Watchers of Akhet

Watcher of Akhet Legion iconography.

(To be added)

Kovárna

> "*When surrounded by darkness, it is human nature to look for the light. Many others might say they are fools for clutching to those last remaining streaks of light. I would say back to them that they are the fool. It is not weakness to stick to the light in times where it is seemingly nowhere to be found. I would say that it is instead named strength. The hope and thought it takes to nurture a small ember into a roaring flame is greater than a desire to skulk around in the darkness. This is why our battle cry prods us to charge towards the dawn. We charge towards the light, and therefore we charge towards hope and the strength that lies within.*"
> ― Khnum on the Watcher's battlecry
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Formerly known as the Horned Sentinels, the **Watchers of Akhet** specializes in knowing what the right tool is for the right job. While they may not have the single focus drive of some of the other Legions, they have mastered how to counteract nearly any challenge laid in front of them, and as such, they can be slotted into any combat situation deemed necessary. They might not be the best at any one thing, but they are good enough at what they do to flourish in nearly any situation they are put in.

Lead by their Primarch Khnum-Anhuret, the Watchers would lead successful crusades across the galaxy during the Great Crusade and would help hold the Imperium together during the events of the Almire Apostasy and the later Frontier Wars where he would help his brothers forge Imperial Secundus until they could reclaim Terra after it had fallen during the events of the Apostasy.

The Watchers are a jovial Legion and enjoy the humor that comes so easy to mortals, savoring the humility it brings between ranks. This causes some of the Legions to write them off as simple jokesters, while others enjoy their more light-hearted nature. They are serious in their intent when it comes to combat, but they revel in the freedom that it brings. They know the scope of what they are doing, but they try to have some fun while they’re doing it. Contrary to the popular opinion among other Legions the Watchers of Akhet heavily value the friendship of outsiders. They enjoy crusading with other Legions as it allows them a chance to review and analyze different tactics they may have not had a chance to learn from yet. Due to this they often will try to join up with other Legions or are the first to answer distress calls.

The First Legion prides itself on being able to adapt to any situation and overcome the challenges that have been laid in front of them. As a result, every Astartes is trained equally in all forms of combat. This is to allow them to, for example, swap to a ranged style of fighting to face enemies who favor close quarter combat or to deploy lightning-quick guerilla assaults in the chance they are outnumbered. This mentality also allows an Astartes to pick up where their brother left off. If a heavy bolter user is stricken down then any battle brother can pick the weapon up and continue to support the rest of his brothers.

The Watchers of Akhet will also study the tactics of their enemies heavily before engaging with them directly. Analyzing and learning their strategies until they can figure out the best way to counteract their tactics. They will spend a great length of time trying to figure out the right weapons, battle placements, and chapters to send down to fight before they make planetfall.

Usually, their preferred first contact is to gauge the enemy to see just what they’re capable of. They will bring ranged weapons to the field with brothers armed with melee weapons lying in wait to charge. Should the ranged weapons falter the Astartes wielding melee weapons will attempt to tie up the enemy while the rest of the battle brothers provide support and attempt to pinpoint a weakness.

Despite their mastery of tactical flexibility, the Watchers are not unbeatable. The Watchers struggle against foes of a more random nature. Their style of combat requires the Watchers to adapt to the enemy, and if the enemy cannot be adapted to then the Watchers will suffer larger casualties in an attempt to defeat their enemy. Making enemies like the Hrud especially devastating to Khnum and his sons as they were required to forgo being clever or tactical to dig in and fight the enemy.

## Legion History

### Great Crusade

The Watchers of Akhet originally started out as the Horned Sentinels as their Legion helped to finish the task on unifying Terra during the Unification Wars. Due to being the First Legion and the prototypes for the other Legions, the Watchers were not given a specialization hardwired into their genetic code like the other Legions. Instead, they were created to deploy to any battlezone and adapt to the situation as needed.

When the Crusade began properly, the Sentinels went forth to help conquer the galaxy and bring those lost back into the light of the Imperium. The Astartes of the First would be tasked with every mission from diplomatic compliances to brutal warfare that other Legions like the Star Guardians would have flourished in. The Sentinels conquered and emerged stronger from every compliance they set out to. It was noted that due to the First's adaptability and tactical nature their compliances would lead them to take fewer and few casualties on each mission they deployed on. Coupled with their stable gene-seed their numbers remained stable though lower than many of the other Legions who had found their Primarchs.

#### The First Rangdan Xenocide

The First Rangdan Xenocides were a war fought in utter Chaos; the Great Crusade still in its infancy, the legions yet to truly grow and none yet reunited with their sires. So heavy was the toll on the nascent Imperium that few truly remember the events of those dark days, the records lost or sealed. Those few pieces that do exist are presented here in their unabridged form.

In M30.801, a mere three years after the first of the Emperor’s mighty legions had travelled beyond the light of Sol, the XVIth Legion, then known as the Raiders of Steel, were set upon by an unknown foe, though one the entire Imperium would soon come to recognise them as the feared and reviled ‘Rangdan’. Though they fought bravely, the unending waves of Rangdan cerabvores tore into the XVIth, and of the ten thousand who entered the conflict, only one hundred survived.

As the Rangdan poured into the nascent Imperium, three legions were deployed to slow the tide, the Ist, as yet unnamed, the IInd, known as the Venom Stalkers from the wars of Terra, and the XIVth, only recently gaining the name of Silver Wings from a recent compliance action. The Ist took the brunt of the frontline fighting, this act soon leading to them too gaining a title of their own, in their role as line holders in the war they were named the Horned Sentinels. As the Sentinels held the frontline, the Venom Stalkers provided artillery and biological warfare support, while the Silver Wings acted as an outrider and interdiction force, exploiting or sealing gaps in either line. It was in this was that all three legions began to truly refine their standard operating tactics, those they had first started developing in the wars on Terra and in the Sol system, and yet it was still not enough, the Rangdan proving too strong for even that force to fight alone.

The First Rangdan Xenocides were a war fought in utter Chaos; the Great Crusade still in its infancy, the legions yet to truly grow and none yet reunited with their sires. So heavy was the toll on the nascent Imperium that few truly remember the events of those dark days, the records lost or sealed. Those few pieces that do exist are presented here in their unabridged form.

In M30.801, a mere three years after the first of the Emperor’s mighty legions had travelled beyond the light of Sol, the XVIth Legion, then known as the Raiders of Steel, were set upon by an unknown foe, though one the entire Imperium would soon come to recognise them as the feared and reviled ‘Rangdan’. Though they fought bravely, the unending waves of Rangdan cerabvores tore into the XVIth, and of the ten thousand who entered the conflict, only one hundred survived.

As the Rangdan poured into the nascent Imperium, three legions were deployed to slow the tide, the Ist, as yet unnamed, the IInd, known as the Venom Stalkers from the wars of Terra, and the XIVth, only recently gaining the name of Silver Wings from a recent compliance action. The Ist took the brunt of the frontline fighting, this act soon leading to them too gaining a title of their own, in their role as line holders in the war they were named the Horned Sentinels. As the Sentinels held the frontline, the Venom Stalkers provided artillery and biological warfare support, while the Silver Wings acted as an outrider and interdiction force, exploiting or sealing gaps in either line. It was in this was that all three legions began to truly refine their standard operating tactics, those they had first started developing in the wars on Terra and in the Sol system, and yet it was still not enough, the Rangdan proving too strong for even that force to fight alone.

And then, as all seemed lost, the Emperor himself arrived, his burning sword held high as he took the fight to the Rangdan, and in his wake poured the might of the Imperium, undeniable even in those early days; the famed Custodes, millions of soldiers of the Imperial Army, the Mechanicum, and finally, five whole legions, each chosen for a specific reason.

The VIth, the Giants of Sol, became the armoured fist of the Imperium upon those battlefields, crushing Rangdan beneath their armoured treads with vengeful fury. The VIIIth, the mistrusted Grey Harbingers, were unleashed in all their fury, claiming the heads of enemies in glorious combat, forever seeking to earn the admiration of their peers, though forever falling short. The Xth, the Sable Choir, brought forth their taciturn combat methods, relentlessly taking up positions behind other legions, providing deadly fire support when required, or even deploying their unique blank units to combat the Rangdan Psykers. The XVth, the helmed warriors of the Faceless Heralds, persecuted the war in silence, deployed alone often, seperated in battle as they were in peace. And finally, the unnamed XXth legion was unleashed. Never before bloodied in combat, the only legion to not see action in the campaigns of Sol, the XXth now unleashed the full scope of their fury, Phospex and Exterminatus class weapons common in their armoury, while in others they were rare commodities.

With these five legions, the Imperum first broke the momentum of the Rangdan, before finally hurling them back. Everywhere the Xenos tried to strike, the Imperium was ready for them, nine battered legions finally breaking the swarm, the survivors fleeing back to their hidden territories beyond the borders of the Imperium, deep into uncharted space. None truly believed they had been defeated, the Imperium began preparing for a reckoning with the deadly species, though as it turned out, their preparations were woefully under-scaled.

The First Rangdan Xenocide is remembered as seeing the largest percentage of casualties amongst all Imperial forces; the others eclipsing it in terms of sheer numbers, but the threat of the First was still absolute. At a time where the Imperium was new, the Rangdan could have easily stopped the spread of Mankind's influence, halting the Great Crusade in its tracks. Only by the Grace of the Emperor and his staunch defenders was such crisis averted, though at great cost. Amongst the legions, of the close to 100,000 warriors deployed to the front, barely 25,000 remained as the war came to an end. Amongst the other forces, no accurate figure exists, though it is believed to have been near total for all, save the Legio Custodes themselves.

#### Finding their Father

> "*My sons, never once did I think my heart could be as full as it is now. You all are truly the greatest gift that I have ever received, and I will lead us to greater and greater glories so the galaxy may know how brightly you shine.*"
> ― Khnum upon meeting his sons
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In M30.919 the Sentinels would be called to a backwater planet named Nephtis II at the request of Charon of the Wisps of Acheron and the Emperor of Mankind. A desert planet in the midst of the Segmentum Pacificus where only eight years earlier they had discovered irrigation and how to properly collect and store water outside of depending on three great rivers to quench their thirst. However, the Sentinels and the Emperor heard of a great being who made the lands swell with life and had created a culture of art and growth from barren sand.

The Emperor would go to the surface to find Khnum-Anhuret ruling over as Phaerem. The fifteenth to be found, Khnum pledged his loyalty on the spot and bowed before his father. The Emperor took the newly found Primarch upon his flagship the *Bucephelus*. From here the Emperor would explain his goals for his sons for the next few years. Due to Khnum's childhood ruling over a planet that had barely made it to a renaissance era by the time the Emperor arrived he would be taken back to Terra to finish prepping him to lead his sons into battle to conquer the stars while Nephtis prepared her children to participate in the Great Crusade.

Khnum was ecstatic as he was introduced to more and more of his children. Their first meeting resulting in the gathered Sentinels crying tears of joy upon meeting their gene-father. He sang them praise before announcing the Legion would no longer be named the Horned Sentinels, but the Watchers of Akhet to reflect the light they had now brought into his life. The trip to Terra was one filled with warmth and family. Khnum listened to his sons' tales of conquests while the Astartes listened to details of Khnum's homeworld that was soon to be theirs as well.

Eventually, Khnum and the sons who journeyed with him would arrive at the cradle of humanity after months of traveling. The journey finally over as Khnum was transported down to the Imperial Palace where he would begin his lessons in warfare, diplomacy, technology, and any other subject of study he could delve into. It was here that Khnum would meet his brothers Shaaa of the Star Guardians and Calandiral of the Sirens of Kastar for the first time. Allowing the Watchers some time with their cousin legions.

Eventually, Khnum's time on Terra grew to a close and he was ready to begin conquering the stars. Given full control of the First Legion Khnum set out to conquer after making one final stop to his homeworld. It was there that he bid goodbye to his people while gathering his grandparents and several other human companions such as Ementen to come with him to travel the stars. With his Legion assembled, the Watcher headed towards the planet of Days End where Khnum would begin his first compliance with the aid of his brother, Surmah.

#### Compliance with Surmah

> "*Naive little brother, do you think that more words would have convinced this rabble to shun their false beliefs? We gifted the truth to the them, our father's truth, and they repaid us by slandering his message while standing firm in their lies. So tell me, who is truly the savage? My Hounds, or the ones who looked at these hallowed certitudes and refuted them over old superstition?*"
> ― Surmah to Khnum after the razing of Day's End
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Arriving at Days End, Khnum was greeted by his brother and nephews of the Hounds of Surmah. Khnum had heard tales of the infamous Legion and so braced himself for the worst. The two would meet on the Hound's flagship for the first time as a preliminary introduction before heading to the surface to parlay with the heads of government. Upon arriving on the *Sielun Murskaaja* he was greeted with respect and hospitality unexpected from the stories told about his brother's Legion.

Khnum was taken aback upon meeting Surmah finally. Where he pictured a wild savage, instead he was met with a more quiet individual, one that seemed almost happy, yet melancholic, upon meeting his newly found brother. The Watchers present found it odd to see their father interacting in such a friendly manner to one so feared. The two brothers would take their beginning conversation to a private area away from their sons so they could talk freely as only two brothers could.

Surmah and Khnum talked for hours until the dawn of the next day where they emerged from Surmah's chambers laughing as they prepared to rally their sons to head down to the surface of the planet. The Astartes present beginning to become more open and brotherly to each other as they followed their Primarchs example. Gathering their warriors, the two Primarchs began to mobilize to head to the surface.

The civilization of Day's End was revealed to be a highly religious group of humans. Worshipping a being known simply as the Mother with rituals that bordered on the disturbing. Khnum took the lead in diplomatic talks for them to relinquish their false gods and accept their father's Imperial Truth. Little by little, Khnum believed himself to be making progress as time beat on, accompanied by Surmah who supported his brother and acted perfectly in the role needed at the time.

A month passed, and one morning Khnum awoke to the sounds of Stormbird's screaming overhead and the roar of weapons fire. Rallying his warriors he took to the streets to see the Hounds slaughtering civilians where they stood. Khnum found Tursari, the favorite son of his brother, and demanded to know what madness had overtaken him and his brothers. Tursari replied that no madness had overtaken him, but that his father had ordered the culling of Day's End. Khnum went to apprehend his brother who had put the leaders of this world in shackles while forcing them upon a Stormbird.

Khnum demanded to know what had caused Surmah to suddenly execute an entire world on a whim. Surmah chided Khnum, telling him he might be Primarch of the First, but that he had not been here long enough to act like he had any real power over him or his sons. He further scolded Khnum for naively thinking he could ever have made headway with people who spat on the Imperial Truth even after being enlightened and exposed to it. With that, Surmah continued his purge of the planet, and Khnum gathered his sons and took to orbit.

Despite the shock at the ending of the Days End compliance, Khnum was determined for the next operation he partook in to be executed as flawlessly as possible. It was not long before orders came down for Khnum and the Watchers to fly to the next battle zone to continue the Great Crusade.

#### [Redacted]

The next brother Khnum would meet with would be [REDACTED BY ORDER OF THE EMPEROR OF MANKIND].

#### The War of Murder

As the 30th Millenia began to drawn to its end, the 140th Expeditionary Fleet of the Palatine Wings, under the command of Captain Tyrek Atwaal, discovered a world soon designated as one-forty-twenty, the twentieth planet brought into imperial compliance by the expeditionary fleet. Unable to translate the strange transmissions from the worlds orbiting satellites, Captain Atwaal ordered the fleet's entire contingent of three companies of Space Marines to begin landing operations to investigate and bring the planet into Imperial Compliance, whether through blood or through words remaining to be seen.

Those transports that went to the surface however were never seen again, storms on the planet's surface throwing the ships off course, sending dozens crashing to the ground in flames, all while cutting off vox traffic. Soon, the survivors of the crash landings came into contact with the world's inhabitants, an extremely hostile xenos known as the "Megarachnids", recovered unsent vox messages calling them too numerous and formidable to defeat with the force present. Only a single transmission made it off the surface, spoken by Captain Atwaal through clenched teeth;

"This. World. Is. Murder."

The fleet in orbit remained on station, transmitting a distress signal, the name of the world soon changing within the fleet, soon the world only being known as “Murder”, one-forty-twenty almost never mentioned.

Eventually, two forces came to the aid of the 140th Expeditionary Fleet, forces of both the Palatine Wings, lead by Legion Master Surag Genden, and the Watchers of Akhet, led by the Primarch Khnum himself arriving to bring war to the planet of Murder.

Forewarned by the mortal survivors of the 140th fleet, the small scale landing party did not make the same mistakes as those who had landed before them, but were still buffeted by the planets powerful atmospheric disturbances. While the force took heavy casualties, one landing party led by First Captain Pihorna of the Watchers discovered a large rock-like structure that resembled a dead tree. This "tree" had the bodies of several Palatine Wings Space Marines impaled on its many branches with flying variants of the Megarachnids feasting upon the bodies. After destroying the structure, the sky above where the "tree" had been suddenly begun to clear of the violent storms that had afflicted the Imperial forces from the beginning. Captain Pihorna realized that these structures were actually artificial weather control devices that were responsible for Murder's heavy atmospheric turbulence.

The Megarachnids immediately went about rebuilding the "tree" and sent hundreds of warriors to slaughter the last few Watchers of Akhet Astartes remaining. But just as the Space Marines were about to be overwhelmed, the power of the three assembled fleets above the world opened up, using the clearing in the storm to deliver not only pinpoint accurate orbital bombardments, but reinforcements, Khnum leading the forces of both legions scattering the Megarachnids and launching a full-scale assault on the hostile xenos of Murder in earnest.

Led by a Primarch, the Watchers and Palatine Wings, alongside several thousand Imperial Army soldiers and several supporting titans proceeded to level entire swathes of the grass stalk forests and destroy every one of the "trees" they encountered, which steadily eroded Murder's atmospheric barrier. Khnum, who was now commanding the Imperial assault from his flagship in orbit after the initial victory on the ground, was very pleased with the progress being made. Some consideration had been paid to initiating a withdrawal from Murder now that a proper landing zone was available to allow an easy extraction of the troops, but Surag had outright refused, making it clear that the Palatine Wings would not allow such a foe to live after the deaths of their comrades, regardless of the order Khnum himself may have given.

As such, the war continued to drag on, Khnum returning to the surface to oversee the campaign in person. Thousands of Megarachnids poured out of the forests and canyons of Murder in an endless wave. Despite never retreating from the Imperial assault, the Megarachnids only continued to lose ground. By the sixth month of the campaign it seemed the Megarachnids would soon face extinction, were it not for the arrival of an unexpected third party, led by someone the XIVth knew all to well, despite never having laid eyes upon him.

The Megarachnids had been saved from extinction for a second time by their old enemy, the Palatine Wings going on to uphold the sanctuary world despite their personal misgivings. Imperial records do not indicate the final fate of this savage species once the Almire Apostasy began.

#### A Brother Found

The Watchers and the Palatine WIngs under the command of Khnum would make contact with a species known as the Interex having intervened in the final extinction of the Megarchnids. Peace talks would be initiated as Khnum would attempt to bring the Interex under the Imperium's control rather than attempt to purge it like so many other foreign powers they had come across. Their leader offering to meet upon his battleship known as the *Phaeaco* to begin talking. Khnum, a handful of his honor guard, and a few Palatine Wings would go to greet this new entity.

Upon meeting their leader Bartosz, Khnum knew instantly that he had found one of his missing brothers. Slowly, he began to explain to the Primarch found among the Interex who he was and the grand purpose he served. The two would talk long into the night after Khnum gave the order to alert the Emperor that a new brother had been found. Khnum informing Bartosz of the wonders that awaited him while he slowly introduced Bartosz to his sons.

Eventually, the Emperor arrived to meet his son, entering the system with a handful of his Custodian Guard. However, the planned time that Khnum had wanted to spend with his newfound brother as he was ordered by Almire to join him, Gaius, and Shaaa to rally his as many of his forces to deal with a new threat looming over the Imperium. Saying farewell to his father and brother, the Watchers of Akhet left the system and made haste to his brothers' call.

#### Returning to Bartosz

Fresh from the battle of the Colossalstructure, Khnum returned to the empire he had left, assuming he would merely continue the discussions with Bartosz, exploring more of his brother's people before continuing the Crusade once more. Instead, what he found were dead worlds, something had burnt the Empire, root and stem, and as more and more worlds were revealed to be dead, Khnum’s own fears rose, a feeling of dread overtaking the first Primarch. What could have destroyed such an Empire? What had become of their mighty fleet and armies? And most importantly, where was his brother and his Legion?

More and more worlds showed as dead, Khnum sure that some terrible scourge was burning through the Imperium, potentially remnants of the Rangdan hordes, their kind already almost claiming multiple Legions in the third xenocide. Then finally, Khnum arrived at Murder, and the truth began to shine through. Welcomed aboard by the Palatine Wings, Khnum was rushed to his brothers quarters, finding the Primarch unmoving as he merely listened to the last scraps of the Aria that had been saved. Now though, with a brother by his side pressing for answers, Bartosz could hold his composure no more, breaking down as the weight of his sins crashed down upon him, threatening to kill the Primarch as readily as any bullet.

For hours, Khnum listened as Bartosz wept, before finally coming to something of an arrangement. Bartosz needed aid, and his Legion needed to move forward. They would fight alongside the I Legion, while Khnum sought to give Bartosz a new foundation to build himself on. Though it took years, Khnum was eventually successful, Bartosz finding new purpose as his sons did, in full, unrestrained service to the Imperium, through diplomacy rather than strength of arms. In the months before Artellion, the Primarch of the XIVth would finally be left to stand alone once more, conducting his first compliance alone since the Interex Empire.

#### Breaching Antares VII

The Silver Basilisks had been unable to breach the capital city of the world of Antares VII. A powerful shield surrounded the city that even the heaviest of the ordinance from the armories of the Fifteenth was having no luck breaching. Captain Dulanic of the Gwarchae called for reinforcements from his Legion cousins, and the First answered.

Arriving with two thousand fresh Astartes, Equerry Petamn made planetfall towards the SIlver Basiliks entrenchments around the capital city.

#### The Great Feast

See: the Great Feast

In M30.954, over 150 standard Terran years after the Great Crusade began, the last of the scattered Primarchs, now known to be named Artellion, Master of the XVth Legion, was found. Soon, word went out across the Imperium; the Emperor’s lost sons were united once more, all twenty of the legions had been made whole. Every astropath soon knew the news, the message crystal clear, boosted, it is whispered, by the Emperor himself. And while the celebration upon its receipt was great, more was soon being planned for, this time by the twin lords of the XIIth Legion, Vinicius and Euphranor Geminius.

Upon their homeworld of Bion, the Twins soon gave word of a mighty event, one that would, in their own words, showcase the majesty and glory of the Imperium united. Soon to become known simply as, The Great Feast, it would be an event entirely unique in history, never before seen, and due to the events that would soon transpire, never to be repeated again.

Khnum arrived with the first ten companies of Watchers present. His entrance was a grand display of his Terran born sons' culture intermingled with Nephtian culture. Perfectly balanced so one did not overpower the other as he strode in the front with the member of his Djenn. On his shoulders rode his adoptive grandparents Ani and Kiya while at his side Ementen, Khnum's oldest friend, walked with the Sunstone King hand in hand. The Astartes present had decorated their armor with tales of the great accomplishments of the Legion and the individual. While Khnum donned his Phaerem regalia as he acted as Nephtis' official representative.

Alongside the legions that arrived were mighty beasts captured from across the Imperium at the behest of the Tempest Lord himself, Nautis leading the Kraken Lords parade as dozens, if not hundreds of cages filled with all manner of deadly creatures were pulled alongside them. While the display was meant to inspire awe in their mastery over such creatures, many amongst the crowd saw the opposite side of their parade, the numerous creatures inspiring fear and concern more than awe, and the VIIIth sinking lower in the eyes of the Imperium. Other legions brought their own offerings, though many remained hidden and were not paraded before the onlooking crowds. Daito of the World Shakers did showcase his captives, a pair of Kyojino-rakuen Dragons from his homeworld, huge and terrifying beasts on their home, though they paled in comparison to those brought by the Kraken Lords, and some later unleashed by the Hounds of Surmah.

And then finally, when all 19 Legions and 20 Primarch’s stood upon the surface of Bion, the last found arrived at the head of the new XVth. The XVth Legion, once known as the Faceless Heralds, had not been seen for over a year, their numbers disappearing from the Great Crusade in the wake of Artellion’s finding, all building up to the moment they stepped into the sun once more, faceless no more, as the Silver Basilisks greeted the Imperium as a legion reborn. Descending alongside his council and with an entire company of his warriors, the Silver Basilisks poured all their artifice into their singular entrance, creating artificial storm clouds with technology and psychic mastery, alongside thunderous music played from dozens of dropships. The legion had often been looked down on, one of their genetic flaws leading them to shy away from others, but under the hand of their new Lord, they hid no longer. Their arrival was perfectly choreographed in a way that none of his brothers could hope to match upon that day, with Artellion having prepared for the moment almost since his finding, determined that his first impression would never be forgotten. This he certainly achieved, as those watching erupted into applause and cheers of adulation, no thoughts given to the legion's mutation as they once might have. Many humans were deafened in those moments, the sheer scope of the sound rupturing eardrums, though none so afflicted ever expressed regret, proud to have witnessed such an event.

For the first and last time since their initial scattering, the Primarchs were united, each of them retiring to a glorious feasting hall the Geminius Twins had ordered to be built for this exact occasion. Most forwent their armour, arriving in garments that closely mirrored their own worlds cultures, though some, namely Shaaa Hydrades, Daito, Charon and Camelous, remained in their armour. Shaaa wearing his lighter suit rather than his full Terminator plate, but all three still arrayed as if they were mere moments from battle, more comfortable in their wargear than in casual attire.

The revelry and merriment that was had that night was legendary; laughter and camaraderie was had between almost all present, with only those who shared the deepest seated loathing of one another avoiding contact. During this time, Ani and Kiya gifted each Primarch with a hand-knitted scarf and robe in their Legion colours. As the night wore on, the food was replaced increasingly by alcohol, Kodiak in particular providing the well known, and feared, Skaran Ale in great quantities, a drink known to be able to affect even a Primarch, while killing almost any other creature that consumed it. Predictably, the evening descended from there, Nautis, Kodiak, Caladrial, and even Lu Yueh beginning a contest of alcoholic endurance, the Kastarian Rum mingling with the Skaran Ale and Lu Yuen’s own personal brews. To the surprise of many, Lu Yueh lasted longer than any other, his natural resistance to poisons and toxic substances placing him in good stead against the effects of the alcohol.

The feasting and drinking were but one of the many spectacular events the Twins had prepared to showcase to the Imperium and their assembled brothers, the pair having spared no expense to ensure the event was of the highest quality imaginable. And in their mind, no such occasion would be complete without the glory of the Games; gladiatorial matches of skill and honour that Bion was known for, ones the Twins themselves had grown up with, and now, in the very arena that they had originally arrived on Bion in and they themselves had once fought inside to the roar of adoring crowds, a gauntlet was laid down.

A champion from each legion would enter, each match not to the death nor to the first blood, but until one warrior fell and could fight no more, either through injury or admittance of defeat. Only the XIIth themselves did not enter a champion; the Geminus Twins claiming that were they to enter one of their fabled Conjux pairs, most likely the duo known as the Statius Cojunx, would present an unfair advantage over the solo fighters of the other legions. Moreover, it would not do for the host of such an event to present the wreath of victory to a pair of their own.

Soon, the champions were arrayed, the order of their bouts decided by random selection, and the games began. The crowd roared their approval, watching the unthinkable as Astartes fought against Astartes. Most of these duels were just that, honourable and fought until a victor emerged, the loser graciously accepting his defeat and yielding, but some were different, notably that between Tursari of the Hounds of Surmah and Surag Genden of the Palatine Wings, the two legions already having clashed on ideological differences a scant few years earlier, the bout only ending when Surag finally fell, battered, bloodied and unconscious. Eventually, only two remained, Tursari clashing with Imothes of the Watchers of Akhet in a battle that would be remembered throughout eternity.

In the end however, there was no victor, the fight lasting for hours; day turning to night and back to day again, before Khnum and Surmah finally intervened, stopping the duel before their sons killed each other and so bringing the tournament to a close.

There was but one more main event homestead on the world, this time organised not by the Twin Lords of Bion, but by Nautis, the Tempest Lord unleashing the captured beasts from across the Imperium into the uninhabited forest region of the world, the legions present being assigned as perimeter guards, ensuring none of the creatures within could escape to threaten the populace, while the Primarchs themselves entered, preparing to hunt down these great monsters.

Some, such as Galvarian of the Ashen Crows, refused to participate, seeing the contest as pointless and cruel for little gain. Shaaa Hydrades also refrained from taking part, the chase and the hunt of little interest to him, and the use of heavy weaponry dismissed as ‘unsporting’. Others however relished the hunt, those Primarchs from feral or death worlds showing their prowess, but even those from more civilised, or less militant focused worlds participated, Khnum of the Ist Legion slaying one of the beasts that Surmah had brought. The greatest prize however was one Nautis had personally captured, a mighty leviathan who’s strength could match even the greatest of the Primarchs. Nautis has fully intended to honour the slayer of this mighty beast, already making plans to carve its bones into a ceremonial weapon for whoever slew the beast, and yet when the Leviathan finally fell, Camelous reacted to the victory without reverence or ceremony, leaving the corpse where it had fallen and quitting the field. Nautis saw this not only as an affront to the spirit of the hunt, but a personal insult, and so the loathing the VIIIth felt for the XIXth only began to fester further that day.

With the hunt finally concluded, the Great Feast ended, though many of the Primarch’s remained on Bion for some time afterwards, the Geminus Twins vowing that upon the completion of the Great Crusade, they would host another event, eclipsing this one in every way. Unbeknownst to all however, such an event would never, and indeed could never come to pass, events transpiring a mere eight years later that saw the purging of the Blood Angels.

#### The Gyre Deeps

The Gyre Deeps was a stretch of space long since held by the Hrud, an alien species of terrible power over time itself, using the Deeps as a pathway for their many migrations across the stars. By M30.961, this threat could no longer be avoided, and the Ist Legion, the Watchers of Akhet were called upon to pacify the region and to wipe the Hrud from the face of the galaxy. Khnum rallied 40,000 of his best soldiers to fly to the Deeps and pacify the Hrud. Picking the core homeworld where the central Hrud warrens were located as the place where he would strike first to break the Hrud.

Upon arriving in the Deeps, the Watchers were plagued with issues from the start. The core of the Deeps was a nightmare stretch of maze-like caves and tunnels where the Hrud reigned unopposed. Watchers would be overrun by Hrud as they emerged randomly from the walls, the ground or anywhere the Watchers least expected them. Khnum had known of the Hrud's time dilation power, but going into the fight with the Hrud he had no idea just how devastating their entropy fields were until he saw entire squads of his sons forcibly aged into dust right in front of him within seconds while their bolts aged thousands of years in the time it took a round to land. The Watchers' initial advance was broken as Khnum lost 10,000 of his soldiers within the first week of fighting along with most of his upper command structure as they were quickly overrun and killed.

The Watchers unable to adapt or pin down a strategy to fight the Hrud reliably Khnum ordered all personnel to evacuate from the Deeps before bombarding it from orbit for a week straight. The guns on the many ships of the Watchers' fleet never resting until a new landing zone had been carved out. He sent his best builders to establish a fortress that would be able to weather the Hrud storm while he came up with a new plan for purging his enemy.

Despite the heavy shelling, the Watchers still fought tooth and claw to clear the new beachhead as one of the major warrens located nearby began to empty out onto the Watchers making landfall. The Hrud overwhelming the Watchers before Khnum took to the field. Rallying his sons as they hastily reformed their broken lines to fight back the xenos threat that was on the verge of snapping their line of advance once again. Eventually, the Watchers forced the Hrud back underground as their forward outpost was finished.

Having lost 25,000 Astartes in the opening weeks of the Gyre Deeps Khnum knew that he was in over his head. He called for aid from any of his brothers despite having been chosen to wage this war alone. For a time no one answered his cries for help. Several months passed as Khnum tried strategy after strategy that ended in failure and with scores of his sons dying to the onslaught of the Hrud. Their screams echoing through his mind as the weight of his sons' death began to weigh further and further on him as the kills continued to mount higher and higher in the wake of this never-ending threat.

Until, one day, a fleet of ships belong to the Breecher Lord himself entered the space around the Gyre Deeps. Eventually, Shaaa and his sons made planetfall to meet with Khnum and the Watchers unannounced. At first, Khnum was pleased as he saw his brother as the person who would help Khnum win the war against the Hrud. Shaaa gave the Watchers weapons designed for combat in subterranean confines, Sub-Surface Torpedo Launchers seen only within the armories of the IVth. Khnum pushed his brother for further action and assistance, but Shaaa refused, stating that he and his sons would provide no further support than what they had already given. Khnum was instructed by his older brother that he and his sons would have to win this war on their own.

Infuriated by his brother's choice, but unwilling to beg further, Khnum took the weapons and made a plan to destroy the central Hrud warrens once and for all. The bombs were fitted with beacons that would scan and map out the Hrud warrens so the Wathcers could see if there was a central weakness. Eventually, they found the central warren that linked all the other Hrud warrens on the planet. It had been built next to the ocean and a small amount of rock was all that separated the warren from certain doom.

Khnum drew up maps and plans for the Watchers to drill down and get to dig sites were they would launch torpedos this time jam-packed with explosives that would hit certain parts of the warren to weaken the wall and flood the hrud with a force that even their time fields couldn't stop. This plan was not without loss as thousands of Astartes were killed as they fought through the Hrud waves to detonate the bombs. The most devastating to Khnum was First Captain Pihorna who in order to make sure his bomb detonated correctly stayed even as Khnum ordered them to evacuate. Watching in horror as one of his favored sons turned to dust mere meters from him.

Despite the heavy losses, Khnum and his sons emerged from the tunnels successful as the waters of the ocean drowned the majority of the Hrud. Khnum ordered his remaining sons to purge any remaining Hrud. He would not join them however, he had a score to settle with his brother. The remaining Ammuten Guard present and Equerry Petamn flew back to the fortress that Shaaa and the Star Guardians had set up in to have words with his brother. Eventually finding him in the command tower preparing to leave the Gyre Deeps.

In a rage, Khnum demanded to know what madness had seized the Breacher Lord, accusing him of base cowardice of the worst kind. Shaaa remained impassive as Khnum tried to gain a rise from him, before returning with a bard of his own, laying the deaths of his sons solely at Khnum’s feet. This was too much for the Sunstone King, and with a roar he unleashed his swords, power packs flaring into life. Shaaa was a slow fighter, but he had far more experience than Khnum did, and fought with a level head, while Khnum’s superior skill was hampered by his desire to see the Breacher Lord humbled before him. It was this that was his undoing at the apex of the duel, Khnum opening a real advantage he could use to turn the flow of the fight in his favour. Instead ,however, he moved to hamstring his brother, not to defeat him more surdey, Shaaa having no such qualms. With a single swing of his hammer, Shaaa landed his first, and last blow of the duel, lifting Khnum from his feet and sending him flying through the air to crash into the tunnel wall, armour cracked and ribs broken. Before he could rise again, Shaaa was upon him, placing a foot Khnum’s chest, forcing him to stay down. It was here Shaaa revealed his own goals in remaining from the field, not cowardice as Khnum had accused, but a lesson, only teachable in one way. The Watchers had never known true loss, their compliances numerous but small in the casualties caused. The IVth knew all too well the realities of war ,however, and Shaaa had sought to teach this to his brother, allowing him to shoulder the burden alone, forced to rely on himself first and foremost, as all the Primarch’s had to learn. Allowing Khnum to rise, Shaaa pointed to the preparations his own sons had been working upon, bombs eclipsing the ones prepped by the Ist, ready to be deployed to finish Khnum’s plan if it had failed. The victory had never been a sacrifice Shaaa was willing to make, but the lesson had to be taught, no matter the cost, and Shaaa stood by that wholeheartedly. With few words in reply, Khnum turned and left, his sons leaving the graveyard far faster than the IVth did.

Only two thousand Astartes of the original force had emerged from the Deeps alive. With most of the Terran born Watchers now dead along with the majority of their upper command structure. For a time, Khnum harbored a small amount of hatred towards Shaaa even after his explanation, but eventually, Khnum slowly began to understand his brother and his motivations more, coming to realize that while brutish, Shaaa had brought forth a valid point, one no other could have taught him so fully, and could have been imparted in no other way. Realizing, that while it was one thing to cherish one's sons, they were soldiers, and soldiers had to learn to rely on themselves first and foremost. The experience humbling and maturing Khnum as he rallied the remnants of his tattered survivors from the Deeps to rejoin the rest of the Watcher Fleet.

#### The Fallen Son

[ALL INFORMATION REDACTED BY ORDER OF THE EMPEROR OF MANKIND, BELOVED BY ALL]

#### The Reclamation of Nuceria

In the midst of the Great Crusade, Khnum and his sons would find the planet of Nuceria. Nuceria was a brutal, unforgiving world run by cruel slave masters from the city of Desh'ea that forced their subjects to battle in gladiatorial arenas. The aggression-enhancing technology known as the Butchers Nails was a key part of this process.

When Khnum made contact with the planet’s heads, they eagerly greeted his arrival as they announced their intentions to bend the knee to the Primarch and the Imperium. Upon descending to the surface, the Sunstone King was greeted by a magnificent greeting party from clan Thal'kr.

As the heads of the clan introduced themselves and showed Khnum around the surface of Nuceria he began to notice odd things coming from the representatives. First, they acted nervous as if they had some grand secret to hide from him. Second, the areas they took him to were glided in an attempt to look like a functional utopia that Khnum saw through very quickly. However, the Primarch imbibed them while also secretly sending his sons out to explore and give him an accurate report of life on the planet.

Khnum for the first week was drug from event to event in a not subtle attempt to keep him busy. They showed him great plays, threw great feasts, and every aspect of what culture they could gather at a moments notice. Eventually, they led him to their great gladiator areas to watch a match. As Khnum observed the fighters he noticed they fought more brutally and aggressively than even some of his brothers’ sons would have been proud of. At this point, Khnum asked what training the gladiators were given and what the tubes coming out of their heads were.

The head of the Thal'kr began to explain the Butcher’s Nails in a very sugarcoated way that left Khnum skeptical. At the end of the match, Primarch asked if he could go to thank the gladiators for their entertainment personally. Upon approval, Khnum, Iyp, Aesculapius, and Imothes descended into the pits.

The Watchers found the pits a desperate place. Poor living conditions strung out warriors on the brink of a fight constantly, but at the heart of it, they noticed the gladiators had a bond with each other that could have rivaled the bond between the brothers of the Watchers. Aesculapius analyzed the state of the Butcher Nails on the gladiators and reported that they were unable to be removed while also turning their brains to mush as they stripped away any positive feeling not related the act of fighting and slaughter.

Around this time the scouts that Khnum sent out returned to tell their father of the corruption of the planet. The ruling slavemasters kept the citizens in line by forcing them to be subject to the nails and used them as a source of cheap entertainment. At this news, Khnum rallied his sons and marched into the throne room of the Thal’kr where he told them how he found everything that they had been keeping from him. Calling the slave masters craven filth before ordering his sons to execute them. After the deed had been done, Khnum broadcasted to Nuceria that he had come to help and that he would save the soul of the planet and its inhabitants.

    Slowly Khnum conquered the planet where the people regarded him and the Watchers as saviors. They shouted that help has finally come to Nuceria and flew makeshift flags with the Watcher’s symbol on it. Children coming out and crawling over the Astartes who welcomed them with glee.

With the planet under his control, Khnum started to reforge the planet. No longer would it be ruled by those seeking to serve themselves but it now would become a place for scholars, artists, and everyone to better themselves.

Before the process of rebuilding Nuceria could begin; a heavy task fell upon Khnum. He had to deal with the gladiators suffering from the Butcher Nails, and so far even his greatest apothecaries couldn’t find a way to save them. Knowing he had to call upon a higher set of powers, his brothers.

Khnum called for Shaaa for his mechanical genius, Galvarian for his knowledge of technology, and Lu Yueh for his achievements in biology. All three accepted his call and made haste to help their brother. Though Galvarian and Shaaa were kept far away and in separate laboratories. While they made their way through various experiments, Khnum scribed and analyzed the Butcher Nails as much as he could. Compiling every shred of knowledge he had and gathering every remnant of knowledge with extra unused Nails to turn over to them when they arrived.

The first to arrive was Shaaa, followed by Galvarian, and finally Lu Yueh. Khnum showed them the horrific effect of the Nails and told them everything he knew on what he had compiled so far. Khnum knee that if anyone could help him crack the abominable Nails it would be them. All four set to work quickly, Lu Yueh approached it from a biological angle and opened the minds of a handful of willing volunteers to probe the damage done. Shaaa broke the machine down and did mock tests of how they were inserted and how they could potentially remove them. While Galvarian took the data gathered by the other two to see if he could make headway in areas they couldn’t. Khnum wandered from area to area helping where he could while offering suggestions based on what his mind broke down.

The four toiled for days until the answer was clear, the Nails couldn’t be fixed. With a heavy heart, all three of his brothers told him there was nothing they could do. There was only one answer, they would have to be put down.

Khnum understood and gathered every Nail wearer where he told them that he could not fix them. He would give them two options, he could put them to sleep and let them pass on peacefully or he would let them have a warrior’s death against members of his first company. Some chose peace, while others chose to face death head-on against the elite warriors of those who saved them. The gladiators, snarling and raving at the prospect chose to face down the warriors of the First.

When the time came, it was not his elite veterans that were in the midst of the arena, but Khnum himself. Announcing that he would be their opponent in the ring as he stood there unarmored, wielding only his khopeshes. Wave after wave launched themselves at the Primarch and he quickly cut through them like a scythe through wheat. They fought for hours as thousands of gladiators released a handful at a time landed an occasional blow on the Sunstone King. Despite the grinding and forced rabidity of the Nails when the gladiators lie dying their eyes spoke more to Khnum then they ever could. In those moments he saw relief and gratitude as they finally passed on.

After the event, Khnum walked out of the Arena covered in blood. He bid farewell to his brothers who had witnessed what Khnum had done. Right before they left Khnum gave Shaaa all remaining notes over the Butcher Nails and told him to dispose of them or find a use of the mechanical technology, but never to have it touch the shores of Nuceria again. Forcing Shaaa to promise to find some good out of this horrendous piece of technology.

After his brother had left he headed straight for his quarters and stayed in there for three days. Strange and wild noises came from within, but no one would face the Primarch. When he emerged, the room was a broken and shattered wreck compared to what it had been. It was then that Khnum ordered the great arenas of Nuceria to be brought down and erased from history as the Watchers began to rebuild the planet from the ground up.

From the deeps of space a great fleet emerged wearing the colors and heraldry of the XIIIth Legion. Hundreds of stormhawks carrying raw materials and supplies came streaking down in unison as they landed right in front of the Watchers and people of Nuceria. From within, Gaius emerged and greeted his brother. Telling him he had heard of the cruelty of the planet’s history and he was here to reforge it alongside his brother. Gaius brought forth every bit of material needed to bring Nuceria from a backwater hellhole to a shining Imperial world. The two quickly set off to complete their great task.

As he and Gaius began to remake Nuceria his brothers Vinicius & Euphrano heard of the great arenas and his brothers plans to remake the world. Curious about how he would approach their culture they visited the recently conquered world. They arrived to Khnum tearing down the arenas. Outraged at this they called him naive despite Khnum’s reasoning. He told them they were not seeing the reason he had to purge the arenas and they were fools for not recognizing the suffering the games had brought. Gaius attempted to settle the debate between the three, but it led nowhere as tempers exploded hotter and hotter. This conflict eventually led to Vinicius & Euphrano leaving the planet behind while holding a small amount of resent in their hearts towards the Sunstone King.

The two Primarchs remade Nuceria like gods of old making a world out of clay. Inspiration from Nephtis and Dux spread from everywhere but aligned in perfect synchronized harmony. If the First and the Thirteenth had any distance remaining between the two it was closed as the two legions continued to pave roads, build grant world of art, establish places of learning and trade as they uprooted old Nuceria to plant the seeds of a new golden age for the planet.

After Nuceria was reformed under Khnum, Gaius, and the First Company's guidance he invited his brothers to join in welcoming the planet and its inhabitants into the Imperium proper. Most of his brothers could not make it, but Surmah, Lu Yueh, Daito, and Necalli came to see their brothers’ shining new jewel. For a week Khnum and Gaius showed their brothers around as the people of Nuceria greeted the Primarchs like Demi-Gods of old.

The celebrations drew to a close and eventually the Primarchs boarded up in their flagships to head back to the Great Crusade. Khnum took one last look upon his and Gaius’ great work as the Wisdom of Techu ripped into the warp to the next conflict.

#### War of the Ròj

See: War of the Ròj

 The War of the Ròj was a conflict fought from M30.980 that lasted until M.30.985. At first the main Legion present were the Claws of Xipac, the Watchers of Akhet, and the World Shakers. However, early on the World Shakers took heavy losses and were forced to stay behind as the First and Third Legions pushed forward. The war against these xenos could be described only as hellish. The Ròj appeared in great numbers with terrifying weapons that reduced Titan Legios to little more than slag and molten metal. It wasn't until Lorgar's intervention at Night's End that Necalli and Khnum managed to break through to end the threat of the Ròj once and for all.

#### The Time of Ullanor

See: Ullanor

The Watchers of Akhet would not be present for the Battle of Ullanor, but Khnum would make it in time to watch Almire be coronated as the Warmaster as Shaaa was announced as Praetorian. Khnum would wish his brother well before venturing back to the Ring with Shaaa to visit his homeworld. The act bringing the

#### The Council of Nikaea

The Council of Nikaea was a great Imperial conclave called by the Emperor of Mankind in 001.M31 on the world of Nikaea in the midst of the Great Crusade that was intended to determine whether or not the use of psychic powers represented a boon or a grave danger to Mankind and the newborn Imperium of Man. Khnum, who once had been one of the most outspoken against psykers turned to defend Camelous and the librarius' use. His Chief Hecatti standing in attendance as his father delivered a passionate speech about the need to control psykers, but to ultimately keep them in the Legions.

Ultimately the existence of psykers in the Imperium was sanctioned but tightly restricted under centralised Imperial control. The potent and unrestricted use of psychic abilities that was defined as "sorcery" -- bargaining for power with the entities that existed within the Warp -- was officially banned. The outcome broke Khnum's heart as he was forced to disband the Hecatti. His sons felt like they had shamed their father and the Emperor. Khnum's words did little to comfort them as he disbanded the Hecatti and placed the Astartes among their brothers.

Unbeknownst to all, many would continue to practice the art of both psychic and sorceress abilities in secret, their Primarch’s continuing to train their sons, or turning a blind eye to the practice within their own legion led by another. Curiously, Camelous, the Invictii, Master of the Dragon Lords and the strongest Psyker in the entire Imperium save the Emperor himself and perhaps his aide, Malcador, did nothing to disobey his father, instead accepting the decree, forcing his legion to give up their most potent weapon, even as he continued to push them as hard as before, their casualty rates spiking as a result.

### Notable Campaigns

**Battle of the Colossustructure (M30.945)**

**The Gyre Deeps Campaign (M30.961)** - The Gyre Deeps were a stretch of space long since held by the Hrud, an alien species of terrible power over time itself, using the Deeps as a pathway for their many migrations across the stars. By M30.961, this threat could no longer be avoided, and the Ist Legion, the Watchers of Akhet were called upon to pacify the region and to wipe the Hrud from the face of the galaxy. The progress was slow against their kind, the Watchers struggling against a foe that turned the very passing of years against them, aging warriors to naught but dust in a matter of seconds, or causing bolt shells to degrade over a thousand years in the time it took between exiting the barrel of their weapon to impacting upon the Hrud. Help was desperately needed and despite the fact his legion alone had been selected for the action by the Emperor himself, Khnum cried out for aid. For a time, none answered, until finally, a fleet belonging to the Breacher Lord entered the system, Shaaa not announcing his arrival as he and his sons landed upon the main world of the Deeps. Far from helping however, the Star Guardians merely handed the Watchers weapons designed for use in subterranean confines, Sub-Surface Torpedo Launchers seen only within the armouries of the IVth. When pushed for further action, Shaaa refused, stating his sons would provide no support for the attacks of the Ist, Khnum would have to win this war alone. Infuriated by the perceived lack of action on Shaaa’s behalf but unwilling to lose face with further begging, Khnum rallied his sons, drawing up a final plan to end the war once and for all. Linking beacons to the torpedo launchers, Khnum created a rough but serviceable map of the entire Hrud Warrens, and with that information, he struck. As one, the watchers surged forward, striking at their foe and setting up mighty blasting charges, designed to flood the warrens and drown the xenos, killing them a way they could not escape from through time. This was not without loss however, thousands perishing to carry out the plan, chief amongst them First Captain Pihorna, dying mere meters away from Khnum as he refused to retreat, ensuring his bomb was ready, sending it burrowing deeper into the warrens for its final detonation before being turned to dust. Finally, the Hrud pushing against the Watchers, seeking to escape the encroaching trap, the bombs detonated, flooding the warrens totally and annihilating the Hrud almost entirely. Clean-up crews from the Watchers began to fan out, descending into the flooded tunnels to finish off any survivors, but Khnum was not with them, seeking to slake his rage against the one who had done nothing but watch, Shaaa Hydrades. In a rage, Khnum demanded to know what madness had seized the Breacher Lord, accusing him of base cowardice of the worst kind. Shaaa remained impassive as Khnum tried to gain a rise from him, before returning with a bard of his own, laying the deaths of his sons solely at Khnum’s feet. This was too much for the Sunstone King, and with a roar he unleashed his swords, power packs flaring into life. Shaaa was a slow fighter, but he had far more experience than Khnum did, and fought with a level head, while Khnum’s superior skill was hampered by his desire to see the Breacher Lord humbled before him. It was this that was his undoing at the apex of the duel, Khnum opening a real advantage he could use to turn the flow of the fight in his favour. Instead however, he moved to hamstring his brother, not to defeat him more suredly, Shaaa having no such qualms. With a single swing of his hammer, Shaaa landed his first, and last blow of the duel, lifting Khnum from his feet and sending him flying through the air to crash into the tunnel wall, armour cracked and ribs broken. Before he could rise again, Shaaa was upon him, placing a foot Khnum’s chest, forcing him to stay down. It was here Shaaa revealed his own goals in remaining from the field, not cowardice as Khnum had accused, but a lesson, only teachable in one way. The Watchers had never known true loss, their compliances numerous but small in the casualties caused. The IVth knew all too well the realities of war however, and Shaaa had sought to teach this to his brother, allowing him to shoulder the burden alone, forced to rely on himself first and foremost, as all the Primarch’s had to learn. Allowing Khnum to rise, Shaaa pointed to the preparations his own sons had been working upon, bombs eclipsing the ones prepped by the Ist, ready to be deployed to finish Khnum’s plan if it had failed. The victory had never been a sacrifice Shaaa was willing to make, but the lesson had to be taught, no matter the cost, and Shaaa stood by that wholeheartedly. With few words in reply, Khnum turned and left, his sons leaving the graveyard far faster than the IVth did. For a time, Khnum harboured a hatred towards Shaaa even after his explanation, but eventually, Shaaa’s words did pierce his mind, Khnum coming to realise that while brutish, Shaaa had brought forth a valid point, one no other could have taught him so fully, and could have been imparted in no other way.

**Reclamation of Nuceria (M30.971-973)**

**The War of the Ròj (M30.980-M.30.985)**

## Legion Homeworld

Nephtis II is a desert planet where the rainy season may last from only several weeks to a handful of days. Most of the cities on this planet are built around three giant rivers that flow around the world. A majority of the water was found to be in giant underground reservoirs where these rivers flow in and out of. An unfortunate circumstance of this planet is due to its proximity to the sun it is summer year-round, and during the hottest months, the rivers’ supply of water becomes extremely low. When this occurred wars would break out and tens of thousands of people would die of thirst.

With Khnum’s arrival, it allowed the citizens of Nephtis II to advance significantly. With the inventions of irrigation systems, this allowed them to grow more food, have increased water storages, and be able to focus on things that weren’t solely scavenging from day to day. This allowed the world to slowly modernize as every city upgraded from simple mud huts to shining cities of capital and culture.

## Legion Combat Doctrine

###  Great Crusade and Early Apostasy

Unlike the majority of the Legions, the Watchers had no one area of warfare that they specialized in more than any other. However, the First Legion prides itself on being able to adapt to any situation and overcome the challenges that have been laid in front of them. As a result, every Astartes is trained equally in all forms of combat. This is to allow them to, for example, swap to a ranged style of fighting to face enemies who favor close-quarter combat or to deploy lightning-quick guerilla assaults in the chance they are outnumbered. This mentality also allows an Astartes to pick up where their brother left off. If a heavy bolter user is stricken down then any battle brother can pick the weapon up and continue to support the rest of his brothers.

The Watchers of Akhet will also study the tactics of their enemies heavily before engaging with them directly. Analyzing and learning their strategies until they can figure out the best way to counteract their tactics. They will spend a great length of time trying to figure out the right weapons, battle placements, and chapters to send down to fight before they make planetfall.

Usually, their preferred first contact is to gauge the enemy to see just what they’re capable of. They will bring ranged weapons to the field with brothers armed with melee weapons lying in wait to charge. Should the ranged weapons falter the Astartes wielding melee weapons will attempt to tie up the enemy while the rest of the battle brothers provide support and attempt to pinpoint a weakness.

The Watchers had a fairly straightforward organization to their Legion. Their Legion was broken up into Hosts composed of ten thousand marines led by a Host Master. Within those Hosts were the standard chapters of one thousand marines a piece led by a Chapter Master. From there they broke down further into companies of one hundred marines led by a Company Master. The positions held by the marines of the company depended on which of the three Wings they were associated with:

The Wings of Anatan: Heavy vehicles and Devastator companies

The Wings of Haauren: Tactical Companies

The Wings of Hedetant: Assault and boarding companies

However, there were special positions that were not able to be categorized by one of the Wings. In doing so, Khnum comprised three new specialist Hosts to allow the members of these ranks to be slotted into any company needed.

The Forgotten Host: comprised of the Hecatti (Librarius) and the Maftuatkh (chaplains)

The Fettered Host: the Mefadant and the Medjund

The Aegis Host: made up of Techmarines and Apothecaries.

## Notable Watchers of Akhet

### Pre-Apostasy

**Khnum-Anhuret “the Sunstone King”**

**Imothes “the Anubite” Hondorn**

**Petamn “Iyp” Mukhwana**

**Anukeps Lisimba**

**Aesculapius “ The Ash Marked”**

**Mekhit “the Ram” Urmi**

**Wodjen**

**Taheli Rai**

**Sofu**

**Phirona Mukhwana**

## Legion Fleet

Notable Vessels

**[The Wisdom of Techu] (Gloriana)** - The ***Wisdom of Techu***is the Gloriana Flagship of the Primarch Khnum, lord of the Ist Legion, the Watchers of Akhet, and regarded as one of the deadliest in her class. While this was not due to her boasting the heaviest armour, the fastest engines or the most guns, it was her adaptibility that made her a force to be reckoned with, if a batle was dictated on her terms, there were few foes she could not best.

See: the Wisdom of Techu

## Legion Relics

* **[Name]** - Legion Appearance
* **[Name]** - Legion Appearance

## Legion Appearance

Every Astartes armor is a canvas that they have painted or decorated to reflect the Astartes’ own individual nature. They still maintain their basic markings, but they like to adorn their armor with art to reflect the art-filled culture they hail from. It is viewed as a responsibility to the Legion’s culture to maintain and adds to the tapestry that embellishes their armor.

When off the field of battle, the necessity of rank structure is more relaxed. Hence why it is not unusual to see Astartes of varying ranks joining together in various activities. Khnum encourages this behavior, seeing it as a way for his soldiers to naturally build comradery and continuing that similar nature of their home planet.

Despite their upbeat and fun loving natures the Watchers still maintain heavy training regiments that incorporate new strategies and tactics they’ve learned. While also undergoing regular drills of a reservoir of tactics they have learned so far. Every Astartes must pass a rigorous series of tests, and should they fail they are sent to the reserve companies until they can bring their training back up to the Watcher’s high standards.

Unlike most other Legions, the Watchers attempt to recruit new Astartes from every planet that they can. While they still primarily recruit from Nephtis II because that connection to their home is an important part of the Watchers. This style of recruitment helps to keep their ranks full, and Khnum knows that it allows for new outside perspectives to be brought into the Legion.

## Gallery

[1] Art by the Carnival of Crows - Author of the Ashen Crows - https://www.facebook.com/TheChaosCarnival/

[2] Art by Kristina Iragana Amuan- https://www.artstation.com/kristinairagana

[3] Art by Nina Ward - https://www.facebook.com/NinaWardArtandIllustration/