Talk:Blood Jaguars
Contents
Excerps from the library[edit]
Let's get an agreement on these and make them canon. -D (and fuck my library for being ISP banned from 4chan)
+++FROM THE HOLDINGS OF LIBRARIAN CUOTL+++
+++OMEGA-LEVEL CLEARANCE+++
+++BEGIN VOX-TRANSCRIBER RECORDING FROM ZIGGURAT-HIVE 25-AY+++
"...and his innards spilled right out, down the steps and they flowed almost like liquid, like bloody snakes, down the steps of the altar. The Emperor must have been pleased, since the next day was the hottest this year. His holy power made our sun burn greater than ever. We truly are doing His Work. I, a mere Ziggurat 25 enforcer, apprehended our latest offering. Mountain of a man, he was. Scum, running lasguns to the underhives, giving his filthy criminal friends weapons. Took me and two others to bring him down. Badly wounded officers Xcil AND Ctnil. He's at the top of 24's altar now. I chained the bastard there myself. His arms out, his chest bare, awaiting the holy dagger, infused with the Sun-Emperor's power, to strike his heart and let flow his lifeblood as offering, that the sun may rise again."
+++FROM THE HOLDINGS OF LIBRARIAN CUOTL+++
+++GAMMA-LEVEL CLEARANCE -- ASTARTES TEMPLE-RITES REQUIRED FOR READING+++
"Herein begins the log of Brother Kukulan, fourth company. The orks in the Mnematl jungle are proving troublesome. They do not fight like normal greenskins. They attack our supply lines, steal everything they can and retreat. Retreat! In my five centuries of loyal service I have never seen a force such as theirs turn tail. And then, days later, they return, their primitive machines covered in our holy ceramite blocks. Steelcrete barding. They take our resources and turn them against us. Despicable, but reeks of a higher purpose. +++SUBJECT SIGHS HEAVILY+++ These orks, these... Scraplootas, as they call themselves, have harried and molested our company for far too long. I intend to request to our captain that I be allowed to take a skilled force and show the greenskins the force of our valor, our righteousness, our devotion. They will know the bite of our chain-macuahuitls, the fire of our snake-meltas. The Emperor of Suns will see our loyalty and be pleased by it, and mine and my brothers will show our zeal. The greenskins will be removed from this planet, and in the Emperor's sight, we will do so!"
+++FROM THE HOLDINGS OF LIBRARIAN CUOTL+++
+++ZETA-LEVEL CLEARANCE -- ASTARTES TEMPLE-RITES REQUIRED. CONFIRMATION BY THREE CAPTAIN-RANK ASTARTES REQUIRED FOR ACCESS+++
+++BEGIN VOX-TRANSCRIPTION+++
"Chapter master, you wished me here?"
"Yes, general. It has come to my attention that you have a number of Baneblades in cold storage. Ziggurat seventeen, I heard?"
"Uh... yes, my lord. They are incomplete though. The vehicles were damaged in fighting several decades ago. I have had my best techpriests on the task for years, but they cannot repair the weapons without the assistance of Forgeworld."
"I see. Could the tanks be cannibalised for parts? Could you use parts from the three to create one complete Baneblade?"
"My lord! That would be... tech-heresy most dire, surely!"
"Three weapons mothballed cannot roar in the Emperor's service, General. One tank on the battlefield means more than a hundred in storage. Get me a working vehicle. That is an order."
"Yes, my lord. I will have the techpriests begin work immediately"
"Good. If any object, remind them gently that we're behind on sacrifices for the Emperor of Suns."
+++END VOX-TRANSCRIPTION+++
+++ADDENDUM+++
Chapter Master Kkil Hutn oversaw the creation of the Tenocit-pattern Baneblade. On top of the standard chassis lies a small sacrificial altar, atop which is a long-range parallel multi-lascannon assembly, referred to by the PDF as the 'Solar devastator', or 'Sun Beam'. It is in fact a Tenocit-pattern Retribution-class lascannon. Its' use is strictly controlled by the Tenocit Astartes, being the only weapon of its' type in existence. While not directly related to the operation of the main weapon, tradition dictates a worthy warrior be disembowelled on the weapon-altar before firing. This tradition has always been followed on the 114 times the weapon has been fielded.
+++FROM THE HOLDINGS OF LIBRARIAN CUOTL+++
+++BETA-LEVEL CLEARANCE -- ASTARTES-CAPTAIN AUTHORISATION NEEDED+++
+++BEGIN VOX-TRANSCRIPTION+++
"I'm sick of this hellhole. The heat, the damp, the executions. They'll sacrifice anyone. ANYONE. For the most minor infractions. You killed a guy? Public sacrifice. You didn't report to the PDF recruiter? Sacrifice. You stole a couple loaves of bread? Sacrifice. If the enforcers catch you. Ruthless bastards. Well I'm having no part of it. I'm booking passage on the next ship that comes here. Gods be damned, I'll even sign up for one of their crews. I'm getting off this insane rock. Emperor willing, one gets here soon. In the cities you're always looking about, one eye open, making sure you don't break any of the emperor-damned myriad laws here and making sure you're not in any enforcer's way. They might just hand you over to the Human Resource Committee for looking at him wrong, I'd wager. I'm no criminal. But I know a bad life when I see it and this.... this is bad."
The Dark Road to the Sun (not sure how much of this was discussed and how much my coffee saturated brain is falsifying)
The catch-all term for Blood Jaguar applications and initiation. It begins with a journey into the jungles of Tenocit and ends with a symbolic rebirth into the chapter. Local hallucinogenic plants could be involved. Many set out on this journey, both male and female. Not many survive. Of those that do, the males are taken into the chapter, the females are abducted by the hidden Sororitas enclave. Either way, applicants usually retain their obsidian knives carried on their journey along the Road. It is useless in combat, but quite personal and symbolic.
Tenocit, homeworld of the Blood Jaguars, is a hive world unlike virtually any other, for instead of pollution-choked wastelands, the landscape of the planet is verdant primordial jungle. Tendrils of creepers and dense forest reach right up to the very walls around most hives on Tenocit, save for the planetary capital of Technochtitlan, which is situated at the centre of a vast lake. Technochtitlan Hive is separated into four sections; the Spire of the Stars being the primary spaceport, the Spire of the Sun being dedicated to the Ecclesiarchy, the Spire of Offerings houses the planetary governor and Administratum, and the Spire of the Earth is where workers live. The Hives of Tenocit are much more pyramidal than most Imperial Hives, which seems to have its roots in the cultural practices of the native peoples in the Age of Strife.
Tenocit’s unusually verdant geography owes its survival to two factors. The first is the high oxygen content of the atmosphere; around 38% as opposed to a more typical 21% on colonised worlds. This would be of little consequence if not for the second factor, which is a unique fungus, Mortem Sacco, that grows around the roots of most trees on Tenocit. This heterotroph looks unremarkable at first, save for the bulbous sack-like growths that characterise it, but it is how it produces these tubers that makes it invaluable. The fungus actively absorbs heavy metals and harmful chemicals from the soil and air, storing them in the growths it produces. When full, the sealed bulbs drop off and, protected by a tough shell, remain safely isolated for decades. The fungus does this for two reasons; the first is simply survival; by removing these harmful substances from the soil, the trees the fungus needs to grow on are more likely to survive and reach new heights. The other is that the storage of these materials is simply a by-product of the fungus taking in nutrients for itself.
The Imperium naturally has seen the value of Mortem Sacco and several unsuccessful attempts have been made to transplant the fungus to the many Imperial worlds choked by pollution. Unfortunately, Mortem Sacco requires a high level of atmospheric oxygen to survive, and on all the worlds it has been taken to thus far, it has failed to take hold. For the inhabitants of Tenocit, the fungus is considered a blessing from the Sun Emperor and the bulbs are regularly collected from accessible regions of jungle and brought to the Hives, where they are crushed and the industrial useful substances within them extracted. Collection of the bulbs can be highly profitable; one consortium has risen to the status of the nobility solely through harvesting.
One group on Tenocit though uses the bulbs for very different purposes. For them, the poison sacks are used in a sacred ritual, and aspirants must not only gather the bulb from the jungle himself, but must also bring it to the place where he shall be tested. This is no simple journey, for the pilgrim must traverse hundreds of miles of primordial jungle, swarming with predators, sickness and heat. Countless are lost every year to the jungle’s many perils, but the chosen few survive and reach their goal. They will see it in the distance after many weeks travel, rising out of the canopy. Vines and trees cling to its surface, giving the impression that this is a natural outcrop of rock, but in a few places, glimpses of human architecture can be seen. When they reach its base they will see a shattered wall, choked with vegetation, and when they pass through that wall and venture inside, they will see what this creation truly is. It is a Hive spire, long abandoned and overtaken by the jungle. A Hive spire they must climb to its’ very summit.
When the Ruinous Powers invaded Tenocit in M35, a daemonic host besieged the great Hive of Xolotl. Defended by the Blood Jaguars, Xolotl was no easy conquest. The relentless Daemonic horde materialised within the Hive itself, and proceeded to slaughter most of the population in hours before a coherent defence could be organised. The Blood Jaguars defended each level of the Hive with breathtaking ferocity, making the warp spawn pay for every inch of ground. Force of numbers pushed the defenders higher and higher, until they were trapped on the summit. It was there that Chapter Master T’otec fought his duel against a Daemon Prince of Khorne, and after a titanic battle cast down the unholy creature and shattered the horde, driving them back into the immaterium. At the site of their greatest triumph, the chapter established their new Fortress, and Xolotl was rechristened as the Pyramid of the Gods. No humans save the Space Marines and their aspirants dared to return, and the jungle quickly consumed the great Hive. Now, it is the first challenge that aspiring Blood Jaguars must face before they can join the chapter.
Ascending the Pyramid of the Gods is no simple task. Generations of unrestricted plant growth have blocked off many old thoroughfares, collapsed buildings and blocked tunnels. It is dark, with only occasional beams of light filtering through the canopy that coats the Hive. Waterfalls cascade from high above, splashing onto rusting beams coated in lichen. Pitfalls and snares are not the only dangers however. Predators stalk the levels, preying on anything they find. And whispered rumours speak of darker things, unholy creatures that remained behind when their general was slain. Whether such rumours are true is unknown; for the aspirant trying to ascend the Hive, they are all too real for comfort.
If the pilgrim reaches the summit, he or she will find two figures; a lone Blood Jaguar and a single Sororitas, waiting. The Marine will say nothing until presented with a bulb of Mortum Sacco. If presented, the Brother will lead the aspirant inside. If a bulb is not offered, the hopeful boy is turned away. Any female aspirants who reach the top of the Pyramid are instead approached by the Sister and lead to a transport which will take them to a Fortress Convent. The Sisters of the Order of the Martyred Heart respect strength as much as the Blood Jaguars. Reaching the summit is proof of devotion.
For the males, inside the temple, they are subjected to the process required to turn a human into an Astartes. It is a dangerous one. Many do not survive.
The augmented aspirant’s final challenge is as much spiritual as it is physical. He must ingest the bulb he carried to the summit of the Pyramid. The bulb represents the corruption that the Blood Jaguars must all face and defeat. A Brother who cannot take such corruption inside himself, and live, is weak of both flesh and spirit. He must master it and prevail. Some fall at this final challenge.
For those that do not, a new life awaits. They have battled the green hell of the rainforest and survived to ascend high above the canopy, reaching for the sun. With their new Brothers, they will reach even higher, ascending into the heavens themselves to fight on alien worlds in the name of the immortal Sun Emperor. For they are Blood Jaguars, and their battles are only just beginning.
The Fortress Monastery of the Blood Jaguars sits atop the ruined Hive of Xolotl, deep in the untamed jungles of Tenocit. Formally the Hive governor’s palace, the Monastery is known by its local name of Tehuantepec, which loosely translated into low Gothic means “The hill of wild animals”. Another translation however is “The hill of Daemons”, and given the history of the Hive, this is quite fitting. The palace is situated on the site of the Blood Jaguar’s greatest victory; the defeat of the Daemon incursion lead by the Bloodthirster C’rtez. In the ruins of the governor’s mansion, the titanic warp spawn fought in single combat with T’otec, Chapter Master of the Blood Jaguars whilst his battle brothers engaged the daemon’s forces. Cornered, with no lines of retreat, every Blood Jaguar fought with unbridled ferocity, but it was T’otec who showed the greatest savagery. Though the Chapter Master’s skin was flayed from his body, he pressed on, and in one final move drove his barbed power fist deep into the daemon’s chest, and pulled out its still beating heart. With the death of their general the warp storm shuddered, and the remaining daemons fled into the immaterium, leaving the Blood Jaguars standing amidst utter destruction. Their master finally collapsed from his wounds, but was interred in the holy sarcophagus of a Dreadnought, where he still resides.
At the centre of the monastery sits the Chapter’s most prized relic: the heart of C’rtez, still held firm by the gauntlet that plucked it from the daemon’s body. A stasis field prevents the heart from being reclaimed by the warp, and it is said that if ever it beats once more, C’rtez has been reborn, and the Chapter will stop at nothing to hunt down and destroy the beast again. On the walls that once held paintings and priceless trinkets, stone carvings tell the story of T’otec’s duel and the battle for the Hive, along with the history of the chapter. Where once the lord’s throne sat, a great alter has been erected, and it is here that heretics and daemons are sacrificed to the Sun Emperor.
Proposed Trappings and Relics[edit]
Since none of you motherfuckers are ever on /tg/ at the right time, i'll drop these here for you to puzzle out. Opinions?
TRAPPINGS
Sacrificial Dagger: Replaces combat knife; +1 Pen
Savage Trophy:
- Feathers: +1 Cohesion
- Jaguar Pelt: +1 damage with tearing melee weapons
- Skull: +3 Intimidate
RELICS
Hunhapu's Pelt: Combines twin masterwork lightning claws with a cameloline cloak
Xipet T'otec's Deathmask: Power Armour helm that causes Fear (2)
Jaguar prominence[edit]
I was thinking about the fact that the chapter is named Blood Jaguars, as it was decided that the chapter was to hold a Aztec theme (and mesoamerican in general). The name that got chosen seems abit odd, since although the Aztec did have Jaguar Warriors, they used Eagle Warriors - Jaguar Warriors were eagle warriors that proved themselves in combat by capturing a certain amount of enemies. It seems to me that it would be more appropriate if your average marine is more thematically suited to being an Eagle Warrior, and with the first company then fielding Jaguar Terminators.
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Well, as I see it, as a full-fledged Blood Jaguar you have already proven yourself beyond the capturing of some enemies, due to their grueling initiation trials. A BJ (hurr) isn't impressive and elite for capturing a dozen enemies, it's more like it's a miracle he ever managed to pass the initiation if he can't capture that many with ease (depending on the enemy, of course). I don't think it's good to simply copy too many concepts from the inspiration source, either. Better to take stuff you think is cool about the inspirational source, implement it in a way you think is even cooler, and thus get something more pulp and "Warhammer-like". Otherwise, you don't get Mesoamerica-inspired Spess Muhreens, you get Mesoamericans in power armour. Naturally, you can do what you like with them if you decide to use them for something, and it won't be wrong. My 50 cents.
Small note on C'rtez as presented on this page[edit]
His allegiance at first is said to be Malal(?), though last mentioning refers to Khorne. Needs fixing in the name of Greater Consistency.
Chapter Tactics[edit]
Would anyone be interested in chapter tactics for the Blood Jaguars assuming they don't simply use Blood Angels and/or Flesh Tearers Strike Force rules? We could simply modify the Flesh Tearers Strike Force to better fit the Blood Jaguars. I would suggest these rules:
Extreme Prejudice: All infantry models in this detachment have the Shred special rule. In addition, any and all chainswords in this detachment gain the Master-Crafted special rule, but now cost 2pts per chainsword.
The Dark Road: All infantry models have +1 cover save when in forest terrain. In addition, Tactical Squads count as having the Night Vision special rule.
