she/her pronouns. I'm interested in a wide variety of roleplays, but I tend toward prefering High Fantasy and High Sci Fi settings (think Elder Scrolls or Warhammer 40k). Whether it's a Nation Roleplay (I love digging into fictional politics) something on a smaller, individual scale, or something in between, there's a good chance I might be interested! I especially enjoy fantasy setting with weird, esoteric fluff - up to and including the nonsense that happens in Elder Scrolls, or, occasionally, Age of Sigmar.
Fave settings /period/ are Warcraft, and Golarion. WH40k and AoS are close.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Went the tip of Krevda's inkpen against her desk, marking out tiny little dots everywhere it landed. It was, of course, a feathered inkpen, and every tap brought the fragile tipe closer to being smashed into uselessness, but...
Maybe that wouldn't be a concern if that blundering idiot in charge gave me decent utensils, she thought, resisting the urge to scream. Ah, yes! But of course! How could she have forgotten!
"You have to maintain decorum, dear. We keep the Imperium running, after all, and must be its best representatives. Colgrieve always said. Decorum. Decorum!
She struggled to stifle the urge to laugh. They were struggling to supply soldiers with rations, the natives were dying, and they could barely get a singular fucking moment of attention, with all eyes on the Indomitus, and Colgrieve was worried about motherfucking decorum?!?!
Krevda snapped the fragile "pen" in her fingers, watching one end drop while the other, covered in feathers, gently floated toward the ground.
Oh, decorum, she thought. "Decorum!" She barked, jumping up from her seat with such force that her chair scraped and groaned as it was shoved back against the lacquered and wallpapered wall. Ah, and of course, now the fragile, prissy, flower-design flooring was all scuffed up! Another smug scolding was in order then. Just perfect! Absolutely perfect!
"Decorum, decorum, decorum!" Krevda barked, reaching up to run a hand through her gussied-up raven-black hair, tied into an uncomfortably tight bun. "Why, I certainly do love when my drooling imbecile of a boss insists on fiddlefucking themselves with a golden goddamn dildo over their taste in interior decorating! Isn't it just wonderful when they do that?" She groaned nosily, halfway tempted to bash her forehead against the wall until her brains leaked out, if only so she didn't have to deal with that bitch-whore anymore.
"They don't know the first thing about logistics! They're more concerned about pretty little groundcars than they are reliable transport lines! They cum themselves at the mere thought of getting to drive a guest along in one of their collectible metal shitbuckets, but actually getting people where they need to be? Oh, nonono, Krevda! I only got this job because I sucked the governor's cock so hard my stupid face caved in on itself!" She ranted, mockingly wagging their finger in imitation of the Idiot Supreme that called herself a governor. She'd only met the vile bitch a handful of times, but every time she did, she felt like tearing her hair out by the roots, staring across her office at a portrait of the woman she wished she could tear down. Narrowing her eyes, she caught sight of something strange, which she'd never noticed before in all her hours of infuriated staring.
A single, small blue feather, shimmering as it fell across the canvas like still-drying ink.
You're right, you know. You'd be a much better governor than her.
Demographics: The FEU's population is primarily human, but includes a small minority (less than 1.0%) of sapient citizen AI, plus roughly 10% consisting of aliens originally hailing from the Roiling Horde, a highly militarized society of tungsten-based distributed-conciousness aliens, mostly inhabiting the hotter side of TRAPPIST-1d.
An adidtional population of near-insectoids native to TRAPPIST-1e exists, named 'Indigenous TRAPPISTs' by the Europeans. Although mostly integrated into European society thanks to careful programs designed to avoid unwanted disease transmission, some isolated populations of TRAPPISTs exist in nature reserve, inaccesible to the public.
Trace populations of aliens have also integrated into European society, most of whom have come to the system for the very same reasons as the humans that now dominate it.
On their 'home' planet, the Wolframites, as they are now called, are largely formless, but can visit other inhabited places using 'hardshells', suits of armor designed to replicate the conditions they fight most comfortable and to allow a humanoid form.
Even the humans in the FEU, however, are commonly heavily modified, even in religious Catholic populations and the Knights Hospitaller. As a general rule, however, most - if not all - FEU populations experience very low growth rates.
Population: 2.342bn
Planet Names and Descriptions: The TRAPPIST-1 system, due to its enormous stellar longevity of approximately twelve trillion years, was considered by the European Union to be an optimal place to "restart" human civilization. While the FEU did face substantial difficulties in initial colonization, for the most part, TRAPPIST-1 met expectations.
TRAPPIST-1d/Vulcan: Blisteringly hot on one side and relatively warm on the other, Vulcan is mostly inhabited by Wolframites, accompanied by a handful of robotic workers in gas and mineral-harvesting plants. In is, however, mostly generally uninhabitable, and few efforts have been made to render it habitable for humans in lieu of maintaining it as a comfortable environment in which Wolframites can live without their hardshells.
TRAPPIST-1e/New Europe: The most heavily inhabited planet in the system, New Europe is a tropical, habitable planet, filled to the brim with native life - and diseases, which the Europeans have adapted to largely thanks to the information provided by native TRAPPISTs and European medical technology. Additionally, despite being tidally locked, both sides of New Europe are habitable thanks to the way its relatively earthlike atmosphere distributing heat evenly between both sides of the planet. The dark side of New Europe is nonetheless dominated by forms of light not reliant on sunlight, particularly fungi, various eyeless animals, and various types of ocean life.
TRAPPIST-1f/New Doggerland: so named for the fact that its entire habitable zone (a very large band centered around the equator) is mostly underwater (significantly moreso than Earth), New Doggerland is functionally an ocean planet; dominated by hot steam geysers, searing steam-fogs, and boiling lakes on one side of the band, and by ice on the other. A handful of resorts exist on the few islands in the central band, plus some underwater communities, however the planet's primary utility is as a hydrogen harvesting area.
The remaining planets, lacking substantial habitation, are mostly utilized for industrial and research applications, or, in several cases, the harvesting of hydrogen for fusion fuel.
History: While concrete information about the FEU prior to the Apokalipso-Okazaĵo is far from concrete, there are a few crucial pieces the FEU itself maintains.
Earth was poisoned and rendered uninhabitable by constant warfare and a worldwide climate emergency that was, unfortunately, ignored by most. The planet's resources were sucked dry, and while some things MIGHT survive on the surface, mass habitation by humans was impossible, and colonies on Mars and other bodies in the solar system were not capable of sustaining the large populations that were to be evacuated. The FEU maintains, then, that seeing the writing on the wall, they were one of the first groups to begin preparations for a mass evacuation, intending to fit as many people as possible onto their ships. Additionally, they claim to represent the federal government of the European Union, and although most federal agencies of the EU are believed to be represented in the FEU, it is equally true, however, that not every European wished to flee with them.
Nonetheless, thanks to preparations supposedly well in advance of zero-day, the FEU was able to evacuate a large population mostly on-schedule, laying early claim to one of the most habitable systems known to be available - TRAPPIST. While several planets in the system were viable for immediate habitation, many people remained stuck on colony ships in orbit waiting for survey teams to confirm the safety of their chosen worlds and to establish contact with natives, in an effort to avoid repeating the same environmental destruction that forced them to leave Earth in the first place. Suitable locations were eventually selected, and contact was established. One by one, the colony ships began to filter in.
For the first two hundred years of its existence, the FEU thrived in relative peace - TRAPPIST proved even more habitable than initially assumed, and the insectoid natives were friendly, allowing the human colonies to survive. Trepidation, however, remained - gateway technology was lost during the evacuations, and little was known about when, if ever, they'd reopen, and what they'd connect to. As such, despite living in near-complete peace, the FEU maintained a highly professional army of relatively moderate, along with outlying networks of defensive outposts. What would happen, after all, if something hostile had detected the gateway opening?
Their fears, as it turned out, were warranted, but not in the way they expected. Approximately 200yrs after colonization, the FEU was abruptly invaded by a species of tungsten-based organisms they called Wolframites. Their strange, alien technology - and the fact of how extremely difficult it was to harm them with explosives and kinetics - forced the FEU to adapt to more modular weapons platforms, allowing them to defeat the Wolframites after a brief, but deadly war. After long negotiations, the Wolframites, having nowhere else to go, were allowed to stay on TRAPPIST-1d, an ideal habitat for them that was uninhabitable for nearly everyone else.
Over the next hundred years, more aliens came to TRAPPIST, most friendly, merely refugees seeking the same sort of new home the FEU did in small, scattered groups. The FEU was, of course, happy to oblige, entering a second golden age that has only been disrupted in the past few months, with a sudden surge of rift activity. In anticipation of a potential opening, the Rock of Gibraltar has been placed on maximum alert status, and the Eurocorps is mobilizing...
Culture and Society: In many ways, FEU society closely mimics the pre-apocalypse European governments the largest parts of its population descend from: it is a relatively free republic, with robust political and personal freedoms (even is prison system is almost exclusively rehabilatative), ranging from heavily entrenched LGBTQ+ rights to freedom of expression. Media is largely independent from the state (though state-run press organizations do exist) and is allowed free reign to criticize it, barring certain restrictions relating to divulging military plans.
Three hundred years of cultural progress, and a comprehensive system of secular education, have effectively eradicated facism and systemic racism (including fairly relaxed refugee policies); though isolated incidents of racism amd hate crime against alien populations do rarely occur, they are almost always effectively prosecuted by the government. Oversight agencies mostly prevent workplace discrimination (or at least effectively put a halt to them), and a socialized economy, plus well-funded and administered social safety nets, have eradicated houselessness and ensure access to high-quality healthcare to all. The extremely rare new arrival will almost always have to suffer with a lack of familiarity with their anatomy, however, at least for a time.
Perhaps its most restrictive feature is a relatively practical one - mandatory periods of quarantine and decontamination before entry into inhabited planets or habitat stations.
Advanced medical technology and culturally liberal attitudes, including in the Catholic Church, result in wide societal proliferation of cybernetics and preventative biological modifications. Few FEU citizens are not equipped with the following basic safety measures: basic-model "Kaduceusz" medical nanosuites, nasal and oral filters, automatic cardiac defibrillators/backup pumps, bone reinforcements, and anti-clotting systems. Neural backups, however, remain relatively fringe (and are widely opposed in religious communities) usually traded in favour of repair and upkeep systems that eliminate or reduce aging.
Governance and Politics: The FEU's government is perhaps its most Earthlike feature, effectively just an expansion of European federal parliamentary republics to an international scale. Both the states that make it up and the federal government derive their power from plurality-elected legislative assembles, all the way from the interplanetary Federal level, to the planetary, to regions on those planets, all the way down to municipalities
Technology Overview: Although far from being able to recreate the gateways, the FEU is, nonetheless, broadly technologically "advanced". The most obvious way this manifests is in terms of medical technology. FEU citizens effectively have the choice to die of old age, and, in most cases, the same is true of disease. Antiviral and antiobiotic therapies, among others, are employed as usual, but incredibly precise time-sensitive nanotechnology allow for the targeting and destruction of most any microorganism, making nanotechnology the preferred solution to infection and disease; this, of course, carries the additional benefit of preventing the proliferation of so-called superbugs.
Related but distinct is the extensive library of cybernetic technologies the FEU utilizes, the vast majority of which are so old and well-understood that they are nearly ubiquitous within the human population, but much less common among alien immigrants with anatomies most of the FEU's scientists still lack experience with.
Perhaps the most important technologies utilized by the FEU, however, are those relating to its mastery of fusion power, including Cold Fusion, the primary method for power generation in the FEU, largely thanks to its enormous available reserves for Hydrogen as fusion fuel. Cold fusion is common even on most spacecraft, even relatively small fighters, providing power to everything from life support all the way to Magnetoplasmadynamic propulsionless drives and maneuvering thrusters. Orbital spacecraft, on the other hand (generally, satellites and habitats) are propelled by electrodynamic tethers, at least in civilian application.
Military Overview: despite what might typically be expected of an extremely socially liberal nation, the FEU maintains a relatively large, well-equipped military, necessary for the defense of their society against threats both theoretical and practical; so far, that has primarily meant regularly fending off hostile aliens seeking to take the TRAPPIST-1 system by force. It is nonetheless entirely a professional volunteer army, however, and conscription has not yet been made necessary, large thanks to the FEU's robust defenses and extensive use of highly secure networked drone warfare. So well-prepared is the FEU, in fact, that their gateway is is protected by what amounts to a small dyson shell, a massive network of armed drone satellites and AI-manned (a technology the FEU employs extensively) gun stations pointed inward in the event that anything hostile comes through. The system is named the "Rock of Gibraltar".
Likewise, the entire system is protected by a larger network dubbed "Pražský Hrad", in contrast designed to protect the system against attacks from the outside, which, combined with the FEU's large carrier-focused fleets, has defended the system from all comers since the first major invasion, under the suspicion that something, somewhere, is pushing all these alien refugees toward them.
European weapons consist primarily of plasma-based systems - Pulsed Explosive Projectiles - and Particle Beams, supplemented by lasers and microwave weapons when appropriate, while highly renewable anti-electron and antiproton weapons remain in a late stage of active development. Ammunition for these particle systems consists mostly of ultra-compressed gasses, typically helium, allowing inordinately large, effectively inert ammunition stores. Additionally, development of gravity-manipulating weapons is underway.
Unlike many earthborn nations, the FEU does not employ any mecha-type platforms beyond the universal infantry exoskeleton, instead relying upon power-hungry but more stable hovertanks for its main armored forces, equipped with extensive active defense systems and occasionally magnetic or plasma window shielding for protection, plus composite armor. FEU tanks are generally capable of equipping large particle guns, while smaller AFVs generally equip combinations of plasma launchers and lower-yield particle pulse cannons, with an intended use similar to old-earth autocannons. FEU vehicles, as a result, are almost universally extremely power-hungry, requiring extensive logisitical support to operate at peak capacity.
Cybernetics, also, are extremely common, even universal in the FEU military, allowing its soldiers to survive extremely harsh environments and quite literally punch well above their weight-classes. The most elite FEU special forces unit, the highly secretive Strzyga, employ extremely expensive, limited quantity cybernetics, including nanohives beyond even the basic medical types used by the common soldier, secretly capable of incredible feats such as reconstructing the body of one of their number from a singular fleck of blood. Most of the FEU's personal equipment revolves around these ideas of extreme survivability, including the Jahrtausend Drei CIWS system, consisting of networked railguns, lasers, and, as a last resort, a kinetic gun system that unleashes what is effectively a gigantic shotgun shell full of tens of thousands of metal darts.
"Louder!" Agathe bellowed, crushing the skull of a cultist beneath her armoured boot with a wet, sickening crunch. "Let them hear your prayer! Let them hear your cries of adulation for the God-Emperor. From the heart, my brothers and sisters in arms, for He is the salvation of mankind!" In such times, after all, more important than perhaps even the skill with which she and her militia fought was the strength of their face, for anything less than absolute obedience and zeal would leave them vulnerable to corruption. One's prayer wad to be an iron veil with which to guard their mind.
Keep the fire in your heart hot, and you hatred cold and disdainful. Despise the foe, but let not rage overcome you, lest you trade one evil for another. Her Canoness once said to her, words that stuck with her to this very day. Take these words to heart, and never forget the power of your faith, and against the Great Enemy you will always be well-armed.
Pausing a moment to asses her situation, Agathe briefly noted the gore dripped from her chainsword, the ravaged organs dripping from its snarling teeth - and all about her, the scene was much the same. Corpses left and right, a handful of cultists still standing to fight... Most, at a glance, were not faces she recognized. Cultists then, mostly, meaning they'd come out on top, but by precisely how much she didn't quite know. What she did know, however, was that they had barely made a dent... And that they needed to dig deeper, to find the head of the snake and sever it.
Agathe to Bridge. We have nearly secured our present position, and will proceed deeper into the lower decks. If the cult has any witches among their number, I do not intend to give them the chance to act, as I fear the cultists attempting to take the Enginarium are not the primary threat. are the vessel's auspex feeds sanctified? I could use intelligence, but I will not risk you unnecessary exposure to memetic corruption. She spoke into her helmet in High Gothic, hoping that those listening in would be unfamiliar. Holding up her hand to indicate pause, she gazed down at her chainsword, aggressively revving the blade to free it of the guts and blood coating its gears.
"Is anyone incapable of fighting? Sound off now! There is no shame in it. You will be brought to the medicae!"
Nothing. Tragically, there was scarcely little time to check the militia fallen for injuries, and her heart did truly weep for them... But if they paused too long, then everyone aboard the ship was worse than dead.
"Good. With me! Ogryn in front, shields up. You're our toughest. Flamers, at the ready to fill corridors if they step aside. We head deeper into the lower decks, and it is vital that we stay together as much as possible!"
She did not lie, of course, but Agathe knew as well as anyone else that to find what she hoped to in a vessel like this would be incredibly difficult, even with the aid of unfortunately unreliable pict-feeds.
Perhaps, she hoped, He would guide her.
I tread the path of Righteousness. Though it be paved with broken glass, I will walk it barefoot Though it cross rivers of fire, I will pass over them Though it wanders wide, the light of the Emperor guides my step And with his guidance, I know that I will always step true.
Every step after that was one punctuated by shouted prayer, each one etched into Agathe's mind from years of harsh schooling; she needed no time to stop to read her tomes, though she always kept them with her. Every so often, she'd see another line of zealous militiapeople advancing through an adjoining hallway, always within a few moments of sighting each other - yet the vessel, like any Imperial type, was labyrinthine, and just as frequently as they could get the drop on groups of cultists, they, too, would manage to ambush the militia. With the Enginarium blocked off, though, the greatest utility they had way in stabbing deep into the heart of the cult, with guidance from the bridge, the Emperor Himself or nothing but Agathe's own instinct; whatever the case would turn out to be, she knew in her heart that this was her best hope of ending the uprising, just as she'd been trained. The chaff was just that.
Homeworld: Penglai Known in Imperial records as Mundus Planus, Penglai, according to fragmentary data, was one of many worlds in its local sectors that was part of a massive, concerted Terran colonization long before the Long Night. While many of its neighbors maintained a highly impressive level of technological advancement, such as the nearby Forgeworld of Thaxis or the Factory-world of Vossus, or even the packed-full Hiveworld of Thanadus, the people of Penglai regressed to the Gunpowder Age, relying on horse, steel armor, and black powder weapons for much of their warfighting, most of which was done between the ancient Jing Dynasty and the steppe riders of the less-habited parts of the planet. As the local sectors are increasingly secured and settled, Huo has begun the process of selection new names for each world of import, to better reflect the hypothesized origins of their colonists.
Its population was nonetheless enormous, at least for a world that could only just avoid being called Feudal, dotted with great cities, massive canals, and all other manner of wondrous construction. Although dominated in many places by open plains and great oceans, Penglai's terrain is, nonetheless, quite variable, similar in variety to ancient Terra itself.
Appearance: Truly, Huo is a sight to behold at an exact thirteen feet tall, the picture of androgynous beauty and tightly toned musculature clad in wheat-gold skin, bulkier than most of their AFAB sisters but more slender than their brothers, their entire body powerfully defined, sculpted almost like a marble statue - aside their relatively large breasts. Relatively slender lips sit on a fox-shaped face, deep brown eyes staring out from between thin, black brows, matching their loose, long hair, tied into a moderate topknot at the top. Two ‘legs’ of hair hang down in front of their shoulders, while another two bend back from these, joining up with the rest of their hair in the back.
Personality: In many ways similar to Malcador, Huo was practically engineered to be the penultimate administrator, calm and collected in even the most intensely stressful situations in ways that few mortals could hope to be. They are not cold, however, but rather gently warm, a calculating mind tempered by an almost parental warmth, alloyed with a keen awareness of the value of mortal beings and the respect which their servants and comrades deserve. Such is this warmth that on most occasions Huo can be found displaying a warm, incredibly gentle smile, showing no teeth but displaying their friendliness nonetheless.
It’s unsurprising, then, that Huo is a genius of statistics as befits a consummate master of logistics, supposedly able to track and organize the numbers of entire armies and even nations with their mind alone, though they lack the ability for artifice of some of their siblings.
As befits a well-rounded administrator, of course, they are skilled in many arts, too - from teamaking, to calligraphy, painting, and even a handful of instruments, Huo is practically an artist’s collective in themselves, befitting someone so beyond-mortal as a primarch, though their hobbies, of course, take the back-seat to their duties to their people.
Loyalty is, likewise, a trait that Huo exhibits in spades - loyalty not only to their ‘family’, their siblings and ‘father’, but to the Imperium and its people, viewing their work for the Imperium as a required uty in much the same way that a soldier can be said to have a duty to their commander. In other words, though Huo does hold a position of power, they believe that their position is earned only by their suitability for it and, therefore, if they were to become unfit, they would gladly give it up to someone more suitable, just as they readily delegate duties to capable mortals and Astartes within their own Legion.
Of course, even primarchs have secrets - and although Huo is no spy themselves, in their time as an Emperor, they learned to keep secrets - such as their mostly-distant fascination with the Aeldari, held within mental vaults from but the most absolutely trusted in their Legion.
Equipment:
Golden Dragon Crescent Blade: Easily the most legendary of weapons in Huo's armory, the Golden Dragon Crescent Blade is said to descend from one wielded long ago on terra by one of its greatest warriors, though its precise origin is unknown. Superficially similar to a glaive, the long, bladed polearm is in reality an incredibly powerful force-weapon, channeling its primarch's immense power into a point to make an already incredibly sharp weapon extremely deadly.
The blade itself is mounted on a long metal pole covered in red, wood-like lacquer carved into the shape of scaled, capped on both ends by intricately carved gold - toward the top, the maw of a dragon from which the blade emerges, and at the bottom, the tip of its tail. A smaller dragon emerges from the golden maw, carved into the surface of the blade, the mere touch of which can destroy the life force of its victim and burst their blood vessels, drenching it in blood. It is said that, in the heat of battle, the weapon has the appearance of a massive calligraphy brush, the blood of its enemies its ink.
The Gold-Vermillion Panoply: Though they may have once worn another armour, the Gold-Vermillion panoply was forged specifically for Huo’s use, one of the few suits of power armor capable of accommodating their extraordinarily agile fighting style. Despite being relatively slender, the Gold-Vermillion Panoply - so named for its colour scheme, gold accented by vermillion red. Despite its origin, however, the armour is made in imitation of the traditional style of her people - and the local sector, lamellar scale plating in the shape of tiny mountains laid over their chest, arms, thighs, and groin. Their tall helmet, topped with a high red tassel, slopes downward and over their neck in a similar pattern, helping to ensure that no joint can possibly remain weak. Their pauldrons, relatively small compared to most patterns of Imperial power armour, take on the shape of the flattened heads of lions, while the maw of a dragon forms the center ‘buckle’ of their belt.
Aside from it being designed specifically to accommodate Huo’s agile style, the panoply is specifically hardened against the weaponry utilized most by Huo’s legion, from incendiary devices to phosphex and meltas, allowing Huo to wade through the devastation creation by the advance of her Astartes with no fear for their own health. The armour additionally carries large banks of compressed Promethium fuel for the Black Dog Fire-Gauntlet, designed to self-eject in the event of a dangerous rupture or unwanted ignition, along with incredibly high-quality air filters to allow them to breathe safely in even the most polluted of environments.
Heaven-Shaking-Thunder Bombs: A stun bomb style designed to be wielded by a primarch, the Heaven-Shaking-Thunder bombs produce such intense noise and light that even the audio and light filters of power armor are inadequate, stunning nearly anyone that suffers a detonation, and permanently deafening and blinding most. Though rarely lethal, the bombs are, nonetheless, devastatingly useful in close combat, leaving all but the most resilient people insensate as their means of seeing and hearing the world are robbed from then, either permanently or only temporarily.
Black Dog Fire-Gauntlets: Designed to work in concert with the Gold-Vermillion panoply, the Black Dogs take the form of a tri-nozzle melta gauntlet nestled in the ornamental mouth of a Black Dog on each wrist. While technically similar to a melta-weapon, the unique design of the Black Dogs allows them to fire in a wide cone akin to a sweeping flame, designed for taking down large groups of armoured enemies, or an ‘ignition’ mode, which produces high heat and induces combustion, but is significantly less effective against armoured foes.
Skills:
The Little Emperor: Perhaps Huo's greatest skill, above even their martial or psychic prowess, is their near-absolute mastery of civil service and logistics; their skill for the organizing of enormous armies across difficult campaigns in nearly any circumstance, even moreso with the aid of their carefully chosen advisors, both Astartes and human. Intricate, well-insulated systems of logistical supply stretch across their miniature Empire, ensuring that each world is given exactly what it needs, and on campaign, rations and ammunition are doled out in exactly the needed proportion, additional efficiency allowing for plenty of surplus to cushion unexpected pitfalls.
Where their knowledge is insufficient, they are more than happy to delegate duties to selected mortal and Astartes administrators, or, oftentimes, to their siblings - they will frequently request with the Daughters of Iron on matters of weapons development, for example, or the Imperial Star League on matters of fortification. In general, they are quite capable of negotiation and delegation, including as a highly competent diplomat - though there are, of course, few opportunities to practice the art of winning a war by never fighting it at all. In service of all this is perhaps matched perhaps only by Eiohsa, though they absolutely lack the skill for artifice of their sister, instead turning their calculations entirely toward administration, strategy, and logistics, and language.
Sage of Legions: Like many of their siblings, Huo is a powerful psyker, though just like them, their abilities take on a unique character of their own.
First and foremost, perhaps, is their ability to influence the weather - it is said that, during their time before the Yellow-Gold Emperor's arrival, they would trap opponent armies into crossing ancient riverbeds only to drown them under torrential rains, or that they can even transform a cool, breezy day into a searing sirocco capable of cutting steel with a mere thought. These abilities, of course, have limited usefulness against many enemies they would face in this new millennium, but they nonetheless hold utility for manipulating the battlefield itself and hindering enemy logistics. There is some utility to their ability in void combat, allowing them to generate localized geomagnetic storms and other weather-like phenomena.
Second, while no sorcerer-queen, Huo shows some impressive ability for pyromancy, both in manipulating the flames they create and conjuring them from thin air. Whether utilized to burn out the crew of a tank or even to cauterize and heal wounds, Huo’s mastery of fire and potential for raw destruction is nearly outmatched...
Aside from their ‘family’, a handful of xenos, and, perhaps, the Sigillite himself.
Additionally, Huo is unusually resistant to psychic power themselves, though not entirely immune - and dedicates a not-insignificant portion of their psychic ability to this role, hardening herself against and unbinding the predations of the Warp. There are, however, relatively few opportunities for them to hone this power.
Martial Artist: Huo's fighting style is relatively unique among their siblings for its emphasis on quick, fluid movements, leaving them terrifyingly agile despite their enormous (compared to mortal humans) size and the strength of their armour. Put simply, they move too quickly for mere mortals to track or strike them effectively, in some ways fighting like a strange hybrid of both Aeldari and Terran styles. They are, likewise, skilled with many weapons, but most impressive is their ability when fighting unarmed, and, of course, with their trusted Guandao, though they are quite fully capable of killing with their bare limbs alone. Part of their martial art, also, is a supernatural ability to maintain calm in the heat of battle, leveraging their analytic mind to predict the enemy's moves and calculate the best places to strike. So impressive is their agility that they are said to be able to jump in mid air, though this ability, in reality, is a result of psychic power, allowing them to be carrier far higher with a single jump than would otherwise be possible.
Artist: Much like Eiohsa, Huo is skilled in many arts, from the ancient danqing style of painting to the native instruments of their people; these styles, however, are quite distinct from any practiced by their siblings, just as culturally distinguished as their individual worlds of origin. Many of their Astartes practice the same arts, and although Huo rarely has the time for it, any free time they can find is usually spent on their artistic or rhetorical skills.
Assignment Grade: Beta
When Huo, then unnamed, appeared in a humble woodcutter’s land on the edge of a tiny village at the border of the Palatine’s empire, few, even the Palatine himself, for he was never informed - could have anticipated what it meant. To Palatine and his bureaucrats, the flash of light across the sky was but a meteor, for the woodcutter, Qiáng, wise beyond what anyone knew, carefully hid the device and the massive child inside within his home before anyone could be the wiser. Qiáng knew nothing of the child’s origins, but he knew that, for their size and unclear sex, the cruel Palatine would likely have them torn apart and dissected by their Imperial alchemists or, worse, trained to become a terrible warrior as they grew.
Thankfully, the child, named Huo by Qiáng’s wife, Xiá, showed no proclities to the latter, far more interested in the books and mythological tales the infertile couple could bring to them, while their unusual strength and size left them quite able to work around the home, bringing the family much more wealth that woodcutting otherwise could. So rapid was their growth, in fact, that they were able to work and more than a third of the age most children could, and began reading and performing arithmetic even earlier than that, speaking with the eloquence of an adult at less than a third of that age.
Of course, with their found child’s incredible growth came ever-growing concern that Palatine would find out, a fact they made their child well aware of so they’d know when to hide if the need arose. Word was quickly travelling, too, and by the age of five, everyone in the village knew of the child’s unusual size and maturity; it would only be a short time, surely, before the local administrator saw fit to inform the Emperor.
Huo, however, had other plans - if not to protect themselves, then to protect their parents, and the people of Penglai; for Palatine was cruel, and every year of his rule was a year in which countless millions suffered.
Huo promptly began whispering words of rebellion in the ears of those around them - in the village market, in the markets of other villages, and everywhere else they thought there could be a chance of success.
Palatine was cruel.
Palatine was a competent military leader, but an incompotent civil servant.
Palatine would bring ruin to Penglai - did he really deserve to rule?
Eventually, Huo’s words began to take root, yet they did not reach Palatine, for many people feared repercussions if they were merely associated with the rebellion, and many people had already grown discontent with his tyrannical regime; Huo merely intended to create the tinder needed to light the fire.
When word finally reached Palatine of Huo, the child had grown into an enormously powerful, intelligent adult, but he dispatched a small force to bring them into custody nonetheless.
When the soldiers attempted to take Huo, they struck one down with their fist,, then another, and another... And soon enough, the entire village, no longer willing to languish under his rule, had joined in, including the aging Jing Qiáng and his wife, utterly unwilling to let Palatine take their beloved child.
Word of the uprising spread, and where it did, more uprisings followed, entire Imperial garrisons slaughtered and starved by local citizens in wonderment at the tale of a single person slaughtering nearly a dozen soldiers with their bare hands, while other garrisons and generals took the sudden upheaval as their chance to claim fiefdoms of their own. Palatine was deprived of much of their army, though the Imperial soldiers that remained loyal were a powerful threat to Huo nonetheless; and so, the budding primarch took advantage of the legend of their arrival and initial uprising to position themselves as a leader of the rebels, defeating imperial armies sent to dispatch them one after the other with motley bands of peasants and traitorous soldiers. Some armies never even reached their destinations, or were hindered by storms conjured by Huo, only adding to their renown.
One by one, Huo destroyed Imperial armies in feats of tactical and strategic mastery, until, finally, the time came to lay siege to the capital itself, and the Palatine was slain just as the first soldier was by the primarch’s bare hand.
Not long after, however, Huo’s parents passed away of old age, secure in the knowledge that their beloved child was safe, and Huo, honouring them, named the new dynasty ‘Jing’ after their parents.
As the Imperial court was reorganized, the Empire of Jing saw a new golden age, cruelty lifted away in the face of an efficient, fair Empire, even the steppe and plains people eventually brought into the fold over a series of multiple decade-long military campaigns. Technology advanced at a rapid pace, and before long, the Jing were on the cusp of an industrial revolution, maintaining an empire the size of which had never before been seen on Penglai.
That was until, one day, a strange old man appeared at the gates of the Imperial palace, invited inside after requesting an audience with the Emperor, for even the most humble deserved to have their voices heard.
Nearly three days later of the Emperor not being seen, they emerged with a towering, dominating presence clad in golden robes - the rightful Emperor of all Mankind and the heavens themselves: the legendary Huangdi himself. Huo announced that it had now become their duty to lead an army of soldiers to expand Huangdi’s Celestial Empire, and though they would occasionally return to Penglai, they would appoint a council of trusted advisors to govern the planet in their stead.
First among their conquests was the surrounding section of the Segmentum Ultima, cleanly brought to heel by the Celestial Dragons, formerly the Imperial Devastators, and the powerful weapons at their disposal, though only after an extensive, apologetic reorganization of the Legion by its new primarch, all while Huo arranged meeting after meeting with their fellow Primarchs, quickly taking to the company of their sister, Eiohsa, in long philosophical discussions over cups of hand-brewed tea.
The Legion went on to conquer large parts of the outer Ultima Segmentum, but most seminal of its great works, perhaps, were its forays into the Ghoul Stars against the Barghesi, a brutal campaign that even the devastating weaponry of the Dragons could not quicken. Casualties were nonetheless severe, especially for attached Imperial Army units, but even the Dragon Astartes. Through Huo’s tactical genius, however, and deployment of the proscribed armaments assigned to the Third Legion. Fearing the devastation that could result if the Barghesi were able to break out into the wider galaxy, Huo was regretfully forced to order the deployment of a number of Modalis-class Atmospheric incinerators and a mass of incendiary weapons the likes of which has never been seen before, burning a handful of worlds to ash, while others, despite extensive damage, were eventually re-colonized after the destruction of the Barghesi, while elsewhere the Rangdan xenocides came to a close. For nearly three days after the campaign, however, Huo was rarely seen, even by their closest advisors, and refused to this day to speak of what transpired in that time. Most, including their closest advisors, believe the Primarch was so distraught over their inability to participate in the Xenocides, and the devastation and distress their absence may have caused, that they were sent into an emotional catatonia by the event.
Since, Huo and their legion have spent much of their existence forging a path into the Segmentum Obscurus near the warp-rift at the center of the galaxy, most recently bringing a forge-world known as the Orb of a Thousand Scars into Imperial compliance.
The Meeting: A strange, decrepit old man, dressed in the clothing of a peasant, asking oh-so-politely to be allowed to meet the Emperor themselves.
Why?, Huo wondered, staring down at the small, wooden table before them, arrayed upon in a gorgeous porcelain tea set, so hot the two prepared cups still steamed.
Few people held the bravery to approach the palace; after all, friendly as they were, Huo was an Emperor, and if every peasant that approached was allowed entry, they would never have the time to perform the day-to-day work of running a country, and yet...
They heard the noise of creaking doors, looking up, across the tea room, as a pair of their Imperial Guard pushed them open - and between them, a single, hunched-over old man.
I suppose I am about to find out, they thought, making a broad gesture across the prepared tea-cups.
“Come, stranger. I’ve prepared tea for you - sit. Talk. I assume that is why you have come here, and not to put a knife through my belly.” They said, smiling playfully at the old man as he stepped toward them.
“No, I have no need of knives. Only words,” the man said, and Huo watched as their guards visibly stumbled, collapsing clumsily to their knees. And Huo felt a strange weight fall on their shoulders, beckoning them to sink - no, demanding it - yet they refused, remaining utterly, resolutely calm.
Certainly not an insane old man, then. A sorcerer, come to offer their services? They wondered, looking the old man up-and down, noting how firm his words had been as they’d left his mouth, utterly bereft of the shake and stutter of extreme age. No, no. Not to offer their services. Something else.
“Only words,” they said, “but we should share these words over tea, don’t you think?” They continued, repeating the beckoning gesture... And so the old man did, moving to sit opposite to Huo as they gestured for their guards to stand and leave, briefly staring through the open ceiling of the tea garden into the sky above.
Silence, they thought, watching him as he sipped his tea, staring back at them, into their soul. His gaze was far more intense than any they’d ever seen before - simple, brown eyes, staring out from an unremarkable, leather-tanned face, and yet...
They felt as if he was seeing into them. As if he opted not to speak because he knew that they were examining him. Analyzing him, confused and perplexed by him.
He does know. But how?
“An old man, asking entrance to an Emperor’s palace, cowing their elite guards with his voice alone... What have you come here for? I mean no rudeness, but-”
“You are an Emperor,” he said, and again, they felt his voice crash into them, just as before.
“I understand. I am an Emperor, too.”
Were this old man anyone else, they would doubt him, and yet... Yes, it made sense. The way his voice subsumed all other others, the way it commanded submission from obedience with the sheer force it was spoken... Yes, that was the voice of an Emperor, but no mere mortal Emperor - for who else could speak in such a sovereign way?
“I can sense that,” they replied, taking a single sip of their tea, still staring, rarely blinking. “But an Emperor of what, exactly? I know of all Emperors on this world, and I know of none like you. My spies, as I...” He knows. The way he is staring at me... He must. Gazing into my eyes... Does he even know what I’m going to say, perhaps? They paused, opting to test their theory.
“To answer your questions - an Empire from the stars, and yes. Yes, I do.” He said, smirking slightly just as Huo let a snort of laughter escape their mouth.
“An Empire of the Stars? I came from the stars, but I-” Huo began, abruptly stopping as their pupils shrank ever-so-slightly, imperceptible to mortal eyes... But not to His. His presence, the power of his voice, his mysterious, auspicious appearance...
“Ah,” They chuckled again, setting down their cup. “I believe I understand, father.” Huo nodded, pouring the Emperor another cup of tea. “And why, then, have you chosen to appear?”
“I bring you a legion - and an Empire to serve. Tell me, have you heard the legend of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor?”
Legion Name: The Celestial Dragons
Legion Number: III
Legion Strength: 160,000 legionnaires, plus a large number of human auxiliaries and dedicated support personnel.
Armour Appearance:
Like their primarch, the Celestial Dragons are clad in gold, their icon the very same dragon’s maw on their legendary spear, snarling in a terrifying war-cry. They, too, are equipped with a modified form of power armour; though fundamentally based on the Mark IV, their suits likewise employ lamellar plates to provide additional joint protection in battle, especially around the necks.
Warcry: Aside from simple roaring accompanied by the Legion’s drums, a handful of basic battle cries are employed.
“Let the dragon swallow them whole!”
“From the Heavens, for Emperor and Imperium!”
Dramatis Personae:
Matriarch Ruan: Unseen in the years since Huo’s rediscovery, Matriarch Ruan, the unquestioned head of the Ruan family of Navigators, serves both as the head of her house and the navigator of Huo’s flag-vessel, the Great Emperor of the Celestial Waters, an ancient vessel believed to date back to the Dark Age of Technology, when Penglai was first colonized. Entire systems on the massive flagship are dedicated to her protection, for her power is so potent and valuable that Huo fears her many children cannot hope to replace it for many centuries. She is, of course, especially capable of navigating the Warp, but Ruan’s greatest ability is to hide herself and those around her from the warp, or even to assault its fabric directly, going so far as to set the taint of Chaos within a soul aflame.
Fleet Admiral Namkoong: The mortal admiral of Huo’s fleets, Namkoong in an exceptionally skilled fleet commander, and has remained in overall command of Huo’s fleets for several decades. Selected for his relative youth, Huo greatly appreciates Namkoong’s preference for three-dimensional maneuver tactics, taking advantage of the inherent nature of space to strike the foe in unexpected ways.
General Akane: The eldest currently serving Astartes in Huo’s Legion, Akane presently commands the largest share of living Terran Astartes under Huo’s overall command; the First Division, along with a small corps of heavily augmented human troops. Her aggressive, hard-bitten tactics make her and the soldiers under her command favoured for shock assaults, made possible by the specialized army’s use of large numbers of Land Raiders, Mastodons, and Terminator armor.
General Wei: One of Huo’s most trusted generals from before the Emperor’s arrival and a childhood friend of their ‘home’ village, Wei is an impeccably skilled and agile swordswoman, fighting with such agility and quick-thinking that her likewise specialized division commands the large majority of the Dragons’s airmobile infantry, charged with high-speed bite-and-hold operations aerial encirclements. Together with Akane’s shock troops, they are frequently the first to be called upon to form aerial beacheads as the Legion first lands on the surface of a hostile world. We commands the 2nd Division.
General Lao: Lao is an augmented human given overall command of the garrisons of Penglai and the surrounding systems, a position which she, perhaps surprisingly, takes on with great honour: Penglai is the primarch’s home, after all, and what place would they cherish more? Like Wei, Lao is an old friend of Huo’s, the son of the farmer Huo’s father bought most of his vegetables from. He is not stoic, but he is suitably protective, almost a father to his soldiers. Lao commands the 16th Division.
Commander Zhong (Black Dog Purgation Corps):
Commander Duy (WIP, special weapons, etc):
Alchemist-General Hoi: although the "Division" the Thanadus-born Chirurgeon-turned-Astarted commands is merely theoretical in terms of the actual force it wields, its mere existence represents something important: Shūguan has seen fit to dedicate a large portion of their resources to the advancement and securely of medical science, both for their Astartes and the mortals under their watch. He is are charged both with general medical upkeep and the establishment of battlefield hospital and the maintenance of the Legion's geneseed stocks, stored in dozens of separate vaults across the systems around Penglai to ensure they are incredibly difficult to destroy in one fell swoop. Full data-screeds of each sample are meticulously recorded in each bank, too, ensuring that any emergent flaws or sabotage are easy to search out and repair or eliminate.
Fabricator-Locum Qaghan: the highest tech-priest of the forgeworld of Thaxis, Qaghan, supplies a large portion of the Dragons' armaments through the vast array of forges at its command, both on Thaxis itself and the nearby forgeworld of Vossus. A diplomat in their own right, Qaghan swaps between a wide-array of bodies depending on who it is meeting or whether it is engaging in combat, rarely wearing the same form day after day. Its techpriests can frequently be found serving alongside the Dragons, particularly Magos Explorator others of relatively scientific bent.
Favored Tactics/Battlefield Role: The Celestial Dragons, put simply, emphasize total war; specifically, the type characterized by mass maneuver, devastating weight of force, and rear-echelon strikes designed to cripple the abilities of an enemy to keep their armies fighting. It's for this very reason that they strongly prefer to fight alongside the Dusk Wardens when able, for Huo was quick to recognize the immense utility of a highly elite force of specialized troops when it came to rear-echelon sabotage and destruction. Dragon Astartes, however, are typically heavily armored, utilized as typical heavy infantry thanks to their supernatural resilience, while smaller, more flexibly non-Astartes are usually preferred for clandestine operations.
As befits a Legion expected to cleanse and purge the most dangerous foes, in addition to unusually large numbers of melta and flame weapons, the Dragons possess stocks of weapons usually proscribed by other Legions to be utilized in the most dire of circumstances: rad-weaponry, a large variety of chemical ordinances, and, in the absolute worst cases, phosphex, though most of the above are only ever deployed when absolutely necessary. The same is not true of incendiaries, however, up to and including specialized thermobaric weapons designed specially to purge underground nests of xenos, or large, bunkerbusting meltas capable of penetrating deep into underground fortified complexes.
Most devastating of the ordnances the Dragons hold, however, are their exterminatus-class weapons. Although not the exclusive steward of these devastating weapons, the Dragons to possess the largest number out of the Astartes Legions.
Legion Characteristics/Ideology: The Legionnaires of the Celestial Dragons are expected not just to act as Astartes, but productive citizens of the Imperium, too - it is a fundamental belief of their Primarch, after all, that the soldier who forgets what he is fighting for is nothing but a monster in the making.
To know what one is fighting for, however, one must not simply consume propaganda. Rather, Huo asserts, they must participate in civilian life wherever possible. They should cultivate camaraderie, they should engage in recreation, and, most of all, they should understand the fundamental harm that war causes, for it is not an end, but an ignoble means. Astartes that violate these strictures might be forcibly assigned to recreation and leave, while those who commit severe violations - in ancient days, termed as “crimes against humanity”, they are stripped of rank, imprisoned, and, in the worst cases, executed by hanging. Many Astartes, therefore, have some sort of training pertinent to the civilian world, and even those who do not are carefully prepared to coordinate and cooperate with non-Astartes support personnel, who themselves form a large, essential part of the warfighting capability of the Celestial Dragons.
Relationships:
Daughters of Iron Most notable of the Legion’s relationships is with the Daughters of Iron, whose primarch Huo counts among their closest friends, even in the wake of Eiohsa’s distance following the Rangdan Xenocides. The Legions cleanly cooperate when fighting in the same theatre of war, and a number of their unique pieces of equipment were contributed to by the Daughters.
Imperial Star League: Huo endeavors to maintain a close relationship with Wolfram - and although the two primarchs may have initially bonded over mere issues of civics and work, Huo remains one of the few primarchs able to coax Wolfram into a genuine friendship. One might not guess this at first sight, however, for Huo gives Wolfram’s desire for calm and quiet a healthy respect - nonetheless, their conversations and discussions over Huo’s tea are nothing but an expression of that friendship. Their Legions, likewise, frequently work together, collaborating on “nation-building” projects and civil works wherever they meet throughout the Imperium.
Dusk Wardens: The relationship between the Malik and and Shūguan is a complicated one, confusing to those not familiar with both primarchs, but to the Primarchs, it is incredibly simple. While they can certainly be said to be on friendly terms, occasionally collaborating on diplomatic matters and exchanging cultures and material aid to their respective worlds, they, like any typical pair of mortal siblings, hold a healthy rivalry with each other. In their case, however, their rivalry is resolved in just the same way as any fanciful diplomatic dispute: through apparently friendly conversation, grievances and hostilities veiled in such a way that only the participants can even tell they exist in the first place. It is through this that their relationship is kept ‘healthy’ - and with tea, of course.
The relationship between the Legions, however, is far more simple: they fight effectively in concert, the Celestial Dragons forming a superb mass front and distraction for the rear-echelon operations of certain elements of the Dusk Wardens, a role with the Dragons are more than happy to fill.
The Navis Nobilite: while Huo is not content to allow Navigator houses to abuse their positions for the hoarding of power, at least when able, they maintain a healthy respect for the Navigators, and have made clear to a number that they’ve met that they do not believe their continued survival should be dependent on their perceived utility to the Imperium. Those Navigator houses preferred by the Celestial Dragons, particularly House Ruan, are actively aided in proliferation, to the point that Huo is both willing and able to use the Navigators available to them for
The Mechanicum: The relationship between the Dragons and the Mechanicum cannot be defined in simple terms. While Huo is highly respectful of the unique faith of the Mechanicum, whether they ‘get along’ with the Mechanicum is entirely dependent on the individual forgeworld or Legio’s moral compass and efficiency. In other words, with sum their relationship is strained, but with equally many, it is generally positive.
The Sigillite and Administratum: Despite Huo’s quietly-held belief that the Imperial Truth will only cause strife and make bringing worlds into compliance more difficult, preferring a cosmopolitan view, Huo is a consummate Empire-builder, and one perfectly content to leave behind well-established infrastructures and civic works for the Imperium’s civilian government to build upon. Huo deeply enjoys the rare occasions they are able to engage in philosophical discussion with Malcador, also, and always trusts his counsel beyond matters of religion.
The Emperor: As aforementioned, Huo has little love for the Emperor’s policy of state atheism, though they make no effort to publicly oppose it, keeping themselves within the Emperor’s good graces - for despite their disagreements, who is unfailingly loyal to the Imperium, recognizing the Emperor as the one-and-only suitable to rule humanity aside, though Malcador remains a distant second. Otherwise, they are perfectly content to serve as a loyal advisor and civil servant whenever able.
Imperial Army and Solar Auxilia: to both major branches of the Imperial military, the Dragons are viewed as powerful allies, bringing a vast array of devastating firepower and quick ends to conflicts wherever they go.
Imperial Citizens: When the Dragons encounter Imperial citizenry, it is almost always on the offensive - and when they aren’t on the offensive, they leave a trail of gifts and administrative improvements behind, almost invariably improving the life of the average citizen. As such, away from the battlefield, they are viewed with wonder and relief - on embattled Imperial worlds, however, they are viewed with caution and even anxiety, frequently enlisting large numbers of able-bodied citizens into organized militias or mobilizing entirely planetary industries for war.
The Aeldari: A relationship secret from even the Emperor (though Huo remains convinced he is aware, but purposely fails to acknowledge it), the Dragons make efforts to keep a cautious distant from Craftworld and Exodite Aeldari, leaving them to their own devices.
Huo’s actual knowledge of the Aeldari is severely limited, however - primarily to mostly untranslated fragments of ancient Aeldari records, and the whisperings of worlds lost in the Eye of Terror. Whatever the case may be, one thing is absolutely clear to Huo: The Aeldari are not to be trifled with, and the Emperor’s choice to exterminate them may very well be a grave error. To this day, the Primarch desperately seeks to establish secret contact with them, hoping that some way, somehow, they can be negotiated with.
The Barghesi: Purged. The few surviving Barghesi are to be slain on sight and/or captured for execution and summary anatomical study. There are no exceptions.
Homeworld: Penglai Known in Imperial records as Mundus Planus, Penglai, according to fragmentary data, was one of many worlds in its local sectors that was part of a massive, concerted Terran colonization long before the Long Night. While many of its neighbors maintained a highly impressive level of technological advancement, such as the nearby Forgeworld of Thaxis or the Factory-world of Vossus, or even the packed-full Hiveworld of Thanadus, the people of Penglai regressed to the Gunpowder Age, relying on horse, steel armor, and black powder weapons for much of their warfighting, most of which was done between the ancient Jing Dynasty and the steppe riders of the less-habited parts of the planet. As the local sectors are increasingly secured and settled, Huo has begun the process of selection new names for each world of import, to better reflect the hypothesized origins of their colonists.
Its population was nonetheless enormous, at least for a world that could only just avoid being called Feudal, dotted with great cities, massive canals, and all other manner of wondrous construction. Although dominated in many places by open plains and great oceans, Penglai's terrain is, nonetheless, quite variable, similar in variety to ancient Terra itself.
Appearance: Truly, Huo is a sight to behold at an exact thirteen feet tall, the picture of androgynous beauty and tightly toned musculature clad in wheat-gold skin, bulkier than most of their AFAB sisters but more slender than their brothers, their entire body powerfully defined, sculpted almost like a marble statue - aside their relatively large breasts. Relatively slender lips sit on a fox-shaped face, deep brown eyes staring out from between thin, black brows, matching their loose, long hair, tied into a moderate topknot at the top. Two ‘legs’ of hair hang down in front of their shoulders, while another two bend back from these, joining up with the rest of their hair in the back.
Personality: In many ways similar to Malcador, Huo was practically engineered to be the penultimate administrator, calm and collected in even the most intensely stressful situations in ways that few mortals could hope to be. They are not cold, however, but rather gently warm, a calculating mind tempered by an almost parental warmth, alloyed with a keen awareness of the value of mortal beings and the respect which their servants and comrades deserve. Such is this warmth that on most occasions Huo can be found displaying a warm, incredibly gentle smile, showing no teeth but displaying their friendliness nonetheless.
It’s unsurprising, then, that Huo is a genius of statistics as befits a consummate master of logistics, supposedly able to track and organize the numbers of entire armies and even nations with their mind alone, though they lack the ability for artifice of some of their siblings.
As befits a well-rounded administrator, of course, they are skilled in many arts, too - from teamaking, to calligraphy, painting, and even a handful of instruments, Huo is practically an artist’s collective in themselves, befitting someone so beyond-mortal as a primarch, though their hobbies, of course, take the back-seat to their duties to their people.
Loyalty is, likewise, a trait that Huo exhibits in spades - loyalty not only to their ‘family’, their siblings and ‘father’, but to the Imperium and its people, viewing their work for the Imperium as a required uty in much the same way that a soldier can be said to have a duty to their commander. In other words, though Huo does hold a position of power, they believe that their position is earned only by their suitability for it and, therefore, if they were to become unfit, they would gladly give it up to someone more suitable, just as they readily delegate duties to capable mortals and Astartes within their own Legion.
Of course, even primarchs have secrets - and although Huo is no spy themselves, in their time as an Emperor, they learned to keep secrets - such as their mostly-distant fascination with the Aeldari, held within mental vaults from but the most absolutely trusted in their Legion.
Equipment:
Golden Dragon Crescent Blade: Easily the most legendary of weapons in Huo's armory, the Golden Dragon Crescent Blade is said to descend from one wielded long ago on terra by one of its greatest warriors, though its precise origin is unknown. Superficially similar to a glaive, the long, bladed polearm is in reality an incredibly powerful force-weapon, channeling its primarch's immense power into a point to make an already incredibly sharp weapon extremely deadly.
The blade itself is mounted on a long metal pole covered in red, wood-like lacquer carved into the shape of scaled, capped on both ends by intricately carved gold - toward the top, the maw of a dragon from which the blade emerges, and at the bottom, the tip of its tail. A smaller dragon emerges from the golden maw, carved into the surface of the blade, the mere touch of which can destroy the life force of its victim and burst their blood vessels, drenching it in blood. It is said that, in the heat of battle, the weapon has the appearance of a massive calligraphy brush, the blood of its enemies its ink.
The Gold-Vermillion Panoply: Though they may have once worn another armour, the Gold-Vermillion panoply was forged specifically for Huo’s use, one of the few suits of power armor capable of accommodating their extraordinarily agile fighting style. Despite being relatively slender, the Gold-Vermillion Panoply - so named for its colour scheme, gold accented by vermillion red. Despite its origin, however, the armour is made in imitation of the traditional style of her people - and the local sector, lamellar scale plating in the shape of tiny mountains laid over their chest, arms, thighs, and groin. Their tall helmet, topped with a high red tassel, slopes downward and over their neck in a similar pattern, helping to ensure that no joint can possibly remain weak. Their pauldrons, relatively small compared to most patterns of Imperial power armour, take on the shape of the flattened heads of lions, while the maw of a dragon forms the center ‘buckle’ of their belt.
Aside from it being designed specifically to accommodate Huo’s agile style, the panoply is specifically hardened against the weaponry utilized most by Huo’s legion, from incendiary devices to phosphex and meltas, allowing Huo to wade through the devastation creation by the advance of her Astartes with no fear for their own health. The armour additionally carries large banks of compressed Promethium fuel for the Black Dog Fire-Gauntlet, designed to self-eject in the event of a dangerous rupture or unwanted ignition, along with incredibly high-quality air filters to allow them to breathe safely in even the most polluted of environments.
Heaven-Shaking-Thunder Bombs: A stun bomb style designed to be wielded by a primarch, the Heaven-Shaking-Thunder bombs produce such intense noise and light that even the audio and light filters of power armor are inadequate, stunning nearly anyone that suffers a detonation, and permanently deafening and blinding most. Though rarely lethal, the bombs are, nonetheless, devastatingly useful in close combat, leaving all but the most resilient people insensate as their means of seeing and hearing the world are robbed from then, either permanently or only temporarily.
Black Dog Fire-Gauntlets: Designed to work in concert with the Gold-Vermillion panoply, the Black Dogs take the form of a tri-nozzle melta gauntlet nestled in the ornamental mouth of a Black Dog on each wrist. While technically similar to a melta-weapon, the unique design of the Black Dogs allows them to fire in a wide cone akin to a sweeping flame, designed for taking down large groups of armoured enemies, or an ‘ignition’ mode, which produces high heat and induces combustion, but is significantly less effective against armoured foes.
(REMOVE LATER) Legion was very dreadwing-esque prior to rediscovery of Huo, still retains this purpose of total war
Skills:
The Little Emperor: Perhaps Huo's greatest skill, above even their martial or psychic prowess, is their near-absolute mastery of civil service and logistics; their skill for the organizing of enormous armies across difficult campaigns in nearly any circumstance, even moreso with the aid of their carefully chosen advisors, both Astartes and human. Intricate, well-insulated systems of logistical supply stretch across their miniature Empire, ensuring that each world is given exactly what it needs, and on campaign, rations and ammunition are doled out in exactly the needed proportion, additional efficiency allowing for plenty of surplus to cushion unexpected pitfalls.
Where their knowledge is insufficient, they are more than happy to delegate duties to selected mortal and Astartes administrators, or, oftentimes, to their siblings - they will frequently request with the Daughters of Iron on matters of weapons development, for example, or the Imperial Star League on matters of fortification. In general, they are quite capable of negotiation and delegation, including as a highly competent diplomat - though there are, of course, few opportunities to practice the art of winning a war by never fighting it at all. In service of all this is perhaps matched perhaps only by Eiohsa, though they absolutely lack the skill for artifice of their sister, instead turning their calculations entirely toward administration, strategy, and logistics, and language.
Sage of Legions: Like many of their siblings, Huo is a powerful psyker, though just like them, their abilities take on a unique character of their own.
First and foremost, perhaps, is their ability to influence the weather - it is said that, during their time before the Yellow-Gold Emperor's arrival, they would trap opponent armies into crossing ancient riverbeds only to drown them under torrential rains, or that they can even transform a cool, breezy day into a searing sirocco capable of cutting steel with a mere thought. These abilities, of course, have limited usefulness against many enemies they would face in this new millennium, but they nonetheless hold utility for manipulating the battlefield itself and hindering enemy logistics. There is some utility to their ability in void combat, allowing them to generate localized geomagnetic storms and other weather-like phenomena.
Second, while no sorcerer-queen, Huo shows some impressive ability for pyromancy, both in manipulating the flames they create and conjuring them from thin air. Whether utilized to burn out the crew of a tank or even to cauterize and heal wounds, Huo’s mastery of fire and potential for raw destruction is nearly outmatched...
Aside from their ‘family’, a handful of xenos, and, perhaps, the Sigillite himself.
Additionally, Huo is unusually resistant to psychic power themselves, though not entirely immune - and dedicates a not-insignificant portion of their psychic ability to this role, hardening herself against and unbinding the predations of the Warp. There are, however, relatively few opportunities for them to hone this power.
Martial Artist: Huo's fighting style is relatively unique among their siblings for its emphasis on quick, fluid movements, leaving them terrifyingly agile despite their enormous (compared to mortal humans) size and the strength of their armour. Put simply, they move too quickly for mere mortals to track or strike them effectively, in some ways fighting like a strange hybrid of both Aeldari and Terran styles. They are, likewise, skilled with many weapons, but most impressive is their ability when fighting unarmed, and, of course, with their trusted Guandao, though they are quite fully capable of killing with their bare limbs alone. Part of their martial art, also, is a supernatural ability to maintain calm in the heat of battle, leveraging their analytic mind to predict the enemy's moves and calculate the best places to strike. So impressive is their agility that they are said to be able to jump in mid air, though this ability, in reality, is a result of psychic power, allowing them to be carrier far higher with a single jump than would otherwise be possible.
Artist: Much like Eiohsa, Huo is skilled in many arts, from the ancient danqing style of painting to the native instruments of their people; these styles, however, are quite distinct from any practiced by their siblings, just as culturally distinguished as their individual worlds of origin. Many of their Astartes practice the same arts, and although Huo rarely has the time for it, any free time they can find is usually spent on their artistic or rhetorical skills.
Assignment Grade: All Primarchs have a large presence in the Warp, courtesy of being the Emperor's children, and some can manipulate their power in the form of psychic abilities, to a lesser or greater extent. To that end, please include your Primarch's Assignment level in this section, and some examples of what they can do if anything particular. Sigma-grade and below indicates negative psionic potential, an impossibility for a Primarch given their heritage, and in practice they will likely possess at least an unconscious degree of psychic ability.
When Huo, then unnamed, appeared in a humble woodcutter’s land on the edge of a tiny village at the border of the Palatine’s empire, few, even the Palatine himself, for he was never informed - could have anticipated what it meant. To Palatine and his bureaucrats, the flash of light across the sky was but a meteor, for the woodcutter, Qiáng, wise beyond what anyone knew, carefully hid the device and the massive child inside within his home before anyone could be the wiser. Qiáng knew nothing of the child’s origins, but he knew that, for their size and unclear sex, the cruel Palatine would likely have them torn apart and dissected by their Imperial alchemists or, worse, trained to become a terrible warrior as they grew.
Thankfully, the child, named Huo by Qiáng’s wife, Xiá, showed no proclities to the latter, far more interested in the books and mythological tales the infertile couple could bring to them, while their unusual strength and size left them quite able to work around the home, bringing the family much more wealth that woodcutting otherwise could. So rapid was their growth, in fact, that they were able to work and more than a third of the age most children could, and began reading and performing arithmetic even earlier than that, speaking with the eloquence of an adult at less than a third of that age.
Of course, with their found child’s incredible growth came ever-growing concern that Palatine would find out, a fact they made their child well aware of so they’d know when to hide if the need arose. Word was quickly travelling, too, and by the age of five, everyone in the village knew of the child’s unusual size and maturity; it would only be a short time, surely, before the local administrator saw fit to inform the Emperor.
Huo, however, had other plans - if not to protect themselves, then to protect their parents, and the people of Penglai; for Palatine was cruel, and every year of his rule was a year in which countless millions suffered.
Huo promptly began whispering words of rebellion in the ears of those around them - in the village market, in the markets of other villages, and everywhere else they thought there could be a chance of success.
Palatine was cruel.
Palatine was a competent military leader, but an incompotent civil servant.
Palatine would bring ruin to Penglai - did he really deserve to rule?
Eventually, Huo’s words began to take root, yet they did not reach Palatine, for many people feared repercussions if they were merely associated with the rebellion, and many people had already grown discontent with his tyrannical regime; Huo merely intended to create the tinder needed to light the fire.
When word finally reached Palatine of Huo, the child had grown into an enormously powerful, intelligent adult, but he dispatched a small force to bring them into custody nonetheless.
When the soldiers attempted to take Huo, they struck one down with their fist,, then another, and another... And soon enough, the entire village, no longer willing to languish under his rule, had joined in, including the aging Jing Qiáng and his wife, utterly unwilling to let Palatine take their beloved child.
Word of the uprising spread, and where it did, more uprisings followed, entire Imperial garrisons slaughtered and starved by local citizens in wonderment at the tale of a single person slaughtering nearly a dozen soldiers with their bare hands, while other garrisons and generals took the sudden upheaval as their chance to claim fiefdoms of their own. Palatine was deprived of much of their army, though the Imperial soldiers that remained loyal were a powerful threat to Huo nonetheless; and so, the budding primarch took advantage of the legend of their arrival and initial uprising to position themselves as a leader of the rebels, defeating imperial armies sent to dispatch them one after the other with motley bands of peasants and traitorous soldiers. Some armies never even reached their destinations, or were hindered by storms conjured by Huo, only adding to their renown.
One by one, Huo destroyed Imperial armies in feats of tactical and strategic mastery, until, finally, the time came to lay siege to the capital itself, and the Palatine was slain just as the first soldier was by the primarch’s bare hand.
Not long after, however, Huo’s parents passed away of old age, secure in the knowledge that their beloved child was safe, and Huo, honouring them, named the new dynasty ‘Jing’ after their parents.
As the Imperial court was reorganized, the Empire of Jing saw a new golden age, cruelty lifted away in the face of an efficient, fair Empire, even the steppe and plains people eventually brought into the fold over a series of multiple decade-long military campaigns. Technology advanced at a rapid pace, and before long, the Jing were on the cusp of an industrial revolution, maintaining an empire the size of which had never before been seen on Penglai.
That was until, one day, a strange old man appeared at the gates of the Imperial palace, invited inside after requesting an audience with the Emperor, for even the most humble deserved to have their voices heard.
Nearly three days later of the Emperor not being seen, they emerged with a towering, dominating presence clad in golden robes - the rightful Emperor of all Mankind and the heavens themselves: the legendary Huangdi himself. Huo announced that it had now become their duty to lead an army of soldiers to expand Huangdi’s Celestial Empire, and though they would occasionally return to Penglai, they would appoint a council of trusted advisors to govern the planet in their stead.
First among their conquests was the surrounding section of the Segmentum Ultima, cleanly brought to heel by the Celestial Dragons, formerly the Imperial Devastators, and the powerful weapons at their disposal, though only after an extensive, apologetic reorganization of the Legion by its new primarch, all while Huo arranged meeting after meeting with their fellow Primarchs, quickly taking to the company of their sister, Eiohsa, in long philosophical discussions over cups of hand-brewed tea.
The Legion went on to conquer large parts of the outer Ultima Segmentum, but most seminal of its great works, perhaps, were its forays into the Ghoul Stars against the Barghesi, a brutal campaign that even the devastating weaponry of the Dragons could not quicken. Casualties were nonetheless severe, especially for attached Imperial Army units, but even the Dragon Astartes. Through Huo’s tactical genius, however, and deployment of the proscribed armaments assigned to the Third Legion. Fearing the devastation that could result if the Barghesi were able to break out into the wider galaxy, Huo was regretfully forced to order the deployment of a number of Modalis-class Atmospheric incinerators and a mass of incendiary weapons the likes of which has never been seen before, burning a handful of worlds to ash, while others, despite extensive damage, were eventually re-colonized after the destruction of the Barghesi, while elsewhere the Rangdan xenocides came to a close. For nearly three days after the campaign, however, Huo was rarely seen, even by their closest advisors, and refused to this day to speak of what transpired in that time. Most, including their closest advisors, believe the Primarch was so distraught over their inability to participate in the Xenocides, and the devastation and distress their absence may have caused, that they were sent into an emotional catatonia by the event.
Since, Huo and their legion have spent much of their existence forging a path into the Segmentum Obscurus near the warp-rift at the center of the galaxy, most recently bringing a forge-world known as the Orb of a Thousand Scars into Imperial compliance.
The Meeting: A strange, decrepit old man, dressed in the clothing of a peasant, asking oh-so-politely to be allowed to meet the Emperor themselves.
Why?, Huo wondered, staring down at the small, wooden table before them, arrayed upon in a gorgeous porcelain tea set, so hot the two prepared cups still steamed.
Few people held the bravery to approach the palace; after all, friendly as they were, Huo was an Emperor, and if every peasant that approached was allowed entry, they would never have the time to perform the day-to-day work of running a country, and yet...
They heard the noise of creaking doors, looking up, across the tea room, as a pair of their Imperial Guard pushed them open - and between them, a single, hunched-over old man.
I suppose I am about to find out, they thought, making a broad gesture across the prepared tea-cups.
“Come, stranger. I’ve prepared tea for you - sit. Talk. I assume that is why you have come here, and not to put a knife through my belly.” They said, smiling playfully at the old man as he stepped toward them.
“No, I have no need of knives. Only words,” the man said, and Huo watched as their guards visibly stumbled, collapsing clumsily to their knees. And Huo felt a strange weight fall on their shoulders, beckoning them to sink - no, demanding it - yet they refused, remaining utterly, resolutely calm.
Certainly not an insane old man, then. A sorcerer, come to offer their services? They wondered, looking the old man up-and down, noting how firm his words had been as they’d left his mouth, utterly bereft of the shake and stutter of extreme age. No, no. Not to offer their services. Something else.
“Only words,” they said, “but we should share these words over tea, don’t you think?” They continued, repeating the beckoning gesture... And so the old man did, moving to sit opposite to Huo as they gestured for their guards to stand and leave, briefly staring through the open ceiling of the tea garden into the sky above.
Silence, they thought, watching him as he sipped his tea, staring back at them, into their soul. His gaze was far more intense than any they’d ever seen before - simple, brown eyes, staring out from an unremarkable, leather-tanned face, and yet...
They felt as if he was seeing into them. As if he opted not to speak because he knew that they were examining him. Analyzing him, confused and perplexed by him.
He does know. But how?
“An old man, asking entrance to an Emperor’s palace, cowing their elite guards with his voice alone... What have you come here for? I mean no rudeness, but-”
“You are an Emperor,” he said, and again, they felt his voice crash into them, just as before.
“I understand. I am an Emperor, too.”
Were this old man anyone else, they would doubt him, and yet... Yes, it made sense. The way his voice subsumed all other others, the way it commanded submission from obedience with the sheer force it was spoken... Yes, that was the voice of an Emperor, but no mere mortal Emperor - for who else could speak in such a sovereign way?
“I can sense that,” they replied, taking a single sip of their tea, still staring, rarely blinking. “But an Emperor of what, exactly? I know of all Emperors on this world, and I know of none like you. My spies, as I...” He knows. The way he is staring at me... He must. Gazing into my eyes... Does he even know what I’m going to say, perhaps? They paused, opting to test their theory.
“To answer your questions - an Empire from the stars, and yes. Yes, I do.” He said, smirking slightly just as Huo let a snort of laughter escape their mouth.
“An Empire of the Stars? I came from the stars, but I-” Huo began, abruptly stopping as their pupils shrank ever-so-slightly, imperceptible to mortal eyes... But not to His. His presence, the power of his voice, his mysterious, auspicious appearance...
“Ah,” They chuckled again, setting down their cup. “I believe I understand, father.” Huo nodded, pouring the Emperor another cup of tea. “And why, then, have you chosen to appear?”
“I bring you a legion - and an Empire to serve. Tell me, have you heard the legend of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor?”
Legion Name: The Celestial Dragons
Legion Number: III
Legion Strength: 160,000 legionnaires, plus a large number of human auxiliaries and dedicated support personnel.
Armour Appearance:
Like their primarch, the Celestial Dragons are clad in gold, their icon the very same dragon’s maw on their legendary spear, snarling in a terrifying war-cry. They, too, are equipped with a modified form of power armour; though fundamentally based on the Mark IV, their suits likewise employ lamellar plates to provide additional joint protection in battle, especially around the necks.
Warcry: Aside from simple roaring accompanied by the Legion’s drums, a handful of basic battle cries are employed.
“Let the dragon swallow them whole!”
“From the Heavens, for Emperor and Imperium!”
Dramatis Personae:
Matriarch Ruan: Unseen in the years since Huo’s rediscovery, Matriarch Ruan, the unquestioned head of the Ruan family of Navigators, serves both as the head of her house and the navigator of Huo’s flag-vessel, the Great Emperor of the Celestial Waters, an ancient vessel believed to date back to the Dark Age of Technology, when Penglai was first colonized. Entire systems on the massive flagship are dedicated to her protection, for her power is so potent and valuable that Huo fears her many children cannot hope to replace it for many centuries. She is, of course, especially capable of navigating the Warp, but Ruan’s greatest ability is to hide herself and those around her from the warp, or even to assault its fabric directly, going so far as to set the taint of Chaos within a soul aflame.
Fleet Admiral Namkoong: The mortal admiral of Huo’s fleets, Namkoong in an exceptionally skilled fleet commander, and has remained in overall command of Huo’s fleets for several decades. Selected for his relative youth, Huo greatly appreciates Namkoong’s preference for three-dimensional maneuver tactics, taking advantage of the inherent nature of space to strike the foe in unexpected ways.
General Akane: The eldest currently serving Astartes in Huo’s Legion, Akane presently commands the largest share of living Terran Astartes under Huo’s overall command; the First Division, along with a small corps of heavily augmented human troops. Her aggressive, hard-bitten tactics make her and the soldiers under her command favoured for shock assaults, made possible by the specialized army’s use of large numbers of Land Raiders, Mastodons, and Terminator armor.
General Wei: One of Huo’s most trusted generals from before the Emperor’s arrival and a childhood friend of their ‘home’ village, Wei is an impeccably skilled and agile swordswoman, fighting with such agility and quick-thinking that her likewise specialized division commands the large majority of the Dragons’s airmobile infantry, charged with high-speed bite-and-hold operations aerial encirclements. Together with Akane’s shock troops, they are frequently the first to be called upon to form aerial beacheads as the Legion first lands on the surface of a hostile world. We commands the 2nd Division.
General Lao: Lao is an augmented human given overall command of the garrisons of Penglai and the surrounding systems, a position which she, perhaps surprisingly, takes on with great honour: Penglai is the primarch’s home, after all, and what place would they cherish more? Like Wei, Lao is an old friend of Huo’s, the son of the farmer Huo’s father bought most of his vegetables from. He is not stoic, but he is suitably protective, almost a father to his soldiers. Lao commands the 16th Division.
Alchemist-General Hoi: although the "Division" the Thanadus-born Chirurgeon-turned-Astarted commands is merely theoretical in terms of the actual force it wields, its mere existence represents something important: Shūguan has seen fit to dedicate a large portion of their resources to the advancement and securely of medical science, both for their Astartes and the mortals under their watch. He is are charged both with general medical upkeep and the establishment of battlefield hospital and the maintenance of the Legion's geneseed stocks, stored in dozens of separate vaults across the systems around Penglai to ensure they are incredibly difficult to destroy in one fell swoop. Full data-screeds of each sample are meticulously recorded in each bank, too, ensuring that any emergent flaws or sabotage are easy to search out and repair or eliminate.
Fabricator-Locum Qaghan: the highest tech-priest of the forgeworld of Thaxis, Qaghan, supplies a large portion of the Dragons' armaments through the vast array of forges at its command, both on Thaxis itself and the nearby forgeworld of Vossus. A diplomat in their own right, Qaghan swaps between a wide-array of bodies depending on who it is meeting or whether it is engaging in combat, rarely wearing the same form day after day. Its techpriests can frequently be found serving alongside the Dragons, particularly Magos Explorator others of relatively scientific bent.
Favored Tactics/Battlefield Role: The Celestial Dragons, put simply, emphasize total war; specifically, the type characterized by mass maneuver, devastating weight of force, and rear-echelon strikes designed to cripple the abilities of an enemy to keep their armies fighting. It's for this very reason that they strongly prefer to fight alongside the Dusk Wardens when able, for Huo was quick to recognize the immense utility of a highly elite force of specialized troops when it came to rear-echelon sabotage and destruction. Dragon Astartes, however, are typically heavily armored, utilized as typical heavy infantry thanks to their supernatural resilience, while smaller, more flexibly non-Astartes are usually preferred for clandestine operations.
As befits a Legion expected to cleanse and purge the most dangerous foes, in addition to unusually large numbers of melta and flame weapons, the Dragons possess stocks of weapons usually proscribed by other Legions to be utilized in the most dire of circumstances: rad-weaponry, a large variety of chemical ordinances, and, in the absolute worst cases, phosphex, though most of the above are only ever deployed when absolutely necessary. The same is not true of incendiaries, however, up to and including specialized thermobaric weapons designed specially to purge underground nests of xenos, or large, bunkerbusting meltas capable of penetrating deep into underground fortified complexes.
Most devastating of the ordnances the Dragons hold, however, are their exterminatus-class weapons. Although not the exclusive steward of these devastating weapons, the Dragons to possess the largest number out of the Astartes Legions.
Legion Characteristics/Ideology: The Legionnaires of the Celestial Dragons are expected not just to act as Astartes, but productive citizens of the Imperium, too - it is a fundamental belief of their Primarch, after all, that the soldier who forgets what he is fighting for is nothing but a monster in the making.
To know what one is fighting for, however, one must not simply consume propaganda. Rather, Huo asserts, they must participate in civilian life wherever possible. They should cultivate camaraderie, they should engage in recreation, and, most of all, they should understand the fundamental harm that war causes, for it is not an end, but an ignoble means. Astartes that violate these strictures might be forcibly assigned to recreation and leave, while those who commit severe violations - in ancient days, termed as “crimes against humanity”, they are stripped of rank, imprisoned, and, in the worst cases, executed by hanging. Many Astartes, therefore, have some sort of training pertinent to the civilian world, and even those who do not are carefully prepared to coordinate and cooperate with non-Astartes support personnel, who themselves form a large, essential part of the warfighting capability of the Celestial Dragons.
Relationships:
Daughters of Iron Most notable of the Legion’s relationships is with the Daughters of Iron, whose primarch Huo counts among their closest friends, even in the wake of Eiohsa’s distance following the Rangdan Xenocides. The Legions cleanly cooperate when fighting in the same theatre of war, and a number of their unique pieces of equipment were contributed to by the Daughters.
Imperial Star League: Huo endeavors to maintain a close relationship with Wolfram - and although the two primarchs may have initially bonded over mere issues of civics and work, Huo remains one of the few primarchs able to coax Wolfram into a genuine friendship. One might not guess this at first sight, however, for Huo gives Wolfram’s desire for calm and quiet a healthy respect - nonetheless, their conversations and discussions over Huo’s tea are nothing but an expression of that friendship. Their Legions, likewise, frequently work together, collaborating on “nation-building” projects and civil works wherever they meet throughout the Imperium.
Dusk Wardens: The relationship between the Malik and and Shūguan is a complicated one, confusing to those not familiar with both primarchs, but to the Primarchs, it is incredibly simple. While they can certainly be said to be on friendly terms, occasionally collaborating on diplomatic matters and exchanging cultures and material aid to their respective worlds, they, like any typical pair of mortal siblings, hold a healthy rivalry with each other. In their case, however, their rivalry is resolved in just the same way as any fanciful diplomatic dispute: through apparently friendly conversation, grievances and hostilities veiled in such a way that only the participants can even tell they exist in the first place. It is through this that their relationship is kept ‘healthy’ - and with tea, of course.
The relationship between the Legions, however, is far more simple: they fight effectively in concert, the Celestial Dragons forming a superb mass front and distraction for the rear-echelon operations of certain elements of the Dusk Wardens, a role with the Dragons are more than happy to fill.
The Navis Nobilite: while Huo is not content to allow Navigator houses to abuse their positions for the hoarding of power, at least when able, they maintain a healthy respect for the Navigators, and have made clear to a number that they’ve met that they do not believe their continued survival should be dependent on their perceived utility to the Imperium. Those Navigator houses preferred by the Celestial Dragons, particularly House Ruan, are actively aided in proliferation, with Huo going so far as to dedicate large numbers of mortal aides to helping the Navigators find suitable carriers of the gene to reproduce with, along with providing extensively funded fertility specials to ensure successful reproduction.
The Mechanicum: The relationship between the Dragons and the Mechanicum cannot be defined in simple terms. While Huo is highly respectful of the unique faith of the Mechanicum, whether they ‘get along’ with the Mechanicum is entirely dependent on the individual forgeworld or Legio’s moral compass and efficiency. In other words, with sum their relationship is strained, but with equally many, it is generally positive.
The Sigillite and Administratum: Despite Huo’s quietly-held belief that the Imperial Truth will only cause strife and make bringing worlds into compliance more difficult, preferring a cosmopolitan view, Huo is a consummate Empire-builder, and one perfectly content to leave behind well-established infrastructures and civic works for the Imperium’s civilian government to build upon. Huo deeply enjoys the rare occasions they are able to engage in philosophical discussion with Malcador, also, and always trusts his counsel beyond matters of religion.
The Emperor: As aforementioned, Huo has little love for the Emperor’s policy of state atheism, though they make no effort to publicly oppose it, keeping themselves within the Emperor’s good graces - for despite their disagreements, who is unfailingly loyal to the Imperium, recognizing the Emperor as the one-and-only suitable to rule humanity aside, though Malcador remains a distant second. Otherwise, they are perfectly content to serve as a loyal advisor and civil servant whenever able.
Imperial Army and Solar Auxilia: to both major branches of the Imperial military, the Dragons are viewed as powerful allies, bringing a vast array of devastating firepower and quick ends to conflicts wherever they go.
Imperial Citizens: When the Dragons encounter Imperial citizenry, it is almost always on the offensive - and when they aren’t on the offensive, they leave a trail of gifts and administrative improvements behind, almost invariably improving the life of the average citizen. As such, away from the battlefield, they are viewed with wonder and relief - on embattled Imperial worlds, however, they are viewed with caution and even anxiety, frequently enlisting large numbers of able-bodied citizens into organized militias or mobilizing entirely planetary industries for war.
The Aeldari: A relationship secret from even the Emperor (though Huo remains convinced he is aware, but purposely fails to acknowledge it), the Dragons make efforts to keep a cautious distant from Craftworld and Exodite Aeldari, leaving them to their own devices.
Huo’s actual knowledge of the Aeldari is severely limited, however - primarily to mostly untranslated fragments of ancient Aeldari records, and the whisperings of worlds lost in the Eye of Terror. Whatever the case may be, one thing is absolutely clear to Huo: The Aeldari are not to be trifled with, and the Emperor’s choice to exterminate them may very well be a grave error. To this day, the Primarch desperately seeks to establish secret contact with them, hoping that some way, somehow, they can be negotiated with.
The Barghesi: Purged. The few surviving Barghesi are to be slain on sight and/or captured for execution and summary anatomical study. There are no exceptions.
Milord, this is Sister Agathe. I am gathering a militia of the faithful. We will strike the enemy formation from the lower decks and attempt to cut off their advance toward the Gellar Field generators. The Emperor Protects.
"A spiritu dominatus,
Domine, libra nos,
From the lighting and the tempest," Agathe intoned, testing her chainsword with a quick rev of its powerful motors.
"Our Emperor, deliver us." Came the chorus of assembled crewmen before her - they, likewise, were preparing themselves, gathering up improvised weaponry from massive utility room around them. A handful were lucky to get their hands on auto-weapons, but most simply wielded hastily repurposed tools - bulkhead cutters, salvaging saws, maintenance torches repurposed into flamers...
"From plague, temptation and war,"
"Our Emperor, deliver us."
Satisfied with her chainsword, she clipped it into place at her waist, priming her power maul with a click of the angry red switch on its handle, a sharp crackle filling the air.
"From the scourge of the Kraken,
Our Emperor, deliver us."
Most of the assembled were young, fit men and women - those assigned to manual labor duties - but only a few, much like the heretics, knew how to fight any better than the common man.
"From the blasphemy of the Fallen,
Our Emperor, deliver us,"
Those were equipped with the heaviest, most powerful implements they could find; illegal boarding shotguns and flamers intended for use in exterminating vermin and dangerous mutants.
"From the begetting of daemons,
Our Emperor, deliver us,"
They, too, were equipped with commbeads, the only ones capable of coordinating their fellows.
"From the curse of the mutant,
Our Emperor, deliver us,"
The most lucky, perhaps, was the first Ogryn in Agathe's motley crew, wielding a blast door bent into the shape of a shield and a massive power hammer. His fellows, equally massive, were just as gigantic - but power hammers were a rare tool, many of which, she imagined, were held in the upper decks.
"A morte perpetua,
Domine, libra nos.
That thou wouldst bring them only death,
That thou shouldst spare none,
That thou shouldst pardon none,"
This time, they all spoke together - Agathe and her militia, marshalled behind her - as the utility room's doors slowly began to roll open.
"Sister Agathe to the bridge. We are engaging the enemy. May the Emperor protect."
"We beseech thee, destroy them."
"For the Emperor!" They cried out as one, spilling out from the utility room and into the halls, almost immediately meeting the scattered number of the enemy. Agathe, of course, was at their head, her face beneath her helmet etched into a snarl of zealous rage as she marched forward, knocking one heretic down as her revving chainsword cleaved through another, sawing him in two on a diagonal running from his shoulder to his waist. He barely had the chance to scream before his guts spilled across the floor, one of his comrades unloading a hail of lead into Agathe's chest.
To her, the assault broke over her plate like water, bullets smashing themselves into pieces to no effect. The cultist was unlucky enough to receive a bolter round to his ribcage for his efforts, blowing open his chest cavity like a gory piñata.
"If I must slay you, lost children of the Emperor, then I will!" She shouted, her voice artificially amplified into a bellowing howl by her helmet. Her pronouncement was punctuated by another swing of her chainsword, casually decapitating another cultist as it tore through flesh and bone.
"-but I will take no joy in this work! Lay down your arms, and you can yet be redeemed!"
None did, though perhaps, Agathe thought, she was partly to blame, carving bloody ruin through the cultists with every word. Or perhaps the Ogryn bore some of that weight - she could see the enormous man from the utility room angrily crush the skull of one of the cultists in his meaty palm as the noise of stomping feet nearby alerted her to the activity of more of the labor-Ogryn, ever-dim, but unambitious and ever-loyal. She was thankful for their presence more than anything aside the Emperor's grace, perhaps, though even they couldn't stop their allies from bleeding and dying as they aggressively pushed away from one of many utility rooms, up through the lower decks... And, if He bid it, toward the Gellar Field generators. Ogryn or not, the Gellars, Agathe guessed, were the most important target. Unless they summoned a horde of daemons, the cultists would melt into ash before the onslaught of fire and rad-weapons the Mechanicus possessed. If the heretics took the Enginarium, they could stop the vessel, destroy it, or perhaps redirect it... Unpleasant options, to be sure, but if they reached the Gellars deeper within, mere death would be a mercy.
Agathe to Bridge. We have momentum, and are continuing to push out of the lower decks and toward the Enginarium to aid the Mechanicus in securing the Gellars. Sustaining acceptably minor casualties as of present - I've rallied several of the labor Ogryn and a great number of the crew - no time for a headcount but will attempt to rally more when Any possibility of emergency translation into realspace? Expect that cultists are attempting to disrupt Gellar Field generators to affect a daemonic incursion. The Emperor Protects.
"The Emperor is very proud of you all, for refusing to bow to heresy!" Agathe shouted, waiting as the Ogryn proudly puffed out his chest, clubbing down a pair of cultists with casual ease.
Name of your Nation: The Drow Confederacy/self-named People of the Darkling Womb
Type of Government: Tribal Confederacy
Demographics & Population: Approximately 5 million.
Governance & Politics: The People of the Darkling Womb, though a technical Confederacy, can barely be called a unified people. Individual tribes and clans are governed in various ways - some by force, some by gerontocracy, some of the most ‘modern’ by classical monarchy, and others by vote. The confederacy is merely a loosely formal way for these tribes and communities to cooperate, meeting in a central, neutral location; a sanctuary nestled into the Earthen Womb, the large, towering mountain range near the western edge of their homeland. Deep within this sanctuary is an enormous pillar of a highly concentrated form of what the Darklings call the 'blood of the gods' (known elsewhere as manarite), running far deeper within the ground than even the Darklings have gone, holding enormous religious significance to most tribes. It is, however, incredibly dangerous to be around to all but the most powerful mages or the most physically resilient people.
Culture & Society: Contrary to popular belief in the human nation-states, the Dark Elves (or the People of the Darkling Womb, as they commonly refer to themselves), adamantly believe that elvenkind is the 'race' which others descend from, including themselves. Their race, they argue, descends from the pale-skinned stock adapted to the underground with darkened skin to better camouflage themselves in poorly-lit places, a wild difference from the ways in which some elves adopt other drastic changes to adapt to their environments - often in ways that humans cannot.
This is not to say that they believe elves to be inherently superior, however, but rather stands as an example of how their culture, absent human influence, has developed along fundamental lines that are not generally compatible with assimilation into human society.
Another is the relatively different nature of gender roles in Darkling society. The Darkling Kin, perhaps due to the unusual environment in which their civilization emerged, developed to be highly sexually flexible due to extremely high death rates (that often were just as high at the home as they were away from it), resulting in the unusually high prevalence of offspring-viable intersex people, and the cultural expectation that anyone, regardless of their biological sex, was expected to be highly fit and capable of fighting.
Darkling mastery over magic has since reduced many of these pressures, as has the introduction of foreign agricultural techniques, but the cultural expectation of violence and flexible gender roles has not abated, remaining strong even in the presence of influence considered highly unusual to the Darkling people.
Magic, likewise, has enormous cultural influence in the Darkling people, and ability to use it, while not the sole determinant of one's status, is a major contributor. Magic has both an enormous spiritual significance to the Darkling people (due to its necessity for contacting the extraplanar beings the Darkling communicate with and occasionally work alongside, particularly daemons and the divinities they serve) and necessary practical utility. It is, after all, incredibly difficult to survive beneath the earth without access to magic, and, in many ways, the Darklings' access to magic without the use of manarite technology is what allows them to survive being fully colonized. The foreigners may be communicated with, but they are nonetheless viewed with careful caution, as a general rule.
Magic & Technology: Unlike societies that rely on the industrial exploitation of manarite for their magic, the Darklings rely on it in another way entirely - exposure. Highly resilient to manarite mutation as a result of millennia of proximity to it, the Darkling are a generally highly magically adept people, though their unwillingness to cannibalize a substance they view with such immense reverence, and their until-recently lack of access to easily proliferating agricultural crops (not to mention the simple fact that they mostly live underground) has resulted in very low levels of industrial development compared to the countries colonizing their home archipelago. Many types of livestock of beasts of burden that allowed these civilizations to proliferate mass agriculture, also, simply didn’t exist until they were introduced, and many of those that have been introduced (such as horses) are utterly unsuitable for life in massive underground caverns.
What the Darklings have, though, are several sources of potent magic, both that from within and without; that is to say, through spiritual means. This magic, in fact, has been a prime factor in keeping their lands safe from encroachment, causing casualties in conflicts with colonial powers that make their home even less desirable, though it nonetheless posesses enormous resources of lumber and valuable minerals, not to mention an extensive network of underground tunnels to expedite transport.
Military Overview: Although a warrior culture in many respects, until skirmishes and battles with the Viceroyalty of Veliký Zelená (which have since ceased), the Darkling tribes, for the most part, had nothing resembling a formal military, instead relying on loose bands of warriors to resolve conflicts when words could not. Since contact with colonizers, however, a handful of bands have seen fit to adopt relatively modern military arrangements, complete with regiments and formal officer training. Most, however, still rely on nomadic bands, forced to constantly move through the places beneath the earth to avoid threats and follow sources of food, lacking the ability to establish permanent places for training.
Additional Info: Rumours abound of a daughter of a noble sub-clan in the central mount of unusual magical potency - and as tensions run hot in the Vasiran holdings stolen from the clan of her thrice-distant cousins a scant few decades ago, rumour in the Confederacy is that she may push to remove the foreign devils from their land, whether by word or by force.
I dunno how active I can be, but I really enjoy thinking up little nation states, so I figured I'd join in the fun. I'll do my best to participate regularly.
The Dual Monarchy of Conquerdia-Vinlac
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Demographics & Population:
The Dual Monarchy is populated by majority human, and Vinnish speaking peoples. The Royal ledger has determined there are in excess of six million Vinnic people, most of whom are rural farmers or herdsmen, poor and greatly stratified from the Vinlac nobility whom they serve as serfs. In recent years, to match the rapid industrialization of Conquerdia there has been a urbanization of the population, leading to a decline in agricultural production, and hard times for the average Vinnic, who often have the appearance of exhaustion and hunger. They are small on average, with dark hair and blue eyes, and pale yet sun touched skin. These people are the descendants of the natives of Vinlac, and have always lived on the archipelago. They live mostly in the great swaths of hill and grasslands on farms and in small communities. There are only three proper cities in Vinlac, with the vast majority of the population being rural, but this is quickly changing.
The second largest population are the colonial Jervan, however since gaining their independence from their home Empire they have taken on the name given to them by the native Vinlac, as the Conquerors, or Conquerians. There are a few more than a million Conquerians, and they mostly populate the urbanized coastline near the bay of Landin. These hardy and industrious people hold outsized power over the governance of the Dual Monarchy, and have a dominate control over the trade of manarite making even the common man exceedingly wealthy. It is said they breed like rabbits, and fight like lions, and work like bees. In the short hundred years since their colonization began, they have quadrupled in population, won a war of independence, and conquered the Vinlac kingdom, unifying it into their sphere. On average they are tall, with light hair, almost white, and bright eyes and have a general distaste of anything non-human. Pushing almost all alien creatures from the borders of the Dual Monarchy with the exception of the Eurokin.
The final population of note residing in the snowy peaks of Eurokon Mountains are a mysterious tribal people, known as the Eurokin. They are a large species, with a mostly humanoid shape, but with razor sharp tusks like a boar, and no discernable ears and covered in a thick layer of shaggy grey-white hair. They are an aggressive, but practical bunch, and the best Conquerdian estimates suggest there are roughly one hundred thousand, to three hundred thousand of them living on the icy peaks of the Eurokons. They prefer the cold and rarely stray down from their high villages during the summer months, but during the fall and winter war bands will gather and reave and ravage all the lowlands beneath their mountains. Their fearsome shamanistic magics render defenses worthless, and their massacres know no mercy. The Conquerdians at first attempted to remove them as a threat, but soon discovered that the Eurokin were as permanent and difficult to eliminate as their mountain home. Instead the Conquerdians discovered a system of payment the Eurokin's would accept, and eventually accrued good standing amongst the Eurokin, utilizing the savages martial prowess to aid in their own conquests. Yearly tribute is required, tribute the Conquerdians are more than happy to pay to preserve the Conquerdian-Vinlac integrity. Eurokin warbands instead descend from their mountains and ravage the south and westlands beyond the Dual Monarchy’s borders, before turning north to Laun-vac in the spring to sell off their spoils, and then depart back to their home, in a bloody, yet profitable yearly cycle.
Governance & Politics:
The Dual Monarchy of Conquerdia-Vinlac, better known as the Dual Monarchy, is a political joining of two separate kingdoms, tied together in a personal union, of which Conquerdia is the senior partner. Several other autonomous territories and governments reside within the Dual Monarchy, such as the Free City of Laun-vac, the Tribes of Eurokin Peaks, and the Duchy of Parlov, however these states defer foreign policy and war to the Dual Monarchy, with the exception of the Eurokin who do as they will. The King in New Landinburg, (the royal capital of Conquerdia) is the first amongst equals, alongside the King of Vinlac and the Duchess of Parlov. The Monarchs govern executively in accordance to the Landinstag, a assembly of nobles elected to legislate law for both kingdoms and handle both foreign and domestic affairs. There are fifty seats for Conquerdia, thirty for Vinlac, ten for Parlov, and five for Laun-vac. The Landinstag is heavily favored to the nobility of Conquerdia, and in recent years the power of this governing body has grown considerably, as both kings offer greater influence to the governing body for their continued support. Many whispers suggest that the true power in the realm rests in the hands of the Mayor of the House, the elected head of the Landinstag.
Magic & Technology:
The Conquerdians have never been a magically inclined people, they have long since let their mystical traditions slip away. Those few who still possess the skills and knowledge use it for performance art, or tinkering in the scientific fields. They make up for this loss through industrialization and technological ascendency. They are most well known for their efficient machinery, long range artillery, and rapid production and development. Simple electricity and running water flow through most Conquerdian homes, placing them in stark contrast to the average Vinnic who has trouble even warming their homes during the long harsh winters. The introduction of the steam engine has led to an even greater disparity, as goods could now be shipped by rail and ship, leaving the roads that once cut through Vinlac towns even less used. By contrast the Vinnic people utilize a semi-religious magic that focuses on changes in pressure and temperature, a potentially powerful but ultimately underutilized system. Their colleges are tightly regulated, with nobility clergy often the only ones permitted to learn the ancient arts. Fears of revolt, and peasant uprisings being foremost on the minds of the aristocracy should the serfs be taught en masse. Finally, the Eurokin, the savage brutes have barely advanced past the iron age, but their powerful and costly blood magic make them formidable. Often preluded by chanting, sacrifices, and dancing the Eurokin can unleash unholy carnage upon their enemies in the form of natural disasters, explosions, and disease often at the cost of their own berserker shamans.
Military Overview:
The Dual Monarchy’s military is of middling power, with wide disparities in its capability. The bulk of its ground forces are made up of poorly trained Vinnic conscripts, usually under the command of noble officers who vary wildly in quality. Several regiments of professional soldiers of Conquerdian formation exist, well supplied, and equipped but they rarely see action in preference for the expendable Vinnic units. During the winter months Eurokin mercenaries become available, proving to be invaluable raiding and special operation units, excelling at ambush and guerilla warfare. The typical method of war is heavy bombardment followed by mass infantry and armored advances in small but steady pushes.
The real power of the Dual Monarchy rests in their air and sea corps. A powerful, well-equipped navy and with several marine battalions defend Conquerdia’s lucrative trade routes, whilst her airborne skyships and fightercraft guard the vast skies. Coastal raiding, and economic bombardment has not failed the Dual Monarchy yet, as they prefer to bleed their foes dry rather than achieve quick battlefield victories.
Historical Foundation:
Historically Conquerdia was founded as an economic colony of Jervan under the governorship of the Emperor’s tenth son. Domestic affairs saw the Empire collapse shortly after the colony’s founding, which led to significant growth, as refugees fled the mainland seeking a new life on the distant archipelago. Following continued separation from the remnants of the Jervan Empire the Emperor’s Grandson, now ruler of the colony declared independence, and after a short war crowned himself King of Conquerdia. The proceeding decades bore witness to several wars of conquest against Conquerdia’s neighbors, which eventually saw the King’s children seated on the thrones of Vinlac, and Parlov ruling over the native Vinnish people. After the King’s death the three crowns formed a personal union, with Conquerdia being first, Vinlac being secondary, and Parlov being third in royal influence. Thus the Dual Monarchy was born.
Notes of Interest: (WIP)
The Duchy of Parlov, is a separate entity from the Vinlac Kingdom, and holds autonomy over the Parlov Peninsula. The region is of high religious importance for the Vinnic people, and shall always be ruled by a female priestess, known as the Duchess of Parlov who as of now is part of the Conquerdian royal family. The City of Parlov holds the magical colleges, where magically talented nobility and clergy alike travel to learn the mystic arts. The Vinnish religion, the Faith of the Northern Winds has been largely adopted by Conquerdians, and assimilated into their culture, a necessary step for pacifying the Vinnic people, and a further separation from their paganist roots as Jervans.
The Royal Banner is the official symbol of the United Dual Monarchy. It is a split orange and blue field, with the seal of the royal family emblazoned in the center. Later, the crimson cross, the symbol of the Faith of the Northern Winds was added to symbolize the Duchy of Parlov, outlined in white in a presentation of the Dual Monarchy's unity. The separate Kingdoms individually fly the standard of their Monarchy, a blue field and Royal seal of the lion for Conquerdia, a Orange field and Royal seal of the rose for Vinlac, and a Red cross on a black field with a green star for Parlov.
Hey, I had that land claimed in the interest check - is there any way I could convince you to part with it?
Specifically this sheet.
Name of your Nation: The Drow Confederacy/self-named People of the Darkling Womb
Type of Government: Tribal Confederacy
Demographics & Population: Approximately 5 million.
Governance & Politics: The People of the Darkling Womb, though a technical Confederacy, can barely be called a unified people. Individual tribes and clans are governed in various ways - some by force, some by gerontocracy, some of the most ‘modern’ by classical monarchy, and others by vote. The confederacy is merely a loosely formal way for these tribes and communities to cooperate, meeting in a central, neutral location; a sanctuary nestled into the Earthen Womb, the large, towering mountain range near the western edge of their homeland. Deep within this sanctuary is an enormous pillar of a highly concentrated form of what the Darklings call the 'blood of the gods' (known elsewhere as manarite), running far deeper within the ground than even the Darklings have gone, holding enormous religious significance to most tribes. It is, however, incredibly dangerous to be around to all but the most powerful mages or the most physically resilient people.
Culture & Society: Contrary to popular belief in the human nation-states, the Dark Elves (or the People of the Darkling Womb, as they commonly refer to themselves), adamantly believe that elvenkind is the 'race' which others descend from, including themselves. Their race, they argue, descends from the pale-skinned stock adapted to the underground with darkened skin to better camouflage themselves in poorly-lit places, a wild difference from the ways in which some elves adopt other drastic changes to adapt to their environments - often in ways that humans cannot.
This is not to say that they believe elves to be inherently superior, however, but rather stands as an example of how their culture, absent human influence, has developed along fundamental lines that are not generally compatible with assimilation into human society.
Another is the relatively different nature of gender roles in Darkling society. The Darkling Kin, perhaps due to the unusual environment in which their civilization emerged, developed to be highly sexually flexible due to extremely high death rates (that often were just as high at the home as they were away from it), resulting in the unusually high prevalence of offspring-viable intersex people, and the cultural expectation that anyone, regardless of their biological sex, was expected to be highly fit and capable of fighting.
Darkling mastery over magic has since reduced many of these pressures, as has the introduction of foreign agricultural techniques, but the cultural expectation of violence and flexible gender roles has not abated, remaining strong even in the presence of influence considered highly unusual to the Darkling people.
Magic, likewise, has enormous cultural influence in the Darkling people, and ability to use it, while not the sole determinant of one's status, is a major contributor. Magic has both an enormous spiritual significance to the Darkling people (due to its necessity for contacting the extraplanar beings the Darkling communicate with and occasionally work alongside, particularly daemons and the divinities they serve) and necessary practical utility. It is, after all, incredibly difficult to survive beneath the earth without access to magic, and, in many ways, the Darklings' access to magic without the use of manarite technology is what allows them to survive being fully colonized. The foreigners may be communicated with, but they are nonetheless viewed with careful caution, as a general rule.
Magic & Technology: Unlike societies that rely on the industrial exploitation of manarite for their magic, the Darklings rely on it in another way entirely - exposure. Highly resilient to manarite mutation as a result of millennia of proximity to it, the Darkling are a generally highly magically adept people, though their unwillingness to cannibalize a substance they view with such immense reverence, and their until-recently lack of access to easily proliferating agricultural crops (not to mention the simple fact that they mostly live underground) has resulted in very low levels of industrial development compared to the countries colonizing their home archipelago. Many types of livestock of beasts of burden that allowed these civilizations to proliferate mass agriculture, also, simply didn’t exist until they were introduced, and many of those that have been introduced (such as horses) are utterly unsuitable for life in massive underground caverns.
What the Darklings have, though, are several sources of potent magic, both that from within and without; that is to say, through spiritual means. This magic, in fact, has been a prime factor in keeping their lands safe from encroachment, causing casualties in conflicts with colonial powers that make their home even less desirable, though it nonetheless posesses enormous resources of lumber and valuable minerals, not to mention an extensive network of underground tunnels to expedite transport.
Military Overview: Although a warrior culture in many respects, until skirmishes and battles with the Viceroyalty of Veliký Zelená (which have since ceased), the Darkling tribes, for the most part, had nothing resembling a formal military, instead relying on loose bands of warriors to resolve conflicts when words could not. Since contact with colonizers, however, a handful of bands have seen fit to adopt relatively modern military arrangements, complete with regiments and formal officer training. Most, however, still rely on nomadic bands, forced to constantly move through the places beneath the earth to avoid threats and follow sources of food, lacking the ability to establish permanent places for training.
Additional Info: (Miscellaneous information that don't really fit in any category.)
The very moment the Squat began to fall - or perhaps leapt - from his perch, the warning systems in her armour kicked into high gear, warning her of a large object approaching at significant velocy. Her body, too, reacted, twitching for her power maul...
But mere moments later, it finally registered the object as a Squat and she relaxed, sucking in a deep breath through her nose as she silently wondered what, other than his apparent tenacity, Edmund saw as valuable in the gruff, bearded man. There must have been something, after all... But he hardly seemed approachable. Perhaps a master of close-quarters combat? His shotgun must've fit that bill.
Next, she was alerted to the arrival of another - a ratling - first by an innocuous warning from inside her helm, then the shape of a strange little man stuffed into an ill-fitting suit dashing across her field of vision like he'd accidentally shit himself, only to seat next to the other abhuman, utterly silent. If not for the ill-fitting uniform, however, she might've been as equally lost, but she'd heard of enough ratlings in the Guard, usually employed as scouts, snipers, or for duties of that sort. Another loyal servant of the Emperor, either way, and one who probably had substantial combat experience. As long as he had some way to contribute, he would surely be welcome.
And then without so much as a word from either of the Magi, she watched Dahti's attention shift, and she instantly let out a sigh, knowing full well that there was a tendency among the visibly differing sects of the Mechanicus to argue. Between a man more machine than man and the genetic machine Dahti was, she assumed argument was inevitable...
And it was, not that she cared terribly to listen, keeping her focus on Edmund aside from a respectful bow in turn to Dahti. Even if she didn't want to be pulled into whaetever he'd just dragged himself into, he deserved the courtesy of a visible greeting, at the very least.
Thankfully, the brewing philosophical debate was cut short by Edmund's intervention, finally allowing Agathe to bring her gaze to the projected holo-image. It was...
Frighteningly accurate, as far as she could tell. Despite how odd the ratling looked in his outfit, she couldn't help but focus on how unusually perfect the image was, unlike many holoprojections she'd seen before, if any. Its sheer accurate clouded her mind before she was knocked out of her momentary stupor by Edmund's words.
Trailblazer... A pathfinder of sorts, maybe? That'd be... Incredibly helpful, she thought. Agathe, after all, had seen little of the wild places of the galaxy, and knew even less of how to navigate them. The Squat, a mercenary. The Magi, more obviously essential in her mind, and herself...
Well, Edmund had respected her wishes to keep her face hidden, and that was enough...
For a few moments, until Lord Guilliman's name graced her ears and she felt a shudder of religious ecstasy at the mere notion of her, but a meagre Battle Sister, being joined to a mission given by the Lord-Proector Himself. Even if Edmund wouldn't or couldn't yet divulge the precise details, such a fact meant whatever they were going to do must've been incredibly vital, that the Inquisition would certainly follow them...
Agathe couldn't help letting her mind race, words blurring together so much she nearly failed to listen to Edmund, if not for the memory of her Palatine whipping her mind into shape reminding her to stay focused on the task at hand.
Still, she couldn't help herself from bringing her hands togehter in the shape of an Aquila over her chest, muttering a prayer under her breath.
"I tread the path of Righteousness. Though it be paved with broken glass, I will walk it barefoot; though it cross rivers of fire, I will pass over them; though it wanders wide, the light of the Emperor guides my step."
Quietly sucking in a breath through her nose, she closed her eyes for a fraction of a second, then flipped them open.
"A... request, Lord, if you would permit it. I would aks that myself and the priests aboard this vessel be allowed to perform a ceremony to bless this journey - all are invited, of course, even our Navigator. I... Think that making clear the provenance of our voyage would provide an enormous, mentally steeling boost of morale to the crew, and, perhaps moreso, to bless the vessel with such a ceremony will surely aid us in repelling the threat of our Greatest Enemy," Agathe continued. "I can speak to the priests to compile a list of materials we will require, but I do not believe that might more than a little incense, water, and fuel will be required."
@Jb Nonetheless, reply Agathe would, even if she didn't expect Edmund to respond in kind. There were boundaries to be set, of course - and while she was perfectly willing to obey orders she would not, after all, do so unthinkingly and without question.
"Fear not," she attempted to reassure him, "my duty as an Iron Veil is to combat the sorcery of the Great Enemy, and the mere existence of xenos, as it were, is of little concern in comparison," she said, silently reminding herself that she would not hesitate to destroy them for abusing Edmund's goodwill or more important abusing the citizenry of the Imperium, or for desecrating his holy places. Rogue Trader or not, such flagrant violations of His blessings were utterly unacceptable.
At the sight - and sound - of the Chief Enginseer's arrival, however, she offered only a simple nod in greeting. He seemed to have little interest in formality, after all, and while she could respect his affinity for holy promethium, she would not -- could not -- reward dangerous arrogance.
she/her pronouns. I'm interested in a wide variety of roleplays, but I tend toward prefering High Fantasy and High Sci Fi settings (think Elder Scrolls or Warhammer 40k). Whether it's a Nation Roleplay (I love digging into fictional politics) something on a smaller, individual scale, or something in between, there's a good chance I might be interested! I especially enjoy fantasy setting with weird, esoteric fluff - up to and including the nonsense that happens in Elder Scrolls, or, occasionally, Age of Sigmar.
Fave settings /period/ are Warcraft, and Golarion. WH40k and AoS are close.
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">she/her pronouns. I'm interested in a wide variety of roleplays, but I tend toward prefering High Fantasy and High Sci Fi settings (think Elder Scrolls or Warhammer 40k). Whether it's a Nation Roleplay (I love digging into fictional politics) something on a smaller, individual scale, or something in between, there's a good chance I might be interested! I especially enjoy fantasy setting with weird, esoteric fluff - up to and including the nonsense that happens in Elder Scrolls, or, occasionally, Age of Sigmar.<br><br>Fave settings /period/ are Warcraft, and Golarion. WH40k and AoS are close.</div>
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MarshalSolgriev
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