Alternate Heresy Community Project

[Conn Eremon]

Knight Houses (perhaps as a nod to their recent return to the fore, make them prominently represented)? Supported by Iron Hoplite successors?

 

But maybe we can have our cake and eat it too. Caliban is right there. Wouldn't take long for news to spread. While White Scar interference kept them from playing in wait for them, but their proximity and propensity for rapid assaults still made them an early warning threat.

[Wade Garrett]

Or...it could be the First Legion.

 

According to Unremembered Empire, the I had all kinds of toys the other Legions didn't get.

 

And if Jonson and Angron are the only ones who see this coming, it would make sense that their successors are the ones hanging around when the Black Crusade kicks off.

 

Plague Marines could be some kind of Romanesque heavy infantry with modified Storm Shields, and Necrosius a Librarian of the First who goes the extra mile in the "Mortals? Weak and easily corrupted things, without strong leadership and constant guidance they go astray."

 

He need not be a cardboard cutout arrogant mind controlling [redacted], if the idea we're running with is that the Post Scouring Imperium holds the Astartes in contempt, even with (or possibly because of) Angron and Jonson bickering like an old married couple at every meeting of the High Lords, this guy could easily be in possession of a somewhat sympathetic backstory.

 

Especially since he got the lovely experience of growing up a psyker, in addition to being part of a group everyone looks down on as a bunch of insane relics from the Dark Ages.

 

I'm thinking of something like Raistlin Majere from

Dragonlance, if you're at all familiar with that character.

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

And so it was that the bearer of the his father's tablet and mantle sought to usurp the Emperor.

His purpose having fallen from that lofty one appointed to him assembly of his brothers.
"I shall take my father's throne and make it my own. I shall be the one to decree the fates, all shall bow in supplication as my father's robes and mantle.
I shall be master of mankind! I shall command each of the legions! Mine shall be the power of the Man, machine and legion!"
And such he plotted, clouding his brothers judgement's, ensnaring some in the Ingiki nets, offering them as offerings to the great mires of the Warp, petitioning them to make him their brother, to lay their fell blessings upon his breast and brow."
---beginning of the Epic of the Akelbeth, as told by Venerable Amut M40.4678

[Nomus Sardauk]

Hey guys, just a quick post here but if this ever gets to the stage where people start producing artwork for the project (like the awesome art pieces of Arch-Traitor Dorn or the plagued Blood Angels from the DH) I think I've found a pleasant chap who could easily be the base for Daemon Primarch Rouboute Barabus.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Gravelord Nito, First of the Dead: (apologies if the images are a bit big)

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/033/a/9/gravelord_nito_by_lastwolf333-d5tjt4c.jpg

Now for more of a bodyshot:

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/311/4/8/gravelord_nito_boss_fight_by_4dimensional-d6t854r.jpg

Ain't he handsome? I was thinking Barabus would be extremely similiar in appearance but instead of being swathed in shadow like Nito Rouboute 's skeletal keister is cloaked in the hidious (and immensely toxic) black goop that resulted when the Life Eater Virus was unleashed upon the XIII Primarch whilst he dueled Fulgrim upon that unnamed world. Perhaps he could still carry Fulgrim's rusted silver spear in his bony hand as a trophy?

[Wade Garrett]

Now that is a vicious looking sunuvagun (although I don't recognize the franchise).

 

With that said...that isn't how I pictured Daemon Barabbas at all.

 

As I saw it, while he and his Legion draw on the powers of Nurgle they in no way acknowledge the divinity of the Plaguefather or anything else.

 

I imagine Roboute would try to have an appearance as close to his old mortal form as possible, because he doesn't think he has turned himself into a daemon, he's just "uploaded his consciousness into an aethereal conduit" or some such semi-rational technobabble.

 

But he can't quite manage it. I envisioned something like the Leper King Balwin from the film Kingdom of Heaven, with white robes, polished armor, a beatific iron visage for a face...and hideous boils, blisters, and bloating on the few flecks of exposed flesh that are visible through his layers and layers of garments.

 

To paraphrase An Important Real World Figure, he is like unto a whited sepulchre, beautiful without yet filled with dead men's bones and every kind of foulness and corruption within.

[Conn Eremon]

Hm. I think the scene of Barabbas rising from the sludge that slew Fulgrim as a skeleton may have thrown some of our images of Daemon Barabbas off. With your (amazing) description here, I can see the skeletal hand rising from the sludge, revealing a leering, grinning skull and steed of bones, as it reknits flesh about itself. The power that sustained the Primarch when touched by the Life-Eater allows him to reform his corporeal body to whichever vision he so chooses, while simultaneously tainting that form so indelibly that he would never appear whole or well again. So he covers himself to hide the corruption.

 

Now I'm picturing the Emperor's Children dedicating millennia to reclaiming their fallen lord's silver spear, not rededicating their efforts to its destruction until entire Successor Clans/Millennials have fallen from the Imperium, corrupted by being in possession.

 

Once this becomes their pursuit, however, it becomes markedly more difficult to regain control of it. In fact, no one has since.

 

Anywho, the art is pretty good, though rather busy for my  tastes. If we do go down that road, I'd been thinking we would try for someone like Colrouphobic to provide that one iconic image that defines our heresy (The close up of Dorn in the Dornian Heresy, the Emperor's advance on the Warmaster Horus, Sanguinius fallen at his feet), with us chipping in what we can to try and lessen the financial blow such amazing artwork might cost.

[Nomus Sardauk]

Now that is a vicious looking sunuvagun (although I don't recognize the franchise).

 

With that said...that isn't how I pictured Daemon Barabbas at all.

 

As I saw it, while he and his Legion draw on the powers of Nurgle they in no way acknowledge the divinity of the Plaguefather or anything else.

 

I imagine Roboute would try to have an appearance as close to his old mortal form as possible, because he doesn't think he has turned himself into a daemon, he's just "uploaded his consciousness into an aethereal conduit" or some such semi-rational technobabble.

 

But he can't quite manage it. I envisioned something like the Leper King Balwin from the film Kingdom of Heaven, with white robes, polished armor, a beatific iron visage for a face...and hideous boils, blisters, and bloating on the few flecks of exposed flesh that are visible through his layers and layers of garments.

 

To paraphrase An Important Real World Figure, he is like unto a whited sepulchre, beautiful without yet filled with dead men's bones and every kind of foulness and corruption within.

 

Nito is a boss character from the first Dark Souls game, I haven't played it but saw him in a piece of cinematic during a tribute song video and he caught my eye. My idea of Rouboute resembling/appearing in a similiar vein to him once he ascends was based on what I'd read about Fulgrim's death and with it Barabus's ascension. The Sons of Barabus and Emperor's Children clashing on an unnamed planet during the Scouring (or whatever it's alt-verse equivilant is called), Fulgrim leads the charge and slays himself a Great Unclean One before finally finding Barabus, they two duel but in typically vile-but-practically-devious fashion the Sons' fleet in orbit unleash the Life Eater Virus, killing everything. A few minutes later and Fulgrim's spear begins to rise from a vile mountain of decayed biomatter, followed by the giant skeletal hand of Rouboute Barabus, now a Daemon Prince thanks to the sacrifice of the two Astartes forces present plus Fulgrim, and technically himself. Hence the skeletal interpretation.

[Ace Debonair]

On a random note, I've been giving some more thought to the Astral Wolves, namely their appearance.

From what I recall, canon MK V armour was largely a hodgepodge of various other armour marks, and variation from suit to suit wasn't uncommon. If this is still true in our version of events, this is the armour mark that will be most associated with the Astral Wolves.

Even pre-heresy, to find an entire squad that wears the same armour will be almost unheard of within the Legion. The Wolves' very loose command structure leaves provision for squad members to move from one unit to another, or even a different Company if the mood takes them.

Post-Heresy, the Wolves (or what remains of them, anyway) transition from 'multiple armour marks in the same squad' to 'bits of multiple armour marks on the same marine'. Veterans especially tend to have modified or customised armour patched together and reinforced with whatever gear, either modern or ancient, that they can get their hands on, be it newly manufactured by the Warband's forges or looted from the corpses of the slain.

Or, long story short, the Astral Wolves are the Kitbash Legion.

[Dosjetka]

You should rename them. Kitbash Legion has a nice ring to it.

 

/intrusion

[Wade Garrett]

No worries, Sanguinus Reborn. As I never bothered to post my idea for "Marble Statute In A Grave Shroud" Daemon Roboute, you can hardly be blamed for coming up with your own take.

 

And Nito does have the look I wanted for Typhon, who in the XIII is a mistrusted figure within the Legion's Librarius who Barabbas keeps around so he can tease useful scraps out Warp lore out of all the superstition and belief in the Old Ways of Barbus cluttering his mind.

 

Calas Typhon:

"I speak to the gods that shape the destiny of all things!"

 

Nicodemus:

"I'm sure you do. But tell me, have they ever answered back?"

 

In this timeline, his shrieks of "More! MORE!" when the Legion embraces the power of Nurgle have a very different outcome. Just one more reason for the Sons to disdain blind faith and zealotry.

 

Semi Random stuff:

We've mentioned a throwdown between the Executioners and the Angels during the Scouring, ending with Sanguinus as a Daemon Prince.

 

Canonically, Lorgar, Perturabo, etc viewed their transformations as great triumphs and the Warp resounded with their screams of triumph.

 

But Sanguinus...he never wanted daemonhood. He wanted to rule over mortals in the materium as a god king, free of the restraints of being made of ephermal Warp nonsense.

 

What if his daemonhood is a last ditch effort by his Legion to save his life, his birth cries are those of thwarted rage, and his big goal is figuring out how to become a mortal Primarch again?

 

Switching topics:

Instead of "Brides of the Emperor" in Terminator armor as the daemon hunters, what if they were more like the Ravenwing, power armored, yes, but using bikes and Land Speeders to swiftly seek out and destroy traitors and witches across the Imperium?

 

They could then be given more of a Valkyrie schtick, to bring back some of the Norse culture the XVII have let drop.

 

It might even be worthwhile to have them pick up the "Hounds of the Emperor" name when the XVII splits post Heresy.

 

"Ride them down! Any who flee are heretics. Any who stand fast are well-trained heretics!"

Huntmistress Miriya

 

Third and final switch of topics:

Given Cormac's suggestions that the Orkz are led by even more monstrous and cunning Warbosses than in canon, due to the Imperium's repeated efforts at genociding them, I'd like to suggest one of them be Von BigMek, a Stormboy turned Boss with a glorious waxed mustache known for the discipline he imposes on his Waaaghs and his cunning even by eldar or Astartes standards.

 

"Seems like Gork an Mork iz lookin out fer grots, wyrdboyz, dem dat drinks too much fungus brew, an da humies."

[Ace Debonair]

You should rename them. Kitbash Legion has a nice ring to it.

/intrusion

Your suggestion has been taken onboard and filed away somewhere safe.

The other thing I'm thinking over is the Astral Wolves would probably rely on heavy use of Imperial Army assets. Pre-heresy it's easy enough, but I'm not sure how they maintain any decent numbers of followers post-heresy.

Unless their leaders are just that charismatic, or otherwise find themselves significant leverage with the mortal forces. I suppose the promise of actual freedom from the Imperium and it's ways could be quite inspirational enough to motivate large groups of mortals to take up the Wolves' banner?

Of course post heresy it's as much cultist allies as guardsmen, but the point is I can easily imagine lots of mortal meatshields for the Astral Wolves and their subsequent splinters.

Eh, I'm going to need to sit down and make all of this more coherent at some point. I've got a good idea what I want from this Legion, but haven't (I think) communicated it all that well.

Also, the ideas have evolved quite a bit from my original vision of them, so I'll need to get everything properly in order.

[Conn Eremon]

Sanguinius going Daemon Prince because of his Legion's attempts to save him is a tad too much like the Guilliman Heresy's version.

 

But I love the idea, so how about switching it to Sanguinius himself? Sanguinius is on his way to becoming ascendant during the Scouring. The Warmaster is down, the traitors that followed him unorganized mobs fleeing the Imperium's revenge. He hasn't declared himself Warmaster yet, but it's coming. They will all flee to the Eye of Terror, lick their wounds and nurse their hatreds. They'll need someone, someone strong, to bind them together again. To rule over them, and by extension the Imperium he has brought it to ruin. Oh, he has plans. He's begun to plant the seeds already, 'confiding' in others that he can still 'hear' his brother Corax. When these seeds sprout and grow strong roots, he will use his position as the high priest of the Warmaster's cult to ascend. His brothers have ascended, but differently. He knows that to ascend to daemonhood runs the risk of removing his free will, and therefore ruining his carefully led plans and ultimate goals. So he avoids it. He resists the call of the Gods.

 

And then he meets the Executioners in battle. Not yet broken into multiple, worthless Successors. Still a Legion, and as always of one mind, of one purpose. But a new one, one far more narrow than its former, glory days. No matter how many Legionaries or lesser mortals are lost, no matter the devastation caused, no matter the consequences, nothing, absolutely nothing, will stand in their way to claim a single head. The Executioners come for the Angel of Damnation, and not even the might of a Primarch will be capable of stopping them.

 

And when in the terrible throes of death, divine lifeblood pouring forth and the conscience of a god fading away, Sanguinius will choose the only avenue left open to him.

 

Better to live in eternal servitude, than to die unfulfilled.

 

 

 

I'm actually thinking of Sanguinius having a bit of a Sherlock moment (Benedict Cumberbatch in modern times version) when

he gets shot.

 

 

He retreats into his own mind, desperately seeking an answer that will save him. In Sanguinius' case, that's his visions. The winged, golden spirit, veined through with the blackness of corruption, desperately screaming into the void, crashing through visions with abandon, the laughter of the gods ever on his tail. Until time runs out. And he has no choice.

[Wade Garrett]

At first I thought you meant Dominus and the Angel would have a precognition fight, ("Do you think you're the only one who can play these games?") and then fall over a waterfall together.

 

But your way is cool too.

[Conn Eremon]

That would be absolutely hilarious. Battle of the Seers! Stage: THE FUTURE(S).

Dominus: Let's not waste any more of one another's time. We both know how this ends.

Sanguinius: Death: inevitable. Unless . . .

Sanguinius blows ashes from his pipe into Dominus' face, grabs him, and topples them both over the balcony, turning a ing butterfly.

[Nomus Sardauk]

That would be awesome, especially if Konrad has finally figured out how Sanguinius played him all those times before the Coup, using his secret visions to thwart Konrad's and make him doubt himself. The Lord Executioner's wrath would be apocalyptic indeed.

 

If I might make a suggestion for the fight though, if only because I'd dearly love to see scumbag Sangy get what's coming to him, that Konrad lops off one of the Angel's wings and scars half his face/gouges out an eye?

 

To further grind that lovely mix of salt & lemon juice into the wound after his ascension Sanguinius is further enraged to find his once-beautiful missing wing is replaced by a grotesque leather bat wing and orders a canon-Tycho style half-mask to cover up his scarred face/missing eye.

 

Thoughts?

[Ace Debonair]

OK.

So, the Astral Wolves haven't got much in the way of personality besides being badly organised and with light hints of pirate here and there.

So I'm going to rough out my current ideas for them and then try an polish them up and add a new theme or two.

In my original piece, Lupercal was essentially defined by his epic hate of slavery and rulers in general.

He then goes on to take command of an army and basically oppress unwilling people in his Father's name.

I like my Primarchs hypocritical, but I've sort of explored that already with Bron and his 'Peace through Slaughter' ways. So what else can be used to explain this change of mind within the XVI Primarch?

The Emperor could, possibly, have convinced Lupercal the Great Crusade will leave humanity as a whole with more freedom and in better condition than the endless wars that would ensue without it. Failing that, he could prove himself a much more beneficent tyrant than most of the other would-be planetary or galactic leaders out there.

The Astral Wolves then adopt their father's 'Conquer them for their own good' rationale without perhaps fully understanding it, leading to some fun further down the road.

Lupercal is going to retain Canon Horus' epic charisma, which helps him rally hordes of people from each world the Wolves retake to join his Legion and fight the alien and the rebel in the name of Galactic Freedom for Humanity.

The Liberator is going to be a popular Primarch amongst the mortal forces, if only for his inclination to treat them as equals. This becomes a major factor in Corax wanting Lupercal to side with him.

When the Emperor is struck down, Lupercal, like Bron, sees his hopes and dreams dashed. The Legion slows it's remarkable pace somewhat, and Lupercal, usually forthright and outspoken, becomes brooding and sour. Corax is quick to feign sympathy with the Liberator and convince him Jonson might well be plotting a tyrannical secession. When Jonson goes into open revolt, Lupercal rallies his Legion and all the Imperial Army forces they've formed bonds with, and with the Warmaster's blessing, goes to tear down Jonson's forces.

In short, When Corax points the XVI Legion at Jonson's pocket Empire, thousands upon thousands of Imperial Army and navy vessels move with them.

Of course, the battle doesn't change much - Jonson's superior defensive position, reinforced supply lines and keen strategic mind allow the Palatine to thwart the initial rush of the Wolves, and as the war becomes increasingly stalemated the scales tip in Jonson's favour slightly due to general attrition.

As we all already know, Adra'Melek then rocks up with the Infernal Guard and starts bringing fire and ruin to everything in his way. Harsh words are exchanged between the two Primarchs who should be allies, and Lupercal meets his end at Melek's scythe, the words 'I die free' on his lips.

Following that, the Major Splinters of the Legion (the Astral Wolves, the Sons of Lupercal and the Black Talons) all go about their agendas, following their old 'conquer them for their own good' spiel and using their inherited charisma and the promises of freedom/loot/revenge/power to take over worlds and sway crowds of mortals to their side.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

This is where I'm up to with the Astral Wolves and Lupercal. (Unless I've forgotten something!) To be honest, I think they're missing a certain something, but I don't know what.

I'd draw more influence from the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus, but the canon Legion doesn't have much I can borrow from.

The lodges would be the obvious thing to bring in, except here the entire Legion is already highly informal. Unless I was to change the actual nature of the lodges somehow, but it's late and I'm short on ideas for what to do with them.

I'll come back and either edit this post or add more tomorrow if I can think of anything else.

[Wade Garrett]

If I was writing it, I'd describe Konrad and Sanguinus striding across the battlefield (a world within the Eye) towards one another.

 

Within the Warpstorm, their prophetic gifts are surging to life far more intensely than ever before. With every step, a new possible future plays out before their eyes. In some, Konrad stands triumphant. In some the Angel does. In some they die together. In some they are dragged down under a mass of lesser warriors clad in grey or red.

 

The actual fight? One strike, a single blow that sends Sanguinus slumping into the dirt, his head barely attached to his shoulders by a few ragged threads of gore.

 

One word, said with almost bored contempt, as his epitaph.

 

"Guilty."

[Nomus Sardauk]

If I was writing it, I'd describe Konrad and Sanguinus striding across the battlefield (a world within the Eye) towards one another.

Within the Warpstorm, their prophetic gifts are surging to life far more intensely than ever before. With every step, a new possible future plays out before their eyes. In some, Konrad stands triumphant. In some the Angel does. In some they die together. In some they are dragged down under a mass of lesser warriors clad in grey or red.

The actual fight? One strike, a single blow that sends Sanguinus slumping into the dirt, his head barely attached to his shoulders by a few ragged threads of gore.

One word, said with almost bored contempt, as his epitaph.

"Guilty."

While most of that sounds cool there are one two bits I'd change myself, first; although the fight could end in a single blow the way you write it sounded like there was no actual fight, the two just walk up to each other, Konrad opens Sangy's throat andthen leaves. I'm guessing that's not how you meant it, so I can see it like a lightsaber duel, all parries, dodges and feints until one of them makes a mistake and pays the price for their carelessness.

Second, given him and his legions' habit and role and the headsmen of the Imperium I don't feel Konrad would just walk away without Sanguinius's severed head in his possession, he'd take that b d's head back to Terra and plant it on a stake atop the Traitor's Gibbet, maybe present it to the Emperor as a tribute. So to have Sanguinius escape to be "saved" by his desperate sons the Angels (BTW, what's their Legion name again? At first I read it was the Celestial Angels but then I saw it written as the Legion of Angels?) would have to quickly snatch their fallen father away (possibly via teleportation?) before Konrad can rip his brother's wobblin'noggin off.

Perhaps Kor Phaeron is the one who forces his adopted son to ascend as the Gods refuse to allow such a powerful champion to be lost? It could lead to some interesting father-son eninimity as Sanguinius resents ol'Poppa Kor for forcing him into daemonhood.

[Wade Garrett]

No, they are really just walking towards each other.

 

However, there's plenty of juicy hyperbole stuffed Primarch v. Primarch carnage, it's just all in the descriptions of the constantly changing visions they're having.

 

The actual fight is supposed to be anticlimactic compared to the "megaton punches that knock down mountains" going on in their precognition.

 

As far as why Konrad doesn't catch ahold of Sangy's hair and finish the job with a quick jerk, why not simply have most of a company of IX drop out of the sky on him and force him back, a la Lion and the Night Lords?

 

Thus giving Sanguinus time to go all inner mindscrew hallucination and turn into a daemon.

 

All subject to whatever Cormac thinks, of course.

[Conn Eremon]

SR: "Angels"

 

 

 

I had been debating Sanguinius' Daemon Primarch form, and this might allow me to go in a direction that I couldn't get out of my head, that would look more like the angels of ancient visions more than winged humans. Illustrated thusly:

 

Konrad Dominus lays in a mortal blow. Sanguinius' head is nearly removed from his body.

 

And it buckles. Twitches. Shrieks, like protesting metal. Light permeates the body, lifting it off the ground. Hair and cloth rises and flaps in a nonexistent wind.

 

And Konrad Dominus, instinctively hiding his sensitive eyes from the ethereal light, growls. He grits his teeth, reaches out and finds a grip. With bloody tears streaming from his face, he raises his axe and brings it down with a cry.

 

The head dangles from his hand while the body drops like a puppet with its strings cut. But the light . . . the light is freed.

 

And its birth cries shake the heavens.

[Ace Debonair]

A further thought on the Astral Wolves: They might use... 40K's Centurions.

Hold on, hold on. Let me explain before you hoist me out of the airlock.

I don't mean 40k's Centurions as they are in canon. I mean what they should have always been - 'cobbled together over-suit substitutes for Terminators and Dreadnoughts, built by a group desperately scavenging anything in order to survive the next battle'.

I'm thinking crude exo-skeletons that are basically just a framework for mounting heavy weapons. Any armour they might have is either looted from ruined dreadnought chassis or scavenged from other sources and bolted on piecemeal. Make the arms more like dreadnought ones than the canon Centurions' ones, maybe - shoulders with guns mounted under them? Hmm.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating the Astral Wolves get their Ork on or anything. These suits would all work properly, but they're not as tough, reliable or strong as a proper Dreadnought. They'd be a bit shoddy and sometimes break down briefly mid-battle, but they'd work. And since they're fairly easy for the Warbands to piece together, they'd make up somewhat for the lack of Dreadnoughts and Terminators the Warbands would maintain.

I'd change the name, too. Maybe... Despoilers? They'd often be the Astral Wolves' main way of breaking enemy lines or fortresses, and keeping the title Despolier in the XVI Legion makes me all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

What do you guys think? Sound good, or is this a heresy too far?

[Wade Garrett]

So...the treasonous Astral Wolves have what are, canonically, loyalist only toys, while the Black Watch and Overseer Schaeffer are best represented by Khârn & as many Berzerkers as it is mathematically possible to field.

 

Odd, that.

 

As far as the Despoiler's themselves go, it seems like if the Wolves are making good use of them every Chaos Warband would pick them up, as there's no "Must be devoted to X God" or "Must do Ritual Y" to restrict their use.

[TDF]

Konrad tore his axe through the web of prophecies and felt it sink deep in Sanguinius' neck. The flashing 'maybe's and 'could have been's disappeared in an instant.

He looked down at his former brother. Blood was pouring from the mortal wound. Sanguinius had only moments left.

"Guilty," Konrad said.

Sanguinius smiled.

"Objection, brother."

[Crazy warp magic happens]

Just my tuppence.

[Nomus Sardauk]

"Guilty," Konrad said.

Sanguinius smiled.

"Objection, brother."

Okay, I need a Phoenix Wright-style picture of that. :D

Preferably followed by Konrad promptly curbstomping Sanguinius's head into the dirt.

"Overruled."

[Conn Eremon]

That was my own reaction to it as well.

 

Honestly, I think I like it with Konrad being the only one to say something. Since this is a battle in the mind (/visions/warp/lolidunno), with both Primarchs sort of dueling across the myriad timelines, I can see Konrad, confident now that Sanguinius has no means to escape a fate that the Executioner Lord went to great lengths to set in stone, in spite of the fickle, mercurial nature of their visions, be the one to physically act. At that point, his awareness is back in the real world.

 

Sanguinius doesn't respond, because he is by no means giving up. When Konrad utters that final condemnation, and the axe cuts into his neck, Sanguinius isn't there. He's still deep in his visions, trying to find the one crack in Konrad's nearly perfect plan. 

Technically, he had already found it. He just refused to use it. Until there were no more options left.