'No Impediment to Progress' – The Gatebreakers

[Lucerne]

Can I ask for the source of her bits?

[apologist]

Can I ask for the source of her bits?

There's more explanation on + Death of a Rubricist +, along with some thoughts on how to start more involved conversions like this, but the basic rundown is as follows:

 

Van Saar upgrade head;

Neck and collar from Necromunda Enforcers, along with the maul and most of the pouches;

Elysian left arm and hand;

Right arm is from a Frostgrave cultist, I think, and right hand is from the Elysian Valkyrie passenger kit;

Upper torso and poncho from the Genestealer gunfighter character;

Abdomen and legs from a Blood Bowl Dark Elf linewoman;

Rosette is from the Luminark/Hurricanum kit;

The pistol is from the Primaris apothecary kit.

 

 

[Soldier of Dorn]

Those flesh tones from the previous page are stunning, Apologist. I mean, the Inquisitrix is a gorgeous model but those flesh tones. Just... man, it's at times like this I wish I'd studied color theory more. You never cease to impress with your painting.

[KrautScientist]

Lovely work as usual, apologist! The lenghts you go to to really turn your models into characters (and tie them into what really seems like a bigger world) are incredible, and following your modeling AND storytelling is always a delight! :)

[apologist]

Those flesh tones from the previous page are stunning, Apologist. I mean, the Inquisitrix is a gorgeous model but those flesh tones. Just... man, it's at times like this I wish I'd studied color theory more. You never cease to impress with your painting.

Very kind! Skin's something that I really enjoy painting, as it can be different every single time. With no need to stick to recipes and processes, I find it the most painterly and enjoyable part of my hobby time. 

 

With this project, I was particularly keen to reflect some of the range of different ethnicities and phenotypes in the region. It's been heaven to play around this rich vein :)

 

 

Lovely work as usual, apologist! The lenghts you go to to really turn your models into characters (and tie them into what really seems like a bigger world) are incredible, and following your modeling AND storytelling is always a delight!

Thanks KS; I find that one leads into the other, and then back. If I get tired of writing, my painting reinvigorates me, and if I find painting a chore, a quick story often flows. Perhaps each aspect feeds a different part of my brain?

 

+++

 

Progress is ongoing. After sorting out some foggy varnish (details of how to do so on are Death of a Rubricist, as I thought they were a bit off-topic here), Ysaac Rama is nearing completion:

 

 

He was an experiment in highlighting prior to the oil wash, rather than wash over flat colours and subsequent highlighting. 

The result is a slight flattening of the highlighting, but the principle is sound. This approach is a better way to integrate the Chapter symbol, but I think I'll still work on the highlights further.

 

Besides painting Rama, I cracked on with the Eradicators (unconverted, and headless, since I'll do everything else in one fell swoop)... +

 

 

...and a Rift Team; the Gatebreakers' rather enforced approach to duties usually undertaken by Terminators. With vanishingly small numbers of Terminator plate, these boarding specialists bear heavy breaching shields and power mauls, their armour reinforced with additional plating and flame-damping flak-aprons.

 

 

These additions are designed to provide additional protection to soft armour areas, while also preventing small arms fire from bypassing the Astartes. This is important because Rift Teams are typically deployed at the head of auxiliary boarding parties – made up of Naval security, Chapter serfs or other non-enhanced warriors.

 

Having the means to effectively interdict firepower to their allies allows them to set up a defensive foothold in enemy ships, allowing other Gatebreakers to be deployed to relieve them. Rift Teams are positions of high value and their members held in high regard. Gatebreakers frequently compete for the honour of serving in a Strikeforces Rift Teams, despite the obvious dangers.

[BadgersinHills]

Nice stuff! I like the idea about the cloth being flame resistant fabric, going for something similar with my Emperor's Spears. Great work. :)

[Deadass]

Rama is looking great, but the Rift Team are shaping up to be even better! Love the lore behind them. Might I suggest thinking about adding a couple of bonding studs? They'd emphasize the particularly brutal nature of their area of specialty as well as looking rad as hell!

[Ironwrought Huw]

Fantastic work as usual, Apologist!

 

My eyes have been practically glued to the screen playing 'spot the components' on Inquisitrix Kills - even with the list you provided of bits I'm struggling to believe that she isn't an officially released product. That dynamic posing is wonderful, and looks almost as if you've pulled one of the character studies straight out of the Dark Heresy rule book. I am very much looking forward to seeing the painted version 

 

As for the Rift Team - I like both the lore and the kitbashing you've done with them. You've fixed the main issue I had with the original Blade Guard models: the chest icons, I wasn't overly fond of how they stretched up onto the gorget. Out of interest, how easy was it to remove the icons? 

[jaxom]

A padded cloth layer over hard armour changes the ballistic impact profile pretty significantly for certain systems. Having it over the abdomen and inner thighs would be a smart move.

[Xin Ceithan]

Seeing the chaplain in chapter flours instead of the Codex black is kind of irritating at first, but I think the colour scheme works great on the miniature. It also stresses the sort of ramshackle approach to warfare of the Gatebreakers.

Same goes for the Rift teams. The conversion work is great and the fluff goes hand in hand in giving the Chapter and the Edgeworlds a nice touch of a lived in universe.

[hushrong]

Awesome work on the Gatebreakers but I must say that Barbari Kills is PHENOMENAL! Love the use of bits and how you put them all together, pure treat for the eyes.

[apologist]

Nice stuff! I like the idea about the cloth being flame resistant fabric, going for something similar with my Emperor's Spears. Great work.

Ta – got a link? I'd love to see your take :)

 

Rama is looking great, but the Rift Team are shaping up to be even better! Love the lore behind them. Might I suggest thinking about adding a couple of bonding studs? They'd emphasize the particularly brutal nature of their area of specialty as well as looking rad as hell!

Ooh, now there's a cool idea – thanks!

 

Fantastic work as usual, Apologist!

 

My eyes have been practically glued to the screen playing 'spot the components' on Inquisitrix Kills - even with the list you provided of bits I'm struggling to believe that she isn't an officially released product. That dynamic posing is wonderful, and looks almost as if you've pulled one of the character studies straight out of the Dark Heresy rule book. I am very much looking forward to seeing the painted version 

 

As for the Rift Team - I like both the lore and the kitbashing you've done with them. You've fixed the main issue I had with the original Blade Guard models: the chest icons, I wasn't overly fond of how they stretched up onto the gorget. Out of interest, how easy was it to remove the icons? 

Thanks for the kind words; it's always nice to really flex the convertidendrites and push our abilities, isn't it? 

Regarding the chest icons, it's pretty simple – I wouldn't say it was much more difficult than removing the icon on any other Primaris. You may find a needle file useful to help you get the corner nice and sharp, but you can do it with a knife alone.

 

A padded cloth layer over hard armour changes the ballistic impact profile pretty significantly for certain systems. Having it over the abdomen and inner thighs would be a smart move.

Yeah, I found it a nice excuse to turn an honorific robe into something a bit more practical. Tempted to extend it a bit, just for hte sake of making it unique.

 

Seeing the chaplain in chapter flours instead of the Codex black is kind of irritating at first, but I think the colour scheme works great on the miniature. It also stresses the sort of ramshackle approach to warfare of the Gatebreakers.

Same goes for the Rift teams. The conversion work is great and the fluff goes hand in hand in giving the Chapter and the Edgeworlds a nice touch of a lived in universe.

Ah, I hope the following post goes a little way to explain why the Eremite isn't wearing Codex black... :)

 

 

Awesome work on the Gatebreakers but I must say that Barbari Kills is PHENOMENAL! Love the use of bits and how you put them all together, pure treat for the eyes.

Cheers, hushrong; lovely to hear!

[apologist]

+ Eremites, Gentles, and Gnostics: idiosyncracies of the Gatebreakers +

 

 

 

'Xenos! They stand beyond the ridge. Muse on them. Militarise your disgust; be strengthened by your repulsion. Be as the Ninth Prince, and bring the terror of Six-Winged Apta upon his enemies.'

 

'The xenos defy us! As they tremble in their bunkers, so I shudder with rage. Do you feel your indignation rising? We will draw Bagtsa's fiery fury down upon them; be ceaseless in their prosecution!'

 

'The xenos oppose us! As Horiman rose to rule Cthalth, through a thousand cuts and a single strike, so we fall on our enemies. Draw his ambition to yourself as we stand ready to advance. Be his victory!'

 

'Praise to the Princes! Death to those who defy the Emperor's dream! Victory to the Gatebreakers – onwards! onwards!'

 

– Exhortations of Divine Ysaak Rama, prior to the Phen Mun Massacres

 

 

+++

 

+ Codex divergences +

+ The Gatebreakers demonstrate a number of departures from the organisation set out in the Codex Astartes, though such is that text's flexiblity and breadth that few are truly egregious. +

 

+ Gentlings +

+ One such example of a substantial divergence are the Gentlings; the Gatebreakers' equivalant to the apothecarion. Lacking a viable centralisation of forces, the various Strikeforces maintain Gentlings within fleets, and set up temporary Gentlings on recruitment worlds, where possible. This allows the Gatebreakers' Gentles – those officers of the Gentlings – to maintain a high rate of implantation. Gentles have much in common with the apothecarion of Codex Chapters, though their role within the Chapter is still more vital. +

 

+ Gatebreaker Gentle +

 

+ The multi-headed role of the Gentle have historically been a necessity, owing to the Gatebreakers failing geneseed and numerous generune degradations. It has, however, had the positive effect of making the Gentles amongst the most effective and expert surgeons and healers in the Astartes, as the necessary innovation and adaptation has prevented their medical care from falling into half-understood superstition, as it has in many other Chapters. +

 

+ The sophistication and expertise of the Gentles thus puts the lie to any vision of the Gatebreakers as culturally impoverished. They are fêted within the Chapter, and are the only members of the Gatebreakers authorised to meet in person with other Imperial forces; meaning that they supplement their duties with those of ambassadors, diplomats – and spies. +

 

+ Historically, it has exclusively been Gentles who are deployed to the rare requests from the Deathwatch and similar organisations; both as a result of their understanding of diplomacy, and because they are the amongst the few Gatebreakers able to monitor – and disguise – the physical failings that are all too common amongst the Chapter. Their expertise is much in demand amongst such groups – the irony being that Gentles are under standing orders to surreptitiously take samples of tissue from other Astartes; in the hope that further refinements and therapies can be developed for their Chapter's failing geneseed. +

 

 

+++

+ Eremites +

 

+ The Gatebreakers maintain no chaplaincy, the nearest equivalent being the Eremites, or Divines, who tend the numerous shrines that are dotted across the Gatebreakers' protectorate. These individuals serve as much as storytellers and watchmen as spiritual guides, and are hugely varied in their character. Most establish a territory and make their way from shrine to shrine; occasionally accompanying a Strikeforce that is passing through on a patrol. +

 

+ Solitary and often erratic, the Eremites stand outside of the Chapter's formal power structure. Strictly speaking, they have no rank, as they are instead believed to be empowered by a patron Divine Prince, such as He-Who-Speaks-Not. Thus, though temporally powerless, it is a rare Gatebreaker who will contradict or refuse service to an Eremite. +

 

+ Gatebreaker Eremite +

 

+ The shrines themselves vary hugely, from opulent cave-grotto sanctuaries visited by pilgrims to simple piles of rocks added to by superstitious locals. They are united by little save their isolation, making them hard for enemies to detect, and easy to defend. Whatever their form, they represent a metaphorical system of beacons that connect each planet to the Gatebreakers. The Eremites are the (albeit rarely-seen) face of the Chapter for the inhabitants of the Endworlds. +

 

+ In pursuing their self-appointed duties, these solitary shrinekeepers inadvertently maintain a warning system of sorts for the patrolling Strikeforces, giving the Chapter an organic way of maintaining a thin web of information from their distant borders without direct contact with those beneath their protection. +

 

+ The Eremites are the stuff of myth and fear on most worlds, solitary heroes – or dread legends – that appear out of the storm to face down piratical slavers, to rally the populace against an alien invasion, or to strike down powerful leaders or groups that threaten to unbalance a society. They are intercessionary figures for the common mass of humanity. To the Chapter, they are divinely-inspired ordinates, allowed a huge degree of autonomy for their invaluable service and suffered to bring truth to power. +

 

+ As a result of their isolation and individuality, it is difficult to characterise them. The inherent eccentricity and exceptionalism of all who are suitable to be elevated to the Astartes is a factor, and the cynic may point to the mental degradation caused by unstable geneseed as the source of 'divine' calling. Nevertheless, tales of the Anchorites' courage, strength and wisdom are frequently accompanied by seemingly supernatural acts of strength and will. +

 

+ Typically, an Eremite will move from world to world, using the shrines to send a subspace message to Strikeforces, who will where possible divert to pick up the individual. They will then accompany the Strikeforce, moving amongst the Members-Ordinary. The more boistrous and martial will seek to test their hosts' knowledge of the Ten Divine Princes, issuing martial challenges to those who show a poor understanding; others will act as storytellers, sympathetic listeners who collect the concerns and worries of the Chapter, then offer advice and placations to their patron Divine Prince. +

 

+ Some live an ascetic existence as Anchorites, withdrawing entirely from contact with the Chapter and wider humanity, and settling as a guardian of an individual shrine. Such Eremites are usually characterised by the poor nature of their arms and armour; some eschewing power armour entirely, either by choice or through necessity. The loss of such materiel is sorely-felt by an already impoverished Chapter, and their shrines are visited where possible to recover or replace elements left by the anchorite. To become an Anchorite is self-imposed, but Gatebreakers who feel they have reached a state of physical decline – either through age or injury – will sometimes opt to withdraw from their official duties. +

 

+ Forced to rely on their own resources – and facing the gradual decline of their physical state away from the Gentles – the Eremites represent the soul of the Gatebreakers. +

 

+++

 

+ Eremite Ysaak Rama +

 

Wandering the worlds of the Kua Fu Cluster, Eremite Rama was encountered by the Ninth Strikeforce as they investigated the world of Phen Mun. His local knowledge proved invaluable as he directed the force safely across the canyon regions that protected a deeply-dug in enemy force.

 

After the massacre, Rama stayed only long enough to receive ministrations from the attending Gentle, accept a number of replacement armour-elements, and to disseminate the teachings of a spirit whom he claimed dwelt in the calcified remnants of the shrine's previous attendant, and spoke directly to him through the damaged nerve-endings of his teeth.

 

+++

 

[+inloadspoolspent+]

[+supplementary request>? WOULDYOULIKETOKNOWMORE+]

[sPOOLING:
-ReqQuery: Techmarines;
-ReqQuery: Librarius;
-ReqQuery: Command]

[+SELECT+]

[+PENDING+]

Edited August 18, 2020 by apologist

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the models. The Gentlings and the Eremites are interesting ideas. I presume a rosarius is not among the equipment an Eremite is issued.

 

The "Ten Divine Princes," though... I presume nine of them are Loyalist Primarchs, but who's the Tenth? Or are the Gatebreakers actually Chaos infiltrators, playing the part of Loyalists to gain access?

Edited August 18, 2020 by Bjorn Firewalker

[noigrim]

Maybe they are the first ten founding captains of the chapter like the scycthes of the Emperor Edited August 18, 2020 by noigrim

[Lexington]

So, I'm at Target yesterday getting groceries, and run into another local 40K guy who I haven't seen since social distancing became the default local lifepath. I ask what he's working on, and he says a Marine army that's all at Primaris scale. Wow, I tell him, I'm starting up something really similar! Yeah, he says, I've been getting incredibly inspired by this blog. It's called 'Death of a Rubricist.'

 

Just a fun bit of daily trivia that seems pertinent here. :)

[Disruptor_fe404]

The "Ten Divine Princes," though... I presume nine of them are Loyalist Primarchs, but who's the Tenth? Or are the Gatebreakers actually Chaos infiltrators, playing the part of Loyalists to gain access?

 

I'm sure apologist will answer in due time, but given the names 'Horiman' and 'Cthalth', it's safe to say they've conflated a few Primarchs and places (Horus/Guilliman? Cthonia/Calth?). Ten thousand years of degraded secondhand records is a hell of a thing. Plus I believe apologist has mentioned all the Primarchs being a collective group for the Gatebreakers.

[Brother Dallo]

Some more stellar stuff here.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

[Ryltar Thamior]

Just noticed the Devanagari script you've placed on the dreadnought. Nice touch. 

[apologist]

Good job on the models. The Gentlings and the Eremites are interesting ideas. I presume a rosarius is not among the equipment an Eremite is issued.

Thanks, Bjorn Firewalker. Regarding Eremites' equipment, they're essentially those who feel a spiritual call or urge to action; or marines who feel themselves too elderly or injured to honorably maintain active frontline duties. As a result of their individual nature, they don't really get issued equipment. With that said, there's lots of reasons an Eremite might have a similar load-out to a Chaplain:

 

It's an honorable decision to make – akin to a monk taking up a particular vow of asceticism – so in addition to any equipment they have been granted or recovered during their careers, many who request to become an Eremite might be granted heirloom or ritual wargear by their commander. This may well be something like a claviger (a ritual mace similar in function to a crozius).

 

The Gatebreakers have historically had contact with the Imperium – indeed, up until the arrival of the Primaris of Chapter 333, they still believed things were progressing as normal – so they will have at least some rosariuses/rosaria stashed away, even if their chapter cult is quite at odds with the Ecclesiarchy (after all, that's nothing new for Space Marine Chapters).

 

Finally, the shrines themselves might well have some esoteric wargear gathered by other travelling Eremites, left as tribute to the animus or guiding spirit of the shrine.

 

 

 

The "Ten Divine Princes," though... I presume nine of them are Loyalist Primarchs, but who's the Tenth? Or are the Gatebreakers actually Chaos infiltrators, playing the part of Loyalists to gain access?

 

Maybe they are the first ten founding captains of the chapter like the scycthes of the Emperor

 

On the nature of the Ten Divine Princes, I've left things intentionally vague, as I hope that it's intriguing enough to sparks some discussion and different theories (exactly as here, in fact!), which in turn might give me or another reader a completely new idea, either for the Gatebreakers or another project. 

 

Beyond that, my view of the Imperium at large is one of a dark age of mistrust, lost knowledge and gradual decline. It's a thread that I haven't seen explored much in Space Marine Chapters; most knowing with relatively certainty their founding and Primarch, and having long and relatively reliable records stretching back thousands of years. 

 

At root, the reason for the Ten Divine Princes (along with the Tenets, the odd command structure etc etc.) being a 'thing' in this project is to evoke the fact that the Gatebreakers' grasp of history is pretty foggy, a fact not helped by the loss of much of their history during the historical Sack of Andocrine. The millennia of historical corruption has left the Ten Divine Princes as mythical beings – and they include a number of rather dubious conflations and associations as a result. Essentially, they're my attempt at what an isolated Chapter would have passed down; mythologised, misremembered and innovated. That might not, of course, be any defence, if a particularly Monodominant Inquisitor turned up...

 

Part of the fun of such projects is seeing where and how people read between the lines, so while I have my own answers, there's no reason you can't interpret them as the nine loyal primarchs plus the Emperor; as metaphors for the Chaos Gods; as a mixed and muddled list of all twenty Primarchs; as pure Endworlds mythology; as heroes of the Chapter; as xenos-implanted false history...

 

After all, everything you've been told is a lie – and that applies as much to my ideas as anyone else's! Answering all the questions for certain would take some of the unknowable mystery out of things a little bit, I think.

 

Besides, the ideas that you all come up with and discuss here as you try to get to the bottom of things only helps to enrich and develop the backstory more and more. It's part of why I post here; to share and gather ideas – so for all your questions, comments, criticisms and suggestions, I'm very grateful.

 

And as a final thought, isn't it odd that a Ninth founding Chapter would remember so much – however vaguely – of so many Primarchs?

 

+++

 

So, I'm at Target yesterday getting groceries, and run into another local 40K guy who I haven't seen since social distancing became the default local lifepath. I ask what he's working on, and he says a Marine army that's all at Primaris scale. Wow, I tell him, I'm starting up something really similar! Yeah, he says, I've been getting incredibly inspired by this blog. It's called 'Death of a Rubricist.'

 

Just a fun bit of daily trivia that seems pertinent here.

 

Can't tell you quite how much that means to me – it's weird and humbling to think that people follow the blog at all, let alone run into other people who do! Suffice to say it's put a grin on my face; so thanks to both of you :)

 

 

 

The "Ten Divine Princes," though... I presume nine of them are Loyalist Primarchs, but who's the Tenth? Or are the Gatebreakers actually Chaos infiltrators, playing the part of Loyalists to gain access?

 

I'm sure apologist will answer in due time, but given the names 'Horiman' and 'Cthalth', it's safe to say they've conflated a few Primarchs and places (Horus/Guilliman? Cthonia/Calth?). Ten thousand years of degraded secondhand records is a hell of a thing. Plus I believe apologist has mentioned all the Primarchs being a collective group for the Gatebreakers.

 

 

Yes, that sense of degradation is important to the Gatebreakers and the Endworlds setting as a whole, I think. I'm looking forward to seeing what Kordhal and Xin Ceithan come up with for some of the non-Imperial elements of the setting :)

 

Without giving too much away (as explained above), your thoughts on the Fifth Divine Prince, are much in line with mine. Horiman the Two-Headed is warily revered, regarded as symbolising thoughtfulness, inclusivity and untrustworthiness. Where he turns up in the Tenets, he is associated with eagles, horses and snakes; and the most famous stories of him are of his duplicitous trickster nature; either leading the other Divine Princes towards destruction, only to rescue them; or to have them follow him to a treasure, only to snatch it away at the end.

 

 

Some more stellar stuff here.

Keep up the good work.

Ta! 

 

Just noticed the Devanagari script you've placed on the dreadnought. Nice touch. 

 

Yes, that was a fun challenge. Is it legible? You'll have to excuse the Rogue Trader style puns! :)

[Sherrypie]

Very nice, I like the Gentlings concept a lot. It's also fun to see such a bright colour scheme done grungy, adding to the feeling of degradation that's going on with them.

[Xin Ceithan]

Phew, this is thread and your work keeps developing at a breakneck pace! There really is something to getting that “roguish” thing and the unreliability of the lore of the Rogue Trader era along the framework of the current Dark Imperium / Indomitus lines!

 

And since you were kind enough to mention that, that thing about the shrines and technosteric sites might be more endemic to Endworld cultures than just the Gatebreakers....

[Ryltar Thamior]

"हराया" , yes ? 'Haraayaa'  

I'm mostly familiar with ecclesiastical Sanskrit rather than modern Hindi [and I'm not great with grammar in either] ... but I'm presuming the pun's between हरा (as in 'Green') and हर (as in 'Remover' - although does get figuratively translated as 'Destroyer' ), with shades of "Harry" (as in the English noun and/or name) 

... although a quick google suggests that हराया in modern Hindi may also translate as er .. "Defeated". 

Am I close ? :P 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

 

The "Ten Divine Princes," though... I presume nine of them are Loyalist Primarchs, but who's the Tenth? Or are the Gatebreakers actually Chaos infiltrators, playing the part of Loyalists to gain access?

Maybe they are the first ten founding captains of the chapter like the scycthes of the Emperor

On the nature of the Ten Divine Princes, I've left things intentionally vague, as I hope that it's intriguing enough to sparks some discussion and different theories (exactly as here, in fact!), which in turn might give me or another reader a completely new idea, either for the Gatebreakers or another project.

 

Beyond that, my view of the Imperium at large is one of a dark age of mistrust, lost knowledge and gradual decline. It's a thread that I haven't seen explored much in Space Marine Chapters; most knowing with relatively certainty their founding and Primarch, and having long and relatively reliable records stretching back thousands of years.

 

At root, the reason for the Ten Divine Princes (along with the Tenets, the odd command structure etc etc.) being a 'thing' in this project is to evoke the fact that the Gatebreakers' grasp of history is pretty foggy, a fact not helped by the loss of much of their history during the historical Sack of Andocrine. The millennia of historical corruption has left the Ten Divine Princes as mythical beings – and they include a number of rather dubious conflations and associations as a result. Essentially, they're my attempt at what an isolated Chapter would have passed down; mythologised, misremembered and innovated. That might not, of course, be any defence, if a particularly Monodominant Inquisitor turned up...

 

Part of the fun of such projects is seeing where and how people read between the lines, so while I have my own answers, there's no reason you can't interpret them as the nine loyal primarchs plus the Emperor; as metaphors for the Chaos Gods; as a mixed and muddled list of all twenty Primarchs; as pure Endworlds mythology; as heroes of the Chapter; as xenos-implanted false history...

I appreciate the worldbuilding and character development. You're certainly putting in more effort than the idiots who ruined DC and Marvel Comics, Dr. Who, Star Trek, Star Wars.

[jaxom]

 

 You're certainly putting in more effort than the idiots who ruined DC and Marvel Comics, Dr. Who, Star Trek, Star Wars.

 

It's all about internal consistency (or a lack thereof)

 

Regarding Kills, on one hand I like the book and on the other, I'm not sure how I'd interpret it without Indiana Jones and his little notebook providing context for an action-archaeologist.