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Scattered Feathers from a Slaughtered Sparrow — A Tale of Two Factions
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Author’s Note:
Hi there! I made this fluff piece to flesh out the characters of both of my armies that I plan to make. Hopefully, as I paint and play them and whatnot, I can write their armies to evolve throughout their story! I’m also thinking of maybe writing some prose pieces of them, if you guys are interested, let me know! I kept the exact planets and the like very vague as I am still not the most scholarly in lore, but I hope it works! Thank you for reading!
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[BACKGROUND]
Let me tell you the tale of the HMS Sparrow. It was a nice little voidship, a civilian cruiser dedicated to agri-world trade. But all it took was a single Genestealer slipping aboard the ship, that ultimately spelled its doom. This Genestealer, dubbed, “The Emperor’s Dragon” grew its holdings within the ship over decades. When the Inquisition grew suspicious of the xenos taint, they eschewed the idea of direct confrontation, coveting the value of the spaceship and its cargo over the lives not yet lost to heresy. And so they sent but a single Death Watch Killteam to dispatch of their problem.
From the chapters they chose to glean, they chose the most bitter and hateful they could find. And so Abyssius, plucked from his chapter, dragged away from what he believed to be his destiny, nursed his ever-growing hatred of the Imperium in the shadows, as strange voices whispered to him of the glories he could find within a path carved of his own hands. Taking command of his team, they crept forth into the voidship, unprepared for the countless horrors they’d face without respite.
As teeming hordes of xenos scum fell to their tactical might, Abyssius still saw his men thinning out, and with each fallen battle-brother, they further closed ranks and tended the fires of their fury, not only towards the Genestealers, but the Imperium that had left them to die without a care. Left all aboard to die without a care. Soon, Abyssius learned he was not alone in the beliefs of his personal glories, and the whispers that carried them. He and his brothers made a covenant that this war would be the beginning of a saga of legend — their saga.
When they reached the throne room of the twisted Patriarch, the battle was of such mind-wracking horror that all witnesses refuse to speak of it to this day. And in the Kill Team’s direst hour, Abyssius called out to something, anything for help. And The Warp answered. With these blessings, Abyssius and his men forever pledged their souls to the Ruinous Powers, and made the final push in obliterating the Emperor’s Dragon.
With the throngs of heretics butchered in the prevalent aftermath, and only a scant few making it far enough to flee in a batch of escape pods, a ragtag band of survivors thought that they were face to face with Salvation from the Emperor himself. Instead, they were faced with a choice — turn to the worship of the Ruinous Powers, or die.
Now with a hoard of stolen gear and a crew of suitable slaves, Abyssius and his men stalk the void of Imperial and Warp Space alike for one goal alone— to write their saga with the screams of Imperial lapdogs, as they line their pockets with the booty of the fallen. But they know that their most recent chapter is still not yet finished, as the last stragglers of their fallen foes persist to dog their every step…
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[THE ARMIES]
Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Cult — The Vultures of Vindication
Dark Apostle (65) (Warlord)
Amulet of Tainted Vigor (20)
10 Chaos Cultists (50)
Traitor Enforcer (55)
Warped Foresight (10)
10 Traitor Guardsmen (70)
5 Havocs (125)
Chaos Rhino (75)
Total — 470
Genestealer Cults, Host of Ascension — The Tarantula Hawks
Kelermorph (60) (Warlord)
A Chink In Their Armor (20)
Sanctus (50)
Assassination Edict (15)
Reductus Saboteur (65)
Prowling Agitant (15)
5 Acolyte Hybrids With Pistols (65)
10 Neophyte Hybrids (65)
Achilles Ridgerunner (95)
Total — 450
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[CHARACTERS AND COMPOSITION]
Vultures of Vindication Characters/Composition
Abyssius the Dark Apostle (Warlord)
Enhancement: Amulet of Tainted Vigor
Abyssius was always fixated on the idea of “home” whether he remembered it or not. Even when he was plucked from the battlefields of Fenris to serve in the Space Wolves, this yearning for an obscured “home” was the source of his powerful fury as a Blood Claw, and as he simmered into a Grey Hunter, became the fuel for his craven but cunning hunting tactics. This deep well of emotion grew into a gnawing pit of bitterness, as doubtful voices began to whisper that his peers enjoyed seeing him weak, that they were threatened by his potential, and that the ways of his elders held him back from his true power.
This newfound desire for darkness and solitude led to him becoming an adept stalker of the darkness, and a prime candidate for the role of Headtaker, but the Imperium decided his skills were needed elsewhere. He was assigned to the Deathwatch for infiltration and assassination missions, and he had to choke back his pride if he were to survive the screenings for potential heresy. Even as he vented his exponentially increasing hatred upon the xenos scum, fell voices whispered to him of his true destiny back home, a destiny that the foolish weaklings of the Inquisition had stolen from him.
When he was chosen to lead a kill team into the hull of the HMS Sparrow, he saw it as the ultimate test to prove his worth. But as he and his unit traversed through the horrors of the voidship, he found himself bargaining with those same voices that planted doubts in his head, for some clarity in his head, or at least, some peace of mind. When the final battle against the Patriarch of the Sparrows and his court came upon them, the Deathwatch found themselves severely outclassed, and facing death. To add insult to injury, the Genestealer cult aboard the voidship believed that their Patriarch was a living avatar of the Emperor, and thus the marines were too horrified at the twisting of imperial fealty to shield themselves with their faith. But this was not their time to die, as they found themselves warped, subtly but instantaneously, to become living embodiments of wrath against their enemies.
When the dust settled, Abyssius and his surviving men found themselves warped by their dark pacts, and at that moment they knew the Imperium would never take them back, not as if they saw any value in returning to them anyways. This was their war, and they were entitled to the spoils. So they pledged themselves to the Ruinous Powers, and “convinced” the remaining uninfected to convert as well. With their new domain of a relatively smaller, but still armed and swift spaceship, Abyssius and his forces have carved out their warpath as they seek to prove themselves to their new gods. Such is his destiny. Such is his home.
The Dismantlers (Chaos Cultists)
Nowadays, Abyssius sees his fellow Heretic Astartes as an unfortunate reminder of his past allegiances, and so he keeps his distance from them. Rather, he prefers the company of his most loyal cultists, who are especially devoted to the hunt for trophies to prove their worth to the forces of Chaos. So, they are his faithful Dismantlers, acting as a vicious pack of scavengers that tear apart larger foes bit by bit before allowing their master to deliver the lethal blows.
Heron the Traitor Enforcer
Enhancement: Warped Foresight
The highest-ranking crew member left after the events of Abyssius and his men’s campaign, Heron reluctantly pledged himself to Chaos to protect his people, even as he watches them fall deeper and deeper in depravity every day, serving as an intermediary between the mortal forces the Vultures of Vindication and the esoteric Astartes of the warband. Now, all he desires is a quick death in battle, maybe even the Emperor’s Mercy. To better achieve this goal, he petitioned Abyssius to allow him to lead a regiment of soldiers designed to distract the enemy from the real threats— Abyssius and his Astartes, of course. With detached amusement, Abyssius granted his request. With his loyal Ogryn companion, Tuck, by his side, Heron now roams the battlefield with his Hummingbird Host in search of an honorable death in combat. Heron is unsure of if Abyssius is aware of his true motivations, but what he is aware of is that his idea must be smiled upon by some Chaos God or other, as he is gifted with bouts of precognition, a gift he looks down upon with horror.
The Hummingbird Host (Traitor Guardsmen)
Garbed in obnoxiously bright-colored armor and prone to high-pitched shrieks, the Hummingbird Host sprint headlong into the thick of battle with fanaticism and a death wish. While they have truly devoted themselves to chaos, they see their brave leader Heron as their true liege. Such strong loyalties may not be tolerated by Abyssius for long, however…
The Committee (Havocs)
The corrupted remnants of Abyssius’s Killteam, they are the highest echelons of the war and in name only. They watch with disappointment as Abyssius drifts away from them, deeper into his sagas of delusion. Oblivious to his reasons for this shift in behavior, they are swift and brutal, plowing through enemies in a desperate attempt to regain their sergeant’s favor. However, they struggle to adjust to their own corruptions, as attested by the unit’s champion Rasca, a former Flesh Tearer who struggles against the Red Thirst and Black Rage even as he finds himself resonating with the teachings of Khorne.
Old Mother Rubble (Chaos Rhino)
One of the pride and joys of this chaos warband, a Rhino built almost entirely from memory, with additional runes and trappings to feel at home with this grim force of heretics. The Committee uses her to race across the battlefield to areas where their brutality is most needed.
Tarantula Hawks Characters/Composition
Flinch the Kelermorph (Warlord)
Enhancement: A Chink In Their Armor
Flinch was born too late to hold foundership, and too early to be of any use in a proper takeover. In the days of the HMS Sparrow, Flinch was just obsolete enough to be left to her own devices. This used to mildly irritate her, but now that she’s survived to become the de facto leader of her flock, she relishes it everyday. Her superb eye for weakness and sense of roguish charm enable her to guide herself as an entrepreneur of sorts. Sometimes a mercenary, sometimes a pirate, whatever the day demands. She still yearns for the return of their patriarch… but a part of her mind, now unclouded by the broodmind’s shattering, may be less apt to give up the freedoms her new situation brings…
Scar the Sanctus
Enhancement: Assassination Edict
Cool, calculated, and callous, Scar prowls the battle with vicious intent, every life taken a rebalancing of the scales of justice, at least in her eyes. Like many others of the Tarantula Hawks, she lost everything to the forces of Chaos aboard the ship. But where she differs from others is that she took an ascetic vow of silence as penance for her inaction. Flinch finds herself impressed by Scar’s words (or lack thereof) and deeds, and has taken her under her wing in teaching her the art of skullduggery. Whether Scar truly supports Flinch’s leadership, is a question that remains unanswered…
Fidget the Reductus Saboteur
Enhancement: Prowling Agitant
While Scar takes to Flinch’s favor like a duck to water… Fidget takes to it like a cat on a hot tin roof. She is loud, finicky, and awkward, making her often an afterthought in the Tarantula Wasps’ plans, despite her skill with demolitions. To complicate matters, rumors persist of a genetic lineage shared by her and Flinch, adding pressure to live up to her imposing relative’s shadow. Desperate for Flinch’s approval, she stalks the battle, intent on bringing hell upon her superior’s enemies for just a moment of her attention.
The Firstborn (Acolyte Hybrids)
The stern and humorless elders of the cult, The Firstborn may not be too pleased with the grand state of things, but Flinch appeased them with their position as elite shock troops. Despite this, The Firstborn have been applying pressure to settle down so they can breed back their numbers, a move that would make their forces even more vulnerable that they currently are. But their influence remains strong within the cult, which might prove dangerous as they chafe against Flinch’s decisions…
The Larvae (Neophyte Hybrids)
Due to the quick maturation of Genestealer hybrids, these Neophyte hybrids were mainly infants and toddlers scooped away from the slaughter of the final battle aboard the HMS Sparrow, hence their doting nickname. This means that the stories of Flinch and The Firstborn are all they know of the glory days of the cult’s youth, leading to a skewed perspective of the past by the majority of the Tarantula Hawks. Still, they remain hungry for answers and a brighter future, a hunger that is often harnessed by their elders to serve the cult’s ends.
“Prodigal Son” (Achilles Ridgerunner)
One of the only vehicles that made it aboard the evacuation vessel this cult now calls home. Originally a good to be bought and sold on one of the HMS Sparrow, it now serves as the lynchpin of a myriad of the cult’s operations.
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