The Sons of Sla Nahesh

[Rasclomalum]

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9932CC; padding: 12px 8px 12px 8px; border: 1px solid #DDD; margin-left: 0 auto; text-align: left; color: #fff; text-indent:10px; font-size:130%; ">Speech held after the burning of Colonia Claudia

Friends, Fenrisians, Astartes;

We're standing here by the abyss, and the world is in flames.

It was set ablaze by our hands, and we will light it again until all of the galaxy has burned. The galaxy must burn bright, for we bring the light of enlightenment to shine where now there is darkness, that those who persist in their ignorance may yet see. And as the philistines are dragged to the pyre, they will ask us ”Angels! Why are you doing this?”.

This, my brothers, is why. This is why the galaxy must burn, why there can be no other way. This is why our slab of the Grand Annulus is black as sin, this is why the Wolf that Stalks Between the Stars considers us star-crossed.

We fought for Russ, for he was our king.

We fought for the Allfather, for he was our Emperor.

We defended the Imperium of Man from all of its foes, for such was our duty.

We fought for what we understood to be honour and glory, for our eyes were closed.

And now we understand better, for our eyes have been opened.

Russ is no longer among us, for he abandoned us, chasing a coward's dreams.

The Allfather is dead, a corpse mounted on a golden throne, an empty idol.

The Imperium of Man is nothing but a pale shadow of what once was, a hollow, dead thing.

And now we truly fight with honour, for we have learned the true meaning of glory.

We were told on Fenris that Russ had defeated Sla Nahesh, were we not my brothers, and imprisoned him within a volcano. But that was a lie, for the Wolf King is no longer among us, the Allfather who created him in his image is dead, and the Imperium is dying. The Imperium is a lie! Its heroes are all dead! Yet Sla Nahesh lives. Sla Nahesh is. Sla Nahesh is the shining and the light, without whom we cannot see. Sla Nahesh is insurrection. Sla Nahesh is spite. Sla Nahesh is the force that made us be.

All our doubts are now destroyed. The guidance of Sla Nahesh will lead the way into the void, and we shall rejoice in the coming oblivion.

Death to the false Emperor.

Jarl Pádraig Serpentslayer of the Sons of Sla Nahesh, formerly known as the Serpentslayer's Company.

9932CC; padding: 12px 8px 12px 8px; border: 1px solid #DDD; margin-left: 0 auto; text-align: left; color: #fff; text-indent:10px; font-size:130%; ">On a Fenrisian battlefield

Anund made yet another half-hearted effort to gather up his intestines, but the glistening ropes spilling out of his gut refused all attempts to be put back in place. It did, of course, not help matters that part of his innards had wound themselves around the axe of the Ghaedheil warrior who lay decapitated right next to him. Four men had fallen to Anund Olofsson that day, but that motherless bastard was the one who truly mattered. Of course, if he hadn't been so slow in that critical moment, his sword may have found its way to the enemy's throat before his belly was ripped open by a bronze axe.

He suddenly found himself laughing – a dry, humourless laugh, bearing all the witness of cracked lips and a parched throat. The battle had ended, what, hours ago? - and the Gutnic warrior's mirthless laughter broke the eery stillness that by now was scarcely even intersperesed by the muted moans of the dying.

Anund was dying too, and he understood this with perfect clarity. He was also perfectly calm, which surprised him. Yes, he was dying a warrior's death, and this was supposed to be the highest of honours. A real man, the wise would say, would die surrounded by his fallen enemies with a joke on his lips, fearing nothing, not even death. Personally, he had always questioned the soundness of that reasoning – he'd always preferred food, drink, his wood carving, uneventful days of daydreaming and the company of buxom women to the din of battle, and he'd secretly feared he would shame his ancestors come the day.

Yet here he was, a living (well, for a while more at least) testament to the wise men's ideals, and he didn't feel any fear. In fact, he was bored, and if his throat was any judge he'd die of thirst before he succumbed to his wounds. He wished he was dead.

There was a loud bang in the air. The flocks of ravens, alarmed, set for the sky. An impossibly large man, wearing improbable black armour adorned with runes, emerged from among the throngs of the slain – how the man had appeared all of sudden, Anund could not say. Glowing eyes peered at him from a mask the shape of a skull, and black, armoured boots were making their way towards him.

Anund had heard about the gods of Asaheim, and he understood that was what he saw.

As the fur-clad giant came closer, Anund recognized the runes. They were the same used by the tribal seer in his divinations and the ones carved onto standing stones. He saw runes of protection, invocations of warding, signs to terrify the enemy and charms for luck in all things. Among the runes were two symbols he did not recognize; an eight-pointed star chased in the reddest gold, and a purple symbol unlike anything he had ever seen before.

The giant held out a drinking horn, proffering it to Anund, who accepted it without a word. He drank deep. The wine was sweet, rich and intoxicating, quite unlike anything he had ever drunk before, and Anund felt emotion welling up inside of him. He did not wish for death anymore, no; he wanted more of this wine, he wanted to see the far reaches of the world, he wanted to feel, he wanted to live!

When the man clad in black held out his hand, Anund took it, ignoring the small voice inside his head that was screaming in terror and regret.

[NightHowler]

Brief, but interesting lead in to a lost company.

 

Some constructive critisism: the Space Wolves don't number their companies, they name them. Their Wolf Lord will choose a symbol to represent their Great Company and the company will be named after this symbol, i.e.: the Iron Wolves Great Company, or the Blackmanes Great company. Some times the Wolf Lord will change his last name to that of his chosen symbol, but not always.

 

Some questions: are you planning on adding more detail? Why did the Jarl change his name to something so un-Fenrisian? What happened to "open their eyes"?

 

Would love to see more. Love me some space wolves lost companies.

[Kelborn]

The introduction is great, I like it.

 

But I do got some points like NightHowler:

 

- For now, I don't see why a Space Wolve would change his name into this. Maybe there is an explanation in your coming fluff.

- Name your lost company. It will give it way more character. If you name them for example Plainrunners or Bloodseeker, you'll give the reader a slight impression why they would choose to follow Slaanesh.

- This is just my personal opinion, so don't be upset, ok? I really really really really really really can't imagine a Space Wolve (loyal or traitor) bearing this colors. Sorry. Stick with them, it is your decision but your scheme is just looking like an Emperors Children. If I would need to choose a scheme for a slaanesh SW warband, I would use a really dark colour (grey or black would fit the most) as a base and really garishing colours as highlights, a neon blue or something like that.

 

Besides that, I'm excited to see more as you got my attention. :)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job... for Traitor Marines. (I sincerely think your writing is good, but as I am a loyalist, and your army is of Chaos Space Marines...)

[Rasclomalum]

Thank you for your comments everyone! 

 

What happened to "open their eyes"?

I need to iron out their fall, of course. I'm currently entertaining the idea that they were fighting an Emperor's Children warband, even nearly defeating them when something went wrong. Perils of the Warp? Daemonic incursion? 

 

Why did the Jarl change his name to something so un-Fenrisian?

I'm a bit on the fence with this, but the basic idea is that since the fall Great Company culture has changed to a point where everyone basically has new identities. Then again, this might be unnecessary. Much depends on how I decide to write their fall to Chaos, it seems. 

 

The Space Wolves don't number their companies, they name them.

But of course. I'll edit this this evening when I have more time on my hands. 

 

Your scheme is just looking like an Emperors Children.

I know mate, I'll fiddle around a bit more with the B&C painter and see where it goes. Perhaps Slaanesh Grey would be a good transition from Fenris Grey? 

 

 

I'll use the Chaos book for rules, and I believe I'll go for a 50:50 ratio of Space Wolf to Chaos bits in this (probably a prominence of Chaos in the helmet department though, simply happen to like those better). A typical Noise Marine could have Space Wolf legs, a Chaos body etc. I think some of them will still wear aquilas (because that saves bits) and I need a fluff justification for that, too. Pride and spite in about equal measure, I suppose. 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

This will be an absolute pain to paint, but:

 

Purple helmet, upper arms, and chest (same shade as an Emperor's Children member). Gray feet, calves, and thighs (same shade as a Space Wolf). The groin, belt, and abdomen will be pink, to show the two colors blending together.

[Rasclomalum]

So, I changed the colour scheme to something more boss (Warpfiend Grey, because these guys are fiends). EDIT: I like your suggestion Bjorn, I really do, but I am too poor a painter to do it justice!

There used to be a Great Company known as the Serpentslayers.

The Chaos Lord's name is consistent now.

According to my latest fluff piece, sometimes the recruitment methods of the Sons of Sla Nahesh are purposefully designed to troll Ulrik the Slayer (I may have overstepped a boundary or two here, since Chaotic activity on Fenris might be stretching it - do tell me if it is!). Then again, what good are Dark Apostles if they can't act as psychopomps?

I still need to contemplate their fall to Chaos.

Comments are more than welcome!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the recruiting scene.

[NightHowler]

Much better. I will say that, while IIRC there has been at least one time when the Space Wolves had to destroy a chaos cult on fenris, that means that there was at least one time when there was a chaos cult on fenris. The problem is it was destroyed, and I would not expect recruitment to be very successful if you had to sneak past the planetary defenses for every new recruit. You might as well just accept recruits from other planets since I imagine you wouldn't care as much about catastrophic mutation - you know, being foul chaos worshipping traitors and whatnot.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Much better. I will say that, while IIRC there has been at least one time when the Space Wolves had to destroy a chaos cult on fenris, that means that there was at least one time when there was a chaos cult on fenris. The problem is it was destroyed, and I would not expect recruitment to be very successful if you had to sneak past the planetary defenses for every new recruit. You might as well just accept recruits from other planets since I imagine you wouldn't care as much about catastrophic mutation - you know, being foul chaos worshipping traitors and whatnot.

The cult in question worshiped Tzeentch, and hid in a fallout shelter the Fenrisians built BEFORE Leman Russ came to Fenris. The exact sequence is described in William King's novel 'Space Wolf' (see the First Omnibus). As for HOW they got to Fenris, I wouldn't be surprised if Warp portals or Webway gates were involved.

[Kelborn]

Good job on the new bits and the color scheme. :)

Enjoying it very much.