merit of many different qualities, one of the more common attributes among officers of the Godslayers Legion is the manifestation of the Pariah gene.  While it exists in all astartes of the Eighth, those in which it is most noticeable are assigned to Suppressor Squadrons to prove their skill through combat.  Those who are worthy are promoted to the officer corps, with many ending their careers as captains or centurions.

 

 In addition to the roles that the Chaplains of other legions fulfil, the Zmeyazyka of the Eighth Legion serve as the primary diplomatic envoys of the Godslayers.  Almost exclusively Zbruchan, the Zmeyazyka are handpicked by the Primarch’s Council, often being accompanied by Kharkovic to assist in negotiations – this proximity to the Primarch lends the Zmeyazyka an incredible amount of respect.  The sight of a Zmeyazyka on the field of battle is both inspiring and terrifying to a Godslayer in equal measure; after all, for one of these ordained peacekeepers to turn to warfare, conditions must be dire indeed.

 

[i've taken the leftover material and divided them into the sections they fall under. Both obviously still need to be bulked up, but I'm hoping that having a clear idea of where what goes where will help organize thoughts.]

[simison]

Answering two questions would complete the Legion Command Hierarchy. One, why are Pariahs/Suppressors often chose for command? Two, how does a Godslayer become a chaplain?

[simison]

The Ghost Crusade

The Silencing of the Eternal Dirge would mark the beginning of a different path for the First Legion.  As the fires of organized resistance on Ancient Terra were smothered out by the Triumph of Unity, The Emperor set his eyes to the stars and launched his Great Crusade. While this war of Ideals and ambitions spread from the Solar system in fanfare spearhead by his resplendent Legions, another war began in silence.

 

Old Night had seen the collapse of countless Golden Age societies. Empires and individual worlds found themselves suddenly isolated, cut off in a galaxy where threats loomed abundant. Many worlds found themselves besieged by Xenos of varied and unknowable qualities. Many more worlds were torn apart by civil war and self-immolation as resources dwindled and panic reined. Great swaths of the galaxy faced a darker fate still.

 

For millennia, the Warp had served as a means of empire for nascent human cultures spreading throughout the galaxy. With the psychic awakening, and the Terror of Old Night, the boundaries between material and immaterial realm wore thin on thousands of worlds. Here it was that madness reined and neverborn creatures stalked and ravaged the life that they had for so many eons craved with envious eyes.

 

In a galaxy which the Emperor's Imperial Truth claimed was sterile and godless, the existence and rediscovery of tainted worlds and the malevolence that held sway over them proved a dire threat to unity. For if such worlds were encountered in abundance by crusading hosts, dangerous questions might arise. For the sake of Humanity, and the success of the great Crusade; knowledge of these worlds and their malevolence must be sought out, purged and subsequently sequestered from the records of humanity.

 

Such was the Mandate of the Ghost Crusade.

 

From the very beginning of the Great Crusade, it had been a direct Imperial dictate from the Emperor to enact Exterminatus upon worlds discovered to have substantial Warp breaches. While all Legions and Expeditionary Forces were tasked to obey this edict, the Emperor; realizing the threat exposure to such warp anomalies could inflict upon warriors and the foundation of Imperial Truth, sought to craft warriors with a mandate to seek out, and war upon these malevolent threats, far from Imperial Eyes. For this purpose, he charged the I^st Legion as his primary instrument against the chaotic forces of the Warp.

 

It is a testament to the Lightning Bearers that their rolls of victories remained the longest among all of the legions, even with these secretive campaigns removed from public records. Far from the watchful eyes of their cousins, the Lightning Bearers fought timeless horrors as they cleansed entire planets of taint before the Mechanicum was given 'news' of barren worlds awaiting terraforming. To this day, the full extent of the Ghost Crusade remains unknown. How many planets were purged? How many Lighting Bearers fell to the deprivations of the Warp? What knowledge was learned then lost in the span of this shadow crusade? All these questions will remain unanswered for all time. For, in the greatest of ironies, the Emperor's chosen weapon against what would become known as Chaos would eventually succumb to it. The tool to accomplish this great feat of corruption was none other than the Icarion the Stormborn, Primarch of the Lightning Bearers.

[Sigismund229]

First world section

 

The world upon which the XVI^th and XIX^th legions clashed was the oceanic world of Untara Prime located in the galactic south west. In the local dialect of Imperial Gothic, Untara translates as "The Blue World" and such a monicker is apt for there is no large body of land upon Untara Prime, save its poles, each the size of the old continent of Azya yet still dwarfed by the mass of water that surrounds them. This vast ocean contains a whole host of inhabitants and sights which both alight and bewilder the senses of anyone born elsewhere. One example are the korona reefs. Formed entirely of korona, these shell like formations secrete a lilac licoloured liquid which gradually turns the sea around them purple, lending some to say that once the entirety of Untara's ocean was purple before human settlement began to destroy korona reefs, a scientific imposibility and a myth I am assured, but a colourful one.

 

However, it is not for its bizzare oceanic flora and fuana that Untara is valued by the Imperium, but rather for the resources hidden beneath its ocean floor. While many have been mined dry by generation upon generation of humans who have lived on Untara, the world still contains large deposits of metals such as adamantium and even gold. However, all of these pale to insignificance when compared to what the world principally contributes: promethium. The amount of this vital resource contained on Untara is enormous, far exceeding the reserves or extraction rate of any other world in its immediate vicinity. Indeed, it was promethium that was the source of Untara's wealth before its conquest by the Imperium, as Untara sat at the heart of an enormous trading empire, each world within that empire utterly dependent on Untaran promethium. So extensively is promethium drilled and refined upon Untara that, by itself, the world contributes 1.83% of the total promethium needed by the south western front of the Great Crusade.

 

Because of this importance, Untara was allowed to keep a large scale role within the management of the south western Imperium, controlling as it did the "Greater Untaran Zone", a conglomeration of nearly 200 world given to Untara to administer and collect tithes from on behalf of the Imperium. However, at the time of the Insurrection the Untaran Senate had begun to withold revenues due to the Imperium, pleading poverty due to the Imperium's "extortionate" tithes of promethium. It was because of this that Pionius Santor was sent by the Warmaster to Untara, to resupply whilst preparing to join the newly formed 603^rd expedition fleet and to persuade the Untarans of the need to pay their tithes in order to ensure the continued good will of the Imperium.

[bluntblade]

Untaran Zone of 200 worlds, but that looks good.

 

Also, I don't know if we have names for the rest, but Morro sets several Drowned captains to the task of killing any members of the Déka aboard the station. Lockett hunts down Odyssalas and, while he vanishes in a violent decompression and is later found dead, apparently succeeds in his mission. Epinondas dies at the hands of Skerro, and two other Déka captains are also killed, with only Mytakis left to carry Pionus to safety.

[simison]

Madrigal: Time-lost Empire

 

Near the galactic center, located in the Maelstrom zone lies the planet Madrigal. Madrigal is a world of storms, but this was not always so. Milliena ago, Madrigal was a colony of Mars. By the standards of contemporary Mechanicum auditors, it is credited to have achieved the approximate status of Ultima Forgeworld.  In its earliest days, Madrigal; consisting of a large population with the psyker mutation, began to forge its own reputation as a center of Void navigation and ship construction. Its lunar shipyards are said to have been the envy of Saturn in its golden era.  But, as time dragged on and the psyker mutations became more erratic and widespread, the projects within Madrigals forge-vaults become secretive affairs, esoteric and haunting.

 

It was in this time-shrouded era that Madrigal was believed to have fallen under the thrall of a machine lord recorded only as the Thunder King.  Accounts from this time make reference to terrible, unfathomable experiments being conducted in the Thunder King's vaults. While the nature of these experiments have been lost to the ravages of time, the consequences are laid bare to Imperial record.  At the culmination of some heinous work, the surface of Madrigal became an irradiated nightmare of atomic fire and warp-spawned horror.  So great was the psychic outburst of the planet's death, that a large tendril of the warp anomaly known to Imperial cartographers as the “Maelstrom” was pulled hazardously close to the planet's orbit. Whether this was the goal of the experiments or some unforeseen side effect, the result remains the same. Every two centuries (by Terran approximation), Madrigal's orbit brings it passing through an (in-system) warp disturbance.

 

Horrendous as this event was, life on Madrigal was not completely extinguished. The survivors of the Thunder King's cataclysm found refuge high in the planet's extensive mountain system; above the dense rad-storms, which clung to Madrigals surface. There, the surviving Magi looked out from their mountainous Islands across a sea of storms and vowed to never allow such warp-knowledge to surprise them with destruction again. It was here that the first sky cities; anchored to the mountain fastnesses, were constructed. And within them, the first seeds of the of the mystic colleges were planted, eager in mourning, to once and for all quantify and understand the nature of the Warp so that its power is never abused.

 

The years following the cataclysm of the Thunder King saw Madrigal undergo a period of gradual change. The Techno-Magi continued to build up their mountainous domains into crude Principalities, whose currency and continued survival relied heavily on salvaging expeditions to the rad-haunted surface of their world.

 

It was the threat of the first passage through the in -system warp disturbance that would shape Madrigal's future. Those Techno-Magi gifted with future sight began to foresee the horrendous outcome for Madrigal that would occur should the plant pass through the Warp event. They pulled together what scraps of their former technology they could scavenge and for a half century, endeavored to save their world lest it pass through the storm unprotected and fracture under the strain.

 

Salvation came at last with the creation of the first planetary Macro-Geller field. Although the field was more permeable to warp-space than smaller conventional shipboard field generators, the Macro-Geller field was sufficient to shield Madrigal from the most destructive effects of colliding with the warp-space anomaly. Despite the fact that every 200 (Terran standard) years Madrigal would become a haunted place, stalked by creatures that defied rational explanation, the stability created by the Geller field and the centuries between each “storm season” allowed civilization on Madrigal to build up and eventually prosper.

 

It was to this world that one of the Emperor's sons would be flung, the arrival of Icarion would forever change the fate of Madrigal.