Help Developing background for a Chaos Faction

[TechCaptain]

So as the Title states I am looking for help developing background. I am building a story around several battles against Chaos I have now. But part of my issue, I need to build a better picture of the enemy of my main guys to properly build out the story. 

Here is what the Chaos Faction would consist of so far:
Chaos Undivided Knights - Khorne Ravenger with Tzeetch and Slannesh Armigers (no Nurgle yet.)
Iron Warriors Outpost with several Warmachines
Word Bearers Possessed and Raptors.

I don't know enough about the Chaos factions and interactions to understand how they would work or not work together or what is needed for these different things to make sense. So I am looking to spitball lore background and then come up with a faction name and some characters to be the villains of my story. 

[spafe]

So off hand (and by no means an expert on newer lore), I assume you have a system/planet your forces are attacking? or defending? eh either way:

I would start with a warsmith character (or daemon prince if you prefer) to be the warband leader. They can be the Praetor/impressive title top bod for the iron warriors garrison. Personally I would then have a 2IC who is a warpsmith, trusted right hand man esk, who is in charge of the warmachines of the iron warriors faction. Leaves the main organisation to the top dog, but will be trusted to lead his own forays etc and have troops put under his command for missions.

The word bearers, I'd play them as a smaller player, they are sworn to your warsmith and are the envoy that was sent to ensure the iron warriors turned traitor alongside the rest of the legion during the heresy. They are extra strength in the warsmiths eyes, so while he doesnt align to their worshiping ways, he tolerates it as it increases the troops at his dispersal. They have over the decades fallen into full on poessesd marines and the raptor cult but otherwise work alongside the main iron warriors (you could have them as a seperate base or ships if they are the aggressor in your story, or have them sharing quarters and ops with the iron warriors, as a more closely interlinked force).

The knights, undivided as a whole is good, allows them to align closely with the beliefs and ethos of the iron warriors, with whom they will also owe fealty to. The warpsmith tends to their technical wants, seeing that they gain loot as befits their requirements and merits, the warsmith allows him to handle the day to day liasons with this faction of his warband so long as they obey his directives when required. (can have a plot point of some falling out here if you need, or an upsurper play if you want to split the iron warrios in 2 with the warpsmith leading a breakaway faction). The knights having their own dedications would be a mild one, down to the pilots/crews of each knight giving fealty and offerings to their own gods. Not full swing fanatics, but a prayer here, and offering there, small favours and benefits on their gradual descent.

Overall those groups will work find together, it's just about knitting a bit of a story for why each group works together or owes another fealty. The 40k chaos warbands are fuedal in nature, owing fealty and tribute to their leader on the basis that the leader provides spoils and good times, or through honour bound words of oath that have been given. The word bearers could have stayed with the iron warriors as they view it as their mission to enlighten the godless, while the iron warriors appreciate the extra troops they bring.

 

[sitnam]

I think space has some good suggestions, but to give some alternate thoughts:

-I actually would reverse the roles of the Iron Warriors and Word Bearers. I would make the Word Bearers the patrons of the undivided knights, teaching them the lessons of the Four. The Iron Warriors could essentially be there for Dark Mechanicus support to keep the Knights running

-An alternate path would be to have the Iron Warriors and Word Bearers be a combined warband. It isn't uncommon for the Legion warriors to break off and form their own warbands, and combination warbands aren't unheard of. It could be a cabal of Word Bearers zealots who have inducted the Iron Warriors into the religion, combining WB demonology with Iron Warriors daemon engines production. This also gives you the chance to make a unique paint scheme for the group.

[N1SB]

2 hours ago, sitnam said:

...combining WB demonology with Iron Warriors daemon engines production. This also gives you the chance to make a unique paint scheme for the group.

I think these are great ideas, and along those same lines, the lines between Chaos worship and Dark Mechanicum dogma blurring.

The lore has previously explored the idea of the Cult of the God-Emperor and the Cult Mechanicus blending in the Moirae Schism, with some fallout (lead to the formation of the Sons of Medusa to defuse the situation).  What would be interesting if the reverse happened with Chaos, with the worship of the Four Powers and the Mechanicum beliefs kinda blurring over 10,000 years of warp exposure.  Daemon engines are probably the most obvious evidence that the two are not as incompatible as one may intuit.

We think of each faction, Chaos Knights, Iron Warriors, Word Bearers, as these distinct factions because their Codices and novels are sold separately, but things blend.

What I noticed in the later Horus Heresy novels in particular was that, for example, Word Bearers were way more fractured among themselves than I thought.  One would assume religion unites them; ironically, it's actually what divides them.  In Slaves to Darkness in particular, their Primarch Lorgar was planning to usurp Horus himself not so much to be Warmaster, but to be the Chosen of Chaos; Lorgar's the worshiper of the lot, he couldn't take the humiliation of being passed over by the Four Powers.  Lorgar was then further humiliated when his most trusted lieutenant, Zardu Layak, betrayed him and aligned himself under Horus instead.  Layak was a true believer, and accepted the Four Powers chose Horus for a reason over his own Primarch, and his faithfulness to the Chaos Gods was greater than his loyalty to his own geneseed.  The point being, this famous Word Bearer found more common cause with the Sons of Horus in following the Warmaster than his own Legion or Primarch, because Chaos Undivided is greater than the divisions between Legions.

I'm imagining a great gathering place for all the factions in Brother TechCaptain's list up there that serves as grand temple for all sorts of functions.  Imagine great big statues of the Four Powers, then the Machine God as an equal to them.  To these particular Chaos Knights, Iron Warriors, Word Bearers and all their mortal followers, there's no longer a distinction between them, like how real world religions kinda assimilate elements and often-times whole gods from each other.  Not so unreasonable after 10,000 years in the warp.

[TechCaptain]

Speaking of paint scheme at the moment the Knights Red scheme is dominating because I am commissioning a scene of the knight fighting my knight house and the Skitarii. Story so far is Mjorn landed thinking the planet had no advance life reading no signatures. Then Choas Knight push off a small portion of the expedition from some ruins that was one of the likely sites for a STC. While running ran into the Iron Warriors and now Word Bearers are chasing the survivors.

[TechCaptain]

Thinking of Name Ideas based off this conversation a bit:

 

Disciples of Jagged Iron

Steel Zealots

Chosen of Forsworn Silver

[sitnam]

Steel Zealots sounds too cliche. Chosen of Forsworn Silver is good, but Disciples of Jagged Iron is awesome imo. I am biased, I like kind of extravagant homebrew names myself

[TechCaptain]

Okay Chosen of the Forsworn Silver, Owners of a thought to be uninhabited planet that is somewhat corrupted by their presence at the edge of the Rift in the Eastern Fringes, specifically the Ishtar Wild Spaces. These are worshippers of Chaos Undivided with a blended religion of Machine God and the big Four. 

Wondering if it would be too much to Worship the Dragon form of the Machine God (a nod to the Necrons.) I think this might fit my subsector well with the heavily Tech influences, Necron cropped Chaos bands, and warp instability thanks to the Hadex Anomaly. 

[N1SB]

Disciples of Jagged Iron sounds really awesome and I love the idea of them even worshiping the Dragon form, that's brilliant.

[TechCaptain]

1 hour ago, N1SB said:

Disciples of Jagged Iron sounds really awesome and I love the idea of them even worshiping the Dragon form, that's brilliant.

Thanks Man. I think it works with the two other Chaos Warbands I have in my Subsector. 

Unchained Confederacy - an Dark Admech and ex Bloodmoon Hunter leaning Confederacy of warbands that provides intel and spy network information to the highest bidder. 

The Flayed Legion Cult - (Original idea was not mine.) A Heretical cult that worships Flayed Ones of the Necrons and mutilates themselves in appeasement of the Flayed Ones. has risen to Worship Chaos Undivided and allied with other warbands. Basically a whole Hive City plus smaller cults across a Hive World follow this. 

[sitnam]

Honestly I would have to see how the Dragon worship is done. Part of me thinks it would be too much to mix undivided, machine god, and the Dragon but it could definitely work..

 I'd just try to avoid to many themes in one pot

[TechCaptain]

The Dragon is the Machine God of Mars or was thought to be. The Emperor supposedly defeated it or something and it’s been hidden in the Depths since. Other bits say it’s one of the Necron Star Gods. At least that is what I kind of remember from old lore. But besides the Six sided star of Chaos, I was thinking the Four Gods would be considered components of the True Machine God in his embodiment as a Dragon. Or something like that.with five points being those five statues and the sixth point being ascension. Just a rough idea and I have no clue how well that works. My Chaos knowledge is limited.

 

Khorne is the Strength and Bloodlust of Dragons. Nurgle the putrid breath and life, Tzeetch the embodiment of the superior logic and mind, and Slaneesh the Body and the hoard or something like that.

 

Random spitballing.

Edited August 10, 2022 by TechCaptain

[TechCaptain]

What I am going with for now:     (Please let me know if there is something out of sync with lore or can be improved upon. 

Organization

Three Distinct parts of the Warband have been discovered though unknown if more will be discovered. Heretic Astartes that can only be assumed to be remnants of the Legion once known as Iron Warriors have been seen entrenched in several underground bases and what appeared to be ruins but turned out to be sophisticated redoubts that defy detection from Auspex as well as orbital mapping. Daemon Engines of all sorts as well as embedded heavy weaponry have been observed piling out of these miniature fortresses.

Flying Columns of Raptor Cults followed by Dark Chaplains have been harassing the supply chains of Forgeworld Mjorn on the planet. With what seems like unusual coordination with the series of redoubts these Heretics bearing the markings of the blasted legion of the Word Bearers but similar colors to the Iron Warriors appear to be an arm of the warband specifically for rapid deployment and attack. Thousands of Cultists have been flooding to the surface for their masters' making waystations and continuing to pressure the lines of war that have been drawn.

The largest development is the appearance of a Chaos Knight House in full unholy glory that has matched blades with Knight House Fasacha. It is clear that it is not some small court or rogue lance but a fully supported Daemon begotten house that supports the warband now known as the Disciples of the Jagged Iron. The Knight House and certain members of the upper echelon of this Warband have been identified as the Chosen of the Forsworn Silver.

Beliefs
Worshippers of something known the true pantheon of the Elder Star Dragon, the spirit of the machine is from the grace of the Dragon of Mars that the Imperium has unrightfully chained under its heel. The Blood God of Khorne is the true embodiment of the strength of the Dragon who through sacrifice and bloodlust grants strength to his followers. The plague of life in which Nurgle embodies grants resilience and life unending that is a path of suffering to understand the sickness the Imperium inflicts on the soul of the Universe. Tzeetch the changer of ways fulfils the needs and blessing of thought and planning that is required to free the Universe from the curse that Imperium's stagnate ways corrupts. Slannesh blesses those of the passion with the feelings and body of Eldar Star Dragon.

Undiscovered so far but intelligence tells of a great gathering place for all the worshippers of this Warband that serves as grand temple. Gigantic statues of the Four Powers and the Machine God as an equal to them supposedly predominate this great place of worship. To these particular Chaos Knights, Iron Warriors, Word Bearers and all their mortal followers, there's no longer a distinction between them, these are the components of the Eldar Star Dragon.

[Sugarlessllama]

I like the idea...but it feels like conflicting themes. They have an awesome daemon engine stealth factory complex, and they are space pirates, and they are amassing an army through a logistical network...... I think in this case, less would be more. I think if you picked a single angle and worked from there, you would be much happier with the results. 

Maybe they are Space Pirates, choosing to lay siege to ships or fleets instead of planets. Or maybe they are going from planet to planet like an island hopping campaign, taking nothing they don't need to continue their mission to watch the Imperium burn. No empire, no conquest, just destruction. Or....

I think if you take the themes you've presented in your OP and replaced the AND with OR, and then pick your favorite, you will really be onto something. 

[TechCaptain]

6 hours ago, Sugarlessllama said:

I like the idea...but it feels like conflicting themes. They have an awesome daemon engine stealth factory complex, and they are space pirates, and they are amassing an army through a logistical network...... I think in this case, less would be more. I think if you picked a single angle and worked from there, you would be much happier with the results. 

Maybe they are Space Pirates, choosing to lay siege to ships or fleets instead of planets. Or maybe they are going from planet to planet like an island hopping campaign, taking nothing they don't need to continue their mission to watch the Imperium burn. No empire, no conquest, just destruction. Or....

I think if you take the themes you've presented in your OP and replaced the AND with OR, and then pick your favorite, you will really be onto something. 

Um, where is the Space Pirate or logistical network pieces? So I was planning them being mainly the Daemon Engine Stealth Factory complex basically and be somewhat a stranded Chaos Army who is just there. Maybe with a bit of Amassing hmm. 

For a Logistical network/Informational Network I have a different Chaos Group known as the Unchained Confederation who are a loose group of Chaos and dark admech who sell their services to the highest bidder in a effort to play the long game on everyone. 

Admassing a super large Army and starting a long campaign I have the Flayed Legion Cult who are a bit more lost and the damned shaped. 

I do need to make a decent Space Pirate group to be in conflict in the region. 

[Sugarlessllama]

On 10/1/2022 at 10:46 PM, TechCaptain said:

Flying Columns of Raptor Cults followed by Dark Chaplains have been harassing the supply chains of Forgeworld Mjorn on the planet. With what seems like unusual coordination with the series of redoubts these Heretics bearing the markings of the blasted legion of the Word Bearers but similar colors to the Iron Warriors appear to be an arm of the warband specifically for rapid deployment and attack.

This sounds like Space Pirates. Unless they are somehow embedded and restricted to the Forge World, and jetpack marines are somehow taking down heavy freight cargo haulers.

 

 

On 10/1/2022 at 10:46 PM, TechCaptain said:

Thousands of Cultists have been flooding to the surface for their masters' making waystations and continuing to pressure the lines of war that have been drawn.

The largest development is the appearance of a Chaos Knight House in full unholy glory that has matched blades with Knight House Fasacha. It is clear that it is not some small court or rogue lance but a fully supported Daemon begotten house that supports the warband now known as the Disciples of the Jagged Iron.

This sounds like setting up a logistical network. Unless the are building waystations just for funsies, and the Knight House is getting fully supported some other way?

 

 

[TechCaptain]

13 hours ago, Sugarlessllama said:

This sounds like Space Pirates. Unless they are somehow embedded and restricted to the Forge World, and jetpack marines are somehow taking down heavy freight cargo haulers.

So I was more talking about them ambushing the ground convoys but I can now see I wasn't clear thank you. The Word Bearers I faced was all jetpack marines and Possessed that destroyed my admech guys and I story boarded it as they were pursuit forces dispatched from the waystations. 

 

 

13 hours ago, Sugarlessllama said:

 

This sounds like setting up a logistical network. Unless the are building waystations just for funsies, and the Knight House is getting fully supported some other way?

 

This I was more thinking the entire world was basically an underground fortress or at least a large portion and that was a satellite station of the main fortress they encompass. Both parts were rough ideas. I am open to better phrasing or different directions to take this. 

[Sugarlessllama]

So I guess I might be confused as to what the warband is doing. 

 

1. They have a secret manufactorum (awesome). Where is it located? Is it in space or hidden on a loyalist forge world? 
2. Where are the waystations located? Are they in space hidden along shipping lanes or hidden on a loyalist forge world?
3. If all of this is happening on a single forge world, then why are they restricted to a single forge world?

 

If they are restricted to a single forge world, then the warband has a very "Mad Max" feel to it. Which is great! But also, would that a story be told better if the characters were hive gangers rather than embittered legionaries fighting a 10,000 year long war of attrition? Also, if they are hidden on a lone forge world, why haven't the Ad Mech or the larger Imperium called in a couple chapters of Space Marines to scour the planet? If there are Renegade Knights, why haven't the Ad Mech called in a couple of titan engines to go hunting?

 

My reading of what you have going on, gives me a very Montgomery v Rommel meets Fury Road vibe. Which I think would make for an amazing novel or novella, but for the basis of a long history for a warband.... it might be a little limiting. 

[TechCaptain]

So they are limited to a single world (not necessarily a Forge World but definitely has a forge.) In which was thought to be uninhabited in an unexplored space of a Sector/subsector on the far side of the tau empire that has little resources to do more than occasionally raid said worlds. An expedition from the local Forge World landed to find these guys even exist. The way stations are just little areas of build up on the planet that looked like ruins of some forgotten age. AS far as why they are restricted to this Forge World I don't know at this point. I was thinking this was some forgotten garrison and hideout from the Scouring or something. They rely on connections with other factions of Chaos and Xenos for supplies and survival. Just a kind of off thought. 

[Moonreaper666]

All sorts of Chaos followers (Human, Astartes, Xenos, Sentient Machines, etc) will follow a successful Chaos Champion regardless of origin or background. The more favor given by the Dark Gods the more heretics willing to follow that champion's banner

[TechCaptain]

Commissioned Art done by Artist Tim Remin based off my first tourney battle last year. Depicting the start of my story based off that tourney of Forgeworld Mjorn supported by House Fasacha versus the Chosen of the Forsworn Silver. Your guys help at naming and coming up with background help a lot shaping the Chaos Knights who are at this moment dominate in the fight. 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by TechCaptain