Furthery Tigery Musings....

(Yeah, another non-Sisters post - sorry, followers!)

It's Saturday morning and I am just sitting here thinking about 40K stuff - specifically, the fanon background I wrote for Primaris Marines in the Fighting Tigers of Veda (a Chapter created by Kenton Kilgore). Some unfocused musings on how I would edit for the second draft, based on re-reading my initial draft and delving deeper into Kenton's background;

1. More needs to be made of the nature of the memories the Primaris were implanted with - it is more than simply learning what went on before, and in fact rises to the level of having experienced it. In fact, it may be best to treat this NOT as implantation of memories - but an unintended side-effect of the Primaris Council process used on cloned Tigers. The conspirators may have initially intended simply to replace Khandar Madu with a compliant clone, and find themselves with something both better . . . and worse! . . . for their purposes
2. The conflict between the "current incarnation" and "all incarnations" should be played up, and done so in a spiritual manner. Once again, I have fallen (although not as badly) into the trap of creating fluff which is too much "sci-fi" and not enough "fantasy". Khandar Madu should have a crisis of faith when confronted by the Rajasath - here is someone not only physically superior to her, but in fact the culmination of all her incarnations.
3. This conflict should, in fact, be a crisis of faith for the whole Chapter - and something that is NOT resolved simply by the Rajasath rejecting the Crusade and throwing off the shackles of hypno-indoctrination. The Fighting Tigers seek nirvana as a release from purusha by following dharma (that is, interment in a Dreadnought and freedom from having to reincarnate to fight for the Emperor as a reward for serving him so well). The Primaris Marines (or, as I might call them, bodhisattva EDIT that term is not the best, and had already been used to refer to Dreadnoughts; jatismara is better) walk a slightly different path. There should be a crisis of faith - or, at least, one should be inevitable when the Rajasath returns - over whether or not having ones next incarnation be a bodhisattva jatismara and so serve dharma that way.
4. A number of the Tigers on Crusade should choose the Primaris upgrade - with the attendant gaining of memories from previous incarnations.
5. More should be made of the essential similarity between Khandar Madu's disaffection with the Imperium (described as looking askance at "the bureaucratic inefficiency, institutionalized brutality, and lack of foresight and cohesiveness that permeates the crumbling Imperium" by Kenton) and Guilliman's despair on awakening ("This bloated, rotting carcass of an empire is driven not by reason and hope but by fear, hate and ignorance.") Initially, there should be conflict between them - even though they do not meet (directly, at least; Guilliman meets the Rajasath) but then they come to understand each other. Madu rejects the call to join the Crusade not just because it will leave Veda undefended, but also because she thinks Guilliman will be just one more Britannicus. The Rajasath, of course, calls for the Tigers to join the Crusade saying Guilliman is different (but not believing it - because she believes what Britannicus does) but then comes to realize that, in fact, Guilliman is like Khandar Madu and not like Britannicus thinks and the Rajasath fears. Does that make sense?
6. The Cicatrix Maledictum has a huge bulge just east of the Maelstrom ... which is right where Veda is! I think it is reasonable to say the Regulus system sits "in the eye of a storm", but it should be surrounded by enemies and warping energies - and it should be under assault from the re-invigorated Warband Bloodcomet right from the start of the story.
7. Guilliman should charge the Rajasath to return to Veda, hold it, and hold that area of the Imperium. With the Cicatrix Maeldictum causing all sorts of problems, the Crusade cannot get there - but maybe the Tigers can hold it and the surrounding area. This allows for (if not alliance) at least a détente between the Ultramarines (and the wider Imperium) and the Tigers.

So, those are my thoughts - essentially, an addition of more "spirituality" to the piece, a creation of a specific Vedic term for Primaris Marines (at least those made from Tiger clones and via the Primaris Council process), a crisis of faith brewing even if Veda survives (which, of course, it will!), and an advancement of the story elements Kenton established.

So, with all that, it's time to get back to the writing desk and see what I can come up with for the second draft! Let me know what you think!

=][= Danforth Laertes