The two primarchs circled one another, prepared to finally engage in a deadly duel that would decide their fates. If Magnus had not already made up his mind on which side of the conflict he would be on, then he soon would, and then Mortarion would be surrounded. This was not what they had been promised by the White Scars' treacherous warrior lodge brothers, but the Death Lord refused to lose a fleet for the sake of this fight. One softens the earth. Mortarion was found on Barbarus, a planet covered in toxic fumes. But this was exactly why Mortarion had come to find Jaghatai. As Mortarion at last swore his soul to the eternal service of the Plague God in return for an end to the ceaseless agony, Nurgle responded with his usual generosity. Only then did the stranger reveal himself to be the Emperor of Mankind and Mortarion's father. Mortarion had finally gotten what he wanted, a world of his own. At present, Mortarion is the greatest Daemon Prince of Nurgle and the Daemon Primarch of the Death Guard Chaos Space Marines. For too long, he had been used by all sides in the great conflict. However Typhon quickly came back to life, and both the First Captain and Daemon laughed as Mortarion realized he had been betrayed. Breaking through the poisonous mists, Mortarion discovered that the prey of the warlords were in fact the same species as he, and swore to deliver them from their oppression. He smelt the scent of food for the first time, he saw people unobstructed by the fog and for the first time he heard laughter, real laughter, not that of the victorious warlord's. Soon, representatives from other villages journeyed to learn from Mortarion, while the villages scattered across the valleys of the world were transformed into strongpoints. . [16] However he still appeared in galactic affairs on a number of occasions. The Emperor granted Mortarion command of the XIV Space Marine Legion, then known as the Dusk Raiders, who quickly adopted the name, iconography and dogma of Mortarion's Death Guard. Can't help but imagine Mortarion and the Emperor working on the fields and in the dirt, while a squad of Custodians attends to the Emperor. "Forget no insult, my sons, as I have never forgotten those of my father, of the Emperor, nor those of Horus. He then was given command of the fourteenth legion of the Space Marines, the Dusk Raiders. The Emperor gave him plenty and even went with the Nikea edict.To me Morty was just a hypocritic doofus thinking he can control the powers of the warp. The stranger commented that even Mortarion and his Death Guard were having trouble pacifying the final warlord, and offered a challenge. His first captain Typhon killed all of his navigators claiming they were loyalists, and convinced Mortarion he could travel the warp without them. As their warships lingered, directionless and without hope, the cloying influence of Grandfather Nurgle began to take hold. An ancient Remembrancer sketch from Carpinius' Speculum Historiale of the Primarch Mortarion during the Great Crusade. The Death Guard were subjected to the terrible infection of the Destroyer Plague and Nurgle's Rot, as Nurgle's power managed to infiltrate the vessels of the XIV Legion. Administering the Godblight, Mortarion attempted to goad his brother down the path of corruption by stating Nurgle could save him from his agonizing death. Never relenting in battle beneath their Primarch's gaze, they pursued the liberation of Mankind with a fervour the Great Crusade had never known. It is said this warlord walked the battlefield for a day searching for the child, not stopping once until he found it. [1][6b], People say that Mortarion flattened the wooden door to the banquet room and he found the elders and a stranger who was their opposite in every way. His meticulously planned seven-part campaign would bring untold ruination to all of Ultramar. . This single end, the liberation of humanity to Mortarion's creed, justified any means. If Mortarion could defeat the High Overlord Necare, the stranger would leave. As the Heresy reached its conclusion, Mortarion ordered his fleet to head for Terra with all haste, intending for the Death Guard to join the other Traitor Legions in the destruction of the False Emperor. It fits that out of all the traitor primarchs Mortarion would be the only one whose soul still resists and thus be more suitable for salvation (which sounds way cheaper than launching crusades at random until you come across a loyalist primarch). . [1][6b], Mortarion then recruited the strongest and most resilient of warriors from the villages he went to. A skilled warlord in his own right, Mortarion was immediately given command of the XIV Legion of Astartes which carried his genetic inheritance, and did so on his own terms. Mortarion returned to his village, confident in the knowledge that he would return for his final battle. the emperor speaks to mortarion. The Citadel Colour System breaks down painting your models into just a few easy steps. "So be it," he thought to himself. Primarch Daemon Primarch Mortarion leads the Forces of Chaos against the Grey Knights. He formed them into elite units and drilled them himself. . Pink horror, shade with carroburg crimson, highlight with emperor's children and then EC with a bit of white. For the first time in history, Mortarion had led the people into the toxic fog and survived. https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Mortarion&oldid=508031. This would be the end of an epoch. Together, the Ynnari and their newfound Imperial allies forged a path through their foes and the Webway to Ultramar. Mortarion did not know it, but this voice was that of the Chaos God Nurgle, who had already chosen Mortarion to become his greatest mortal champion. Despite his hatred for psykers, Mortarion began using psychic powers himself, and quickly became a paranoid lunatic. Whatever he felt, he trained the child in his image. The Death Guard fleet made transition into the Warp, and in the process damned themselves to an eternity of war as the puppets of a foul and ancient god. [15] During that campaign, Mortarion appeared during the Invasion of Konor where he led the Death Guard in an attempt to break through to Macragge itself. a smashing good time, turning the [22b] According to Rotigus, both Mortarion and Ku'gath have earned the displeasure of Nurgle for their insubordination and failure. Magnus' shade had showed him. A new stage of the war began. Due to the Destroyer Hive, Typhon quickly came back to life. Morty's whole thing was that there was no hope (and indeed the surrendering of hope and acceptance of corruption is nurgle's deal). The attacks were slow but relentless, wearing down Ultramar's defending Ultramarines and their vaunted Ultramar Auxilia. An Ordo Sepultura Map of Death Guard Traitor Legion activity across the galaxy after the formation of the Great Rift in 999.M41. The Khan prepared to settle their argument once and for all. Horus promised that if Mortarion joined his cause and supported his rebellion they would cleanse the Imperium of the Emperor's taint, and build a new regime free of their gene-father's lies, manipulations and deceit. the emperor speaks to mortarion; the emperor speaks to mortarion. He had pallid skin and hollow, haunted eyes and he terrified most of the inhabitants. The Emperor gave him plenty and even went with the Nikea edict.To me Morty was just a hypocritic doofus thinking he can control the powers of the warp. I dont think they would take it well if Morty came back and their primarch didnt. An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works True to his earlier pledge, Horus let Mortarion's Death Guard be the first to land upon Terra. Mortarion had chafed at this role, while the Khan had embraced it. He then moved his mansion past this to keep it from the child. Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard Legion before the Horus Heresy wielding his massive scythe Silence and his sidearm known as The Lantern. But when asked by a reporter how he would handle the war in Ukraine as President and Commander-in Chief, the far-right Republican was suddenly unable to offer [] It would coil within his heart like a rancid viper, and provide the seed of weakness that the Plague God Nurgle would later exploit. Indeed, Mortarion had become disgusted with what exactly the Emperor was, considering him a Warp-tainted "aberration" like his tyrant adopted father. He pledged himself to Nurgle and the torture ceased. [Needs Citation], It was said that Mortarion brought his relentlessness to the Death Guard legion and they followed his ideals. These were members of Mortarion's elite bodyguard, the Deathshroud. Where the seeds of corruption had been planted by the Plague That Walks, a new and terrible contamination spread. The entirety of the Death Guard Legion had come to the doomed world. [18] During the battle on Terra he oversaw the siege of the Western regions of the Palace, spreading plague and misery wherever he appeared. Mortarion told his brother that he should not have thrown in his lot with Sanguinius, let alone Magnus. classification and properties of elementary particles It polluted the vessels themselves as easily as it did the transhuman warriors within. He had seen them all -- the tyrants, the witches, the xenos filth. Due to her telepathic abilities, she could broadcast her thoughts to them in real time while she spoke over the micro bead so that there would be minimal need to repeat herself to them. Genres Science Fiction 40k Fiction. [1][6b], The warlord tested how high the child could survive in the poisonous atmosphere of Barbarus and then erected a massive wall of black iron. Perturabo in Remnant is a crossover between Warhammer 40,000 and RWBY.It's exactly as it sounds. [19] During a war council he mocked Perturabo for not fully embracing Chaos but nonetheless allowed Typhus to work with the Iron Warriors Primarch as part of a ritual to weaken the Emperor's psychic shield of the Palace. To those on the Terran side of the so-called Great Rift (or the Cicatrix Maledictum in High Gothic) it is a tainted scar stretching across the sky. . The only candidates I can see would be Magnus and Morty. The Death Lord had run out of friends among the Traitor primarchs. The daemon explained to the Primarch that the Empyrean had many great forces within it, and one of them had Mortarion's name etched over his rusting throne. Hey everyone! The warlord christened the child Mortarion, child of death. He enlisted the aid of blacksmiths, craftsmen and artificers to create suits of armour that would allow men to travel through the poisonous fog. In an ironic twist of fate, Mortarion has become exactly like the Overlords of Barbarus he vowed to kill ten thousand years ago. 'Do you see, Guilliman, you follow the wrong master,' said Mortarion. 'Father,' he said, and when he had said that word, it was the last time he . Each of them had fought many times like this during their lives and it was all they could do not to run, let alone put up an effective counter manoeuvre. It was whilst on campaign with the Word Bearers Legion earlier in the Great Crusade that Typhon had learned of a different path for the Legiones Astartes to follow, a future where his hard-won but hidden psychic abilities would be a source of greatness instead of a taboo to be hidden from sight. His physical form devastated and his spirit sent to the Immaterium, Draigo carved his forebear's name into the Daemon's heart, an insult Mortarion has never forgotten. Their father's time was over -- the Khan could either be a part of the new order that replaced Him or be swept aside in its wake. All around him were strewn the bodies of the dead and dying for miles in all directions. The Daemon Primarch Mortarion leads the Death Guard against the Ultramarines during the Plague Wars. Such freedom could only be won in the Primarch's mind by destroying those that would shackle and devour humanity. "It starts here. Hive Worlds were toppled, and as the Blackness of the Noctis Aeterna descended, there was no escape. The daemon continued to taunt the Primarch, goading him. Wherever they travel they spread the joyful, exuberant poxes of Nurgle, gifting those who would know eternal life with the choicest of the Plague God's blessings. Despite his adoptive father being a ruthless necromancer, Mortarion felt reluctant to attack the man who took him in and called off the planned attack on the advice of Calas Typhon, who warned that he was not yet ready to face the High Overlord even with the new suits of armour. Upon Typhon's advice, Mortarion would make the journey inside the Terminus Est as opposed to the Endurance. October 20, 2021. The glorious stink of learned sorcery and hedge-magick was now pungent and inescapable. Drive them out, and rule would pass to the uncorrupted, the healthy, those untouched by the Warp. Moreover, it was no mere squadron that had arrived, but an entire Death Guard battle group. You are the Death Guard. Solar decades of endless battle changed the Death Guard, and over time the Terran influences on the Legion became less and less apparent, with the panoply and traditions of the Dusk Raiders and the Officio Militaris erased in favour of Barbarus' bleak creed of war. In an instant, the Death Lord and his retinue were snatched away, sucked into the vortex of the Warp. However Mortarion eventually prevailed and struck down Typhon with his scythe. Silence the witches. Though the Imperium now faced its darkest hour, all was not lost. Worse still for the Primarch, the reactors of the Swordstorm had been set to overload and the Khan had since evacuated to the Battleship Lance of Heaven, which was leading the escape of the loyalist fleet into the Webway. Jaghatai explained that the reason neither one of them would ever rule the galaxy is that both of them were never the empire-builders. And yet the question is a fair one. Who can be certain, but I do not think he said what he said to torture Morty for the sake of being cruelthat is beneath him. He Speaks. He is order. Mortarion got what he wanted, a world of his own. Mortarion [Excerpt- The Verdict of the Scythe] Mortarion tries being benevolent, he feels icky. Mortarion predicted that only strife between the Primarchs would rise if the Emperor were to abandon the Great Crusade personally and used Horus as his . The loyalist Primarch decapitated Mortarion, who was banished into the Warp in a massive explosion similar to that of a Vortex Weapon. True to his oath, Mortarion bent his knee to his new-found father as soon as he was sufficiently recovered to do so, although his final act of defiance on Barbarus would leave scars upon him both physical and mental that would never fully heal. He would not countenance a new Emperor -- neither himself nor Mortarion. In Godblight, it seems that GW is making a vision of what the primarchs are bu stressing Mortarion's half mortal nature. The Emperor claimed "Mortarion smelled like shit from day one. In Julie Otsuka's novel, When the Emperor was Divine, a nameless Japanese-American family is uprooted, exported, and abandoned by their own government. Most assuredly not their brother Angron, nor the half-mad Konrad Curze. None suffered more than Mortarion, for it was like being on the mountain top again on Barbarus, surrendering to the toxins, but this time without the Emperor to save him. He had been on the Khan's heels since Ullanor. Having witnessed during his youth on Barbarus the horrors produced by psykers and sorcery, he testified passionately against them, ending his plea with a dire warning against any use of sorcery by the servants of the Emperor. Accepted into the village without further reservation, Mortarion began to train the villagers in the art of warfare. But the foul creature laughed at Mortarion's efforts. However, Horus at last found a chink in Mortarion's armor; he was beginning to see the Emperor as having been corrupted with power and now was just another tyrant drunk with power. At the same time, he heard a voice that was not his own within his head, seeking to make contact and impart what it called the true lesson about how to defeat death. Yet, only one soul could see the Warp as it truly was, and that was Magnus the Red, the only one of his brothers that Jaghatai had ever truly trusted. The Marines' once gleaming armour was corroded and shattered, barely containing their bloated, pustule covered bodies. His final battle had been building for years and he was not happy that someone else would share his glory. Similarily Perturabo initally felt like a bit of a weird choice for being a traitor, however reading Angel Exterminatus (probably my fav heresy book) and his Primarch novel made me really like the character and understand his motivations. The Warp stained everything. Either way, there would be room for others to rise to power over the galaxy to come. Unable to escape thanks to the Sagyar Mazan and the vessels reactivated Void Shields, Mortarion led the massacre of the Scars suicidal rear guard while directing his fleet to combine its fire and reduce the Swordstorms shields. When the bombardment finally relented, the few survivors crept slowly from whatever refuge they had been able to find. He hated to see the three of them getting dragged in deeper by the Emperor's hypocrisy. Posted by; Date June 12, 2022; Comments . However this was assailed in a massive counterattack led by Mortarion's old foe Jaghatai Khan, leading a force of White Scars and Imperial Army. A valiant band known as the Ynnari, a mixed faction of Aeldari and Drukhari in service to their awakened God of the Dead Ynnead, followed a radical path that they believed would see Chaos defeated and the Aeldari race resurgent. What emerged from the Warp bore little resemblance to what had gone in. In an attempt to resist the daemon's brutal attack, he tore at it with his hands, still relying on the immeasurable strength in his transhuman musculature. He is posed wielding his massive scythe - Silence - on a bulkhead within a ship. Guilliman's return sparked Mortarion's interest in material affairs once more, and for the first time in 10,000 years he decided to lead the whole of the Death Guard in a renewed campaign. He ruled over a toxic death world of poison, horror and misery, with his own position ironically mirroring the one his monstrous step-father had held on Barbarus. Perhaps, they chortled mockingly, they might even arrange a final reconciliation between the bitter Mortarion and his brother. Mortarion (also known as the Death Lord, The Pale King[21], or the Reaper of Men[17a]) was one of the original twenty Primarchs. The Leonine Heresy By: Sharrowkyn. The Khan merely smiled -- a cold smile, imperious in its contempt. Jaghatai told his bodyguard he had felt this new arrival's presence following them for a long time. But it had worn on the Khan, unravelling his sleep. After Mortarion himself became infected, he confronted Typhon aboard the Navigator's station on the Terminus Est. Realizing that the Emperor had lied to him about the Empyrean, Mortarion vowed to master it. The Terminators turned to face it, powering up their weapons. He said something similar to Konrad Kurze via meat scarecrow. To those unfortunates on the far side, in the region now named the Imperium Nihilus, the "Dark Imperium," it is something much worse -- the very gates of Hell. It should have been easy to dismiss, to put down to the warping power of the Empyrean. The daemon was the first to see a fragment of what Mortarion would eventually become in later centuries. The Overlord kept him caged to acclimate to the poison, and taught him the art of war. Official The Primarch sought answers from the daemon. Canon His words were simple and delivered in a harsh whisper that never the less carried to each and every one: "You are my unbroken blades. The normal humans, dropped off millennia before, were forced to live in the lowest areas of the planet, amidst the choking fog. Nurgle responded gleefully and took the XIV Legion and Mortarion for his own champions. In one conversation in Plague Wars Ku'gath, a greater daemon of Nurgle and Mortarion of the Death Guard discuss the possibility that the Emperor is awaking: On Barbarus, Mortarion climbs into the mountains to face the High Overlord Necare for the final time. The infant primarch was screaming and wailing where a normal child would have suffocated and died long before. In Mortarion's opinion it should have been cordoned off, put away, forgotten about forever by Mankind. Thus shall you serve Nurgle best. With the prevailing conditions on Barbarus and the foul beings that more than likely still stalked the planet's fog-shrouded mountains and deep swamps, there were whispers that the human population that remained would have been better off if they had been euthanised or displaced to a "cleaner" world for the sake of the sanity of future generations. This changed the culture and traditions of the Legion, so much so that by the last days of the Great Crusade in the early 31st Millennium, there were increasing tensions between the Barbarus-born Astartes and the Terran minority who remained in the Legion and who remembered the Dusk Raiders' earlier martial traditions brought out of Old Terra. They were massive, heavier-set than the Khan's retinue, hunched at the shoulder and leaking pale green vapour from the last of the teleportation beams. Mortarion was given the Death Guard legion, who specialized in bio-weapons and rad-weapons, as they could endure far more harsh conditions than their brothers. Accusing them of agents of Malcador, Typhon had his Grave Wardens execute all of the Navigators but assured Mortarion that he and his trained specialists could navigate the Warp to Terra. Seeing that the peasants were unable to effectively fight back, Mortarion joined the fray, wielding a massive harvesting scythe that made short work of the beasts. He could free him from Nurgles service with a true death, but not yet. I control it. The Overlord kept him caged to acclimate to the poison, and taught him the art of war. The VI Legion's fleet had mustered at the Alaxxes Nebula to lick its wounds after the recent campaign, when it was beset by the forces of the Alpha Legion. By your hand shall justice be delivered, and doom shall stalk a thousand worlds.". Upon her discovery, he had his captive teleported with him back aboard his flagship, the Endurance. [1][6b], His acceptance into the community of humans was not easy. Their weapons and armour were powered by the energies of Chaos and they became known as the Plague Marines, although they would still use the name Death Guard[7]. Mortarion and the Death Guard would draw out the enemy and tire them down, and then the Luna Wolves would strike. World after world soon fell to this horrific onslaught, and yet the insular and secretive Primarch seemed preoccupied by some other, unspoken goal. The Emperor's fleets arrived on Barbarus, toppling the final alien stronghold, rescuing Mortarion, and - in his eyes - robbing him of both victory and vengeance. His design was based on John Blanche's artwork, a depiction of Mortarion as the 31st Millennium's reaper of men. Who knows what goes on in Big Es head, as far as reasoning goes these days, but one thing I am almost certain about is that Big E believes he can redeem some of his sons. Horus eventually used these doubts to bring Mortarion to his cause. Magic makes life easier for any adventurer, and if you're a Diviner, then it gets even easier. [6b], Mortarion crash landed on the world of Barbarus. Mortarion stood over the crushed heap of broken flesh, breathing heavily. Mortarion was found on Barbarus, a planet covered in toxic fumes. So did systems fall, creating the Scourge Stars -- a trio of sickly star systems that had fallen to Nurgle. Search "the emperor speaks to Gulliman" and you will find a few threads with the . During the fight the two Primarchs were able to challenge the other, with the Great Khan proving faster and the Death Lord proving more durable. Draigo's insult would not soon be forgotten, as the Daemon Primarch vowed his vengeance against the upstart mortal. If The Emperor Had a Text-To-Speech Device Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Mired amid plans that were nearing fruition, the Daemon Primarch of the Death Guard could not yet act to strike at Guilliman. Choose between the Classic and Contrast Methods, then bring your miniatures to life. com Mutilators.34 Chaos Rhino.34 Chaos Bikers.35 Raptors.35 Warp Talons.36 Chaos Spawn.36 Heldrake.37 Chaos Land Raider.37 Chaos Predator.38 Chaos Vindicator.38 Obliterators.39 Havocs.39 Forgefiend..40 Maulerfiend.40 Defiler.41 Khorne Lord of Skulls..42 orld Ef Mortarion predicted that only strife between the Primarchs would rise if the Emperor were to abandon the Great Crusade personally and used Horus as his proxy. This page was last edited on 9 February 2023, at 17:05. Although the Khan sympathised with the Space Wolves' predicament, he refused to get involved until he was able to sort out the conflicting and often contradictory astropathic messages he had received. The Legion's gene-seed seemed to amplify the uncommon resistance to contagion and toxins in its Barbarus candidates to unheard-of levels. . Finding this stranger in conference with the village elders, Mortarion claimed that his people needed no outside help. They were the outriders. This was deemed a small enough price to pay to continue in the service of Mortarion their saviour. Whether that is because of his: 3. [1][6b], A lesser warlord had arrived with his shambling undead legions and began to carry off those they could for their master's plans. When that failed and the Khan drove him off, Mortarion picked up a daemon of Nurgle to learn how to fight Daemons. The plague that came could not be resisted, something that terrified Mortarion and the Death Guard. So neutral. I agree with the others that emps was probably serious. It's probably a very long ways off, and there's a chance they don't get there at all, but he does mean that he could save him. Faced with Mortarion's new Daemonic endurance and strength, the Khan was brutally beaten down and nearly defenseless. This was a war to be fought without mercy or limit, without restraint or relenting. The Emperor may not have had much love for his sons in the past, but when he speaks, he carefully chooses and means every word he says. As the daemon sagged back against the wall, feeling her soul pulled back to the Empyrean by the Primarch's psychic might, Mortarion continued to hammer her furiously with his fists, pouring out all of his fury onto the broken physical shell.