Black Book - The Eastern Expansion Campaigns

[simison]

North Ind/India

[bluntblade]

Kinda funny that they share so much with the Shepherds when they're from very different points of origin.

[simison]

I was working on the basis that Timur would be a magnet for the most bloody-crazy Serpents, and build his forces up from their starting point, while the other chap I mentioned would head up a larger grouping from the start.

 

Wait, if that's the case, then we're not really looking at the Gurkani then. We're just looking at the largest remnant of the Dune Serpents that happen to be on the Traitor's side. And after all that hard work I went through stealing a name from history...

[bluntblade]

I clearly wasn't paying enough attention at the time. Sorry :/

 

I will remember that guy's name. It's more that he can pull together the biggest force than already having it.

[simison]

I clearly wasn't paying enough attention at the time. Sorry :/

 

Well, it could work, but then we'd be creating two separate Dune Serpents Traitor forces. The initial remnant and then Timur's Gurkani later on.

 

...which, to be fair, we were planning on two Traitor Iron Bear clans. And it could compensate for the lack of screen time later.

 

Alright, you've talked me into it. But you need to come up with a name for this initial Traitor DS force.

[bluntblade]

Imma delve into Persian and Parthian myth.

[simison]

Material Strength

 

For all intents and purposes, the Morning Stars were a miniaturized Legion. With 22,000 Space Marines, the Morning Stars outright overshadowed the ever-struggling Grave Stalkers. Due to Yucahu's lax restraint, the Morning Stars maintained their organizational structure as it was before the Primarch's discovery. This allowed them to maintain a fully-functional vehicle fleet that was often ignored or outright missing in other Great Fleets; they were able to field their own terminator units. All the Morning Stars lacked was access to the more experimental and developing technologies, such as the newer Tartaros plates or the Leviathan Pattern siege dreadnought.

 

The only logistical threat to the Morning Stars was recruitment. As one of the few factions of Legiones Astartes to maintain recruitment rights on Terra, the Insurrection threatened to completely cut off the Morning Stars from their primary source of recruits. Without which, the Morning Stars would be doomed to a slow death of attrition. To compensate, Icarion secured the Badab system as a new base of operations for the Morning Stars. After the Day of Revelation, Icarion formally appointed the Morning Stars as the masters of Badab in one of his first explicit ceremonies as the Stormlord. From the few surviving records we have from the Maelstrom Zone indicate that Icarion was less willing to use the Morning Stars as a front-line unit and far more eager to use their example as a source of legitimacy and propaganda. 

 

[Anything else I should add?]

[Nomus Sardauk]

The Morning Stars get Badab as a recruitment ground? Sweeet... :D

[bluntblade]

Excellent call there, Sim. I'm trying to remember if we gave Malis' faction one already.

[simison]

We haven't. I've established that, since Badab is located southwest of the Maelstrom, Icarion gives the Hammers a system in the northeast to minimize their interactions with the Vth. But we haven't detailed it yet.

 

So, since we have the Maelstrom growing bigger at the time me of the Insurrection, will Badab get eaten by the Warp with Madrigal?

[bluntblade]

It'd make sense

[simison]

[Good, my 'few surviving records' bit is a vague hint at this eventuality.]

 

The Morning Stars

 

Birthed upon the Human homeworld of Terra, the legacy of the Morning Stars began with a bright future before their tragic transformation. They valued honour and justice above even life and would reflect this as they prosecuted the Great Crusade. Whenever tyranny, whether human or xeno, ruled over the innocent, the Morning Stars assaulted from the heavens to put an end to such evil. Where foes would play foul tricks on the battlefield, the Morning Stars endured before exterminating such honourless opponents. This did not mean the Morning Stars simply existed to slay the foul and the fool. They were empire builders, seeking to fulfill the Emperor's vision as they restored Humanity to its former greatness. Throughout this time, they were viewed as heroes as worthy as the Wardens of Light, the Iron Bears, and the Shepherds of Eden. For an entire century, the Morning Stars were the IV^th Legion. 

 

Much like their cousins, the Shepherds of Eden, the discovery of their Primarch would become a mark of shame for these famed warriors. Although never as needlessly as cruel as Raktra Akarro, Yucahu Sumakutaa cared nothing for the high ideals of the Morning Stars. Instead, the Lord of the IV^th cared only to carry out the mission given to him by the Emperor and was more than willing to use brutal tactics to achieve it. Although their sense of justice was offended by their new master, the code of honour that the Morning Stars lived by required their submission to their Primarch. Unlike the Shepherds of Eden, the Morning Stars were not forced to change their colours or fight in the same style as their gene-sire did. Given their own fleet within the Legion, the Morning Stars carried on with their cherished ideals throughout the Great Crusade. For a time, it appeared that the twin identities of the IV^th Legion could coexist with one another. 

 

Yet, it was not to be. Although the Morning Stars continued to prosecute the Great Crusade with their ideals intact, they could not stop the stain to their reputation that encroached upon them. For while the Morning Stars exemplified chivalry, Yucahu and the Void Eagles would not cease their honourless ways. Caring little for collateral damage, Yucahu would bombard planets into submission, regardless of civilian casualties. All that mattered to the Lord of the IV^th was victory, however earned. Gradually, through no fault of their own, the Morning Stars' reputation was tainted by the deeds of their gene-sire, no matter how hard they struggled against it. As their reputation suffered, the relationship between the Morning Stars and the Void Eagles deteriorated. The final straw would be the final Rangdan Xenocide in the 950s on the Eastern Fringe. Four separate wars had been fought between the Imperium and this hated Xeno foe. In the fourth and final campaign against the Xeno, after the Emperor had broken the Labyrinth of Night, four Legions were called to destroy all tainted by the Xeno. It was during this purgation campaign that Yucahu earned the moniker 'Hellrider' for his merciless role. The Morning Stars were horrified by the Void Eagles' atrocities. While they remained part of the IV^th on official rolls, the Morning Stars never again fought alongside their brothers.  

 

Yet, it was not solely the shame of being associated with the Void Eagles that would tempt the Morning Stars away from the Imperium. Many observers had believed that their ideal of honour would forever ensure their loyalty since the Morning Stars had sworn oaths to the Emperor. That bond, however, was also strained. The Emperor's retreat to Terra and the creation of the Senatorum Imperialis shook their faith. No longer did the Emperor rule directly over his Imperium but instead had placed such widespread power among a council, not of warriors, but of politicians. While the Warmaster created the Hands of Terra to ensure that the Legions were heard by the High Lords, it was Yucahu who was given the choice of sending a representative, not the Morning Stars. Gradually, the Morning Stars feared and were disgusted as they perceived the Great Crusade becoming a sport of bureaucrats instead of properly led by the honorable crusaders who bled on the Emperor's behalf. It would be through this combination of outrage and weariness that Icarion would turn the Morning Stars to his cause.

 

When the Stormborn approached the Morning Stars, it was in the guise of a fearful confidant. While no exact recording of the meeting exists, secondhand accounts tell of a dire warning of a growing tyrannical bureaucracy. The worst fears of the Morning Stars were confirmed as Icarion called upon his reputation as a seer without measure to forewarn them of an Imperium which did not deserve their honour. Murmurings of a planned betrayal only highlighted the Morning Stars' anxieties regarding the Emperor. In addition to ominous news, Icarion offered sweet promises. No longer would the Morning Stars have to trudge behind Yucahu, staining their honour in the mud because of simply who their Primarch was. Instead, Icarion vowed that they would be restored to their former reputation, finally freed from the Brass Lord. Not only that, but the Morning Stars would be given their own fief within Icarion's future empire, able to forever ensure that their ideals of justice and honour would be safeguarded regardless of circumstance. Given centuries of built-up bitterness over their fate, the Morning Stars gladly pledged themselves to the Stormborn's cause. The few dissidents were quickly and quietly eliminated, one way or another.

 

Command Hierarchy

 

Unlike the loose organization of their parent Legion, the Morning Stars observed a strict chain of command from the lowest to the greatest. The Havildar occupied the lowest rung as a Space Marine who had only recently proven his worth and granted the right to head a squad. The path to a Subedar, or a captain, required a record of personal bravery, tactical insight, and a known reputation of honour before one was allowed to command the subah or company. The Jemadar served not only as commanders of the musters, but also were the personal advisors to the Zamindar, the highest rank within the Morning Stars. To become a Jemadar necessitated not only the skills sought in a battalion commander, but a Jemadar was a Morning Star who had successfully won three 'duels of glory'. Duels of glory were single combats against enemy leaders who were proficient in hand-to-hand combat. Ork warbosses were a common and a reliable foe to be counted for duels of glory and helped several Jemadar reach their rank. The final trial for a would-be Jemadar was a complete recital of their heroic deeds to the Zamindar in a difficult environment, which could range from kneeling naked in a frozen tundra to running laps in a scorching desert.

 

Since the Legion's inception, only seven Morning Stars have had the honour of serving as the Zamindar, Sohrak Mashyan being the last. To reach the pinnacle of the Morning Stars' structure required thirty successful duels of glory and one hundred successful battles, the latter must be prosecuted to the letter of the Morning Stars' unspoken code of honour. Finally a candidate for Zamindar was required to enter a pilgrimage to distant Terra. There with an escort of four Jemadars, the candidate journeyed to North Ind where the IV^th Legion maintained its recruitment rights as insisted by the Morning Stars over Yucahu's apathy. At a specifically created memorial which recorded the VI^th Legion's first battle, the new Zamindar would swear to uphold the Morning Star's honour and prosecute justice 'till the end of time, finishing the ceremony with ritual bloodletting to seal the oath.

 

Material Strength

 

For all intents and purposes, the Morning Stars were a miniaturized Legion. With 22,000 Space Marines, the Morning Stars outright overshadowed the ever-struggling Grave Stalkers. Due to Yucahu's lax restraint, the Morning Stars maintained their organizational structure as it was before the Primarch's discovery. This allowed them to maintain a fully-functional vehicle fleet that was often ignored or outright missing in other Great Fleets; they were able to field their own terminator units. All the Morning Stars lacked was access to the more experimental and developing technologies, such as the newer Tartaros plates or the Leviathan Pattern siege dreadnought.

 

The only logistical threat to the Morning Stars was recruitment. As one of the few factions of Legiones Astartes to maintain recruitment rights on Terra, the Insurrection threatened to completely cut off the Morning Stars from their primary source of recruits. Without which, the Morning Stars would be doomed to a slow death of attrition. To compensate, Icarion secured the Badab system as a new base of operations for the Morning Stars. One of his first formal acts as the self-proclaimed Emperor, Icarion appointed the Morning Stars as the masters of Badab. From the few surviving records we have from the Maelstrom Zone indicate that Icarion was less willing to use the Morning Stars as a front-line unit and far more eager to use their example as a source of legitimacy and propaganda. 

 

[This is the entire Morning Star fluff. Does it meet with your approval, Skal?]

[MikhalLeNoir]

It meets mine^^ good stuff lAds

[Skalpynock]

Chapter: Approved

[bluntblade]

"One of his first formal acts as the self-proclaimed Emperor" might work a tad better. Otherwise fab

[simison]

"One of his first formal acts as the self-proclaimed Emperor" might work a tad better. Otherwise fab

 

Hmmmm. *rereads the line a few more times* Hmmm, okay. It better emphasizes Icarion's agency and his ambition.

 

After that tweak, I've submitted the whole entry to Grifft. Thus, the Morning Stars is the first faction to cross the finish line! ...which, to be fair, the Shepherds of Eden should have been first, but Blunt was waylaid with work on top priority tasks. Appreciate your work, Blunt!

 

Regardless, this progress means we've finished the 1st of 7 factions for Expansion, and the 1st of the 3 factions for Book 2A. 

 

Progress Snapshot:

 

• Void Eagles: With work started on their first Exemplary Battle, the Void Eagles are nearing the end. I will continue working on them with the goal of finishing their first draft in two months, if not earlier.
• Dune Serpents: Squig has informed me that he is in fact working on them in the background. Remember how he dropped almost the entire Godslayers' chapter in one post? I'll check and encourage him from month-to-month, but they are making progress.
• Steel Legion: Between San and Sig, the Steel Legion has made strides and a lot of the foundation has been laid when there hasn't been direct work on the chapter. Right now, the chapter is right where Nomus begins reforming the Legion into the SL proper. 
• Shepherds of Eden: Still need a quick line about their size. So, they're like 99% done, but they're not top priority.
• [Traitor Dune Serpents - Non-Chaos version]: Need a new name, but, again, low priority. 
• House Toho: Might be wrong, but I'm not aware of any progress since I last checked.

 

Compare this update to my June 17 post, the General History intros and the Morning Stars are outright done. Meanwhile, the Void Eagles finished their Legion Org chapter, while half of the Steel Legion's general history chapter is now formed. Overall, excellent progress for a month and a half. 

 

That said, I've been thinking about Expansion's mini-book format. For a normal writer, the motivation to maintain the journey is divided between a love of reading and being paid. As hobby writers, we share that love of writing, but we replace the money with recognition and encouragement. As a group, we fulfill part of the latter, but it's better when the general public adds to that. 

 

So, what do people think about translating the 9 books of BotL into three mini-books a piece, essentially 9 trilogies? The idea is that we are able to 'publish' faster and steadier. So, while each 'publication' has less, they occur more regularly. How does that sound?

[MikhalLeNoir]

I think this 9 trilogy approach helps us more. Publishing books might get us new authors. Sure. Atm none has answered the call. But it may change if we habe something to show. so thst they remember us. King of the board!!! King of the board!!! The botl avenged.....

[bluntblade]

I'll have a full look at the Shepherds just as soon as the Godslayers and Drowned are sorted out.

 

Remember the Serpents have their origins chapter done too :)

 

I intend to add the Legio Gojira, which will generate fluff for Toho too.

[Kelborn]

You are not wrong, simi.

House Toho hasn't received any update yet. Currently not in the right mood for Samurai stuff, sorry. ^^"

 

If one would like to take other, I wouldn't say no and would be eager to help.

[simison]

With the revamp of the timeline, I don't think it makes sense for the Predators to feature in Emancipation. Instead I think they need to be moved to Book 2B with the Eastern campaigns. 

 

That said, should we keep the Dune Serpents Insurgos there or remove them to make room for the Predators?  If we do move the Predators, who could take the fourth slot in Emancipation? Perhaps the updated rules for the Scions and Pionus?

[Sigismund229]

With the revamp of the timeline, I don't think it makes sense for the Predators to feature in Emancipation. Instead I think they need to be moved to Book 2B with the Eastern campaigns. 

 

That said, should we keep the Dune Serpents Insurgos there or remove them to make room for the Predators?  If we do move the Predators, who could take the fourth slot in Emancipation? Perhaps the updated rules for the Scions and Pionus?

How does it no longer fit?

 

And I think that it would probably be easier to move the DS insurgos to Emancipation than to move a legion if we want to bump the Preds back to Expansion

[simison]

Andezo and the Predators were moved East in the improved timeline, so it doesn't make sense for them to feature in a book about the first Solar invasion. 

 

I don't understand the logic behind this. The DS Insurgos are still primarily in the East. How is it easier to move them than a Legion? 

[bluntblade]

Perhaps we should keep a more open mind about the number of our books. Speaking of which, when do we bring in the corrupted Drowned and Godslayers?

[Sigismund229]

Andezo and the Predators were moved East in the improved timeline, so it doesn't make sense for them to feature in a book about the first Solar invasion. 

 

I don't understand the logic behind this. The DS Insurgos are still primarily in the East. How is it easier to move them than a Legion? 

Oh right, I was operating on the original plan for Emancipation, in which it had a dual focus on both the first Solar invasion and the ongoing meat grinder of the East, which is where the Preds came in, because after Alex stabilized the Solar front, he sent the Preds to launch an offensive on the Eastern Fringe and reclaim lost ground there

 

So that's why I said it would be easier to move the DS insurgos, because they're a smaller force with fewer rules and less fluff to shift

[simison]

It's only been two weeks since my last update, but I have another piece of good news: The Shepherds of Eden have been submitted! That is now 2 out of 7 factions completed, and 2 out of 3 factions of Book 2A. 

 

Briefly, the progress since then has been a completed Exemplary Battle for the Void Eagles. They are well on track to being the third faction done. The Steel Legion has taken another step forward. And Squig is tweaking the Dune Serpents. 

 

The biggest questions right now are we adding the Predators to this trilogy? And what should be the name of the first mini-book? As I mentioned in the Book Outline thread, I think we should just name each mini-book after their core battle/campaign.

 

For mini-book 2A, I suggest we have a Battle of Badab where a force of Harbingers and Morning Stars fight against a force of Void Eagles and Shepherds. So, potential names would be "The Battle for Badab" or "The Maelstrom Conquest" or something else.