Starborn

The Starborn are a semi-renegade scout cult that was authorized due to a group of corrupt and vocal politicians within the Adeptus Terra. This group believed strongly in the Star Child prophecies. Soon after the creation of the chapter the leader of the vocal political sect fell out of favor and was deemed a heretic for his belief in the Star Child and all support was cut from the chapter. While not officially declared traitorous or heretical, they have been uniquely barred from requisitioning anything more than basic equipment and supplies. The vast halls of their fortress monastery lay empty save for the brothers who live there, partially constructed, and in disrepair. Their trigger discipline is tight- never wasting a shot, their weapon all unpowered for lack of fuel, and their armor repaired with their own hands. Most notably, the chapter has been withheld several vital components to turn a scout into a full battle brother...
== Founding ==
The chapter was founded sometime prior to 997.M41 when Inquisitor Fortez discovered members of the Star Child temple had become the the unwitting pawns of the Chaos God Tzeentch. It was not brought yet brought up to full strength when the creation was deemed politically unpopular and all production ceased. They are of Raven Guard Stock and only possess scouts. They are listed as being the "28th" founding, though this is disputed.
== Chapter Cult ==
The Starborn’s chapter cult is mysterious and hidden to outsiders. They hold that they are agents of the Star Child’s will, though they have a less heretical view of the concept that most cults do. They believe that the Star Child is merely the Emperor’s soul, defined separately from his body. They venerate his corpse as a temple but recognize that his spirit is the true treasure of humanity that rests within. They believe the temple is worth protecting but it is the spirit that is worthy of veneration.
The Starborn’s chapter cult also teaches that doing without required things is a test of one’s faith and that any hardships imposed upon you is a gift from the Emperor who knows you can carry such a burden. In this way they seem to have rationalized their own lack of supplies and battle brothers as a sort of religious trial for them. Their head chaplain will often authorize the removal of certain wargear from marines of the chapter as a means of testing their faith, believing their actions to be ordained by divine visions. Marines of this chapter are required to be very self-sufficient, something the chapter’s teachings reinforces.
== Fortress Monastery: Cragland Cathedral ==
Call the “Half-Built Cathedral” or the “Star Gallery” the fortress monastery of the Starborn serves as their fortress monastery. They have very few chapter serfs and their low numbers mean the massive and gorgeous cathedral has an enterally “empty” feel to it. It's title as the “Star Gallery” is due to the fact that the roof in one of the main chappels was never finished and one can look up at the stars while they pray in several locations.
== Homeworld: Levilnor X ==
The chapter recruits from and maintains a monastery on the medieval world of Levilnor X. It is the 10th planet in its system and is cast in perpetual winter. Another planet in the system Levilnor IV, was invaded by orks and was where the Temple of the Star Child was before it was eliminated. The people of Levilnor X have been indoctrinated by Imperial propaganda to fear and mistrust the Starborn and they are somehow blamed for the Ork attack on Levilnor IV (where many of them once lived). The entire island of Cragsland is considered off limits by local taboo and is where the fortress monastery resides. By custom the chapter only recruits those brave enough to break the taboo, scale the craggy mountains their cathedral rests atop, and then pass the rigorous trials of a normal space marine. Those who fail become some of the few serfs that the chapter mantains.
== Tactics ==
The Starborn are notoriously stingy with their ammunition and use of resources. They employ hit and run tactics and many sniper weapons. They are seen as “regressive” in their tactics, often resulting to stalking enemies and killing them brutally with improvised traps and melee weapons when they can’t snipe them from afar. They use their terrain a lot, often turning natural hazards into horrific traps. They have caused avalanches to destroy enemy cities, rigged spiked pits loaded with bacterial agents found in the excitement of local fauna, and poisoned food and water supplies. They even commandeered their enemies weapons and used them against them, often taking them home and displaying them as trophies.
== Appearance and Armor ==
The scout armor of the chapter is colored a dark purple and it is matched with an orange color for their fatigues and under layers. All of their armor is dusted with a pattern that resembles a starfield, a reference to their chapter cult. Getting one’s armor “dusted” is akin to being promoted to the status of battle brother and new recruits have to wait years before they can earn the right to have the addition to their armor. As descendants of the Raven Guard they have the same ashen skin and dark hair. This is in stark contrast to their orange star symbol that they adorn their armor with.
Because of the embargo the chapter has on it most of the marines have some level of technical training, learned by necessity, that allows them to maintain their own equipment without the aid of a techmarine. The chapter does have an old, venerable, techmarine and a skant number of disciples that soothes the spirits of the more complex machines.
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Category:Renegade Chapters
Category:28th Founding
Category:Raven Guard Successors