Johannes Vrach

Johannes Vrach
Discovered (world)	Rai
Discovered (period)	850.M30
Legion	Twelfth
Heraldry/Sigil
Unique Weapon	test
Distinguishing Traits	Methodical, Sober, Empathetic
Flaws	Obsessive, Melancholic
Horus Heresy role	Traitor
Dominion	Eden

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

"Pity Johannes. Of us all, he was the one least suited to being a soldier - yet he was also best suited to overcoming the Orks. I do not wish there could have been another way, only that he had been stronger."

-Gaspard Lumey, private correspondence.

Appearance

Johannes was broader than average for a primarch, though slightly shorter as well, with black hair going down to his knees. His hair was always tied into a ponytail with many colorful ribbons, as was customary among the natives of his homeworld, Rai. Anyone familiar with the culture of those people would be able to tell the exact region and city he hails from by the color sequence and form of those ribbons. He usually carried a stern look on his face, reflecting the brooding nature of his intellect, though he was friendly and welcoming to anyone who approached him. He was a quiet man, but could never stand by while others suffered. Vrach was devoted fully to his medical work, and his patients found his natural calm and focus comforting. Within himself, Vrach bore a heavy burden in the constant responsibility he put upon himself for curing the ills of those around him. He was never the sort to accept that a situation was out of his power to repair, and every loss was felt deeply.

In battle, Johannes wore a master-crafted set of Tartaros pattern terminator armor, customized to appear a bit less bulky and bearing the bandaged heart of his legion at the center of its chest-plate. His preferred weapon was the Pharmacaeus, a unique needlegun of his own design. It's ammunition carried potent toxins or other vitriolic substances chosen specifically for their efficacy against a given target, allowing Vrach to more quickly eliminate his foes and return to his medical work. When made to fight up close, he used the Surgeon's Hand, an advanced Narthecium with thin and highly articulate blades not quite as large as a lightning claw's attached to the fingers. The tool also contained scissors, tweezers and other surgical tools mounted on small mechadendrites that were kept in sterile sealed compartments within the gauntlet. It was precise enough to perform field surgery, the Hand was more often used in treating a wide variety of wounds on both Astartes and unaugmented humans.

Youth

The primarch's pod landed on a jungle world Rai, near a small settlement. The young primarch was found and adopted by a doctor from an old and established line of healers, the family Vrach. Though the man had five children already, he could not help but take the child in. The boy was given the name Johannes and was raised him as a Vrach. Family was important on Rai, and the Vraches took to the new addition with characteristic warmth. This fondness was reciprocated by the young primarch, who was intensely devoted to his adopted family. He especially admired his father for his work healing the wounded and diseased, leading Johannes towards medicine and biology. Johannes displayed great talent in those fields, in time surpassing even his adoptive father's own prodigious abilities. The family Vrach soon gathered renown as the greatest team of doctors and medical researchers on the planet, finding cures for many of the diseases and afflictions that had tormented the population previously. Life expectancy rose considerably, then technology and overall living standards. The people could now advance further into the depths of the jungle, freed from fear of the many deadly spores and contagious viruses hiding within the untamed rainforests. It was a grand new era for Rai.

Unfortunately, the golden age did not last long. An exploration team looking for mineral deposits deep in the wilds found the remains of an ancient and mysterious ruin. The archeologists that followed began unearthed alien artifacts and metal tablets covered in an unknown language. Months after the ruin's unearthing, the first symptoms began to appear within the populace. At first the disease passed unnoticed, it's early symptoms being mild fatigue and a barely perceptible rise in body temperature. It's intense virulence and mild effects insured that it passed freely through the populace. A year after its appearance, intense nausea began ripping through the population and the fever and fatigue increased to crippling levels. The hospitals of Rai were overwhelmed, and the researchers were dumbfounded. As the best medical experts of the time, the Vrach family did their best to ease the suffering. Johannes' eldest brother Esau succumbed to the ravages of the disease. Johannes and his father worked tirelessly but, despite the Vraches' best efforts, no cure could be found.

As the nausea progressed to internal hemorrhaging and the fever caused dementia, the settlements of Rai emptied from infection and infighting. The few healthy people remaining desperately formed closed enclaves, violently attacking anyone who attempted to enter for fear of what had now become known as the Red Death. Their fear was understandable, the infected constantly screamed in pain and madness. As they succumbed the afflicted violently seized and vomited spouts of blood, this process took several torturous hours. The Vraches' work kept them outside of safety, one by one they began to succumb to its effects while superhuman immunity kept Johannes safe. He grew increasingly desperate, spending days and nights in his lab to no avail. As Johannes stood over the grave of the last of his adopted family, his youngest sister Ester, a massive construct appeared in the sky. Giant, golden-armored warriors stepped on the planet and Johannes met his father for he first time.

The Coming of The Emperor

Johannes begged the Emperor to save Rai, and accepted his offer of a space marine legion immediately with the promise of his father's assistance. A number of magos biologis were ordered in, but their analysis showed that the Red Death was impossible to cure. The virus had been engineered by some xenos technology as a biological weapon, and engrained itself deeply in the organ systems of those it afflicted. The Emperor ordered a complete purge of all infected regions as well as most of the deep jungle, only those who sealed themselves in closed enclaves survived. Johannes now knew his duty was to eradicate all that is tainted, only then could new life flourish.

As he traveled with his father, Johannes came to realize the Imperium was like a potent antibiotic, eradicating the infections which afflicted the divided human race by bringing the light of the Emperor. Attempting to integrate or replace resistant indigenous cultures, solve their problems, and create economic ties is folly. Just as the Legions Astartes brought the light of the Imperium to the natives, so their delusions and corruption could infect the Imperium. Treatment of a difficult disease is often harsh and when those most infected worlds are wiped clean, new life will flourish free of taint.

Though he was never a soldier, Johannes came to understand the necessity of warfare. He abhorred drawing combat out, taking no pleasure in protracted battles or needless destruction. The primarch learned utilize the application of death in the same manner he would administer a proscription, utilizing tailor-made poisons and diseases to efficiently eliminate those who opposed him. He brought this philosophy to the marines he assumed command of, and the legion quickly became known for their brutal virus bombings. Vrach also initiated the practice of officers in the legion engaging in cross-training as apothecaries and carrying medical equipment in addition to their command duties. Their medical expertise quickly made the Life Bringers popular with the legions they work alongside, they became noted for their devotion to their allies and battle brothers.

The Great Crusade

After taking command of the XII legion Johannes dutifully led them on the Great Crusade. Any world deemed pure and willing to join the Imperium peacefully received considerable aid from the Life Bringers, who immediately proceeded to develop and spread vaccines against diseases common in the Imperium and the ones discovered on the planet, allowing trade and further relations to begin immediately with minimal risk. Simultaneously new crops and genetically engineered animals are introduced, ensuring high fertility and food production for the increasing population. Any civilizations that refused to accept Imperial rule or were believed to be corrupt in some way were completely purged, the Life Bringers first deploying to disable any anti-air defenses, then proceeding with a heavy bombardment with biological and then chemical weapons, eliminating all life down to the microscopic level. Afterwards new, carefully engineered and prepared life forms are seeded, first bacteria to eliminate traces of contamination and prepare the soil and atmosphere, then flora and fauna until the world is fit for human habitation and settlers are invited from overpopulated hive worlds.

The progress was comparably slow, but because of such dedication the Life Bringers always left lush Paradise Worlds and exceptionally fertile Agri Worlds in their wake. The sectors they conquered became the bread baskets of the expanding Imperium, supplying vast amounts of food to busy Forge Worlds and expedition fleets.

The Heresy

Training and working as a healer his whole life, Johannes never liked the fact that his duty involved warfare, hating to bring pain and death upon others. Though convinced of the necessity of his actions and refusing to be the one who would allow any sort of disease or discord to spread into the Imperium through his carelessness, he couldn't quite quench his own conscience. No matter how much he tried to justify it, telling himself how "there is no other way!" and "it's what must be done, for the best of all!" somewhere deep in his heart he couldn't help but see the ruin his legion delivers upon unwilling populations and wonder if there might be a bit of truth in the accusations of genocide thrown at him by some of his brother primarchs. Johannes spent as much time as he could treating soldiers in field hospitals and designing more efficient, fast acting bioweapons in his lab to get the fighting done as quickly and painlessly as possible, yet no matter how much he immersed himself in his work he could never rid himself of doubts.

When Hektor came to the Life Bringers, offering a way to forever free humanity from all disease, pain and suffering and asking to join his cause, Johannes gladly accepted. For the first time since leaving Rai Johannes was finally at peace with himself, confident with the voice in his head assuring him that Grandfather Nurgle loves all and there is no more righteous cause than to share and spread his gifts of plague across the whole galaxy.

Johannes brought the rest of his legion towards the worship of Nurgle, and the Life Bringers have left a terrible mark on every planet they fought on during the Hektor Heresy, spreading Nurgle's Rot and leaving countless worlds as uninhabitable, toxic Death Worlds. Johannes personally led his troops during the Isstvan Massacres, where their chemical bombardment crippled the Entombed legion and left a permanent scar on their geneseed. The Life Bringers were also present in the battles in Sol System and the siege of the Imperial Palace, supporting the Warmaster with their medical expertise, disposable cannon fodder in form of plague zombies and raining deadly biotoxins from their Whirlwinds. The residual traces from that battle still result in some rare cases of Nurgle's Rot deep in the underhives of Terra, long after the Heresy.

Post-Heresy

Following the loss of Rai after the end of the Hektor Heresy, the Life Bringers retreated into the Eye of Terror. Johannes, now a bloated demon prince of Nurgle, rules a demon world he named Eden. It is a vast, toxic jungle where vicious, rotten predators hunt among the twisting foliage and giant mushrooms while swarms of insects buzz through the air. The Life Bringers and their cultists live in closed, overgrown city-enclaves similar to those that once dotted the jungles of Rai. It is here that they develop ever more horrific plagues and resupply the Plagueships carrying the servants of Nurgle on their endless quest to spread his putrid "gifts" and transform the galaxy into their twisted image of paradise.