The Imperium of Man, the edifice of the immortal God-Emperor, was and continues very much to be a labyrinthine construct of rings within rings within rings...
With the tearing apart of the galaxy this has just made it that much harder to keep track of things, the Ministorum and Adeptus Terra try their best to make it clear under the gaze of the Lord Commander - that thrice blessed Primarch of the Ultramarines - but he cannot be everywhere at once and fighting all the wars on all the fronts, this task he must leave to the billions and billions of men and women of the so-called Astra Militarum, the Imperial Guard.
As with every other branch of Imperial authority, the Guard has secrets of its own that are the purview of the most trusted few - even the High Lords knowing little about the innermost units fighting their wars across the galaxy; all know of the valiant Stormtroopers, those elites of the Militarum Tempestus, but even those agents of the Ordo Tempestus are spread thin in the current storm of the 42nd Millennium.
This is where 'normal' men and women, though extraordinary individuals step up to the firing line, warriors of the Emperor and soldiers of the Ordo Nominis Umbra - literally 'Shadow Order' - a branch of Guard special forces made up not of orphaned and indoctrinated nobles, but of the flesh-and-blood of the Guard. Selected from front-line regiments, proven combat soldiers, they serve and fight wherever and whenever they are needed! Some fight for lofty ideals, some for the Emperor and his construct, but most fight for the soldier next to them.
You have been selected to undergo insertion into this Ordo, sworn to secrecy and under instructions to follow any order given, will you accept?
Righto, so, the forces of the Ordo Nominis Umbra is essentially like our own real world spec-ops in the 40k universe; they're all front-line soldiers, though not necessarily veterans, chosen for particular skills (heavy weapons operation, vox and machine operators, mechanics etc), without being so high up that they're Stormtroopers or so low that they're your average soldier.
They can be of any gender, come from any regiment, and generally be of variable ages but all will have fought before - perhaps not many battles or campaigns, but they're not complete greenhorns.
I say this in almost every Guard RP I run, and I've run a few, but I would like this to be gritty and well written! Due to this I intend to make it a small group recruited from canon Guard formations - more than anything I want this to feel like an experience, every post thought out and checked before posting, every action that can do to have a reaction (ripples on a pond and all that), to feel more 'alive' than RPs generally do.
I'm looking for level-head writers who can fundamentally use their own initiative when it comes to writing, who can 'get inside' a character (sounds a bit pedantic, I know, but it won't be), and have a good grasp of written English; I'm not looking for authors or novelists, my own writing lacks quite a bit itself, but I am looking for those who show their interest, show up when the OOC thread goes up, gets their CS approved and can stay the course until they want their characters killed off or tell me they've had enough.
Character Sheet
Please submit your character sheets by Private Message to me, myself and I - once accepted you can post them in the Char tab.
Name: Your character's name. A pretty obvious one, so enough said - feel free to make it 'regiment specific' I.E. Valhallans with Russian-esque names etc.
Gender: Again, obvious.
Age: Every soldier here is a proven combatant, but has also survived over 15 hours in the Guard; they don't have to be ancient, but I won't be taking any babies either.
Rank: What rank did they hold in their previous regiment? The Ordo probably wouldn't assemble an entire group of NCO's or officers, so bear that in mind.
Former Regiment(s): Canon regiments only, please. (Maze bought up a good point, by 'canon regiment' I more mean culture; feel free to have them from a Valhallan or Cadian etc regiment that doesn't actually exist. )
Speciality/Role: Are they especially skilled at close quarters? Xenos linguistics? The healing of others? Medics, heavy weapons operative etc. Put it here.
Personal Demeanour: What kind of person is your character, what are their motivations etc, and how do they interact with others? Also please include any hatreds, grudges, and so on.
Description: A written description of your character's appearance. No pictures. Please include here any armour or clothing as well.
Service Record (History): A sketch of your character's life and history before and during service in the Guard; feel free to lay it out as a list, a prose-based piece or however you feel. Give me three solid paragraphs (if you choose to go with prose), at least, please.
Equipment and Armament: What do they bring with them/carry on their person? This includes weapons; please note that this will probably be changed during the RP for specific missions and the like.
Miscellaneous: Anything you want to mention but haven't been able to cover yet. Secrets for the GM, particular habits, that sort of thing.
Name: Your character's name. A pretty obvious one, so enough said - feel free to make it 'regiment specific' I.E. Valhallans with Russian-esque names etc.
Gender: Again, obvious.
Age: Every soldier here is a proven combatant, but has also survived over 15 hours in the Guard; they don't have to be ancient, but I won't be taking any babies either.
Rank: What rank did they hold in their previous regiment? The Ordo probably wouldn't assemble an entire group of NCO's or officers, so bear that in mind.
Former Regiment(s): Canon regiments only, please. (Maze bought up a good point, by 'canon regiment' I more mean culture; feel free to have them from a Valhallan or Cadian etc regiment that doesn't actually exist. )
Speciality/Role: Are they especially skilled at close quarters? Xenos linguistics? The healing of others? Medics, heavy weapons operative etc. Put it here.
Personal Demeanour: What kind of person is your character, what are their motivations etc, and how do they interact with others? Also please include any hatreds, grudges, and so on.
Description: A written description of your character's appearance. No pictures. Please include here any armour or clothing as well.
Service Record (History): A sketch of your character's life and history before and during service in the Guard; feel free to lay it out as a list, a prose-based piece or however you feel. Give me three solid paragraphs (if you choose to go with prose), at least, please.
Equipment and Armament: What do they bring with them/carry on their person? This includes weapons; please note that this will probably be changed during the RP for specific missions and the like.
Miscellaneous: Anything you want to mention but haven't been able to cover yet. Secrets for the GM, particular habits, that sort of thing.
