DIY Brainstorm - Warbeasts & TSons antagonists

[Kelborn]

Brothers,

I want to create a warband of the Thousand Sons Legion and an adequate archenemy chapter.

In order to do that, I've written down all of my current thoughts about both of them. Before I'll start writing full articles, I would like to hear your thoughts and comments in order to enhance the quality of these two.

But first of all, I want to mention that for my "Warbeasts" chapter, I was heavily inspired by this very interesting and promising Lost Legion Project, the Devoured. Have a look on it, it is very cool. :)

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317411-legio-xi-the-devoured-20161025-getting-back-in/

Long speach short, here we go:

Thousand Sons warband:

Can't post the image I've chosen as their symbol. Please follow the link

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRNH9AS8-4O-wPE2Wvjdj6hiDgBamO32eSEGFGRZCpKU2BHhv-mkYPJ

- Name suggestions: Sons of Setech, keep Hidden Ones, Hidden Sons

- Origin:

8]o Formerly members of the Hidden Ones, the 9^th fellowship of the XVth Legiones Astartes, the Thousand Sons

8]o Made if psykers of all cults with special and rare talents (for example absorbing the surrounding heat, freezing the area and focusing this heat into fire attacks or control of earth) and auxiliaries

8]o Part of them was took part during the Burning of Prospero and stayed loyal to Amon, another part was spread across the Imperium and uphold their fealty to the Emperor (schism takes part after Amons death by the hand of Ahriman)

8]o Those who stayed loyal to Amon, withdrew to reorganise their forces (a couple of sorceres with even less ships and the appropriate number of Rubric)

8]o Found and took over the remaining forces of the former 10^th fellowship of captain Osiris, now led by Deidara (yes, Athrawes company, he allowed me to use him ^^)

- Later history:

8]o Will either continue being fleet based or they managed to conquer a world within the outer realms of the Imperium, trying to create a new Prospero, called Ombos (real life centre of Set cult)

8]o Gathered artifacts and knowledge, searched for a way to resurrect fallen brothers like Amon

8]o During their quest, they discover that Amon intended to annihilate the entire Legion for what it had become. Shocked by this revelation, they abandon everything Amon stood for, deciding to find their own path in this universe. They even change their color scheme from red to purple, which stands for the teachings of both, Magnus and Ahriman. No part of both of them, they are walking in between these major forces.

8]o New Prospero was found and ravaged by the “Warbeasts” chapter, resulting in a bitter hatred between them and the Hidden Ones, mirroring the fate of the VIth and XVth Legion

8]o Having lost their home for the second time and suffering heavy casualties, they fled to the Eye of Terror. There, they were discovered by Abaddon and his advisor Khayon. The Hidden Ones joined the Black Legion but keeping their status as a separate warband like the Hounds of Abaddon or the Sons of the Cyclops. Returning to the mortal realm, they prepared some of the most important campaigns of the Warmaster. In doing so, they rose in power, which enabled them, to replenish their resources and forces.

8]o Concentrating on the Dominion of Storms for several reasons

7]§ Revenge on the Warbeasts (their homeworld lies within the Dominion)

7]§ Gathering potent artifacts and knowledge for further rituals

7]§ Destabilizing the imperial authorities

8]o They were as well responsible for the rise of Tion, the reborn Sigilite which resulted in a civil war between the Imperium and the so called Tion Hegemony, including a couple of renegade Space Marine chapters, for nearly 300 years.

- Specialized in infiltration and reconnaissance, precise assaults, lore culling and of course psychic warfare; preferring infantry tactics over heavy tank assaults, siege warfare (after integrating the remains of the 10^th fellowship)

- Ship: the Abydos, a cruiser of unknown class (hoping that Inferno will give us more background information about the 30K Sons)

- Led by: Setech Ek’hmar, member of the Raptora cult, special talent: control over elements (except fire), that means: earth, water and wind (for example, can use earth to crush his enemies, wind to rip off their flesh and water to drown them or combining these elements to create storms and the like, close brother of captain Osiris of the 10^th fellowship

Scheme:

after joining the Black Legion; before that, they had purple armor with white trim

“Warbeasts”:

http://galeria.starcraft2.hu/albums/userpics/decal_terran_0020_01.jpg

possible chapter *ahem, excuse me* Clan symbol

Right now, just a short brainstorm to form an antagonist for my TSons warband. Will maybe flesh them out into a whole DIY article.

- Name suggestion: Warbeasts, Ebonspears

- They might be my canon version of my Lost & Forgotten Legion, the Predators. In the BotL universe, the Predators are deriving from Mardum and the shattered world of Abassi. In their canon version, Mardum is destroyed and its settlers now colonized Abassi. A world covered in deep and shadowy jungles as well as giant mountain chains, its native flora and fauna had to adept to the extreme ecosystem. Because of the darkness, the native species have learned to use additional senses like thermal sight or an enhanced olfaction, making Abassis predators some of the deadliest of the entire Dominion.

- Origin: 21^st “the cursed” Founding; unknown origin, though some rumours say that they are another failed experiment of combining different geneseeds. Within the ranks of the holy Inquisition and the Adeptus Mechanicus, none can surely say from which Legion they are deriving from. Some are referring them because of their feral savagery and close relation to beast like companions as successors of the Space Wolves. Others claim that they do share a history with the Ultramarines. The only thing that is certain is their agreement to disagree. Their geneseed seems to be stable, although distinctions can be found. For example, their betcher gland is much more pronounced and their senses are as well improved. If these changes are a result of the original experiments of the Adeptus Mechanicus or improvements done by the chapter itself, none can say.

- Culture:

8]o Very secretive and eccentric. Distrusting imperial authorities like the Inquisition and especially the Ecclisiarchy. Have their own cult of the Imperial Truth, venerating the Emperor as the ultimate hunter.

8]o Hunting the enemies of mankind is the main focus of the entire chapter. There is nothing more important than to chase down their prey until all foes are extinguished. They don’t care for casualties as long as their prey was hunted down.

8]o Secretly make use of blood rituals to foresee the future and to prepare their warriors for the coming war (using the blood of slain enemies or their own blood).

8]o Carry morbid trophies of worthy enemies as a focus. The enemy’s strength shall be transferred to the victorious brother.

8]o You can call it a mixture between voodoo rituals and African culture.

8]o Brothers of the Clan (as they call their chapter) can take and tame one of Abassis lethal predators and turn it into a loyal companion. Some beasts are large enough to ride upon them. Some are smaller and better used for infiltration tasks. Whatever the case, if one part of this close bond dies, the following can happen

7]§ If the brother dies, the beast is taken care by a stable master, who himself leads a squad of beasts, acting as a rapid strike unit.

7]§ If the beast dies, the brother has to decide if he wants to tame another one and stay in his unit or they join the ranks of the Deathsworn, an elite cadre of scout and infiltration squads, which served at the side of the deadliest beasts for quite an amount of time. Adapting to the beasts behaviour and tactics, these brothers are the epitome of the Clans’ philosophy.

- Don’t make heavy use of tanks or Terminators. Preferring fast units which resemble their hunting strategies like assault squads, tactical squads, and bike squads and so on.

8]o One of their strategy is the “buffalo horns” formation

7]§ The horns encircle and pin the enemy

7]§ The chest which delivers the coup de grace

7]§ The loins used to exploit success or reinforce elsewhere.

- They don’t make use of companies. Instead, the chapter is spread across the Imperium in so called Hordes, self sustaining formations which act separately from the rest of the Clan and which can differ in their size. Led by an InDuna (roughly an equivalent of a codex captain), these Hordes consist of several packs (=squads, can differ from 10 to 20 brothers). The InDuna select one of them to act as the IzinDuna (something like a Warchief / chapter master). This happens when several Hordes fight together. Afterwards, the Hordes disband again, hunting on their own. Though this sounds like they don’t feel like they belong to each other, the opposite is the case. Bound by the shared heritage, they know that they can count on each other, should they face a prey too mighty to be hunted upon on their own.

- At one time in their history, they discovered Ombos, the homeworld of the “Hidden Ones”. After devastating it, the “Warbeasts” became the archenemies of the “Hidden Ones”. For this specific campaign, all Hordes were gathered in order to destroy the traitors base.

Scheme:

Possible Abassii beast

http://img07.deviantart.net/036b/i/2013/182/0/8/primal_zerg_by_ca5sy-d6axgxb.jpg

That is what I got so far. Feedback is welcome!

Kelborn

[Doctor Perils]

Yay, you kept the Warbeasts name I suggested ^_^

 

Both forces look interesting.

 

Fort the Thousand Sons, I like all the names you suggested - since the Hidden Ones eventually take over the 10th Fellowship, perhaps Sons of Setech would be more appropriate, both out of respect of the once rival fellowship, and out of ease of understanding the difference between the warband pre- and post- Heresy?

 

Be careful of mention a part in the Burning of Prospero: I'm not sure many are supposed to have survived that. Also, be careful of saying that Ombus is supposed to be a "new Prospero" - the Planet of the Sorceror's is more likely to be recognised as "New Prospero" as Magnus is there (and it is cannon). Instead, focus on saying they uphold the old values of Prospero, and give a few examples of how they do this - show what Ombus was before and after their arrival. Be careful also of saying that Ombus is within the Imperium (even if on its borders) - that may cause questions.

I like the explanation of their colour, and how they change profoundly their beliefs from following Amon's teachings to turning back to their Primarch and first captain's teachings - that might be a bit fast, but since this is a summary you're let off ;). One important question is - how many Sons survive in the warband? You also mention Rubric marines just after BoP, but Ahriman's Rubric only happened on the planet of Sorcerors, so possibly a long time after BoP (I'm not too sure when it happens compared to the end of the Heresy)

Also, be careful of including characters that are too important in cannon history into your DIYs - this Tion, a clone of Malcador, would be a massive deal, and as such may not really be suitable for a DIY (in my mind, a DIY shouldn't be able to affect the entirety of the Imperium, let alone the galaxy - that's Black Library's job) - you can keep Tion and his Hegemony, but change the reference to the Sigilite.

The Raptora don't seem to normally have control over the elements, they are "merely" telekines - as such, you could indeed have some kind of power over the winds etc. but he can't actually "create" them (which is what would be implied by the way it's written at the moment)

 

 

For the Warbeasts/Ebonspears, don't mention that they could be of mixed geneseed - that's generally more trouble then it's worth. You can mention "multiple theories" but don't delve too far into that. Also, if you really want to create a 21st founding chapter, you have to focus heavily on their Curse: the defining feature of chapters of the 21st isn't their weird geneseed but the curse that falls upon each of them - this Curse isn't necessarily only a bad thing (Black Dragons have useful bone protrusions) but they can always lead to their destruction (if the Inquisition finds they have such an extent of mutation the Black Dragons will be excomunicated, violently)

I really have to write a guide/addendum for the Cursed founding, so I can refer to that each time I see a Cursed Chapter with no curse :P

If I were you, I'd just say they are of an unknown founding or the 13th "dark" founding or something - the larger betcher's gland can come about through natural mutation/evolution of the chapter for instance. However, if you want to specifically mention Betcher's glands being used, you'll have to give an example of when they were used as their often an unused implant)

[Kelborn]

Thank you for your feedback, Thorn. :)

 

Yeah, I'll keep Warbeasts until I've decided a name.

 

It seems that I was even more tired while uploading this than I thought. I forgot to mention some bits here and there. Sorry for that.

 

So, let us clarify something, ok? :)

 

At first, I wanted to use Sons of Setech but while writing it didn't feel right anymore. They are not founded because of one being, they had always fought on their own, separated from their brothers. I don't want to name them after their leader like a WE warband or something like that. Hidden Sons is currently my favorite, though I'm open for further suggestions. :)

 

I don't think that it is a problem to make them survivors of Prospero. Concerning ATB about one thousand sons were transported to the planet of sorcerers. That should be enough to let the Hidden Ones be there as well.

 

When I thought about Ombos, I had Gangava in mind. Although it was a giant "It's a trap!" moment in Battle of the Fang, I can imagine that others might have tried to create something reminiscing Prospero. With the Prosperine Spine Guard, the Hidden Ones could have enough mortal servants to change a habituated planet into something worthy of being a new home. Wasn't Gangava within the Imperium as well? Still, there is plenty of space to place it at the borders of the Imperium. Would like to avoid giving them a world within the warp.

 

I'm glad that you're liking their color scheme. They were at first created as an army for Dawn of War 2 and their scheme looked badass with the sorcerer hero. ^^ Intended to make it plausible.

 

To be honest, I'm not quite sure about how many sorcerers and rubrics they should consist of. Just a handful of sorcerers with x number of rubric. I would need the boards assistance to make it reasonable.

 

Tion... Oh yeah. Here I forgot to mention a lot.

Tion is NOT Malcador reborn. He just believes it and his followers trust him blindly. He indeed has enough memories of the Heresy and the Emperor to convince a whole region of the Imperium AND a couple of Space Marine chapters to join his cause. But all of that is just a incredible huge plan done by the Hidden Ones and a greater demon of Tzeentch.

Remember that Blood Angel who believed he is the reborn Sanguinius and had half of his chapter on his side?

Tion is like him. Just a naïve pawn in a greater game.

Here's my first draft of the action Hegemony: (copied from my Dominion of Storms thread)

 

666-937.M36 - The Tion Hegemony: During the so called Age of Apostasy, many revolts and insurrections arose because of all kind of demagogues, chaos conspiracies and oppressed populations. But the records of one specific were locked deep within the archives of Terra and the holy Inquisition: The Scions of the Sigilite. On Hephelios Primaris a man named Tion, who proclaimed himself to be the reborn Malcador the Sigilite, was born. Not only did he look like him, but he also shared memories and visions of the Emperors closest advisor. As he gathered more loyal followers he tried to speak before the local governments of the Dominion. All of them denied accepting him as the true Sigilite. Therefore, he left the Dominion in search of other, more open followers. And he did found them. In the subsequent years, Tion the Reborn Sigilite, as he was named by his loyal followers, was able to gather various followers. About 200 planets, several regiments of the Astra Militarum and Ordo Tempestus, an order of the Adeptus Sororitas and three chapters of the Adeptus Astartes pledged their fealty to him, resulting in the founding of the Tion Hegemony. When the Hegemony declared its independence, the High Lords of Terra at last reacted. The subsequent attempts of peaceful negotiations resulted in a disaster. War erupted, which lasted for nearly three hundred years and shook the Imperium in its foundations as more worlds and another two Astartes chapters joined the Hegemonies' cause. A devastating civil war arose, which was halted by a crusade of nearly insane size as 15 Astartes chapters and hundreds of Astra Militarum regiments were recruited to end the reign of the pretender. The gigantic Crusade of Truth was divided in three smaller crusades to engage the vast Hegemonie from different sides. Led by the Ultramarines, the Black Templars and the Carcharodons chapters, these three crusades of truth, revelation and justice were, though acting separately, successful. The war and the Hegemony itself ended when the still living Tion the Reborn Sigilite was captured by the Carcharodons, judged guilty by the Ultramarines and executed by the Black Templars. This long lasting campaign took the Imperium many centuries to finally recover from it and still, the name Tion was whispered behind closed doors within the formerly Hegemony.

 

Will definitely change the participating chapter as I want to include the Warbeasts as well as another DIY chapter of this board and one canon chapter as the crusades leaders.

 

Concerning Raptora powers. I was searching for "rare" talents which are covered by the Sons cults but being special enough to let them join the ranks of Amons fellowship. Setech can't generate water out of nothing. I rather see it as a form of telekinesis. He is able to manipulate stone, air and water like other Raptora can manipulate bolt patrons or other things. You know what I mean? Not like marvels Storm but rather like the anime series Avatar. ^^"

 

Warbeasts

 

Ok, got your point and you're right.

Had in mind that their savagery, sometimes acting like their beauty comrades and tendencies to blood magic, etc could be their flaw. If that would be fine, I would like to stick the 21st. If not, 13th is the one to go with. I'm even considering to let a part of their clan fall to Khorne because of their flaws. But I'll leave that for another day.

 

Hope that helped understanding my concepts. ;)

[Doctor Perils]

Okay, I think that all looks good :)

[Lysimachus]

It's just a small thought but if you're going with 21st Founding and giving them an overactive Betchers Gland, Imperial Fist gene seed actually makes a lot of sense, i.e. say that one of the AdMech involved had the goal of fixing the IF failed organs?

 

Come to think of it, if they end up with a 'better' poison gland, maybe the curse could relate to the other reinstated organ, the Sus-an Membrane?

 

Just a little bit of food for thought!

[Kelborn]

At first I was a bit sceptic but after thinking about it, I kinda like the idea.

 

Imagine:

 

As a result of fixing seemingly "defect" gene seed, the Warbeasts have a stronger betcher gland, enabling them to spit more and deadlier poison than a normal marine.

Furthermore, their sus an membrane became a crucial part in their initiate rites. After implanting all new organs, the sus an membrane turns on automatically, putting the neophyte into a state of hibernation. During this time, his body changes, either accepting or denying the modifications done by the Clans shamans.

 

While they are sleeping, they will be put into brood pods (like those things from Matrix, you know?) within the Brood Chambers.

 

When they wake up, they need to free themselves from these pods. In doing so, they are reborn!

 

Afterwards, the first thing they have to do right after their rebirth, they have to hunt one of Abassis many predators. Only if they drink its blood and devour its raw flesh, they are accepted as being part of both, Abassis Eco system and the brotherhood of the Clan as a hunter.

 

This whole process is called the Rebirth. It is a process to sort out the weak and leave the strongest to strengthen the entire Clan. Those who fail will have their genes red extracted while their bodies will be left behind to feed the Eco system.

 

Questions:

 

Are Wolfpriests still the equivalent of both chaplain and apothecari? Would like to make their shamans be a mixture of both.

 

How should I call their librarians? Or do you have some suggestions how I could solve that differently?

 

Should I name the IF as their source of origin or should I leave that out? Been thinking that the Warbeasts as well do not know of their parent Legion. That would leave space for suggestions by the reader.

 

Thanks, LySiMachus for you two cents. :D

[Kelborn]

Been thinking on making use of Hamunaptra and the force of the Medjay as somewhat of a capital on Ombros and the descendants of the Spireguard and further the mortal servants of the Hidden Ones, mirroring the Wolves' Kaerls.

 

Furthermore, both books of the living and the dead might be potential artifacts to search for in order to revive the fallen TSons of Prospero.

 

On their quest, they will face both, the Warbeasts and an evil xenos race which guards those books and makes use of animated golems (different elements, race design inspired by Blizzards Burning Legion).

 

And still, the questions mentioned above remain unanswered. :)

[Fenrykus]

Questions:

Are Wolfpriests still the equivalent of both chaplain and apothecari? Would like to make their shamans be a mixture of both.

How should I call their librarians? Or do you have some suggestions how I could solve that differently?

Should I name the IF as their source of origin or should I leave that out? Been thinking that the Warbeasts as well do not know of their parent Legion. That would leave space for suggestions by the reader.

Thanks, LySiMachus for you two cents.

AFAIK, Wolf Priests are still the equivalent of an Apothecary and a Chaplain in one role.

A name that might fit the Librarians is Spirit Guides. It keeps in line with the shaman theme, as well as still tying in with the Warp and them actually being Librarians.

Personally, I have no input on the geneseed question, so I apologize for the lack of help there.

Overall, I like both warbands. :)

[Kelborn]

Thank you, Brother Mikael for your feedback. :)

 

 

As I've just watched Dr. Strange (which is not the best Marvel movie of all time *cough* Guardians *cough* but still a decent and entertaining one, especially when you're currently working on a TSons warband ;)), I finally got ideas to represent all five cults and still give everyone a rare and "unique" ability. I can recommend this movie for all of you who are interested in magic and these kind of stuff. It's well done and it gave me a lot of inspirations. So here they are: [] = name is not decided for now

 

Setech Ek'hmar - Raptora; can control elements via telekinesis, rather like the anime series Avatar than Marvels Storm

 

[Ato-Kar] - Corvidae; can not only divine the future but also can manipulate time itself, travelling into the past and / or future for a couple of minutes, in best form even able to take one person with him; like Dr. Strange

 

[Ra-men] - Pyrae; can absorb the heat of his sorrounding and focus it into devastating fire attacks while the area around him freezes, kind of Sub Zero with flames instead of ice

 

[Hathok] - Pavoni; can not only use his abilities for healing and lightnings, he can also change his entire body to take a completely different shape, making him an incredibly good scout and infiltrator

 

[shedor] - Athanean; can read minds but is also able to manipulate them, placing him in a illusory world in order to kill him there or to neutralize him in the real world; kind of Inception or again Dr. Strange

 

Further ideas for them:

 

Including the Seekers of Truth / the Scourged and turn them into a loyalists successor of the TSons, founded by the still loyal followers of Amon. On of their leaders, the venerated being known as the Elder, is a living survivor of these former TSons. Already have a scene between him and the Hidden Sons in mind in which the Seekers of Truths downfall starts. They did this for two reasons:

- get their hands on the last survivor of their former brothers

- receive a map of a demon who was interested in corrupting the Seekers of Truth; this map may show a chamber full of vicious and ancient tombs at the borders of the impossible maze of Tzeentchs domain

 

Find a greater daemon as an antagonist of a certain campaign / quest of the Hidden Sons. Dr. Strange gave me a couple of ideas. It will have to do with a couple of temples which keep demons caught within. Cults of these demons start to attack the temples. The Hidden Sons are about to plunder these temples as they are filled with ancient knowledge. Killing the demons followers in order to gain these artifacts, they incure the demons hatred. In killing the cult members, the Hidden Sons accidentally save a whole sector.

 

They could be forced to fight at the side of Space Wolves against a common threat. MAYBE! Don't want to create snowflakes here. Just one Hidden Son and one Space Wolve against XXX. Currently an open end as I haven't had the time to think about this scenario.

 

The Hidde Sons are taking shape slow but steady. :D

 

Any thoughts?

[Kelborn]

Don't know why but I feel the urge to write the following for the Warbeasts fluff:

 

An election was held up on a Hiveworld. Two candidates, both miserable in their job but there are no other participants. While one of them does understand the responsibility that comes with ruling a hiveworld, the other one is like: devil-may-care.

 

Of course, worst case scenario happens and the incapable one is elected. Now he start to exploit the world to enrich himself. Even the tributes for the Imperium are neglected.

 

As a result, the Warbeasts are tasked to hunt down this corrupt governor. At the side of a Inquisitor who dislikes fighting at their side for their savage character, they have to face the entire Hiveworld as the whole population (including PDF) are venerating their elected governor.

 

So it's like a compliance campaign of old. Astartes against a rebellious world.

 

Maybe the Hidden Sons are supporting the corrupt governor in order to obtain supplies from him.

 

Yeah...think that I'll go with it.

[Kelborn]

I was thinking of the following:

 

When the Warbeasts are organized in separate hordes, nearly acting on their own, why not making use of the ancient system of the Hexagrammaton?

It was the Emperors first attempt to organize his Astartes prior to the Bellicosa system.

Every marine would be part of a specific path of waging war. When in need, these specialized brothers are in charge to solve a certain situation. That would make the several Hordes more flexible and suitable for the overall tasks of the Adeptus Astartes. Or I could go with specialized Hordes, for example one preferring to ride on bikes, following the path of the cheetah or using aircrafts / boarding actions as the path of the eagle.

 

This type of organization could be given to them by either an ancient book dating back to the GC era OR I'll let one of their first heroes be a fallen angel of the former Knights of Lupus. He would fit in the chapters theme of taming beasts.

Could lead to some DA shenanigans between the Warbeasts and the Unforgiven.

 

Fuerhermore, I could implement some rumors in their heritage about possible DA involvement. In order to find the fallen Angel, they get in conflict with the young chapter which, back then, was protected by the AdMec or whoever was responsible for the 21st founding.

 

What do you think? Do I enter snowflake or Mary sue territory or would that be ok? Or should I abandon that idea and stick with the previous concept?