Mardum

Mardum was one of the truest examples of a Feral World ever found, where the bones of Dark Age civilisation had been grown over by a more primal mien. Ancient hive cities reared up from desert and jungle, many of them colonised by flora and fauna. The world’s sister, Abassi, turned lifeless in the void, shattered in the Age of Strife.

The memory of what once was existed only as allegory and myth in Mardumian minds. Man had no chance to rebuild, for the tropical regions which made up so much of the landmass teemed with life, including a staggering range of predatory megafauna. With the forging of steel and the working of stone the limits of native technology, Mardumians stood among the apex predators, ever fighting to survive. Tribe warred upon tribe, and pitted sword and spear against their rivals both human and animal.

There were those tribes who, as others remained nomadic, raised cities of stone, ruling from these Cambodia fending off the incursions of their neighbours. To one such tribe, the people of Sambedi in the southern forests, Andezo came. The comet-streak of his birthing pod was recognised as a momentous omen, and the Baron Sambedi himself sought out the fallen star. He found a child, blind but unimpeded, clearly possessed of great psychic power.

Andezo was the name given to the boy by Sambedi’s shaman, for it had impressed itself into the psyker’s mind upon seeing the young Primarch. This was reflected in the way Andezo conducted himself; his self-image appears to have been as an agent of fate as much as his own will. He served his adopted father as warrior and hunter, making the land safe for his people. At his own request he was inducted into the shaman orders which spanned Mardum, and turned his eyes to Mardum’s most insidious threat.

For the aether was ever close to the surface on Mardum, and the Neverborn slipped through the cracks occasionally to take a form of flesh and spread suffering. It was said that a single one of sufficient power could slay a tribe or bring a settlement to anarchy, and there were enclaves where no man trod, for their power was strong and their appetites ruinous. In the territories of man, only the vigilance of the shaman kept them at bay.

Andezo, the youth who saw without sight, perceived Warp entities as a stain upon his senses. Perhaps more than any other Primarch, he associated them with the same powers that had scattered the Primarchs and delivered him to this world. Whatever the truth, he deemed them his enemy without reservation, and set himself the task of freeing Mardum from their grip.

So the young Primarch submitted himself willingly to the rigours of teaching and trials at the hands of the shaman, mastering his psychic gifts even as he learned to wield sword, spear and shield. Likewise he took the fleet saurian beasts his people used for skirmishing cavalry and bred them for strength as well as speed, producing the first heavy cavalry Mardum had known.

By the time Andezo grew to adulthood he was his father’s champion and councillor, a man with a foot in the two worlds that formed Mardum. At the same time, he was undeniably something quite unprecedented on Mardum; a man with the means and will to hunt daemons.

With this goal in mind, Andezo set about imposing unity on the tribesmen of Mardum. He warred at his father’s behest, but equally he advocated trade and diplomacy, to the extent that Mardum possessed these. Often he served as ambassador; his legend was well-established at this time, and there were few in any tribe who disregarded the giant’s words as his reputation grew.

Andezo took the finest hunters and the most learned shaman from all the tribes sworn to Sambedi into the shadowed reaches. From the overgrown pinnacles of ancient hive cities to catacombs which lay beneath arid desert, his bands of chosen men and women ventured through the wilderness and confronted the nightmares of their world. No small number were sacrificed to the ravages of the Neverborn, but time and again Andezo and his warbands prevailed, and something of the pall which seemed to hang over parts of Mardum was banished.

When the Ebon Blades came upon Mardum, they found a lord and sage of the wild world, who was more than ready to accept their fealty. Andezo, many suspect, had discerned some truth in the myths of Mardum’s folk being cast from the heavens, and may well have suspected the purpose of his creation. However close to the mark these suspicions are, it is certain that Andezo needed no persuading to join his father’s Crusade, and took to it with as much fervour as any of his brothers.

## The Tribes of Mardum

* **Ebonspear** - Great hunters, led by Adewálé, the tribe in which Andezo was raised, deep connection to Mardum and its flora & fauna, unified and pacified Mardum, fought against the forces of Shaka and Andezo and was annihilated during the battle of Mardum Phantom Blade, coordinated assaults including artillery, fast units (mostly air units and vehicles) and infiltrators, the last Terran-born members of the XXth Legion, led by Thoruk, strong desire for honor and glory, strong honor code, see themselves as the embodiment of the Emperors will, disappeared after the battle of Mardum.
* **Skullripper** - Infiltrators, decorate themselves with shrunken heads of their slain enemies, joined the Black Raiders.
* **Bloodlords** - Deriving from the deep swamps of their homeworld of Mardum, these members of the XXth Legion never made the attempt to lay down their old habits and rituals of their ancestors. The tribes of the Mardumian swamps were known and feared for their dark belief. Rumours of them still practising blood rituals and other insidious traditions quickly spread among the rest of the Legion until their gene father Andezo Sambedi was forced to act. Censuring the whole Bloodlord tribe, he sends them on a penitent campaign under the watchful eye of one of his closest brothers, Ixiptatlan. It was him, who offered his help in dealing with the rebellious tribe. Attached to the ranks of the Eagle Warriors, the Bloodlords shall learn discipline and to follow the Imperial Truth. Unknown by Andezo, it was not his beloved brother, who offered his help. It was a more sinister being. Soon, the Bloodlords learned the ways of the Dark Gods and openly celebrated their ancient beliefs. Blood sacrifices, dark magic, mighty tokens and even cannibalism made their way back to the sons of Mardum. Through their bloody beliefs, they soon heard voices from beyond, ordering them to slay and murder. It did not take long until Chieftain Odanka and his man gave into the whispers, opening their souls to the entities of chaos. The Bloodlords were reborn into the service of Khorne, becoming a Daemonkin host. Odanka, now known as the Devourer, led his men at the side of Ixiptatlan until they finally met their fate in the form of the Ebonspear tribe - former brothers of the Predators Legion during the Siege of Terra - and were wiped out.
* **Bloodhand** - Along the Goredrinker, the Bloodhand was known for its savage assaults and bloodshed, annihilated on Terra.
* **Goredrinker** - Along the Bloodhand, the Goredrinker was known for its savage assaults and bloodshed, survived Terra and became fierce followers of Khorne, rumored to have been cannibal (even while officially called loyal).
* **Black Conda** - Known for launching lightning assaults assault via bikes infiltrators, like the Ebonspear, the Black Conda are deeply connected to the flora and fauna of Mardum, tamed and took a lot of Mardumian Predators as their combat companions, disappeared after the battle of Mardum.
* **Plainrunner** - Notable for their use of bikes and tanks, known as being honorable and closely tied to many other Legions, annihilated previous to Terra
* **Skyspear** - Air assaults, believed in their superiority in aerial combat, annihilated above Terra Spirit Breaker, many shamans (librarians), obsessed in learning more about Chaos and how to defeat it, was ultimately corrupted by Tzeentch.
* **Soul Eater** - Void combat, since their induction, the Soul Eater was amongst if not the most independence loving tribe, tried to usurp other tribes in order to gain more power, their leader Shaka gathered like minded members of the Predators, turned renegade and founded the pirate realm and its lords, the Black Raiders.
* **Steel Born** - Tanks and artillery, highly disciplined and militaristic, believe in the superiority of firepower, those with the big guns, joined the Black Raiders.
* **Storm Claws** - The Storm Claws were one of the few Tribes to overtly hold on to older XXth Legion tactics, favouring explosive speed and aggression. Nonetheless, Mardumian influence permeated the Tribe, Chief Jomo Omonaku recruiting primarily from the ruined and overgrown hive cities of the world. Nothing of the Storm Claws is documented in the aftermath of the Battle of Mardum, but it is suspected that they were given shelter in anonymity by elements within the reforming Imperium, shedding their old identity to become a Cohort of the Second Founding.