IA: Vigilants of Estare

[Dosjetka]

[initialising text output...]

Chapter theme: The Vigilants of Estare make extensive use of prognostication, have a love-hate relationship with their psykers, and would rather die than let one of their foes escape their wrath.

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Origins

The Howling, a cataclysmic event that saw billions of psykers killed, the Astronomican temporarily dimmed, millions of ships lost to the tides of the Warp, and thousands of systems cut off from the wider Imperium tore the God-Emperor's realm apart in the early days of the 34th millennium. Still reeling from the shock of such a catastrophe, the High Lords of Terra initiated the 8th Founding which saw the birth of Chapter 473.
In an effort to liberate and reconnect with a resource-rich and heavily populated area known as the Kalathite Gulf in the south-west Segmentum Tempestus, an Imperial Crusade was initiated in circa 480.M34. To ensure the region could enjoy relative peace and stability after its liberation the High Lords of Terra ordered that Chapter 473 be stationed there once the Gulf was brought back under Imperial control. Once the Chapter was at half-strength it was placed under the mentorship of the Red Sabres, joined the Dalibor Crusade, and set course for the south-western galactic fringe.
The Crusade lasted seventeen years and saw as many as forty-eight planets and much of the Kalathite Gulf brought back into Imperial control. The young Chapter fought alongside many elements of the Imperium's military forces and quickly gained a reputation for single-minded commitment to their battles that bordered the suicidal but also their determination to track down and fully eradicate their foes with overwhelming force. Once the Dalibor Crusade was declared finished the battle-hardened remnants of Chapter 473, who had fought bitterly for the Estare system against an Ork Waaagh!, asserted their rights of recruitement and put down the foundations for their future Fortress-Monastery on the planet of Estare VII.

Home World

Estare VII is the closest inhabitable planet from the system's sun. As a consequence it has a harsh, dry climate. It is seperated from the rest of the system by a dense asteroid field known as the Silver Mantle. While this serves as a protective ring, it was also the base of operations for raiders and renegades fleeing from Imperial authorities in the centuries before the Dalibor Crusade and the population of Estare VII suffered greatly from their parasitical presence.
The Estarii are hardy folk who mostly live in nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes who roam the planet's large continents, fighting both vicious predators and each other to ensure their continued survival.
A larger-than-normal amount of psykers has been noticed among the Estarii. The presence of these Warp-touched men and women has had a polarising effect within the various tribes but the majority of the population consider psykers to be the god Ravh's messengers and rely in them to guide their movements across the barren plains in search of food and water. In other communities psykers are driven off into the wilderness to die or sacrificed to Ravh once their "gift" has been uncovered.
Due to the planet's proximity to the sun and dry climate a large amount of Estarii revere Ravh, the God of Light and King of the Sky. When Ecclesiarchy missionaries set foot on the planet they chose to associate this deity with the God-Emperor instead of attempting to stamp out a deeply-rooted belief system.

Beliefs

Since first setting foot on the planet, aspects of the various Estarii cultures have rooted themselves in Chapter 473. After the whole Chapter fought off the twin threats of an Ork Waaagh! and a Chaos incursion in the Estare system over the span of six years in mid-M35, the surviving Astartes gathered on the surface their home world and, both in recognition of their close relationship with the people of Estare VII and their role as defenders of the system, chose to name themselves the Vigilants of Estare.
Two aspects have flourished within the Chapter's ranks and left a permanent mark on the Vigilants: the extensive use of prognostication and the solar cult of Ravh.

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Hidden Content

Colour hexes used:

• Armour: #728796
• Soft armour: #7A7A7A
• Metal bits: #A1A1A1
• Eye lenses: #EDD953
• Chest: #C7C39F

Edited January 15, 2018 by Chaplain Dosjetka

[WarriorFish]

It's a good start (better than mine, but that's not hard ). Where did the Estare name come from, or was it just one of those names that popped up from nowhere?

 

Prognostication is quite fun to play with, as it can go in a few directions. My DIY does the same which let me introduce the Eldar as "frenemies" because they do the same so the two often meet and sometimes with the same goal (but also not...). It ends up being so important that the Chief Librarian and his formidable power becomes very influential - could be an interesting angle for the Vigilants with their love-hate relationship to psykers? Speaking of which, the Imperium as a whole has this so you might want to elaborate on this in more detail and the differences?

 

Do you have other bits you'll be adding, like colour schemes and preferred units/weapons etc?

[Doctor Perils]

So, a good start - however, some of the wording might be better put forward: in particular, the first sentence takes up a whopping 9 lines on the phone, and you end up getting muddled between explanations of the howling and the chapter itself. Cut the sentence in half: first explain the howling (set the context); *then* speak of chapter 473.

Explaining the chapters theme for the reader is good :tu: however, I'd trim it down a bit - the fact that they are sons of Dorn doesn't actually have much bearing on their character; similarly, all chapters want to exterminate foes with fury, so the last part doesn't really have much bearing on what makes the Vigilants unique. Instead, focus on their love-hate relationship to psykers, as this is the true core of your concept.

However, do add summary information (incl

Founding, ascent etc.) In a separate list.

 

You go into how different tribes on estare see psykers in different ways, but not into how this affects the intertribal relations - do they go to war over these differences of opinion, or do they mostly keep to themselves; if they do go to war, how do the anti-psykers tribes stay intact, in the absence of pariahs (who are incredibly rare). These relations can also set the basis for how these two kinds of tribes then integrate into the chapter - how does the love/hate relationship manifest in the day to day running of the chapter? Do different marines have different views, with one half of the chapter venerating the librarians and the other half just hating them, or is it less clear cut, with each Marine having a grudging respect for each side of the argument?

[Dosjetka]

Thanks to you both for your comments. :tu: I've edited a few things in my original write-up to answer some of the questions or criticisms that you had though I have yet to add anything new (working on it, should be posted sometime next week).

 

WF: I originally wanted to call them Vigilants of Stendarr but thought the reference might be a little too obvious. :P Estare simply means "planet" in Kurdish.

Yep, prognostication will be fun to play around with though I plan to go further into it than just having an influential Chief Librarian. And yes, I'll be adding favourite tactics/units/weapons but since that isn't the focus of the IA it will probably come towards the end of my article.

 

Thørn: I've edited that first sentence and the Chapter theme: I think they are both better now. Let me know what you think.

I'll be delving into the psyker/anti-psyker aspect in my article but I'm not sure I'll add much more about the tribes themselves as I don't want to Home World section to 1) go into too much detail (this is a brief overview of the planet and its inhabitants, and how they relate and interact with the Chapter) and 2) take up too much space.

Edited September 8, 2017 by Chaplain Dosjetka

[WarriorFish]

The Eldar Elder Scrolls games do have a very deep lore behind them (really deep, if you read further!) so there's nothing wrong with taking some inspiration from there :P