THE LIBER CLUSTER II

[Beren]

Numidians it is then.

[Kelborn]

All hail the Gravewalkers!

[Dosjetka]

Cheers for the answer(s), Ace & co. I think I'll wait a little longer before I participate in this exercise/project. I'm currently not interested in Primaris nor anything Chaos-related. Good luck with continuing with this project. :tu:

[Machine God]

The Enlightened - Check.

[Ace Debonair]

Numidians it is then.

 

Fine choice.

 

Feel free to just throw in bits of any culture that strikes you as cool, though - the Romans had auxiliaries all over the place, so a sort of melting-pot style throw-it-all-in approach to the Chapter is probably best anyway.

 

 

Cheers for the answer(s), Ace & co. I think I'll wait a little longer before I participate in this exercise/project. I'm currently not interested in Primaris nor anything Chaos-related. Good luck with continuing with this project.

That's fine, brother.

 

The old guard of Liberite Chapters are going to be very much involved with the mini-campaigns in the next round, so hopefully something there will strike the right chords for you.

 

-=-=

 

Not gonna lie, I am pretty hyped about working on the Argent Claws.

Considering I rolled my result last, it must be The Emperor's will.

 

I might go for Combat Doctrine (or Beliefs, maybe), if only because I do tend to focus a little too much on homeworlds and recruitment when left to my own devices.

[Nomus Sardauk]

@SanguiniusReborn, which Angels Exultant were you assigned combat doctrine for? The original chapter (which you've written for, seems nice) or the Refounded Primaris chapter?

[Kelborn]

Hehe :D

 

I'll take that as a compliment. Tbh, I got some key facts written down during the beginning of the Liber Cluster II. If you're interested, I'll gladly share.

 

If I may, I would like to share a piece of art I've found back then. (can be found over here: https://www.deviantart.com/tag/inuit?offset=0)

 

Do as you like. ;)

[Dizzyeye01]

All hail the Gravewalkers!

Looking forward to what you comr up with for the Gravewalkers. If it helps, I initially took inspiration from the Sparran IIs from Halo for recruitment and combat doctrine.

 

In any case, I'vd got a few interesting ideas with the Cadre so its timd to put fingers to keys :)

[Machine God]

The Enlightened.

 

Beliefs:

 

Suffice to say that the process of the White Scar Successor turning to a renegade chapter substantially molded it's beliefs.

 

Ever the outsiders, the far striding Legion, the inherited beliefs from their ancient forebears have saved The Enlightened. Whilst the chapters of other legions of the adeptus astartes are like a steel sword forged in fire, strong but inflexible, the Iron Light that survives in The Enlightened is the flexible compound bow. Faced with an intolerant code left by the Emperor and then by the monolithic Imperium of Man, created to fight chaos in all its forms The Enlightened were forced to find their own path. Whilst they have been forced to fight on the outside for their own side they have embraced their union with the Aelderi of Farseer Uru. To fight Chaos and stand against the Night.

 

The Alliance between The Enlightened and their Aeldari allies is to say an unusual one. Khan Dreathan has forged an alliance that has paid dividends to his diminished chapter. Khan Dreathan and his Storm-Seer advisors believe that their fight against Chaos is aided by the Aeldari of Farseer Uru and the portents in the winds have been favourable.

 

They have forged a full union with those who have been miss-judged as mercurial. The swift process of war that The Enlightened practice meshes flawlessly with those of the Aeldari.

 

The Enlightened believe that their example of union with the Aeldari could show them in a good light to those humans that are in opposition to the Imperium of Man.

[Teetengee]

Abyssal Stalkers

Clearance Accepted

---

Begin Audio Transcript

 

Forgiveness is a lie! Absolution is a sin! The differential compurgations of Istvaan show there is no honor in the servants of the corpse god. Honest are the four. Their demands are bloody, and harsh, but never have they lied to you. Their unbreakable promise….

Transcript Canceled.

---

Heresy, surely, to claim anything but lies come from the great enemy. Still, my research (corroborated by Interrogation Records IX402930-403089) suggest that the Abyssal Stalkers once sought penitence in the events of the Horus Heresy for the sins of their legion (Cross reference [REDACTED]), but were wisely rejected due to the taint of chaos already on their flesh. Instead of accepting the offered salvation in death, they have embraced these hellish masters and made a mission of tracking down any alleged to have been deemed free of taint in those trying days, even those whose abominable perversions have later come to fruition (Cross reference Blackened Fists). This misguided hatred of those who they believe received what they, the Eternal Hunters, deserved has driven the warband to reject and “punish” those who would harbor “false” penitents. For this very reason, I believe their preferred targets are those who fought with them against the Istvaan traitors but were later accepted into the ranks of Blackshield regiments.

 

 

Annotated except from the Interrogation-Trial of Grand Inquisitor [REDACTED]

 

Thought for the day, “Blessed are the ignorant.”

[Ace Debonair]

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

Combat Doctrine:

 

The Argent Claws are somewhat atypical amongst Primaris Chapters when it comes to waging warfare. The Seawolves of Askar are huge, powerful animals - strong enough to carry a Primaris Space Marine, in armour, without losing much speed. The Argent Claws keep a well-supplied pen of tamed Seawolves, specifically bred for use in war. These large, ferocious creatures are strong enough to cause significant damage even to tanks or power armour with strikes or bites, and a squad of Seawolf-mounted Intercessors or Reivers can cause absolute havoc in battle, firing at exposed targets before closing for the kill.

 

The Chapter relies greatly on mobility on its' flanks, using Seawolf cavalry supported by Inceptors and Reivers to outmanoeuvre enemies, harass them and pin them in place, while the centre line advances on them, a bristling wall of marines, tanks and firepower that obliterates any foe unlucky enough to be caught in its path.

 

Typically the Argent Claws will focus first on any fast-moving elements of an enemy force, denying a foe any ability to use the Claws' own preferred tactics against them. In siege situations, the Claws save their faster-moving elements for when the walls are breached. Few things can clear a path through a breached wall like a squadron of Seawolf Cavalry with Inceptor support.

 

-=-=-=

[Kelborn]

Interesting take on them, Ace. Thank you for that.

 

I once intended to give them a focus on infantry tactics with flanking sea wolves squad.

 

Yours is a good start to further expand on later on. :)

 

Aside from that, I forgot that I'll be on vacation and thus, won't be able to contribute in time. Sorry.

[Beren]

Surviving fragment of 'A Comprehensive Treatise Upon the Domains of the Liber Cluster Astartes’ recovered two years ago. Fragment pertains to the Warshields Chapter of Astartes.

 

...t in truth the natives of Athemeda are only semi-nomadic, their tribes returning to the sizeable rocky outcrops that litter the inhabited portion of the planet year after year. Territorial disputes over such locations typically make for the fiercest conflicts. Tribesmembers will often carry icons and keepsakes carved out of the rock of their homes even as the tribe travels far from it, for a little while at least. The largest of these, a plateau once inhabited by two neighbouring tribes, oft appears abandoned yet shunned all the same. For that is the abode of the Warshields.

 

This plateau is of course not left entirely undefended, but barring automated systems and a scarce few chapter serf custodians the Chapter may well depart their stronghold en masse to come to the aid of their allies, relying upon the planets extensive orbital defenses to protect it. This is particularly true when they are called upon by their predecessor Chapter, the Lords Inviolate, to act as outriders and engage in hit and run tactics within larger campaigns. The only times at which the Warshields can be guaranteed to be present is when the time has come to garner new recruits, or to build a stone cairn upon a newly gained or repaired ship do that their fallen may rest until returned home.

 

Another aspect of the Warshields homeworld transplanted to the Chapter is their lamentable- if at least having the virtue of being honest- diplomatic capabilities. While each tribe may have their own traditions and customs these are all but ignored within inter-tribal interactions. This social evolution is the result of negotiations that are typically short, direct and have no room for misunderstanding to better fit the military alliances that typically result from such meetings alongside whatever trade agreements th...

Edited July 8, 2018 by Beren

[WG101]

The Inquisitor glanced once more across the reports arrayed before him. The Liber Cluster was on the precipice of war, and every single piece of information that could be gleaned from the intelligence his agents had gathered so painstakingly could be the crucial detail that brought about Imperial victory.

 

Know thyself, and know thy enemy, as the old mantra went.

 

The Inquisitor sighed, and turned back to the data-slate in his hand.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

Alrighty then brothers - I've suddenly got a day off, so I'm going to set up the second and final round of the Writing Challenge.

 

But before that: A hearty thank you and congratulations to everyone who took part in round one for getting the submissions in on time!

Sterling work, brothers. You do the Liber proud!

 

 

Now, on to round 2!

 

The challenge, as before, will be to write up a 200-500 word expansion that covers one or more of the following topics: Homeworld*, Beliefs, Combat Doctrine, or Organisation.

 

*If the chapter/warband is fleet-based, then replace 'homeworld' with 'recruitment'.

 

Renegades:

 

The Enlightened - Machine God

The Jus Naufragii - Sanguinius Reborn*

The Gravewalkers - Kelborn

 

Primaris:

 

The Sons of Morrigan - WG101

The Argent Claws - Ace Debonair

The Warshields - Beren

 

Chaos:

 

The Singala Cadre - Dizzyeye

The Abyssal Stalkers - Teetengee

 

 

OK! So if anyone would like to write for a different faction or bow out of round two for whatever reason (fluff burnout happens, we can revisit this later if we need to) just say the word and I'll make the required adjustments.

 

I've tried where possible to stick to the alignments people requested first time around, hopefully I've succeeded.

 

Let's call the deadline for this round the 25th of July - but if we all finish our tasks early we can move on ahead of schedule.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A quick note on the Warshields:

 

So where the Lords Inviolate draw a lot of inspiration from ancient Rome, their successor was based on the Auxiliaries used by the Roman Legions - offered full Roman citizenship but yet not entirely Roman. Hence, the Warshields work closely with the Lords Inviolate to the point of basically being an extension of the Lords, despite also remaining a separate entity.

 

My original idea was that the Warshields would be like the 'barbarians of Gaul' to the Lords' Roman Citizens.

...Then I remembered the Aetheric Swords (which I originally submitted for the First Cluster) were also based on ancient Gaul... About a week after I posted the Warshields.

 

But the Romans used auxiliaries from lots of places, so now I'm thinking something more African, if only because the image of Space Marines using a more grimdark Wakanda as a homeworld won't leave my head.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

 

* Sanguinius, if you'd rather do a section for the Primaris Angels Exultant, just say the word - that's fine too. If so, we can either have a space open for anyone else who might want to join in, or worst comes to worst I'll just write up something for the Jus Naufragii too.

 

 

 

Dosjetka (or anyone else who wants to join in) - There's always room for more fleshing out of stuff. If you want in, I can assign you a Chapter to write a section for - it'll be one of the ones we've just covered, so you'll have to pick a section that hasn't been done already, but there's still plenty of room for cool ideas and fresh developments.

 

EDIT:

Added little details like the deadline and what the challenge actually requires.

Only just saw this today I'm on holiday right now and I'm not in a good position to write anything at the moment. Sorry about that I won't be getting back for nearly 2 weeks I'll try to write something up when I get back.

[Nomus Sardauk]

I'm more than happy to do a section for the Primaris Angels. :)

[Ace Debonair]

Cheers for the answer(s), Ace & co. I think I'll wait a little longer before I participate in this exercise/project. I'm currently not interested in Primaris nor anything Chaos-related. Good luck with continuing with this project.

 

Fair play, brother.

Anything xenos-related that catches your interest? We're always in need of interesting extra-terrestrial threats in the Liber Cluster, and there'll be room for them in the upcoming mini-campaigns.

 

Aside from that, I forgot that I'll be on vacation and thus, won't be able to contribute in time. Sorry.

Only just saw this today I'm on holiday right now and I'm not in a good position to write anything at the moment. Sorry about that I won't be getting back for nearly 2 weeks I'll try to write something up when I get back.

First off, enjoy your respective holidays!

 

Secondly, don't worry about it - if worst comes to worst and nobody else volunteers to step in, I'll write something up for the Gravewalkers and the Sons of Morrigan.

Emperor knows I have enough ideas to go around!

 

 

EDIT:

 

I'm more than happy to do a section for the Primaris Angels.

Then write away, brother!

A unique opportunity here - not often you get to write about a Chapter that died and the one that replaced it!

 

 

If you want that to be your assignment instead of the Jus Naufragii, that's fine. Or you could do both if you're feeling particularly crazy!

Edited July 10, 2018 by Ace Debonair

[Machine God]

Hi Ace Debonair.

 

I tried to PM Olis about contributing to Liber Cluster II but the PM failed as he cannot receive messages.

 

Hopefully he'll pop by anyway.

[Olis]

Hi Ace Debonair.

 

I tried to PM Olis about contributing to Liber Cluster II but the PM failed as he cannot receive messages.

 

Hopefully he'll pop by anyway.

 

[Ace Debonair]

Oh hey, the ritual worked.

Greetings, brother, and welcome back!

[Olis]

Hail brothers. It's been too long. Yeah, my messages inbox is a little full, even more so now that I am currently a retired Mod, not an actual one. So, how are things going? Anyone fancy giving me some cliff-notes? ^_^

[Ace Debonair]

Currently we are engaged in a writing challenge; taking one of the Primaris Chapters/Renegades/Heretics that were submitted for Liber Cluster II and fleshing them out by writing 200-500 words on Homeworld/Recruitment, Organisation, Combat Doctrine or Beliefs.

 

Kelborn's said he won't be able to complete a planned addition for the Gravewalkers, so there's space for another writer if you're feeling up to the challenge, brother.

 

If not that's fine too - after the 25th I plan to move on to a couple of mini-campaigns that involve forces both old and new, so there will be some story developments once we've got everyone fleshed out a little bit.

 

Before I forget, the deadline for the writing Challenge is the 25th - so plenty of time yet.

[Olis]

Challenge accepted. I think I might try to add to the Gravewalkers by writing about their Homeworld/Recruitment. It'll have to be something short and sweet, I gotta go to a party later tonight.

 

It's certainly subject to change, given the short period of time this has been initially written, and C&C is always welcome. 

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

With no known homeworld, it is surmised that the Gravewalkers actually operate from a dispersed fleet. Elements of their forces rarely operate en masse, with few sightings reporting more than a single squadron of vessels, leading Inquisitors such as Master Atronr and Gaelius Marque to give conservative estimates of the size of the renegade force. Of course, such conclusions lead to further theories which may or may not be true - the likes of body-snatching, gene-seed theft and dark pacts are commonly laid at the feet of the Gravewalkers.

 

 

++Single pict capture of the hijacked cruiser Orion's Hammer. Currently presumed to be the Gravewalkers flagship++

 

While the events of the Grythian Harrrowing and the Artanias Incursions appear to lend credence to the theory that the Gravewalkers recruit through snatching children, Inquisitor Atronr has himself pointed to the fact that the perpetrators were never positively identified, even though the Gravewalkers were known to be in the vicinity. Dissected corpses of known members of the Gravewalkers point to standard primaris astartes physiology, implying that the Gravewalkers were not consorters of Chaos. This, in turn - as Inquisitor Marque asserts - would suggest that they use standard Imperial processes to augment and produce recruits to their organisation. 

 

It is perhaps of little surprise to the Gravewalkers themselves that few could believe that their numbers are sustained, at least in part, by the populace of the ships they operate. Piracy and reaving are, of course, a means to an end but don't fully supplant the controlled and exploitable masses below decks. In times of hardship, recruits from the crew families have sustained the Gravewalkers where no other source of manpower can be had.

[Dosjetka]

Ace: I might have some time in mid/late August but it's not guaranteed. I'll poke my head back in here around that time if I have some spare time on my hands. :tu:

[Ace Debonair]

Just a gentle reminder that the Writing Challenge's second round draws to a close tomorrow, brothers.

 

I'm not an unreasonable chap and if anyone wants a few more days for inspiration/free time to strike then that's fine.

 

 

If not, I've got plenty of writing to do - I aim to have at least one of these sections fleshed out for each of the new factions just to add a little depth to them before we move into the mini-Campaigns.

 

 

 

Speaking of which, I'm intending to have two mini campaigns on the go, each with its' own goal and agenda.

Here's what I've got planned so far:

 

 

 

The first will be a series of battles between the Imperium and a xeno faction, with the aim of giving the Primaris Chapters chance to rub shoulders with the Liberite Chapters of old, with plenty of room for friction and clashes of ideals.

 

The coming of the Primaris Chapters is a major shake-up for the traditional Chapters. They're not simply more marines, but Space Marines not created by the Emperor's own hand. Of course, they were given the seal of approval of a Primarch whose words have shaped warfare and the Space Marine way of life for ten millennia, so there's certainly room for acceptance of these new marines, but I can't imagine such acceptance would be immediate.

 

 

The second will be the first (but certainly not only ) serious Chaos incursion, with some of the Liberite Chapters pitted against not only the forces of Chaos, but trying to keep the Renegades faction from gaining traction in a particular system.

 

 

This one will likely not have a happy ending for the loyalists.

You thought the Sereiki Lions were bad news? Up until now the Cluster's had it easy.

 

Two very different, but very real threats, with a broadly similar goal - break the Imperium's grip on the Liber Cluster.

The devil's in the details, of course - this could just as easily be a three-way battle for supremacy rather than a display of unity against the Imperium.

 

 

 

The actual factions involved are still up in the air, but there won't be loads and loads involved in either.

 

Don't fret though - any Chapters/Warbands/Dirty Xenos that are left out of these skirmishes will still have plenty to do further down the line.

 

I'll mull over exactly how this is going to work (and how many factions will be involved in each mini-campaign) and post the actual next step once the deadline for the Writing Challenge is over.

[Kelborn]

Eager to see it, Ace.

 

And thank you, Olis, for covering the Gravewalkers! :tu: