(
image stopped working, they look like the dudes behind Veritas Res in his image, the stone slab is a veteran sigil.)
TRUTHLAYER LEGION
: Formerly known as the Lightseekers Legion, a name borne by them in reverence of their yet unanointed Primarch and their loss without him. Upon his return, Veritas Res proclaimed the Legion as the "Truthlayers," for never again would they be lost within darkness and without vision, they would know truth and lay it down upon the soil of worlds if such was needed for the Imperium.
Legion Number: III.
Legion Strength: At the height of their numerical worth, the Truthlayers, then named the Lightseekers Legion, numbered in the 200,000s but dwindled at an urgent haste. With the return of their Primarch, Veritas Res, the strength has improved drastically from its all-time low, steadily, ultimately amounting to a total 80,000 as of present dating. Managing to, most notably, increase in size during the course of the Rangdan Xenocides.
The Legion maintains 8 organizational structures; 7 chapters (III, IV, V, VII, IX, X, XV, XIX. VII is reinforced), and the Ultima. The Ultima is the Primarch's senior command element composing of the legion's variety of ancients, praetorate, and banner-bearers.
The most common battlegroup utilized by the Truthlayers, is the Chapter Dulon. A Chapter Dulon battlegroup is two chapters, controlled by a member of the Praetorate, sent on campaign.
Warcry: "It is known!"
Before battle there were once two different war cries which would be heard depending on the Primarch.
"It is known! Victory!"
"It is known! Defeat!"
It has morphed over time into the more neutral version for perhaps obvious reasons.
Dramatis Personae: Important note to mention is that, within the Inner Court, their Primarch Veritas Res, does not speak unless he declares conflict. As such, most of the conversation is held by the Praetorate and various heads of their various regiments and intra-organizations; Grandmaster Apothecary and others of such stature. The removal their Primarch has on their exchanges allow the legion to maintain far less removed from the world at large, and as such, others, than their Primarch.
- PPRAETORUS ULTIMATUM Balisterus Stratama - Known to his legionaires as the "Owl." Chief of the Praetors, the legion's strategic and warrior upper-caste gathered within the Inner Sanctum, known as the interior organizational entity, the "Inner Court." And within this court of Ten, eleven including the Primarch who allows self-governance of the legion to be performed by these ten individuals who have been within it far before him, and thus know it far more intimately. Balisterus Stratama is chief amongst the rest of the Praetorate. Blessed thrice with strength, thought, and truth, he carried the strongest divination within the legion, so powerful in fact that outside of battle, he is often found immobile upon the 2nd throne within the Inner Sanctum. As an ancient of the legion however, having known well from the hideous rule of a legion without Primarch, there is no one as learned in catastrophy, and how to thwart it, than he is. At this moment however, it seems an odd choice for such a quality to be so well represented within the upper-most echelon. Probably tradition.
- PRAETORUS SEXTUS Amaestrus - Much like the rest of the Praetorate, aside from the Praetorus Ultimatum, Amaestrus refers to himself as Sextus, in correlation with his 'rank' amongst their kind. He is the only known member of the Truthlayer's legion allowed the 'Rite of Decoration,' which is to say he is permitted to decorate himself in excess of the adornments expected of his station. Something he does not falter in expressing, as he is most easily noticed through his slick, visorless helm covered in dozens of red-coloured eyes. As he is blind, he instead utilizes the All-Seer's heritage to view the world through the mind's eye. Though that is not the extent of his power, for he is the most powerful and prominent of the legion's exceptionally few traditional psykers. Amongst the legion itself, he is amongst those most similar to his master, however distinctly warped from the personality of the Third Legion’s overlord. A personality more animate, far more grim, and distinctly more susceptible to its own will; a cerberusian self-empowering mind, far more dynamic than the monolithic nature of his master. The epitome of what Veritas distinctly does not desire from his gene-sons, yet parodically aligned perfectly with the wishes that the All-Seer has for the Imperium’s destiny.
- DOMINUS VINDEX SUPERBUS Achaelon Omnigus - The Primarch's Champion-Superior, Achaelon Omnigus is the arch-ancient of the chapter, and also its chief protector; it is his task to defend those sworn to leadership, and ensure their tasks may proceed uninterrupted. And it is for this that he bears their Primarch's own banner upon his armour into battle as his banner-bearer. It is his task to die so that those who matter more cannot. As an ancient of the legion blessed not by the visions of truth, he swore instead to rise to the task of ensuring that those with it may lead it into prosperity. It was with single-minded pursuit, and a degree of natural perseverence, that over many campaigns, untold battles, and hundreds of injuries, that this semi-crippled ancient still serves, forever hooked into the internals of his master-crafted Cataphractii-pattern terminator armour blessed to him by the good will of their otherwise far removed Primarch. Standing as a walking veneration to those besides him, he stands as an example that even the Primarch who drives forward for nothing but the ultimate destiny may be moved by the contributions of warriors under his thumb. And it is with this blessing that Achaelon still serves, and he serves with twice the perseverence of his supposed peak, and twice the devotion towards the light which the Lightseeker legion formerly sought, and has since acquired. Older and yet more acclaimed than many of the heroes embedded within the venerable dreadnoughts of the legion, even they must stand still in respect, if they had the presence of mind for it, at his coming across the battlefield.
- APOTHAECARIS DOMINUM SUPERBUS Sevyristus Hesteris - Master of the Apothecary lodge of the Truthlayers legion, and the attendant superior of Veritas Res, Sevyristus Hesteris is, perhaps, the second-most important member of the Truthlayers legion for logic beyond his own. He was scouted, by their Primarch, in M30.829, and was, with immediacy, appointed honours and banners far beyond his station under unrealized ambitions to come. He carries an aura of uncertainty at his side, for even his brothers view him with incredible oddity, and the burden of growing into a position, and surpassing it, ultimately becoming the Grandmaster Apothecary, was a task which came at unbridled ease to his own astonishment. Now, as a honourary ancient of the legion, he upholds its tenents, and maintains an unscrupulous work ethic beyond all comprehension. Rare is the time when the Grandmaster Apothecary does not perfect his skills within the numerous halls of the Apothecary lodge, be it on decommissioned servitors or creatures of other origin.
- AUGURUS-MACHINA SUPERBUS Olyrifex Olympaeron - The Mechanaugur, officially deigned the Augurus-Machina, are the Tech-Marines of the Truthlayers Legion, and foremost amongst them, their leader, is the Mechanaugur Superior, Olyrifex Olympaeron. Much like any other tech-marine and those others of their ilk, Olyrifex was sent to Mars, and there gained immensities of knowledge unparralleled by only the most superior, using his skill and sensations for the life of machinery and their unspoken word. As he returned, he grew in might and prowess, and has since eclipsed all whom were his former equals in the legion, and now lords over the Star-Harbour's interior assemblies with a ruthlessness otherwise unseen beyond the fields of battle. He is a face of terror and respect in equal platitudes to his lessers, and a source of good advice for those of his equals and superiors, often making it known to hold morei nformation than would otherwise be believed. An aspect perhaps attributed to his obsessive perfectionistic characteristic, an otherwise uncontrollable quality if it were not that he spoke with softness and delivered staunchness and complaints with gilded words. He is feared not because of might or unbridled anger, but for his perfection. Equipped with the heritage of his Primarch's geneseed, and the powerful and uncontrollable visions held therein, he maintains the litany of the cacophony of the Truthlayers' war machine.
- ARTISAN FORGE LORD VENERATUS TECHNICUS Obrix Palolennaeus - Whilst there are many, far more than any could possibly believe dwell beneath the ornate hallways and amidst the intricate complexities and machinery. Whilst Tech-priests spread through the entirety of the Star-Harbour, their service did not come without risk to the self of the legion. Forced to patrol their space for them, the Forgeworld Mortisimo performed the duties requested in adequate reciprocity. Built on the planet proper by the mightiest thinkers across the system assembled for its sole creation, Obrix Palolennaeus now stands as the sole servant of the single most powerful, and profoundly ruthless weapon known to him. He is the one who maintains this machine worthy of worship, and also serves as a potent enforcer. Though he has never seen the Eleven Thrones to operate in tandem, he dreams that one day it could become reality.
- UMBRA-PRAETORIS Eulysseus Vaal - Veiled behind centuries of lies, misdirection, and blatant mistruths hide nefarious entities wrought forth by man and its ambition. Built from a black forge drawing strength from a dying star, armed by the knowledge and wisdom of the unallowed and questionable, and consisting of the most loyal yet extreme of perhaps any legion, that which is spoken of as such is the Shadow Lodge of the Truthlayers. Umbral masters of deceit and the arts of terror and fright, builders of strata and tactica inconcievable to the human mind, and lorded over by their night-lord, unbeknownst to all, standing second only to the Primarch, Eulysseus Vaal. To all but Veritas, they do not exist, instead hidden behind doors which do not exist and guarded by sentries who know not for which purpose they stand guard. The Shadow Lodge is the poison vial with which empires fall in torrents of stately autocannibalism, the unseen force which whispers death into the ears of the soon to perish.
Favored Tactics/Battlefield Role:
"I arrive now, and see wroth, I see fury, anger, despair, misfortune, misbegotten warriors. I arrive now and what do you see in me? I am Absolute.
All you needed to acquire victory was me, and thus, with me, what you cannot do, you can now do."
- Veritas Res, meeting his legion.
Unlike most other legions, the Truthlayers do not operate in smaller groups, and instead only engage with smaller or greater army groups. This is because the flaw of their gene-seed is the same as their greatness. The modern strata was deviced immediately upon their Primarch's return, after having been told about their failures as the Lightseeker Legion. And whilst there are none who maintain the immense psychic divination prowess of their Primarch Veritas. But those of the Inner Council, those who are then by definition the uppermost commanders and leaders within the legion, do share comparable genetically derived psyker traits.
Because of this, the Legion focuses on large scale battles, preferably with as many of their own forces as possible partaking, so as to maximize the efficieny of their combined battle prowess. And multiplying their combat effectiveness.
If the battle does not include a great host of the entirety of the legion, then a praetor-equivalent will lead the army in a much similar fashion to what Veritas would, from the immediate front, but just behind it, surrounded by a cadre of honourguard and tech-marines to manage the intricate and delicate portable digital warmaps the legion brings along with them; capable of displaying information acquired from the mapping performed from orbit upon the battlefield.
Whilst these do not hold the same importance as they would with Veritas, capable of seeing the future movements of the enemies through it as medium, the Praetors' innate psyker heritage from him would allow them fervent divinations with sudden, and common onset, with which they would use to direct their forces through their mobile headquarters carried and maintained by hundreds of servitors and lesser mechanics, lorded over by the Mechanaugur; the chief Tech-Marine within the legion.
During any mission, the establishment of the forward headquarters is most paramount, and as such, over time, the process has been simplified to the point where every astartes in the legion are equipped with a closed-system communications network, a one-way speaker between every layer of the hierarchy; As a regular astartes you can only recieve orders and communication occurs only within your enclosed squad element. Your sergeant recieves orders from the one which rules that company, and so on it progresses further upwards until the final peak; Veritas Res.
However, when Veritas Res accompanies a battle, the aforementioned "mobile headquarters" is, per definition, necessary, to maximize his combat effectivesness and increase drastically the legion's combat effectiveness. As such, when he is the leader of a force, instead of maintaining an honour guard, the Praetors serve as both advisors and attendants on the field.
Should it be necessary for Veritas to take to the frontlines, the entire advisory becomes the Inner Council, and operates not dissimilarly from a war council, merely on the field of battle as opposed to far ways from it.
Notable Combat insight of the Truthlayers at present moment include::
- Vast Veteran numbers.
- Above-standard Terminator usage.
- Utilizes shock-based tactics.
Legion Characteristics/Ideology:
Within the Star-Harbor they hold the only home that ever would belong to them, and the only one place they would defend with a zeal so magnifique as to even send the most nefarious entities as far away from it as possible. It is a city for which only the Astarte may gather, and a world for which nothing less is allowed entry or sanction to approach without the express permission of its master, Veritas Res. But should you be granted that extreme prvilege you would see, as you dock, a mighty harbour capable of maintaining a stellar armada too massive to comprehend, and ladened across all the piers, all the walls, and all surfaces truly, are the bones, regalia, and most venerable relics of those fallen for the true path.
As you delve future, you note the lack of sound nor thralls, servitors, or anything else which would make the location seem all the more inviting. You feel alone, and insignificant, but suddenly, it dawns on you, as you are being escorted deeper and ever deeper into the myriad labyrinthine passages, that there has never been a single word spoken, and instead, as you approach quarters and corridors far more occupied, that there is a lot of sound, merely none which is immediately comprehensible, instead they speak in signs, elaborate and circumstantial techniques with myriad meanings with an unlikely ease.
Even if you had experienced company with a mute, this was much unlike it, this seemed far more eleaborate, and far more coping in nature. I was a complex system indeed, you saw the same sign many times, between brothers sparring and cleaning the various remembrances laid across and decorating the many passages, but never did they seem to mean the same thing, or if there was a variance, you could not comprehend it.
No wonder then, that people call Star-Harbour the Ghost of Asteros.
As you enter into the royal hall, you see a gargantuan throne of steel, circuitry, and seven tech-marines, and an assortment of stationed tech-priests procuring, tending, and applying the necessary maintenance on the Legion's perhaps most important artifact; the Primarch, Veritas Res' throne, the Regis Dominatus Informatrix. You have heard rumors of it, traders love to gossip about space marines after all, so... This is where the elucidating Primarch joins his psychic mind with the eyes of the fortress, and sees through it.
"Hail, Trader," a voice boomed amidst the silence, a presence making itself known clearly, as he stood on the right of the massive machination.
"Your merchandise is validated, your cargo has been unloaded: leave."
You shiver at the tension, atmosphere, and legion of the place itself near overwhelms you, and then, another gargantuan angel of death made themselves known, but instead to force you back, it grasped your palm with relative warmth, and spoke, "You ought not spend time here, Trader. You have better places to be, better places to go, and more to gain beyond our meager system, do you not?"
...
"And that was how I, Adryminichy Akorov, of my fair vessel The Farjumper, were the only civilian vessel to ever deliver to the Barren Star Asteros. Jealous, eh?"
"Hogwash, no way that could have possibly happened!"
"It did, it did you senile drunk!"
"Then what did you deliver, eh? EH?"
"Ah, erm. Hm."
...
...
...
"I can't tell you friend, I really can't,"
____
An Example of a Truthlayer ritual.
The Truthlayer Legion maintains a strict, rigid, yet at some times loose, ritualistic lifestyle in a system which demands the use of your mouth as least as possible. All rites of invitation are done in carving, so that those newborn Astartes recieve their first shoulder plate, and before the Inner Sanctum, are told to validate that which is found carved within them. Usually to their surprise, the name of their human name is carved upon its interior, followed by the date of their arrival into this very chamber. They are then told to carve, atop their old name, their new name within the legion. And told that this ceremony was their birth. Little to their knowledge, the next four carvings within, dates, foretell their peak, promotion, and death, followed by the fourth, Date Ultima.Relationships:
"To The Emperor, Our Loyalty Sworn. His Truth is Absolute. To His Foes, We Vow Ruin."
Legion-Legion Dynamics: The Truthlayers are, truthfully, an group amongst the legiones astartes whom will perhaps partake in near-most conflicits which would demand the presence of more than one legion entity. And as such, has built up a strange repetoire of relationships amongst them. No true rival, no true allies. The reason primarily is Veritas Res, and the nature of his warfare, the nature of his presence, and the nature of walking at the wake of such an individual. Little thought is put towards the Truthlayers, they are merely the tool by which Veritas Res operates, and whilst he treats them properly, he shows no true compassion for any one identity, only a singular purpose. The myriad mysteries that he holds silenced from the world, the extent of his knowledge, makes legion diplomacy difficult in his presence, and as such, most would notably prefer to do as little of it as possible with him. Though his straight-forward approach in all things doesn't help many keep their distance for long, especially in times of war. As such, complicated is the best suited word.
Legion-Imperial Army Dynamics: The Legion does not hold any truly noteworthy relationships with the soldiers of men and the mortal in general. This being said, he treats all units under his wing with the same degree of respect unrelated to whether they be immortal or mortal. The Truthlayer warmachine is one which does not stop, and as such, to work, it maintains all elements of the engine with equal care. Apothecaries aiding humans is not unheard of, and melding of organization can occur if warranted. The battle stratagem of the Truthlayers put all things, living or dead, into equality. As such, he has become the saviour patron of some regiments, and the doomsayer of others, and even in the various corners of the Imperial Army barracks, he is a contested character for gossip.
Legion-Mechanicum Dynamics: The Truthlayer legion has strong ties with a major forgeworld in distant proximity from Star-Harbour and is supplied through it and its 8 serf-forgeworlds. Whilst Veritas Res and the Truthlayers may uphold the Imperial Truth and raze in its name, they have developed friendly relations over the past 150 years, now providing a worthwhile partnership. Thanks to the importance the legion places of information coordination technologies, and Terminator Armour variance, The Forgeworld of Mortisimo and its serf-planets are now valued equal in importance as Star-Harbour, and regularly patrol the region under the Planetary-Governor's personal requests. Though only with minor fleets, typically filled with the youngest of the legion, serving as a way for them to accustomize themselves to the culture and rituals of the legion on a 'final voyage' before being allowed into battle.
"The vileness of the Xeno is a plague which is allowed artificial life due to nonsensities."
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