Effect of Ferrus Manus' death

[Lysimachus]

Hello Fraters,

 

I've been taking part in an Istvaan/Shattered Legions Play-by-Post game down in the RPG Nook, and I've got a quick(ish) question for those more familiar with the Heresy lore and BL publications, and specifically fellow Iron Hand fans.

 

My character in the game is an Iron Hand, and he has encountered another PC who is from the X Legion, and so he asked if the other guy knows what happened to Ferrus Manus. The other PC has basically replied ‘How can you not know he's dead? Didn't you hear/feel the psychic death shriek when he died?’.

 

Now, I've heard of the thing with the Blood Angels* when Sanguinius died, that causes the Black Rage, and also I think maybe there was something about the Night Lords* after Kurze was killed… but I don't recall anything specific about the Iron Hands?

 

*both more psychically attuned Legions, which the IH are not in any particular way.

 

 

Yes, obviously there is a traumatic psychological response to your Primarch being killed, and that comes out a short time later in the IH with the events with the Council of Iron and the increasing focus on logic and strength over emotion and weakness, etc. But was there an actual warp wave/explosion/shriek at the moment of Ferrus’ death that had an immediate physical effect on the Legion? Did they know he was dead without seeing him die? If so, how far away did they know? Did the reinforcements,  who weren't even at Istvaan yet, know when he died?

 

I didn't think they did know, but maybe I'm wrong, and/or I'm unaware of somewhere that mentions it?

 

If anyone has any info, or references to books or other fluff sources that explains it, I'd be very grateful!

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Karhedron]

There was some old lore around 3rd/4th edition in Index Astartes that Ferrus appeared in a vision to his Legion after his death. However this is not mentioned in the Horus Heresy novels. The Blood Angels on Terra  being overcome by the Black Rage when Sanguinius dies is still present though. The Iron Hands were not a notably psychic Legion so I would say that the Iron Hands learning psychically of Ferrus' death is no longer canon. 

[Lysimachus]

21 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

There was some old lore around 3rd/4th edition in Index Astartes that Ferrus appeared in a vision to his Legion after his death.

 

Maybe I misread that bit of the IA, but wasn't that after the Emperor's 'death', rather than directly after Ferrus' death?

 

 

Edit: The bit in question from the Beliefs section of the IA:

 

Quote

According to their Scriptures, the moment the Emperor fell, the psychic shockwave was felt with such intensity that it reached Ferrus, even though he had left the realm of Man. An image of Ferrus appeared before his Legion, and his anguish and despair was unimaginable. It is said that this apparition spoke of his fears for Mankind. He spoke of a great calamity, a darkness that would assail humanity at some unforeseen moment in the future, and his promise that he would be there to lead humanity through its trials of darkness. Amongst the Iron Hands it is taught that he ascended to an unearthly paradise realm where he fights eternally, becoming ever stronger. And so it is said that Ferrus Manus left the world of Man, preparing for the time when he is required again, that Time of Darkness when his light is needed most of all.

 

 

Edit edit: I very much agree with your point about the IH not being a very psychic Legion, though.

 

That said, the other PC in the game I'm playing in is a Librarian, so maybe it makes sense that his character would be more aware of the Primarch's death that the rest of their brethren would be?

 

 

Edited May 25 by Lysimachus

[MARK0SIAN]

I’m going from memory but I seem to remember that at the moment he is beheaded in Fulgrim there is mention of some of the esoteric and unknowable energies that go into making a Primarch being released and felt as a physical sensation (at least by Fulgrim). 
 

I can’t remember if it specifically mentions the iron hands feeling this, nor whether it carried very far but it seems plausible that the members of the Xth who were close by could’ve felt it. No idea about those further away though, sorry.

[N1SB]

15 hours ago, Lysimachus said:

That said, the other PC in the game I'm playing in is a Librarian, so maybe it makes sense that his character would be more aware of the Primarch's death that the rest of their brethren would be?

 

I think that's exactly it, your Librarian Brother felt it, assumed it was because it was something universal among the Iron Hands, but instead it was because he was a psyker (as well as being a son of Medusa).  He had taken it just for granted exactly to the same degree your character hadn't.

 

In the Forgeworld Black Books, they described the Shadow War, where many remnants of the Shattered Legions had no idea what was going on nor whom to trust.  There were people who weren't sure if Ferrus, Corvis or Vulkan were alive or dead (in fact, Vulkan kinda went back & forth a bit).

 

Yet also, remember in Master of Mankind the Emperor summoned what we here discussed on B&C might be the Legion of the Damned that were like the ghosts of Istvaan, lead by a giant apparition with metal arms.  Now, can't be sure of the LotD bit, but much more confident that was a ghostly Ferrus, like his psychic presence was already around.

 

What I love is BOTH you and your Librarian comrade played your characters exactly as they would be.  Your character would've had no idea of Ferrus's death, like many other of the Shattered Xth, you needed evidence.  Your friend was so certain that he could NOT even imagine others were unaware, because it was so obvious to him.

 

That is literally perfect.  Your roleplaying it out and sharing this experience made it real for me, too.

 

This is some serious "the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."  I love it, thanks for telling us.

[GhostMalone]

I’ve been expanding this thought for my blackshields project: iron hands have a disposition for mental illness and dehumanisation of one’s self through to the modern setting.

 

with this in mind I believe that when Ferrus died it had a similar psychological effect which took that predisposition to one of improvement to self harm.

 

which in of itself is a sign that the psychological pain was too much which reflected in the use of physical harm. I’ve been reading a lot of medical journals to get a better understanding and I’m of the mindset that the iron hands pretty much became the mental health ward of the Legiones astartes, not like the chaotic deranged :cuss: but the very human condition and how it manifests in adults.