Forsaken (40k Chaos Warband Quest)

[ganonso]

Breaking the Edicts
They held in the ruins of one of what had been an habitation block. Tatters and debris mounted into walls and barricades while maidens and matrons both looked expectantly at her. As she Matriarch Siess could help. She felt the death of her superiors as knives in her psyche and the flood of images was barely manageable. Said superiors were not gone, not entirely, their memories and experiences were part of her, as well as anyone they had melded with. Only their vessels of flesh had been destroyed. Who was she kidding? She felt the corruption surrounding the attackers. She doubted any of the dead joined the goddess. She didn't even know why they had stopped. They had proven to have the firepower to destroy whatever obstacles they put. Sure the first wave of invaders would surely suffer losses. She was not surprised anymore and could gather her art. Her throws and pulls could easily lift the armored beings and shred their plates. She would not be able to strike all.

The audio system suddenly came alive and a voice, one of the invaders, spoke through it. It tried a language obviously meant for the humans who were part of the station crew but they didn't speak it. So it switched to Yondar, the words half-echoing through the minds of those hearing them.

"Hear us Yondarim for we are the Forsaken and we have taken control of this station. Know that if you surrender, your lives will be spared and you will be permitted to endure. We have come to this system to conquer it in the name of the True Gods and bring enlightenment to its inhabitants."

There was a corruption of the sound as the voice tried to articulate who were these "True Gods", a corruption the psychically attuned Yondarim knew instinctively. They served the predators, the devourers. Yet Siess knew she had no choice. If they served the Ruinous Powers then even death was no refuge. And the prospect of trying to level her hiding place in a futile gesture did not appeal to her. So she sent back a message of acceptance. In her heart though she was defiant. Choose 1

[] She clang to hate, letting it fill her mind but grows cold as ice. She would emerge as their doom one day and learn the ways of slaughter to bring them low. She would train her body and share in their wars but at the end, their heads would roll at her feet.

[] She would endure whatever they threw at them, letting a core of the Yondarim stay at the deepest core of her being. They would force her and her charges to do horrible things but she would smile and endure. In enduring she would grow stronger.

[] She would embrace this new change of position, learn their customs and desires and wield them as her own. She would find a way to upend the hierarchy they would put in place and in the end perhaps they would call her mistress.

[] She would surpass them, be better than any of them. She grow to dazzle them and be indispensable then she would master them with the arts of her people. She would be greater than any of them even the dread lords.


***
As you receives the Matriarch's submission, you feel the magnitude of your actions echo through the Sea of Souls. Such a small thing and yet. Astartes you are, made for the conquest of the stars and the breaking of the xenos. The non-human was meant to be broken under your boots and yet you decided to open a hand rather than only spare the human companions of the Yondarim. You feel the laughter of the gods and the pleasure they take in seeing you trample another of the False Emperor's edicts. And when your men asks you why you say. Choose 1

[] For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us. Pleases Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, Night Lords, Dark Mechanicum

[] For this shall be our goal: To spread the word of Chaos among all whatever their creed and whatever their species. We shall conquer the universe for the Dark Gods and make offerings to them they never saw before." Pleases Word Bearers, Death Guard, Sons of Horus

[] For this shall be our goal: We will make war in the Imperium and devote everything to its destruction. In this quest no tool will be discarded, no tactic refused out of hand. By the hand of the xenos, the mutant and the heretic shall the kingdom of lies be trampled. Pleases the World Eaters, Iron Warriors, Alpha Legion

Now it's time to prepare for your first planetary outing. Nearly six hundred Space Marines are enough to wreck an infrastructure but it's not what you are. The holds of the Blade of Damnation are full of cultist and mutants who were not deployed at Terra. You are not going to drown your foes in a mere wave of flesh. At least not yet. Still they are going to be put to use. Choose 2

[] Have Leorvine, Techmarine of the World Eaters implant squads of cultists with the famed Butcher's Nails, providing you with shock troops.
[] Have Aesculape of the Emperor's Children drown squads of devotees with drugs making them insensible to pain and with the speed of daemons
[] Have the Word Bearers make daemonhosts from them, shadow of the Gal Vorbak and other Possessed Marines but still nightmares to face.
[] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[] Have the Thousand Sons select the wyrds among them and train them to unleash their powers without need of safety. They will be living gates to the Immaterium*
[] Have the Death Guard infect masses of them with the Poxwalker plague, creating vessels of contagion with boundless endurance.
[] Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs
[] Give many of them to Aki-Zeta-13 so she can deploy a Dark Mechanicum force of cyborgs and combat servitors.

*Note this being 40k think of that option less as creating sorcerers and more daemonic portals in waiting.

 

[Archon7]

[x] - She would embrace this new change of position, learn their customs and desires and wield them as her own. She would find a way to upend the hierarchy they would put in place and in the end perhaps they would call her mistress.
- [x] For this shall be our goal: We will make war in the Imperium and devote everything to its destruction. In this quest no tool will be discarded, no tactic refused out of hand. By the hand of the xenos, the mutant and the heretic shall the kingdom of lies be trampled. Pleases the World Eaters, Iron Warriors, Alpha Legion
- [x] Have Aesculape of the Emperor's Children drown squads of devotees with drugs making them insensible to pain and with the speed of daemons
- [x] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.

 

[No7sHere]

[X] She would surpass them, be better than any of them. She grow to dazzle them and be indispensable then she would master them with the arts of her people. She would be greater than any of them even the dread lords.
[X] For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us. Pleases Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, Night Lords, Dark Mechanicum
[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[X] Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs

 

[butchock]

[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[X] Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs

 

[MrRageQuit]

[X] She would endure whatever they threw at them, letting a core of the Yondarim stay at the deepest core of her being. They would force her and her charges to do horrible things but she would smile and endure. In enduring she would grow stronger.
[X] For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us. Pleases Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, Night Lords, Dark Mechanicum
[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[X] Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs

 

[Gabriel_TFA]

[X] She would surpass them, be better than any of them. She grow to dazzle them and be indispensable then she would master them with the arts of her people. She would be greater than any of them even the dread lords.
[X] For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us. Pleases Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, Night Lords, Dark Mechanicum
[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[X] Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs

 

[Random Sanity]

[X] She would embrace this new change of position, learn their customs and desires and wield them as her own. She would find a way to upend the hierarchy they would put in place and in the end perhaps they would call her mistress.
[X] For this shall be our goal: To spread the word of Chaos among all whatever their creed and whatever their species. We shall conquer the universe for the Dark Gods and make offerings to them they never saw before." Pleases Word Bearers, Death Guard, Sons of Horus
[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[X] Give many of them to Aki-Zeta-13 so she can deploy a Dark Mechanicum force of cyborgs and combat servitors.

 

[Thule]

[X] She would surpass them, be better than any of them. She grow to dazzle them and be indispensable then she would master them with the arts of her people. She would be greater than any of them even the dread lords.
[X] For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us. Pleases Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, Night Lords, Dark Mechanicum
[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[X] Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs

 

[Bylba]

[X] She clang to hate, letting it fill her mind but grows cold as ice. She would emerge as their doom one day and learn the ways of slaughter to bring them low. She would train her body and share in their wars but at the end, their heads would roll at her feet.
[X] For this shall be our goal: We will make war in the Imperium and devote everything to its destruction. In this quest no tool will be discarded, no tactic refused out of hand. By the hand of the xenos, the mutant and the heretic shall the kingdom of lies be trampled. Pleases the World Eaters, Iron Warriors, Alpha Legion
[X] Have Aesculape of the Emperor's Children drown squads of devotees with drugs making them insensible to pain and with the speed of daemons
[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone

 

[012345]

[X] She would surpass them, be better than any of them. She grow to dazzle them and be indispensable then she would master them with the arts of her people. She would be greater than any of them even the dread lords.
[X] For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us. Pleases Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, Night Lords, Dark Mechanicum
[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[X] Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs

 

[blankmask]

[X] She would surpass them, be better than any of them. She grow to dazzle them and be indispensable then she would master them with the arts of her people. She would be greater than any of them even the dread lords.
[X] For this shall be our goal: To spread the word of Chaos among all whatever their creed and whatever their species. We shall conquer the universe for the Dark Gods and make offerings to them they never saw before." Pleases Word Bearers, Death Guard, Sons of Horus
[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[X] Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs

 

[King50000]

[X] She would surpass them, be better than any of them. She grow to dazzle them and be indispensable then she would master them with the arts of her people. She would be greater than any of them even the dread lords.
[X] For this shall be our goal: We will make war in the Imperium and devote everything to its destruction. In this quest no tool will be discarded, no tactic refused out of hand. By the hand of the xenos, the mutant and the heretic shall the kingdom of lies be trampled. Pleases the World Eaters, Iron Warriors, Alpha Legion
[X] Have Leorvine, Techmarine of the World Eaters implant squads of cultists with the famed Butcher's Nails, providing you with shock troops.
[X] Give many of them to Aki-Zeta-13 so she can deploy a Dark Mechanicum force of cyborgs and combat servitors.

 

[Zalkon]

[X] She clang to hate, letting it fill her mind but grows cold as ice. She would emerge as their doom one day and learn the ways of slaughter to bring them low. She would train her body and share in their wars but at the end, their heads would roll at her feet.
[X] For this shall be our goal: We will make war in the Imperium and devote everything to its destruction. In this quest no tool will be discarded, no tactic refused out of hand. By the hand of the xenos, the mutant and the heretic shall the kingdom of lies be trampled. Pleases the World Eaters, Iron Warriors, Alpha Legion
[X] Have Aesculape of the Emperor's Children drown squads of devotees with drugs making them insensible to pain and with the speed of daemons
[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone

 

[Azrael2001]

[X] She clang to hate, letting it fill her mind but grows cold as ice. She would emerge as their doom one day and learn the ways of slaughter to bring them low. She would train her body and share in their wars but at the end, their heads would roll at her feet.

[X] For this shall be our goal: We will make war in the Imperium and devote everything to its destruction. In this quest no tool will be discarded, no tactic refused out of hand. By the hand of the xenos, the mutant and the heretic shall the kingdom of lies be trampled. Pleases the World Eaters, Iron Warriors, Alpha Legion

[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.
[X] Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs

 

[No7sHere]

@ganonso do we have a copy of the book of Lorgar?

 

[ganonso]

@ganonso do we have a copy of the book of Lorgar?

Click to shrink...

Actually yes as a Lodge Master and Sorcerer you got one from Erebus. It's a theological treatise on the nature of the Ruinous Powers who double as a daemonic phonebook if you concentrate on the visions Lorgar had of the Realms of Chaos.

Karalet owns the unabridged version made for Dark Apostles who is more complete. Lorgar did not set up to create ranks of initiation in his religion and the Imperial Cult had none, but Chaos being Chaos, his writings tended to drive people insane if exposed to the full strength.

 

[No7sHere]

Given the fact that Lorgar's vision for the ideal worship of the Chaos gods seems to be focussing on Chaos Undivided and the fact that even in the Word Bearers the majority are Branded instead it seems like Book of Lorgar hasn't quit achieved its purpose. I wonder whether we can do a better job and come up with a philosophy/theology that makes Chaos Undivided more appealling and an easier path to persue. Also @ganonso can we can access to Karalet's copy?

 

[ganonso]

Given the fact that Lorgar's vision for the ideal worship of the Chaos gods seems to be focussing on Chaos Undivided and the fact that even in the Word Bearers the majority are Branded instead it seems like Book of Lorgar hasn't quit achieved its purpose. I wonder whether we can do a better job and come up with a philosophy/theology that makes Chaos Undivided more appealling and an easier path to persue. Also @ganonso can we can access to Karalet's copy?

Click to shrink...

You have access to it.

The big problem of "true" Chaos Undivided is that you have to be three times better than a Branded to achieve anything of note. You have to navigate between four godlike leviathans whose existence dwarfs human life so much their sight can bring people to madness and death. You have to piss neither of these gods, who hate each other with a passion and not fall under the sway of any of them.

Among the Word Bearers generally what happens is people begin with the intention of following Chaos Undivided and are pushed in the direction of one god above all others because that's the path to rewards. Ironically Word Bearers end up Branded because they are too religiously focused for the most part to do the "let's worship the gods as little as possible and thus not piss any of them" other Marines do.

Even Lorgar thought only an elite would achieve the dark illumination necessary to become true powers of Chaos Undivided and champions of the Primordial Anihilator. He didn't care too much. After all from his perspective Branded are still part of Chaos Undivided (that's the point of the term after all), just lower in the hierarchy than those who manage to grasp the true nature of Chaos.

Of course I should note that's Lorgar point of view. Magnus, Fulgrim, Angron and Mortarion are not sharing that opinion of course.

 

[No7sHere]

Magnus's position on the correct interaction with Chaos and the chaos gods would be interesting to find out about. Does anyone know whether Lorgar envissaged any sort of society based on Chaos or did he not care about those sorts of details?

 

[ganonso]

Magnus's position on the correct interaction with Chaos and the chaos gods would be interesting to find out about. Does anyone know whether Lorgar envissaged any sort of society based on Chaos or did he not care about those sorts of details?

Click to shrink...

Canonically we don't know. I think I remember in the Horus Heresy book series Lorgar considered the state of the Gal Vorbak as the main objective as he considered it a perfect union between the Warp and the Materium. The Word Bearers seemed rather uninterested in society building considering how they used their cultists as bolter fodder.

I tend to see the Word Bearers version of Chaos to be very gnostic for lack of a better term. There is a disdain of the material universe and a focus on ethereal existence as a daemon. The material world is useful only as a reflection of the immaterial and the place where knowledge can be found. In my verse Word Bearers warband spend their time either fostering Chaos Cults even among Astartes or seeking books, artifacts and places bearing the taint of Chaos and finding revelation there.

Ironically it would make Kor Phaeron and Erebus very bad Word Bearers but that's kind of the vibe I always had.

As for Magnus' POV. That can change but I would have the Cultists Primarchs defend that the 3 other Gods are aspects of their own who embody all the universe. Magnus would certainly articulate that Tzeentch is the source of everything ever and change the nature of the cosmos. It's also telling he reorganized his Legion into Cults dedicated in part to aspects of his god.

Of course half of the time in my verse, Magnus is actively trying to escape Tzeentch's dominion as his nature is to constantly try and change his situation.

 

[liberty614]

[X] She would surpass them, be better than any of them. She grow to dazzle them and be indispensable then she would master them with the arts of her people. She would be greater than any of them even the dread lords.
[X] For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us. Pleases Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, Night Lords, Dark Mechanicum

 

[TengriAta]

[X] - She would embrace this new change of position, learn their customs and desires and wield them as her own. She would find a way to upend the hierarchy they would put in place and in the end perhaps they would call her mistress.

[X] For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us. Pleases Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, Night Lords, Dark Mechanicum

[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.

 

[sora1220]

She would embrace this new change of position, learn their customs and desires and wield them as her own. She would find a way to upend the hierarchy they would put in place and in the end perhaps they would call her mistress.

For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us. Pleases Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children, Night Lords, Dark Mechanicum

Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone

Have the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords train some of them as scouts and terrorists and saboteurs

 

[Bylba]

She clang to hate - 3
She would endure - 1
She would embrace - 5 (-1)
She would surpass - 7

Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do - 7 (-1)
To spread the word of Chaos among all whatever their creed - 3
We will make war in the Imperium and devote everything to its destruction - 6

Have Leorvine - 1
Have Aesculape - 3
Have the Word Bearers make - 1
Have the Word Bearers enlighten - 14 (-1)
Have the Thousand Sons - 1
Have the Death Guard - 0
Have the Alpha Legion - 9 (-1)
Give many of them to Aki-Zeta-13 - 2

Here are the results so far. (-1) indicates an incorrect vote.

Current winners:
1) The matriarch's desire for strength and superiority.
2) Either the pleasure of violating the Edicts, or all for the sake of total war.
3) Cultists and Saboteurs.

 

[IronKnightofSilv]

[X] She would surpass them, be better than any of them. She grow to dazzle them and be indispensable then she would master them with the arts of her people. She would be greater than any of them even the dread lords.

[X] For this shall be our goals: Whatever the False Emperor forbade we will do. Whatever the False Emperor hid, we shall discover. Whatever the False Emperor sealed, we shall free. Nothing will be forbidden to us.

We have got to double down on our tech advantage.

[X] Have the Word Bearers enlighten some of them to the mysteries of Chaos, allowing them to emerge as true Cultists of the Pantheon and not simple wastes of flesh and bone.