- "Our fellow Astartes think us strange. First they see our trophies and icons of home, and think us savages. Then, after the battle is won, they hear our war poetry, and think us civilized. Truth is, we are what we are."
- —Brother-Sergeant Yatsuhiro
A young and fierce Chapter borne from the chequered legacy of Jaghatai Khan and his White Scars, the Maverick Lords are a Chapter known for their wily ways and reckless bravery on the field of war. Hailing from the churning seas and perilous mountains archipelagos of the Feudal World of Tempesuto, the Maverick Lords are often esoteric in their ways, mirroring the bottomless seas of their homeworld, fickle and inscrutable to outsiders.
However, their outward savagery and churlishness is far from the defining trait of the Maverick Lords, for they are too warriors of great honor and astonishing valor, noted as a breed apart even their fellow Astartes in this regard. The Maverick Lords are also noted for their raw, unpredictable cunning, often utilizing outlandish but effective maneuvers on the field of war, some of which have practically rewrote the doctrines of war as the Adeptus Astartes have known them in this modern age.
Still, the Maverick Lords are young, and though their warrior creed is strong, they are easily the least established and therefore least trusted of the Chapters that make up the Justicarium of the Exile Sector. To some, they are mighty champions of the Imperium, riding forth upon their Assault Bikes and Land Speeders in the ways of the great White Scars of old. But to others they are dangerously unorthodox, far to liberal with the edicts of the Codex Astartes and indeed the very laws of the Imperium they are sworn to protect. While the Adeptus Astartes are blessed by the Emperor Himself with near boundless autonomy, many feel the Maverick Lords overstep their bounds, having more than once openly defied orders of Imperial high command and even Inquisitorial authorities. Though these dissident actions were never borne of capricious will or intent, they never the less have cemented the Chapter's position as outsiders, even amongst those who would call them fellow Space Marines.
History[]
Gene-Seed[]
The Gene-Seed of the Maverick Lords is considered pure stock, though several minor mutations have been noted regarding the Ossmodula. These minor mutations lead to Maverick Lords being of shorter stature than the average Space Marine, though clad in Power Armor, the size difference is negligible though visible. Maverick Lords are also known for having an overdeveloped musculature by Astartes standards, leading to a stocky, heavily built form that results in slightly increased physical strength and reflex speed when compared to Space Marines of purer stock. Though these mutations are minor and not indicative of any greater corruption, it is noted that any comments regarding a Maverick Lord's stature in comparison to fellow Space Marines are often met with scorn and occasionally violence.
These traits are sometimes considered beneficial, as the marginally smaller size of Maverick Lord Battle-Brothers allows for more ease of movement when embarked in a vehicle and marginally lessens the overall amount of weight the Chapter's war machines must bear when ferrying Battle-Brothers into the field of war. It should also be noted that this size differential means that Maverick Lords require less overall food and drink when compared to the caloric intake of other Space Marines, though this is seldom an ability the Chapter exercises, considering their various traditions regarding celebratory pre and post battle feasts.
Weapons/Technology[]
The Maverick Lords are well known for employing various exotic weapons, modified from the traditional arms of their homeworld's native warriors.
Power Tesubo[]
A massive two-handed warclub, those who bear the Power Tesubo into battle are well known for their brutish visage. Upon the world of Tempesuto, the Tesubo is an ancient weapon synonymous with raw power and valor, wielded by only the strongest and hot-blooded warriors of the barbaric island clans. Therefore, it is also a symbol of piracy and the criminal underbelly of polite society, a weapon seldom prized by the more refined warrior-elite who rule the planets many feudal island nations. This rugged reputation is further influenced by the Tesubo's design, being little more than a studded or solid iron bat. Regardless, the Chapter has adopted the Tesubo, scaled to their super human size and equipped with a power field generator, as its mighty blow is often enough to lay low even the most resilient of foes. Ideal for striking down heavily armored targets and even engaging light vehicles, it is no small wonder that the Chapter's Assault Marines hold the Power Tesubo in the highest regard.
Chapter Culture[]
Young, rowdy, fond of copious amounts of food and drink, and wholly without scruples when it comes to associating casually with mortals, many within the Adeptus Astartes consider the Maverick Lords grossly undisciplined. Generally full of a confidence that borders often on arrogance, the boorishness of the Maverick Lords has often caused them to clash with other, more restrained Chapters of their fellow Space Marines. Such behavior has often led to a tactical meeting devolving into inglorious brawls, for the Maverick Lords are all too free with their thoughts, especially if there is a strong drink at hand. The Chapter is also known for their strange and esoteric tactics, often shunning the well thought out battle plans of their comrades in strange bids to gain an upper hand on the foe. Such tactics include various elaborate disguises, impractical maneuvers via bike or aircraft, and even mild propaganda wars.
In spite of how such boisterousness often harms the Chapter's relations with fellow Astartes and Imperial High Command, their mere presence within an allied camp often bolsters the morale of the rank and file considerably, for their fearsome trophies combined with their mirthful demeanor often endear them to the common infantryman.
However, this is merely the Maverick Lords before battle is joined, for in the ways of those masterless soldiers of fortune upon the seas of Tempestuo, the Chapter feasts and celebrates in the name of the battle soon to come, when they will prove themselves worthy of the almighty Emperor and the blood of the Khan. When the Chapter takes to the field of war, their youthful vigor is turned to valor and fury, riding down the enemies of Man without a hint of mercy or relent. However, the Chapter still retains some of its mirth, even on the fields of war. Battle-Brothers are known to compose war poetry on the fly, even as they take to the foe with Chainsword and Bolt Pistol, mocking the fate of the foe in booming limericks for all the Company to hear.
All these strange ways are borne both of the Maverick Lord's origins as Sons of Jaghatai Khan and the mariner peoples of Tempestuo. When the Chapter was first founded, it partook in the various bloody purges of the Great Culling, ruthlessly hunting down those who had displeased the High Lords during the fractious days of the Nova Terra Interregnum. They were savage and furious, much as the White Scars they hailed from. But as the Culling dragged on, the Chapter grew dour and fatalistic, considering this purging to be baleful and ungrateful work. So they took to crusading when the purges had run their course, the fleetborne Chapter searching the stars for battles truly worthy of the Sons of the Great Khan. For many centuries they campaigned, until arriving in the Exile Sector, where they happened upon a chance rumor that a great artifact of the White Scars Legion lay somewhere within the wild space of the Exile Sector's northern frontier. Hungry for adventure and glory, the Chapter set off into the unknown.
Swiftly such wanderlust brought ruin to the Maverick Lords, suddenly surrounded on all sides by xenos horrors and baleful agents of the Chaos Gods. Battle after battle took its toll, and soon the Chapter, once so proud in their mighty fleet, was reduced to but a handful of ships crewed by mostly wounded Battle-Brothers. When the Chapter finally discovered the location of the so-called relic, they found only a world of mountain islands and churning, fickle seas. Tempestuo was no promised land, and hardly seemed a harbinger of ancient treasures, but the Maverick Lords had lost too much to turn back. Making planetfall, the Maverick Lords soon discovered the peoples of this world were once under the protection of Imperial rule, the few island settlements host to decrepit statues of the conquering Ultramarines Legion and their Primarch. But in spite of all their prodding and searching, the Chapter found no trace, nor hint, of any artifact belonging to the White Scars. Distraught, cast adrift, the few hundred Battle-Brothers of the Chapter resigned themselves to the traditional mourning rights of the White Scars they were descended from. For many moons the Chapter collectively wandered the planet and mused on the pointless sacrifices made to find this, a simple world of simpler folk, who lived in raft cities and fought petty wars amongst small island kingdoms. In their travels, many squads of Battle-Brothers took up arms against petty tyrants who sought to harness the power of these strange interlopers, and soon the Chapter found itself heralded as a brotherhood of justicars and champions of the righteous. They were likened unto the master swordsmen of Tempestian legend, who traveled the land, fighting for coin and cause. They became known as the Wave Men, those who came with the tides, and whose might was akin to the great storm.
Soon, the Chapter found itself integrated with the peoples of Tempestuo, and though the admiration of these simple, but proud people, the Chapter once again found an identity. Their Brothers did not die in vain, for the botched Crusade of the Wandering Years had brought the Chapter a newfound clarity of cause. Glory for glory's sake is foolish and vain. The Maverick Lords would now stand for the common man, for the people of the Imperium. In time, the Maverick Lords became as the very men they were said to emulate, men of the sword, with the fires of a daredevil in their eyes and the war poems of their ancestors in their throats as they cut down those who would dare raise their hands against the innocent and pure. When the Chapter set out and became one of the Justicarium of the Exile Sector, they had become the caviler and cunning warriors they are known as today, forever doing battle through the thrill of victory and humility of defeat, not for simple glory or honor, but for the Imperium, whose people give them purpose and true reason to lay down their lives in righteous battle.
Chapter Symbols/Marks[]
Headband-
Kobuto-
Daemon Masks-
Combat Doctrine[]
Organisation[]
Chapter Fleet[]
Specialist Ranks/Formations[]
Nobrinin[]
Equivalent to a Codex Sergeant, the Nobrinin of the Maverick Lords are appointed to lead their Squads by merit alone on the field of war. Kill tallies and clever tactics mark a Battle-Brother for such a position, to be the first amongst equals. It is the duty of the Nobrinin to not only lead the Squad, but also bear the squads banner into battle on his back as is the tradition amongst the warrior-nobles of Tempesuto. However, the Maverick Lords are far from oblivious to the disadvantages of bestowing all their field commanders with large, colorful banners, and often forgo the tradition if the situation calls for it.
Notable Battles[]
The Siege of Hive Keblisk[]
The Chapter had besieged the rebel Hive of Keblisk for many months during the Great Artulian Rebellion, which saw the whole of the Artulian System fall to petty nobles who thought to use recent instability within their region as a chance to seize control of the region from the Imperium. The long and costly siege was put to an end when the Chapter barraged the city with artillery shells containing not lethal ordinance, but instead millions upon millions of leaflets, each of which bore a singular poem penned by the famous Kibuki Khan of the 2nd Brotherhood. The poem's subject matter was nothing less than the rebel Imperial Governor Styctus Aruilian Vastoss VI, and so scathing and unflattering was the poem, that the petty lord ordered that all his forces march from the safety of the Hive City's nigh impenetrable walls to meet the Maverick Lords of the 2nd Brotherhood on the open ash fields. The Governor's forces were then predictably slaughtered, and his city easily entered, the Chapter receiving no resistance from the populace, who had grown fond of their invaders due to their antics and insistence on saving the city itself from any undue harm.
Notable Individuals[]
Hanzo the Black Wave[]
- "I am the blade at the crest of the wave. Relentless as the typhoon, crushing as the tidal wave, remorseless as the coldest depths. Fear me, for I am the first wave. Fear me, for I am the last wave."
- —The translated Tempesutain calligraphy inscribed upon the Black Wave's armored sarcophagus
A tragic but heroic figure amongst the ranks of the Maverick Lords, Hanzo the Black Wave is a hulking Chaplain Dreadnought who has long been a harbinger of both victory and ill omen since the early Wandering Years of the Chapter. Once known as Brother-Chaplain Hanzo Kujio, the Black Wave was borne of the hellish Kimirsh Triplis Nebula Conflict, in which the Maverick Lords Chapter was embroiled in terrible battle with a coalition of Eldar Corsairs under the command of an elite Warhost of Craftworld Morrtadaus.