IL XVI - The Drowned

[bluntblade]

I forgot Alex was there

[Talonair]

That's going to put Nox in an interesting position. Four Primarchs and the Big E, oh boy

[bluntblade]

And rankle no end with Kelbor-Hal.

[MikhalLeNoir]

If we ever have a final pic of morro i want to commission a piece of the game ( and blur the lost primarch out so that it looks like a really old pic)

[Talonair]

And rankle no end with Kelbor-Hal.

 

Oh man I hadn't even considered that. The Emperor personally ratifying the Abyssii alliance whilst on Nox proper would lead to comparisons with the Treaty of Olypmus Mons.

 

Plus having the Emperor personally ratify the alliance with the people that so very recently mauled one of Morro's fleets, whilst Morro is still in system, I can only imagine would drive Morro further down that dark road.

[simison]

[Morro leaves before the Emperor arrives.]

 

Unit and Formation Structure
The development of the XVI^th Legion’s structure was in some ways the reverse of the usual trajectory for a Legion, hewing closer to the archetypal templates after the Primarch was found. It must be remembered, of course, that this had always been the attention of the commanders in the years before Morro, and he instigated many changes which were distinctly non-standard. Nor were they all carried through; while the XIX^th existed as shifting collections of companies which could easily be recombined, the XVI^th’s tendril fleets were closer to the clans and tribes of other Legions, and fiercely independent with it. Several retained older structures, rendering themselves less compatible with outside elements.

One of Morro’s innovations proved unique among the Legions; a body of men smaller than a squad. A grouping of ten or twenty men, he believed, was overly cumbersome in a Zone Mortalis engagement, and thus each Tactical, Assault and Breacher squad was divided into a “cell” of five. As with Pionus’ reforms, Morro’s changes did away with fixed bodies of Battalion size in the Legion, although he retained Chapter-sized “psalida”. Shoals replaced companies, and these were numerated by the ancient Levantine system, to the frustration of Munitorum officials and Army commanders tasked with making sense of the archaic denominations. 

The size of a shoal or psalida might also vary, often a result of a Tendril modelling itself upon or in contrast to a Legion force it had been tied to in the past. Likewise their composition could differ greatly, although across the Legion some peculiar tendencies were noted. The Drowned had little trust in machines over their own strength, and the esoteric technology so beloved of the Scions Hospitalier had little appeal for them, beyond craft modified for underwater combat and automata to take up the slack in place of mortals. Brute utility on all occasions was the Drowned’s demand. The only non-standard war machines they favoured were breaching-drills, descendants of the engines used on Terra by the nascent XVI^th.

Fast-attack infantry units featured heavily in the XVI^th, often incorporating methods and equipment favoured by terror squads in a few other Legions. Using the tactics Morro had conceived in subjugating Feneos, these would typically be unleashed against an enemy alongside small armour elements, softening resistance and identifying weak points before the deployment of “area denial” weapons. Varying from massed artillery to chem and radiation weapons, these paved the way for the “Rostrum”, a massed attack with heavy armour and elite infantry elements.

Dedicated heavy weapons squads became rare, as Morro deemed them inefficient in the theatres of war to which the Drowned were so often assigned. Instead these specialists were embedded within Tactical squads, which themselves often took on aspects of Assault and Despoiler squads. This leant them considerable self-sufficiency in smaller actions, but ensured that squads would have to be deployed in a particular fashion in larger terrestrial engagements in order to, for example, concentrate heavy support marines in a given location.

Extensive decoration of wargear was frowned upon within the Legion, and they scorned the gaudy ornaments favoured by their cousins. However, their actual wargear was to the highest standard; the warrior who kept his armour less than pristine was a risk to his fellows and the glory of the Legion itself. What marks they did bear were stark and spartan, prizing easy identification above all else.

Command Hierarchy
Besides the Primarch himself, authority flowed from the Ayatollah and the Pelagial Monarchs who advised him. Even before Morro was found, they had been a proud brotherhood, disdaining the efforts others to assert authority over them. Primarchs generally proved able to bend these men to their wills, but even that had a limit: the Tendril assigned to the XV^th Legion parted from K’awil’s command on acrimonious terms, accusing him of using them as “meat-shields” and claiming the glory for himself.

Morro himself exerted little direct command over much of his Legion, but when he did it was with the expectation of total obedience. When he reclaimed a Tendril fleet, any idiosyncrasies he did not find a use for would be done away with, and he always had the last say on matters of strategy. Dissent and weakness were to be rooted out and eradicated, and Morro and his officers held full power of reward or punishment over their subordinates. 

The Pelagial Monarchs took in a variety of officers: senior captains and consuls of various kinds took their places in advising the Ayatollah. As Monarchs, they were at least notionally equal, and the nature of warfare waged by the Drowned ensured that the input of their specialist officers was of particular importance. Indeed, in several fleets an Ayatollah was elected not until death or for a set time, but simply for the duration of a campaign. It is notable, however, that this practice entered a decline as commanders began to emulate Morro’s uncompromising authority.

 

War Disposition

By the Day of Revelation, Morro had 140,000 Legionaries at his command. Over 100,000 of these were grouped into his personal fleet, the “Kelyfos”. This is an incomplete picture, however, for the Forlorn had not yet been unveiled, and we do not know how numerous they were at this point. It has been suggested that their use factored into the considerable growth of the Legion prior to the Day of Revelation, as their lives were spent in the place of ordinary warriors. Certainly the Drowned practiced this approach with other assets, as noted elsewhere in this account.

Morro was acutely aware of his Legion’s small size, and as noted elsewhere in this account he took numerous measures to compensate for the deficiency. As a consequence, the Legion boasted large numbers and a wide range of Mechanicum allies, taking in disfavoured and divergent sects. These became a grim client army of sorts for the XVI^th, often ruling over the Legion’s territories and culling the weak for servitors and automata. This arrangement was kept quiet at the time; had the Drowned maintained them over a true stellar empire like Tricendia or the Madrigal Sphere, it is likely that outrage would have ensued.

These allies enabled the Drowned to retain a disproportionately large fleet, many of whose vessels were pillaged from enemies vanquished in the Crusade and thus defy classification. As with the Berserkers of Uran and the Void Eagles, suspicion lingered that xenos craft had been incorporated into their flotilla, and the magos in their service had laboured to ensure that nothing could be proven. Certainly, none ever dared take their suspicions further and risk incurring Morro’s emnity. 

Another mystery was the number of Legion vessels which were clearly Imperial-made, yet of whose construction no records existed. This was the case in small numbers throughout the III^rd, V^th, VI^th and XIX^th Legion fleets, but the Drowned possessed the largest number of such vessels and - as noted before - the Gloriana Queen of the Damned. Even before the Insurrection, none seemed to know of where this vessel had been created, and it seems a forlorn hope now that we will ever learn the truth. What we know for a fact is that the Drowned, operating regularly without Army support, had taken care to amass a large number of capital ships which enabled them to conduct planetary siege operations and wage void warfare on their own.

From captured and stolen data-cores, it appears that the figure of 140,000 referred to the number of warriors Morro deemed willing to follow him into rebellion. 100,000 of these would blood themselves above and on Untara, and many of the remaining 40,000 would be tasked with eliminating those not trusted to fall in line. In several cases the Loyalist Drowned, thoroughly disadvantaged, would be wiped out by their treacherous kinsmen, but they too were guileful and tenacious sons of Morro, and not to be underestimated. The 2513^th Expeditionary Fleet disintegrated entirely when the Ayatollah’s writ was contested, leaving only a handful of survivors on either side. While only a single loyal Psalida would come through the initial burst of violence to fight on in the Emperor’s name, scattered companies endured and vowed to defy their gene-sire’s perfidy.

[Talonair]

[Morro leaves before the Emperor arrives.]

 

Oh. Even so, that's gotta sting

[bluntblade]

The Battle of Phemus IV

In most other theatres, Phemus IV would have been an insignificant rock, to be catalogued, assessed for its potential to be cultivated and inhabited, and rejected on every count. It was a world wracked by tectonic violence, its atmosphere sulphurous and its skies as inhospitable as the surface. But as the fates had it, Phemus IV lay within the Qarith Empire, and those foul xenos infested it with the same tenacity that the forces of the Imperium had learned to rue in so many systems.

 

The first fleet to assault the Phemus system was a mixed force of Predators and Crimson Lions, backed by a sizeable Army contingent. They laid waste the Qarith fleet, noting heavier resistance than expected but not enough to deter them, and commenced operations against the first three worlds. They reported the unusually powerful flotilla to nearby fleets, but found little to justify it on those three planets. On Phemus IV, however, they discovered its purpose, and nearly came to disaster. The Qarith’s adaptability enabled them to create vast hives underground, obscured from auspex-scans and probes.

 

It was from these tunnels that they struck at the Imperials when they landed. Against all expectation, the aliens had constructed spawning complexes in this unlikeliest of locales. They came in their thousands, turning what was meant to be a staking out of territory into a murderous defence. The Lions attempted to land a second wave, but Qarith Banshees and aircraft filled the skies, and it was all the gunships could do to cover their comrades on the ground. The warriors who had already made planetfall were denied protection from the skies, and were forced to weather the full fury of the alien defenders. The Imperials scrambled more craft and, at a steep cost, extracted their surviving ground forces.

 

The Lions were incensed, but cool heads prevailed; the danger existed of the Qarith attempting to retake the system, and it would be foolhardy to embark on a second invasion when the planet had already proven such a fearsome target. While the Army regiments attached to the fleet had served commendably across the system, Phemus IV’s climate made their deployment impossible. The fleet blockaded the planet, set guards and minefields on potential points of translation, and called for reinforcements. When these arrived, their ships were clad in the blue-green of ocean water, chased with copper. From the flagship, Sorrowsworn Morro gazed down upon the planet and vowed to conquer it.

 

Swiftly, he redirected other fleets to forestall any attempt by the Qarith to interfere, and reinforced the guard on the Mandeville points, before turning his attention to Phemus IV. Morro’s strategy was devoid of sentimental bravado. With the authority vested in him, he pronounced Phemus IV deserving of any fate short of Exterminatus. As such, and with the world plainly infested with hardy and virulent xenos life, full licence was given for phosphex and all bio-weapons short of virus-bombs. With such weapons and cold ruthlessness, the Drowned laid waste four areas across the world, each covering some thousand square kilometres.

 

The flames had scarcely begun to dissipate when the first drop-pods descended into the atmosphere. Morro would not hear out any request from the Lions and Wardens for a place in the vanguard. Instead, Terminator companies and Dreadnoughts spearheaded forces of heavy assault units, digging in and bracing themselves for the inevitable counter-attack. When this came, Morro’s response was already well on its way: squadrons of interceptors, bombers and Fire Raptor gunships. Phosphex and Vasgotox were used against the densest formations, and the drop sites were rapidly secured. Armour and artillery were landed next, accompanied by veteran companies. Then the Drowned brought their own auxiliaries to the surface. Being combat servitors, Cybernetica robots and Ordo Reductor thralls, these were not impeded by the environment as mortal troops would be.

 

The fighting was incessant, and the IIIrd and Vth Legion detachments returned to the fray with naked zeal, matched by the Drowned Men. Destroyers were unleashed with a freedom rarely afforded to them. Slowly, inexorably, the Astartes advanced, air strikes and bombardments driving the Qarith back underground or into the jaws of Imperial formations. The world’s tectonic instability prevented the construction of long-term outposts, but pre-fabricated bunkers provided Morro’s forces with a useful compromise, and his gunships and bulk landers served to quickly ferry troops and materiel across the surface, or to and from orbit. Within four Terran weeks, the xenos had effectively ceded control of the surface.

 

Morro well understood the devious ways in which the Qarith would defend their hives, and matched their guile and ruthlessness. Lava flows were diverted to scour warrens. Cataphract robots were equipped with mining tools to break them open, allowing tanks to saturate them with fire. Poison gas flooded them. With flamers, volkites and rad-cleansers, the Legionaries cleansed the veins of the world. Morro led many attacks himself, though he always deployed servitors to probe ahead, rather than lose more valuable troops to Qarith traps. It is speculated that the Drowned made heavy use of their Revenant Engines on Phemus IV, though if this is the case, they concealed the machines from their comrades just as they did elsewhere.

 

The campaign was laborious, and dragged on for two months until the Copper Prince deemed the world no longer worthy of his attention. The bulk of the XVI Legion moved on towards Qarith Prime, leaving an extermination task force to ensure no life remained on Phemus IV.

Edited June 21, 2019 by bluntblade

[helterskelter]

 

Enjoy, I have no fluff for him yet

[Demus Ragnok]

For some reason I believe some Drowned character should at some point utter the phrase “why so salty” whilst wielding a knife.

 

I don’t know why.

 

Also seriously excited to see a frater from “outside” the project modeling BotL. Very nice.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Demus Ragnok

[MikhalLeNoir]

Really cool to See a drowned model.

[helterskelter]

I have a tiny thing for anything mildly cephalopod related. So I'll be taking the scheme to 40k to use in a chaos force, and With the whole horrors of the deep thing on, I've got a few conversions planned.

I assume the BotL ends up having it's own 40k era at some point :p

[Sigismund229]

I have a tiny thing for anything mildly cephalopod related. So I'll be taking the scheme to 40k to use in a chaos force, and With the whole horrors of the deep thing on, I've got a few conversions planned.

I assume the BotL ends up having it's own 40k era at some point :p

Eventually...at some point very, very far in the future...(starts singing Bon Jovi living on a prayer)

[bluntblade]

Did Hesh ever specify what the Agoniser Tendrils really are? Are they a weapon he wielded before his corruption? If not, should he have the option for such a weapon?

[helterskelter]

If they're slaanesh would a lash of torment translate? Or is it more in the vein of a dark eldar agoniser?

 

Also I'm not sure if I'm allowed to put forward ideas, but has anyone ever read Slaine? Specifically the book of invasions involving the Fomorian sea devils?

 

Also also

Edited November 8, 2017 by helterskelter

[bluntblade]

Finally beat Sangi to it.

 

Chaotic Drowned as a concept is pretty embryonic, so I'm not sure.

 

As for Slaine... link?

Edited November 8, 2017 by bluntblade

[helterskelter]

Here's a sketchy image because I can't find the relevant 2000ad issues which my dad may have likely sold, but basically they're demonic parasites that attach to their hosts, both living off them and providing a measure of power and the ability to exert control when the fleshy man bits aren't being compliant

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by helterskelter

[bluntblade]

Ooh, grisly

[Nomus Sardauk]

Also also

Phwoar. Dunno if I've said this before but man, Hesh, really picked a winner with that sea green and rose gold colour scheme didn't he?

You've done a simply masterful job recreating his scheme on that DV Chosen Helter, very impressive work! :)

 

Finally beat Sangi to it.

Blunt! You dare usurp my throne?!

Edited November 9, 2017 by SanguiniusReborn

[helterskelter]

Won't lie, it massively appeals to me, and I'm getting through the fluff and hope at some time I might be able to add to it without having to just pinch the scheme and name and leaving :p

Definitely don't want to tread on anyone's toes and thanks for the praise guys ^_^

[Kelborn]

Don't worry. Hesh's last visit is quite a while ago.

And I don't think that he would be upset with you great mini. ;)

[bluntblade]

My feeling for the tendrils; they should be DA tech applied by Drowned techmarines. Maybe like the dark side guy's weapon in the third Prince of Persia.

[bluntblade]

*DE tech. Anyway

 

Agoniser Tendrils

At the beginning of their macabre evolution, the Tendrils were a pair of multiple-tailed and savagely bladed whips, over which Morro’s implants leant him preternatural control. It is theorised that Uriel Rakarth had a hand in their design, as they epitomised cruelty in the way that the Dark Eldar have made a hallmark of their weapons. Nontheless, the Tendrils were a more potent set of weapons than perhaps any wielded by that race.

[simison]

Legionary Fleshreaver Tanno

Shoal Rishon, Psalida Shlishi-Sheni

Battle of Untara Prime

Legionary Tanno was of many who were pressed into the Drowned during its galactic sub-orbital campaigns. There is no record of his planet of origin, but Tanno proved able to adapt to the Drowned's brutal standards. After surviving and excelling in several campaigns, Tanno would be chosen to accompany his Primarch to the surface of Untara Prime. There, he would witness the betrayal against the Scions Hospitalier and would be responsible for personally slaying seven Scions in close combat before being grievously wounded. He would survive his wounds and go on to new heights of slaughter in due time.

The current image of Legionary Tanno is a vox-pict recorded a day before the Day of Revelation. He is wearing specialized Mk IV plate that utilizes additional armour studs to reinforce the armour for underwater combat, known as the 'Abyss' pattern. The helmet lacks a vox-grille as it is sealed against the elements. The three teardrops each represent a completed campaign and is the only decoration to be seen, in line with the Drowned's usual pragmatism against needless decoration. He is wielding a 'Sarnath'-pattern bolter, which has been modified for extreme environments with a combat blade attachment. A Legion insignia has been inscribed on the bolter, potentially for decoration or for ease of identification.

Edited November 13, 2017 by simison

[helterskelter]

Lights in the Fog

The night was bleak, and the fog had laid thick over the sea port, yet very little sound was too be heard. The citizenry had been evacuated from the surrounding area, so the port was solely occupied by the military. The enemy was coming, the warships were gone, so it had been decided that an ambush was to be manufactured, hopefully catching the enemy unawares as they sought to gain more ground on the planet.

“I don’t like this night one bit, something isn’t right.” Matthias mumbled, his jacket collar turned up high in a vain attempt to keep out the cold and damp. He checked his las carbine for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening to Piotr.

“Whether you like it or not, we are here. We keep watch, we stand ready. That’s all you have to worry about for now.”

Matthias made a grunt of displeasure, and shuffled impatiently, he was uncomfortable and would have much rather been in the warm, settled nicely by the fire with his feet up and dry. As it was the sea air mingled with the mist and permeated everything, the salty breeze bringing fresh moisture to already wet soldiers.

Then in the darkness, a light, through the haze, a muted yellow white, diffracted in the fog. All the men turned. Unsurprisingly Matthias was the first to speak up.

“He’s got the right idea”

The commander, however, was not in the mood for disobeyed orders.

“Well then, you can go tell whichever Fugging numbskull who turned it on, to put it out! We’re under orders. Radio silence, no lights, we need whoevers coming to think no ones here so we can get the drop on them, and we aren’t going to do that if some spineless fool needs to have his night light one. Its not bedtime at mamas house, this is a warzone! Go shut it off. You go too Piotr, thank that mouth on Matthias.”

Piotr cuffed Matthias round the back of his head, and started toward the light, Matthias rolling his eyes set out to catch up just behind him. Between them all that could be heard was the rush of the sea, and the splash of the puddles as they walked, ahead of them only the light in the mist, around them only the darkness in the streets.

As they drew nearer to the light Piotr stopped, and put out his arm to still Matthias. “Wait, I thought I heard something.” They listened and still naught but the wash of the sea.

“I don’t hear squat, what is it?” Matthias said.

“I heard… something. Like a splash in the water.”

“If you hadn’t noticed, its wet. There are puddles everywhere and its cold, maybe it’s one of the other men trying to stay warm!”

Piotr shrugged, and continued on. Closer to the light they came and it almost seemed to sway gently on the breeze, it was almost alluring, like the light of an Angler fish in the deep drawing in prey, Piotr mused to himself somewhat darkly.

Then something changed.

The road beneath their feet seemed overly wet, even given the night, but still they went on. Then Matthias felt something warm drip on his face, startled he brush feverishly to get it off.

“What the Frag is this?” he asked, looking at his hands, in the mist and the bleakness of night he couldn’t see much but whatever had dripped on his face was most definitely not water.

“Piotr, somethings not right, im telling you, man.”

Piotr turned as he was walking. “Look, we’re almost there now will you just be quiet for” and it was then he tripped, and fell face first to the ground, his carbine skittering through the puddles in the street. He clambered after it and instead of finding the cold hard plasteel, he found something warm. And limp. He pulled at it, and it rolled over to face him. Dead eyes stared at him through the fog, a body lay in its own blood most likely from the dark, glistening smile on his throat. Piotr recoiled and started backwards, scrabbling away in shock.

“Matthias we need to go, now. Matthias? Matthias??”

He got up and turned. There was the light. And there was Matthias, floating, no, more like dangling before it, his head at an awkward angle to his body, and Piotr slowly felt the trickle of warmth, the warmest he had been all night but no drier.

As Matthias dropped, dead eyes stared at him through the fog, stared down at him, and the light shone, a shimmering sea green giant was before him, and faster than Piotr could open his mouth to scream, its hand shot out and turned his throat to a bloody red mess.

He fell hard, splashing down in a pool of blood made from the deaths of many men, a death soon to be his, and as the life drained from him his eyes moved up. The light moved on, and behind it dozens more stalked through the mist.

Edited November 25, 2017 by helterskelter