#CR1-PT1D5 Squadron

[elinilinxfoot]

Do you want to share with the crowd what your image of Messelina Gloriana is? UwU

Hee hee thank you my friend, I need an excuse to write these things down. Most of this is my own cannon with just a little inspo from what’s written about it in Darktide.

Messelina Gloriana is said to be a heavily-forested moon whos main significance is from its planetary Saint and strategic importance after the defeat of nearby Komaris. Given its low population, the moon only has one major hive city and even so it's small compared to most Hive cities. It is the seat of the Cult of Messelina, where age-old traditions are kept, where the faithful find refuge and where Messelina’s remains and descendants now live. Though its architecture is fairly similar to most cities found in the Mobian domain, there is a certain grace and elegance seen in many of the temples and shrines that departs from the Imperium’s typical gothic style. Given that one of Messelina’s strictures is to respect the nature of one's world, gardens and plant life weave throughout the Hive adding much greenery to its aged steel. 

Though the Hive may hold the majority of Messelina population the forest’s beyond hide scattered villages and monasteries all devoted to preserving Saint Messelina shrines and teachings. The use of modern technology that would otherwise harm the moon’s environment is mostly restricted to the hive city, (except in cases of emergency or higher authority) leaving most of the countryside in a state similar to most feudal worlds. Because of this Messelina’s forests are ancient and the great redwood trees cast most of the land below in shadows. In the deeper parts of the forest settlements will often be suspended near the canopy, the locals sometimes travelling on the backs of local tamed aquilan griffon’s rather then running into the great herds of bison that wander below.  

The various villages and monasteries in and outside the hive all uphold one of Messelina’s oldest traditions; honour the faithful, both living and dead. It was believed by Saint Messelina herself that those of faith who fell in battle and did not purge themselves of sin but were not consumed by corruption, would be reincarnated to serve the Emperor again so long as their spirit found a haven to rest in. As a result, shrines dedicated to the dead inhabit every great church and tree root across the moon, and are defended as fervently as ancient relics. Given that many imperial citizens make pilgrimages to Messelina Gloriana to find relief from such grief, the cult has always been accommodating to the Emperor’s faithful. The hospitality of native Messelinains is well known across the Mobian domain and the moon has a great number of hostels for those seeking refuge and peace.      

The visual references I have for Messelina’s wilderness are from Princess Mononoke, and the hive in my mind takes after east Asian cramped downtown's, mixed with environments portrayed in Darktide. I mostly pull from east Asian cultures for my vision of Messelina Gloriana but I can also see Celtic and native American cultures working as well to match the aesthetics of being in harmony with nature and humanity.  

[mangaka-neko-chan]

Finally drew the meme with them.

With my Harald, @elinilinxfoot's Theina + Rizo and Od's Adraan. All our Psykers from Squadron CR1-PT1D5.

[elinilinxfoot]

In the war for Atoma Prime a Disgraced Veteran, a Cadian Zealot, a Dreaming Psyker and their newfound Squad of Misfits shall earn their Redemption. An episodic work, telling the story of a group of rejects fighting for the Inquisition, inspired by the game Darktide.

Took me a while but the first chapter for my Darktide squad is out. This is just the prologue that’s a coming of age story for my veteran, Elini. This is an event that took place about 20 years before the events of Darktide.  

[elinilinxfoot]

How did Babs learn how to cook in the first place? Is she self-taught? From books or recipes? Did someone teach her? Was she always good at it or was it very trial and error at first?

Bab’s had just grown up around food, I imagine when she was young she just always was around the kitchens waiting for, or sometimes just taking, food. So eventually she just joined the other cooks. She learned by being taught from other cooks and trial and error by experimenting with different foods. Surprisingly Bab’s had access to a lot of different kinds of food. Local flora and fauna and trade goods that her pirate crew mates raided from merchant ships. Even on the Morningstar where the food is whatever they give you and whatever you can buy from Hallowette, Bab’s has consistently been able to make some very good nosh.      

I will argue that ogryn are nero-divergent and while they have problems with understanding typical academic things like reading and math, their intelligence lies in things of a more physical nature. Stuff like; reloading a gun, knowing what to do in a fight, showing up at the right time and place. So Bab’s doesn’t really know step by step recipes but she knows things like; what things taste best together, what food looks like when it's cooked properly, how to set up and clean cooking equipment. It’s less that she has been taught and more like, I have seen people and done this myself hundreds of times that I just innately know.        

Considering that she lived on the open ocean and her people didn’t have access to more high tech forms of medicine, Bab’s also passively the more medicinal and nutritional benefits food can provide. She knows what food to feed people if they are lacking certain vitamins or nutrients, what to consume to get rid of parasites or worms, and what to eat to stay healthy in tense situations like the current war.

[elinilinxfoot]

I can’t draw my Darktide characters, but I can make memes of them.

[elinilinxfoot]

Darktide Squadron: CR1- PT1D5

So my friend @mangaka-neko-chan, my boyfriend and I have been enjoying the Darktide characters and interactions so much that we made our own squadron named after our friend group called the Cryptids. This relationship map and following bio’s are a small culmination of the headcanons and world building ideas we've been playing around with over the past few months. If you would like to know more about any character there are short bio's under the read more tab. Now somebody kick me so I can actually start writing the fan fiction that's been rotting away at my brain cells.

Harken, Moggy, Tilly, Harald, and Ben are @mangaka-neko-chan Elini, Garius, Theina, Rizo and Bab’s are Mine Ashur, Tiolach, Adraan and Gar are my Boyfriend’s

Veterans

Ove Harken Professional - Cadia - 43 - Dereliction of Duty Harken grew up working in the weapons factorum and quickly got enlisted for the Astra Militarum. Defending Cadia each day he trained hard to become a tactician and squad leader for many leading to his promotion to NCO. He was liked by his peers for his discipline, calm-headedness and fair leadership. Despite hardships and many deaths, he refused to break. Right before Cadia’s fall, his superior decided to run away, taking his regiment and Harken with them. Harken watched Cadia fall right before his eyes as he could do nothing, guilt and regret forever haunting him. Later he would be arrested with this superior and their regimen for abandoning his home world. With skills obtained through his past he proved himself quickly on the Mourningstar and now tries to redeem himself somewhat by leading the various undisciplined rejects.

Ashur Vaul Cutthroat - Cadia - 32 - Insubordination Learning to use a lasgun as a child is normal as a Cadian, and Ashur was no different. Falling into a gang when he was young, a gang war Ashur was a part of was ended by the Cadian guard and they gave him an ultimatum “be executed now or serve on the front lines”. Ashur was found to be a true warrior in battle and quickly rose through the ranks eventually joining the Kasrkin. For his efforts he was sent to be a bodyguard for a noble aboard their personal ship, it was when he was trapped on this vessel that Cadia was besieged. Hearing of his comrades fate he did everything in his power to join the fight but he was quickly arrested, rage and wanting for vengeance forever burning in his heart.       

Elini Vicker Loose Cannon - Messelina Gloriana - 37 - Insubordination As a pilgrim guardian for the Cult of Messelina, Elini was blessed to have a Messelinan griffon as her mount and companion for her duties. In her youth, she was sent with her cult as reinforcements to a war against tyranids, when her fellow cultists martyred themselves in battle Elini quickly fell in line with the fighting guardsmen. Returning home, Elini accused a fellow soldier of being a tyranid cultist and called an Honor Duel. She was victorious and correct in her judgement, but lost her griffon companion in the fight. During the siege of Cadia Elini defended her home planet from a Nurgle invasion using guerilla warfare against the heretics. Years after that victory she was arrested for being drunk on duty; ranting that she shouldn’t have to be tithed for a third time, she had served long enough and should be allowed to raise her daughter.         

Zealots

Garius Leveaque Fanatic - Cadia - 50 - Dereliction of Duty Tutored by the Schola Progenium in religious teachings, he was later adopted by a high ranking Cadian officer. Garius spent his youth fighting in the astra militarum, as he aged he left to go on a personal Pilgrimage to the other Moebian worlds. During the siege of Caida he found himself on Messelina Gloriana and helped defend it from a Nurgle invasion. While fighting for the shrine world he reclaimed a sacred relic, that of a preserved Terran Oak leaf. After its fall, Garius now preaches that all citizens of the imperium must learn to fight as Cadians less such a tragedy dare repeat. Years after the war Garius was arrested for not showing up for duty for the astra militarum. Garius claimed he never rejoined the astra militarum and that his “commanding officer” was using subterfuge to get soldiers to follow them.

Tilly Agitator - Pavane - 42 - Dereliction of Duty Part of a community of religious farmers scouting for usable land on Pavane, Tilly grew up taking care of children and the elderly while learning the skills necessary to serve her people and the God Emperor like everyone else. After a dreadful encounter with the planet's fauna, Tilly lost the youngest of the children she guarded, along with one of her eyes in a fight with the creature. This traumatic experience left her with voices that her community deemed as the voice of the Emperor, making Tilly a chosen emissary in their eyes. She was sent on a long pilgrimage to be nurtured into her new role, learning to hate the different, the way she should speak and behave. Her arrest followed after she abandoned her post, killing multiple citizens which she wrongfully assumed to be involved in heresy.

Moggy Karkkia Fanatic - Crucis - 28 - Insubordination Moggy grew up as a Saint Polisher in a ragtag group of children and teens, cleaning high towers and statues on Crucis. This simple life was destroyed when Moggy and her family found themselves caught in the crossfire of two death cults in the lower hives. Both sides were ruthless, any who didn’t join where slaughtered, Moggy and her kin were forced into hiding as they were picked off one by one until Moggy alone remained. Seeking absolution she joined a commune of Zealots who managed to decimate most of the threat in the name of the Throne. Through such trials Moggy became a splendid survivalist and wrathful fighter devoted to the God Emperor. However her stubborn individualism and leniency for a more open-minded approach led her to be arrested for disobeying orders. 

Tiolach O’Rhiain Judge - Messelina Gloriana - 45 - Misplaced Faith Born loyal to the cult of Saint Messelina Tiolach diligently trained to become a warrior monk for its Shrine Guard. While visiting a remote shrine deep in his planet's wilderness Tiolach encountered heretics defiling the sacred place. Quick to act he killed them himself and followed evidence left behind that revealed a growing cult. Rallying fellow monk’s to his side he took up his Saint’s call to righteous duty and slaughtered the heretics before their influence could spread. After the ordeal he began to speak against the authorities and ecclesiarchy that didn't take action against the heretics, for daring to question his better’s he was arrested.  

Psykers

Adraan Mousavi Savant - Incron - 36 - Sedition Like many on Incron, Adraan was conscripted into the Imperial Navy and got to see many other worlds while working in the galley of a ship. Adraan always had uncanny talents; being able to remain a mere shadow in a crowd and a way of speaking that would make others obey. During a return trip to his home planet he was informed of the cause of such talents when the Scholastia Psykana took him aboard a Black Ship. Quick to learn, Adraan became sanctioned and began to work with enforcers, his skills as investigator were invaluable. While working with a group of arbites investigating a high ranking administrator for corruption, Adraan’s team were suddenly and violently arrested for sedition, ironically confirming their suspicions. 

Harald von Dyssalis Loner - Branx Magna - 35 - Sedition Working in the factorum since a young age, Harald was always by his mother’s side until his psychic powers awakened and visions of the future began to appear. Wanting to earn more money, he sold his talents in the streets until Witch Seekers caught the rumour of a psyker in the area. In order to protect him, Harald’s mother turned herself in and got killed in the process. Now constantly on the run Harald was met with disappointment after disappointment in the people around him, ending up only relying on himself and his abilities which he honed each day. He successfully managed to learn truths of the Imperium and evade danger until one day another worker overheard him complaining about the taste of corpse starch which led to enforcers being called, cornering him and arresting him after a showcase of his psychic powers in panic. 

Theina Noman Loner - Mornax - 19 - Misplaced Faith During her waking hours Theina worked as a tunnel sentry, but asleep she would dream of wild impossible lands and even stranger monsters. One day her mother approached her while she was working saying that the enforcers were coming for her as they had declared her a witch. Running away into the wastes the pair was always running from trouble, whether it was arbites or gangs. Theina’s mother forced her to use her powers to survive, Theina would protest, but her mother always overpowered her. Eventually they were cornered by the enforcers and in that moment Theina saw her mother for the mutant thing she always was. Crushing her mothers head with her mind she was arrested moments after for being a runaway Psyker and trusting in the wrong authority.    

Rizo Dianimus Seer - Crucis - 37 - Sedition Trained while he was very young by the Scholastia Psykana, Rizo was sanctioned and went on to live a boring life. Hired by a fellow high ranking militarum Psyker, Rizo grinded out days on end behind a scribes desk as his mistress’s bookkeeper. As time marched on Rizo began to see divine truth in the words he wrote, realities made and unmade with words. In its beauty he saw the greatest force behind it all, the reflection of humanity itself, his Beloved. With new insight, Rizo took this knowledge to his mistress, but she would constantly dismiss his ramblings. Rizo persisted but his mistress eventually grew frustrated with him and had him arrested under false charges of Sedition.      

Ogryn

“MeeMaw” Babs Brawler - Incron - 56 - Sedition Growing up in an isolated ganger community that survived on the open ocean, Bab’s was renowned as a cook. Marrying their communities leader Bab’s became the matriarch of the band of roving pirates. While her husband and children fought and pillaged she maintained the supplies and health of the community. After one particularly horrible fight with a rival pirate gang Bab’s husband was killed and their ship nearly destroyed. For months her community was stranded, and barely able to survive, until they were found by imperial militarum recruiters. They were told they could join the astra militarum or be arrested, Bab’s didn’t trust them but her children advised her otherwise and they accepted the offer. It didn’t last long for Bab’s as she was quick to complain about eating corpse starch compared to her own food and was arrested for her noncompliance.          

Benn Farron Bully - Mornax - 29 - Misplaced Faith Benn worked as a miner until his coming of age which led him to be recruited to work as a strong arm due to his formidable physicality. Notorious for his unstoppable strength and joy for any opportunity of a fight, the planet’s militia enlisted him and he became a useful and worthy recruit of the Astra Militarum. Not many tried to irk or bother him, as they were aware of his still growing, brutal strength and short fused temper. Before he could rise further in rank he got arrested for questioning the lavish lifestyle of a higher up which branded him as unfaithful. 

Gar the Red Bodyguard - Incron - 50 - Dereliction of Duty On the hive shores of Incron Gar trawled great sea beasts from the ocean and protected local merchants from gangs as an enforcer. Gar’s strength didn’t go unnoticed and he was conscripted into the militarum navy. On route to his first war his ship hit a warp storm where they were trapped for years. Many died amidst the madness having to fight demons and their own crewmates, yet Gar survived fighting with a smile on his face all the while. The ship eventually returned back to Incron to recover and Gar believed he was free to return home; he was promptly arrested for leaving his post.

[elinilinxfoot]

In the war for Atoma Prime a Disgraced Veteran, a Cadian Zealot, a Dreaming Psyker and their newfound Squad of Misfits shall earn their Redemption. An episodic work, telling the story of a group of rejects fighting for the Inquisition, inspired by the game Darktide.

Next chapter is up; this follows a young psyker named Theina, recently imprisoned on the Tancred Bastion exploring her dreams before her inevitable execution.

[elinilinxfoot]

🖊!

(I wanted to write about my own Zealot Garius and had to choose from a couple different headcanons. So I randomly selected one and it choose his relationship with my Veteran Elini)

So I haven’t read anything official about the Fall of Cadia but after watching this video which summarises the events, I think it implies that while Cadia was being attacked the surrounding Moebian planets were also getting attacked by Nurgle space marines and demons to stop any reinforcements from coming to help. And that's basically the context for how Garius and Elini met up.

Garius retired from his position as an astra militarum preacher to go on a pilgrimage to the other Moebian worlds and visit various shrines. His first stop was to the shrine world of Messelina Gloriana where he met the Cult of Messelina’s pilgrim guardian’s, one of whom was a veteran of a war against xenos, Elini. 

It was while he was travelling the small shrine world that Cadia was besieged and Messelina Gloriana also attacked. The pair were quick to join the planetary defence and destroy the plague cultist that threatened to tear the planet apart. They spent several years fighting together and when Elini’s own parents died in battle she vowed that once they had won on her planet she would go with Garius to help him take back Cadia. Eventually they were victorious in reclaiming Messelina Gloriana, however in the wake of that victory the terrible news of Cadia’s destruction was announced across the planet. Were it not for Elini’s emotional support during his grief Garius would have given into his own fury at the death of his world. 

Having lost both of their families through Cadia’s Fall, Garius and Elini see eachother as adoptive Father and Daughter. They stayed together on Messelina Gloriana; Garius helping Elini raise her daughter Megaera, born after the war, and Elini continuing to guide Garius across the shrine world. Eventually Garius decided to continue his pilgrimage to another world and as he and Elini parted Garius promised to return to Messelina Gloriana to live with her once his pilgrimage was complete.

Ironically they were arrested for completely separate reasons, but both found themselves as conscripted convicts in the same squad for the battle of Atoma. Garius claims it was the Will of the Emperor that brought them back together, but it’s more likely the Inquisition had info on them both and realised putting two people who survived together in war against Nurgle cultists in a similar situation is probably a smart idea.

[elinilinxfoot]

🖋 + Rizo!

(We're gonna go with the Darktide version of Rizo, because I’m on that train atm. But it should be noted that all my oc’s are basically character templates I just bring into different universes.)

Despite his mental incoherency that may make him appear unstable, Rizo is a diligently disciplined psyker. Rizo is particularly talented at banishing demons as well as protective force fields and healing, however to perform such miraculous feats requires a completely focused mind and determined soul. In preparation to enter this state of mind, Rizo has a daily routine of rituals, mantras and periods of meditation to help channel his focus. He also takes time to put up psykic wards around the squad's hab and spends hours crafting scrolls of purification to use on missions in case the squad were to run into a demon. As ex-administratum he also does the majority of the squad's paperwork, which he’s more than happy to do considering how much he misses his old desk job. Were it not for the fact that Rizo constantly goes off on insane rambles of wisdom given to him by his ‘Beloved’, he would be an upstanding citizen of the imperium through his dedication to his duty alone.    

On a side note, since I know more about Warhammer Fantasy then I do about 40k, I’m basing Rizo’s psyker abilities off of the Lore of Light. IDK if it works the same way in 40k as it does in Fantasy, but I have been told that banishing demons with psyker abilities is a thing so we're gonna go with it.