[WIP] Imperial Harbingers / Harbingers of Skulls

[Kaptain Von]

Gearing up to writing an Index Traitoris article, building a Kill Team or two, and preparing a Black Crusade/Dark Heresy game featuring this lot. Contextual notes on the Chapter's evolution so far, and why I'm using the Imperial Harbingers, can be found on my blog: relevant posts are here, here and here.

 

 

Founding Chapter: Dark Angels

Founding: 23rd Founding (M37)

Chapter Master: Verteid Walravian

Homeworld: Kaymakli

Fortress-Monastery: Carceri

Colours: Off-white or dark grey armour, silver aquila. Helmet colour denotes company.

Specialty: 

Strength:

Battle Cry: "Onward to eternity!"

 

 

Origins

 

"A confession at the blade's edge is not enough atonement for the failings of millennia. The Fallen will pay recompense for their sins in service: silent, secret, and unsung."

-- founding Chapter Master Zephaniah Malakh

 

Short version: difference of opinion between Masters of the Unforgiven.

Malakh insisted that the Fallen should be denied the luxury of a quick death merely for SAYING that they recant their treachery.

Instead, he called on them to prove it by accepting centuries of service as an unsung hero, sealed in a Dreadnought suit - a silent guardian, if you will.

The Twenty-Third 'Sentinel' Founding gave the Unforgiven an opportunity to put Malakh to the test.

He was permitted to found and lead a new Chapter, based in the isolated-but-rather-important Sephira sector.

(Sephira itself is a shrine system, and the gas giant Sephira Major produces a staggering amount of promethium.

(The sector also contains the xenos-blighted system centred on Poe's Lantern, and the cemetery world of Kaymakli, on which several noted martyrs are buried.)

(Finally, the proximity of the Iyabraesil Craftworld justifies a weather eye kept on the prospect of MEDDLING ELDAR.)

 

Later History

 

"Oh, my dear young Captain - if you weren't tainted before you set out after me, you are assuredly tainted now."

-- Caraphiel, Epistolary of the Dark Angels Legion

 

Schism at the turn of the 39th millennium. 

Discourse with the Dreadnought Azazel leads Captain Darion of the Fifth Company to the misguided suspicion that the Chapter's gene-seed itself is derived from the Fallen.

Darion broadcasts their conversation over his strike cruiser's vox-caster system and invites his Company to follow him on Crusade.

Their mission: hunt down the Fallen sorcerer Caraphiel to confirm the truth of this rumour.

During the hunt, the Fifth Company's collective sanity is tested to destruction.

When Darion finally encounters Caraphiel, the Fallen taunts him into betraying the Imperium altogether.

Darion's rogue company, calling themselves the Harbingers of Skulls, have infiltrated half a dozen worlds across the Sephira sub-sector.

Their corrosive effect on morale and loyalty has eroded several Imperial Guard regiments, a Mechanicus manufactorium and an Ecclesiarchal hermitage. They have also provoked the Ybraesil Eldar into attacks on several fringe worlds.

Pattern analysis indicates the attacks are gradually cutting off supply lines to Kaymakli.

 

Home World

 

"I'll see you on the dark side of the moon."

-- traditional Kaymak farewell, reserved for those you expect not to see again

 

Kaymakli: cemetery world, scorching hot sun, most habitations at least partly underground.

Inhabitants are a morose lot resigned to their role as the gravediggers for an entire sector.

Fortress-monastery Carceri lies on the dark side of Kaymakli's primary moon.

 

Two Keeps elsewhere in the sub-sector.

Sephira Major Delta (their Ninth Company is stationed there as part of a long-standing pact with the Ecclesiarchy)

Darkling Gamma (the Tenth Company is based here, and the majority of the Chapter's recruits come from either the 'runners' of Darkling Gamma or the gang population on Darkling Beta.)

 

Beliefs

 

The Imperial Harbingers have a noted martyr complex.

Their Roll of Honour is recited at the start and end of every campaign, and repeated as a catechism in times of strife. 

Brethren derive great spiritual fortitude from the prospect of being added to the Roll.

They are not, however, suicidal, nor are they encouraged to squander their lives in pursuit of vainglory.

Admission to the Roll is not bought by mere death in battle, but by death assuring victory.

 

These beliefs have a cultural impact on the Chapter's officer corps.

Company Champions are known as Exemplars - their mighty deeds of arms are believed to attract the gaze of the Emperor, which in turn improves the prospect of victory and exalted martyrdom for those who fight in the Exemplar's wake.

Chaplains are known as Extollers - as well as preaching the Imperial Cult, they relate tales of the Chapter's martyrs as inspiration for the brethren at large.

Librarians are known as Biographers - the lower ranking Memoria observe and record the deaths and achievements of their brethren, while the Obituarists transmit those achievements to the Master of the Roll on Kaymakli.

Apothecaries are known as Wardens - they stand at the gates of death, refusing admittance to those deemed unworthy, they who still have deeds to do.

 

(Other Imperial forces have noted difficulty in parsing psychic communiques from the Biographers, whose situation reports tend to be phrased around individual actions rather than direct appraisals of the battlefield as a whole.)

 

Combat Doctrine

 

High-risk, high-reward. The emphasis is on exceeding the achievements of their peers and predecessors.

The focus on personal glory and valiant martyrdom means few Lightbringers are prepared to pilot transport vehicles. 

Storm Eagles and Land Raiders are noted exceptions, since the prospect of dogfighting, tank duels, line-breaking and mobile bunker duty offer sufficient incentive.

Teleportation is NOT popular; teleport accidents are no way to die! Similarly, there's a wariness around the drop pod; nobody wants to die because some servitor couldn't aim properly.

 

Organisation

 

Broadly the same as the Dark Angels.

 

The First Company, designated the Keepers, are responsible for the Dreadnought pool. It's very rare to see a Dreadnought deployed without a Keeper squad to keep an eye on it.

Only they, and the Company Masters who hold honorary membership, are aware of the REASON the Dreadnoughts are never consulted.

As far as the rest of the Chapter is concerned, the Dreadnoughts are in a state of penitence and perdition - they have attained glory, but refused to die.

The Fifth WAS a Battle Company: following the treachery of Darion, Chapter Master Josiah Drake decreed that the Fifth Company could not be reformed until the traitors were brought to justice.

The Eighth Company, the Seekers, are the Imperial Harbingers' equivalent of the Ravenwing. Assigning this role to the Codex-appointed Assault Company is believed to reduce scrutiny - it looks more 'normal' to have them running around with all the Land Speeders.

The Ninth Company is a garrison company, largely comprised of Devastator Squads and based on a minor moon of the gas giant Sephira Alpha. The Imperial Harbingers' presence in the shrine system entitles them to a 10% tithe of promethium output, provided they keep watch on the Cardinal and the Basilica St. Sephira.

 

Gene-seed

 

Dark Angels. One minor mutation has been noted, likely brought on by the extensive recruiting from a brace of night worlds. The Occulobe is defective: recruits NOT from the Darkling system develop mild photosensitivity within weeks of implantation.

 

Battle-cry

 

"Onward, to eternity!"

[Lysimachus]

Ok, some good potential here, but I must admit the idea of putting a Fallen into a powerful war machine and letting them loose is a bit of an odd one to me. How do they know that they won't just turn on their loyalist brethren at first opportunity, especially dangerous with the superior strength and firepower of a Dreadnought? I'd definitely clarify in the IA that these are proven (as far as possible, anyway - lots of interrogation by Chaplains/Librarians, etc) to be repentant warriors seeking redemption. Admittedly, the point of having squads of Deathwing 'escorting' them at all times does help, but it's still a potentially very risky business.

 

It also seems a bit odd that the DA would give someone with such a radical viewpoint the privilege and sheer power of command of a new Chapter? Might be worth considering making it that it's something the Chapter came up with on their own, maybe even a secret they keep from the other Unforgiven? (very DA!)

[Kaptain Von]

Thanks for the feedback - every little helps!

 

I'll definitely beef up the ins and outs of Fallen dreadnought control. Vigorous psychic and spiritual interrogation would obviously be part of the process; I also have a vague idea about some sort of cut-out circuit in the Dreadnoughts themselves that isolates the sarcophagus in the event of shenanigans.

 

Believe it or not, in the first draft I actually had them keeping it a secret from themselves (only the First Company were in on the secret), and the other Unforgiven too... but I thought that might be going a bit too far. Reckon I should have gone with my first instinct?

[Lysimachus]

Reckon I should have gone with my first instinct?

To be honest, I'd kinda assumed that it was just the Inner Circle of the Chapter that knew about it anyway? It'd be another huge step away from the Unforgiven 'norm' if the rank and file Marines were told about the Fallen straight off rather than learning gradually as they advanced up through the Chapter.

 

The idea of a cut out switch seems like a good one, though!