Erasmus of Baal Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 On the Edge of Honor: Crimson Paladins Origins The Crimson Paladins were founded in M36 as a part of the twenty-first or “Cursed” founding. Their first Chapter Master, Tarrik, was a low-level psyker; he had been chosen from a few candidates to lead the new Chapter because of this and his obsession with succeeding without the use of psychic powers, which led to him training to the very best that he could in everything that he did, regardless of how slowly it came to him. It was for these two qualities that Tarrik was chosen to be the Crimson Paladins’ first Chapter Master because the new Chapter had a habit of bringing out its inductees’ psychic abilities, though some involved in the Chapters’ formation feared that a Chapter of psykers would reek too strongly of those who followed Magnus during the Horus Heresy. Indeed, while the title was presented to Tarrik as an honor, it was to spite Magnus the Red that Tarrik was entitled the “Crimson King,” which would be passed down to all of the Chapter’s later Masters. Later History The “current history” of the Crimson Paladins began on 5.305.010.M42, during a fight against an entire Necron Tomb World in the process of awakening; in a rare move, the entire Chapter had been summoned to Doton, a - until recently - dead world in the Ultima Segmentum. Chapter Master Josiah only learned of the event through a lucky sighting of an Awakener Cell moving to the planet; reading the Emperor’s Tarot and learning that this would be a decisive battle, Josiah called the entirety of the available Chapter to arms. The Necrons’ internal communications systems had been sufficiently damaged that a Necron Lord had to physically move around the planet to awaken the sleeping armies, and this is the only reason that the Crimson Paladins were able to derive any sort of victory, as they had only to slow the awakening process rather than attempt to combat an entire planet’s worth of mechanical undead. Their victory seemed assured until a second Lord awoke, forcing the Chapter to split its fighting forces further than they could stand. Official records state that the second Lord was destroyed in a massive explosion that also demolished a massive portion of the Necron infantry and an even greater portion of the Necrons’ war machines, most notably a group of a few hundred Doomsday Arks in additional to a sizeable chunk of the planet itself, and this is the only point of the combat that was withheld from official reports. Official reports read that an unknown event likely concerning Necron power sources caused the Chapters’ planned destruction of the Necron war-machines to expand out of control, but the lack of disclosure fits into the rest of the report so seamlessly that more questions have not been asked. The Crimson Paladins were then able to redouble their efforts against the first Necron Lord, especially with so many of the Necron sleepers destroyed. Despite the army’s overall success, it still took a positively heroic effort from Chapter Master Josiah to fell the Lord himself, and it is said that while he fought the machine, a golden halo shone around his head. Regardless, the fight was over, and the Necron catacombs could be purged relatively easily. While Josiah was recovering from his wounds, he, along with many members of the Chapter and all of their Librarians, was visited in visions and dreams by a woman with long, dark red hair wearing golden power armor and wielding a large sword. Still, it was a shock to Josiah when Sylvana manifested herself to him in his private chamber looking like the woman in the visions but in a long, flowing, golden dress instead of the battle armor and introduced herself, explaining what had happened. The truth of the massive explosion was that the marines’ explosives had also destroyed a Tesseract labyrinth which held a Warp-entity captive. When this Warp-entity was freed, it reached out to gather all of the strength that it could, just to protect its existence from the horrifying new Warp that it had never seen before. It drew on all of the Warp-power that it could, absorbing what was largely untainted and expelling what it could not keep - this was the cause of the excessive size of the explosion. In its mad grab for simple life, it unknowingly drew Warp-energy through the minds of the Crimson Paladins (recall that scions of Sanguinius have a predilection for psychic powers), imprinting them onto her; the expulsion of tainted Warp, then, also touched the Marines present, imprinting her upon them. It was her strength uplifting them that guaranteed the Crimson Paladins’ victory in that final battle and that worked in Josiah so strongly that not only did a halo of Warp-energy appear around his head but he was so deeply empowered by Sylvana that he is now a psyker undergoing training to control his powers. Learning all of the details of this, Josiah called up the Chapter’s Chief Librarian and Grand Reclusiarch to discuss with them the possibility of removing Sylvana from the Marines. The Chief Librarian explained that she had wound herself so inextricably around the Marines’ very souls that they were guaranteed to either be damned with her or be saved with her, if such a thing is even possible for a Daemon. “It is, however, likely,” he continued, “that if we protect our future initiates from her, they will be free of her influence and she will be banished from the Chapter without threat to us.” He explained that, yes, she could be pried loose, but the process would likely kill them all. The Grand Reclusiarch concluded the meeting by saying slowly, “The great question falls to us, then. The choice between tainted servants of the Emperor... or the death of an entire Chapter of His finest.” Gene-seed The Crimson Paladins were founded from the gene-seed of the Blood Angels. There is evidence, however, that their gene-seed was tampered with, since no other Blood Angels Successor Chapter has had such an amount of psychic ability in its ranks. Not only does the Chapter have greater psychic abilities than most, the Flaw exacerbates these abilities, causing those under the influence of the Black Rage to be incredibly accurate predictors of the near future - on the rare occasion that their ravings are coherent. Sylvana seems to have a special affinity for the Death Company, and has even begun to appear intermittently in their demented visions. Combat Doctrine The Crimson Paladins believe in personal perfection in all things; therefore, they do not believe that strict adherence to an overall battle plan is usually necessary. While they acknowledge that the Codex Astartes is a grand treatise describing how to wage war in all its forms, they do not obsess over it as the Ultramarines do. That said, the Crimson Paladins follow the Codex's prescriptions rather closely for a Sanguinian Chapter. Sylvana’s influence has driven some marines mad, however, bringing them to such despair that they will fling themselves at the enemy, praying for a vainglorious death. As such, force commanders are increasingly demanding strict adherence to a battle plan, as any battle lost because of such desperation would be a great mark of shame for the strike force’s commander. Confusion in the Ranks The plan was moving along perfectly. The Orks had noticed the hole in our flank and were moving in as fast as they could without their vehicles. The Devastator and Tactical squads were ready to spring the trap, but I could already see that something was amiss. Sergeant Germanus was rallying his squad, and they were moving out of position. I started giving orders for Germanus to stop as he shouted, "Emperor sustain us! Damn this demon, and damn these Orks!" and led his Tactical squad headlong into the Ork advance. What was supposed to be an easy victory was by that one move turned into a constant struggle to deal with the endless Ork advance. Organization While the Crimson Paladins are a Codex Chapter, they do not obsess over its details. If a squad needs to serve in a different capacity, or even change Company on a long-term basis, it is done without much concern for the Codex. While the Codex is intensely studied by many of the Crimson Paladins, all of them understand it as a human (or, if you will, super-human) document that is meant more as a basis for learning than as a dictation of dogma and doctrine. Since becoming bound to Sylvana, however, the Crimson Paladins have begun to show more insistence on the Codex’s strictures, primarily because they are seeking whatever solid foundations that they can find in this confusing time. Battle-cry Before battle, the force chants the following in unison: “Kill by any means necessary!Win by any means necessary! Live by any means necessary! Die by any means necessary!” As they charge into the fray, the entire force echoes this in unison by screaming “Kill, win, live, die!” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erasmus of Baal Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 I'm coming back to the forums after at least a month's absence, and I'm hoping to get some C&C for this DIY idea that I still love. Bumping up to the top and praying to the Emperor, Sanguinius, and Sylvana.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retributis Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 "But then the Inquisition found out and had them all destroyed". How do they prevent this from happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erasmus of Baal Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 Hasn't happened yet. Nobody outside the Chapter has found out yet, as it's not exactly something that shows readily. It's a point of shame for most of them, and remember that the Chapter may end up self-destructing over the issue. "But then the Inquisition found out and had them all destroyed" may yet come to pass - just not yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Sergeant Bohemond Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I actually think this is really good and you have made it plausible. I really enjoyed reading it and I really got the idea of a chapter in crisis, split between themselves over this event. Very good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightrawenII Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Well, the introduction of Sylvana and her attachment to Chapter is really "deus ex machina" development but if you want... However, this... She can draw strength from the Crimson Paladins because of their passionate defense of the Imperium, and it is her promotion of this passion that has led to a decrease in the mindless state of the Black Rage in the Chapter. ...is of course logical fallacy. If she is a daemon of passion then all states of mind, which can be classified as 'passion', will be fueled by her presence and hugely exacerbated. Red Thirst is passion and Black Rage, while not passion itself, is triggered by too much excitement. Second, look at the "My colour is Red" in your signature. THIS is Sylvana, so instead of cherry-picking of pros, you should also take all the cons. Right now, there isn't much going on than just "Wow, she is daemon! And...?". ~NightrawenII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erasmus of Baal Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 @Brother-Sergeant Bohemond: Thanks! @NightrawenII: I'm trying to keep her workings kinda obscure; I specifically did not want to explain this, even though I had come up with a decent explanation. I'll admit, though, that it was kinda a Gray Stu moment, since I didn't want these guys to be a typical BA successor that was all "Boo-hoo, we have too much Black Rage." Anyways, the idea is that she is feeling motherly-protective of them, even as she is driving many of them to insane or suicidal acts. While the Black Rage is down, Death Company is up from volunteers and the Red Thirst (a safer form of extreme passion) is sky-high. She wants to see their passions again, not just one more time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightrawenII Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 One word - Yandere. You are not going away with this one. :devil: ~NightrawenII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erasmus of Baal Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 One word - Yandere. You are not going away with this one. :devil: Followed the link, read the article, and I still don't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightrawenII Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 One word - Yandere. You are not going away with this one. :devil: Followed the link, read the article, and I still don't get it. It's the motherly-protective version of warp-entity made of passion. What now? ~NightrawenII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erasmus of Baal Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 Oh. Gotcha. Yeah, that's what I figure is going to happen if the Chapter stays with her - Inquisition comes down on the Chapter and Sylvana comes down on whoever is attacking her Chapter. :devil: Even then, though, that's after the increasingly-likely Chapter civil war goes down, and, well, I haven't thought that far ahead and kinda don't want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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