Gorgers

Gorgers
Battle Cry	"The Hunt Begins!"
Number	XVII
Founding	First Founding
Successors of	N/A
Primarch	Nathanog
Homeworld	Thorond-ul
Strength	Bloody Close-Range Combat
Specialty	The Hunter
Allegiance	Chaos Undivided
Colours	Iron, Blood-Red

Summary of Legion XVIII

Numeration: The XVIIIth Legion

Primogenator: Nathanog (also known as "The Mouth")

Cognomen (Prior): Blood Knights.

Observed Strategic Tendencies: Close Range Combat.

Noteworthy Domains: The Thorond-ul System (Primary), Tithe Rights to Albia Cities on Terra.

Allegiance: Traitoris Perdita

"You may not understand us. You may even hate us, but never do you dare underestimate us. Have we not shown time and time again that our will triumphs over all else? The enemy can outnumber us, can out gun us, but we have yet to meet a foe who can out fight us!"

Master Hunter Atmir, Second Company Captain, M.30

Remarked even in the days of the Great Crusade as The Eternal Hunters, the Gorgers were seen as the pinnacle of war incarnate. Always craving the thrill and energy that comes from melee combat, few can attest to match them in their skill. Before they fought to bring understanding and reason to mankind by ripping apart all who oppose the glorious age that was coming, but after their crushing defeat in the Segmentum Solar the Gorgers are splintered and fractured into hundreds of warbands.

Legion History

After the discovery of their Primarch, the Gorgers were to be used by the Emperor as an Astartes force that would exponentially grow in strength battles after battles through the absorption of their foes and would then provide him with a force that very few could rival. Unfortunately the meddling of Chaos weakened the control the Primarch and the Emperor had on the Hunger of the Legion. Left in a state where only constant hunting could prevent them from going mad or dying, it became more and more difficult for the Gorges to find adequate preys. But then came the offer of Betrayal. A promise that the Gorgers would participate in One Hunt that would provide with an immense amount of preys of the finest quality, their own loyalist brothers. The offer was too good for the Gorges to pass on. They pledged their allegiance to Chaos and embarked on the heresy with their stomachs ready for the feast.

Legion Doctrine

The years spent on Thorund-ul shaped the Primarch and its system of belief. For him, survival was everything, and to survive one had to draw blood to feed. The aggressive mutated beast of his world never gave the Primarch a choice, and with the discovery of his physique he understood that he was to be a predator, never a prey, and a predator could only be strong AND stronger.

As he devoured he grew stronger, and as he grew stronger he craved stronger beasts to challenge. It is this defiance against the beast that hunted them that caused the humans that first met Nathanog to follow and learn from him.

Legion Tactics

The tactics of the Gorgers revolved around the engagement of the enemy in melee combat. However the Gorgers would not just stupidly hurl themselves at the enemy. They would first make use of their cunning to find ways to surprise or flank the enemy.

But once the melee started, the Gorgers would only resort to their wits and resilience, striking viciously where it hurts, locating the weak points of the enemy in order to inflict gruesome wounds. A bloody that could only end with the annihilation of one of the two parties.

Legion Equipment

Being focused on close combat, the Gorgers favored the use of lightning claws for their power and the terrifying maiming they could inflict to the enemy. Otherwise, Gorgers of lower rank who could not be given lightning claws used the iconic Obsidian Chainswords, made from a precious metal from Thorund-ul dubbed "obsidian", those allowed for lighter chainswords and thus served the mobility in close combat of the Gorgers well.

Despite being melee focused, the Gorgers did not despise the use of ranged weapons. Those who were skilled at marksmanship were as prized as those gifted in the use of the sword. Those would be put into Spear Hurlers units, but unfortunately would rarely have access to the more advanced ranged weaponry other legions could have.

Nathanog The Endless Mouth, Primarch of The Gorgers

Appearance

Caucasian with a pale complexion. Dark, long, and untamed hair. Overall a handsome face if it was not for the abhorrent size his mouth can open and the gigantic, inhuman tooth in it.

History

Origins

Youth

Born on a medieval world, Nathanog lived anonymously for decades in the forests, hunting and feeding on the strong beasts living there, feared by the humans of this world. But one day, a disease spread through the planet, mutating the already strong beasts into engines of terror and slaughter. The humans grew desperate, as more and more civilized land was destroyed by the rampage of the mutant beasts, until the day Nathanog was seen slaying one of the beasts by himself.

The humans had no choice, they followed him, learning from him how to kill the mutants, how to trap and slaughter them. They called their new leader Nathan. But the help of Nathan had a price, he would force the humans to eat the mutated monsters, many died but those who survived grew strong, and as Nathan expanded his strength and his pack from lands to lands, castles to castles, the humans slowly claimed back their world. As the beasts grew small, Nathan only had one choice if he wanted his thirst for hunting to be satisfied, conquer the planet and feed on all those that would oppose him. And so he did, followed by the strongest of his pack, he went on a blood march that would set the planet ablaze but that would ultimately see him crowned as his sole master, Nathan-Og, the Endless Mouth.

The Coming of The Emperor

Then happened what only a few saw coming, with no more conquests to be had, Nathanog proceeded to hunt his own, those he had raised to strength now were fine preys and would sate his thirst for violence. This is when the Emperor arrived and managed to save both his Son and his planet by controlling and calming his Hunger. The Emperor offered his son an army and the perfect opportunity, a galaxy full of enemies to prey upon.

Post-Heresy

After the defeat of Hector during the Siege of Terra, the Gorgers started a feuding in the planetary systems around the Solar System. Numerous Legions came to rid the outskirts of Terra from their assaults. As they have done during much of the Heresy the Gorgers erected numerous Gorges, abyssal holes in the ground filled with the corpses of the strong, those were used in the most blasphemous of rituals and opened the way to Reality for numerous demons of the ruinous powers.

Despite their demonic aides and the frenzy the Gorgers, the cooperation and righteous fury of the united loyalist legions were too much for Nathanog and his marines to withstand. In a moment of lucidity, the Primarch managed to regroup and boost the resolve its legion with the promise of One Last Hunt the like they have ever craved. A Hunt where they would concentrate all their offensive power in one quick brutal charge, stopping the chipping the loyalists made them endure. This day, many of the Gorgers, who had been so far loyal to a fault to Nathanog, chose to leave, Atmir leading them, refusing to let the Gorgers end in what was likely to be a suicidal assault.

The fight that ensued was bloody for both forces, the Gorgers fought like a beast cornered on all fronts, showing even more ferocity than usual. Nathanog himself was at the very forefront of the fight, enduring an impossible amount of wounds and shots. The Gorgers carved a path of blood in their charge, prompting many of the legions of the alliance into strategical retreats.

But still the loyalists eventually stopped their momentum, the Gorgers started to suffer losses after losses, Nathanog was more and more the focus of the relentless assault of the loyalists.

Here I will need a rundown of the loyalist forces there and if they have their Primarch joining the attack

Eventually, the combined might of the loyalists overwhelmed Nathanog, who fell in the middle of its frenzy.

The loss of their Primarch sent the legion into a surprising realization of their impeding demise. In the hastiest of retreat, the few remaining Gorgers still alive left the battle. In their disarray they couldn't retrieve the corpse of their Primarch, a mistake that would forever haunt the legion and its descendants in the coming millenniums.

The Gorgers left the systems the Terran outskirts and warped in the direction of the Eye of Terror with the hope of rejoining the others traitor legions.

After the Primarch's death the Brotherhoods scattered, sometimes breaking down into their constituent packs. The resulting warbands wandered with no purpose except seeking fresh prey.

The Legions War

The uneasy alliance of Hector did not survive his death for long. The numerous rivalries and tensions hurled many of the legions at each other throats. Among those legions who had an incommensurate hatred for each other were the Gorgers and the Sons of Fire.

In what was the most apocalyptic of battles, the Sons of Fire and the Gorgers met on a Daemon World and unleashed their limitless fury at each other. The battle lasted for years, each legions refusing to give in and let the other win. Recruits would be sent right away into the battle with no regards for the future of both legions. The amount of fire and blood spilled during that conflict a delicacy for the Ruinous Powers who indulged in the spectacle.

It took the coming of a new Warmaster, rising from the defeat of Hector, to stop the bloodshed between those two legions. With a new purpose in mind and hatred in their hearts, the Gorgers and their warbands would sporadically re-unite under the banners of the Black Crusades, to once again culling the strong from the Imperium of Man.

Culture

The Philosophy of the Hunt

Before the Hunt

The Legion has ceremonies before each battle where the Master Hunters would gigantic pyres around which duels, competitions, and revelries would be organized to increase the resolve of the marines and make them long for the coming battle.

Marines of high ranks would tell of the deeds they will perform in the following battle, of the amount of braves they shall cut and kill, of the numerous corpses that were to be there tomorrow. Each of those words would be remembered by their fellows who would come to those who acted on their words and exalt them.

After the Hunt

The Feast would end all battles won. In a moment of self-indulgence, the Gorgers would select the finest corpses and regroup arrange wherever was convenient in order to eat and absorb their strength.

The Gorges

In the cases of major battles , once victory was achieved, the Gorgers would start the preparations for the Ceremory of the Gorge.

The Gorgers were most of the time sent to worlds that q very strong resistance against the Imperial forces. They specialized in helping the Imperial regiments of humans who were stuck against an enemy that would not give in.

The Gorgers would come in a terrifying, non-stop display of violence would eliminate the resistance. The civilians would be mostly sparred but in order to gain their absolute loyalty and show them the cost of defying the Great Crusade and the Imperium, the Gorgers would create Gorges.

Those were gigantic holes, surrounded with the iconography and symbols of the legion, where the corpses of those the Gorgers just crushed would be amassed. The Gorgers would then make the civilians come near the Gorge and they would make them watch as they devoured their fallen in a frenzy.

Those who witnessed that ritual learned the lesson quickly, the Gorgers would then be free to leave the planet or system to the Imperial regiments, hurrying toward new battles.

Attire

Gorgers would sometimes decorate their armors and weapons with feathers of great hunting birds. Gorgers of high rank would instead use scales or eyes from dangerous animals, tying them to their armors. The more different the colors of those ornaments were the more prestige it gave to their wearers.

Legion Organisation

The Gorgers were not given to formal organisation even before their fall to Chaos. Their basic unit was the Pack, which could number from 5 to 25 Astartes, ranging from raw Scouts up to Veterans. Typically the most assertive and fiercest Gorger would command as Pack Leader. A body of Packs who had fought alongside one another would recognise their history as a Brotherhood under the nominal authority of a Chief Hunter.

Larger formations were assembled ad-hoc according to the needs of the Legion. Typically, the Primarch would have a large body of men about him, but nothing else was fixed.

Specialist Ranks

Each Brotherhood's Deathspeaker served as ritemaster, and judged aspiring Neophytes and assigned them to Packs. After the Chaplain Edict, Nathanog claimed that the Deathspeakers would fill a similar role in his Legion.

The Gorgers Apothecaries were known as Lifebinders.

While the Primarch lived, Nathanog recognised a handful of Master Hunters. These superb warriors had proven their abilities against their founder and carried great prestige in the Legion.

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