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[Tiberius Cato]

Divine Reavers Legion

Numeration: The XI Legion

Primogenitor: Cuauhtémoc

Cognomen (prior): Fanatics

Observed Strategic Tendencies: Brutal close combat, taking quarter, mid-to-close range firefights, terror tactics

Noteworthy Domains: Ghoul Stars, Iris sub-sector, Mixtl System, primary domain "Aztlan"

Allegiance: ***Redacted***

"Your fanaticism shall be your undoing" Wise words spoken by the divine Sun Lord, or the Emperor of Mankind as he is known to the majority of his empire.

I sit here, watching my world burn, and await the end. Men lay dead everywhere the eye can see; once beautiful temples and altars have become grim reminders of a stubborn clinging to the past traditions.

Flames rage everywhere and all manners of psychic explosions boom overhead. A giant seam ripped open in the sky, opening the way for the host that we unknowingly summoned to begin it's crusade of the material world.

My remaining time is almost up, my twin hearts over burdened with grief and regret. I had forfeited the lives of thousands of men with my ignorance, blindly following an archaic and flawed faith. A whole world set a blaze, awaiting destruction from massive orbital bombardment from the mighty vessels of my brothers.

I can only hope that my brethren see the errors I have made and learned from them. The beasts of the immaterium are uncontrollable and will only bring our plane of existence to an end.

My time is nigh, I feel the failure of one of my twin hearts, the other surely not far off. I know that the memory of my people, and by extension my legion, will be lost and forgotten to history; a fate worse than death. But alas, a fate I deserve. Sometimes it is good to be forgotten.

++++++++++End of file: Data corrupted++++++++++

Hail brothers,
This is my venture into to era of the legendary space marine legions. I was inspired to start this project by the amazing work done by Athrawes.

I will likely draw themes from the Major Arcana of the primarchs in the project and add (or delete) details as necessary.

I really want to make the legion conform to the Great Crusade era and not be overpowered, and eventually meet their demise and become erased from history.

As such, I look forward to any and all criticism and suggestions.

Edited by ArcticPaladin, 18 July 2014 - 07:13 PM.

[Teetengee]

And the penny drops.

First critiques are small. Grief and forfeited are misspelled.

I am excited to see how this continues.

[Tiberius Cato]

Spelling fixed. Here's a bit about Aztlan, the homeworld of the XI legion. It's pretty much the version I posted in the Liber Astartes section with spelling fixes and some tweaks and additions.

A Breif History of Imperial Space: Volume *Redacted*

Laying on the edge of a area of space designated as the "Ghoul Stars" lies Aztlan. It is a world covered in dense jungles, filled with predators who could kill a man with ease. The world was commited to agriculture, with it's many terraces and floating farms.
The population had become seperated due to varying beliefs and had all gone to war with eachother, it was customary to attempt to capture enemy warriors and force them into slavery; some factions even sacrifice the captured warriors to their gods. Warrior society dominated over all else, and usually harboured a close relationship with the local religion. It was here the XI primarch had landed.

The primarch Cuauhtémoc had been discovered during his youth by members of the Xochitl tribe of the city of Mazatl. The tribe was one of the tribes that exhibited extreme spiritual devotion, and clung to prophecies and legends as guidance in their daily lives.

The prophecies foretell of a day in which a child will be born from the heavens, who will grow to become the worlds greatest warrior. He will be the will of Huitzilopochtli, the God of the Sun and War, and will bring together the many fueding tribes of the Azlatani. The planet would then experience a golden age of wealth and technological advancement, but not without a price. The warrior king would enslave many, and countless others would become offerings to Huitzilopochtli; Only warriors displaying great prowess and determination would be spared. After the weak had been sufficiently culled, Huitzilopochtli will return to Aztlan in his human form; an emperor of the stars known only as the Sun Lord by the Aztlani. His coming would signal the ascencion of the Aztlani people to a demigod status, becoming the divine warriors of the Sun Lord and destroying his enemies.

The prophecy had come true upon the arrival of Cuauhtémoc to Aztlan. During his pre-imperial rule Cuauhtémoc had managed to develop an elite warrior caste system and in less than 30 years he propelled the planet from the bronze age to the iron age, at the cost of the lives of more than 300,000 men over the period. He ruled through terror, performing public executions of his enemies and parading their mutilated corpses through their home cities.

The coming of the Emperor had brought about great change to Aztlan. It's level of technology had skyrocketed even further, becoming on par with the majority of other imperial worlds. In turn this brought a massive increase in agriculture and allowed for the sustainment of a exponentially larger population, and far superior military training in the planet's two military academies.

Cuauhtémoc would not allow his soldiers to live in the lap of luxury however. He forced live skirmishes amongst training groups, for he knew it was one thing to learn how to be a soldier in a book and a whole new world to kill a man on the battlefield, especially one that you had grown with.

With the advent of far advanced technology on Aztlan, the traditions of old managed to thrive. The many temples of the world were mainted in a near perfect state and remained the cultural centers of Aztlan. On the day that marks the end of each lunar cycle, pilgrims gather at these temples to attend the ritual sacrifices to their gods, in hopes they will be blessed with a good yield from crops, a prosperous business season, or even battlefield superiority.

[gmarks]

This is a bold undertaking, first because of the nature of the project, second because the II legion has already been so well done by Athrawes. That being said, it seems to me like you've picked a decent starting point, and have chosen some interesting and unique themes. My one word of caution would be not to be too heavy handed with your sources of thematic inspiration. Its obvious that you're drawing heavily from Aztec culture and I like that, it seems to be unique in the 40k universe, but I would caution against simply turning your project into the 31st millennium conquering of the Aztecs by the Spanish. I do however like that you've opened the possibility for a societal collapse to coincide with / be the cause of the legion's downfall. This is another unique aspect of your project which I would continue to work with. Good luck with this and definitely keep at it. A few questions though: how do you intend to go forward with this? will this be a work of fiction primarily or will you work in the modeling, painting and gaming aspects as well? Best of luck with this bold and ambitious undertaking.

[Tiberius Cato]

This is starting out as fiction, once I finish my Shadow Wardens I will be able to work on painting some resin. There's nobody in my area that plays 30k, atleast to my knowledge, so gaming is a tertiary objective.

It does appear heavy handed to begin with, but that is a bit intentional. Once I introduce the terran members of the legion it will get watered down quite a bit. With the members initially brought along with the primarch (at most 500 men, quite small) being the most theme heavy. The legion will practice some of the beliefs, while others are removed, to facilitate Cuautéhmoc's transition from primative warlord emperor to the leader of an Astartes legion.

Edited by ArcticPaladin, 18 July 2014 - 09:45 PM.

[Tiberius Cato]

Alright, brothers. Here is a bit about the Origins of Cuauhtémoc and meeting of the Emperor by the Primarch I originally posted in the Liber Astartes.

The Child of the Gods, A Recount of the XIth Primarchs Origins

Many stories exist about the discovery of Cuauhtémoc on the world of Aztlan. However, one is held to be the one true version by the planets many denizens.

Aztlan is a beautiful world, covered by dense jungles. In the easternmost part of the jungle is where Cuauhtémoc's pod had landed. He had been discovered by warriors cloaked in animal skin returning home from battle. Unsure of what to do with the child, the warriors brought Cuauhtémoc to the priests at the nearby temple.

He was taken in by the priest, who drilled him in the ways of the warrior and drilled him with sermon day after day. When Cuauhtémoc was of age he was sent to the military school of Calmecac, which was reserved for the sons of kings and the clergy.

Cuauhtémoc quickly mastered the teachings of the Calmecac and had graduated after only a year of attendance. He had earned the right to accompany a mighty Cuauhocelotl, Jaguar Knight, into battle.

On his venture, Cuauhtémoc managed to capture four men. An unprecedented achievement on Aztlan that took even the greatest warrior decades to earn. He became a Cuauhocelotl at the young age of 16, surpassing his city's greatest heros.

His supremecy continued, and by the age of 27 he had risen through the ranks and became the Tlatoani of his city, eclipsing the previous incumbent by an astonishing 32 years.

Once he obtained his position he quickly set about creating religious reforms in his city, paying homage to his roots as the son of the priest. He had many temples erected and enforced religious practice throughout the city. His father was of a denomination where human sacrifice was necessary to appease the Gods, and their appeasement ensured victory on the battlefield.

It took little effort for his citizens to adopt his religion, legends and tales of his exploits had spread like wildfire over Aztlan.

Cuauhtémoc, pleased with his works, was not finished yet. His next task was to unite all peoples of Aztlan under his banner. He gathered his warriors and marched for the capital of his greatest rivals, the Tenoch.

He had directed his warriors to take every possible man captive, for he had a plan to force the planet under his rule.

He had planned to conduct a mass sacrifice to the God of the Sun and War, Huitzilopochtli.

In total, Cuauhtémoc's warriors captured a staggering 80,000 men.

On the day of the ritual, all of the prisoners were divided and transported to the temples Cuauhtémoc had erected. Upon arrival they were herded to the steps that lead up the temple and to the sacrificial altar.

Once the sun was approaching high noon, Cuauhtémoc grabbed the first sacrifice and dragged him up the temple's steps. The man was the leader of the Tenoch, Mocte.

Cuauhtémoc threw the man down upon the altar and strapped his limbs down so he may not escape. Cuauhtémoc beckoned for a nearby priest to bring him the sacrificial dagger given to him by his father.

The blade was a beautiful thing, it was an ornate weapon with a blade crafted from obsidian. Cuauhtémoc grabbed the dagger and a stone and began sharpening it infront of the man he was about to offer up to Huitzilopochtli.

He glanced at the sky, the sun was about to be eclipsed in a matter of moments, now was the perfect time to start the ritual. Cuauhtémoc took the blade in both hands, uttered a short prayer, and plunged the blade into his victims chest. In a matter of seconds he cut the chest open and ripped Mocte's heart from his chest.

Cuauhtémoc held his trophy in the sky and let forth a primal roar just as the sky began to darken.

His reign of terror had just begun.

+++++++++++++++++++
Cuauhtémoc had ruled over the entirety of Aztlan for over almost ten years now, no man dared to challenge him. Ever since that day he had ordered the sacrifice of 80,000 men, people had feared him and spoke of Cuauhtémoc being the Death God made flesh.

Something big was about to happen, Cuauhtémoc could feel it in his gut. He knew not what, but the ancient prophecies spoke of the coming of the Sun Lord to Aztlan to take mortal men for his divine army.

With the unification of Aztlan, war became nonexistant. Cuauhtémoc instituted a new means for shedding blood, so when the Sun Lord comes Cuauhtémoc shall be able to provide him the finest warriors.

He had created a society in which only cities with valiant, skilled warriors lived well. For the cities who could not fight food and resources were in short supply. This created a struggle for each city where it was imperative to produce the greatest warriors for a chance to obtain what they needed to survive.

Indeed, some cities had been wiped out due to their lack of warriors; this didn't bother Cuauhtémoc, it helped him rid the world of the weak.

The anniversary of his ascencion was quick approaching. The priests suggested he offer up a sacrifice of men to venerate Huitzilopochtli for allowing Cuauhtémoc to reign as the undisputed Lord of Aztlan.

He gathered many slaves at the Temple of the Sun's Light, which Cuauhtémoc constructed in memoriam of his deceased father, and personally sacrificed each slave.

No sooner than after he finished, something enormous was appearing in the sky. Cuauhtémoc could not figure out what it was, he had never seen anything like it. As it approached he gathered up his honour guard and waited atop the temple to watch the object descend.

When it touched down on the surface it created a mighty gale of wind, which nearly blew Cuauhtémoc down the temple steps. With his honour guard, Cuauhtémoc made his way down the temple and walked towards the object.

As he approached a massive door opened in the side. Out of it came men, clad in strange armour and weilding weaponry Cuauhtémoc had never seen before. After these men came out of the door a man clad in shining gold armour appeared in the doorway. Cuauhtémoc could hear the hushed whispers of his men, exclaiming that this was surely the Sun Lord.

The man came out the door and walked with his men to Cuauhtémoc, who immediately dropped to his knees and bowed in reverence of the man.

The man told Cuauhtémoc he may stand, and then described that he was the Emperor of Mankind. He said he required the finest men and Cuauhtémoc for his conquest of the stars.

Cuauhtémoc brought forth his finest warriors, 500 men in total, and pledged himself to service to the Emperor.

[Tiberius Cato]

Hail brothers!

 

Firstly, my apologies for the double post. Secondly, I have decided to put my Shadow Wardens on hold and am in the process of saving up some cash for a mass order from FW of about 270 pounds, but i'm 'Murican so that's like $400. I expect to have that much in about... maybe a month or so and I will be getting new brushes and paints in the mean time in anticipation of this momentous occasion.

 

I also have some sketches of a potential Legion banner and if you all are lucky, maybe I'll post an image of the primarch with the picture of the banner once I decide on it. for the colour scheme I am  going for a Mentors-esque style. The torso, backpack and helmet will be black with silver trimmings/details (quite original, I know) and the arms and legs will be turquoise with gold trimmings/details. I have also debated on giving them red hands to symbolise their traditional sacrifices and bloodlust, not to pay homage to any Crimson Fists

[Tiberius Cato]

Triple post!

 

Anyways, here's my pictures of the banner and the primarch. CnC is welcome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now i'm off to bed, it's 3AM here and i've been up since 6AM yesterday.

 

Good evening all!

[Darth Mustard]

That looks promising but I'm a sucker for anything Aztec DYI style.

I did some model testing you can mix Blood angels wings and space wolves marines 
Turquoise is definitely the right color.  

[Tiberius Cato]

you mean like mixing the different bits?

[Darth Mustard]

precisely 

all the necklaces and stone and details for the space wolves

use the wings of the blood angels

paint the wolve skin as puma or leopard skin

create your own unique chapter and minis

[Tiberius Cato]

Interesting, when I get some minis I'll have to try that out. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Darth Mustard]

here an example mixing space wolves and lizardmen kits

Album: Rainbow Warriors

2 images

0 comments

[Tiberius Cato]

I really like that macauahuitl from the Lizardman kit, I think I have a new pattern of the holy chainsword!

[Astartes-ULTRA]

I too am about to embark on a Legio XI inspired mostly by Athrawes bold and amazing project. It's nice to see a strong turn in favour of the mystery of the lost legions, though I admit I cringe a little when I see one pop up because I get that bad feeling that someone has the same lore idea as me but luckily here this is not the case lol 

 

Your lore so far looks great and choice of culture is very promising, lots of modelling niches that if pulled off right will be totally sick. The only thing I would add is being aztec/inca style the word "shadow" in the name doesnt really seem to fit in with the city of gold/sun god origin but that the only thing. But I agree the weapons themselves make for some awesome 40k chainweapons. 

 

Excited to see where this is heading, incidently Greyall did an amazing picture of an aztec-inspired space marine. Could be useful for inspiration

[Tiberius Cato]

I am confused on where you saw the word "shadow", brother. But nonetheless, I appreciate your praise for my work and I will have to hunt down this picture you mention.

As of yet, i'm not sure what direction to step in, fluffwise. I have thought about maybe displaying the primarchs interactions with his brothers, I have a feeling Cuauhtémoc and Angron would get on well; more blood and razing planets to ashes is both their thing. Vulkan would most likely disapprove of the human sacrifices done by the XIth legion and display animosity towards Cuauhtémoc for it. Just some thoughts. If there is anything you want to see, please let me know and i'll spend some time writing it out.

[Astartes-ULTRA]

doh! That would be me misreading in haste (caught this thread at the end of my lunchbreak) my appologies Brother.

 

do you have an insignia in mind?

 

[Tiberius Cato]

I've been debating on the Eagle featured on the banner (which is a tad EC), an aztec stylised sun, or a winged serpent.

Edit: Any suggestions are welcome however, even though this is primarily my project I would like a lot of community input to create a stellar interpretation of the missing XIth legion.

Edited by ArcticPaladin, 30 July 2014 - 05:07 AM.

[Astartes-ULTRA]

Well, seeing as the legion name is Divine Reavers you could try putting something like a sun in the background to represent "Divine" and to reave is usually to take by force, plunder, or break and tear so for aztec I would look towards an instrument like a sacrificial blade or sacrificial stone or something like that superimposed over the top of it.

 

Just ideas buddy, but remember this is your project so heed the advice and views of fellow but remember that a lot of people feel very differently about the fate of the lost legions so you probably wont be able to please everybody make so sure that you in particular are happy with the project. 

[Tiberius Cato]

I can't believe I never thought of doing a sun with a blade over top of it.

[Teetengee]

I think a sun should definitely feature, blade on top sounds good too.

[Tiberius Cato]

It's settled then, a sun with a sacrificial blade over top of it will be the legion's badge.

Also, I realise I can't please everyone (Emperor knows I try to), especially due to the nature of this project. I don't intend to please everyone anyways, i'm moreso looking for people's ideas and opinions that would make the legion fit within the scope of the 40k universe, and appropiately meet their demise and be lost to the annals of time. I also started so I have a reason to delve into different aspects of this glorious hobby, such as sculpting, photgraphy, and the other delightful aspects. I hope to see a lot of growth on my part as the project progresses. It means the world to me that you all even considered looking at what some would consider blasphemy, and i'm greatly apprecative of it.
I'll have a mock up of the badge tommorow for you all so you can judge and critique it so I can perfect it.

Until then,
AP

[Tiberius Cato]

Oops misposted.

Edited by ArcticPaladin, 31 July 2014 - 07:03 AM.

[Astartes-ULTRA]

Blimey, it must be an omen my friend as people rarely listen to my advice

 

Looking forward to it dude, and I personally believe that a project will take you down routes that you've not ventured beform allowing you to grow into new aspects of the hobby is the way to go. A good project should challenge you, and I am excited to see where it goes. Critiques aside you can count on me for help with anything, just say the word. 

[Tiberius Cato]

I've had a bit of a change of heart on the colour scheme, I don't particularly like the black anymore. So rather, the entirety of the armour for the rank and file would be turqouise. I'm going to order a despoiler squad and I'll post pics when I get themm all finished. Then everyone can judge my mediocre panting skills haha.