<![CDATA[Latest posts for the thread "Questions about Imperial Genetic Composition"]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/31.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net Questions about Imperial Genetic Composition
1. What is the genetic origin of the Grey Knights? By the time the knights errant arrived on Titan Malcador had already assembled an entire chapter of initiates for them to train. The only other chapter with the same psychic potential for creating a chapter like the Grey Knights would be the Thousand Sons, although the Grey Knights clearly have not suffered any mutation/taint/fall like the Thousand Sons are prone to with the flesh change. It is also unlikely that the Grey Knights would have a varied origin of genetic code resulting from using any of the existing marine chapters and their corresponding knights errant.

2. If the Grey Knights are descended from the gene-seed of the Emperor rather than any of the Primarchs, why do they draw most of their strength from their psychic abilities and their advanced wargear, rather than being in a completely different league from Astartes like the Adeptus Custodes are? If the two share the same genetic source, then have the Custodes been imbued with the Emperor's physical prowess while the Grey Knights retain some echo of the Emperor's psychic might which is amplified by the abilities of recruits taken from the Black Ships?

3. Of all the Emperor's sons, why do so many bear inherent genetic mutations? Is it due to exposure to the Warp during their scattering, or is it a result of the world on which they landed? It seems to me that those Primarchs who eventually turned traitor were cruelly placed i very grim environments in contrast to their loyalist brothers, yet it is the loyalists who exhibit such a strong affinity for genetic 'flaws' (The Canis Helix, The Red Thirst, The Black Rage, The Flesh Change*)

Any discussion and clarification is welcome! ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9420842.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9420842.page GMT Re:Questions about Imperial Genetic Composition
Likely some of the looted psykers from Prospero became initiates. Malcador also has had several of the Knight Errants out fetching shiploads of psykers. There's a short story in one of the Horus Heresy anthologies where a former Thousand Sons legionary has taken control of a stranded refugee ship full of psykers and take them to Titan.

2. Also Custodes don't make use of gene seed. The process to create one is a lot more time consuming/expensive than it is to make a Marine which is why they are at different power levels. Aside from the slight changes in gene seed, the Grey Knights follow the same processes and have the same additional organs as other space marines.

3. One of the Horus Heresy novels implies that the Primarchs were each imbued with powers from the warp as part of their creation. This suggests that their mutations probably would have manifested even if they weren't scattered. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9420930.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9420930.page GMT Questions about Imperial Genetic Composition http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9420946.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9420946.page GMT Re:Questions about Imperial Genetic Composition
Spoiler:

Revuel Arvida of the Corvidae sect. He later took the name Ianius/Janus which suggests he became the 1st Grey Knight Grand Master
]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9421110.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9421110.page GMT Questions about Imperial Genetic Composition http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9421156.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9421156.page GMT Questions about Imperial Genetic Composition http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9427636.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9427636.page GMT Re:Questions about Imperial Genetic Composition
We know the emperor used the genetic templates of his Primarchs to design the gene seeds of their respective legions, but since he had those legions ready to go as he collected them, we know the samples predate their being warp-abducted. In particular, we know a number of legions were exhibiting signs of significant flaws that could ultimately make them unsustainable, the Thousand Sons in particular are described as a near-total wash by the time Magnus was found, and he spent a long time fixing them through force of his will. I don't think these are the result of exposure to the warp any more than any other mutation is, it's simply proof that for all his greatness the Emperor is still a man, and perfection is always just out of reach.

This is further backed up by the fact that the greatest mortal mind in the Imperium was able to improve upon the process after only ten-thousand years of research and experimentation. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9427883.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9427883.page GMT Questions about Imperial Genetic Composition http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9428278.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/728232/9428278.page GMT