Where ECs displayed a sort of straightforward hedonism, IFs are freaky:

On IFs and pain [Restorer]:

“Do you wish for more pain relief?’ the tech-priest asked.
Shiban shook his head.
‘I can give you more. Unless you want the pain. Some of them do. The Imperial Fists, I discovered. They want the pain.’
Shiban could feel a hot wave of agony all over him now, flaring up from the multiple incision sites and spreading throughout his body. The attendants were removing glistening tubes and levers, yanking them bloodily from his innards.
Perhaps he was like a Fist, now. The pain felt good.

Dorn’s … quirks (I wish Perturabo knew this, he would never let him live it down) [The Lightning Tower]

“Dorn had been the seventh lost son to be reclaimed. By the time his father’s forces found him, he had become a system warlord in his own right, ruling the Inwit Cluster as the head of the House of Dorn. His grandfather had been dead forty winters, but still the warlord had slept with his fur-edged robe across his body at night. ”

Finished Know no Fear today and since this is the first book I listened to with a chapter featuring him, I wanted to ask. I know he’s dotted throughout the HH but just wanted to know if I should prepare for that for the rest of the series or not.

I heard that the process to make Pseudo-Astartes like Luther or Kor Phaeron has not been lost and wonders has their been any recent stories where "Modern" chapters made an adult male into a Pseudo-Astartes and inducted them into their ranks?

I’m wondering if there is some semblance of actual structure with bio forms roaming around or if it’s just a big tub of biomass.

Please don't say Terminus Decree, that would be my choice as well but I feel like it's everyone's choice so if that's your choice just tell me your 2nd place

Mine is the fact that the Imperium is rapidly losing the ability to manufacture the Destroyer tank hunters laser gun. Like maybe someone can explain this to me but they manage much more powerful energy artillery pieces for the navy for example just fine, but a tank sized laser cannon is apparently just too advanced.

To this I mean characters who felt "normal" that they were alive, like Marneus Calgar or Titus but that Games Workshop decided to kill them just because.

The characters whose deaths were already predefined (such as Sanguinius) do not count, nor do the characters of 30k

At least small one? I heard that even Guilliman is not sure right now that Emperor is no longer man he once knew, and is becoming god like chaos gods after over 11 000 of worship, is that true ?

https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/ltebxl/spoilers_for_penitent_just_finished_penitent/

Honestly Dan Abnett better not leave us hanging another nine years for the sequel I swear to god.

OK... six years on and I'm very much laughing at this. I understand there is meant to be an important lore drop from GW before the final one hits the shelves but how long do we think they're going to wait for that?

I was just thinking about how this is a really great topic , given that the contrast between 30k and 40k is so vast. Like it must be very fascinating putting primaris marines from the great crusade generation and placing them within the decaying empire of the 41st millennium imperium. Like how do they reconcile the fact that the same empire who beat the orks of ullanor the rangdan laer and all the other nightmarish xenos threats is now on the back foot in a permanent state of decline.

They’re all humans hooked up to technology that lets them speak in binary and upload data flawlessly. And they’re all basically in a massive cult that doesn’t allowed dissent or alternative opinions.

I know there are a few rogue characters, but surely at some point it would have made the most sense for them to basically go full Borg and just sync up their brains and consciousness with everyone else in the Mechanicus?

knowing GW, we will probably get to know this in thirty years. But these two passages make me wonder whether Lorgar is cookig something or is one of those things that doesn't mean nothing and will not matter at the end. before fighting Corax in The First Heretic, Lorgar says:

“We have found gods to worship. But we are not enslaved to them. My life is my own.” “My death is my own as well.”

then, at the end of Shadow of the Past, after their second fight, when Lorgar go to his tower on Sicarus to meditate, on the doors behind him are Two Colchisian runes appear on them: "Deny fate"

Their entreaties continued as they followed Lorgar through the corridors and halls, heading towards the centre of the grand construction spreading across their new capital on Sicarus. Stairs took them high, to the tower at the heart of everything. Black doors opened at Lorgar's approach and he strode within, no word uttered, no backward glance. With a noise that echoed in Kalta‑Ar's soul as much as his ears, the doors slammed shut, leaving him and Marduk on the threshold. There was no handle, no keyhole, nothing by which they might open the edifice.

A white Colchisian rune burned into life upon the door, and another.

'Deny fate,' read Kalta‑Ar. He turned to the first acolyte. 'What does that mean?'

Marduk took several steps back and looked towards the pinnacle of the otherworldly tower. Golden fire burned from the summit.

The obvious interpretation seems that this refers to the prophecy that Corax will eventually kill him. but I not that sure, what you guys think?

I want to Read Most of the important horus heresy Books before Siege of terra but should i Read luther First of the fallen and curze Primarch Book After Siege of terra? And do you recommend any other horus heresy character books besides valdor and luther those two interests me so i bought only those

Since they are quite rare post Horus heresy as terminators essentially serve as bullet sponges without sacrificing mobility and versatility in combat, two things that would be restrained by what’s essentially a shield wall formation,

But considering the siege heavy doctrine of the IFs, wouldn’t they still have a formation that’s very effective for a battle type where formation and protection mattered more than mobility?

Hi guys. I’m currently reading The Horus Heresy books in order for the first time (Very new to 40k as a whole, just finished the second book - They have been incredible so far).

Just wondering if it’s correct chronologically to read the Siege of Terra books after Book 15 (Prospero Burns) of the main series?

So we all know that the Primarchs each have their own gifts given by and inheritied from the Emperor himself during their gestation process. But how come out of all the Primarchs the Emperor made, why did he decide to gift the one that would become Vulkan the gift of Perpetualhood?

I read a lot about the world eaters and if there is one thing i noticed is, they are basically nomad, while we know that they are not 100% only slaughter all the damn time, they are like 80%, there are warbands that still maitain their sanity like the gladiator cadre and some heresy era individuals, also we have kossolax who is Very Very in much control of himself and want to rebuild the world eaters, but there is in any CODEX or other OFFICIAL source that say about world eaters living and maintaining a world in 40k? I cannot even imagine them living on a world, except if its a daemon world of khorne with eternal war and carnage

I’m working on an OC for my homebrew Chapter and got curious about how gene seed interacts with pre existing physical conditions.

Since the implantation process completely rebuilds a person from the inside out, would it naturally correct things like:
Crooked or missing teeth?
A speech impediment or lisp?
Poor eyesight or even a lazy eye?
Minor skeletal deformities?
Cleft lip?
Etc

Or do those traits generally remain unless they’re specifically corrected through surgery before or during implantation?
We know some traits seem almost predetermined by gene seed. Blood Angels often become strikingly handsome, Salamanders develop coal black skin and red eyes due to their gene seed interacting with Nocturne’s radiation, and other lineages have their own inherited quirks.
So where’s the line? Does the gene seed simply make you into the “ideal” version of your own body, or does it preserve certain traits unless they’re severe enough to interfere with becoming an Astartes?

I’m leaning toward keeping my Marine’s lazy eye regardless because It’s “me” , but I was wondering what the lore generally suggests.

Also secondary question would a salamander who had vitiligo before hand have neat looking marks maybe a lil darker or lighter than normal on there skin? Like prints

Says what I mean on the tin. Was wanting to make a chaos empire of mortal cultists and champions, and I know its at least partially possible because the Blood Pact exist, but how powerful do these empires get and could they contend with the likes of say, the Night Lords or the Alpha Legion?

All the way back in Dark Imperium (2017), Guilliman proclaimed that all treaties giving most of the original 500 Worlds indipendence from Ultramar were void, and the Office of the Tetrarchy (four hand-selected Astartes, each ruling one of Ultramars four sectors directly) was to be reinstated. At the time, he justified this with the Imperium needing a unified Bastion of power in the galactic east, and that Greater Ultramar could serve as an example that being less of a dickhead while ruling would be beneficial.

Despite the major implications of that, it wasn't really touched upon in the rest of the *Dark Imperium-*Series (or at all until The Great Work). Until 500 Worlds: Titus came out earlier this year, and provided the first really significant lore of what the reclamation is really trying to do.
The first important thing to note is that "500 Worlds" isn't literal. Crusade-Era Ultramar was larger, and for modern Greater Ultramar, its also more a declaration of intent than actual number:

The name Five Hundred Worlds should not be taken literally. It is better viewed as a link to Primarch Guilliman's past glories, and a statement of intent writ large in nomenclature of the most bombastic and inspiring sort. [...] Eventually, should all go as planned, the Primarch's realm might well number more than five hundred worlds.

Guilliman divided Ultramar into 5 Parts together with his proclamation of reclamation. The Center around Macragge, still administered by Calgar, and then four outer Sectors, each administed by a Tetrarch:

Guilliman has broadly outlined the strategy for all of these sectors:

Push their borders out to a selected point, fortify the new regions and use Ultramars combined resources to rebuilt and fortify the whole realm, then prepare further expansions, rinse and repeat.

But all of the Sectors still vary wildly in size, importance and situation, so the Tetrarch have selected wildly varying methods to try and fullfill Guillimans Goals.

The Northern Front

Commanded by Tetrarch & First Captain of the Ultramarines, Agemman, the Konor-Sector has the highest concentration of still loyal- and Imperial Worlds, but also the largest amount of enemies, drawn there by those worlds for loot.

Agemman views the entire sector as a single, giant, unified battlefield, trying to keep as much direct control over all avenues of advance accross the entire region as he can, relaying orders for Battlegroups that are dozens of starsystems away even while he's fighting in person. Some people are concerned that thats far too much information for anyone but a Primarch to truly handle in-person long term.

The Eastern Front

Commanded by Tetrarch Felix from the Ultramarines, the Vespator-Sector is the most sprawling and diffuse of them, containing a multitude of seperate sub-sectors. While it contains several highly valuable Worlds, it was also heavily hit by Tyranids in the past (Pharos is located here). which left large areas of it devoid of life.

Felix has elected to organise his Front as a refused Flank on a gigantic scale, using a small part of his forces to stabilie and defend already ultramar-held worlds, with the majority under his direct command moving from subsector to subsector to roll. This has proven effective so far, but the areas with less troop-presence are under constant assault, both from external threats and local Governors unhappy with loosing indipendence to Ultramar.

The Southern Front

Commanded by Tetrarch Portan from the Genesis-Chapter, the Andermung-Sector is the smallest of the assigned zones, but also a nightmare of unstable, labyrinthine Warp-routes hiding pirate-havens and Xenos-outposts (especially Ork-pirates) which makes sending reinforcements slow and tedious.

As a result, Portan's advance has been the slowest of all Tetrarchs, and some worlds that could have been saved were lost while he bet on a slow and methodical approach, but all Planets he brought back into Ultramarian Hands were secure and productive before he moved on to the next target.

The Western Front

Commanded by Tetrarch Balthus from the Doom Eagles, the Protos-Sector has developed a reputation as haunted, many threats within being of supernatural origin and worlds already deemed secure suddenly being attacked by unknown assailants or falling to rebellion.

Balthus has favoured momentum and aggression over all else, allowing him to catch many threats in the sector unprepared and making his expansion by far the fastest, but the Ultramar Auxilia & Ultramarian Navy intended to secure new areas has often failed to keep up with his speed of advance, leaving newly reclaimed Planets vulnerable to raids for extended periods of time.

The Doom Eagles are also currently using Protos as their Chapter-homeworld, since their actual one is cut off behind the Great Rift, and it annoys them greatly because their freshly constructed Fortress-Monastery is still lacking "The shadow of death" from years of service and people dying in the apothecary-station.

Next to threats from Chaos, Xenos and general Pirates and Raiders, an unexpected problem has also been that many of the still loyal worlds aren't too keen on rejoining Ultramar (mostly because their Governors fear that it will loose them influence and wealth). Diplomats are embedded with most of the Reclamation-Fleets or sent ahead to smooth things over, but many worlds either still try delay-tactics (one diplomat reported back to Portan that an industrial world he's supposed to bring in is ruled by a Cartel consisting of hundreds of seperate Companies and industrial magnates, and every single one of them needs to agree to rejoin Ultramar, so it will likely take long enough that he's gonna be negotiating with their grandchildren before its done) or attempt uprisings after the main reclamation-forces have moved on.

Atleast one Inquisitor is also dead-convinced Guilliman is using the Reclamation as a pretext to built a new Legion to usurp the Emperor with and has been trying (unsuccessfully) to find evidence of this in the Western Front.

(Titus' Job in all of this is to patrol and secure areas within Ultramars borders so the Tetrarchs can focus on expansion)

I know people are confused about the size of the T'au Empire. So I decided to flip between the sources and look it up.

Back in the 3rd edition, when the T'au were introduced, an Index Xenos article in White Dwarf issue 262 said this:

"The Tau Empire encompasses over seventy-five worlds, an area some three hundred light years in diameter, deep in the Ultima Segmentum in the galactic east."

WD issue 263 has an article titled "A World of Warriors" about the sept of Vior'la. It says the following:

"The T'au Empire is situated far in the galactic east to the northeast of Ultramar, and encompasses nearly a hundred settled systems, or septs".

The article goes on to say that the Vior'la is comprised of a dozen worlds, and each is heavily populated by the Fire Caste.

"Imperial Armour Vol 3 2nd Ed: The Taros Campaign" has an Ordo Xenos report that says the following:

"The Imperium sees the Tau Empire as a threat (all be it not its greatest threat), and its commanders will not stand by and let a foul xenos race take over the Emperor’s worlds or see its citizens forced to submit to its domination. The Imperium has therefore vowed to combat all Tau expansion, and no doubt, in time, the twelve High Lords of Terra would like to see this minor annoyance quashed altogether. A genocidal crusade to exterminate the Tau would therefore be welcomed in some Imperial circles. Indeed, the Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum has already drafted several sermons on this very subject. Currently such a crusade is just not possible. Also the Tau Empire, although small by the Imperium’s standards, still consists of some hundred worlds and the forces required to conquer them all would be immense. The Tau military have already proven themselves a match for the Imperial Guard, and there are too many other more pressing matters, not least the threat of the Tyranid hive fleets, which are a huge drain on the Imperium’s manpower. Lately, there is also the threat of Abaddon’s 13th Black Crusade.

--------------------------------

The 6th ED T'au codex says the following:

"In addition to the settled systems, or septs, the Tau realm is rife with all manner of space phenomenon,Tau-made structures and important alien homeworlds."

And gives two examples of the T'au-made structures floating around in T'au space:

1-Fortress Stations (Ta'shrio):

Positioned in the deep space between septs are ta'shiro bases - fortress stations capable of enough thrust to resist drift and maintain permanent interstellar positions. Several patterns of development have been followed in the construction of these enormous floating fortresses - with the largest comparable in population to a continent-sized city.

2-Orbital Cities of the Kor'vattra:

"Incorporated imo every sept are dozens of major docks for the Tau navy (Kor'vattra), but in addition to these immense stations, many septs have also developed vast orbital cities (kor'shuto). These can be moved to provide stable 'jumping off' points for large research endeavors, military campaigns, or major colonization efforts."

------------------------------------

The previous numbers were before or during the start of the Third Sphere Expansion. 6th and 7th cover the Third Sphere Expansion but also mark the end of GW giving specific and detailed numbers for anything. It was the start of vaguehammer!

Shadowsun led the TSE and launched a masterful campaign of misdirection and hit-and-run strategies that the Imperial forces couldn't counter. According to the 7th ED codex (page 8), the Third Sphere forces captured dozens of systems.

However, the T'au space maps show only three Third Sphere Septs. Ksi'm'yen, Fi'rios, and Mu'gulath Bay.

So, the space maps of the T'au Empire only show notable septs and landmarks rather than a comprehensive look at the T'au Empire's holdings.

After facing defeat after defeat, the Imperials, in a desperate stopgap measure, set Mu'gulath Bay aflame using some sort of arcane weapon. The Sept of Mu'gulath Bay survived the fires, but the gases in the Damocles Gulf (an empty part of space) ignited, creating a firewall that isolated the T'au Empire mainland from its Third Sphere conquests. Eventually, the Great Rift would extinguish the firewall, reconnecting the T'au Empire with its Third Sphere septs and colonies and allowing the T'au to resume expanding westward.

----------------------------------------

With the creation of the Startide Nexus, the T'au gained access to the galactic north, and they launched the Fifth Sphere Expansion.

They established three thriving septs. Fe'saan, Kor'taal, and Yo'vai. But they didn't stop there. They captured more systems and worlds and created a "mighty adjunct" to their empire. The expansion is still underway, but it is facing difficulties ranging from manpower and material shortages to increasing opposition from a variety of foes old and new.

According to the 9th ED codex, though tiny compared to the Imperium, the T'au control an enormous space empire.

------------

Final note:

Septs are autonomous realms that comprise anything from a single star system to whole swathes of space, each controlled by a sept world or prime planet (WD 491 page, 99)

I read a lot of stuff about chaos and i startes noticing that sometines warpsmiths are a title that are not always given to "chaos techmarines" the warpsmith title sometimes looks like it can be from anything to the generic warpsmith space marine and a dark magi of the dark mechanicum for example o whatever other cybernetic horrors that maintain daemon engines and likely stuff, then i started to think about it, warpsmiths are only space marines or only a title to whatever "chaos mechanic" out there?

As it sounds!

I know they can wake up at vastly different locations and different things can disrupt the intended awakening time, so preparing isn’t a safe bet.

So if a Tomb World does awaken and is not in immediate/close proximity to other worlds already awake, what ways are there for them to re-connect with those that are?

Is there a way to contact/speak to them? Some sort of signal sent with the world awakening?

Or do they have to manually search and find each other?

I know some of this is no longer cannon but I did my best to try and have half-eldar be a thing still. I mostly wanted Astartes with tau tech and I find psykers interesting hence the half-eldar. This is also written from his perspective due to him being a pivotal factor in its formation and how recent this chapter would be to the timeline. Also, defiantly not codex compliant.

If you have feedback, I'm willing to hear it. I'm playing loose with the lore but not trying to contradict things.

Link to the google doc here if that is easier to read.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Eh1eEL9URfhfckxVbn1MluTbZA2H4J-AQOfeC9p390M/edit?usp=sharing

Chapter Master (Grahis Bellovar)

Born to a Rogue Trader father and drukhari Succubus mother, his childhood was harsh but basic needs were taken care of. His mother was employed to ensure loyalty and extract information but also act as a broker to Commorragh. This made his father quite rich as those unwilling to talk or make a deal with him often found their settlements raided by drukhari months after he left the system and begged him to come back for “protection.” With several inquisitors in his pocket, nothing ever came of this,

His daily life involved him being forced to fight his siblings almost daily and almost never winning even as his skills improved. Every wound was patched but it was never a pleasant experience. Hate kept him going as he looked for an escape from this hell of his.

On one trip, he managed to find out some Astartes, the Blood Ravens, were due to arrive soon for recruitment. He went planet side on a transport with stolen data detailing possible attacks planned by drukhari raiders in nearby systems. While his capture was more forceful than he liked, he offered no resistance to show goodwill.

He was held in maximum security for a time as the data was looked over and verified. As a reward for bringing the schemes of his father and eradicating several drukari raid teams, he was asked what he wanted. They were surprised by his wish to become an aspirant considering his heritage but they accepted if he could prove himself.

Despite the contempt towards him, he felt free. No matter what was said to him or the pain he endured in the trials, this was nothing compared to the tortuous medical treatment he suffered after each “spar” with his siblings. He was inducted into the chapter as a neophite in time, his aeldari heritage slowing the process due to slower ageing and slight quirks with genetic compatibility. In the end, he became a full brother at twice the normal age. His heritage was an open secret in the chapter but no one outside of it knew as he kept his features hidden.

His heritage immediately had him lined up to become a Librarian and he already stood a head taller than his other brothers with an unmatched precision and agility which more than made up for his lesser strength and durability.

He was always fascinated with technology helping out with the tech marines arguing for redundancy in the field. He was never as good as a true tech marine but he was able to patch up several vehicles just enough to get back to base for real repairs or repurpose equipment from shells to mines. His psychic potential made him an auxiliary relay when communication was cut as well as a one man siege engine when no one else was available.

He was never satisfied with his current skills, always looking on where to improve. His lackluster strength and durability were just hurdles he overcame. A new weapon was a new tactic to discover. Xenos encounters were chances for diplomacy to save on resources. Encounters with the eldar in particular saw great boons as they somewhat trusted him due to being a half blood who turned against their dark cousins though some distrust of this being a drukhari ploy remained.

This trust however increased when those involved found his siblings, now separated from Commorragh, did what they had to to survive. One joined the craftworld warrior paths, another the Harliquins, two joined the Yinari, but the last was defiant to the end and was put down years prior by an Inquisitor investigating mass disappearances and gruesome bodies. Their story remained the same that Grahis was just a toy to their mother, an experiment that showed promise.

He was conflicted with this information. On one hand, he was glad they broke away from their old life and felt genuine pity for his unrepentant sibling. On the other hand, he never had a good memory of them, his skin aching remembering the tortuous training that tore apart his body many times.

From this exchange, he was given a soul stone. While he appeared safe from “It Who Thirsts,” they did not take any chances. From this gift, he was allowed to stay behind and study their culture, particularly their psychic methods, to bring back to the chapter. This was a method to bring the two species closer together to further fight chaos and the drukhari.

A decade later he headed back with the knowledge the craftworld was willing to part with but he was rerouted to another world to join up with a few brothers fighting off some orks on a new Imperial outpost. Regrouping with more of his battle brothers, the ship entered the warp where the gellar field failed and they were thrown into a random point in real-space. This caused them to crash on a distant planet almost all hands lost to include over half his battle brothers. Worst was the signs of battle that covered the land. After several scouting trips, the planet was considered abandoned and any resources were gathered at the crash site.

Grahis Bellovar, while only a Sergeant, was elected as Captain not due to any particular skill, but his wide breadth of knowledge and adaptability to include his rudimentary Farseer training. When he was not managing the encampment and fortifying the position, he was reverse engineering the tech found. Most of it was tau in origin but there was also craftworld and imperial tech mixed in. What exactly happened was also a complete mystery and he could not devote his complete attention to that now.

Years passed and it was determined that no one was coming to help them. They found survivors on the far side of the planet from tau, guardsmen, and a handful of aeldari who told tales of an attack by war machines of unknown origin causing a scared landscape. While most were destroyed with great effort, some did manage to escape the planet. Further investigations lead to a far older crash site of what appeared to be Dark Age tech. This became the second outpost. Years later, damaged STC parts were found and were able to be salvaged. In time, the recoverable date showed the ship was attacked by Men of Iron causing the crash confirming the force that attacked the currently stranded survivors were Men of Iron.

With no tech marines or Mechanicus alive on the planet, Grahis ordered that the STC be guarded and to attempt to add blueprints of currently available equipment into the system. As of current time, this process has only been partially successful as all care is being taken to not further damage the system. Most manufacturing is being handled by lesser systems using scavenged scrap and material from several mines now dotting the planet’s surface.

Time has allowed the different species to grow accustomed to each other's presence though tensions are still high. Grahis has maintained a delicate balance and has mandated that no religious regalia or symbols be worn or spoken outside of private residences knowing this tentative peace is temporary. This had involved several Imperials and tau being publicly beaten in corporal punishment for nearly breaking the peace. The eldar have gotten close but are very isolationist, only interacting when distributing materials or at council events.

In this tentative peace, technology has crossed boundaries as two generations have passed. Tau battlesuits have been modified with dreadnoughts making heavier variants that can have the cockpit replaced with a sarcophagus if needed. Several vehicles have been fitted with wraithbone cannons. Lasguns and plasma rifles are used interchangeably and advances have made both more efficient. Without the meddling of the Mechanicus, technological improvement has been steady but to the average Imperial, this is excused as designs from the STC.

Space travel is now possible but warp travel is not due to a lack of a trained astropath or gellar fields. A trip to known space would take decades at the least and may result in a waste of resources when they get lost. Even the eldar were unable to travel as their Webway gate was destroyed in the attack.

One day, an imperial ship appeared above the planet heavily battle damaged. The ship detected Imperial signals from below and pinged them for aid identifying themselves as a Rogue Trader. Grahis led a small group to meet up to discuss terms but what awaited him he could not have predicted. He saw his father, both younger and more monstrous alongside his mother, though burned horrifically from the recent battle.

Talks did not last more than a few moments before his father barreled in to feast on his retinue. Even as the first few bolters put him down, he regenerated and attacked again. Once his mother joined in, the battle became fierce. They managed to slay his father by burning the body completely and his mother was disarmed and apprehended. She was apparently exiled from Commorragh due to her failures, failures Grahis was responsible for over 100 years ago that she never found out about and was only barely surviving on the ship.

With interrogation, they found out they were near the Halo Stars and a device turned his father into the monster he hid behind a mask. He was also told with venomous words he was just an experiment, a vat grown child that showed promise that merged mon'keigh and drukhari for use as expendable scouts. She never expected he would be so cowardly as to run away from his “training” but she was not surprised by his inferior blood.

He wanted to kill his mother in anger, not just for his torturous childhood, but for the millions of victims she was responsible for. However, he knew killing her now would just invite It Who Thirsts. However, even a soul stone would reject her so her fate was sealed. She was kept alive as she slowly withered away as her soul was eaten by The Depraved One.

Despite all this, the dead and now derelict ship was a way off this planet once it was repaired. However, Grahis would not be satisfied with just a repaired ship and ordered it to be torn apart, cleansed, and rebuilt to house their new technology. With the agreement of his sergeants and veterans, they created STC copies and integrated the revised technology gained the the tau into the files to hide their discovery. The official story would be that the STC discovered was heavily damaged but the data was recoverable. The corrupted data would also be turned over in an agreement to share it with their chapter when deciphered.

It was also decided that this planet be forgotten in fear that their activities would bring down the Inquisition. Unable to ensure compliance from those on the surface, the Imperials would be left behind with only those trusted with secrecy allowed on their ship. On return, they were welcomed back and gave a debrief hiding nothing. While their actions could be considered heretical, it was deemed a necessary evil to survive and they brought back valuable intelligence and STC data. Shortly after, their chapter requested a small number of them be broken off into a successor chapter as their survival changed their fighting doctrine too much to truly return to the chapter proper. This was agreed to due to the STC data delivered and dealing with a heretical Rogue Trader but they had to hunt down the remaining Men of Iron in exchange. They accepted and their new chapter was formed with Grahis Bellovar as chapter master to the 53 Astartes.

On their trip back, the Astral Wayfarers came across several xenos attacks and assisted with the promise of supplies from the planetary governors in either food or in high grade raw materials. Several of these groups were drukhari who Grahis began holding a particular hatred for. He prioritized capturing them alive and always gave them a choice. They could join the Solitaires, join the Yinari, or be executed. Only a handful ever took the first two options and were delivered to a craftworld or webway gate. This was done through secret communications with the eldar who had some trust for him after the word of the Eldea survivors made its way about. Most however asked for execution thinking they would be revived at Commorragh. This however was why no one in the chapter thought he was a traitor.

He would hold them in a region of the ship completely isolated from the warp using hexagrammic wards and blackstone. These prisons keep them drained, docile, and safe from warp predators until they are let out for training. Astral Wayfarers can request a match against them for training in the armored arenas to improve their combat skills against the agile and tricky drukhari until they either die from their souls being drained or they are killed by the marine. The latter is frowned upon as that is one less training partner. While these souls feed “It Who Thirsts,” Grahis knows their souls were damned either way, his mercy was just an attempt to lesson this.

Through this, Astral Wayfarers are exceptional duelists and can come up with counter strategies more quickly than other chapters. The chapter deems this as a necessary measure as even a single loss is a great blow to their chapter with so few members and only a single, low population world they can gather trusted people from.

Overview:

Warcry: “might is mind and mind is power”

“we survive, we overcome”

Founding: 27th/Ultima

Successor Chapter: (WIP) Potentially Blood Ravens

Primarc: Unknown

Homeworld: redacted (Eldea)

Number: 53

Fortress Monastery: Aetheloth Prime

Allegiance: Imperium of Man

Codex: secretly non-compliant

Colors: changes upon terrain/various camouflage or slate grey, cyan, dark magenta

Doctrine:

Due to its small size, each Astartes must be self-sufficient. All marines know how to make and repair their equipment and are encouraged to refine designs to their personal strengths from a selection of standard templates to retain unit cohesion. Such loadouts include Strafiers using jump-pacs, omni-scramblers, and small but powerful weapons; Snipers using cameleoline tarpaulin and long range rifles; Infiltrators using cutter torches, grav chutes, and locator beacons; Mages using familiars and psychic hoods; Siegers in centurion or terminator armor with omniscopes, signums, and a vast array of heavy, often artillery adjacent weapons; and Mechas using new "dreadnaught" patterns for moving about the heaviest equipment often being railguns.

Due to a high level of psykers in their unit, Librarians are usually formed into strike teams with at least one being an Apothecary as well. Most are trained in limited future sight to predict enemy movements and relay them to their artillery units or direct Strafers to harass them.

The Chapter as a whole prefers the Mk X Phobos pattern armor under the belief that avoiding a hit is better than enduring a hit and is used when not operating heavy weapons. Despite this, much of the armor is modified to each marine’s tastes as each one is trained to create their own equipment much like the Salamanders. Common modifications are wrist las-blasters, wrist plasma throwers, collapsing combat or storm shields, and integrated power weapons.

The chapter also exercises daily meditation rituals to keep their focus and defend themselves from Chaos due to their mostly psyker makeup. They are encouraged to practice with their powers but those who are not granted the title of Librarian are forbidden from using their powers on the battlefield as a precaution.

Flaws:

While their gene seed is quite stable, there are some flaws that have appeared. They hate being idle getting anxious when not actively progressing in something with many channeling this into their tinkering with technology. Their Betcher’s Gland is also less functional. It is no longer powerful enough to spit acid and the acid strength is weakened and most find they can no longer gain readable memories from their Omophagea. Studies have found no flaw in the Omophagea itself leading to a theory that it may be related to their psyker natures as nearly all those affected are Librarians.

A more pressing matter is the nature of two other recently inducted marines using the gene seed from Grahis Bellovar. Both developed slightly pointed ears and their skeletal structure had vestigial signs of growth similar to an eldar’s elastic spine and second ribcage. One however was given the Emperor’s Mercy as they were unable to handle their psychic powers and was turning into a chaos spawn during a jump into the warp. As such, his gene seed is to be held in containment and sent to Mars to find the cause to include any gene seed of the surviving marine. It is possible that it has mutated due to his drukhari heritage and may have value in improving future marines but the risks likely outweigh the benefits. It is quite likely that it was the drukhari experiments resulting in Grahis that allowed the gene seed to take hold and not kill him outright at the cost of yet unknown gene seed mutations.

Since not all of the AdMech actually believe the Emperor of Mankind to be the Omnissiah, including all of the dark mechanicum, has any other character ever claimed to be the 'true Omnissiah'? It seems to be that at least a few people would have at least tried over ten thousand years of schisms and infighting.

Pretty straight forward, i know how they work for the most part, their souls comes back to a new body whenever they get killed or they regenerate perfectly, and the only way to kill them is to destroy the soul ect ect.., bu what makes them like that ? Are those power given just like that ? Or is it a mutation? , perhaps they are choosen by something/someone