Magpies

[Rizara]

I am finally going to get around to reworking and building my Druid themed chapter, the last attempts were never really worked out due to college classes and family taking up so much of my time the past several years. My last attempt I was narrowed down o. Color scheme and had chosen to go with the name white stags but the stag was also a hurdle as creating antlers and stags to ride for going with a space wolf list was proving difficult.

 

So i had finally decided to look into other animals that would fit with a Druid theme and found that the magpies shared a similar color palette that I had already chosen not to mention they are either seen as a curse or as wise and intelligent birds. I figured this works well as a space marine chapter theme around a Druid cultured home world.

 

So with the release of 8th edition I decided the new primaris marines would be perfect to create this Celtic chapter I have been pondering for so long. I will probably still make the chapter having respect for their champions and leaders, especially the payers who will still be revered as Druids, but adding feathers will be much easier to sculpt than antlers and stag pelts. I will also use a lot of knotwork designs on the armor.

 

Anyways my proble. Is the name. It just doesn't sound that opposing to call them just Magpies. So I am wondering if anyone could help on making the name sound more marine chapter like or interesting. I had thought about going with the Astral Magpies,but it doesn't sound right to me either.

 

As for the color scheme, I am leaning towards a green, white, and black, with the green needing to be a bluish green tint. I am going to look into the forgeworld greens used for the sons of Horus, but try to avoid the pale look often seen on many painted sons of Horus armies. I am also going to use a silhouette of a magpie (top down perspective) as the army symbol.

 

So if anyone could help me work out a suitable name for the chapter, that would be great, I will have to hold off on background fluff till I get the proper fluff in the new primaris chapters. I am thinking they were formed in the,last founding and due to suffering heavily losses due to recent chaos rifts and incursions, they willingly accept going full primaris to rebuild their numbers and get back to fighting strength.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The name "Magpies" makes me think of the "Blood Magpies," 4chan's meme of kleptomaniacal Blood Ravens. As an alternative, how about "Ghost Ravens," for the blue-green colors? (You can use Raven Guard or Blood Ravens pauldrons in this case, which should simplify conversions.) For a more martial name, how about "Buzzards," after the carrion birds?

[InAction]

The name "Magpies" makes me think of the "Blood Magpies," 4chan's meme of kleptomaniacal Blood Ravens. As an alternative, how about "Ghost Ravens," for the blue-green colors? (You can use Raven Guard or Blood Ravens pauldrons in this case, which should simplify conversions.) For a more martial name, how about "Buzzards," after the carrion birds?

 

Hmmm. "Buzzards" just doesn't feel quite right. If that's the vein they're looking to go for, maybe just "Scavengers"?

 

I like the angle of warrior-druids as opposed to warrior-monks, though how does that work out? Do they have like some kind of unique chapter cult? Do they invoke the Emperor/their Primarch/etc. as like a totem? Maybe something like "Night Wings" or "Soul Crows"?

[Lysimachus]

Following on from InAction, perhaps rather than call them the _______ Magpies (which sounds a bit odd) maybe it would work better to focus on something that's more generically bird related; Wings, Talons, Claws, etc.

 

Like the idea of them valuing wisdom, you could make them focussed on careful battle planning/knowledge is power kinda thing, whether that's by lots of Scouts/recon units, or to tie in the Druidic aspects it could be by lots of ritual foretellings by Chapter psykers?

[Olis]

Another option is to go the route of the Space Sharks - rename them using their latin designation and pop 'Astra' on the end. With the traditional Eurasian/Common Magpie being referred to as 'Pica Pica', you could go for Pica Astra... but that sounds a bit too short and bit too much like you're invoking a little yellow creature with a limited vocabulary to me. Maybe mutating that a little to Purpica Astra might work. Or other Magpie Genus names might work better for you - there's Urocissa, Cissa and Cyanopica to choose from. :)

[Cpt_Reaper]

How about the Emerald Corvians? They are greenish, druids with a corvian symbol.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

How about the Emerald Corvians? They are greenish, druids with a corvian symbol.

Alternately, "Jade Corvians," for the mysticism associated with that semiprecious stone. (I had to look up the Wikipedia article to know why the OP wanted to name the Chapter "Magpies"- the bird was thought to bring ill fortune and signify death- that meaning is as forgotten as that of the swastika in Chinese Buddhism.)

[Machine God]

I know that is more Crow related but what about The Morrigan?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morr%C3%ADgan

[Rizara]

Yep. The meaning behind the ,again changes based on culture and part of the world. In China they symbolize joy and bliss, and often good tidings, but in Celtic and European traditions (which sadly is most western cultures as well) they symbolize I'll fortune and death. In Native American culture however they are known for tricky and intelligence. The I'll fortune and death fits the marines, while the trickery could also benefit as a form of tactics of stealth and deception, and the intelligence could imply their tactics and strategy. Not really keen on using other birds but the other names for magpies I will have to mull over and see which ones I like. The corvian name sounds a bit interesting as well, but the jade part feels a bit more Asian influenced since that stone is often attributed with orients like culture, while the emerald option does reference Irish influence a bit more.

 

Also the swastika is lost in many cultures as westerners see it as a nazi symbol yet it was used in the Asian area, as well as native amercan and other ancient cultures, The nazi's used the symbol due to their fasination in the occult and since many ancient cultures shared that symbol, it stood out to them, and became a symbol for atrocities in our culture. Sad that no one seems to understand ancient and older references to symbols.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I know that is more Crow related but what about The Morrigan?

"Sons of the Morrigan" is a good idea, and will spare the OP the embarrassment that will result because 21st Century kids associate magpies with theft and hoarding (see 1d4chan articles on the Blood Ravens), instead of misfortune and death.

[InAction]

 

I know that is more Crow related but what about The Morrigan?

"Sons of the Morrigan" is a good idea, and will spare the OP the embarrassment that will result because 21st Century kids associate magpies with theft and hoarding (see 1d4chan articles on the Blood Ravens), instead of misfortune and death.

 

I like the sound of that - nice, simple and has some punch to it. Could be like the name of their homeworld or something.

 

Have you figured what their lineage is? Raven Guard is kind of the obvious choice, but with a kind of totemic thing going on, it sounds rather Space Wolf-y. Dark Angels vaguely work as well, though more depending how far back you go. White Scars perhaps just as something different?

[Rizara]

Interesting discussions and I have looked into some of the suggestions here. I guess I will keep the colors and even the use of the magpie silhouette I was thinking off for an army symbol, as i like it better than the standard Raven iconography gw uses and reuses.

 

So Morrigan as the home world is a great suggestion, as it will help build some of the chapters background being a Celtic and particularly Irish Celtic feel. However I never really liked the idea of using "sons of..." As part of the chapter name. I have used it in the past but went with scions before and liked that better. However scions Morrigan doesn't sound good either.

 

So, I am thinking of instead of going with cordivae in the name, while cool I feel I may have to explain it more often than I want when people ask me my chapters name. I will also drop magpie cause yes it doesn't reall fit with most conventional marine chapter names. So this leaves me with I guess only one option and to just go with Ravens in the name. This means I will probably make their parent chapter Raven guard. I am avoiding space wolves, as much as I do likes hem, they have a more shamanic vibe to them with the over use of pelts and totems, and I want my marines to focus more on rituals, heritage, and knot work. I had debated on the use of woad markings for any bare flesh, and I may go with a more woad tattooing for their face mixing some tribal motifs with knot work patterns.

 

So now to refine the name further. After reading into Morrigan I had thought about Phantom Ravens, but I could also go with Emerald Ravens, or Woad Ravens. I will think of some more ideasas i research a bit more for my chapter background.

 

So, I will keep the feathers to a minimum, but I do plan to add some, at least on cloaks, and maybe even turn some of the puri seals into purity feathers, something that the chapter awards for service and honors, while the armor is mostly displaying some knot work designs on the shield leg guards of the new primaris marines.

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

I have done a little bit of research into the druid theme to respond to this and have a couple of ideas that really work with this theme.

 

Chapter Name: Scions of Cathbhadh

*Originally thought 'Sons of..', but Scions fits the theme you are going for better as it can also refer to an offshoot of a plant, and nature was integral to the Druids.

*Cathbhadh (Cathbad) is a Druid from Irish Mythology.

 

Chapter Symbol: Personally I think the chapter symbol should be a sapling tree, to really go with the Scion theme. This can also be represented by the Chapter lore (you mentioned wanting to use Primaris Marines, what if your chapter was a newly created Primaris only chapter which therefore also fits the Scions/Sapling theme)

Alternative Symbols: A normal tree or a wren (very closely linked to the Druids) would work.

 

Hopefully this is of use to you in one way or another :)

[Rizara]

Thank you for the research, I am going to stick with the magpie for the army symbol, but I do like the reasoning behind the name you presented. I am definitely thinking of a new ultimata founding chapter, but I am. Still debating on the name. I am leaning towards imperial fists or Raven guard for the primarch lineage, with me honestly more partial to imperial guard. However if I go with Raven in the name it makes more sense to use Raven guard, but part of me still thinks that I want to go with imperial fists, then giving them a different name would work better.

[Rizara]

okay, I have been really thinking about the ideas of using a tree for my chapter symbol. This came about last night after sketching out the magpie outline, and thinking about how it looked, and I started looking at the idea of the tree, so I looked into celtic tree icongraphy. I have found one that I like and was available in a free vector (so i don't have to paint it, i can print it on decal sheets and apply it). So I am now completely going away from the bird icon and focusing in on a more druid vibe, where the chapter is basically warrior, but they are off shoots of the planet and still in touch with nature. This is really important with the new fluff going forward, as the chapter isn't so much trying to become environmentalist, but a new weapon to battle the expanding realm of the warp, and so they are trying to stayed tied down to the realm of reality that mankind thrives in, as well as being rooted to the planets they are trying to protect and save for humanity.

So here is the army symbol I am going to use. Probably going with the more solid black version, as the shoulder pads are white, but I may look at printing a few of the black with white versions to place on vehicles and shields that may have to overlap green surfaces. Course, if I go that route, since I think the center is clear, I may change it to an all white version for the green background surfaces.

So now i have my color scheme (which I will have to scan in the colored image I printed off before the liber made a digital one I could work with), to show the color scheme, but now i have to narrow down the name and begin working on the background fluff as I also aquire the correct colors of paint and waterslide sheets for my printer.

as for names...I was sort of thinking of Oaken Spears, or simply just call them The Oaken. I really want to avoid using the Sons of/scions route, as then I would have to come up with either a planet name I don't mind using in the chapter name, or a hero. As for lineage, well now I am torn between them being a white scars successor or Imperial Fists, with me really leaning towards the white scars due to the fact that they are going to a be a bit feral in appearance with woad markings on their flesh, and beards (but not space wolf extreme), and because reading into some of the lore around the parent legions, the white scars were one of the 3 legions who had large psykers and were one of the first legions aware of the dangers of the warp, and their stormseers are to be reckoned and feared. So I am thinking that perhaps I go with them as a parent chapter, and perhaps the planet was one discovered by the white scars and given to the new fledgling chapter because of the quality of recruits taken from that world and because that world had a higher percentage of recruits who successively pasted the white scars test of heaven.

[Rizara]

and here is the color scheme now, done with markers on a print out of the primaris sheet GW put up.

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

Thank you for the research, I am going to stick with the magpie for the army symbol, but I do like the reasoning behind the name you presented. I am definitely thinking of a new ultimata founding chapter, but I am. Still debating on the name. I am leaning towards imperial fists or Raven guard for the primarch lineage, with me honestly more partial to imperial guard. However if I go with Raven in the name it makes more sense to use Raven guard, but part of me still thinks that I want to go with imperial fists, then giving them a different name would work better.

That's alright; it didn't take long. Your idea is very interesting, I just wanted to learn a bit about the theme so I could give you a better answer / opinion.

okay, I have been really thinking about the ideas of using a tree for my chapter symbol. This came about last night after sketching out the magpie outline, and thinking about how it looked, and I started looking at the idea of the tree, so I looked into celtic tree icongraphy. I have found one that I like and was available in a free vector (so i don't have to paint it, i can print it on decal sheets and apply it). So I am now completely going away from the bird icon and focusing in on a more druid vibe, where the chapter is basically warrior, but they are off shoots of the planet and still in touch with nature. This is really important with the new fluff going forward, as the chapter isn't so much trying to become environmentalist, but a new weapon to battle the expanding realm of the warp, and so they are trying to stayed tied down to the realm of reality that mankind thrives in, as well as being rooted to the planets they are trying to protect and save for humanity.

So here is the army symbol I am going to use. Probably going with the more solid black version, as the shoulder pads are white, but I may look at printing a few of the black with white versions to place on vehicles and shields that may have to overlap green surfaces. Course, if I go that route, since I think the center is clear, I may change it to an all white version for the green background surfaces.

So now i have my color scheme (which I will have to scan in the colored image I printed off before the liber made a digital one I could work with), to show the color scheme, but now i have to narrow down the name and begin working on the background fluff as I also aquire the correct colors of paint and waterslide sheets for my printer.

as for names...I was sort of thinking of Oaken Spears, or simply just call them The Oaken. I really want to avoid using the Sons of/scions route, as then I would have to come up with either a planet name I don't mind using in the chapter name, or a hero. As for lineage, well now I am torn between them being a white scars successor or Imperial Fists, with me really leaning towards the white scars due to the fact that they are going to a be a bit feral in appearance with woad markings on their flesh, and beards (but not space wolf extreme), and because reading into some of the lore around the parent legions, the white scars were one of the 3 legions who had large psykers and were one of the first legions aware of the dangers of the warp, and their stormseers are to be reckoned and feared. So I am thinking that perhaps I go with them as a parent chapter, and perhaps the planet was one discovered by the white scars and given to the new fledgling chapter because of the quality of recruits taken from that world and because that world had a higher percentage of recruits who successively pasted the white scars test of heaven.

Awesome! I am glad you are coming around to the idea of a tree. I really liked that idea and it really works with your theme.

However, I must say, I am not a fan of that symbol. Obviously this is a place for constructive discussion to help you, so I am going to try and explain that in an appropriate way that doesn't write off your ideas or come across as rude or anything...

My first point is that I really like the theme of nature and the Celtic influences you are going with. They are strong themes in Druidism and very appropriate to what you're trying to achieve. However, I am fairly certain that is not a Celtic tree - it has obviously been inspired by it, but has been adapted into a tribal style. It looks like a tattoo, and not a good one. This may be my own dislike for that style of tattoo coming across, so if you're happy with it, please ignore me, but it just doesn't look Celtic to me. What I would consider as more 'appropriate' alternatives would be (from a quick google image search):

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmanythingsdonotfly.files.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fceltic52_large.gif&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftattoos.lovetoknow.com%2FCeltic_Tree_of_Life_Tattoo&docid=83xt2rTKCwMgbM&tbnid=D7bSbjMi7PoDAM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiOrp-O2ZfUAhXMD8AKHXR9CK8QMwg_KAQwBA..i&w=450&h=499&bih=651&biw=1366&q=celtic%20tree&ved=0ahUKEwiOrp-O2ZfUAhXMD8AKHXR9CK8QMwg_KAQwBA&iact=mrc&uact=8

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffc06.deviantart.net%2Ffs32%2Ff%2F2009%2F117%2Fe%2Fe%2Feeb66fe898463cabc9dd11231f728659.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lightforcenetwork.com%2Fforum%2F6%2Fceltic-tree-magic-6-ways-work-sacred-trees&docid=PgyAh-X4THYWBM&tbnid=N9QnIwhPni2HlM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiOrp-O2ZfUAhXMD8AKHXR9CK8QMwhuKCkwKQ..i&w=529&h=600&bih=651&biw=1366&q=celtic%20tree&ved=0ahUKEwiOrp-O2ZfUAhXMD8AKHXR9CK8QMwhuKCkwKQ&iact=mrc&uact=8

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fthumb7.shutterstock.com%2Fdisplay_pic_with_logo%2F3628619%2F569107795%2Fstock-vector-vector-ornament-decorative-celtic-tree-of-life-with-knots-and-curls-569107795.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com%2Fsearch%2Fceltic%2Btree%2Bof%2Blife&docid=iwnSVRccSL0H_M&tbnid=d3EGSatvrr916M%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiOrp-O2ZfUAhXMD8AKHXR9CK8QMwh9KDgwOA..i&w=450&h=470&bih=651&biw=1366&q=celtic%20tree&ved=0ahUKEwiOrp-O2ZfUAhXMD8AKHXR9CK8QMwh9KDgwOA&iact=mrc&uact=8

Ignore the colours of these though, they would be easy to reproduce in solid black.

What do you have in mind for the background at the moment?

As for the name, I would again suggest the one I came up with as you seemed interested in my logic: Scions of Cathbhadh

I think this really fits your theme and Cathbhadh could easily be your planet or hero.

- If it was the planet, that could be the old name of the planet, given to it by the natives as a representation of their culture. Since renamed following its rediscovery by the Imperium.

- Alternatively, it could refer to an ancient hero of the planet, or even be the name of its first Chapter Master. This guy is the leader of your army as a newly created chapter.

Chapter Origins / Psykers

I think the space wolves are actually a very good choice as they fit the celtic theme too (see their 30k artwork). Furthermore, they do have Psykers, but they are not like normal Psykers, instead relying means from nature and runecasting (all very Druid like). Perhaps you could rename your Space Wolf Psykers (can't remember what their 40k name is) Oak-Seers (a derivative of the linguistic origins of the word Druid) and they specialise in Divination and Biomancy.

Again, just a few thoughts and I hope they help.

[Rizara]

Thanks, I did look over several Celtic tree icons, and was almost going for the circle for the tree of life. I chose this particular tree for two reasons, one that it was a mix of tribal and Celtic knotwork, and second it had a spear like appearance that still looked like a tree. Again the name suggestion is nice, but I don't want to use sons of xxxxx or scions in the name. The reasons is because they are new and will be primaris marines so based on the leaked lore so far, they are created a bit differently than normal marines, so they won't have a particular hero and to start they are not as attached to the world directly to be named after it. I do plan to have the command staff originating from the parent chapter and the world they are given was a more recent recruitment world for that parent chapter, The reason I am avoiding space wolf lineage is I don't want the feral gene seed, and because the focus is on the Druids or psykers that influence the chapter.

 

Now I do like the name oak seer, as I was originally going to go with bards for chaplains and ovates for the psykers, oak seer sounds cooler. Also I and mentioned that I plan to use woad markings for the bare skin, but instead of just the crude basic woad warpaint used by ancient celts, I was going to go with a more woad like tribal tattoo mix, so basically adding a bit of tribal stylization to the mix and jot entirely crude warpaint.

 

Essentially I want them to be a Celtic chapter themed around Druids and the nature. They will have inspiring characters but they are not savages, they just harken to a more feral nature in the heat of combat the way woad warriors once did, but they are intelligent warriors. They take aspects for the local planet but have added a bit more modern styling in their look. To the locals they are both revered and feared, as the Druids, or oak seekers follow in the traditions of he storm series from the white scars ( which is partially why I am going with them as their parent chapter)' they initiate the trials for new recruits and are often the only members of the chapter that interact with the locals of their home world. My chapter however will not focus on the fast attack blitzkrieg style of attack as the white scars, as they will be fundamentally a codex chapter.m their focus will be determined after I can get my hands on more information on the new primaris marines.

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

Thanks, I did look over several Celtic tree icons, and was almost going for the circle for the tree of life. I chose this particular tree for two reasons, one that it was a mix of tribal and Celtic knotwork, and second it had a spear like appearance that still looked like a tree.

Ah, okay. I wasn't sure if that was a deliberate choice but I get where you're going with it now. In that case, and based on the stuff I read below I have a new name suggestion...

 

Again the name suggestion is nice, but I don't want to use sons of xxxxx or scions in the name. The reasons is because they are new and will be primaris marines so based on the leaked lore so far, they are created a bit differently than normal marines, so they won't have a particular hero and to start they are not as attached to the world directly to be named after it. I do plan to have the command staff originating from the parent chapter and the world they are given was a more recent recruitment world for that parent chapter, The reason I am avoiding space wolf lineage is I don't want the feral gene seed, and because the focus is on the Druids or psykers that influence the chapter. 

​That makes a lot of sense now, you have obviously thought it through a lot which is cool. I am not familiar with the Primaris lore as of yet. Didn't you mention Raven Gard as an alternative though? If you did, it is relevant to my new idea.

 

Now I do like the name oak seer, as I was originally going to go with bards for chaplains and ovates for the psykers, oak seer sounds cooler. Also I and mentioned that I plan to use woad markings for the bare skin, but instead of just the crude basic woad warpaint used by ancient celts, I was going to go with a more woad like tribal tattoo mix, so basically adding a bit of tribal stylization to the mix and jot entirely crude warpaint.

​Wikipedia is great for stuff like that as it goes into a lot of detail on the etymology and is usually pretty accurate with that. It is very useful for alternate meanings and variations on words that can be adapted to make names and titles for Chapters.

​That's pretty cool, reminds me of the Carcharodons chapter a little, but with a Celtic influence.

 

Essentially I want them to be a Celtic chapter themed around Druids and the nature. They will have inspiring characters but they are not savages, they just harken to a more feral nature in the heat of combat the way woad warriors once did, but they are intelligent warriors. They take aspects for the local planet but have added a bit more modern styling in their look. To the locals they are both revered and feared, as the Druids, or oak seekers follow in the traditions of he storm series from the white scars ( which is partially why I am going with them as their parent chapter)' they initiate the trials for new recruits and are often the only members of the chapter that interact with the locals of their home world. My chapter however will not focus on the fast attack blitzkrieg style of attack as the white scars, as they will be fundamentally a codex chapter.m their focus will be determined after I can get my hands on more information on the new primaris marines.

 

So, based on everything you said, I quickly thought of something else that could work namewise. Assuming you're still stuck for names that is, if not I'll stop if it isn't helping but I would find this useful to help an idea progress.

 

*Ignore the font change as I copied this from a Word Document where I put my ideas down.

 

Taranuons

Taranuo is a variant of Taranis, a god of thunder in Celtic mythology. Also associated with the Oak.

Raven Guard Successor Chapter

(Inspired by the Carcharodons, who are also a Raven Guard successor and make use of the Tribal artwork you mentioned as well as the more brutal approach which ties it all together with your Celtic-Tribal Oak symbol)

*Their fast attack/blitzkrieg style is also quite symbolic with the thunder/storm associations.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

For a more dynamic symbol, say it's of the "Oak Tree Nebula," which is visible from the Chapter planet. Maybe include local myths of how the colonists on the Chapter planet were driven from their original home world in the nebula, how they swore they would never forget the oath of vengeance their ancestors swore against the "Fomorians" (Orks) that conquered their original home world.

 

When the Space Marines claim the Chapter planet, the colonists welcome them as the "Tuatha De Imperator" (see legends of the Tuatha De Danann), whom the God-Emperor sent to aid the colonists in taking revenge upon the Fomorians. As the Marines fought or will fight the Orks, this happy coincidence is readily exploited.

[Conn Eremon]

Huzzah, another Celtic/Gaelic Chapter!

 

If you're still struggling to find an appropriate way to theme your Chapter off of these ideas, why don't you try listing the elements of druidic culture, Celtic history, mythology, society, etc. that most intrigue you or what you'd most like to incorporate. I've always found it easiest when I accumulate all the references first, then figure out how they apply. Builds a bit more synergy as well, as you can tie references and Chapter aspects together all at once rather than building each part up independently.

 

For example, my own Emerald Tigers are of Celtic origin, though I admit pretty superficially. I was interested in incorporating Irish elements both from their early, more tribal days and later feudal societies. The way in which the Tuatha De Danann were incorporated into later Irish mythologies was intriguing. Likewise, the way the later Milesians divided the world between themselves and the Tuatha De Danann was very similar to how the High King Conn Cetchathach was forced to divide Ireland into two kingdoms between himself and Mogh Nuadat.

 

Taking these references, I decided to have the home world of my Chapter culturally divided between hunter-gatherer tribal societies and more advanced feudal clan systems. Families whose sons are taken by the Chapter are given tokens, that the tribes see as great riches to be traded for needed resources and the Clans see as their divine right to rule, effectively proof of nobility, with both incorporating these scions as part of their pantheon of household gods, deified heroes. Space Marines are therefore the Tuatha De Danann to the mortal Milesians. I wanted the Chapter to have a rival, so I created the Highborn to be the Chapter's Mogh Nuadat.

 

This isn't nearly all of it, but I don't really want to go on and on about my own Chapter. The point simply is, if you could list the things that interest you about this source material, we can help you put it all together into a cohesive whole.

[Rizara]

Yes, I will look into some guidance as I put my fluff together. I am not a great writer, and while this isn't my first gelid chapter, it is one I have improved upon over nearly two decades. I however haven't painted a full army for them in several years due to constant brainstorming and college classes. This is actually my sixth attempt at a rebuild for the army as I have improved on the chapter ideas making them more and more Druid like. The color scheme has changed each time, but this and the last attempt shared similar colors, just the arrangement is different. I was even fortunate to have my third attempt (which only yielded a single painted squad) grace an issue of white dwarf for a chapter design contest.

 

Right now my only hang up is a name for the chapter I am happy with, which means the name has to sort of sound cool to me, so I have to say it a few times and see if it sounds interesting. I am still leaning towards the oaken spears, or just simple the oaken, but feel it needs to be oaken plus something since oaken means made of oak. I was just thinking spears because it is a weapon that is common amongst the celts, and one less used in the 40k setting, since most marine chapters use axe or swords in their names where weapons are used.

 

The nebula idea is interested, but I had already planned to use formorians (orks) in the lore for the planet anyways. I am very familiar with the Tuatha de Danann mythology, so was thinking of taking some aspects of that but not completely using it just some names and such.

[Conn Eremon]

Well, the reason why I brought that up (and promptly forgot to mention), is that in the past this process has helped me find an appropriate name. I honestly don't even remember what the prior names of the Angels Penumbral were, but it took me forever to settle upon their final name. It finally clicked as I continued to develop their character and identity beyond their name. Other Chapters of mine went through minor name changes before I was happy, and each were because I stopped struggling with the name and just continued past it. Knights of Sovereignty to the Knights Sovereign, Iron Crusaders to the Iron Hunters, Golden Guardians to the Guardians of Midas.

 

Basically, don't let yourself get hung up on a single detail, but develop around it. It doesn't matter what aspect it is, you'll generally find that what you previously couldn't figure out comes across as obvious once you've filled in more of the puzzle.

 

Oaken Spears is totally a solid name, but it's not the first or second name you've proposed, and you still seem unsure of it. We can continue to suggest ideas until you find a name that truly clicks, but I think you might be best served switching gears.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

How about "Obsidian Spears" or "Raven Lancers"? "Oaken" is no longer considered a martial adjective; those unfamiliar with what the tree symbolizes in Celtic mythology, will not fear an "oaken spear."

 

(Edit: I had to look up Wikipedia to know oak was considered a symbol of strength and endurance. Like the magpie, oak's meaning is lost to 21st Century readers.)

[Rizara]

Fair point, perhaps that is why it still doesn't click with me, it doesn't seem like it would impose any fear at all.   If my marines were going to be black, the Obsidian Spear might work.  The raven lancers is a nice name, but i am abandoning the bird aspect, but again that would work well if they were black or dark blue/purple.     I will start working out my fluff on paper, and see if something doesn't stand out to me along the way.