Soliciting feedback on Knight House Crest idea

[frosteldar]

Hello everyone!  It has been a while since I posted anything related to the Knight house I was working on to assist my AdMech Forgeworld Illuminatum.  So, here is a little background on my Knight House:

 

 

It seems there are many examples where Knights are loaned to titan legions (some even permanently), loaned to explorator fleets (like my forge world), or stay attached to other Imperial forces (honor-bound).  So, I think my Knight House will not be a distinct House, but a group of Knights which have been selected for the honor, been sent by their Knightly lords, joined searching for glory they couldn't get at home, or are the last of their House but are asked to join -rather than becoming Freeblades or coverting from Freeblades.  

 

After too many hours of thought, I've come up with the name Custodes Aeterni - which is Latin for Eternal Watchers.  They guard the light of knowledge, truth, and the light of the Emperor and Omnissiah.  They will serve my AdMech forge world explorator fleet, alongside its Inquisitorial partners.  Thus they will sit at a rectangular table where the appointed leader of the Questor Mechanicus will sit at one end to represent the Omnissiah and the appointed leader of the Questor Imperialis will sit at the other end to represent the Emperor, and the Knights have equal standing.  Then depending on the House traits I wish to use, it'll represent that branch of the house.  And the oddball member can be represented by Freeblades.  A similar organization would be DeathWatch.

 

I plan to have each knight (big ones at least) have symbols for both the Imperium and Mechanicum (one on each shoulder)- perhaps that skull-cog with a wing ?  Then each knight will have the coat-of-arms or symbol of the "house", and each will maintain their personal heraldry (like Questor Imperialis knights tend to do). 

 

Should provide lots of tactical flexibility for playstyles and allow for some interesting fluff/character creation for heraldry and backstories. And, it makes sense in the context of my forge world and how they are part of it, while maintaining the element of secrecy required for a cloaked Ark Mechanicus.

 

So, after many more hours of thought and rummaging through my stuff, I came up with an idea for a 3D House symbol and thought I'd get your feedback.  Here is my current idea - a flaming skull within a cog - representing how knowledge can illuminate the mind, but the wrong knowledge can burn it.  Ties my Knightly duties in with my Forge World and it's purpose.  Then I could color the cogs to denote rank, or perhaps add additional cogs/lines to the main symbol to denote rank.  Haven't decided on that.  I'm also putting flaming skulls on the banner between the legs instead of the eagle heads.  Thoughts?  

  

[Bjorn Firewalker]

A flaming skull in a cog... Looks good.

 

Note: I'm using my smartphone, and your Knight House's "background" is invisible and unreadable, unless I highlight the text. It may be better to simply put the text in quote boxes, like so:

I used this technique in my own forum topics, separating in-universe information, e.g., my Chapter's history, from out-of-universe information, e.g., the fact I changed my mind and rewrote certain scenes in this history.

Joint operations can be good, but there must be a clear chain-of-command to avoid confusion. If the Questor Mechanicus representative (an AdMech Magos) wants the Knights to recover an Aeldari artifact for study, but the Questor Imperialis representative (an Inquisitor) wants the same artifact destroyed due to concerns it may psychically poison human minds, whose orders to the Knights obey? Are the Knight Scions trusted to decide on their own? Do the Questors Mechanicus and Imperialis make the decision in a closed door conference, hiding their disagreements from the Knight Scions to give the impression their leaders are as one mind (something real-world militaries do), BEFORE the orders are issued?

[Shinespider]

It's a neat idea, and I can certainly buy it as a plausible organization that might exist in the setting. We know that Freeblades can sometimes stick with eachother for extended periods - the idea of a group like that slowly growing and evolving into a psuedo-house with its own distinct traditions is solid. From there, if a powerful Admech voice legitimized the group, it could attract recruits from far and wide. (not that I'm trying to prescribe an origin for you, but I see this as a likely possibility.)

 

The burning skull is good, and also pretty easy to piece together. (ie, its easy to find transfers of skulls and cogs, and fire is easy to freehand, so you can piece the symbol together.)

[frosteldar]

Thanks for the heads-up on the text.  It is in white due to the dark background here, but yeah, I can try and put it in quotes.  

 

Good point about the chain of command!  So,  I may need to think about that more or explain it more clearly, as I currently have it envisioned as a Knights of the Round Table situation.  We have a rectangular table with all Knight Scions present; with the head of the Questor Imperialis Knights (their Prince/p) at one end; and the head of the Questor Mechanicus Knights (Princep) at the other.  As a democratic group, they come to a decision on how to achieve the mission given to them by the AdMech ForgeWorld.  Inquisition of course has the power to override a mission or direct their own missions, but in general, operation of the Ark Mechanicus and Custodes Aeterni are trusted to run independently - with oversight.