The Stormclaw Tribe

[duront]

Chapter Name: Stormclaw Tribe

 

Chapter Founding: N/A (Salamander 1st Company renegades)

 

Chapter Master: High Chieftain, Librarian Tu’Rokh

 

Chapter Geneseed: Salamanders

 

Chapter Homeworld: Formerly Nocturne, now Khathul.

 

Chapter Heraldry: Green armor with blue accents, deriving from original Salamander colors. Chapter insignia is a variant of the Salamander symbol superimposed over slash-marks.

 

Chapter History: During the infamous Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V, in which the 1st Company of the Salamanders legion was decimated almost entirely, a small band was formed from the remnants of several Salamander squads. Led by the Librarian Talib, this ragged force of survivors fought its way free of the carnage to seek out their Primarch, Vulkan, who had been separated from the bulk of the company. Unable to find Vulkan, Talib and his warriors managed to escape offworld by hijacking a shuttle, narrowly avoiding the traitor blockade surrounding the planet and rendezvousing with their strike cruiser “Vulkan’s Pride” a system away. After a lengthy debate, it was agreed upon that none of their brother marines could be trusted, including those of their own Salamanders legion; having seen marines slaughtered by brethren of the same legions on Istvaan V led the survivors to believe that corruption could very well run throughout the bulk of their own legion as well.

 

These survivors of Istvaan V decided to flee, setting off for the Segmentum Pacificus, which, at the time, was very sparsely settled (and still is.) It was along the outer rim of the Segmentum that they came upon a world of striking primordial beauty, richly populated with all manner of beasts. Though predominantly covered by arid deserts and the craggy remains of eroded rock formations, Khathul’s equatorial regions are home to continent-sized swathes of dense rainforests, with majestic, mist-covered mountains rising from the canopy and forming deep, steamy ravines and valleys. Island chains dot the coastlines of these jungle supercontinents, leading out to vast, unspoiled oceans very much like those of ancient Terra. Soaring majestically above even the highest mountain peaks is the great volcano Kana’o, protruding from the sea itself off the southern coast of the main jungle continent, forming its own island. Kana’o’s periodic eruptions send vast quantities of lava into the water surrounding it, blanketing the entire area in thick steam that lasts for days or weeks at a time, shrouding the land in an eerie, dreamlike haze.

 

When the renegade marines entered the system, they detected no signs of civilization on the world and thus landed on the main equatorial continent. Within a week of the initial landing, the marines came into contact with the human population of Khathul. The origin of these primitive people is not clear; it is presumed that they descended from colonists trapped on the planet during the Age of Strife, but no remnants of technological development have been found on Khathul. Whatever their beginnings, the natives of Khathul appeared to the marines as a tribal society of hunters, deeply connected to the natural world around them. Worshipping the reptilian “Atai” as supreme creator, these tribespeople venerated every aspect of nature as containing a portion of Atai’s spirit; the endless rainstorms represented Atai’s life-giving compassion, great Kana’o represented Atai’s fury and capricious anger, and the lonely mist-wreathed mountain peaks were said to represent Atai’s wisdom, and were viewed as sacred places of contemplation and ancestor communion.

 

When the Khathuli people witnessed the mighty Adeptus Astartes descend from the sky on wings of fire, they believed the end of their world was near. However, upon seeing the saurian insignia of the Salamanders legion emblazoned upon the great metal birds these giant-men rode upon, they took the newcomers to be envoys of Atai, sent to them as a gift. Rather than dominating the groveling Khathuli, the marines adopted an attitude akin to the ways of the Salamanders on Nocturne, integrating themselves into the culture and learning all they could from the tribes. It was not long before the marines learned of the second race inhabiting Khathul…

 

Feral orks eked out a nomadic lifestyle in the sun-baked deserts of the upper continents, periodically crossing the channels in crude boats to launch attacks on the Khathuli settlements. Determined fighters with an intimate knowledge of the terrain, the Khathuli had managed to protect their home adequately for untold generations, despite growing ork numbers. It was the marines that dedicated the better part of a decade to exterminating the ork menace, wiping them entirely from the face of Khathul and uniting the many separate tribes of the Khathuli people into one great “Stormclaw Tribe.”

 

In the ensuing centuries, the marines built a fortress-monastery (more akin to a ziggurat temple) deep in the heart of the densest, darkest rainforest of the main continent. The accompanying techmarines and Adeptus Mechanicus adjuncts went about the business of geneseed cultivation. Within a hundred years, the strongest and hardiest children of the tribe were beginning the process of transformation into a mighty Astartes warrior. Under the guidance of Librarian Talib, the tribe’s purpose was defined: find the lost Primarch, Vulkan.

 

The intervening millennia have seen the Stormclaw Tribe grow in numbers to approximately two hundred marines. The current High Chieftain of the tribe, Librarian Tu’Rokh, leads his warriors across the Segmentum in search of their Primarch, erecting temples to Atai on the worlds they visit. Ten thousand years of isolation from the Imperium and immersion in the shamanistic culture of the Khathuli has whittled away any remaining fealty to the Emperor of Mankind. As a result, the Stormclaw Tribe’s warriors are pursued by Imperials whenever they are found, and they take great pains to lead enemies away from their beloved Khathul, often taking pursuers on wild chases throughout the Segmentum. The Inquisition, in particular, has taken notice of these renegade marines and has declared them Excommunicate Traitoris, to be persecuted on sight.

 

Combat Philosophy/Doctrines:

The Stormclaw Tribe fights in the manner of the ancient Khathuli people, using terrain to their advantage and striking quickly in an attempt to scatter and undermine enemy defenses. The most honored of the warriors ride into battle atop great reptilian beasts that have been psychically conditioned for war and bonded to the riders by the chapter’s Librarians, or Beastmasters. The Chaplains of the tribe, called Shaman, are responsible for venerating and appeasing the spirits and aspects of Atai, as well as blessing the warriors before each battle and communing with the ancestors of the tribe for guidance. Apothecaries, referred to as Medicine Men, create potions and unguents from herbs and roots to tend to the healing needs of their brethren and beasts. What once were known as Techmarines now are Wardens, and they tend to the stables of the tribe’s war-beasts, fitting them with barding for war while maintaining the weapon-forges of the tribe. Being few in number, the tribe places great emphasis on the wisdom of their ancients, and as such they maintain a relatively high number of dreadnoughts.

[ale0x]

Totally awesome, rocks my socks.

 

EXTREMELY WELL WRITTEN.

 

*cough*

 

;D

[duront]

Great thanks to Aleox, his poetic words brought all of this together.

[Grimdarkness]

It's good but how or why do they have adepts of the machine god with them if they escaped istaavan?

[Severus6]

A few inconsistencies but well written none the less. I believe you might have gone too far with the total lack of fealty to the Emp and your boysgoing completely native. Based on passed background it would seem more likely that the Chapter would sway the local population to their beliefs as opposed to the other way around.

 

I really like the whole thing with attempting to find their lost primarch but I can also see that this Chapter would remain loyal though extremely picky about what missions they perform and for who. Who they allow into their space and a continued paranoid outlook. Sort of like Salamanders with a DA attitude. Just a thought.

 

Severus6