STATUS:
Sorry for my lack of posts lately. I've just... been struggling to get the energy to write something up. I'm trying some new meds through so hopefully that will change soon.
7 yrs ago
Current
Sorry for my lack of posts lately. I've just... been struggling to get the energy to write something up. I'm trying some new meds through so hopefully that will change soon.
Allegiance: Independent, through the Mandalorians are likely the only one of the primary trio of factions that would care to accept him.
Physical Appearance: Droka is an intimidating person to bare witness too, even without his trademark combat/cult leader attire or the 'tools' of his trade. Just under seven feet tall and refined by years of brutal combat and physical training, few species in the universe can look down on him, let alone intimidate him through physical strength. Underneath the mask he tends to wear, one would discover that he is an ugly, thuggish looking bastard; While a lifetime of suffering a variety of blows, cuts and blaster shots to the face almost certainly played their part, one generally got the impression that he hadn't exactly been much of a looker to begin with.
The one thing that always draws the gaze through are his eyes. One would expect his brown eyes to be dull, hollow and lifeless, but in truth they shine so brightly and with such intensity that its difficult to hold his gaze for any length of time. The light however is a dark flame; A sign of the insanity that has corrupted Droka's brain and fuels his zeal.
The mask Droka wears is a thing of pure dread and unease most people who witness it. Part of this is due to its intimidating, almost demon like design, but the choice of materials also plays a role; It is made with a combination of metal, human bone and human flesh. There are in fact several such masks currently in existence with different designs, alongside a number of masks that have been damaged beyond repair or the repair work practically changed the look of the mask itself.
Background: Give an overview about this character's history (about 3 paragraphs would be nice). Explain how they got involved with the Grand Alliance, why they fight, and how they acquired their skills.
Skills: Detail any skills your character has that that are important. Put things that aren't what are expected from someone in a resistance army: I think "Blaster shooting" is a skill that ranks up there in noteworthiness with things like "walking" and "breathing", for example.
Weaknesses: Insane Cannibal Cult Leader: Droka is a monster. By all rights, in just about any other circumstance, anything even remotely close to a respectable government would either have thrown him into the deepest, darkest hole they could find in order to start serving the first of many life sentences or execute him on the spot. It is a testament to the Grand Alliance's dire situation in regards to the Empire that they cannot turn away Droka or his cult. They are high morale, combat experienced veterans who cost very little to supply and maintain who have proven time and time again to be a highly effective terror weapon in the war against the Empire. That being said, the various factions of the Grand Alliance almost certainly have planned to purge Droka and his followers the exact moment they are no longer needed and will do so without a tinge of regret.
Force Sensitivity: While he is unaware of his force sensitivity and the abilities that it bestows upon him in the field of battle, Droka is still a dark sided force sensitive and thus shares the various weaknesses and counters to force sensitivity.
Equipment: Your usual equipment that you have on hand for most campaigns and missions. Most stuff will be leftovers, requisitioned from the Clone Wars and as battlefield pick-ups.
I'm going to be honest. The general theme I'm going with this character is 'In drawn out conflicts, after a certain point you don't get to be picky about who's fighting beside you.
Despite its designation as an agri-world, like the majority of Imperial Worlds Arishe 42.9 maintained a facility for the development of corpse starch. For the most part this was so that it could be used in the creation of fabrics and clothing since unlike the standard Hive world, Arishe 42.9 could actually grow and sustain other food products, but some corpse starch would still end up on the plates of those living on the planet alongside the occasional shipment off-world to one of the other planets in system that for logistical reasons needed some extra corpse starch in a hurry.
Of course, like all industries, workers were required in all stages of corpse starch production. From gathering the bodies of the recently deceased all the way to shipping the final product of corpse starch to whatever end it needed to go to. Jim was simply another cog in the machine who's job was, once a body had been properly stripped of their belongings, bionics and other mechanical parts removed and then cleaned, to take that body and convert it into its most basic parts so that they could be sorted, treated in the correct manner and used to the fullest. Skin sent down one chute, bones in another, muscles and meat sent along the belt. Anything that didn't belong in the human body that was missed by earlier sweeps got tossed in a bin to be sorted out later.
It was bloody work, but Jim took a sense of pride in being rather good with the chain cleavers and meeting his quotas. Then one day, he accidentally slept in; He had been a little feverish and his body had refused to let him get up without an extra half an hour of sleep. While good for his health, this resulted in Jim being late for work and needing to skip the morning meal in order to have a chance of meeting deadlines.
It wasn't so bad at first, but after a few hours of physically demanding work that required one to stay focused or risk adding a little more meat to the belt, Jim had a rather... strange thought as hungry threatened to distract him at bad times. The body he had been working on was a fatter then normal person, why not take a small amount of meat from it in order to give him the energy and focus to make it through to the next proper meal. Sure, the headgear they wore was meant to discourage such an action but it wouldn't be difficult to bypass it if he tried. Not wishing to lose an arm due to a moment of distraction, Jim took a handful of raw meat and slipped it past his face mask.
For a moment he thought that it would be wrong to ate raw human meat. Disgusting. But once it was actually in his mouth and he was eating it, he honestly didn't have the words to describe the sensation. It was so rich... so juicy. It was honestly one of the best things he had ever tasted before in his life. Only the threat of an overseer stopping by to 'motivate' him to keep working prevented Jim from continuing to eat from the corpse and getting back to work. But as time passed other opportunities to sneak a handful presented themselves and there was a part of Jim that wanted to make sure that the earlier taste hadn't just been a strange fluke.
It hadn't been. Once the shift was over and he had the next proper meal Jim couldn't help but find it... bland. Lacking somehow. He still ate it, but it just didn't have that same texture and taste that he had experienced earlier. As time past and other shifts came and went, Jim found himself sneaking little bits of meat whenever he felt he could get away with it. He always seemed to be more energetic and focused whenever he had at least one morsel stolen from the production line and soon the idea of going a shift without a fix was just madness to him.
The fact that he was processing bodies faster then before at a high quality of success was an added bonus to this arrangement; Where before he had been meeting quotas and deadlines, now he was taking to the task with such zeal that he was actually surpassing quotas of bodies being processed a day to the point where the overseers had noticed and were using him as an example for the other workers to follow.
It was around this point that what Jim had originally believed to be his own impulses revealed that wasn't the case. A voice that materialized in his head, speaking to him of rites and rituals and the secrets of blood and muscle. While initially Jim had been privately concerned by the discovery that something or someone was speaking to him inside of his mind that wasn't himself, he couldn't help but find himself trusting it and its advice. After all, following its guidance had worked out wonderfully for Jim so far; He was physically in the best shape of his life, his mind felt sharper then ever before and the overseers hadn't beaten him for months. Whatever it was, it clearly had his interests at heart.
So after his shift, Jim found some unemployed dredge in an alleyway that was eating something likely ransacked from a garbage pile and introduced them to the business end of a chain cleaver. The process was messy, but apart from the screaming of the soon to be corpse there really wasn't much difference between it and Jim's shift work. With the ritual that the voice was informing him of, Jim enjoyed the greatest meal he had ever had in his life.
The voice itself, a roaring inferno of a fiery tone that felt like it could shake the world just by yelling, affectionately bestowed upon Jim the title of Butcher. There would be more to do in the future of course, but in that very moment Jim felt such a deep sense of contentment with himself that the idea of his life before almost made him weep.
Despite its designation as an agri-world, like the majority of Imperial Worlds Arishe 42.9 maintained a facility for the development of corpse starch. For the most part this was so that it could be used in the creation of fabrics and clothing since unlike the standard Hive world, Arishe 42.9 could actually grow and sustain other food products, but some corpse starch would still end up on the plates of those living on the planet alongside the occasional shipment off-world to one of the other planets in system that for logistical reasons needed some extra corpse starch in a hurry.
Of course, like all industries, workers were required in all stages of corpse starch production. From gathering the bodies of the recently deceased all the way to shipping the final product of corpse starch to whatever end it needed to go to. Jim was simply another cog in the machine who's job was, once a body had been properly stripped of their belongings, bionics and other mechanical parts removed and then cleaned, to take that body and convert it into its most basic parts so that they could be sorted, treated in the correct manner and used to the fullest. Skin sent down one chute, bones in another, muscles and meat sent along the belt. Anything that didn't belong in the human body that was missed by earlier sweeps got tossed in a bin to be sorted out later.
It was bloody work, but Jim took a sense of pride in being rather good with the chain cleavers and meeting his quotas. Then one day, he accidentally slept in; He had been a little feverish and his body had refused to let him get up without an extra half an hour of sleep. While good for his health, this resulted in Jim being late for work and needing to skip the morning meal in order to have a chance of meeting deadlines.
It wasn't so bad at first, but after a few hours of physically demanding work that required one to stay focused or risk adding a little more meat to the belt, Jim had a rather... strange thought as hungry threatened to distract him at bad times. The body he had been working on was a fatter then normal person, why not take a small amount of meat from it in order to give him the energy and focus to make it through to the next proper meal. Sure, the headgear they wore was meant to discourage such an action but it wouldn't be difficult to bypass it if he tried. Not wishing to lose an arm due to a moment of distraction, Jim took a handful of raw meat and slipped it past his face mask.
For a moment he thought that it would be wrong to ate raw human meat. Disgusting. But once it was actually in his mouth and he was eating it, he honestly didn't have the words to describe the sensation. It was so rich... so juicy. It was honestly one of the best things he had ever tasted before in his life. Only the threat of an overseer stopping by to 'motivate' him to keep working prevented Jim from continuing to eat from the corpse and getting back to work. But as time passed other opportunities to sneak a handful presented themselves and there was a part of Jim that wanted to make sure that the earlier taste hadn't just been a strange fluke.
It hadn't been. Once the shift was over and he had the next proper meal Jim couldn't help but find it... bland. Lacking somehow. He still ate it, but it just didn't have that same texture and taste that he had experienced earlier. As time past and other shifts came and went, Jim found himself sneaking little bits of meat whenever he felt he could get away with it. He always seemed to be more energetic and focused whenever he had at least one morsel stolen from the production line and soon the idea of going a shift without a fix was just madness to him.
The fact that he was processing bodies faster then before at a high quality of success was an added bonus to this arrangement; Where before he had been meeting quotas and deadlines, now he was taking to the task with such zeal that he was actually surpassing quotas of bodies being processed a day to the point where the overseers had noticed and were using him as an example for the other workers to follow.
It was around this point that what Jim had originally believed to be his own impulses revealed that wasn't the case. A voice that materialized in his head, speaking to him of rites and rituals and the secrets of blood and muscle. While initially Jim had been privately concerned by the discovery that something or someone was speaking to him inside of his mind that wasn't himself, he couldn't help but find himself trusting it and its advice. After all, following its guidance had worked out wonderfully for Jim so far; He was physically in the best shape of his life, his mind felt sharper then ever before and the overseers hadn't beaten him for months. Whatever it was, it clearly had his interests at heart.
So after his shift, Jim found some unemployed dredge in an alleyway that was eating something likely ransacked from a garbage pile and introduced them to the business end of a chain cleaver. The process was messy, but apart from the screaming of the soon to be corpse there really wasn't much difference between it and Jim's shift work. With the ritual that the voice was informing him of, Jim enjoyed the greatest meal he had ever had in his life.
The voice itself, a roaring inferno of a fiery tone that felt like it could shake the world just by yelling, affectionately bestowed upon Jim the title of Butcher. There would be more to do in the future of course, but in that very moment Jim felt such a deep sense of contentment with himself that the idea of his life before almost made him weep.
Homeworld: Sometime in the far, distant past Abenteuer was originally a tropical world. Humid, covered in vast and lush vegetation and inhabited by a large number of different mega fauna alien species that came in herbivore, carnivore and omnivore varieties. Originally it was settled in the hopes of turning it into a farming world, be it for plants or its animal population. This hope proved... unfounded. The soil proved ill suited for sustaining edible corps on a mass scale and the mega fauna was discovered to be uncooperative to domestication.
Despite these setbacks, Abentueuer's colonization continued. Rather than food production, it turned into a scientific hub as botanists and biologists from all over humanities worlds flocked to investigate what Abentueuer had to offer from its native life. It also proved to be a remarkable tourist destination for various big game hunters in the galaxy who were interested in the planet's mega fauna and the stories and trophies they could provide. It helped that a lot of them actually tasted pretty damn good when cooked.
When the Age of Strife struck and isolated the world, both scientist and big game hunter factions banded together for the sake of survival rather than fight a pointless war for dominance. After all, they were stuck there for the foreseeable future due to the rampaging warp storms, so they might as well get comfortable and make themselves at home.
Many years later in the modern day, about a third of Abentueuer's landmass has been converted into man made settlements and structures while the rest of the planet remains its flora covered self. One would think at first glance that this was a death world situation in which humanity had fought tooth and nail in order to claim what it had from the world but this is actually not true: Their scientific and hunter ancestors both had a deep respect for the natural world, even if for different reasons. As such, they largely invested their time and resources into developing and making use of 'green tech' in order to preserve as much of the world of Abentueuer as possible while allowing themselves to have comfortable lives.
Even if they are no longer bound to the resources of Abentueuer, its people continue to show the same respect their ancestors did. After all, if you hunt all of a species to extinction then the next generation isn't going to be able to make hunting stories of their own.
Appearance: Strahlender is a giant of a man at 14 feet tall. While he is incredibly physically strong, he is actually somewhat naturally chubby in both body and face. His hair is brown and kept short, while his mustache is generally kept prim and proper while the rest of his face is kept clean shaven with a few exceptions (namely, long term campaigns in which there is little time to break and stop fighting).
Strahlender's power armor was originally based on an early design for terminator armor, but like the rest of his legion it has been combined with the designs of Abentueuer's 'Knight Armor' in order to maintain the same functionality and purpose, but have that familiar feel of home. The primary difference between Strahlender's personal armor and that of any of his legionaries is that of scale, since he tends to tower over them.
While prone to changing up his weaponry in response to battlefield conditions instead of using a singular weapon, Strahlender is best known for the usage of his custom made powersword that is almost as big as he is. While Strahlender could use it one handed if needed, he is much more comfortable wielding it with both hands.
The story goes that it was originally the primary melee weapon of a Armiger-Class Knight who was fighting alongside the 8th when they heroically covered a withdrawal of the Imperial Army from an armored ambush at the cost of the user and the almost complete destruction of the knight itself. Strahlender would honor this fallen hero of the Imperium by claiming the large powersword they used and using it to finish the fight against the foes that had killed them. Strahlender has kept it ever since.
Personality: Strahlender is a jolly, polite and honorable man who desires to travel the universe in the name of adventure, witness the wonders that it holds and collect and share stories of it. A moral man, it isn't strange for him to feel honor bound to defending those who cannot fight back or refusing to engage those who clearly aren't fighters. It is actually rather difficult to incite his ire with insults or aggression, but cruelty and indifference to the suffering of others will rile up a response. Never afraid to lead the charge into battle, but willing to ask himself if the battle needs to be fought before jumping in.
While he is very much onboard with the grand quest of uniting humanity from all across the stars, Strahlender is one of the Primarchs that doesn't judge others for their species and has no ill intent towards xenos races solely because of them being xenos. For him, they are just another interesting part of the universe and more reason to explore it. That being said, the actions of these species can quickly result in Strahlender making it a personal mission to wipe their breed of evil from the universe but even then he'll still be prone to sparing civilians in the event that the species in question understands the concept of non-combatants.
Orks are an interesting species in that Strahlender doesn't hate them. In fact he honestly enjoys fighting them! The savage greenskins always make for an epic tale of battle and glory on the battlefield and their actions against humanity, while horrible and clearly needing to be stopped, actually lack the malice intent that normally incites his ire. Granted there are individual orks who trigger it by being sadistic bastards, but Strahlender cannot help but feel that the greenskin's vile actions off the battlefield are caused by the fact that to them, there is no concept of a place that isn't a battlefield. To them the Orks aren't butchering civilians, they are merely fighting the poorly equipped and trained dregs of an enemy force. They clearly have to be purged to make a safer universe of course, but at least the fighting will be interesting until their final days.
Prone to festivities, drinks that have been designed to be strong enough for the legionaries to be able to enjoy and the collecting and telling of stories, Strahlender has a charisma about him that makes people see the universe the way that he does; To want to be apart of a universe where adventure is possible and that the honorable are remembered for their deeds for eons to come.
Skills: Leader of Men: Strahlender is a strong, charismatic man who fundamentally feels that humanity doesn't need to be driven like sheep, but led. He will never ask someone to do what he is unwilling to do himself and if battle must be fought, he will always be among the first leading the charge. These convictions bleed over into his words and actions and inspire loyalty and a desire to follow him on his cause and to do the best that they can in its name.
Weaponsmaster: Strahlender makes use of a number of different weapons, depending on the battle in question he is about to fight. He knows how to use all of them at an inhuman, master level.
Strength of Conviction: Strahlender is an honorable knight who follows his own code of chivalry and glory. He will follow this code of honor above the laws of men and Emperor. There is no force in this universe that would make him deviate or abandon it, consequences be damned.
Science Nerd: Despite being an adventuring knight with a code of honor and a desire for glory, Strahlender is rather intelligent and highly educated in various fields of science and technology.
Assignment Grade: Kappa
Strahlender really doesn't have much in the way of psychic ability, nor has he ever tapped into it before. Maybe one day he might sit down and actually explore this side of himself but for the time being he has better things to do.
Biography: No one knows the details of Strahlender Viktor's early life apart from Strahlender himself and he doesn't speak of them. While many might find such a thing odd, the people of Abentueuer understand that Stranhlender is embodying the knightly virtue of demut: Humility. While the knights of Abentueruer and later the 8th legion have a practice of telling heroic tales of their exploits, it is considered highly improper to tell the stories of one's own achievements; Abentueruer knightly tales are designed so that the group in question will all take their part telling the story, enshrining the virtues and achievements of their comrades and allies rather then their own.
What is known is that one night, lucky residents of Abentueuer looked up into the sky and witnessed what appeared to be a shooting star. Those of a more astronomy bent even calculated the trajectory and found that its course found it crashing into a section of their homeworld far from civilization and generally home to some of the more aggressive predators on Abentueuer.
For the most part this was just viewed as an interesting tidbit of information. Something to talk about with friends or coworkers but not really an earth shattering event... despite the fact that the point of impact likely suffered its share of earth shattering because of it. With one exception.
A group of young knights, who were planning an expedition into that region anyway in order to prove themselves and earn some stories and glory, not only saw the falling star as a good omen for the hunt but also decided to make finding and collecting it an objective in its own right. They were going there anyway, might as well make the adventure all the more interesting by seeking out a hunk of star metal that crashed down.
The adventure of this group of young knights was an epic tale in its own right filled with heroism, comradery among brothers and sisters in arms and tales of combat deserving of song, but when they reached their destination the story encountered a twist that would make it the foundation of legend. It took them over a year and a half in order to reach the area of their quest and their search for the 'fallen star' proved surprisingly easy. It was hard to miss the pod in the middle of a boneyard of various animals of the region.
While one would have thought those bones were caused by the impact itself, that idea was quickly disbanded due to the the fact that some of the dead were fresh and had clear signs of having their flesh and meat cut off... alongside the small boy that was sitting by a campfire by a leanto made of a mixture of bone, leather, wood and other plant materials. This seemingly six year old boy, wearing makeshift hide clothing and cooking a stew with a hand made stone pot with stone and wooden tools carefully placed around a camp in the middle of one of the most dangerous regions on the planet, looked up at the arriving knights and tilted his head in curiosity for a moment before beckoning them over to join him.
What followed was a surreal meal. The child didn't seem to understand the knights at first, but was a remarkably quick learner and before the stew was ready to be served up they had clearly learned enough to at least be able to understand what was being said... or at least the underlying intention behind the words. In return he didn't speak because the knights suspected he didn't know how, but the boy proved to be very good at charades when it came to imparting meaning of his own, even if it wasn't as detailed as he might have wanted it to be.
At any rate, after some discussion and a day or two at this camp site, everyone agreed to head back to civilization and to take the pod with them. Considering how long the journey back was, the young boy would spend a lot of time with this band of knights. Within the first month he was able to fluently speak to them. Within six months he had gone from a remarkably effective but brutish method of fighting which had been developed to survive out in the wilds to the fourth best fighter of the band of knights, despite the fact that he was still much smaller than they were. By the end of the year he had not only grown into the body of a teenager, but he had taken the undisputed title of the best duelist of the group.
By the time they had returned to civilization, the leader of the young band of knights Herrliche Tapferkeit had unofficially adopted the strange boy from the stars as family and gave him the name of Strahlender Viktor before personally vouching for him to undergo official training for knighthood. This was largely just a formality, since by this point Strahlender was more skilled at combat then most veteran knights and the band had done a solid job of teaching him the various codes, oaths and ideologies of being a knight, but as they were willing to admit that while they were officially recognized as full knights there were better, more experienced teachers. Everyone agreed that Strahlender's time with the band (and the time alone before that) counted as far as proving himself a full knight via questing was concerned.
Unsurprisingly Strahlender officially became a full knight of the order within record time, though he credited the achievement largely to his friends and family in arms for giving him a solid education to work from. Rather than go on a quest like most newly minted knights did, he instead turned his focus towards the scientific.
The scientific community on Abentueuer was still active after all this time, though one might have found it was heavily slanted towards certain fields; While the planet had originally served as a hub for science research, it had largely been focused on researching plants, animals and biological factors of the planet. Cut off via the Age of Strife, this resulted in having limited resources on other fields... if they had resources at all. As such, much had to be developed from scratch. In all fairness they had done a remarkable job of retaining what they had while expanding their knowledge base from practically nothing in a lot of cases over the length of the Long Night.
Strahlender taking part in the scientific community took the hard work of all those who came before and accelerated it beyond their wildest dreams. Optimistic estimates had placed the first manned mission into space as Abentueuer's first step to reclaiming their spot in the stars between 40 and 60 years. Because of Strahlender, they were able to land a manned craft on the planet's moon and return within 3. 2 years after the first trip, a colony had been established as probes and satellites were sent out as plans to visit the rest of the system were being made before a Rogue Trader detected one of the probes and followed it back to its source.
The visit proved rather beneficial for both parties, with the Rogue Trader finding a pretty good world with a respectable human population open to joining the Imperium and picking up a fighting force of the planets knights in the process because they wanted to go on an adventure to see the stars and Abentueuer in turn was brought to the attention of the Imperium... and quickly drawing the personal eye of the Emperor himself after the Rogue Trader met the giant science knight that had pushed the planet to take to the stars so quickly and flagged him as a possible Primarch.
The Emperor arrived soon afterwards and quickly confirmed this and welcomed his lost son to the Imperial fold, as well as putting him in charge of Abentueuer. Strahlender in turn decided that the local government had been doing a pretty good job of things as it was and more or less empowered them to continue doing what they were doing as he went with the Emperor to study and learn from the best that the Imperium had to offer before he took control of his legion.
When Strahlender learned about the 8th and their brutal but effective nature which reminded him very much about how he once was, he sat at the top of a staircase that led to a training field that was used by the elite forces of the Emperor's personal guard and pondered deeply for eleven hours and twenty three minutes. When one servant of the Imperial Palace asked Strahlender if he was alright, Strahlender was rather jolly in his response as he answered 'Oh, yes. I was just pondering how to turn my poor lost children away from the savagery that they have had to use to survive and remake them to be paragons of ideals they were meant to be. Some might consider that an impossible task, but the more impossible the task, the greater the tale when it is achieved!'
The solution that Strahlender came up with was to reorganize his legion from the ground up. This would take time, since it would require getting legionary production from Abentueuer's knightley stock up and running in record time, but it was manageable. Rather than sending new recruits to reinforce the existing legion structure, he instead called the various task forces of the 8th to Abentueuer one at a time in order to break them up and implant them into the new task forces. Officially this was a 'Veterans teaching the rookies' kind of scheme in regards to combat on the galactic stage, but Strahlender made sure that in whatever force they were a part of, the Terrans would be in the minority. Nor were they the highest ranking authorities.
This created an interesting environment where the Terran's hard one experience and knowledge was valued due to the fact that a number of foes that would be encountered upon the Great Quest to unite Humanity were completely devoid of honor or just complete bastards and these lessons would prove vital to many of the Abentueuer marines going forward, but the overwhelming Abentueuer culture would encourage the Terran marines to become their better selves and follow the example of their Primarch. This wasn't a perfect system, for more then one Terran marine rejected the possibility of becoming something better than a savage brute in tactics or ideals. Since these often proved to be the most monstrous and sadistic of people who revealed the atrocities they committed, they would usually be executed via being killed in an honorable duel with Strahlender without anyone missing them. With one exception.
Sergent Metzger, when challenged to a duel by Strahlender due to his inhumane, dishonorable and cruel actions on the field of battle, murdered two of his former squad mates and tried to hijack a thunderhawk to flee. Strahlender subdued Metzger, but took him alive and dragged the murderous traitor back to his flagship. That was the last time anyone saw Metzger alive and while there are numerous theories ranging from throwing Metzger into a plasma reactor to dangling him outside of the ship via a cable and then entering the warp, if asked Strahlender will insist that Metzger is very much alive and will remain as such for the foreseeable future.
The Meeting: Abentueuer had been expecting a proper Imperial delegation to further cement the diplomacy that Rogue Trader Roberts had started. In a manner of speaking, they got more than they bargained for when it arrived.
Strahlender had donned his armor and stood at attention in the ranks of the other high ranked knights as part of Abentueuer's diplomatic welcome. His choice of position at the end of the line put him right next to the science representatives, physically making him the link that overlapped both fields and honoring his achievements in both. He had not been expected to speak during the welcoming ceremony; There would be a chance to have conversations with the Imperials later, but despite all his achievements earning him the honor of being apart of the welcoming party, he was not of a position of authority to speak for Abentueuer to a foreign power openly.
There was something about the Imperial landing craft that drew his attention to it, even before he had been able to see it up in the sky. Granted, the transport itself was a sight to behold; The amount of light from Abentueuer's sun that was reflecting off of it was almost blinding, as if a second, smaller star was descending. Only once the craft had properly landed that the reason for the sheen was the amount of gold that seemed to be covering the whole thing, carefully crafted to look artistic and impressive instead of gaudy like the Rogue Trader's own personal transport had appeared with its decorations.
As the landing ramp lowered and the figure strode forth, Strahlender stared at the Emperor of Mankind; There was simply no way that the shining, gold covered figure before him could be anyone else. Someone who, despite having never seen them before... he felt a deep connection to that he couldn't explain right away. As the speaking members of the delegation went forward in order to greet this guest to their world, the figure... ignored them. Walked right passed them as if they weren't there as he made his way with total authority right towards where Strahlender was standing. Their eyes met, despite the fact that his head was covered by his helmet.
When the Emperor came to a stop in front of Strahlender, there was a moment of silence that hung between them. It surrounded the whole area, as all watched this breech of decorum with a mixture of shock, awe and confusion. Until at last, Strahlender was the first of the pair to speak. Despite how loud and proud his voice naturally was, the knight spoke with a gentle softness that might not have been heard if there had been any other noise at the time "Do not worry. We will talk soon enough. I'm not going anywhere. But we both have our duties and obligations and you're being awfully rude right now." before with a simple gesture beckoned towards those that the Emperor should have been speaking too right now.
For his part, Strahlender got to see the small look of surprise as the Emperor turned and seemed to notice the diplomats for the first time. There was another moment of silence before the Emperor offered a small, barely noticeable nod and turning in order to greet the representatives of Abentueuer.
The two would talk later and the discussion would prove enlightening in many ways. In fact, the fact that the Emperor of Mankind had, for a brief moment, forgotten himself and his duties as Emperor due to finding one of his long lost children after an accident separated them while Strahlender was a baby many years ago not only excused his slip in protocol, but ended up wiping away any lingering doubts of the Abentueuer people swearing their loyalty to him and his Imperium. Once Abentueuer had officially joined the Imperium, Strahlender was proud to kneel and swear his services and loyalty to his lord, master and father and rose as a Primarch of the Imperium.
Legion Name: The Honorbound (Stralender's rename) Condemned Ravagers (Their former name)
Legion Number: VIII. The Eighth.
Legion Strength: 93,000
Armour Appearance: The standard suit of power armor for The Honorbound is the Mark III, with the Mark II and IV being assigned to its supportive units. The bulk of the armor plating is painted a light shade of gray, with the joints being a darker shade of gray. The pauldrons are the only part of the armor that get touched by other colors, both of which are painted in heraldry.
The left pauldron is always painted in the coloration and symbol of the marine's original squad; The one they joined when they officially became a true legionnaire after proving themselves as an aspirant. There are some rather byzantine rules when it comes to the design of a squad heraldry and all new ones are checked against the record of heraldry before meeting approval. The left pauldron of the Honorbound will always bare the original heraldry, no matter what happens or what kind of career the marine in question leads. It will of course be touched up and redone, but it will always be the same imagery and coloration.
The right pauldron bares the heraldry of the marines current squad. Unlike the left pauldron, the right one is prone to change and will be repainted in the event that survivors of two or more squads need to be combined into a new squad. Generally, the 'new' squad will continue to bare the heraldry of one of the squads that made it up, normally decided by the number of marines from each squad and the biggest number winning: In the event of a tie, a new heraldry altogether is designed and submitted, normally taking aspects of all the former squad heraldry as inspiration.
Warcry: "I am insert name here of insert planet of origin and you will feel my WRATH!" "HAVE AT THEE!"
Dramatis Personae: Herrliche Tapferkeit - The leader of the band of Abentueuer knights that discovered Primarch Strahlender and who would later adopt him into the family and gave Strahlender his name. Herrliche was one of the first Abentueuer’s to undergo the process of becoming a legionary of the 8th and continues to serve as one of its primary leaders under his adopted kin.
Much like the Primarch, Herrliche uses a larger than normal powersword that he wields with both hands as their primary weapon of choice.
Sergeant Metzger- Sergeant Metzger served in the 8th since the Wars of Unification on Terra itself. The exact crimes that brought him to the attention of the Condemned Ravagers have long been forgotten, but he was well known within the 8th during its time as the Ravagers and later the Honorbound as being a cruel brown noser who presented a respectful persona as he sucked up to his superiors while being a nightmare to those under his command.
When his actions and behavior finally caught up with him and the sinful sergeant was going to be given the chance at an honorable death, his cowardace revealed itself as he ended up murdering two of his fellow legionaries to try and escape his fate on a stolen thunderhawk. His escape attempt failed and currently the only person who knows of his fate is Primarch Strahlender himself, who’s only answer if asked about Metzger is that he is alive and will remain as such for the time being.
Favored Tactics/Battlefield Role: The Condemned Ravagers and later The Honorbound both favored a straight up melee fight and both had a very similar method of operation: They would select a location on the battlefield or some objective and and assault it in force, the front elements wearing the heaviest armor in order to tank enemy fire while charging to close the distance and start fighting while the lighter armored supporting units would provide covering fire, medical aid or mobilize to help in the event of changing circumstances such as a surprise enemy flanking attack.
The primary difference between the two was in the nature of their targets. The Condemned Ravagers tended to favor weak and poorly defended positions or just outright civilian targets altogether, since terror tactics to insight emotional responses among the enemy was part of their play book; Ideally, the longer the campaign lasted the more the enemy would fear, dread and hate the Ravagers to the point that it would compromise their ability to think and operate clearly, alongside dealing with the issues that the blows to the civilian infrastructure was causing.
The Honorbound will by their nature always aim for a military target, the stronger the better. Despite what their critics might say through, they're not stupid about this. They're not going to charge over a minefield if they can help it after all. While there is much honor and glory in fighting a strong opponent, getting your comrades and brothers in arms killed in the process isn't ideal but in certain situations is grimly understandable if there are no other options; Getting them killed in a battle that didn't need to happen because you were a glory hungry idiot is a deep mark of shame and often personal guilt.
The Honorbound will actively seek to aid allied forces where they can. Their record and reputation for doing this is such that if the 8th cannot dispatch anything to answer a call for reinforcements or aid, the situation they are currently in is so intensive and dire that they physically cannot spare a single marine without risking defeat.
The Honorbound are also known for their views on civilian life. Namely, they will not harm or kill civilians unless there is literally no other option to take. This applies to enemy civilians; If an enemy civilian pulls a weapon, an Honorbound marine will actually try to subdue them and resort to killing only if lives are actually in danger. This applies to xenos civilians as well. Of course, this is dependent on the xenos race in question actually understanding the concept of civilians and not being horrible hive mind like monstrosities, but the Honorbound will invoke the EoT in order to protect a xeno civilian population of an area they have taken by force. Normally the 8th will have moved on to the next campaign before the ruling on if the species is accepted or failed EoT requirements is made.
Legion Characteristics/Ideology: In the past, when the Legion was called the Condemned Ravagers, the 8th held a sinister reputation. They were the ones that the Emperor and the Imperium sent in when the target needed to be made a brutal example of and many of the old guard took a sadistic delight in the work that they did. They would recruit from the worst elements of humanity, often giving brutally violent criminals that under any other circumstances would have been condemned to die for their actions a chance to serve the Imperium in a manner more... suiting their temperament and skills.
The Imperial Army hated working alongside them due to the Ravagers habit of using, abusing and discarding their soldiers in a heartbeat en masse if it meant achieving their objectives and ends. In pursuit of victory, any cost in lives was acceptable... not their own lives, of course but the cost of human soldiers was perfectly fine.
The arrival and take over of Primarch Viktor changed the 8th on a fundamental level. Instead of the worst in humanity, the legion strives to embody the best humanity has to offer. The practice of recruiting the scum of humanity was abandoned and those who refused to abandon the monstrous practices of the past despite the Primarch's efforts to reforge the 8th into a new legion were given the small mercy of an honorable death at the hands of their disappointed genesire; The one shred of honor they could call their own after a lifetime of vile, wicked deeds.
It took decades of time and effort, but the 8th managed to prove that the change in their character was real to the Imperium and the Imperial Army via their deeds and actions. It isn't strange for members of the Honorbound to take on small 'quests' of their own creation while stationed on a world or passing through a system that is dedicated to aiding or improving life in that area for the people living there. For younger marines who were recruited after the return of the Primarch, these quests are done purely out of a sense of adventure and a desire to improve the lives of others. For the older members, these quests often serve as a self imposed penance for their actions back when they were Ravagers.
Despite the change, there are places within the Imperium where the dark legacy of the 8th remains even after all these years. Systems that still remember what happened when the Condemned Ravagers were sent in to deal with the situation.
The 8th has an... interesting relationship with Xenos races in that they are not inherently xenophobic. This was true even back during the dark days of the Condemned Ravagers, as shocking as the idea might seem. They are not xenophiles either. Rather equal in its treatment of humans and xenos alike, the 8th in both renditions has generally always dealt with either with the same mentally: If diplomacy can get reasonable results without having to spend resources or waste lives, great! If not, war it is.
Relationships: The 8th has a... complicated history with the various branches of the Imperium. It's dark actions and reputation as the Condemned Ravagers linger still in some places for both the Imperial Army and the civilian administration of the Imperium have long memories, but in the modern day and after decades of hard work the deeds and actions of the Honorbound have largely banished most of the actions of the Ravagers to the pages of history. It's not strange for the average Imperial to mistake the Honorbound and the historical Condemned Ravagers as two completely different legions.
Of all the enemies the Imperium has faced, the Honorbound favor fighting Orks the best. This isn't because they hate the Orks in as much as they actually like fighting the bastards. They're fun! Make for some truly epic and sometimes funny stories!
With the heart of his realm offered enough protection in order to repel the tainted abominations from Node 18, Vatarr had positioned himself near to the defensive walls and waited. Rested. Recovered his power for the fight to come. Despite the hardship that his 'blessing' had caused to the humans as they dug in and prepared for combat, he quietly observed as they strengthened their walls, prepared their cannons and other weaponry while refining their armor. The fact that the very air, ground and water was toxic to the soon to be invaders likely slowed down their efforts to push into the Vex proper... and it gave Vatarr time to reflect and think on many things.
Namely, how it had come to this.
In retrospect, his skirmish into Node 23 had been ill planned... but that had been to overconfidence on his part. He had marched in there, complete sure that he would be able to face and defeat anything that he could encounter. However, it had allowed everything that his enemy had gathered together to be thrown in his path all at once and he had been forced to admit that he couldn't fight an entire army all by himself... At least, not in the manner that he had tried to.
But there were other ways to fight a war... and removing the head was generally a pretty good tactic since few creatures survived long without one. So it was that he decided to take the offensive once again, hopefully throwing his foe off due to him recently preparing his home for defense. But things would be different this time.
With little effort, a small ball of pure molten copper was pulled from the ground and floated in mid air before Vatarr before he started to make small gestures with his hands. The molten orb quickly split into two smaller orbs before they started to form identical ring shapes in midair. As they started to cool into solid copper rings, Vatarr began pouring his energy into both of them, flooding them with power with different, but similar goals in mind.
Soon enough he felt all the power he had gathered up be spent, but the result would almost certainly make up for the temporary lack of flashy, world altering power. The first ring he donned didn't physically change anything about him, but the moment it slipped on his finger he could feel his divine signature disappear. By all accounts, there was nothing divine about him or the various items on his person. This had its uses of course, but it was in combination with its partner that it's true genius shined.
As he slipped the second ring on the opposite hand, Vatarr... disappeared. He himself was still there and aware of that fact, but he had designed this ring to hide himself from the senses of others. Not only was he invisible, but he didn't make noise either. Granted he had considered having it hide his scent as well, but that would have weakened the other enchantments and his scent was a rather subtle, earthy one anyway.
Taking a moment to test his creations, Vatarr returned into view and his divine aura reemerged with barely a thought before both disappeared once again. Satisfied, he shifted into his winged form as he left the ground silently with Life and Death in his grasp, turning his attention beyond the border and seeking to sense the nearby aura of a deity he didn't know.
It was time to go hunting.
Waiting for the invasion to start nearby the border, Vatarr took the time to recover his strength and reflect on the past. Deciding to go on a surprise offense to catch his enemies off guard and behead the god behind the while Cradle mess, Vatarr crafted two copper rings that are designed to make him as stealthy as possible.
With both rings in his service, Vatarr takes to his winged form and heads over the border to track down the nearby divine aura that he doesn't personally know in enemy territory.
Start: 8 Might (5 normally + 3 Quiz)
4 Might spent of Ring 1: Ring 1 (or the left hand copper ring) is designed to hide the divine aura of its wearer from detection, alongside any other divine artifacts that happen to be on their person or in their possession.
4 Might spent on Ring 2: Ring 2 (or the right hand copper ring) is designed to hide the wielder from the senses of sight and sound. They are invisible and make no noise, through it doesn't hide scent or prevent the wearer from being touched.
//Planet: New Welshland //Designation: Imperial World //Governor: Uchelgais Tywyll (Contested) //Status: Civil War
"While I appreciate any support at this time, I admit I am a little... confused. I was under the impression that the second legion was sending forces to assist us." Governor Tywll offered as respectfully as a governor who's rather tedious situation meant that insulting or dismissing any ally that presented itself with troops and and equipment simply wasn't an option, even if they weren't the reinforcements you were expecting or hoping for.
For his part, Audi kept a professional face on as he stood on the other side of the Governor's rather expensive desk. As the highest ranked commander of the Imperial army forces that had been deployed to New Welshland, protocol demanded that he met with the rather... inflated Governor of the planet. Despite the respectful tone that Tywll was using, Audi had to admit that the Governor rubbed him the wrong way; The planet was actively in the middle of a rather brutal civil war with a separatist faction with tens of thousands wounded and dying each day with shortages of food, water and supplies on just about every part of the planet... and yet the Governor still maintained at least three chins and a small team of slaves in order to assist him in getting his bulbous body to his feet from a sitting position.
Then again, he did generally distrust anyone in a position of authority who was obese enough that if he ran a sword into their stomach all the way to the hilt, there was a chance he wouldn't hit anything vital. "Yes, to my understanding the original plan was for a company of Night Watch to arrive but they've been delayed. There are a number of other rebellions in progress in this region of the Imperium and they've been required to deploy elsewhere... However, since they did not wish to abandon the people of New Welshland to current conditions, they have sent myself and my forces in their stead to try and stabilize the situation."
Audi couldn't help but notice the expressions that surfaced on the Governor's fat, disgusting face. There was a brief expression that reminded him on a small child about to throw a tantrum because they weren't the center of everyone else's universe, but it seemed that whatever political skills Tywll had gathered over the course of his life kicked in to stop him from saying or doing something stupid. "Well... there are worse things then getting an army of fresh, veteran troops. If you'll report to my high commander they'll be able to best position your forc-"
"I believe-" Audi interrupted, his face still professionally blank but some small degree of pleasure at seeing the Governor look annoyed at being cut off "-that there has been a slight misunderstanding. My forces are not here to fight your civil war or take orders from you."
There was a brief moment of silence, broken by Governor Tywll looking livid as he said "Excuse me?"
Pulling out a copy of the orders that had been sent to him from the Primarch of the Night Watch, Micholi himself, Audi offered it to Tywll so that the man could read it with his own eyes. "We have been sent here on a humanitarian mission. Our job is to secure key utilities like water and the power grid while offering those displaced by the conflict shelter and medical aid. To that end, I am not apart of the local chain of command and thus receive my orders directly from my superiors in the second legion."
The livid expression deepened on Tywll's face as he glared at the letter, then at Audi himself. "Why?"
Audi for his part let out a put upon sigh that he had long practiced. "My superiors believe that by presenting the Imperium as a neutral but benevolent entity in this conflict, anti-imperial sentiments will fade away while providing citizens caught in the crossfire somewhere to go to for safety that doesn't require them actively joining a side in the conflict. Personally I feel that there are faster ways to resolve a conflict like this, but orders are orders. If nothing else, our presence will mean that you don't have to garrison forces in those regions."
The Governor still looked somewhat heated... though that could also have easily been just his natural level of warmth since he had been a rather sweaty mess when Audi had entered the office, but it seemed his little performance had unruffled some feathers. "I see... A little round about for my tastes, but help is help I suppose. However, since everything is in order, unless you have anything else to say I think we will end this meeting here. You no doubt have preparations to make and I... well, I believe it's time for lunch."
The birth of Princess (and future Queen) Agniya should have been a happy occasion. A time of celebration and jolly festivities. It was but... the oncoming war cast a deep enough shadow to make it a somber, limited affair. Any gathering or celebration was a small, brief thing between family and friends; A toast to the new born leader where villages, towns and cities should have been having a party.
The sky briefly turning red and refugees fleeing from Brey's former lands told a dark tale; Brey was dead and his murderer and their horde would be continuing the march soon enough. The fact that there had been a betrayal of a diplomatic deal made between the two sides earlier didn't really provoke the sense of outrage within Vatarr that it should have as he paused on his way towards the border between the heartland of his realm and Nodes 22 and 23 to stop by his throne and the Node of the Fungal Marshes. Brey had witnessed the first 'invasion' of his realm and the fact that he had seen the enemy and not instantly deduced that co-existence would not be possible meant that Brey had, in the end, proven to be a fool.
The mortals of Vex were already in the process of extending their defensive line now that the enemy could come from two nodes rather then just one, but Vatarr felt the need to add his own... personal touch to the defense of his realm. He would be taking a more active role in repelling any invaders of course, but he could only be in so many places at one time and he had a realm to secure... and his skirmish in Node 23 had given him information he was going to make use of to do it.
Placing his hand on the Node, he channeled his strength into it in order to subtly reshape the Fungal Marshes as a region. The change itself was small... but at the same time, affected everything. Every aspect of Node 26, be it air, earth, water or just organic material was infused with and released a chemical compound that was perfectly tailored to destroy the spores that infested the horrors that originally came from Node 18.
Since the horrors took advantage of all manner of organic creatures to serve in its tide, a solution that purged all organic life in a region already filled with it was not the best solution... so Vatarr had already decided to take advantage of what he had discovered in the creatures in Node 23 to strike directly at the root of the problem and target the means in which the infection animated and controlled its victims. Any creature sent into the Fungal Marshes for any length of time that was infected should have the infection destroyed and be cured of it...
Unfortunately, this alteration required more alterations. The chemical infusion was perfect for killing what it needed to do... but it also had the unfortunate side effect of being toxic to a number of other life forms as well. This was a problem since it was kind of pointless employing this method of defense if everything you were trying to protect died as well.
The animals and plantlife of the region could be altered in order to survive and thrive in the post changed region: Altering the lungs to better process and filter the air and some minor tweaks to digestion and how the blood deals with the chemical once it enters the system were generally easy enough to do without any major developments or mutations. Normally he would be against this sort of mass alteration, but since it was in response to a change he was making to the environment it seemed only fair. It did also mean that they wouldn't exactly be able to leave the Fungal Marshes without... complications, but that wasn't a major issue. At least not an issue to worry about for the time being.
The real problem was the humans. While some of them had been born in the region, they were not native to Node 26 and thus, couldn't be altered in the same way that the native creatures could be. Granted the change wouldn't be instantly fatal... but some measures had to be taken all the same because it would take lives otherwise.
While he did trust the people of Vex to come up with means of surviving until he rested and was able to alter them to be better able to survive the change in the environment, that would take time to do. Thinking of the issue for a few moments, a temporary solution presented itself. Around settlements large and small (as well as along where the defensive wall was currently being manned and constructed, since there were a sizable number of people there) a series of trees and bushes would spring up with dark purple leaves.
The plants had a fairly pleasant scent, but it was the leaves and berries that were important. If the leaves were placed in water, it would infuse into the water and when drunk, would allow the human body to temporarily be able to process the the new chemical. Eating the berries caused a similar effect. They weren't a counter to the chemical as much as they were designed to allow the human body to deal with it. It wasn't perfect, but for the moment it was the best he could do and still keep people safe. He trusted that they would figure out other methods of survival as time passed.
Taking a deep breath, he started his announcement region wide about the changes that had taken place, why they had happened and the properties of the new purple plants in question that had sprung up nearby baring berries.
Vatarr thinks about the current situation and laments that what should be a happy time is being hindered by war and strife... as well as thinking Brey was an idiot for seeing the invading Hivemind and their creator and thinking that diplomacy was going to work long term.
Stopping on the way to the border to help aid in the coming defense, Vatarr placed his hand on Node 26 and used his might to alter the region. Namely, to make everything in region 26 toxic and deadly to the spores that the Cradle uses to animate and control its infected creatures. This also required altering everything in the region in order to survive the anti Cradle measures... through humans themselves could not be directly altered.
Creating a temporary solution in the form of a type of purple bush that sprouted up around settlements and where there were gatherings of humans whose leaves and berries offered properties that allowed the human body to process the new chemical safely. Trusting the mortals to be smart enough to develop new methods to survive the change until a time when he can alter them to better suit the changes, Vatarr announced region wide what had happened, why it happened and offered the information the people needed.
Start: 3
Spend: 3 spent on reforming the biome of Node 26 so that everything is poisonous to the spores that the Cradle uses to infect and control its horrors and thralls... and so everything can survive the chemical introduced to do so. New plants were also added in order to allow the human population to survive the changes as well, since they couldn't be altered. End: 0
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