Ashen Crows

> "*I am a weapon of the Emperor and a shield for humanity. It is my purpose to unite and save humanity from the darkness of this galaxy. Many of my kin see themselves as rulers and kings believing that once this crusade is over we will sit atop mighty thrones. That is not our destiny or what we are, we serve humanity, we are its commanders and beacons of hope, not its rulers.*
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> I have burnt away much of my being to fuel the fires of humanity. Until my last breath is drawn I will continue to be that ember that keeps the fires alight, I will wade through the abyss so others made find the light.
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> Once humanity's flames have brought light to all, then my ember may dim, no longer needed to light the way.*"*
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> ― Extract taken from Galvarians personal musings: The Purpose of Gaea.
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## The Ashen Crows

### **Legion Master**

Flock Master Columbus Titan (Earlg-Crusade)
Flock Master Alveras Sceotan (Mid-Crusade Onwards)

### **Observed Strategic Tendencies**

Anti-Xenos operations, Distraction tactics and Headhunting of key military and civil personnel

### **Legion Colours**

Ash Grey and Black

Master apothecaries and anti-xenos specialists, the XIth Legion have gained a well deserved reputation for both their vast knowledge and tactics they have developed for the wider Imperium to better combat the ever present Xenos threat. Possessing a remarkably high survival rate compared to some of their brother legions, a feat achieved by having all squad sergeants receiving Apothecary training, the legion is able to ensure lower than average gene-seed rejection rates, as well as an extremely high retrieval rate of gene-seed from the fallen, perhaps only rivalled by the IInd legion.

Originally the XI were known as the Hunters of Titan, titled after their extensive victories reclaiming Saturn's moons. Specialising in distraction and target isolation tactics the hunters were feared warriors who were well practiced in the study of their enemy, ensuring they can crumble there formations and tactics before engaging their foes. These tactics were passed onto Galvarian by Columbus Titan, the legion master, and would be continued throughout the crusade and beyond.

The legion was initially hampered in size, not by rejection, but by Galvarian’s own recruitment methods, the First Ember only allowing a handful of volunteers to join the legion, rather than the mass recruitment or near conscription levels some of the other legions carried out. Eventually however, this seemed to change despite the doctrine remaining the same. In secret, Galvarian had begun a secret project deep beneath the surface of Æsce, creating human clones with specific traits to directly match the XIth’s genetic needs, as well as stripping them of personalities. Though some of these clones would still fail to grow to full term, stopping the legion growing beyond any other, those that did survive possessed a near 100% survival rate for the implantation, and soon these vat troops swelled the ranks of the Ashen Crows traditionally recruited legionnaires fading as a result, those few remaining being the only members of the legion to possess a name, rather than a designation number.

The XIth legion may not have the hunting pedigree of some of their brother legions, but this has not stopped them from becoming a frighteningly proficient head hunting force, making ample use of distraction tactics while their elite warriors will strike at the key units and communication operatives, ensuring that the enemy will crumble with their hearts ripped out. Beyond this, the legion boasts extensive apothecaries and recon companies, and will deploy both in force before a campaign, specifically against new breeds of xenos. Once on the ground, they will survey the landscape, take samples, and even capture live test subjects, all experimented on and their knowledge disseminated out to the legion as a whole. Though this process is slow, none can doubt its efficacy, the Ashen Crows boasting a wide range of knowledge and tactical responses to any changing situations within a given conflict before the conflict has ever truly begun, only the Watchers eclipsing them in such training.

The Ashen Crows are a legion of two extreme’s, boasting both highly charismatic warriors to rival any within the legions, and cold, near robotic warriors that would be more at home amongst the Mechanicum or the Xth legion. Per XIth legion recruitment protocol, all warriors inducted into their ranks are hypno-trained and memory scrubbed to become as emotionless as possible, little more than weapons for the good of all humanity, Galvarian seeing them ever as the sword and shield of man, but never mankind itself. Only when a warrior has proven himself to truly understand these lessons and take them to heart are they given the honour of a name, sometimes the one they bore before the legion, or other times taking on brand new ones to better reflect their new life. These new warriors stand galvanised by this great honour, becoming ture embers, then blazing flames in a sea of ash. As the crusade wore on however, Galvarian began to see even these warriors as unbefitting his vision for the warriors of the Imperium, shifting to the secretive vat-grown recruitment, the warriors raised to the legion from that day forth exemplifying the ash, not the fires.

## Legion History

### The Great Crusade

#### Galvarian

    The most academic of his brothers, and indeed one of the smartest beings in the entire Imperium, Galvarian is a being of many moods, much like his legion. Casual yet argumentative, paranoid and compassionate. A living demi-god who showed how mortal their kind could be. On his home, Galvarian never rose to be a leader or a soldier, instead he was a lab-rat, experimented on to try and cure the impossibly virulent plague that ravaged the world of Æsce. This has left even a Primarch permanently scarred and ravaged, his face a half ruined wreck, while his physique is one of a lithe and yet near anemic skinny form, leaving him as the physically weakest of his brothers.

It is this upbringing that has led Galvarian to prefer the company of common people, rather than government officials and military high command. Unless required to, Galvarian ignores common protocol, speaking in a purely casual manner, seeing those who rely heavily on formalities as those who merely wish to convey an often over-inflated sense of self-importance or intellect. Coupled with his love of learning, Galvarian ever seeks to educate those around him, whether they wish for it or not, believing he always knows best, regardless of the information that may show otherwise. This has even led him into heated arguments with many of his brothers, stopping just shy of violence by the smallest of margins.

Viewing his legion and even himself as mere tools of humanity, Galvarian will throw himself at the enemy to rip out their hearts in a moment's notice. Compensating for his lack of physical strength, Galvarian has personally crafted numerous pieces of equipment for himself to better wage the Imperium’s wars, sophisticated power armour, high output energy shields, and even a terrifyingly potent plasma talon called Annihilation, a combination of a compact plasma beam weapon and a poison wreathed claw. With these weapons and armour, galvarian has torn down empires, and yet he often laments that it is required, wishing for nothing more than to retire from the frontlines, letting his legion be led by another of his more militant brothers while he himself acts in the medical and research role he sees perfectly suited for himself.

## Legion Organisation

### Great Crusade and Early Apostasy

The Ashen Crows follow the standard legiones astartes formations closely with some slight variations and importance of ranks.

#### Specialist Ranks and Formations

* **Council of the Kiln** - Where in other legions the legion master is 2nd to only primarch, the Ashen Crows holds a council that places multiple individuals in the same rank, Flock Master, Lord Fugol, Lord Apothecary and Master of the Forge. Each responsible for a different part of the legion, they have expertise and understanding others don’t. In Galvarians mind having these ranked as equals ensures that ideas, debate and criticism is welcome.

* **Fugols** - Law masters of the legion, Fugols are responsible that the legions extensive laws are followed and that new recruits are as indoctrinated into the legions purpose as possible. They are cold, unmoving and outside of combat hold authority over even the commanders they serve.
* **Apothecaries** - As a legion specialising in the study of xenos and other worlds, they bolster the greatest apothecaries in the imperium. So vital to the legions tactics that every squad leader is given basic training and equipment. This has resulted in the legion bolstering an incredibly high survival and gene-seed recovery rate.
* **The Morathan Seekers** - A pinnacle of the Ashen Crows research and head hunting based tactics, the Morathan Seekers are a specialist recon unit tasked with capturing new xenos and surveying their worlds. They are equipped with unique needle rifles designed to poison and incapacitate enemies, silently and precisely. The common poison used amongst the seekers is made using the devastating venom of the Fleoge, the primitive moth like xenos from their home system. This venom shuts down the targets body and will begin to consume its host unless treated. Seeker units are led by a Morathan Medicare, equal to that of the legions standard apothecaries, they help protect the unit they lead in long term operations but are also tasked with the more scientific tasks such as sample collection and infield experiments. Morathan Seekers are hugely valuable and respected members of the XI legion and it is not uncommon for many to bare names. Galvarian and many of the legions lords and centurions seek council with the Morathan due to their refined analytical ability to tackle new enemies.
* **Converem** - When Galvarian was first reunited with his legion he enforced a wide range of highly strict laws. A position created by the Fugol and Galvarian, Converem are scum of the legion, those who fail to follow the legions laws and have disgraced their very purpose. Imprisoned in-between missions they must maintain their own armour, resulting in them bearing a wide range of modified and damaged armour. While on the battlefield they are sent to where the fighting is thickest or on suicide missions. The only aspect of them deemed valuable by the legion is the gene-seed they carry.
* **The Ablaze** - The Ablaze are both Galvarians greatest successes and failures. After the purging of 2 of his brother legions and seeing many of his brothers falling to their human side, he decided that space marines needed replacing and that primarchs needed policing. Galvarian and a close council of his legion decided they would create a new breed of warrior. Created from a mix of Xenos and Galvarians own DNA, they were hulking, emotionless warriors. They took part in a wide range of secret missions with brutal efficiency towards the end of the crusade, even a secret mission to attack Galvarian to see how they would handle fighting one of the Emperors sons if needed. Only 1 hundred were made, but that was enough to convince Galvarian he had succeeded. Presenting his creations to a handful of his brothers at the Council of Vision, they were disgusted with him casting him out, labelling him a criminal and a traitor. When Galvarian later joined the Warmaster to escape the wrath of his creator, the Ablaze stayed loyal to the imperial truth thanks to their heavy indoctrination. Though the loyalists saw them as monsters they fought all the same proving themselves time and time again throughout the Apostasy.

#### Equipment

As befitted a legion with such a heavily scientific nature, the XIth often found themselves tinkering with a wide range of new medications and technology, many within the Mechanicum looking upon such innovation with suspicion, or even outright scorn. Because of this, the legion boasted a huge armoury of experimental and prototype weaponry, most seldom seen outside of the legion, developed by the Ashen Crows themselves and either never passing the prototype stages, or rejected by Mechanicum for requiring too many resources to be practical for mass production. Some however was eventually used on a wider scale, or were sanctioned by the Mechanicum for further testing within other legions. Iliastus Pattern Assault Cannon were first tested within the XIth before being handed to other selected legions for further testing, while Galvarian himself helped to develop the ‘Embarus’ sub-pattern of MkII power armour, boasting improved armour, though not to the levels of the slab-sided MkIII, and improved systems, many of which were eventually refined and combined with other systems to create the MK IV Maximus Pattern power armour

#### Notable Bonded Formations

* **The Corvid Parlement** - With the Ashen Crows dreading the idea of worlds being left to defend themselves, in secret, it was decided that using a simplified version of their vat-grown recruitment methods, they would grow armies to protect them. Simple clones based on a “perfected” human template they were mass produced warriors, drilled in defencive war tactics from there creation. Highly disciplined and skilled they helped save many of worlds from sudden strikes and rebellions. But over time, a quirk was discovered, bad luck. Unexplained, the Corvid Parlement encountered more statistically unlikely faults, weapon failures and deaths than thought possible.

## Æsce

Before the coming of Galvarian, Æsce was little more than a world of ash and death, wracked by a plague that defied all attempts to cure it, its population forced to live inside dozens of sealed blister domes dotted across the planet, travel between them scarce to the point of non-existence. Galvarian’s arrival changed all that however, the impossible Primarch proof against even the worst strains of the plague, and quickly taken into one of the many blister cities, becoming little more than a lab-rat, cruel and inhuman experiments conducted on him, the scientists heedless of the screams their work elicited. Though it was undoubtedly monstrous, the efforts finally bore fruit, the plague finally being consigned to laboratories dedicated to its continual study, allowing the world to heal.

Throughout the Great Crusade, life began to return to Æsce, slowly turning it into a utopia sprung from Galvarian’s own mind. In truth however, the world never shook off its darkest roots, merely burying them beneath a veneer of niceties and surface level comforts. Those who dwelt below the surface were still those same scientists who had willingly tortured and experimented on a seemingly child like being, ever willing to dive into the filth of the galaxy in the hopes of finding a brighter future, Galvarian sharing this belief in its entirety. The only inkling that any of those took place was in the worlds exceedingly strict laws, any who were caught and convicted of breaking them disappearing almost overnight, taken to the vast underground laboratories, never to be seen again..

Eventually towards the end of the crusade the world had become fully cured. As a show of gratitude, in Galvarians home city, a statue of black stone and fire was erected in the city centre. It depicted him with vines covering one side of his body and on the other carrying a crow.

The world bestowed the title of ‘Gaea’ on to him, after the titan of nature from old terran mythology.

Though the legion very rarely took recruits from their homeworld towards the end of the great crusade many of new legionaries would walk out of the fortress monastery. It was clear something was going on deep within the bowels of the fortress. One of the many crimes the primarch would commit in his life.

## Notable Ashen Crows

### Pre-Apostasy

* **Flock Master Columbus Titan** - A vetren of Terra and the XI original legion master, Columbus is a respected and noble commander, renown for his inspiring speeches and leading by example. Though not as skilled as others of his rank in hand to hand combat, Columbus excelled in his tactical prowess. Possessing a powerful analytical mind he developed a majority of the legions tactics. He was seen as a mentor to many of the legion, even Galvarian himself, of which he tutored in the art of war when he was discovered. His death at the hands of Sanguinius during the purge of the IX divided the legion and left a hole that could never truly be filled.
* **2nd Flock Master Alveras Sceotan** - Originally the legions champion, Alveras was given the rank of legion master by Columbus himself before his death. Known as the Phoenix, he was known for his ability to survive many missions and conflicts that few did. Covered in scars and barring notable bionics, he is a hardened vertren who's more brutal fighting style saw the Ashen Crows embrace more of original Hunters of Titan tactics.
* **Lord Fugal Durath** - Durath is lord Fugol of the Ashen Crows, he manages the minds and emotions of the legion, enforcing loyalty and the Imperial truth. Renown throughout the legion, he is responsible for the death of many legionaries who dare defy the legions laws. An intimidating presence, none dare challenge him, when he speaks all are silent. Originally a Terran commander Durath was the one who convinced Galvarian to treat the criminal legionaries better and to stop fuelling the ego of the Terrans. Durath was one of the first to notice something was affecting Galvarian and began to prepare for the worst. When Galvarian sort refuge with the Warmaster rather than return to Terra, he organised the loyalists forces to strike the traitors fleet when the time was right. Eventually leading the loyalist Ashen Crows to Terra, bringing word of his betrayal to the Imperium. He was later made the first knight errant and titled the Hand of the Sigillite.
* **Lord Apothecary Darwin Godric** - One of the very few volunteers to be accepted from the Ashen Crows homeworld, it was clear that he had an incredible mind, quickly learning and mastering a wide range of scientific fields, though specialising in biology much like his primarch. Climbing through the ranks it didn’t take long for him to become lord apothecary of the legion and eventually the Primarchs own apprentice. He worked alongside Galvarian for many of his projects as well as the many that went against the laws of the Imperium. He stayed blindly loyal to Galvarian even when fled punishment from the Emperor.
* **Bealuful Ronth, Ex Lord Apothecary** - Bealuful was the original Lord Apothecary of the XIth legion, despite his rank he was widely disliked due to his sadistic and cruel nature, the only thing that kept him at his rank was due to his talents. When Galvarian was discovered it became very apparent that neither saw eye to eye. Though Galvarian didn’t strip Baeluful of his rank he assigned him very few tasks and often of little importance. This clash of ideals between the two would become apparent when Galvarian assigned Baeluful to the Consul Exemplar legion, to help train his brothers apothecaries but also in the hope that they could change him.
* **Galeras the Second Ember** - First of the Ablaze, it was considered Galvarians greatest creation and failure. Made from Galvarians and a wide range of xenos DNA, Galeras was an emotionless warrior. Forced to suffer the same tests Galvarian suffered through, Galeras came out unscaved showing his mental and physical prowess. Specially trained by Galvarian it was a strong commander and an exceptional duelist, leading the Ablaze on a wide range of secret missions, it proved himself over and over again. In Galvarians mind, he was the perfect warrior.