Index Traitoris: The Oathbreakers [WIP]

[Warsmith Onyx]

Origins :
The history of the Oathbreaker begins in the dark days of the Horus Heresy with the 56^th Grand Battalion of the Iron Warriors.
Sent to the far reaches of the Ultima Segmentum alongside the 158^th Expeditionnary Fleet, and soon forgotten afterwards, it was only with great delay that the Warsmith Onyx Agamman received the news of Horus’ treason.
While originally fighting for the loyalist side alongside elements from the Night Lords they had rescued, the dismissive attitude of the loyalist high command towards the 56^th and their allies made them grow increasingly resentful and agressive towards the Imperium.

Onyx and his men were to act behind enemy lines during most of the Heresy, stalking their prey before eliminating via boarding attacks.
This method of combat however soon started to take its toll on Onyx and his men, for it wasn’t very different from siege warfare – long moments of preparation in the ice cold depths of space followed by brief but vicious fights in the cramped corridors of spaceships.
Quickly their sanity started to erode, some even reported whispering voices in their heads. Voices that spoke of master that would value their contribution and justly reward them for it. The first of these cases were usually healed with a bolter round to the head, but as they became more common, with Night Lords and auxiliary elements reporting similar cases, Onyx’s frustration with the Imperium slowly turned into bitter resentment.

With each passing day he was more sickened by the attitude of the Imperial side, which sent them into one suicide mission after the other instead of recognizing their potential. Before long he started to understand what had driven his Primarch away from his Father's arms and he too started to drown in the despair that was all around him.

The last contact with Imperial forces occurred in the system of Sardonius, where the 56^th and what what was left of the 158^th expeditionary fleet had cornered a small Thousand Sons fleet fleeing Terra.
However, as soon as the 158^th’s ships got into communication range the Thousand Sons commander, merely calling himself The Seer, offered his surrender under the condition that he and Onyx could discuss the terms of his surrender on board of his vessel.
What words were exchanged during this most secret of meetings is lost to the ages, but once they were done, the 56^th Grand Battalion was no more. From their ashes the Oathbreakers had risen…

Iron within Iron Without, Ave Dominus Nox, the Oathbreakers have come for you.

The Warband:

If the Oathbreaker’s vassal warbands are not taken into account then the Oathbreakers can be divided as following
 

• The 56^th Grand battalion:
  Composed of what is left of the Original Iron Warriors of the 56^th as well as new Iron Warriors units that have either defected to Onyx or have been created thanks to progenoids stolen on the battlefield.
• The 27^th Assault Company – The Harvesters of Sorrow:
  Composed of Night Lords elements that were originally rescued on Istvaan V.
  Includes the Warp Claws of the Bleeding hands.
• The All-seeing eye:
  The witch coven of the Warband, led by the Seer, they induce in their ranks all those that display psychic talent and those whose mortal envelope was possessed by a Demon.
• The Forge of Despair:
  A dark Mechanicus enclave formed by the survivors of the Mechanicum delegation that accompanied the 158^th. They’re in charge of maintaining and forging demon Machines as well as transport vehicles for the Oathbreakers
• The Mortal Host:
  The mortal auxiliaries that accompany their augmented masters into battle.
  Several regiments with various degrees of training are present.
  
   

Notable Oathbreakers:

Warsmith Onyx Agamman:
Taciturn and unyielding, Onyx Agamman once was an exemplary Warsmith of the Iron Warriors.
A native Olympian, he was among the first of his planet to integrate his legion’s ranks.
However, as opposed to many of his peers that had lived relatively carefree existences as sons of the various tyrants that ruled Olympia, Onyx had grown up on the streets of Lochos. Where they were tutored and nurtured, Onyx lived from stealing and picking garbage, quickly learning how to defend his life.
His past often put him at odds with those that surrounded him, especially noble born officers who, in his mind didn’t recognise his talent. This made him paranoid, as he started seeing insults to his honour everywhere, making him shun most company except that of his closest battle-brothers.

Originally a Breacher sergeant, he got commended by Perturabo personally when his squad was responsible for breaching the walls of the Palace of Nightmares during the siege of Mar-Thresin.
His elevation to the rank of Warsmith followed shortly afterwards after the colossal errors of his predecessor – Warsmith Dareus, during the Gulf of Vanadium campaign.

However due to a twist of fate or political manipulations by one of his rivals, Onyx soon got assigned to lead the 158th Expeditionary fleet, effectively removing him from all power plays and political games within the legion.
After the Atrocities at Istvaan V, he swore to choke the Warmaster to death, before proceeding to tear a bloody path through the Warmaster’s rearguard.

Following his progressive disillusionment with the Imperial and subsequent defection from their ranks, he has fled into the eye of Terror, establishing himself on Iracundia after being guided there by the Demon Shig’An and the Seer.
Due to his paranoid nature, he very rarely leaves his Fortress, constantly fortifying it against an enemy attack that could come “any minute” according to him.


Sor “Leatherface” Kaal:

The Seer:

Demon Prince Abraxas the thrice Cursed:

The Empire Of Steel:

The Conquest of Iracundia:

After fleeing to the Eye of Terror, the Oathbreakers found themselves in a difficult situation.
In fact, they were now in the territory of those they had hunted during the Horus Heresy.

Soon the word of their arrival spread amongst those traitors that had already established themselves within the Eye, and many were eager to avenge their brothers Onyx and Sor Kaal had once slain.

As the attacks succeeded each other and the losses stacked up, the Warsmith started to grow more and more brooding, secluding himself in his own quarters with the Seer for often days at a time. What happened there, no one but them knows, but sentries posted nearby sometimes reported screams and otherworldly voices.

In what seemed to many of his peers as the last act of an already mad commander, Onyx steered the last three ships of the Oathbreaker flotilla towards a small, undefended uncharted region in the southernmost region of the Eye of Terror. His only explanation as to why, was that the providence of all those that had followed him lay over there.
When they finally arrived there, they discovered a small and undefended system of two planets orbiting a red dwarf.
Onyx, with an unexpected burst of extraversion otherwise so contrary to his taciturn nature, ordered that all Marines were to make planetfall on the bigger of the two planets. A voice in his head was calling him from there.

As he landed, the voice grew stronger, more enthralling, and Onyx followed it until the highest mountaintop of the Planet.
There, trapped within the ice, he found a small temple dedicated to the owner of the voice in his head.

Once he had freed the temple from the ice, the owner finally manifested itself. An ancient Demon of Tzeentch going by the name of Shig’An, had lured the Iron Warrior there in hopes of possessing his lifeless hull, thus escaping its millennia old prison.

Confronted with his destiny, Onyx fought bitterly, but to no avail. It was only toying with him, until finally it struck the final blow…

As he was lying in the snow, watching his life fade away from him, Shig’An was preparing itself to enter his body. But as the ritual came close to completion, Sor Kaal intervened.
Before the foul demon could enter his body, he threw himself between it and Onyx, thus imprisoning the demon within his body, failing to die only through sheer willpower.

***

When Onyx finally woke up within the medbay of his flagship, he ordered the mountain with the temple at its top to be flattened from orbit.
There, he’d build his fortress, and in remembrance of what happened there, he called the planet Iracundia.

Iracundia:

The small system now baptised the Iracundia System is located in the galactic south of the Eye of terror. No mention of it existed prior to the occupation by the Oathbreakers. However, several pirate groups have used it as a base of operations as was evidenced by the discovery of a vast network of underground vaults and caves on the planet designed to stock plunder and the pirate crews themselves should the need arise.

Under the Warsmith’s command, this vast network of caves has been expanded over the centuries and fortified with countless missile silos and laser batteries.
In addition to the fact that it connects every fortress and manufactorum present on the planet’s surface, with a set of heavily armoured convoys running between them.
These so called “Panzer-Trains” ferry countless tons of ammunition and supplies from manufactoria to the fortresses on a daily basis while assuring that every noteworthy point on the planet is connected. In addition to that, in case of an attack they guarantee a fast deployment of defending units, as opposed to the enemy forces that will have to wade through kilometres of harsh terrain in temperatures below zero before even reaching the main defensive installations.

On the freezing surface of the planet, only small feral human settlements existed, driven mad by Shig’An’s presence, they usually fought each other and revered the demon in some form or another. They’re kept alive following the wishes of the Night Lords as they often hunt them to hone their skills.
Once living in most mountain ranges, they have been forced to retreat to the polar regions of iracundia following the flattening of many mountains in order to build or expand current structures.


Hanging menacingly above the planet’s surface, is the planet’s moon of Iracundia Secundus, it serves as a research facility for several enclaves of the Dark Mechanicum allied with the Oathbreakers.
During the long nights on Iracundia, it glows in a sickish green, testament to the countless toxic weapons the Magii have released on its surface.
Each solar month, convoy ships of slaves depart for Iracundia Secundus from the many manufactoria of the planet, filled with slaves that want to escape their bitter lives at the hand of their transhuman masters.
Little do they know that most of them will end as test subjects in gruesome experiments, or at best end up as a brainwashed soldier servitor, living only to defend their master’s fief.




This is the fluff for my Iron Warriors and Night Lords warband.
It's very much a WIP at the moment, so don't hesitate to c&c.
I'll also try to start a plog for them in the next day to show the expansion of my (currently) small warband

Edited December 26, 2017 by Warsmith Onyx

[bloodhound23]

I like the idea and look forward to seeing more.

 

Tying together disparate elements of CSM factions via a piece of writing is an excellent thing to do. Not enough people do it, but I think you have an excellent example of it here.

 

I look forward to seeing some minis as well.

[Warsmith Onyx]

thanks so much.
I wanted to justify the fact that I have marines painted in both colour schemes.
I also plan on there being something more between both groups than "they're just fighting together because they got hired", they're together since 10000 years.Some form of bond inevitably forms I guess.

As for the models, I should start a WIP thread soon. However given that my midterm exams are soon, it could be delayed until after said exams.
I'll try to do my best though

[Warsmith Onyx]

Small update:
I've started to write the biography of the main characters of the Warband as well as how the Oathbreakers got to their current homeworld.

C&C welcome as always

[Doctor Perils]

Iron Within, Iron Without, brother! I find it interesting to see a mixed warband led by an Iron Warriors faction, which I believe is fairly original, so kudos :tu:

 

I always like to see a short introduction to an article, which should give a glimpse at what the DIY is about, what they are doing, that kind of thing - an aperitif to whet the appetite for the meal that is the rest of the article to come.

With this should be presented a few bulletpoints that show elements of the DIY's identity, including Legion(s) of origin, name of leader, chaos god (or entity) they follow (if any), the colours they wear (including symbol if any) etc.

 

If I were you, I'd group together the different elements of the Warbands history: at the moment, you bisect it by placing the conquest of Iracundia after the in-depth analysis of the characters, which breaks the flow of the narrative to some extent.

When writing the history of the Warband, try and treat it like a history book - the prose may be slightly drier, but the important part is that it should sound like it happened in the past. The main part of the "Origins" section works in that way, but the way the "Conquest of Iracundia" is written sounds like someone writing it down at the same time, which is a bit confusing; think of the style differences between a history manual and a short story - an Index Astartes/Index Traitoris is generally more in the style of a History manual, sometimes with added images and documentary excerpts (which can more easily be written in a short story style)

 

Finally, I'd like to see more of Onyx's main objective and motivation - you have some interesting elements of backstory to him, like his childhood as a prideful street urchin in Lochos, and his exile from the political struggles at the heart of the Legion, so what would these push him to attempt at this point in time, at the very beginning of M42?

I must admit (spoilers because the following is my opinion which I don't want to force on you)

I don't see this make him want to retreat into his bastion - instead, I see him want to lash back out at the fools that command the Legion and who once looked down on him. Strike back at the instigators of the Heresy which toppled the Empire he had helped to build. Take his revenge on the followers of the God that tried to possess him...

Whereas Perturabo's paranoia urges him to barricade himself within an ever growing fortress/prison of his own making, I see Onyx's paranoia fuel his rage and ambition to try and take back what has always been denied him.