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Son of Death (30k Mortarion Quest)

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[X] Humility. The Emperor may wage war on the stars and rule over billions, but has he ever laboured for his bread?

This is the guy who can't resist painting all of his stuff gold. It might actually be pretty hard for him to suck up and get filthy.
 
[X] Camaraderie. It was mortal men that scaled the peaks of Barbarus and followed Mortarion into battle. What manner of men have followed the Emperor to this star?

When I read the first post, camaraderie is one of the defining themes that come to mind. His comrades scaled the mountain with him, and were vital to bogging Necare down enough for Mortarion to land the finishing blow. It was camaraderie that allowed mortarion to see past his hatred and spare his psyker friend.
 
Czes said:
Everyone can be humble for a day or resilient for a single task, but one can not so simply create bonds if there aren't any. Not without a Primarch noticing that something screwy is going on at least.
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Artemis1992 said:
Humility doesn't matter.
Of course even Big E will work a bit, that's a small price for securing a Primarch (and a planet too).
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It absolutely matters, in this context

Because the question Mortarion asked is specifically-

Maugan Ra said:
"You call yourself Emperor," you say at last, "ruler of men, forger of monsters. How am I to know you are not an Overlord, kin to those I slaughtered?"
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-he's asking the Emperor to show him he's not like the Overlords of Barbarus, who he previously noted with grim amusement, would be furious to see him working in the field. They were haughty, proud, and unbending men who used their psychic powers to dominate others.

As for Camaraderie... again, this is an area where Big E's natural talents HURT his case. This Mortarium clearly has much more honed psychic senses, he thought the Emperor was a Daemon based on the power he radiates without trying. Add on to the fact that at this point in the Crusade... the HYPE is real.

Unless Maugan has done some tweaking... It is highly unlikely anybody on the Ships above will be able to give Mortarion an actual objective opinion. ESPECIALLY not the Custodes. Hell, I'm reminded of the poor Remembrancer who dared to voice his doubt in the Great Crusade, and was promptly beaten near to death for it.

That level of fanaticism, plus the power Big E is pumping out, does not give a good impression when you are already suspicious.

-Edit-

Mortarion: "How do I know you aren't a monster?"
Emperor: "Oh that's EASY! Just ask the heavily altered and indoctrinated children of the warlords I killed! They'll vouch for me!"
Custodes: "ALL HAIL THE EMPEROR!!!"
 
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[X] Humility. The Emperor may wage war on the stars and rule over billions, but has he ever laboured for his bread?
 
[X] Camaraderie. It was mortal men that scaled the peaks of Barbarus and followed Mortarion into battle. What manner of men have followed the Emperor to this star?
 
[X] Humility. The Emperor may wage war on the stars and rule over billions, but has he ever laboured for his bread?
 
[X] Camaraderie. It was mortal men that scaled the peaks of Barbarus and followed Mortarion into battle. What manner of men have followed the Emperor to this star?
 
[X] Humility. The Emperor may wage war on the stars and rule over billions, but has he ever laboured for his bread?

As others have said, this is to differentiate him from the overlords who wouldn't be caught dead farming themselves.
 
Knight-Radiant said:
That level of fanaticism, plus the power Big E is pumping out, does not give a good impression when you are already suspicious.
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Yes, which is why I want to see it. Anyone can be humble for a day and if the only objection Mortarion has to the Emperor is he thinks they're like the Overlords, then that would solve it. But Camaraderie has three outcomes:

1. Mortarion expands his knowledge of some of the Emperors faults, the Emperor fails the test, which I think would be an awesome story beat.

2. Mortarion expands his knowledge of some of the Emperors faults, the Emperor passes the test and we get a really, really interesting chapter as the author justifies why Mortarion joined up anyway.

3. This Emperor is different enough that he has true camaraderie with humanity, and we get a really really important and cool early look at that. In this case It's far easier to be sympathetic to the Emperor and then suddenly our entire future attitude gets to take that into account.

As opposed to if he just farmed for a bit, and Mortarion joined the crusades because he cleared the low bar of not being like the Overlords, which might be enough for Mortarion but feels weak to me. And It's not like our Mortarion is particularly humble, so it would also be a tad hypocritical.
 
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[X] Camaraderie. It was mortal men that scaled the peaks of Barbarus and followed Mortarion into battle. What manner of men have followed the Emperor to this star?
 
[X] Camaraderie. It was mortal men that scaled the peaks of Barbarus and followed Mortarion into battle. What manner of men have followed the Emperor to this star?
Knight-Radiant said:
Hell, I'm reminded of the poor Remembrancer who dared to voice his doubt in the Great Crusade, and was promptly beaten near to death for it.
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The quote showing that scene was posted in Breaker of Chains, and I'm pretty sure the beating had less to do with Crusade-hype, and more with the fact he was shouting that the deaths of everyone on the planet below were worthless in the faces of troops who had literally just been rotated back from the field after suffering horrendous losses. Who had just seen what were likely a bunch of lifelong friends die. When their officer was, for a solid three paragraphs before violence erupted, repeatedly trying to tell the dude to back the hell away before he makes those troops reach their actual boiling point.

Just from what I remember of reading that scene.
 
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[X] Camaraderie. It was mortal men that scaled the peaks of Barbarus and followed Mortarion into battle. What manner of men have followed the Emperor to this star?
 
Knight-Radiant said:
As for Camaraderie... again, this is an area where Big E's natural talents HURT his case. This Mortarium clearly has much more honed psychic senses, he thought the Emperor was a Daemon based on the power he radiates without trying. Add on to the fact that at this point in the Crusade... the HYPE is real.

Unless Maugan has done some tweaking... It is highly unlikely anybody on the Ships above will be able to give Mortarion an actual objective opinion. ESPECIALLY not the Custodes. Hell, I'm reminded of the poor Remembrancer who dared to voice his doubt in the Great Crusade, and was promptly beaten near to death for it.
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I am not expecting the Custodes to be honest about the Emperor's flaws.

I'm expecting their very nature to creep the hell out of Mortarion.
These are also fleshcrafted creations of the Emperor, but unlike Mortarion and the other Primarchs the are perfectly subservient to Him.
In the Custodes the Emperor he somehow perfected creatures that both have egos and individuality and can instantly suspend those in service of their creator.

If Mortarion has a decent bit of sense these will unsettle him more than any glowingly positive description of the Emperor from his loyal crew could cover up.
 
[X] Humility. The Emperor may wage war on the stars and rule over billions, but has he ever laboured for his bread?

Humility and comraderie are both really good. It almost makes me think about resilience and that we might be missing out on some message or intuition on the Emperor's part.

Actually, I can kind of see it. How he responds to the pain of the poison air, the danger of the mountain, climbing higher than any but Mortarian and then surpassing him as well. I can imagine the two of them sitting at the top of a mountain, staring into the distance at a world poisoned by cruel and malicious men, sharing a moment of quiet introspection.
 
Well, it's pretty clear that Resiliency won't be winning at this point, so I'll be switching my vote to

[X] Camaraderie. It was mortal men that scaled the peaks of Barbarus and followed Mortarion into battle. What manner of men have followed the Emperor to this star?

I don't really like what us looking for humility says for Morty's future character, but I think camaraderie fits in well with what this Morty would believe in.
 
[X] Camaraderie. It was mortal men that scaled the peaks of Barbarus and followed Mortarion into battle. What manner of men have followed the Emperor to this star?
 
What if the Emperor's answer to Camraderie isn't the Custodes? What if it's the Sigilite, or the Legion Master of the Dusk Raiders?
 
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