IL XIV - The Dune Serpents

[bluntblade]

I only have the skeleton of his character, having made him up on the fly. He's very much ideologically committed to Icarion, and sees deposing Azus as a step towards redeeming his Legion in a sense.

[bluntblade]

Any ideas, Squig?

[Big Bad Squig]

Not loads if I'm honest - if his split with Azus is ideologically based rather than a question of survival or self-interest then his position could have been a leading member of an alternate Dhul'hasan clan that Azus conquered (I'm guessing he's not Terran from the name but correct me if I'm wrong), meaning he'd represent the old blood of Dhul'hasa.  Have you got an idea of the reasoning behind his desire to depose Azus (i.e. does he view Azus' methods as going too far or not far enough, or is it about his structure of the legion to keep clan divisions present, or his allowance of Lawrenz and other Terrans into positions of power) or is his reasoning simply belief that the Emperor has become tyrannical?  Also, just to clarify, are we having Mahrid and the Eastern Horde leader who turns traitor as the same character?

[bluntblade]

I quite like the idea that he feels Dhul'hasa has been yoked to Azus' and then the Emperor's goals

[Big Bad Squig]

Poking my head in here to say I'm still alive and kicking just as much as ever - going through a very eventful period of time at the moment (and not in the hugely fun way) so my time and energy is somewhat limited.  I'm trying to keep motivated and keep chipping away at the Serpents work and toying with the idea of getting back into writing more stories for the Legion (particularly feeling interested by exploring pre-discovery Dhul'hasa's culture - perhaps the least productive thing possible to write about but it seems far better than the vast quantities of nothing I've been churning out lately) - we shall see.

 

Squig out 

[bluntblade]

Good to hear from you, Squig. I'd say Dhul'hasa lore will help to flesh out the Legion, so go for it :)

[bluntblade]

Any progress with Dhul'hasa?

 

Actually, got a question: do we want it to be Iron/Steel Age, or early gunpowder?

[Big Bad Squig]

In my head at least Dhul'hasa is probably steel age without any outside influence but still has old functioning technological relics across the planet - and yeah, I started writing something recently.  I'll post when a bit more is done

[Nomus Sardauk]

Wasn't it stated in Azus'a backstory that the Dhul'hasans had scientists that studied his biology after they caught him? That would imply a certain degree of technological advancement.

[bluntblade]

Steel Age tribes, more advanced cultures in cities or another country?

[Big Bad Squig]

Wasn't it stated in Azus'a backstory that the Dhul'hasans had scientists that studied his biology after they caught him? That would imply a certain degree of technological advancement.

 

True; I suppose what I was getting at is they have preexisting facilities, medical instruments and the like and the knowledge of how to use them but not really too much capacity for building new tech - more limited by resources than anything else.

[bluntblade]

We ought to identify some Serpent operations in the Easter Fringe, at least that we can use in Legionary blurbs etc.

 

Btw did Squig ever define the Legion's structure and give its praetorate Legion-specific titles?

[bluntblade]

Also, one line for Dhul'hasa:

 

Azus was cast upon a world racked by thirst, where men were more like to wash with sand than water.

[Kelborn]

Can someone share Azus' picture?

 

As far as I remember is Squig not on discord, right?

[bluntblade]

[bluntblade]

Had an idea:

 

​XIVth Legion Centurion

Majyud Iqbal

23rd Company

The Wenolik Raid

 

Captain Iqbal took the place of his slain captain on the Day of Revelation, cementing his position with an impressive tally of successes as the Dune Serpents regrouped and began their campaign of raids and incursions. This image has been reconstructed by picts taken on the Insurrectionist-held armoury world of Wenolik, during one of the largest such raids that the 23rd Company took part in. Operating with their brothers of the 44th Company, the 4752nd Solar Auxilia and a handful of freeblade Knights, they struck with sudden and overwhelming force. Targeting the bio-phage silos prepared by the Insurrectionists for the march on Terra, Iqbal’s forces broke the containment barriers and plunged Wenolik’s hives into pandemonium. Consequently the Dune Serpents’ allies made planetfall with little coherent opposition, and the planet’s stores of conventional weaponry were quickly seized or destroyed. In a little over a day the Loyalist raiders had departed the system, leaving a ravaged world and tens of millions of corpses for the Insurrectionists who followed.

 

Iqbal's Mk IV armour is heavily artificered and bears a number of Dhul'hasan embellishments, although Iqbal seems to have foregone the common snakeskin cloak as an unnecessary hindrance in the field. He is typical of a XIVth Legion captain in that while marks of rank are apparent, they are considerably less overt than they would be in an equivalent officer of most other Legions.

 

Wargear

- Umbra-pattern bolt pistol

- Dhul'hasan power sabre

- Combat shield

Edited June 20, 2018 by bluntblade

[bluntblade]

XIVth Legion Praetor

Zainab Kasim

Master of the Forty-Third Chapter 

 

  Chapter Master Kasim was a quiet, considered leader, having served in various consul roles for decades until his elevation in 992. M30. A gifted strategist, he was known for codifying several methods for disrupting enemy forces across entire planetary theatres. Best known of these was the Sword and Lash, which Kasim had put to good use against the augmented and genhanced slave-soldiers of Koptiam. Deploying his companies seemingly without any thought of supporting their Army compatriots, he exploited their mobility and self-sufficiency to send them burning across the enemy lands without consolidating their victories or throwing down supply chains. With their numbers carefully gauged, nothing stood against the Dune Serpents, and resistance to the Army died away as the defenders found anarchy to their rear.

 

  Fighting on the Eastern Fringe, Kasim would use similar methods against Insurrectionist forces throughout Azus’ insurgency. He left a trail of broken, but not wholly annihilated armies along his path, reasoning that leftover troops could be dealt with by Loyalist forces on the worlds where he marooned them. This would cement the populations’ commitment to the Emperor’s cause and, if nothing else, tie up further Insurrectionist detachments in reprisal missions. Kasim would, as before, codify these callous methods in scrupulous detail, and while their amoral nature cannot be denied, they are now entrenched on the syllabus of future Imperial commanders.

 

  Kasim’s wargear includes some elements that he would discard before taking the field, notably the snakeskin cloak. Regardless his armour and scimitar are reflective of the XIVth Legion’s Dhul’hasan heritage, while his archeotech pistol is a mysterious design which Kasim recovered on the Dead World of Whelua IX. The XIVth Legion made the heaviest use of Mk VI “Jackal” armour, which was superbly suited to their highly mobile operations and use of subterfuge.

Edited January 27, 2019 by bluntblade

[simison]

BL Fluff Segment (12k words)

Anthology: 30% - Incomplete - (More!)

FW Fluff Segment (10k? words)

History: 15% - Complete

Organization: 15% - N/A

Exemplary Battles: 15% - N/A

Crunch

Legiones Astartes & Unique Wargear: 5% - N/A

Rites of War: 5% - N/A

Unique Units: 5% - Incomplete - (There are several to choose from, which Algrim will need to decide on)

Unique Characters: 5% - Incomplete - (2 with write-ups, but not Jon, strangely enough.)

Primarch: 5% - Incomplete - (NYR)

 

Total - 15%

 

Plenty of work to be done, but they're not starting at 0 like I thought they would. Also, Algrim will need to decide what to keep and what not to keep.

[simison]

Ibrahim, Loyal Dune Serpent, froze. He had never done so. Yet, he did.

 

Staring through the scope of his rifle, he recognized the marking on the Warrior of Peace pauldron. A green claw hid in one of the corners. A similar claw existed on Ibrahim's own pauldron. It was a claw representing destruction and ruinous victory. One of the few times where humanity as a whole uplifted the Dune Serpents and other, lesser legions. To those legions, that final campaign of extermination had been a march through hell.

 

They were a taciturn lot, but even they could not resist building some bonds of shared misery from that campaign. It was the only time Ibrahim could recall swearing an oath of brotherhood with a legionary outside of the Serpents.

 

The prices we pay for the commands of our fathers, he thought as he squeezed the trigger.

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Time to do some reading.

[Doctor Perils]

Are you planning on keeping the new colour scheme?

 

And are you keeping the rules that were pretty much ready?

 

Plus let me know if you'd like to discuss their DoR outing :)

[bluntblade]

XIV^th Legion Al'laramad Outrider Sergeant

Ultair Qutiz

Qutiz was of a particularly solitary cast among the Dune Serpents, an attribute which, along with great patience and diligence, fitted him well for service with the elite Al'laramad. Operating far from the line of battle, these killers were rarely even identified by enemy forces during a Compliance campaign. The Drowned and Steel Legion were accordingly wary of the Al'laramad, and designated them as priority targets.

[bluntblade]

XIVth Legion Shamshir Raider

Khaled Ibak

While he is pictured with a sniper rifle rather than his scimitar, Khaled Ibak was equally adept in gunnery and swordsmanship. He displayed both these skills in the First Hephaestan Offensive, as his squad sought out and killed several Insurrectionist command groups. Ibak was among those Serpents who fought their way clear of the Insurrectionist noose at Akkbares and joined the guerilla campaign under Jon Lawrenz.

[bluntblade]

XIV^th Legion Dursk Rassan Assault Marine

Barsar Ghul

Ghul’s image here has been assembled from Insurrectionist data-logs. As with many of his brothers, he became balefully familiar to the invaders as the Dursk Rassan executed devastating line-breaker attacks and spread terror among them. Ibak’s bloody tale of resistance came to an end on ___ however, surrounded by Drowned Men and finally slain by Yarlath Keelsplitter.

[simison]

Officer: Jon Lawrenz

Title:Jon Sahrihalab Al'Sahrimalil ben Alrrebeshr

Service:Although it was Azus Bahmut who would create what would be known as the Dune Serpents, it was Jon Lawrenz who laid down the foundation. It was he who had led the original desert rebels against the Emperor’s armies, earning the latter’s respect despite his youth. It would be Lawrenz who would lead the new legion in the Emperor’s service. Since those momentous days of the Unification Wars, Lawrenz has been a pillar of the Serpents’ command structure. Throughout the centuries, he has provided a necessary backbone, keeping the worst of the Serpents’ isolationist tendencies in check.

Relationship:Although initially hostile towards each other, Lawrenz and Bahmut have since established a working relationship. Lawrenz provides an important voice of reason and duty that prevents the Ghost of the Sands from indulging his darker tendencies. As time has gone on, neither have become closer to the other as duty will not see Lawrenz resign his unofficial position as Devi’s Advocate, and Azus simply waits for the day death claims the venerable commander.

Preferred Wargear: Although the legion has shifted from its origins, Lawrenz has never forgotten those heady were the Fourteenth was known for its speed. These days, Jon rides to war in a custom bike he has affectionately nicknamed the Desert Daemon. A power scimitar is his chosen weapon for melee, while a bolt pistol is his only ranged weapon.