Brennus

Brennus
Title/Honours	the High King, the Skyborn
Discovered (world)	Alessia
Discovered (period)	c.892.M30
Legion	Eleventh
Heraldry/Sigil
Unique Weapon	Mountain Splitter, power falcata
Distinguishing Traits	Friendly, intelligent
Flaws	distant, trusting
Fate	Unknown, disappeared during 1st Black crusade

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

Brennus was the most noble and worthy of all our Father's sons. He was a great warrior who paradoxically wished only for Humanity to live in peace and took up the sword only when no other option was available. His only flaw was that he was reluctant to trouble others with his burdens and strove too hard to solve all problems by himself. This lead to his loss in the First Black Crusade as he would not wait for my Legion and I to arrive to assist him while planets were burning. To my eternal shame I was too slow to save him and I hope beyond hope that he is still alive out there, somewhere in the void of space.

(Excerpt from Gaspard Lumey's private correspondance)

Appearance

Brennus favored the appearance of a traditional Alessian tribesman, keeping his hair, beard, and mustache long and braided, and hung with various fetishes and runic charms. He was quick to show a lopsided smile, though his pale grey eyes always seemed distant, and rarely if ever displayed the passion that could be seen in those of his brothers. Though he had the appearance of a barbarian warlord brought into modern times, he was actually a fairly quiet and thoughtful man. He was tall, even for a primarch, but not overly bulky. His bare skin bore the 12 tattoos of the tribes of Alessia, the most prominent being a blue sunburst aound his left eye; this was the symbol of the tribe who had found him, whose name was quite close to the name of his legion. Brennus usually wore a suit of gold-colored artificer armor, graven with interlaced patterns, and decorated with the symbols of the tribes at the same locations where they appeared on his skin. He also possessed a suit of Terminator armor, similarly decorated, though he wore this infrequently. He was rarely seen without the mighty falcata sword he had forged as a chief, and which he enhanced with a power field after receiving command of his legion; this weapon was carved with runes of power, and bore the name "Mountain Splitter." Along with this, he usually carried a circular storm shield named "Wave", which let out the sound of waves crashing on the shore when struck in battle, a massive bolt pistol named "Cloud Hurler" for which he carried many different kinds of ammunition, and a pouch of ceramite chunks he used as bullets for his sling. Like many primarchs, Brennus possessed a massive arsenal, and would commonly select other weapons based on the battle for which he was preparing. His belt, a gift from the Emperor, is perhaps the finest thing he wears, displaying in finely cut gold leaf Brennus' Last Council, where he told the tribes of his true heritage.

Youth

Alessia was a world of seemingly infinite, teeming forests, stretching from one end of every continent to the other. Hills and mountains broke up these woodlands with some regularity, and it was upon one of these isolated hills which Brennus' pod came to land. The tribesmen that found him saw a babe, its fist wrapped around the throat of a dead Thunderhawk--one of the great, predatory birds reputed to control lightning and weather on Alessia--and immediately adopted him, viewing their find as an enormously good omen. They raised him among their tribe, and were unsurprised when the god-child grew at a rate far in excess of that of any man; larger and bulkier than any other. The Elders of the tribe fawned over the youth, and believed him to be an avatar of their plethora forest gods. This claim, among many others, eventually incited raids and attacks from many surrounding tribes, forcing the young Brennus into conflict from quite an early point.

Yet warfare on Alessia was not a grand affair of thousands of men and mass formations. The terrain was forever difficult, and rarely even enough to accommodate such tactics. War was a slow process, a series of skirmishes and blood grudges waged over the course of several years. There were more concerns than just your fellow man, for the dangerous woodland predators were only too happy to reap a bloody harvest as well. Thus, the style of war he learned was that of a cold, quiet, and patient hunter. It was a method whereby one carefully observed his prey before striking, and suited their tactics specifically to the given foe.

He earned his tattoos quickly, taking on the great blue snake of the Star-Eaters first. It took him a year to do it, but their defeat was utter and crushing when it came, their forces wiped out entirely. Yet he was magnanimous in victory: the Star-Eaters incorporated alongside his native Thunder-Bearers in a new system, in a united tribal confederation. Thus it would be, that when a tribe was conquered, it would be rapidly assimilated into the fold of the growing tribal council. They were each equally represented, though Brennus always made it clear that he would be the first among equals there.

The wars eventually wound down, with eight tribes making up the tribal council. Together, they made up the greater sum of the planet's surface, but Brennus was determined to bring them all together--and so the Last Council of Alessia was convened. There, all twelve Alessian tribes gathered together and agreed to unite in perpetuity, creating what all hoped would be a permanent and unified state.

As a ruler, Brennus was just but unambitious. Where some Primarchs rose to create shining new empires upon or from their adopted planets, Brennus did no such thing. He was content to peacefully rule over that which he had won, aspiring for little more than the stability and prosperity his campaigns had already won his folk. He would sit as the first upon the tribal council for many years, shaping policy and decision making, but never choosing to deviate much from established custom and precedent. The majority of his work was peacemaking, in keeping the sometimes disparate tribes together and avoiding internecine warfare between them. It isn't clear to what extent Brennus believed what the Elders claimed, that he was the child or avatar of a god, but he certainly made every effort to meet their expectations and comport himself like one.

The Coming of The Emperor

The coming of the Emperor is a well documented event in the Thunder King's storytelling culture. It is known that when Brennus received reports that one of the sky ships of the legends of Old Terra had come to the planet, He knew it would be worth investigating. He set out with his personal followers, the warriors of the Council of Tribes, to meet possible visitors from the lost homeland of his people; armed with sword and shield and a bag of cement missiles blessed by a smith of great skill. He did not bear his arms, wishing to both show a position of strength and be open to the possibility of friendship. When Brennus saw the Emperor, he was stunned by the power the man radiated; as High King, Brennus was the only man on the planet allowed to wear clothing threaded with gold; but this stranger radiated an aura of gold. It was as if his soul were golden. Brennus spoke, stutteringly at first, relaying his deeds in uniting the planet, the slaying of great beasts and powerful men, and of forging bonds between disparate peoples to achieve peace. The Emperor smiled, and relayed his own feats: The conquest of Terra, Luna, Mars, and the remainder of the Sol system, his battles alongside his other sons throughout the galaxy, and the great Imperium he had forged. Brennus dropped to his knee, stating that he had no gift great enough to offer in fealty; the Emperor bade him stand, and told Brennus that he did have such a gift: He could become a general, and fight the enemies of the Imperium. Brennus stood and nodded, agreeing grimly to a life of war instead of the peace he truly wanted.

The Great Crusade

The Thunder Kings had been bereft of a Primarch longer than most legions. Brennus was among the last discovered, and so a joy they had long not felt swelled the hearts of each marine within the Legion's ranks. They had been relegated to fronts bearing little prestige, and had grown bitter with envy as they looked on at the glory others achieved under the helm of their own Primarchs. Worse yet, they were a Legion that was ridiculed: rumors plaguing the XI regarding its origins and genestock since its very first days. Such Thunder Kings of Terran-stock as Roc Galveoc and Zebulon Uriy managed to keep the Legion together and relatively united, but never managed to stir any fire into them, any great pride. Thus, while they were competent, they were relegated always to a secondary place, assigned fronts of little perceived value.

Brennus was initially dismayed by what he found. A people broken by hearsay and ill fortune, beset by insecurities regarding themselves and their background. There was no identity there, nothing to join them together. He chose to keep the name, reportedly amused by the similarity between it and that of his tribe. The Legion was reorganized along tribal lines, with the original Terran marines inducted directly into his personal tribe. A concerted recruitment effort took place, with many thousands of Alessians being taken into the ranks of the Thunder Kings. The Terran marines longed for identity, and many seized upon the opportunity Brennus offered by adopting Alessian customs and sometimes even names. A new council was established, for the Thunder Kings Legion alone, and each of the tribes yet again given a place upon it.

When the Thunder Kings thus finally pulled themselves from Alessia, they did so with a new face. They were a Legion which had undergone a significant reshaping, being tuned to the direct purpose of their Primarch. They would demonstrate this well over the years, and Brennus would display infinite patience with the demands, complaints, and commentary of his brothers.

They were relegated to many of the same types of campaigns as before, initially. Slow, arduous, and inglorious endeavors. Yet Brennus showed his brilliance there, proving exceptionally competent in dealing with just these styles of fronts. Though it was little quicker than before, these protracted conflicts always ended in utterly comprehensive victories. With time, he was assigned command of out-of-the-way but important theaters, executing long wars with his Thunder Kings over numerous systems and planets. It was in this which they proved to excel: as a patient, conquering force, one which fought to achieve such a victory as to never needs return to fight there again.

The campaign the Thunder Kings would best be known for was the War for Agrippa's Cross. A gauntlet of star systems running between the Norma and Scutum-Centaurus Arms of the galaxy, it had been occupied and ruled by Xeno-worshiping humans for many centuries. With such a route having significant implications for the future of developing human worlds in the latter galactic arm, Warmaster Hektor, weary of the slow pace of fighting there, eventually assigned Brennus to the front. There, Brennus displayed caution and patience in spades, managing to win over as many worlds through careful diplomacy, threats, and surgical strikes as he did through open warfare. While the campaign may have consumed nearly twelve years, Agrippa's Cross was a staunchly Imperial holding by the end of it. It was this way everywhere they were assigned, and soon the Thunder Kings earned for themselves a reputation as being hardy fighters that could weather down, with enough time, nearly any foe. Attrition wasn't the reason for it, but instead the careful, considered, and methodical approach they always undertook.

The Heresy

During the Heresy, five of the twelve tribes abandoned the Emperor and Brennus, heading towards Terra to assist Hektor Cincinnatus. Six of the remaining tribes set out in the same direction, assisting loyalist forces in various skirmishes and battles in the vicinity of the Sol system. It would be almost a year before Brennus lifted himself from Alessia, burning the world behind him, and took his last remaining tribe--his personal one--with him to Terra.

News of the Heresy didn't reach Brennus for some days until it began, by which time he and the majority of his Legion had gathered in orbit around Alessia to both celebrate the completion of a campaign and to recruit once more. When news finally did arrive, five of the twelve tribes immediately departed, leaving no notice or explanation as to their intentions. As word spread, it became clear that Ferdiad--who proclaimed himself leader of these rebelling tribes--had thrown his lot in with the Archtraitor. Thereafter, six of the remaining tribes left, with a course bound for Terra itself. Brennus himself remained on Alessia for a month more, brooding silently as he carefully considered his failure; the treason of his sons. He did eventually stir himself, decidedly burning Alessia before following his loyalist sons towards Terra.

The majority of the fighting the Thunder Kings did during the Heresy took place in the Sol system, specifically in orbit around Jupiter and Saturn. The Jovian and Saturnian fronts had begun before the first fighting took place on Mars and Terra, and control of them was assumed by the Thunder Kings once they arrived. It was characterized by several pitched space battles and desperate engagements across the surface of Jupiter's and Saturn's rocky moons. A number of precious archaeotech stations and refineries were lost to Black Augur spite, and the eventual arrival of the Eternal Zealots forced the Thunder Kings onto the defensive. Brennus did his best to keep the front together, and managed to keep the Voidwatcher and Aubrey at bay. The fighting would eventually culminate in the 5th Battle of Titan, where the Void Angels arrived with nearly their entire Legion to relieve the Thunder Kings and decisively destroy the Eternal Zealots and Black Augur forces present.

With Hektor dead and the traitors fled, the Thunder Kings rapidly set out in pursuit of their traitorous brethren. The assistance of the Void Angels was appreciated in this matter, and Brennus took to this particular task with a zeal it is said he rarely ever exhibited.