Vigilus Fluff/Lore Summary

[Lord Marshal]

For those of you who don't intend to pick up the book but still want a summary of sorts, I figured I'd write something up.

Be forewarned that I'm giving it a rough, quick pass now and will fill it in with more depth. Eventually. Some details will have been glossed over.

Also a note to Black Templar fans that they don't even get a mention outside of having one company in the 'this is a list of all the forces taking part'. Just thought I'd let you down before hand since I know the Sword Brethren stuff probably got you excited. Interestingly, the Cadian 8th are still a thing - or at least were reformed - under "Creed's Legacy".

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AS WE KNOW... Vigilus stands at the very edge of the Imperium Nihilus and Segmentum Obscurus.

Vigilus' population live exclusively around several Hivesprawls. The wastes themselves are akin to an ocean, with dust storms that - even with protective equipment - will flay somebody alive within hours and that's not mentioning the predators. Every Hive relies upon another for a commodity - one produces most of the water, one grows most of the food, one produces the psy-fields that keep the Hives safe, etc. It is ruled over by the Aquilarian Council who are as self-serving and bickering as you'd expect.

When the Great Rift spawned, the Council enforced a nightly curfew on all citizens. Looking up at the Great Rift was outlawed, although most people can't see it anyway due to the great smog clouds, but glimpses can occasionally be made out. Notably there's visages of screaming faces. Many inhabitants begin having horrible nightmares. There's a blurb that mentioning Gulliman's decree about dates. Due to the Great Rift causing reality and time to become even more messed up, every sub-sector is having to look to recording it's own chronology with the appearance of the Rift as it's defining point.

As per the Speed Freakz box, the Orks arrive out of the Great Rift. The force fields however keep them out of the Hives proper and they content themselves with racing one another around the wastes.

The Genestealer Cult known as the Pauper Princes also have a major presence on Vigilus, one that runs surprisingly - or not - deep. Something to note here is that they're mentioned as being an off-shoot of Princes elsewhere and that Cults regularly send members (usually Pureblood Genestealers) elsewhere to begin seeding another, however they usually keep the iconography and colours of their parent Cult. This is presumably heralding 'Chapter Tactics' for Codex: Genestealer cults, as well as making the potential lore for Your Dudes a bit less cryptic than "they're doomed to one uprising and then get nom'ed by 'Nids."

The Great Rift growing larger manages to mess with the psy-fields that protect the Hivesprawls however, although at least one was deliberately shut down by the Genestealer Cults. Within hours, the Orks have discovered this and begin pouring themselves against the defences. It's worth noting Vigilus is a very devout world, with the Vigilus Guard being particularly devout and housing a large contingent of Sisters of Battle. As we know from Tooth and Claw the Ork invasion forces the Genestealer Cult to pre-emptively begin it's uprising. Imperial forces are caught between the Orks from without and now the Genestealer Cultists within.

The Space Marines aren't here yet, so of course things can only get worse. An ancient vessel arrives in-system, landing at Dontoria despite repeated calls to stop. Arbites and Guardsmen surround it, only for Gellarpox Infected to rush forth, although they're quickly put down. A contingent of Death Guard then reveal themselves and overwhelm the defenders. They go to ground and the Arbites who attempt to flush them out never return. The Rogue Trader Delarique du Languille recognises the Gellarpox and petitions Dontoria be quarantined.

The Iron Hands, Brazen Claws and Space Wolves had already been enroute to Vigilus before the Great Rift spawned and as such are the first to arrive. Not wanting to bother with the useless, self-serving Aquilarian Council who thus far had remained firmly on the defensive, they coordinate only with one another to push forces back from Megaborealis. They realise they need reinforcements as enroute they encountered many worlds under Chaos attack. A dozen chapters prepare to reinforce it after being informed of Vigilus' newly realised importance.

Calgar gets a vision from Tigurius. At first glad to see the apparition of his old friend, the Chief Librarian then puts a finger to his head and imparts terrible images and visions into Calgar's mind regarding Vigilus, which he quickly deciphers as being somewhere he should probably hurry up and get to. He vows not to let Vigilus fall. Calgar's fleet - including many Indominus Chapters - struggles through the Warp given the existence of the Great Rift. A great many Librarians go mad, die or else manfiest daemonic mutations from the effort. Tigurius succeeds in giving the fleet the final push it needs, but is left radically aged from the effort.

The Marines arrive on Vigilus in force. They coordinate with local forces whilst Calgar marches to the Aquilarian Council and Planetary Governor. They are found wanting for their squabbles and selfishness, but as they're rounding up, it is revealed at least one of them was a Genestealer Cultist. A brief fight breaks out where several more - including staff - are also revealed to be such. Eventually most of the Council is killed or taken away, with a select handful - chosen by Calgar - retaining their positions. The Vigilus Senate then takes it's place.

From here, the events of Tooth and Claw, as well as Wake the Dead are recounted. At Oreck, Haldor Icepelt leads his Space Wolves of the Blackmane Company against Genestealer Cultists corrupting the water supplies. They ultimately decide just to use the GSC's own explosives against them and collapse a good portion of the city. Spiritseer Qelnaris of Saim-Hann tries to avenge his relative on the Scions and the Aquilarian Council but doesn't know they've already been replaced. They get slaughtered and Qelnaris chased off by a number of Chapter Masters. Ouch.

At Dontoria the Necropolis Hawks fight the Gellarpox, whilst Crimson Fists and Iron Hands attempt quarantine. Being experienced with the Gellarpox, Rogue Trader Delarique du Languille continues her investigation and realises that a single freighter had left Vigilus between the arrival of the Death Guard and the quarantine being enacted... en-route to Terra. She takes her ships and pursues it, successfully destroying it after it is confirmed to have been overrun with the Gellarpox. During a debriefing with Calgar however, it's found that her contacts discovered records of three more freighters that had left the same day with the same destination. Having already jumped into the Warp, they are impossible for her to track.

The Imperial Guard at Mortwald are fighting well, but are even more driven with the arrival of the Imperial Fists and Freeblade Knights. It is the Scrap-Walkers that prove the only real threat to their combined defences. The Imperial Fists Captain recognises the death wish that the Freeblades have and forbids them from counter-attacking. Inevitably, they ignore him and stride out into the Scrap-Cities, becoming surrounded. Seeking to capitalise on the momentum of this attack however, the White Scars and Ravenwing mobilise to attack the Scrap-Cities in order to end production of the walkers. The final Freeblade is brought down covering their approach and although they inflict great damage, more and more Orks are driven towards the Astartes given the promise of a gud fight. The Ravenwing abruptly break off from the attack and speed in another direction entirely right before the combined force can hit the Ork's command centre. The White Scars cannot believe it is cowardice nor 'Dark Angels are traitors' memes, but are nonetheless forced to withdraw or risk being overwhelmed.

Calgar concedes Dirkden to it's attackers. Only the defenders are allowed to evacuate to the capital, damning tens of millions of civilians due to the risk of Genestealer Cultist infiltration. The Crimson Fists open fire on refugees when they begin throwing rocks, something that is noted as a huge blight on their honour. Donotoria has promethium pipelines around it ignited to create a firewall at Calgar's orders, damming thousands of healthy civilians to a horrible death but containing the Gellarpox. No wonder his new model's hairline is receding.

The nightmares that plagued Vigilus' citizens only get worse. Eventually, an Inquisitor comes to understand that they are babling in no known language, but when multiple sufferers are brought together, they speak the words "The Dark King is coming." It turns out - for some bizarre reason - that nobody was paying attention to the Upper Hives. Whilst focusing on the Orks in the wastes and the Genestealer Cults below, Raptors, Warp Talons and Heldrakes under the command of Haarkon Worldclaimer have scoured them almost entirely. Noble dynasties have been eradicated, defenders impaled from spire-tops and all defences toppled. The roof of the governor's palace collapses and Calgar comes under attack from Heldrakes who are driven off.

Haakon Worldclaimer then begins his proclaination, spread planet wide by captured vox-networks and amplified by his Raptors and Warp Talons. Abaddon is coming... and he's all out of gum.

[Sete]

Lol at RG and WS. Same old same old.

 

Thanks for the insight.

 

Wood it's ravenwing not guard my bad

[Fenriwolf]

I don't expect much about what i'm going to ask to be there but...Do we have any more info on who's there for the IF?

 

Fall of Cadia/the 8th rulebook left us with 9/10th of the chapter traveling into the eye of terror and then we got nothing to follow up on that so i'm kinda curious

[Axineton]

Calgar suspects something about the dark angels was one of the things I read earlier today. Wonder if they’ll give us anymore on that over time?

[Jareddm]

The new calendar is likely how they'll present timelines going forward. It seems to use a planetary acronym, like an airport code, to determine the reference planet it's based around.

[Morovir]

"chapter master of the Iron Hands"

 

Oh GW...

[Guest]

"chapter master of the Iron Hands"

 

Oh GW...

 

Isnt Kardan the de-facto Chapter Master elected by the Clan Councils?

[Canadian_F_H]

The new calendar is likely how they'll present timelines going forward. It seems to use a planetary acronym, like an airport code, to determine the reference planet it's based around.

Good! Anything that creates more confusion and general uncertainty about the 40k back ground is good in my opinion.

[helterskelter]

I know one Dark King and it's not Abaddon

[FlamingDeth]

Good to know that GW continues to only know how to write DA as a meme. Apparently despite the proclaimed rarity of the fallen they're at literally every battle they join, or something.

[Morovir]

 

"chapter master of the Iron Hands"

 

Oh GW...

 

Isnt Kardan the de-facto Chapter Master elected by the Clan Councils?

 

De facto, yes, but he is referred to as Warleader, not Chapter Master.

[Guest]

 

 

"chapter master of the Iron Hands"

 

Oh GW...

 

Isnt Kardan the de-facto Chapter Master elected by the Clan Councils?

 

De facto, yes, but he is referred to as Warleader, not Chapter Master.

 

 

So just another name like High Marshal, Great Wolf, Supreme Grand Master?

[Sete]

Still it's palatable to use the name the chapter uses.

Or else why bother making the chapters different, if we are to ignore those differences?

[Guest]

Still it's palatable to use the name the chapter uses.

Or else why bother making the chapters different, if we are to ignore those differences?

 

I don't disagree.

 

Maybe the writer simply didn't know?

 

But I suppose they should have looked into it more..

 

Hell would be nice for the Iron Hands to get more love *cough* models *cough*

[Strazhakov]

Thank you very much for the summary. It seems a new Abaddon model is basically confirmed now.

I've only been waiting half my life for him :D Still remember buying him when I was a wee little boy.

[Marshal Rohr]

I’m not shocked GW managed to squeeze a ‘Dark Angels abandon their allies’ meme in there. At this point have the dark angels ever finished a campaign? How many fallen are there that even in small engagements the chapter has to stop what it’s doing and find them?

[Sete]

Oh wow really :cussting on the CF there.

[Guest]

I’m not shocked GW managed to squeeze a ‘Dark Angels abandon their allies’ meme in there. At this point have the dark angels ever finished a campaign? How many fallen are there that even in small engagements the chapter has to stop what it’s doing and find them?

 

Nothing more than I expect from Phil "Xenos" Kelly.

[Spyros]

Not seeing Blood Angels yet (led by Commander Dante, Warden of Imperium Nihilus) may have an explanation. He is being primarized, that's why he's late, may arrive after Abaddon get's there...

[Robbienw]

I did like the bit about the dark angels fobbing off calgar and his war council with their delegate being a junior primaris lieutenant who had little idea what the main dark angels forces were up to :lol:

 

And also that the Dark Angels are still generally keeping their primaris forces separate, save for a few veterans, and are using them as cannon fodder spearheads.

[Canadian_F_H]

I did like the bit about the dark angels fobbing off calgar and his war council with their delegate being a junior primaris lieutenant who had little idea what the main dark angels forces were up to :lol:

 

And also that the Dark Angels are still generally keeping their primaris forces separate, save for a few veterans, and are using them as cannon fodder spearheads.

Sounds appropriate for 40k in general tho.

 

Earn your place at the table or die trying.

[Marshal Loss]

Thanks for posting this. Sounds sufficiently grimdark for my tastes, although the obligatory DA shenanigans is as stupid as it always is.

 

More importantly, Abbadizzle hype engaged

[Morovir]

Technically, the Ravenwing withdraw from one battle with the White Scars, and then commit their full forces, Ravenwing and Deathwing included, in the later battles against the Black Legion, so it's not really as bad as it is made out to be.

[Marshal Rohr]

Technically, the Ravenwing withdraw from one battle with the White Scars, and then commit their full forces, Ravenwing and Deathwing included, in the later battles against the Black Legion, so it's not really as bad as it is made out to be.

It would just be best if it wasn’t there at all. It’s supposed to be a secret and rare thing, but if you go by the lore books and black library, my god, it’s a miracle they get anything done at all.

[Sete]

Any mention of what BT are doing actually?

Probably on a BBQ.