Jump to content

IA - The Nightguard


Sigismund229

Recommended Posts

"As the night gathers and the warp stirs I take this vow
As the ever lasting night gathers, I shall not falter
I shall be the eternal eye
I shall be the eternal watcher
I shall be the eternal guardian
I shall take no part in the politics of men
I shall suffer no evil to live
I shall know no fear
With my sword shall the night be held at bay and the warp turned back
I am the eternal eye
I am the eternal watcher
I am the eternal guardian
I take no part in the politics of men
I suffer no evil to live
I know no fear
The night gathers and my watch begins. It shall not end and I shall know no rest until my death for by my blood is the realm of men kept safe. In the service of man shall my life be forfeit, for I am a guardian of the Imperium
The shield against the night
The wall against the Immaterium
I am a warden of humanity and now my watch begins. I shall not leave my post until my death for when my blood has soaked the ground, the price shall have been paid in full and my duty fulfilled.
I am the shield of man and I know no fear.
"

This is a thread for all things Nightguard related, be they rules or fluff or even ideas post them here do that we don't clog up the main threads or the Inquisition thread.

As it stands, here's the current info on the Nighguard.
Strength:
700 in the Tower of Vigilance. Led by ex Lightnig Bearer.
400 in the Tower of Reason. Legion of Tower Master to be decided.
400 in the Tower of Truth. Legion of Tower Master to be decided.
71 in the Tower of Light. Led by ex Grave Stalker.
Total: 1,571 astartes.

Orbital elements:
1 Gloriana, Vigilia Aeternam

Fluff

The Seekers
Many a time upon the battlefields of the Great Crusade, legionnaires reported sightings of ghostly astartes in armour as black as night. Marching towards the enemy, their armour seemingly impervious to enemy weaponry and their own weapons seemingly killing with each strike. Sometimes these astartes would help them to fight their way through to an enemy commander or their objective, sometimes they would help them rescue squad brothers cut off by hordes of foes. However, when the battle was done, these ghostly astartes would sometimes have vanished along with one of the legionnaires or could be seen walking from the battlefield with one of their brothers in tow, now equally ghostlike in appearance. While the space marines who witnessed such events would disregard it as a trick, a hallucination, their began to appear rumours amongst the Imperial Army troopers who witnessed such things and retained their sanity. They began to say that they were angels, embodiments of the Emperor's will sent to fight alongside his troops so that, even if the Emperor was not their in person, he was represented by his angels in black.

However, the truth is not that they were angels, or even a trick of the warp. They were, in fact, the Seekers of the Nightguard. Sent out across the galaxy, the task of the Seekers was to find new recruits for the Nightguard, legionnaires of great belief in the Imperial Truth and equally great skill at arms. Appearing on the battlefield via teleportation and using relic devices know as refractors which distort the light around them and cause them to appear as ghosts to any who see them, at the battle's end they will find their quarry and offer him a choice. He can continue to serve the Emperor within his own legion and potentially rise to achieve great deeds and rank their or he can "die" in order to serve a greater purpose. If the astartes chooses the first, he will be mind wiped and remember the encouter as just a dream. However, of he chooses the second, then he will be teleported back to the Nightguard escort ship awaiting in orbit and be taken to one of the Nightguard's Keeps in order to take the black and swear his vows to the order, taking on a new name and repressing his memories of his former life, dedicating his new life to battle with the denizens of the warp. However, while there is great honour in this path it is a great sacrifice to make. Listed as killed in action upon the world he was recruited, none shall ever know the names of those brothers of the Nightguard who fall in battle against their eatheric foes save for their brothers within the Nightguard and none shall ever know the true heroism of their actions. However, such is the dedication of these warriors to the Imperial Truth that they never lament this fact for a moment, knowing that by their actions humanity is kept safe.
Edited by Lord Thørn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brief inspiration equals an idea. During the final years in the Insurrection, with Madrigal under siege & Chaos running rampant, the Nightguard have joined the new Loyalist-Revolutionary alliance as an anti-Chaos force. Alex, declaring the Nightguard to have one of the most important missions that will outlast the Insurrection, uses his diplomatic chops to arrange for a continuous Legion tithe to the Nightguard, so that they will always have the forces necessary to combat Chaos. 

 

With Chaos being buffed up by their new adherents in the Traitor legions, this leads to a far larger Nightguard, dubbed the XXIst Legion, post-Insurrection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brief inspiration equals an idea. During the final years in the Insurrection, with Madrigal under siege & Chaos running rampant, the Nightguard have joined the new Loyalist-Revolutionary alliance as an anti-Chaos force. Alex, declaring the Nightguard to have one of the most important missions that will outlast the Insurrection, uses his diplomatic chops to arrange for a continuous Legion tithe to the Nightguard, so that they will always have the forces necessary to combat Chaos. 

 

With Chaos being buffed up by their new adherents in the Traitor legions, this leads to a far larger Nightguard, dubbed the XXIst Legion, post-Insurrection.

Hmm....it's a good idea but I just have one question. How do the Nightguard continue to ensure the quality of their recruits(adherence to the Imperial Truth, skill at arms etc.) as they're an elite body and one that astartes need to give themselves over to entirely, completely forgetting their previous lives and being utterly adherent to the Imperial Truth. For such a large expansion they might need to lower standards a bit 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ideally, the legions tithing would select candidates based on qualities and traits the Nightguard says is desirable. There's nothing to say it has to be new recruits. So, with over 500k potential candidates, I think we have a broad enough pool to maintain a new legion with a high standard for entry.

 

Keep in mind, the Nightguard doesn't have to be a big legion to operate, perhaps around the 50k mark, if we want to aim low to represent their high standards.

Edited by simison
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd be more comfortable with it being around the 10-20k mark. 50k feels too large

 

also, here are the Nightguard rules as they stand atm

Unique Wargear

Aegis Pattern Power Armour: Any model wearing Aegis pattern power armour counts as having the Adamantium Will special rule and a 2+ armour save and 6++ invulnerable save. May be taken by any model or squad with the Legiones Astartes(Nightguard) special rule for +30 points each.

Spirit Reaver: Any model equipped with a Spirit Reaver gains a weapon with the following profile: S: user AP:2 Melee, Soul Blaze. May be taken by any independent character or character with the Legiones Astartes(Nightguard) special rule for +20 points.

Nightguard Munitions: Any model equipped with Nightguard munitions and armed with a bolter, bolt pistol or heavy bolter gains the following profile when shooting: S:4 AP:3 Soul Blaze, Gets Hot!. May be taken by any squad or independent character with the Legiones Astartes(Nightguard) special rule for +10 points for an independent character and +5 points per model in a squad(must be taken by all) .

 

Special Rules

The Eternal Vigil: Any squad with Legiones Astartes(Nightguard) gains Night vision and Zealot.

Until the death: Any squad with Legiones Astartes(Nightguard) gains Feel No Pain(5+) and Hatred(Chaos)

The Select Few: You may never take the Nightguard as your primary detachement. Instead, the Nightguard may be taken as allies by any force with Legiones Astartes(Loyalists) or Legiones Astartes(Renegades) and are treated as Distrusted Allies.

Edited by Sigismund229
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Founding Few

Of all the astartes who serve in the Nightguard, none are as respected as the survivors of the Founding Few. The first of the Nightguard, the Founding Few were 100 space marines hand picked from amongst the ranks of the legions who prosecuted the Qarith campaign by Icarion and Alexandros. Often Terrans, these space marines were chosen for their skill at arms and their faith in the ideals of the Imperial Truth lending them a mental fortitude that most lacked. In addition to this strength of mind, a disproportionate numbet hailed from the XVth legion, their high strength of pariahs making their legion a fertile recruiting ground for the future Nightguard.

 

Sworn to secrecy by the Emperor himself, these 100 marines became the first to say the words of the Nightguard's oath and the first to obliterate the colours of their own legion with the black paint of the Nightguard, a ritual that would later be known as "taking the black" and painting the unblinking eye of Terra where their own legion's sigil used to be. Taking up residence in the Tower of Vigilance and while other space marines have joined them in their eternal vigil, none command the respect of these original 100.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
The Towers are less towers and more like mini, hidden fortress monastries. The way they function is that the Nightguard reside their when they haven't got any deamon ass to be kicking with their psychic brethren keeping watch for any sign of a deamonic incursion anywhere around the EoT. When any deamonic incursion is detected, the Nightguard go and fight it and then purge anyone else who's seen it(astartes excepted but they're sworn to secrecy) or, if those individuals have sufficient strength of mind, then the Nightguard takes them back to their keep to be a serf.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd rather not have Astartes getting mind-wiped. I'd still keep wiping for the general population, at least to begin with whilst former Scions, Bears etc are represented in the hierarchy.

 

Despite all the other things I should be doing (although the Grave Stalkers piece is coming along), I've gone and written a postscript to the Insurrection set in one of the Towers, drawing heavily on Sim's "I remember" piece.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mind-Wipes don't have to full-on amnesia deals, I think they can wipe specific lengths of time from a person's memory, like a day or so. I remember a fluff segment in one of the GK Codices where after falling into a trap left by Ahriman the GK and the Subjagators Chapter come to the agreement that the Subjagators all undergo mind-wipes so as to prevent any daemonic taint from the incursion Ahriman's trap triggered.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That sounds alright to me.

 

Aesthetically, what do our boys in black have to distinguish them from the Deathwatch? I know they won't be present here, but it'd be nice to have some differences. I was thinking black and gold, but then there's a certain other canonverse army that uses those colours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well first off the Nightguard are more similair to the Dark Angels than the Deathwatch in that they go in for the whole robes, censers, burning candles etc. Their symbol is a single unblinking eye(think Eye of Horus) rather than that of their original legion.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking knightly stuff with black and silver- perhaps with midnight blue or real dark purple just to vary things a little- although I suggest that our scattered warriors who join (a BotL within the BotL, if you like) retain their old gear, with the colours altered.

 

Just one thing- is it feasible to give them different helmets to the DA? I'm definitely picturing Nightguard Nux in something like the one on the cover of Dark Souls 3. Though I like the idea of Khârn with a DA winged helmet, just as a throwback to his canon silhouette.

 

Apart from Odyssalas, do we have any other candidates? Perhaps a survivor of the 3rd Wartribe's battle on Iyacrax?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking knightly stuff with black and silver- perhaps with midnight blue or real dark purple just to vary things a little- although I suggest that our scattered warriors who join (a BotL within the BotL, if you like) retain their old gear, with the colours altered.

 

Just one thing- is it feasible to give them different helmets to the DA? I'm definitely picturing Nightguard Nux in something like the one on the cover of Dark Souls 3. Though I like the idea of Khârn with a DA winged helmet, just as a throwback to his canon silhouette.

 

Apart from Odyssalas, do we have any other candidates? Perhaps a survivor of the 3rd Wartribe's battle on Iyacrax?

Of course it's possible for a helm to be different to the DA! The armour itself, in my mind, resembled that of the GK it's just the stuff that they wear on top.of it resembles what the DA use.

 

Also, I have a slight concern about these characters. They can wash up at the NG sure but in order to join they need to forget their past lives except for their skill at arms. Completely so that memories from it and grudges can't interfere with their duty as a member of the Nightguard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If that's the case, I'd rather they all ended up somewhere else entirely. We'd be nullifying all their character development up to that point. I mean, just imagine if Loken had his memory wiped before becoming Knights Errant. That glorious "up yer :cuss:" to Horus wouldn't work at all.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They dom't have their memories wiped otherwose the act loses all meaning. But they do need to repress all emotions or memories they have and not let it influence them. In effect, to them those past memories need to feep like the memories of another person or of a past life that has no influence on their actions now. For example, they are listed as KIA upon joining and they take a new name.

 

So if you wanted, Nightguard Nux could, upon meeting Raktra, suddenly experiences a resurgance of feelings of disgust, hate, anger etc. but manages to conquer them and stay true to his vows.

Edited by Sigismund229
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd say the experiences they've endured up until then would probably qualify them in any case. And honestly, I don't see how hating Raktra on a personal level would really interfere with fighting him.

 

I'm leaning towards our boys simply become a small, more autonomous part of the Nightguard at the close of the Insurrection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about the character I recently had in mind as a XXI primarch?

 

An anti-chaos champion fighting against chaos to redeem his curse. Could be a loner within the Nightguard. Someone who can scout enemy territory, etc. Would make sense for him to join the Nightguard as he got nowhere else to go.

Edited by Kelborn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.