The Long Founding (Warhammer 40k)

[undead frog]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Plan: Sons of Cerberus-Champions.
-[X] Chapter Name: Sons of Cerberus.
-[X] Chapter Colour: White with Black Trim and details. Sons of Cerberus are also know to use heavily personalized headwear.
--[X] Neophytes: Wear featureless masks before undertaking the Chapter Immolation ritual and getting accepted as Chapter members.
--[X] Battle-Brothers: Wear personalized helmets, usually modified to look like a scarred Human face or canine/ursine muzzle
--[X] Tech-Marines and Chaplains: Wear helmets resembling Canine o Ursine skulls.
--[X] Chapter Master: Wears helmet mean to resemble the face of the Astartes-like figure, said to aid Sons of Cerberus in times of need and strike unimaginable terror in the Chapter's enemies, especially the Traitor Marines of the Black Legion. Some even theorize this figure is a member of the mysterious Legion of the Damned. Regardless of the truth, the strange apparition is only known as "The Cerberus" and it's know that a cult developed around this figure in the Chapter and there even some who claim that the Chapter named themselves after this mysterious Marine in the first place.
-[X] Chapter Symbol: Three canine heads, representing both the Chapter's brotherhood as well as their eternal duty to defend both the Segmentum Obscurus and Humanity as a whole.
-[X] Chapter Creed/Battle-Cry: "We kill for the Living! We kill for the Dead!"
-[X] More Champions: This Chapter has more Champions than most can claim.
-[X] Extra Assault Packs: The Chapter has a great number of Assault Packs, letting them retain a greater number of Assault Marines in each Company.

Chapter Name: Sons of Cerberus
Chapter Colors
--Neophytes: Wear featureless masks before undertaking the Chapter's Immolation ritual, after which they are accepted as full Chapter members.
--Battle-Brothers: Wear personalized helmets, usually designed to look like a scarred Human face or canine/ursine muzzle
--Tech-Marines and Chaplains: Wear helmets resembling Canine or Ursine skulls.
-- Chapter Master: Wears an artificer helmet mean to resemble the face of a legendary, Astartes-like figure, said to aid the Sons of Cerberus in times of need and strike unimaginable terror in the Chapter's enemies, especially the Traitor Marines of the Black Legion. Some even theorize this figure is a member of the mysterious Legion of the Damned. Regardless of the truth, the strange apparition is known only as "The Cerberus", and it's known that a Chapter Cult has developed around this figure - there are even some who claim that the Chapter named themselves after this mysterious Marine in the first place.
-Chapter Symbol: Three canine heads, representing both the Chapter's brotherhood, their eternal duty to defend Segmentum Obscurus, and their duty to Humanity as a whole.
-Chapter Creed/Battle-Cry: "We kill for the Living! We kill for the Dead!"

Current Traits
-Immolation: The Chapter's Marines…. More or less melt their faces off in an attempt to rid themselves of the visage of the Arch Traitor. Many Battle Brothers require cybernetics to maintain combat efficiency, or even survive after the process.
-Astartes Exemplars (Legendary): Marines from this Chapter are among the very best, even by Space Marine standards. Woe be to the foe that faces them in battle, for they are the Angels of Death, and they know no fear.
-Decapitation Strikes: The Marines of this Chapter are masters at locating and killing enemy leadership and champions.
-Commander Killers (Legendary): More so than any other, this Chapter has adopted and perfected the art of killing enemy leadership, beit before, during, or after a battle.
-Ultrabears: The Chapter has tamed some of the fierce Ultrabears of Sarzaz, creatures in possesion of immense size, the power to fight Warhound Scout Titans as equals, and an immune/digestive system so potent they can fight on Tyranid or Nurgle infested battlefields and get away with eating their opponents. Your mind boggles at how they pull that one off, but pull it off they have.
-Skirmishers: The Marines of this Chapter are immensely skilled in skirmishes and other small scale confrontations.
-More Champions: This Chapter has more Champions than most can claim.
- Extra Assault Packs: The Chapter has a great number of Assault Packs, letting them retain a greater number of Assault Marines in each Company.

Chapter Culture of the Sons of Cerberus

Homeworld: The Sons of Cerberus homeworld of Sarzaz is one of the most varied death worlds to hold the name, covered in a variety of biomes - each of which have roughly five billion individual ways to kill you.

The northern and southern poles of the planet are dominated by massive tundras, with mountain sized glaciers that penetrate all the way into low orbit constantly crashing against one another. In these horrific plains. the Sarzaz Thunderbears battle with the vile Blight Wolves, vying for the right to devour the Absolute Zero Moose that calls the region home and acts as the base of the local food chain.

Dominating the majority one of the planet's continents is the Blood Desert, a wasteland filled with blood red sand that has a resting temperature so hot, that any living thing not specifically adapted to it will combust upon contact with even a singular grain.

On that same continent lies the Jungles of Carnage - a place that has been described by a troop of Catachan Guardsmen who once undertook a training mission in the area in order to keep themselves sharp as 'basically home'. You don't really feel like much else needs to be said on the matter.

The planet's other major continent, meanwhile, is bound together with the Blood Desert by a land bridge, and was split between a vast, sprawling grassland and large forests.

Donating the Grassland were the Imperial Knight sized Goliath Birds, whom often battle the space fighter sized Dread Eagles for territory. These bloody conflicts were often long lasting, with any given feud between a group of Goliath Birds or Dread Eagles likely taking a full decade to resolve.

Within the forest, the dominant predator was a vaguely humanoid furred species, with such physical strength as to be capable of tearing a fully armored Space Marine in half with their bare hands - only the most eminent Veterans of the Sons of Cerberus are allowed to even set foot within this most deadly region of their planet.

And finally, the oceans, which your junior's reports indicate were mostly just filled with your usual array of horrible, water based death world wildlife. As per standard procedure, all visitors are to stay away from the oceans at all costs.

Fortress Monastery: The Sons of Cerberus' Fortress Monastery is located in the dead center of the land bridge connecting the planet's two major continents, and surrounds the only canals allowing for easy travel between the northern and southern half of the planet. This strategic position is immensely valuable, and cripples any surface naval forces attempting to assail Saraz. A unique feature of the Sons of Cerberus' home is the 'Ice Pen', a massive enclosure where the younger Ultrabears raised b,y the Chapter reside. The adults, naturally, are too large to sustain themselves within such a facility but the Sons of Cerberus thus far have proven themselves impressively skilled at teaching the younger Ultrabears the abilities they will need to survive once the time to release them back into their 'normal' habitat arrives.

Combat Style: The Sons of Cerberus are, usage of massive bears aside, a Codex Compliant Chapter notable for their matchless excellence in combat - to a degree shocking even by the standards of Astartes. This sheer martial brilliance has led to some dark rumors about the Sons of Cerberus' true nature among the more superstitious Chapters, but most are simply happy to have such competent allies by their side.

The Scarring: As a result of a flaw within their Gene-Seed that results in a visage the Sons of Cerberus utterly loathe, the Chapter is widely known for the practice of... well, more or less burning their faces off. The damage from this rite of passage can range from simple scarring severe enough to render their original face unrecognizable, to a marine outright requiring cybernetic replacements to remain alive after the fact. Oddly enough, those marines who wind up mained to the point of needing cybernetics are actually considered blessed within the Chapter, and frequently end up as Chaplains as a result. By contrast, Marines whom are insufficiently deformed by the flames are considered cursed, to the point they will then go through the scarring a second time until proper obliteration of their facial features is achieved. Though not treated badly by their brothers by any means, these Marines are still known to have a strong sense of self loathing, to the point many refuse any promotions, and take up the role of Assault Marines for their entire career.

Notable Events of the Sons of Cerberus
-During the 3rd Black Crusade, the Sons of Cerberus enter a deadlock against a major Black Legion fleet over the world of Tartarus 88. Little is known about the battle itself, only that the Black Legion commander was incensed beyond words after an unknown incident. Due to this the Black Legion and Sons of Cerberus have had an impressive blood feud with one another, of an intensity rarely seen between a later Founding Chapter and one of the actual Traitor Legions themselves. Incidentally, this battle marked the first usage of a Titan sized Ultrabear in combat.
-A dedicated strike on the Ork Warboss 'SPACEMARINEKILLA' leads to the dissolution of a particularly threatening Ork WAAAAAGH, but not before the complete destruction of five entire Space Marine Chapters at the aptly named Warboss's hands.
-Several major Word Bearers incursions are stopped when the Sorcerers and Dark Apostles leading the attacks end up brutally slaughtered. The Dark Apostles especially were killed in particularly humiliating or degrading ways - at least one incident spoke of one being found after having been run over by a Rhino... repeatedly.
-A bloody battle with a Black Legion Warband ends when a Titan-sized Ultrabear manages to suplex a Chaos Imperator Titan, slamming the corrupted machine directly into the desecrated Fortress Monastery the Black Legion had been using as a makeshift base, destroying both in the process.
-The Sons of Cerberus engage in a several decade long battle with the Necrons of the <REDACTED> Dynasty on the world of <REDACTED>, the conflict only ending when the Chapter Master and local Overlord both are presumed dead after plunging into an artificial sun of warpfire - A form known to negate the Necron's ability to warp to safety when facing destruction.
-Once more, the Sons of Cerberus and the Black Legion find themselves in a merciless, long lasting battle. This time, the clash found itself ended when the Sons of Cerberus Dreadnought known as 'End of Traitors' killed the Chaos Warlord by manhandling him and using him to bludgeon his own Master of Executions to death.

Diplomatic Relations of the Sons of Cerberus
-Ultramarines: The Ultramarines and the Sons of Cerberus maintain a professional, yet friendly relationship, one deepend by the Sons of Cerberus' actions in utterly humiliating the Word Bearers.
-Space Wolves: The Sons of Cerberus and the Space Wolves have an intense, yet very friendly rivalry with one another. Many other Chapters "joke" that this is because the two canine named Space Marine chapters simply have a natural affinity… though obviously, they do not do so within earshot of either the Sons of Cerberus or the Space Wolves, who have long tired of the eternal jibes.
-Blood Ravens: The Blood Ravens have in their Reliquary one of the Sons of Cerberus' oldest artifacts, the 'Titan's Axe'. Strangely, while neither party has records of the Sons of Cerberus giving the artifact to the Blood Ravens, both of them are also quite certain it wasn't stolen either - how it ended up aboard the Blood Raven's flagship is a mystery, and so both Chapters act as if it was gifted for the sake of expediency.
-Salamanders: These two Chapters, oddly enough have bonded quite well, mayhaps over their shared…. association with fire, though they themselves would insist that the friendship between Chapters was more traditional and born of working together on many campaigns. Perhaps both are true.

Unique Units of the Sons of Cerberus
-Ultrabear Calverley: Space Marines riding bears. That is all.
-Ultrabear Ancient: Elder Ultrabears range from the size of the average Imperial Knight to the size of a full blown Imperial Titan - and these are the latter. These massive beasts have shown time and time again that they are more than capable of doing battle with the superheavy war machines they often face on the battlefield.

+80 Reputation

OOC: Once again thanks to the beta. Still feeling basically cooked though so expect things to be slower for a while.

 

[undead frog]

Over the next few years, you find yourself busier than ever. The arrival of the 3rd Black Crusade means that the Imperium's need for Space Marines is at its highest since the Crusade, and you are called upon more and more often to lend your talents to damaged Chapters so they may replenish their numbers.

And of course... you also have to continue the role appointed to you by Guilliman himself, regardless of the number of challenges you face.

Such is life. By the Omnissiah, are you glad for your ability to manage multiple of your bodies at once. You would never get anything done.

Choose 1
[ ] Do as you will: You will not be taking any requests at this time.

[ ] Ork Hunters: As one may expect, the increased awareness of the Ork threat after the War of the Beast has led to quite a few new proposals crossing your desk recently.
Conditions: Create a Chapter specialized for fighting Orks.

[ ] Spiting the Blood God: Some of the 'Inquisitors' created by the Sigilite before his death have been toying with the idea of creating a Space Marine Chapter specifically built to be as unfulfilling a foe for the forces of Khorne to fight as possible. You may as well take them up on it - it's certainly one of their less horrific ideas.
Goals: Create a Chapter specialized towards fighting Khorne.

[ ] Secure and Capture: Another request from the so-called 'Inquisition'. It appears they want a Chapter specialized in tracking down and capturing select targets... 'alive'... you would rather not try and comprehend the reasoning. You truly do wonder what Malcador was thinking some days. An update on this request has revealed that the primary target is actually other Inquisitors of all things. You still don't comprehend Malcador's logic.
Goals: Create a Chapter skilled in not killing specified targets.

[ ] Inedibility: A recent battle against a hive minded species, with a rapid adaptation rate and capable of devouring other living things in order to rapidly add their biomass to a growing horde, has led to some... concern about what would occur if a similar event happened and wasn't caught as early. Thus, you have been tasked with creating a Chapter based on a homeworld that such a species would find supremely unpleasant to try and actually take, as a precautionary measure.
Goals: Base a Chapter on a homeworld with the (Indebile) tag.

[ ] Testing, Testing 1,2: The Forge World of Murphius has returned, and they're just as utterly insane as they were with the last request you were handed. This time, those lunatics have been experimenting with 'rediscovered' chainswords. You really wish you could disavow all involvement with whatever idiocy is about to ensue.
Condition: The next Chapter gets the Randomized Chainsword Quality trait.

[ ] OP-4: The Assassinorum wants a chapter of Space Marines to practice against… Including combat trials. They have vowed to not actually kill them all and render ALL OF YOUR WORK POINTLESS. How... kind of them.
Goal: Create an anti-stealth Chapter.

[ ] Codex Experiments: "Hmmmmmmmmmm..."
Goal: Create a Chapter with Alpha Legion Gene-Seed and place it in a homeworld with the (Ultramar) tag. Troll Guilliman.

[ ] Purge the Unclean: Apparently, other Inquisitors have noticed the anti-Khorne request. Now, they have decided that they want you to make a Chapter built around fighting Nurgle instead. This better not become a trend.
Goals: Create a Chapter specialized towards fighting Nurgle.

[ ] Bird Hunting: Too late, apparently - now a third group of Inquisitors want a Chapter specialized in fighting the Changer of Ways….. Which is going to be utterly infuriating given the very nature of that particular pain in your backside. Bah.
Goals: Create a Chapter specialized for fighting Tzeentch.

[ ] Cold Shower:.... Fine, you'll admit it - as annoyed as this barrage of near identical requests from an organisation that increasingly comes across more as squabbling children than the elite protectors against the darkness Malcador tried to build has made you, that actually is a good project name for a suggestion about a Chapter for fighting Slaanesh.
Goals: Create a Chapter specialized for fighting Slaanesh.

[ ] Breadbasket: Word has reached the High Lords of a plot to invade one of the Imperium's major food producing regions. Should such a domain fall, entire planets could face lethal famines. Understandably, they want to make sure that a full Chapter of Space Marine is around to protect at least one of these vital regions, as proof against further such attacks.
Goals: Create a chapter world with a (Agri-World Dense Region) Tag.

[ ] Escorts: While not ordinarily of such import, occasionally the merchant vessels of the Imperium are employed for official matters. A Space Marine Chapter built to protect these humble yet vital ships could go a long way.
Goals: Create a Chapter specialized in ship escort.

[ ] ???: A group of Inquisitors have given you an… extremely eclectic list of planets they'd like you to put Chapters on. You don't know what they're up to, and given the Inquisition is involved you quite frankly don't want to know.
Goals: Create a Chapter on a planet with the (Hybridis Approved) tag.

[ ] Cover up: The Inquisition has found that their handful of 'reliable' Space Marine Chapters, while excellent for most needs, are wasted on helping to enforce coverups regarding memetic hazards. They want one specialized towards such goals instead. You can see some logic there - bloody Chaos - but whether it's worth it is up to you.
Goals: The next Space Marine Chapter will be called upon by Inquisitors with a knack towards covering up the truth.

[ ] Investigation: Some among the Inquisition, who have dedicated themselves to seeking out long forgotten truths, have found themselves stymied in their search by powerful military forces - the kind you'd need Space Marines to overcome. With how much humanity has lost over these dark millenia, the potential advantages are obvious. It's merely a question of if they need Space Marines more than any of the other matters brought before you... Wait a minute, didn't you just get a request about-
.... You have concerns.
Goals: The next Space Marine Chapter will be called upon by Inquisitors with a knack towards seeking out the truth.

[ ] Expeditions: Some parties within the wider Adeptus Mechanicus have asked about a Chapter that would be willing to provide assistance to the Explorators as they seek out STC's in some of the most dangerous parts of the galaxy. You don't work with the Explorators much, but considering they're the ones doing the heavy lifting when it comes to the Quest for Knowledge you're inclined to lend a hand.
Goals: The next chapter will often fight alongside the admech.

[ ] The Great Library: The Inquisition has recently come across a vast archive of ancient knowledge. They obviously want it preserved and guarded as thoroughly as possible, but they do not wish to store it near important planets such as Terra just in case (you shudder at the memory of the utter disaster the Hereteks unleashed when they let out all of the horrors stored under the surface of Mars, you STILL haven't got all of the things they let out). Hence, you.
Goals: The next chapter will gain the 'Ancient Knowledge' perk for free.

Reputation: 625
Points: 40

Unlocks
[ ] Traitor Legion Geneseed: If you wish, you could gain access to the gene-seed of the Traitor Legions. Each will have its benefits and costs, but all of them will have their gene-fathers concealed for practical reasons - little point creating a Chapter only for them to be wiped out by some overly paranoid fool. Write in a traitor legion. 10 Points for each time this is taken.

[ ] Extra Land Speeders: The Chapter has access to extra Land Speeders of various Patterns, granting them a more capable fast attack force. 10 Points.

[ ] More Hunters: This chapter has additional examples of the Hunter heavy anti-aircraft vehicle. 5 Points

[ ] Extra Predators: The Chapter has access to more Predator Tanks, allowing them to engage in armored warfare with better facility. 5 Points.

1 Time modifiers (Can be purchased multiple times and stored for later.)
[ ] Potent Gene-Seed Charge: Some samples of a Legion's Gene-Seed are more likely to retain their stronger traits, and you have isolated such samples. 5 Points for each charge. Burn a charge to make the chapter roll for two traits from their parent legion.

[ ] Adaptive Gene-Seed: Some samples of Gene-seed are more capable of adapting to different conditions on different planets. 5 Points each charge. Burn a charge to roll an extra planetary trait.

[ ] Legendary Gene-Seed: The finest Gene-Seed ever recovered from a given Legion. 15 Points per charge, Burn a Charge to add a Legion's legendary traits to the roll list for that round.

[ ] Extra Land Raiders: The Chapter is able to acquire more Land Raiders than normal, allowing them to more freely deploy the mighty IFV against their enemies. 10 Points per charge.

[ ] More Terminators: This Chapter has more sets of Terminator Armor than normal, meaning more of their veterans can use the famed heavy assault suits. 10 Points per charge.

[ ] More Equipment: You've managed to secure extra equipment for a Chapter. 10 Points. Burn 1 charge to add an extra equipment slot for the Chapter.

[ ] Secondary Gene-Seed (Insert Legion Name): The key component for creating Chimeric Gene-Seed. You're honestly surprised Guilliman approved of this one - then again, you did hear him grumbling about some idiots who were suggesting mixing Night Lord and World Eater templates, so maybe he just wanted to make the concept your problem before somebody did something completely moronic. 25 Points for one charge, choose 1 legion to be the donor for the secondary Gene-Seed. Burn 1 charge and traits from the donor chapter are added for a roll, or a separate charge of potent gene-seed can be spent for a separate roll on the donor legion's trait list as well as an acquisition of the secondary legions 'base' traits.

[ ] Extra Trainers: With some extra effort and yelling at a few more bureaucrats, you ought to be able to arrange things so the new Chapter is able to get in some extra specialized training before proper deployment. 15 Points. Burn 1 charge to get an extra training option.

Unique STC's
Sometimes you can use your connections to get a Chapter access to some… harder to acquire pieces of equipment. Unfortunately, the Forge Worlds you managed to get in touch with all made it quite clear they were only willing to do this once - each Chapter gets only one of these specialised tools, and they won't let you give it to a second Chapter afterwards. They simply can't afford the loss of prestige from their secrets becoming so widespread. Blasted politics, encouraging everyone to keep all their knowledge to themselves and making it so you have to rediscover it all from scratch when they inevitably perish...

[ ] Latch Boots: A superior counterpart to the regular mag-boots in Power Armour, these fascinating devices gives the Chapter's armor the ability to 'stick' itself onto any surface at will - letting the Astartes of the chapter fight on vertical surfaces, or even while upside down. 10 Points.

[ ] Cerberus Pattern Dreadnaught: A dreadnought intended to replicate and replace the power of the now unused Leviathan Siege Dreadnought. The design gets around the risk of killing its occupants by spreading the load out among three Astartes instead of one - thereby keeping the strain from overwhelming any one of them. Of course, that does come at the risk of the blasted thing needing three critically injured Space Marines to work together to get it moving, but that's still far superior to them occasionally dropping dead mid battle. 15 Points.

[ ] Power Chakram: An odd example of weapon design, the Power Chakram is nonetheless a lethal weapon, both in close range and to anyone foolish enough to be hit by its thrown form.

[ ] Cauter Blade: A specialized vibro blade of intense cutting power, which the Techpriest showing it to you theorizes was probably made for usage against regenerating creatures by the Ancients. When the Cauter Blade is active, the middle of the blade becomes superheated to the point that both sides of the wounds it creates are separately cauterized, keeping the wound from healing properly and making it far more difficult to reattach or regenerate lost limbs. It does, of course, come with the caveat that enemies struck with it face no fear of bleeding out whatsoever.

[ ] Crusher Pattern Dreadnought: A strange take on the traditional Dreadnought concept, where the lower half of the body has been replaced with treads. This makes the chassis incapable of fighting indoors (for one thing, it can be defeated by a single set of stairs), but in turn the upper half is even more heavily armored, possess greatly enhanced weapons packages for its limbs, and even has a pair of massive heavy weapons mounted on each shoulder.

[ ] Rover Pattern Dreadnaught: A Dreadnought model on wheels, the Rover Pattern is far faster than just about any other dreadnaught type, without being much more expensive than the standard Castraferrum Pattern dreadnought chassis. It does suffer in difficult terrain in comparison to the basic or Crusher dreadnaughts, however.

[ ] Excelsior Pattern Dreadnaughts: One of the most advanced dreadnought Patterns you've ever seen, though it is only about as strong as the Contemptor Dreadnought the Excelsior is equipped with powerful jets that allow it to rapidly propel itself forward, and a nerve intertwinement mechanic that actually lets the occupant feel physical touch through the dreadnought itself - something usually impossible, even for you. All without putting any additional strain on the pilot. 15 Points.

[ ] Richter Pattern Dreadnought: A humanoid upper half mounted on a quadrupedal set of legs the Richter Pattern relies on a machine spirit to handle it's basic locomotion while the pilot controls the upper body, which is far more humanoid and articulate compared to the average Dreadnaught pattern.

[ ] Lightning Pattern Power Armor: A very powerful piece of technology from Forge World Vhalkem, the Lightning Pattern is extremely powerful, though it can only be produced in enough numbers for deployment by a single Chapter . You will still need to handle smoothing things out between Vhalkem and the Forge World providing the rest of the Chapter's equipment, however - they don't get the free pass Murphius does. 10 Points.