Caputmori
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| [//Detail of the Marines Saturnine's modified Caputmori banner, Word of Wolunscere+] [//tom_k/@ghostysneonrust+] |
A semicircle of giants in pale alabaster stood around quietly, almost passively. It seemed to him – his lifeblood weeping from the sucking chest wound where the Astartes combat blade pinned him to the ship's wall – that they appeared almost bored.
He couldn’t move at all now. The numbness, the unresponsiveness of his legs had spread now to his hands, arms, and, to his mounting horror, the edges of his face. With his spine snapped, Ichabod Quintillus, luminary and Lord Inquisitor, knew he was dying.
Through failing eyes, he looked over the remains of his retinue, their lives spent in a gesture of futility. Kaspar, Brother-Sergeant of the Ultramarines, lay where he had died, his armour sundered by a dozen bolter rounds, his head and hands ritualistically removed post-mortem.
In... out, in, out.
His Witch, Elestra Cain, had had her head dashed against the ships wall in the opening seconds of the engagement, long before she could bring her oppressive psychic might to bear. The pulped form of Jay lay crumpled by the entry port, kicked unceremoniously to death by one of the Partisan devils that now stood before him. By the Throne, Quintillus realised, Jay hadn’t even seen his fifteenth year.
Veteran Arbite Gunnson was scattered here and there. Ichabod didn’t see how he died in the cacophony of violence, but the formless chunks of meat that wore the remains of his armour indicated it had been…explosive. It had only taken thirty seconds for a handful of the Marines Saturnine to destroy a retinue decades in the making and – of still greater import – his own life.
In, out, in… out.
Out...
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| [//tom_k/@ghostysneonrust+] |
***
The Caputmori
At once unifying and divisive, the skull-headed eagle of the Captumori became as totemic of the Partisan Chapters as the Imperialis (the winged skull) was for the Imperial Guard or the Aquila (double-headed eagle) for the Orthodox Imperium.
An ancient device – and likely selected precisely because it had such connotations – the Caputmori had long fallen out of use. Redolent with a sense of antiquity, it was a fitting symbol of the supposedly returned Primarch, who bore promises of a return to a golden age of human expansion that was fast ossifying under the auspices of the High Lords of Terra.
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| [//Detail of Monstrance – the False Primarch's war-maul, and supposedly the pattern for the Caputmori banners granted to the Partisan Chapters, favoured Imperial Guard Regiments and Naval squadrons+] [//edward_r/@death_of_a_rubricist+] |
A potent image of the Partisan cause, the appearance of the skull-headed symbol in a region polarised views and discourse, debate and unrest inevitably followed in its wake. To the Orthodoxy, it represented the threat of long-loyal worlds rebelling en masse against the established regime, and – perhaps more concerningly – for the regional Astartes Chapters, thought loyal beyond question, also to turn.
Not since the dark days of the Heresy had something so incomprehensible happened to the Imperium. It is unsurprising then, that the potency of the Caputmori drew the eye of the Inquisition. Members of the comparatively minor Ordo Miraculum, who investigated the causes and validity of Miracles witnessed by mankind became embroiled in dissecting the meaning behind the Caputmori. Some argued that the symbol's power could be ascribed to the mysterious False Primarch directly: that he had, through some fell influence or power, been able to make the symbol supernaturally incendiary to Segmentum Pacificus, Morqub and Heliopolis – while others argued that this was unnecessary; that the symbol in and of itself held no deeper significance.
'If enough believe in what the Caputmori represents, could not the symbol take on a power of its own? And furthermore, could we know the difference between such power, if t'were supernatural; or merely through the Imperial virtues of obedience, awe and loyalty?'
Many Astartes chapters only declared allegiance to the Partisan cause after uncountable worlds had already been converted, with uncountable minds believing the promises the Vox Volnoscere had spoken. on behalf of the 'Primarch'. Some amongst the Ordo Miraculum contended that such a mass of humanity concentrating their belief in the 'Last True Son', and focussing that devotion on the Caputmori, was the most likely cause of the infectious belief spreading to the staunch and inviolate Astartes chapters of the region...
***
Attitudes to the Caputmori within the Partisan Chapters
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| [//The Caputmori+] |
To the Partisan chapters themselves, the Caputmori held varying degrees of significance. Each of the eleven had been granted a banner in its form, which were universally borne with respect, if not reverence, and around which great deeds of heroism and villainy curdled.
Beyond the physical artefacts of the name, the symbol was also utilised as an identifying mark by followers of the False Primarch, and most of the Partisan Chapters incorporated the symbol in some form into their heraldric charges, notably the diasporene Firebreak, the Star Wardens – particularly those of the Gilded Arm faction – the Void Barons and Iron Guard – whilst others, like the Jade Talons, and Storm Tyrants used it more sparingly, reserving it for specific honorifics. The Wormwood Sons were unusual in barely utilising it at all – though given their seemingly in-born isolationism, this is perhaps unsurprising.
Of all the Partisans, it was the Inheritors and Marines Saturnine who most took the Caputmori to their bosom; both using it zealously. It was, however, the Marines Saturnine's practices that led to the beginning of the Ordo Miraculum's most in-depth investigation. Not long after the Ultramarine successors had become embroiled in the War of the False Primarch, the Marines Saturnine began to wear the gilded image of the Caputmori, in stark contrast to their otherwise unadorned and blemished armour. There were even rumours, largely unfounded, that the Marines Saturnine had been seen bearing the symbol of the False Primarch several standard Terran years prior to the War breaking out, though this was largely ascribed to Antiecclesiarchical agitprop playing up the Chapter’s presaging mystique, rather than fact.
Nonetheless, the directness and speed with which the Caputmori had been incorporated into the Chapter's iconography sparked much theological debate within and beween the Ordo Miraculum and attending members of the Orthodox Ecclesiarchy. Those aware of the Marines Saturnine’s fatalistic outlook posited that the Caputmori had become a fetish to the Chapter, representing an opportunity to avoid the doom that the Chapter believed themselves approaching.
***
Beyond the Partisans – Doom Eagles
It was noted – initially sardonically, and later with genuine concern – that another Ultramarines Successor, deployed to the region as part of the Annulus Vow Chapters, shared a disturbingly similar Chapter badge to the Caputmori. The Doom Eagles (the similarities in the names leading to still further confusion for those investigating the muddied history of the Death Eagles) had been brought in to reinforce a weaker section of the Annulus Umbra bordering the Pythinia subsector. It was Lord Inquisitor Ichabod Quintillus who first noted the newly-arrived Chapter's symbol as a skull-headed eagle. As with the other Annulus Vow Chapters, the Doom Eagles were kept in the dark regarding the actions within the quarantine zone, but Quintillus' quiet investigations came to reveal the Chapter to have been concerningly close allies to the Marines Saturnine prior to the War; the two Chapters considering each other close cousins, and fighting together on numerous xenocidal campaigns.
Arguments were made, though largely lost in the cacophony of opinionated voices, that the ante-bellum adoption of the symbol by the Marines Saturnine was nothing more that the chapter simply paying homage to their Doom Eagles allies. Such were the Ordo Miraculum's public conclusions: the pre-war markings were 'A final parting farewell from those who believed they were doomed to die, nothing more than a common Astartes mortuary ritual' and worthy of no further investigation. This incensed Quintillus, who began his own private investigation.
In the discourse over the meaning of the Caputmori and its significance to the Partisan forces, it was noted that the Marines Saturnine were notable for their low profile during the early part of the conflict. It was only after the Carcharadons assaulted a planetary system under their protection, that the Marines Saturnine ultimately engaged.
In the wake of this disastrous attack, the Marines Saturnine, often considered to be spiteful, may have adopted the Caputmori as a zealous declaration of their allegiance, so there would be no mistaking whose side they fought for. This theory was lent weight by the fact that, despite wearing the Caputmori seemingly proudly on their armour, the Marines Saturnine seemed to hold no particular veneration for it beyond its use as ornament. Many of the Astartes continued to make the symbol of the Aquila with their hands as a greeting, instead of adopting the so-called 'Partisan salute' – a fist placed into an upturned palm.
For a brief period following their declaration for the False Primarch, the populist theory of the Marines Saturnine becoming bewitched by the Caputmori gained traction, particularly amongst the populace of the civilised worlds in the corewards stretches of Heliopolis. It seemingly explained why a Chapter previously noted for its willingness to enact the will of the High Lords, rebelled so readily. Alas, this theory fell to the wayside as atrocities reportedly committed by the Marines Saturnine against seemingly peaceful Imperial worlds continued to mount up, and trying to understand the motive for betrayal became ultimately inconsequential in the eyes of the Imperium.
The debate surrounding the Caputmori and its significance to the Marines Saturnine ultimately soured after the death of Inquisitor Quintillus and the subsequent defilement of his body at the hands of the extremist Lamassu cult. The reason why they had betrayed the Emperor of Man no longer seemed relevant to the followers of the High Lords, only that their false light was extinguished.
***
Baa-Dimme, Lulal of the Lamassu, and bearer of the 'Word of Wolunscere'
Baa-Dimme of the Marines Saturnine is the longest serving veteran within the chapter, outliving his own generation of recruits by hundreds of years. In his heyday, he was a giant of the Chapter both physically and metaphorically. Seemingly at the forefront of every assault, he was renowned within the Chapter in their idiosyncratic custom as 'The First to Make Planetfall, the Last to Emerge From The Breach'. Several decade-long periods punctuate Baa-Dimmes' service record, conspicuous with his absence from the day-to-day running of the Chapter. These almost certainly indicate that he was serving as part of the coveted, yet nameless, Immortals of the first Sataba.
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| [//Baa-Dimme of the Marines Saturnine, bearing the modified Caputmori, Word of Wolunscere [//tom_k/@ghostysneonrust+] |
By the time of the War of the False Primarch, however, Baa-Dimme was much diminished; no longer the giant of Chapter renown. Dyspeptic and grizzled from dozens of life-threatening injuries, he remained choleric and cantankerous. To him was ascribed that famous quote from the battlefields of Somnos that:
'Death has yet to come to claim me, nor will I go willingly when it does.'
He still fought at every opportunity; though given his debilitation, he hobbled behind the frontline, inspiring his brothers in the capacity of his role as a Chapter Ancient.
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| [//tom_k/@ghostysneonrust+] |
Before Baa-Dimme’s lingering injuries mounted up, he earned the honorific position of Lulal to the Lamassu. Within the Marines Saturnine' cult, a Lulal is considered to be a blooded bodyguard. The Aegis, Enlil-Anu, for example, has a pair of Lulal that accompany him onto the field of battle, and are willing to lay down their lives in a heartbeat. Baa-Dimme however, was honoured with the seemingly unique position of Lulal to the Lamassu. Whilst it is unlikely the mysterious entity known as the Lamassu would ever truly need protection, being recognized as the one who would provide such protection was honour enough. Had the events of the War of the False Primarch turned out differently, doubtless Baa-Dimme’s place would have been cemented in broader Imperial history as an exemplar of duty.
***
As the Marines Saturnine became increasingly fractious during the latter stages of the War, Baa-Dimme attempted to rally the chapter around the 'Word of Wolunscere', a battle standard of his own artifice. A grotesque effigy constructed with the remains of Lord Inquisitor Ichabod Quintillus, it resembles the great Caputmori granted to the Chapter, though whether this is intended as a sincere, if barbaric, veneration or otherwise is left to the reader's conjecture. Quintillus’ hands are twisted into making the symbol of the Aquila, whilst his Rosarius hangs listlessly between clenched fingers, surely a deliberate attempt to raise the ire of the Pentarchy forces. Whilst the Marines Saturnine had always been marked by a tendency towards excessive brutality (especially towards captives), the crucifixion and subsequent taunting display of a celebrated hero of the Imperium was undoubtedly a sign that they were slipping into madness.
Within the Chapter, it is unknown how the 'Word of Wolunscere' was initially received, though undoubtedly Baa-Dimme only escaped severe censure due to his pedigree and tenure within the Marines Saturnine, along with the fact that the Aegis, Enlil- Anu, was absent from command due to the severity of the injuries he sustained in his combat with the Sorrow of Karpathia.
After Baa-Dimme’s presumed demise – suggested to be at the hands of the vengeful Flesh Eaters 27th Company – the 'Word of Volunscere' was captured by Orthodox forces, and the recovered luminary Lord Inquisitor Ichabod Quintillus’ remains were given a suitable burial.
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| [//tom_k/@ghostysneonrust+] |
***
'By his example, shall we meet our destiny.'
[//Corroc of the Iron Guard+]