Leviathan Host

Leviathan Host
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Battle Cry	"The Leviathan Rises!"
Number	I
Founding	First Founding
Primarch	Marduk Engur
Homeworld	Dagon
Strength	90,000
Specialty	Fast Attack, Void Combat, Mechanized Infantry
Allegiance	Traitor
Colours	Midnight Blue, Purple, Green Gold

This page is part of the Warmasters Triumvirate, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the Warmasters Triumvirate page for more information on the Alternate Universe.

The Leviathan Host, originally known as the Immortals were the I Legion of the original twenty-one Space Marine Legions under their Primarch Marduk Engur.

History

Pre-Primarch History & Reunion

While Marduk was stewarding his people and later crushing his enemies, his true gene-sons fought their own long war. The First Legion was a test bed and the tip of the Emperor’s spear during the early Great Crusade. Many technologies were pioneered among their number, most notably the Land Speeder and the Power Weapon. These arms remained prominent among them even until the later Crusade. Similarly, they were the original practitioners of Deep Striking and were part of what defined it as a Space Marine strategy during the early years of the legions. They were originally the standard to which the other budding legions were held, earning the moniker “Immortals”. That name, and importance, would eventually be their downfall, however. The Immortals could always be found at the front of any advance, but as the Crusade waxed greater and greater, they were gradually spread thin. Then as Primarchs began to be found, they quickly took the reins of the campaign from the Lord Commanders, but the Primarch of the First was nowhere to be found. Still the endless war pushed forward, and gradually the Immortals were worn down. Always kept at full strength so they could be the vanguard of operations, they were steadily becoming increasingly weary with the conflict. Battle hardened veterans watched waves of new recruits arrive and be lost almost as quickly, while recruits were greeted with increasingly melancholic leadership and a lack of mentorship because of the high casualties. Some of the other legions began quietly deriding them as “Immortals” because they replaced their dead so fast it didn’t matter if they lived or died. This went on for decades, almost centuries, before their Primarch was found. When Marduk did finally arrive to greet the Immortals, their morale hung by a razor thin thread.

The Great Crusade

Thankfully, when the Primarch did come he revitalized the legion in a way that supposedly surprised even the Emperor himself. Their strategy and tactics were overhauled, and Marduk himself proved to be a more than competent leader. Morale soared, and their victories began to stack back up again. Gone were the days of Immortals being scoffed at by their fellow Legions. They rechristened themselves “The Leviathan Host” after the sigil-beast Marduk brought with him from his homeworld. He led them as a maverick legion, the same spearhead as they always were but faster and even more fearsome. They rode on dark wings, striking the foes of the Imperium without warning and tearing them apart like a pack of sharks. The legion and it’s Primarch’s reputation grew, perhaps even eclipsing that of their original moniker.

But, all was not as it seemed. Marduk had brought something with him besides his oratory and tactical skills. He had brought something the Imperial Truth shunned, something to be kept under wraps in the company of his father and his more fervent brothers. He had brought faith. The mythos of the Leviathan spread like wildfire among the legion, springing forth from the Dagonian recruits and Marduk himself. It was more than partially responsible for the legion's surge in morale; the brotherhood of faith is a deep and abiding one. They believed themselves to be the coils of the great sea serpent, something they further associated with the Imperium itself, crushing and devouring their foes so that the new life of civilization could spring forth. They knew the Emperor did not look kindly upon this kind of idolatry, and kept it as a secret sailor faith to be told only in hushed tones amongst themselves.

As the the Crusade drew on though, they gradually slipped deeper and deeper into their abyssal religion. They began to associate it more less with the Imperium of Man, but more with darker and more terrible things they had found at the far edges of the Crusades. Chaos began to whisper in the now Warmaster Marduk’s ear, and through him it whispered into the very heart of the Imperium and its Angels of Death.

By the time Barabash approached the Primarch with the truth of the Ruinous Powers, it took little convincing to make the the Host and its Primarch reconcile it with their secret cult.

Legion Doctrine

The Leviathan Host is characterized by a highly mobile and aggressive mode of warfare, making full use of their stockpiles of speeders, close combat weapons, and drop-craft. They strike quickly from all sides, then leave before the enemy can gather themselves. They then strike again somewhere else if they haven’t defeated the foes there, to spread chaos and confuse information as to their true target and strength. They always try to remain on the offensive, and keep the enemy guessing and on the defensive. They move to attack any weakness in their foe’s lines, often disappearing before they can be counter charged. When a foe is succinctly weakened, they go in for the kill. Striking from all sides, they come as the coils of a great beast to strangle and crush the life out of the enfeebled defenders. They are also some of the Imperium’s foremost voidsmen. Their boarding actions have ended many a stellar battle before it can come to blows between ships.

Legion Culture & Personality

What is the legion like, and what their Primarch's personality?

Legion Organization

In what sub-groups is the legion divided?

Special units

Hyksos

The elite First Company terminators of the Leviathan Host were bequeathed their title by a conquered populace. In their unearthly gilt armor, they were thought to be kings or lords and were offered much tribute. As the Host degenerated into outright worship of the Ruinous Powers, the Hyksos were offered in tribute to Chaos. Each had powerful daemons, themselves centurions of daemonkind in the Warp, bound to their souls. Though few had their mortal form survive the brutal process, this merging created what must have been among the most terrifying warriors of the entire Heresy, great pillars of daemonic flesh ensconced in unholy plating. They fought alone during the Siege of Terra, with more in common to a Greater Daemon or dreadnought than the Terminators they once were.

The Stygian Order

Named after an ancient sect of Achaemenid warrior ascetics that helped train the First Legion on Terra, the Stygians were an elite strikeforce in the early days of the Crusade. They specialized in moving independently of wider forces and striking unpredictably from the backlines. This mode of warfare, unfortunately, was both extremely dangerous and widely regarded as the work of cravens or blackguards. For this reason, the Stygian Order had faded from an entire chapter to a single company by the time of Marduk's conversion to Chaos by Barabash. After this, however, they were resurrected to act as inquisitors within the legion and elsewhere to prevent the spread of information about the new cult. They were granted protection of the darkest, most sacred mysteries and were said to report directly to Eris Carcosa. Indeed, when she became the Oracle of the Leviathan she blessed them them each with holy transformations. By the time the Heresy erupted into the open, they were reported to bare very little resemblance to Astartes at all under their dark robes.

Special equipment

Special equipment only this legion has

Naval Assets

Flagships etc

Notable Members

Ahkraten Set

Legion Praetor and Warmaster after Marduk's death, Set was Dagonian born after Marduk's conquest on the planet. Raised in a culture of the Abyssal Faith even before it was common in the Legion, Set was a predatory and pragmatic character who believed culling the weak and inciting violence honored the Leviathan above all other acts. Though often at odds with his immensely more personable Primarch, he was widely respected and feared within the legion even before earning his esteemed post. This respect led to his ability to consolidate the legion following the Siege of Terra, when he rallied the wider legion despite his longstanding friction with Marduk's confidante, Eris Carcosa, and her more esoteric faction.

Rules

If available, tabletop rules