I've always found the "Cursed Founding" (21st?) fascinating; a whole load of Space Marine Chapters being formed from altered gene-seed with the goal of improving His great work...and all turning out horrendously wrong. From terrible mutations to more esoteric but no less crippling problems (such as the Lamenters and their seemingly genetic bad luck), there's something intriguing about the whole thing. Maybe it's the rooting for the underdog nature of such doomed heroes, or maybe it's the horror of unimaginable science going tragically wrong, but either way, it gave rise to the question- what if Cawl, in his infinite "wisdom", decided to push his experiments just a little bit further and, in "playing Emperor", ended up with a repeat of the tragedy of the 21st Founding? Presumably, given his immensely high status and partiality to skullduggery, he'd get away with it, but it would certainly make for an interesting scenario.
So anyway, dear Fraters and Sororitas, here is my idea for a collab project- come up with your own "Cursed Chapter" and post them here! Anything goes, the only "rules" are:
1: Being made in the 42nd Millennium by Cawl, such Chapters should ideally be Primaris (though this is not necessarily a hard and fast rule, see below.)
2: The Chapters should be formed with a particular "improvement" or other experimentation in mind. This could be anything, from new Astartes organs to trying to augment older applicants, or even pushing the Firstborn anatomy to its limit to try and reduce the strain on Primaris-specific equipment.
3: There must be some form of problem with the Chapter that would justify the Founding being "cursed". This again can be anything from horrendous deviation of the flesh to mental trauma to low survival rates or, well, anything else.
Other guidelines and suggestions:
>Post some fluff about your Chapter. You don't have to go overboard and write a novel, but obviously the more descriptive the better!
>Imagery, be it in model or art form is welcome but by no means necessary.
>Be sure to mention what gene-seed the Chapter uses (unless it's a secret, or maybe Cawl tried making his own from scratch? Either way, best detail that!).
>The fate of the Chapter is entirely up to you. Whether they entered service regardless of their shortcomings, were mercy-killed by the Inquisition or turned traitor, it doesn't matter.
I'll post a short(ish) example. Warning, contains female Astartes!
The Daughters of Russ, the Thunder Maidens and the Keepers of Wisdom:
Fluff:
OOC details:
Anyway, enough of my rambling. Over to you!