IA: Flesh Eaters

[Cartoon Head]

Flesh Eaters

 

Origins

The origins of the Flesh Eaters lie in the early years of the 32^nd Millennium. Their gene-seed born from the line of Sanguinies and their initial founding cadre taken from the ranks of the Blood Angles itself, great expectations were placed upon them from their very beginning. The passage of time however would distort these imaginings. Though deeply loyal and with a service record to match any who’d doubt it, the Flesh Eaters have become a creature far removed from the noble beings they were intended to be.

 

Originally called the “Angels Exultant”, the term Flesh Eaters began more as a rumour than a name. Those who had served alongside them whispered of dark rituals committed away from the light of open scrutiny. With time these practices become more and more brazen causing much disquiet amongst the higher echelons of the Imperial order. Indeed, there were, and are to this day, those who call for their disbandment for what they see as heinous crimes against sanctity. None of these came to fruition due to the subtle but forceful interventions of certain elements amongst the Ecclesiarchy, whom had developed close relationships with the now openly named Flesh Eaters. Though uneasy bedfellows, the ferocity and utterness with which the Flesh Eaters persecuted their wars made them of great use to the most stringent and fanatical of those who preached the Imperial Creed. Though uneasy about the Flesh Eaters practices, the knowledge that if the Flesh Eaters were to be brought to bear against their enemies, nothing would remain of them; cities turned to rubble, the rubble to dust. Books burned, statues toppled, monuments destroyed, and all those who had laid eyes upon them mercilessly hunted down till not even the memories of these things remained.

 

Home World

 

“”, the Flesh Eaters homeworld rests on the furthest edges of the Segmentum Pacificus. Once an industrious hive world that prospered on the synthesis of materials drawn from the worlds ardent jungles that spanned most of the planet, those days are long lost to history. Isolation during the Age of Strife saw the world descend into barbarity and anarchy. The once glorious hives now crumble as the jungles reclaim what was taken from them. The population of the world is divided into two groups. Those descended from the wealthiest of the hives former inhabitants and those whose ancestors once sat at the bottom of the ladder of society. Those in-between died in the ensuing chaos of the collapse. The wealthiest, able to afford the necessary arms, services and technology to protect themselves, the poorest, so use to conditions of inhumanity that they hardly noticed any change at all. These two groups now exist in a state of constant warfare, between themselves, each other, and the encroaching jungle. The former exists through the careful preservation of their technology, going to great lengths to defend their own and to steal what they can from others. The later instead embraced the jungle, reverting to a primitive Darwinian existence in which only the strong of body could hope to survive. The Flesh Eater primarily draw from this primitive group; however, they have been known to take candidates from the other.

 

Chapter Organization

 

Combat Doctrine

 

The Flesh Eaters practice the most brutal and unforgiving forms of warfare. It is not enough to route ones’ enemies or even defeat them in battle. They must be utterly annihilated, wiped from existence so thoroughly that even their name is but an echo in the histories of the Flesh Eaters conquests. To this ends the Flesh Eaters have a broad arsenal at their disposal able to choose what is needed for the moment; be it the rapid deployment of bikes and speeders to hunt down those who might escape to carry on the affront of their existence, or the heavy and arduous deployment of terminators and dreadnoughts to bring down the most heavily defended bastions of heresy. What distinguishes the Flesh Eaters the most is the protracted nature of their warfare. They do not drop in to a single battle to turn the tide and then leave for their next glory like other chapters are known to do. Instead they commit themselves fully to a campaign of total war. Even after the forces of the enemy have been scattered and all organised resistance snuffed out, they remain to see their agenda carried out.     

[Cartoon Head]

Hey all. So I wanted to do a little writing exercise before taking on a larger project. I started with FFG'S chapter generator and the results I got with that lead to something that I thought could potentially work well with the established but underdeveloped Flesh Eaters. There should be more to come shortly and I'm aiming to get this to around 3,800 words give or take.

 

As always C&C is most appreciated :) 

[Donkey Kong]

Hello Cartoon Head, welcome to the Liber! I would be remiss if I didn't put in my two cents regarding working too closely with existing fluff. I think it sacrifices a lot of creative control and freedom, and I would advise against it. That being said, it looks like you've already decided that this is a writing exercise and practice for a larger project, which sounds awesome! Whether that affects your investment in what you write is loosely related. The less you mind, the less it matters that at any given update, GW can casually chuck your Chapter into the Eye of Terror and make them excommunicated traitors, but that one's on you (lest we forget the Brazen Claws). It's also good decision making to set goals, but 3,800 words in Times New Roman 12 point font is about 9.5 pages long. I haven't had to write research papers in a while, but I do know that at a certain point, people start padding their work to hit a number of words or pages and past that it's not fun to write or read.

 

Given that you used a creation table, I would recommend listing out exactly what it is you rolled and what you're working with.

 

Going over the 40k wiki and Lexicanum, there is very little written about the Flesh Eaters, but what is there sounds compelling enough: Third Founding (M32), Cannibalism, "fatally undone by their gene-seed" (Codex: Blood Angels 5th Edition pg54), and the War of the False Primarch 780-860.M33 where the Flesh Eaters alongside the Carcharodons, Charnel Guard, Death Eagles, and Red Talons destroyed 11 Chapters of space marines declared Traitoris Perdita (taken from 40k wiki and, according to Lexicanum, Imperial Armour Volume Two Second Edition).

 

On origins, I don't know if it makes sense for the Flesh Eaters to change their name over gossip, rumors, and accusations of cannibalism and heresy. It makes sense that you need to justify the Chapter's continued existence with another institution effectively providing protectionism, but I'm not convinced that it makes sense for the Ecclesiarchy to be that institution. I would be more inclined to paint the Flesh Eaters as servants of the High Lords of Terra as a sort of precursor to Forge World's version of the Minotaurs.

 

I like the homeworld you've written.

 

For the combat doctrine, it makes sense that the Flesh Eaters who are so readily shunned by other Imperial forces would operate together. I'm not entirely convinced that it makes sense for the Chapter as you've written them to have access to a richly stocked arsenal and motor pool though.

 

And for a chapter called the Flesh Eaters whose identity revolves around cannibalism or perhaps corpse eating in general, you seem to have overlooked it. It should probably be a central pillar of the Chapter cult, and you could tie it in to the Omophagea organ where the marines eat to learn and perhaps have more vivid experiences. Whether this is almost a psychedelic and hallucinogenic experience where it's a drug like addiction or a way for the marines to experience humanity and, maybe ironically, feel more human is all up in the air.

[Cartoon Head]

Hey cheers for the response and feedback. I'll try and outline my thinking in relation to the issues you've raised and see of that'll help explain where I'm trying to take it. You are right with 3,800 words perhaps being too much, I just based the figure on the advice from the DIY resources. I'll still aim for the first full draft to be at that figure but I'll be ruthless with my editing to cut out the inevitable filler.   

 

I decided that they should have adopted the name "Flesh Eaters" and not start out with it, because I just find it kind of hard to accept that someone would have sat down and said "Yep let's call them the Flesh Eaters, there's no way that could be a bad decision or blow up in our face. Nope, not one bit". I can understand a menacing name like the "Destroyers" as that's sufficiently vague but purposeful enough to intimidate. But Flesh Eaters? I don't think you would plan for that to happen. Particularly given that it relates to a gene seed flaw, which leads me nicely onto my next point. 

 

I absolutely agree that the whole, flesh eating, cannibalism thing is central. And that's why I haven't fully written it down yet. Of all the things i've got to get right with this project, its that. As a consequence I'm taking more time to mull it over in my mind and make sure it's fully integrated with things like the Black Rage, the Red Thirst and associated Blood Angel unique chapter structure such as the Sanguinary Guard and priests. You're spot on with it being a result of an issue with the Omopahagea, just what issue and how it expresses itself is what's up in the air. The idea of it being a restorative act, or at least understood as one, is interesting, cheers for that one. 

 

When it comes to access to weapons and vehicles I am actually a little undecided on this so feedback here is great. They're an old chapter, so it does make sense for them to have some fancy stuff lying around but whether they've got a lot of it should be called into question. In addition I've played with the idea of them having an antagonistic relationship with the Mechanicum giving their predilection to destroying basically everything when they show up. I imagine a few things they would have like to have gotten their hands on having gone up in smoke due to the Flesh Eaters. However, I feel like there is already a lot going on in terms of distinguishing characteristics so I didn't want to add another unnecessary layer of difference to them and wind up Mary-Suing them. i tried to write it so that it came across as they had a normal amount of stuff, not anymore or less than an average chapter. I'd be interested to know if that's how it read or if it's worth a re-write? 

 

I chose the Ecclesiarchy as I felt that the High Lords had been a bit overplayed. I could be convinced otherwise but if there's a third alternative I'd be more favourable to that than going the HLoT route.

 

Heres my notation from the creation table. They're real loose and I've tinkered with it a couple times so I don't know if there's any value in looking at it but there's no harm either. I've got all the parts of it incorparted into the Flesh Eaters in my head just not on page so if you've got any question feel free to ask. 

 

RNG chapter-

 

1-Founding

1-1-Why? Counter Alien Threat

1-2-When? 33M

1-3-Progenitor? Blood Angles

1-4-Purity? Flawed

1-5-Demeanour? Cleanse

1-7-Seed Deficiency? Hyper Omophagea

1-8-Chapter Flaw? Chapter Cult

1-9-N/A

1-10-Chapter Characteristics?- /

1-11-Figure of Legend? Founding Brother-Chapter Master

1-12-Deed? Wiped Out Species

1-13-Home World Cat? Hive World

1-14-Terrain? Jungle

1-15-Home Rule? Distant Rule

1-16-CAO? Divergent

1-18-Combat Doc? Siege

1-23-Specialty Equp? Modified Land Raider?

1-24- Chapter Beliefs? Honour the Ancestors

1-25-Current status? Nominal

1-26-Friends? Ecclesiarchy

1-27-Enemies? Adeptus Mechanicus

[Draakur]

 

I decided that they should have adopted the name "Flesh Eaters" and not start out with it, because I just find it kind of hard to accept that someone would have sat down and said "Yep let's call them the Flesh Eaters, there's no way that could be a bad decision or blow up in our face. Nope, not one bit". I can understand a menacing name like the "Destroyers" as that's sufficiently vague but purposeful enough to intimidate. But Flesh Eaters? I don't think you would plan for that to happen. Particularly given that it relates to a gene seed flaw, which leads me nicely onto my next point. 

 

I've thought about the realities of how Chapter-naming would actually work in these more extreme or "specifically-named" circumstances too, and I feel like your approach here is a pretty reasonable/realistic choice. It's certainly not the norm, but there are definitely Chapter names that just wouldn't have made sense to be formally chosen before they even developed certain proclivities or reputations. Could the head of the Chapter's training cadre (or the HLoT or whoever else mattered at the time) have already had a certain approach or aim in mind for them, before they'd begun to grow their own identity? Sure, possibly, but I don't see why this would always be the case.  

[Doctor Perils]

It's normally the first chapter master who chooses the chapter's name, and not necessarily right at the beginning of the chapter's existence - I haven't got any sources off hand, but I seem to remember that there was a rather well developped DIY chapter here in the Liber that hadn't got a real name because their first chapter master was killed to early, so they've stuck with their original number ever since: I believe it may be the "920s" or something (though I may be getting confused with the entrenching tool :D)

 

I also think that any subsequent chapter master has the right to change his chapter's name, though I have even fewer sources for that.

 

Sorry for not yet having read your article, I'll have to come back to it - once I've finished my report :(