Dogematix

Warhammer 40K: Knives in the Dark - An Only War/Guard RP

@JbcoolLol I'll be honest and say I forgot to make a joke about Catachan's hardly wearing clothes anyway. I'll just have to make sure he discards half of what he gets.

Warhammer 40K: Knives in the Dark - An Only War/Guard RP

I mean the two jungle fighters guessed the situation right. Like the lore is always saying, the Emperium loves blind faith and closed mindedness. That'll teach you doubters to try and think for yourselves!

Warhammer 40K: Knives in the Dark - An Only War/Guard RP

"Ha!" Barrows' course laugh was like a gunshot of its own in the cramped chamber. "Bloody called it, didn't I?"

Grinning from ear to ear he took that unearned victory over his assumption that something was up with his captors. In fact looking down at that messed up face would only reinforce his wild faith that he'd no doubt always be in the right. Obviously his instincts had been heightened by his years in the jungle fighting silent monsters and he'd been able to see through the disguise of that inquisition badge. After all Barrows was a loyal soldier of the Emperor, no one would ever think worse of him. If anything this made him better and more faithful than the doubters in the chamber here! Yeah... yeah that made sense to him.

And besides, he'd been practically star blinded by that medal the major flashed them. A primarch, he'd met and been awarded by a damn primarch! This was the special mission he'd been picked for, something that went far and beyond anything Barrows had imagined. That was enough to light such a fire in his gut that he practically forgot all about the pain and bruises of the injuries he'd taken at the hands of these mutated bastards. Maybe if he played his cards right he'd get to meet the primarch too, or the Emperor maybe. At the very least he should get to have drinks with Creed and Marbo!

"Just get me some clothes and I'm yours for life, Boss." Barrows said, still grinning to himself over his own vindication. He gave his rifle one last look over and practically skipped out with the others.

He still had that rage over what these heretics did to him earlier but hey, getting an unexpected boost from an elite form of cavalry and the feeling of having the Emperium's light at your back can do wonders for a man's morale. Now all he needed to do was get his stuff back.

The Empty Throne: War in the Broken Lands

Goldwood Clan

Clan Name: The Goldwood Clan

Jarl/Chief/King Name & Description: Florian, Son of Vasa. Chieftain of the Golden Grove.

"He's not a man! I refuse to call him a man! Boy, yes! Woman in disguise I'd believe, but not a man! I mean look at him he's just too... too... pretty!" - Aigoth Stone Foot upon meeting the fist meeting of the two men, according to the high king's cup bearer.

Florian is the youngest clan leader in the broken lands at the moment if you don't count young Aigoth II. Lithe of body and soft of voice and quick to smile. Given the relaxed way he holds himself and how quickly he takes to pouring honey in the ears of pretty young women some would say he'd have made a better skald than a chieftain in one of the wilder parts of the Broken Lands. Those people haven't seen him in his quiet moments, when his eyes look far too old for one so young or heard the stories of what he'd done before coming to The Grove to claim the place of chieftain.

Some say he went looking for the mountain wisdoms to trade for their dark knowledge. Or that his mother bathed him in ichor when he was a baby and he came out looking normal but broken in some way on the inside. That he had to flee the south after seducing the Emperor's wife. That he's actually the bastard son of a wizard lord. That he knows the ways of magic and speaks with demons in the moonless night. If Florian hears these stories he ignores them.

Rarely seen getting angry, even when going to battle he stays quiet and shoulders the golden longbow that marks him as Chieftain.

Alias: Fox Blessed

Government Type: Scholars might call them a theocracy. The place of the chieftain isn't a hereditary one. When the old chief dies aspirants join the druids in The Grove and are lead into the untrod places of the island's forests to be tested. No one speaks of what the tests are, seemingly each man is sworn to secrecy, assuming he survives. Those that return must then climb the golden tree that gives the clan its name and claim the bow that has served all their chiefs since the beginning. Many do not try after experiencing the tests. Those that do must fight it out among each other, their blood and flesh is left to feed the great tree.

Non Human Species Descriptions:

Hagravens
Sometimes called Salt Harps for how often they nest around the sea cliffs. Some travelers think that these are cousins to the Necroleste harpies, made feral and twisted by the curses of the Old Ones. Luring them out and shooting them out of the sky has become a sport among the men of The Grove. Their archers are always keen to fletch their arrows with these dark feathers or wear them as a cloak. Like their tropical kin the males have much brighter plumage. Unlike them they are much larger and fewer in number (Florian believes they hunt like lions, whatever those are) making them saught after prey and a bright feather cloak a mark of pride in the Goldwood Clan.


Selkies
Stories of them turning into beautiful women are lies! They will attack small fishing boats and children or lone wanderers by the shore. Their skins do make good pelts though, and there's good eating on them. Once a year they're allowed to come ashore and the clan lets them trade fish. A smart chief will use this chance to learn what word is being spread about the sea.


Elves
The little people of the forest. Rarely ever appearing before people but always watching from their hidden places. The old story says you should leave honey and milk mixed with blood out for them if you want to earn their favour. Never do this! If you give them something they'll only come back for more. Keep some charms on you to keep them away or they'll bring disease on your house.

Location:

Religion: All gods are honoured in Goldwood lands. ALL of them! Be they the grandest of the pantheon or a minor spirit. The clan has two major religious sites on their lands that attract pilgrims all year round.

The Stone Wall - A series of huge standing stones that line the island's eastern coast. Each one is decorated with carvings and painted images of a different god that has weathered the test of time. Some of these stones have outlasted the gods they were made to worship but many still attract their worshipers. Each one serves as its own outdoor shrine with offerings and prayers being left at their feet. Stealing from them is a death sentence. History says they were here before the Clan settled the island.

The Grove - The heart of the island. Ruins of the Old Ones that were razed to the ground and reclaimed by nature. At its core is a towering oak with golden bark and leaves. If this was not a sign from Zasha then what else could it be? While everywhere else on the island is wild and untamed The Grove is calm and the animals within are placid. It quickly became a place of great spiritual importance to the Broken Lands as devotees of the goddess flocked to it. The way the lands around the tree seems to be preternaturally fertile and kind to human life has given the druids that claim it a great deal of power on the island. Some say when the grove is silent you can hear the buzzing of a queen bee that Zasha set free in there.

Clan Description: Considered backwards wild folk, even to the clans of crooked clans. Many see the Goldwood warriors as savage at best and dishonorable at worst. The clan rarely leaves their island for war but when forced to defend their land instead of standing their ground in a proud shield wall they disappear into their woods. Ambushing their foes with silent hunters raining arrows on them from hiding or bursting from the green as wild eyed berzerkers fueled by mushrooms and magic smoke. Those that ply the sea move in swift longboats and prefer to do their raiding by night, taking no prisoners. Since the island has few mines of its own they must trade for much of their metal. Since it can be expensive many of their men forgo chainmail, making their fleet footed light infantry even swifter across gound that would drag down heavier troops. Even stranger they often call on Ulfheid instead of Yorven when going to battle.

The people of Goldwood island are a deeply spiritual bunch. To them the gods and spirits are not a distant thing to be given lip service to. They are close at all times and lurking around every tree, along with whatever is going to try to eat them next. They wear protective bone charms like it's going out of style and consider wearing the pelt of something you didn't kill yourself a major faux pas.

Clan History: [pls work with other players- our clans are all part of a single confederation, there will be a lot of shared history]

Regional Geography/Resources/Economy Details: The Goldwood Island is made up of boreal forest with most of the island's surface being covered in pines and spruce trees. This dense wild land provides the locals with plenty of materials to build rugged structures from but it also provides plenty of dense forest for feral beasts and dark creatures to make their den.

Beyond that their supply of natural resources are rather limited. Their most famous exports are the golden mead and honey nurtured from the bees of their sacred grove. This ichor mutated breed makes stuff finer than any in the known world it seems and the druids keep the secret of how they tamed them close. Fighting over third place are fine wood carvings, be it furniture or sacred charms, whale and selkie ivory, pelts from those same selkies and salt harps.

Bizarrely for a place so full of man eating animals they attract a lot of tourism from pilgrims and explorers to their holy sites, something the local traders are happy to take advantage of.

That still leaves them poorer compared to the clans that are rich in metal and stone. Slaves are almost nonexistent since most land owners of the clan deem them more trouble than they're worth (given how easily they're eaten in the woods) making them a mark of great wealth to those who try buying them. Naval trade has started going up in the years since Florian took over as he's commissioned the building of more longships to solidify his clan's control over trade through the Windroot Straits.

Important Characters: Florian, Chieftain of the Goldwood Clan.
Sathulda, A quiet sister from the Gravemire temple. Kept as Florian's seer and all other things her sisters are known for.

Important Holdings/Territory/Possessions: The Grove. A holy site dedicated to Zasha. Known for its giant golden tree growing from an Old Ones ruin.

The Stone Wall. A long row of Giant standing stones on the eastern coast of the island.

Ulfarrsted. The closest thing to a city on the island. Built on the coastline a walking distance away from the Stone Wall and serving at the main port of the straits. Florian has made it his mission to improve the settlement and drag his new clan onto the same level as the others.

Relation to other Factions:
The Shattered Moon: The two clans haven't traded with each other and are too far apart to bother raiding yet when Florian visited in the past Lady Cythlla covered all the costs for him to take away a quiet sister. He and the Coward talk as if they know each other. Are they allies or do the two just have a mutual agreement to push each other's mysterious reputations.

The Red Knot: Currently trading partners. The Goldwood island has little arable land and looks to trade with the bread basket clan. Florian is also interested in getting more horses.

Clan Varvudda: Currently trading partners. Florian is looking to improve relations with the other southern clans and the two may have a mutual arrangement with regards to foreign trade or reaving.

The Empty Throne: War in the Broken Lands

Goldwooooodddd!

Hider

Clan Name: The Goldwood Clan

Jarl/Chief/King Name & Description: Florian, Son of Vasa. Chieftain of the Golden Grove.

"He's not a man! I refuse to call him a man! Boy, yes! Woman in disguise I'd believe, but not a man! I mean look at him he's just too... too... pretty!" - Aigoth Stone Foot upon meeting the fist meeting of the two men, according to the high king's cup bearer.

Florian is the youngest clan leader in the broken lands at the moment if you don't count young Aigoth II. Lithe of body and soft of voice and quick to smile. Given the relaxed way he holds himself and how quickly he takes to pouring honey in the ears of pretty young women some would say he'd have made a better skald than a chieftain in one of the wilder parts of the Broken Lands. Those people haven't seen him in his quiet moments, when his eyes look far too old for one so young or heard the stories of what he'd done before coming to The Grove to claim the place of chieftain.

Some say he went looking for the mountain wisdoms to trade for their dark knowledge. Or that his mother bathed him in ichor when he was a baby and he came out looking normal but broken in some way on the inside. That he had to flee the south after seducing the Emperor's wife. That he's actually the bastard son of a wizard lord. That he knows the ways of magic and speaks with demons in the moonless night. If Florian hears these stories he ignores them.

Rarely seen getting angry, even when going to battle he stays quiet and shoulders the golden longbow that marks him as Chieftain.

Alias: Fox Blessed

Government Type: Scholars might call them a theocracy. The place of the chieftain isn't a hereditary one. When the old chief dies aspirants join the druids in The Grove and are lead into the untrod places of the island's forests to be tested. No one speaks of what the tests are, seemingly each man is sworn to secrecy, assuming he survives. Those that return must then climb the golden tree that gives the clan its name and claim the bow that has served all their chiefs since the beginning. Many do not try after experiencing the tests. Those that do must fight it out among each other, their blood and flesh is left to feed the great tree.

Non Human Species Descriptions:

Hagravens
Sometimes called Salt Harps for how often they nest around the sea cliffs. Some travelers think that these are cousins to the Necroleste harpies, made feral and twisted by the curses of the Old Ones. Luring them out and shooting them out of the sky has become a sport among the men of The Grove. Their archers are always keen to fletch their arrows with these dark feathers or wear them as a cloak. Like their tropical kin the males have much brighter plumage. Unlike them they are much larger and fewer in number (Florian believes they hunt like lions, whatever those are) making them saught after prey and a bright feather cloak a mark of pride in the Goldwood Clan.


Selkies
Stories of them turning into beautiful women are lies! They will attack small fishing boats and children or lone wanderers by the shore. Their skins do make good pelts though, and there's good eating on them. Once a year they're allowed to come ashore and the clan lets them trade fish. A smart chief will use this chance to learn what word is being spread about the sea.


Elves
The little people of the forest. Rarely ever appearing before people but always watching from their hidden places. The old story says you should leave honey and milk mixed with blood out for them if you want to earn their favour. Never do this! If you give them something they'll only come back for more. Keep some charms on you to keep them away or they'll bring disease on your house.

Location:

Religion: All gods are honoured in Goldwood lands. ALL of them! Be they the grandest of the pantheon or a minor spirit. The clan has two major religious sites on their lands that attract pilgrims all year round.

The Stone Wall - A series of huge standing stones that line the island's eastern coast. Each one is decorated with carvings and painted images of a different god that has weathered the test of time. Some of these stones have outlasted the gods they were made to worship but many still attract their worshipers. Each one serves as its own outdoor shrine with offerings and prayers being left at their feet. Stealing from them is a death sentence. History says they were here before the Clan settled the island.

The Grove - The heart of the island. Ruins of the Old Ones that were razed to the ground and reclaimed by nature. At its core is a towering oak with golden bark and leaves. If this was not a sign from Zasha then what else could it be? While everywhere else on the island is wild and untamed The Grove is calm and the animals within are placid. It quickly became a place of great spiritual importance to the Broken Lands as devotees of the goddess flocked to it. The way the lands around the tree seems to be preternaturally fertile and kind to human life has given the druids that claim it a great deal of power on the island. Some say when the grove is silent you can hear the buzzing of a queen bee that Zasha set free in there.

Clan Description: Considered backwards wild folk, even to the clans of crooked clans. Many see the Goldwood warriors as savage at best and dishonorable at worst. The clan rarely leaves their island for war but when forced to defend their land instead of standing their ground in a proud shield wall they disappear into their woods. Ambushing their foes with silent hunters raining arrows on them from hiding or bursting from the green as wild eyed berzerkers fueled by mushrooms and magic smoke. Those that ply the sea move in swift longboats and prefer to do their raiding by night, taking no prisoners. Since the island has few mines of its own they must trade for much of their metal. Since it can be expensive many of their men forgo chainmail, making their fleet footed light infantry even swifter across gound that would drag down heavier troops. Even stranger they often call on Ulfheid instead of Yorven when going to battle.

The people of Goldwood island are a deeply spiritual bunch. To them the gods and spirits are not a distant thing to be given lip service to. They are close at all times and lurking around every tree, along with whatever is going to try to eat them next. They wear protective bone charms like it's going out of style and consider wearing the pelt of something you didn't kill yourself a major faux pas.

Clan History: [pls work with other players- our clans are all part of a single confederation, there will be a lot of shared history]

Regional Geography/Resources/Economy Details: The Goldwood Island is made up of boreal forest with most of the island's surface being covered in pines and spruce trees. This dense wild land provides the locals with plenty of materials to build rugged structures from but it also provides plenty of dense forest for feral beasts and dark creatures to make their den.

Beyond that their supply of natural resources are rather limited. Their most famous exports are the golden mead and honey nurtured from the bees of their sacred grove. This ichor mutated breed makes stuff finer than any in the known world it seems and the druids keep the secret of how they tamed them close. Fighting over third place are fine wood carvings, be it furniture or sacred charms, whale and selkie ivory, pelts from those same selkies and salt harps.

Bizarrely for a place so full of man eating animals they attract a lot of tourism from pilgrims and explorers to their holy sites, something the local traders are happy to take advantage of.

That still leaves them poorer compared to the clans that are rich in metal and stone. Slaves are almost nonexistent since most land owners of the clan deem them more trouble than they're worth (given how easily they're eaten in the woods) making them a mark of great wealth to those who try buying them. Naval trade has started going up in the years since Florian took over as he's commissioned the building of more longships to solidify his clan's control over trade through the Windroot Straits.

Important Characters: Florian, Chieftain of the Goldwood Clan.
Sathulda, A quiet sister from the Gravemire temple. Kept as Florian's seer and all other things her sisters are known for.

Important Holdings/Territory/Possessions: The Grove. A holy site dedicated to Zasha. Known for its giant golden tree growing from an Old Ones ruin.

The Stone Wall. A long row of Giant standing stones on the eastern coast of the island.

Ulfarrsted. The closest thing to a city on the island. Built on the coastline a walking distance away from the Stone Wall and serving at the main port of the straits. Florian has made it his mission to improve the settlement and drag his new clan onto the same level as the others.

Relation to other Factions:
The Shattered Moon: The two clans haven't traded with each other and are too far apart to bother raiding yet when Florian visited in the past Lady Cythlla covered all the costs for him to take away a quiet sister. He and the Coward talk as if they know each other. Are they allies or do the two just have a mutual agreement to push each other's mysterious reputations.

The Red Knot: Currently trading partners. The Goldwood island has little arable land and looks to trade with the bread basket clan. Florian is also interested in getting more horses.

Clan Varvudda: Currently trading partners. Florian is looking to improve relations with the other southern clans and the two may have a mutual arrangement with regards to foreign trade or reaving.

Persona: Forget the Night

@Fury Panda I'm still in. Actually if it's okay this might be a good time for me to ask if it's alright to change my persona's spell list? I don't think a secondary healer is needed and I was thinking of swapping the Dia spells out for curse spells.

Persona: Forget the Night

Eden: I feel so empowered after seeing my inner self spring forth in the powerful form of a beautiful Kitsune.

Sam off screen: Weeeeeeeeeb!

Something like that.

Warhammer 40K: Knives in the Dark - An Only War/Guard RP

Here we are, not knowing if we've been declared traitors or not, meanwhile the other guys are getting treated like this!

Hider

Warhammer 40K: Knives in the Dark - An Only War/Guard RP

This was all kinds of messed this was. If this was what things were like the further into the void people got then Barrows would have taken the madcap simplicity of orks and 'nids any day over this.

Just when the hot cracks of lasfire and thumping combat boots brought some hope to the beleaguered Catachan's heart and got it thumping again with something besides just rage and a sense of weakness and fear that his narrow mind refused to face or accept. That rise in feeling got a nasty gut punch when they turned over the corpse and he saw that unmistakable 'I'.

"Shit..." Barrows muttered under his breath. That symbol right there was a boogeyman round the campfire even in his neck of the jungle.

Around him lines were getting drawn in the sand as some of the other prisoner folk around him went picked up a rifle and set their feet in for all their own reasons. All Barrows could think was: What in damnation had he done to earn the eye of the inquisition? He'd never left his regiment until now! His whole life was spent in the jungles fighting xenos, folks like this should have been patting him on the back! Even this fancy pants officer in front of him was saying he was part of some "Holy Order". A shadow order... well Barrows had never heard of it.

Wait a minute, had one of them just called them the new recruits? Were they the reason he and the others were here? This was his special assignment and the inquisitors of all people took issue with it! During the few times him and the Devils had troopers from beyond Catachan join them around the campfire they'd spread stories about the shadowy agents of the Emperium and the endless schemes they made that no one could make any sense of. A lot of them involving betrayal and throwing lowly guardsmen like himself under the tank treads.

Barrows had never believed something so grand and threatening could be so incompetent though! He did believe they'd sacrifice people like him without a second thought but that wasn't anything new. Was this what was happening now, had he gotten caught between two warring inquisitors who were stepping on each other's toes the only way people like this could? Throne's sake none of this made any sense. To hell with it!

With a growl and a grunt the Catachan stretched his aching limbs and scooped up one of those offered guns. All around him the others were asking their questions and making their cases. Looking through the dim light it looked like the prisoners were ready to go for each other, let alone their captors. Barrows eyed them, measuring each one up. The one with the metal face looked like he could be an issue. The rest... hmm. With some back up he figured he could handle them. One of the lasses was built like a tank trap and looked like she could lift the others over her head but one was practically a kid and another one just looked tired.

Then there was this one with the hollow, intense, eyes. "You two men have most likely sworn some oath to our God-Emperor, and to be loyal to his delegates. You should take these arms, and arise for what is right."

"Seems like he's sayin' they're workin' for our beloved emprah too, Muchkin." Barrows said to the grey eyed trooper. "And that badge says otherwise." He nodded to the dead storm trooper at their feet. "Tell you what though, I made my oath and wore it with pride, and the folks who tied us up burned it in front of me!" While they laughed and shamed him in ways Barrows didn't want to think about. "No loyal man does that to another and I aim to take them to task for it."

Whether they were in the wrong or not didn't matter any more. Like the grizzled officer looking type from their numbers said, their choices were getting killed here or getting killed later and Barrows would always choose going down swinging. Besides, he'd promised himself some kind of retribution on those that had done this to him.

"And just what the hell is the shadow order anyway?" He barked over the other trooper's shoulder to the others in the doorway. He'd make better sense of this later but for now he'd stick with the people who weren't torturing him.

Persona: Forget the Night

BTW, @Dogematix, if by any chance Sam manages to land the blow, I invite him to pull off an All-Out Attack with Jeff and Dakota. That should finish it off.

@Gummy1295

I better get to work thinking of his victory pose xD