Lore post - the Primarchs rediscovery part 1

 

The Primarchs.

The Superhuman Primarchs were designed to be humanity's ultimate generals, blessed by arcane science and the Emperor's own genetic template, intended to unite all of humanity across the universe. Along with their legions that were based on them, they would seek out lost worlds that had been cut off in the age of strife, either by diplomacy or force they would bring them into the imperium. Wiping out any xenos races in their way, purging the mutants and anyone that stood in their way, they would lead the charge into the future. The legions would be the paragons of martial might, blessed with abilities far above the baseline humans they were to defend. They would be able to bring the Emperor's imperium to the darkest corners of the galaxy and bring safety to the untold trillions of humans. Each Primarch was built to be unique; these characteristics would be diluted but passed on to their legions, but at the moment of the Emperor's biggest triumph, they were stolen away by the ruinous powers. Scattered upon unknown planets, the Emperor's only choice was to launch the Great Crusade without them, and hopefully he would find them. 

Horus Lupercal - Primarch of the 16th legion - Sons of Horus.

The first Primarch was found only a few light-years from Holy Terra, on the hive world of Cthonia. Horus' documented early years are full of contradictions and willful omission. What is known is that he gained his first insights into war on Cthonia, fighting the Tech Barbarian gangs and anarchic gangs. The hive world had once had a thriving mining industry full of rich minerals and natural resources, which was settled in the very first years of humanity's reach out into the stars. When Horus' gestation capsule landed on Cthonia, these resources were long extinct, and the planet had sunk into a place of war and anarchy. 

Horus was ever the Emperor's favorite and was always at his side, learning as a protege from him. He was soon put in charge of his legion at the time known as the Luna Wolves. The early combat doctrine of the soon to be Sons of Horus legion was to apply overwhelming force aimed at the weakest points of an enemy, aimed at the point of authority and command structure. Vital strategic points were subject to savagery and slaughter to destroy the moral and control centers of an enemy. Bringing them to their knees after brutally tearing them apart. Flexible and able to adapt to any situation needed, the wars were fought in a calculated and devastating manner. This savagery only became more pronounced as the fall of Horus deepened. The unique abilities of Horus included powerful charisma that was able to unite the other Primarchs, breed a rabid loyalty from his legion, and an incredible mind for the tactics of welding his legion (said to only be matched by Gulliman and the Lion).

Leman Russ - Primarch of the 6th legion - The Space Wolves.

The next of the Emperor's lost sons to be found was found on the icy wastes of the Death World Fenris. The gestation pod smashed into the side of a mountain with earth shattering force, emerging from the pod amid the smoking crater made by the impact, the young Primarch was confronted by a giant Thunderwolf. The history of Fenris could have been very different after that moment, but the she-wolf, instead of killing the newly awakened Primarch, raised him as her own with her two cubs, Freki and Geri. Russ came into contact with the humans of Fenris in a historic, vicious confrontation with a hunting party, in which the she-wolf was slain. Russ, in his fury, slaughtered twelve of the armed hunters with his bare hands, protecting his adoptive pack mates. Luckily, one of the more clear-headed hunters calmed his fellows and convinced them to take the feral child to King Thengir, the king of the Russ tribe, who made the decision to bring the Primarch into his household and teach him what it meant to be human. In a short period of time, he had mastered the language of Fenris, learned their way of war, and primitive technology. Quick to anger yet equally quick to roar with laughter, he soon made his place among the king's household. It was soon apparent to all that he was more than a wolf but equally more than a man, easily going on to beat the King's hearthguard commander multiple times; he made it clear to all that he was destined for greatness. After a time in which the young Primarch raised himself to the status of a living legend with his great feats, the King died. There was never any question about who should be his successor. Russ, for the first time, was hailed as the Wolf King. It was not long before stories of him reached as far as Terra, and the emperor knew immediately where his lost son was. When the Master of Mankind made it to Fenris, he came hidden and cloaked as a wanderer, and he made an offer of three challenges, the Wolf King, who could never turn down the opportunity for any test accepted. If the wanderer won, all he asked for was to be able to drink at the right-hand side of the king; if Russ won, he demanded that the stranger would serve at his will for a year. The prize was agreed upon, and the challenge began. Three tasks were agreed upon, the first was an eating competition, which the wanderer lost, and the second was a drinking bout, again Russ was victorious. The Wanderer, disappointed with the Wolf King, declared him a gluttonous drunk, able to achieve nothing in life but eating and drinking. Silence followed after this proclamation. Calmly, Russ unsheathed his sword and demanded that the third task be of combat. At this moment, the Wanderer cast off his cloak and was revealed in his true form, clad in golden power armour with a nimbus of power surrounding him. In this challenge, the Emperor was victorious. Once the Great Wolf regained consciousness, bloodied and with a broken fang from a titanic blow from the Emperor's power fist, he agreed he was soundly beaten and swore his fealty to his Gene-father. Soon, the Great Wolf took his place at the head of the Space Wolf legion as their Primarch. Russ was known for his dislike of warp users and adaptability in combat, and in time would gain the moniker of the Emperor's attack dog, used on more than one occasion to bring his fellow Primarchs to order when they had strayed from their correct path. Along with his gene-crafted abilities, he was known to be able to use a type of shout that could counter warp abilities. He had many lupine related aspects, such as heightened senses and enlarged canines with yellow wolf-like eyes.

Unknown - all information obliterated from imperial record - 2nd legion.

Ferrus Manus - Primarch of the 10th Legion - Iron Hands.

The Primarch that would come to be nicknamed 'The Gorgon' was eventually found on the feral world of Medusa, a gloomy and geologically unstable world deep in an area of the Segmentum Obscurus. A world that was later theorised by Imperial scholars to have been a tomb world of the xenos race named the Necrons. His capsule, when cast from Terra by the Ruinous powers, landed in the polar region of the planet. Smashing with unfathomable force into the mountain called Karaashi, the area was long known as an accursed place. full of dark tales of woe and misfortune for anyone unlucky enough to find themselves there. There are many mythic tales of Ferrus at this time wandering the polar wastes from this moment, casting down storm giants and performing superhuman feats of valour and strength, but these have never been confirmed or proven, even by the Primarch himself. What is known is that at some point, he came across a beast known as Asirnoth, a monstrous creature made from metal, deathless, and from the deepest places of humanity's nightmares. Later, this creature was theorised to be a construct of Necron make, made from the living metal Necrodermis. When the heroic Primarch faced this beast, the only way he was able to put it down for good was to submerge it in liquid magma. In its death throes, its metal skin became embedded on the hands and forearms, perpetually covering them. When Ferrus arrived in the populated regions of Medusa, it was a planet of fractured, warring clans, which he brought under his control. He demanded obedience to his will and was thought of as a living god who would break any person who dared to try to subvert his will. On Medusa, there was a Tech guild not unlike the Tech priests of the Imperium, called the Iron Fathers, who dealt with the technical and spiritual needs of the clans, who had handed down knowledge and secrets through the ages. He gave these semi-priests his own teachings, which enabled them to advance the weapons and machinery of the clans. The bravest of the clan warriors, he led them into the hidden vaults and great machine vaults, sealed since the dark days of the Age of Strife, to reclaim lost technology. Along the way, fighting mutants, cyborgs, and engines of dark creation. The Emperor eventually heard of this metal-armed demigod with silver eyes and deep wisdom and knew he had found another of his sons.

It is said that by this point, Ferrus had already surmised partly what he was and why he had been created. When the Emperor had come to reclaim him, he gave him his legion, whom he named the Iron Hands, to forge as he had the clans of Medusa. He would come to be known as a skilled creator of weapons of war to rival Vulkan, creating incredible weapons for his brother Primarchs and forming a close bond with the Phoenix Fulgrim.

Fulgrim - Primarch of the 3rd legion - The Emperor's Children.

Chemos was a dark and dismal planet orbiting a weak star covered in thick dust clouds, surrounded in perpetual twilight, a mining world that was on its last legs as it was running out of resources slowly but surely. Isolated from other worlds during the Age of Strife thanks to powerful warp storms. The population struggling to survive due to being unable to produce enough food to sustain themselves, already working for every hour of the minimal daytime hours. As a result of this, art, literature, and anything not related to survival were nonexistent. Even with strict rationing and improvisation to get essential nutrients, the population was condemned to a slow, drawn out death. Into this world, the child that would become Fulgrim was delivered, found by patrolling members of the planetary police force he was brought to the ruling body of the fortress factory. Usually orphans were put to death, but so enraptured by the innocence and beauty of the young Primarch, the police force begged for him to be spared. It was eventually agreed, and he was given into the care of one of his rescuers to be raised as his son. He was named after a nearly forgotten ancient deity of the Chemosian people. The rapidly maturing child would soon become a legend in his own right. At half the age when people of Chemos usually went to work in the factories and vapour mines, he went to work and was able to do the work of an adult worker. He quickly began to modify and almost intuitively adapt the ancient failing machines, dramatically boosting the output and efficiency. By the age of 15, he had risen to the role of executive taking part in the responsibility of running the fortress factory of Callax, even going as far as being able to send workers to the other hive factories to make the same improvements and train others. Directly because of this, the planet was able to start producing enough goods for there to be a surplus, and thus being able to usher in a new age of re-emergence and restart the long lost art and culture of Chemos. Shortly after this monumental victory, the sky was lit by the landing flares of Stormbird dropships. The Emperor had come to claim his lost son. After a brief meeting with the unknown visitors, Fulgrim had bent his knee and pledged himself to the Emperor and was given command of his legion. Fulgrim could turn his Primarch aura up to beguile anyone he wanted, his supernatural beauty and perfection making him able to charm any he wished. He was also known to be an almost peerless duelist with a blade, being able to use a sword in such a way that almost no one was able to compare to.

Vulkan - Primarch of the 18th legion - Salamanders.

The planet Nocturne was a feudal death world during one of its harshest periods in recorded history, when Vulkans' gestation capsule crashed there. The majority of the Primarchs' early life is told in the compendium The Promethean Opus. He had fallen like a blazing comet and cratered the earth deeply. He was taken in by a metalworker named N'bel, who would become his foster father and early tutor in the arts of metal shaping. Vulkan, as all of the Primarchs grew at a highly accelerated rate and quickly reached adulthood, far surpassed everyone else in size and muscle mass. Not only this, but he was able to rapidly equal and went on to improve the already famed smiths of Nocturne. The culture of the planet heavily influenced Vulcan's personality, invoking a deep respect and honour code of the Promethean cult. The wildlife of Nocturne was heavily adapted to survive the molten temper, saurian beasts of formidable size, and with hardy natures fitting their location. Vulkan was often forced to become the protector and champion of the locales, keeping them safe. No matter how dangerous these beasts were, there was a far more deadly and sadistic foe, the vile and despised Xenos raiders known as the Drukhari, were also periodically roved the planet on great slave taking raids. Vulkan hunted these wretched creatures down and, armed with just a pair of smithing hammers, he laid them low wherever they dared to try and prey on the populace. From this act, the headsmen of the seven most important and influential settlements on the planet came to pay homage to the newly proclaimed Fire-born. From the campaign of purging the Drukhari from Nocturne, the Emperor came to hear of his feats and recognised him as a long lost son and set out to reclaim him. On the day of the great celebration of the victory over the Dark Eldar, a stranger appeared and asked to compete in the games set for the day. Claiming he could best any man in the competitions, which most found humorous, Vulkan accepted the challenge that the winner was to win the eternal loyalty and obedience of the other. Terms agreed, the challenges began over the next eight days, which included many tests of strength and endurance, and these god-like beings competed against each other with superhuman prowess. Most were to be a draw, seemingly no way to split between the two, a final challenge was set. The pair had to forge a weapon in a single nocturne day, and using that weapon, they had to hunt and slay one of the alpha predator salamanders. Whomever brought back the largest specimen would be the victor. Vulkan forged a mighty warhammer, and the stranger a sharp-bladed sword. Vulkan found his beast first, killing it with a mighty blow, striking its head off, as he carried it back to claim victory. A volcano erupted suddenly, nearly thrown from the top. The Primarch managed to grab a hold of the face and held tight in his other hand, he had the tail of his kill. At this point, the stranger came upon the stricken demi-god carrying his kill, which was of a larger size; he instantly cast it down onto the molten flow so he could help the primarch to his feet. Once back with the people, Vulkan went to his knee, claiming that anyone willing to instantly cast aside their sure victory to help his opponent was a worthy leader to follow, and from that point, he took his place at the side of the Emperor. Later, he would be given the Dragon Warriors legion to lead and would rename them the Salamanders in honour of the challenge on Nocturne. It would in time be apparent that Vulkan shared more than his god-like genetics with the Emperor, but he would also share a trait that was unique within the Primarchs which was the trait of being a Perpetual, able to survive any form of damage that would normally kill even a Primarchs genetic regeneration abilities even going so far as to survive a point black orbital blast. 

Rogal Dorn - Primarch of the 7th Legion - Imperial Fists.

Inwit was an icy deathworld with a star that was dying and feeble, tidally locked to this dying star; perpetual darkness shrouded one side, faded sunlight on the other. A planet that hid dangers in the mountains and frozen plains, deadly beasts hunted these areas and influenced the humans that clung to life here. The details of Dorn's early life are largely unknown; all that is known for sure is that Dorn was adopted by the House of Dorn. His adoptive grandfather taught him much of tactics, strategy, and diplomacy. Dorn held the memory of this first teacher in great esteem, even going as far as to sleep with his cloak on his bed every night. Rogal Dorn went on to lead a star-spanning empire from this frozen world, hardened by war and a hard life, until 40 years after his adoptive grandfather died, the Emperor of mankind arrived to claim another lost son. Dorn greeted the Emperor on the bridge of an enormous warship, made in the long-lost time of the Age of Technology called the Phalanx, which would go on to be the Fortress-monastery of the Imperial Fist legion. The largest ship ever to be made by human hands, it is a mighty weapon against the many dangerous enemies mankind must face. Dorn was known to be incredibly loyal to the Emperor from the moment they met and would go on to exemplify the virtues the master of mankind saw as critical for his sons. Rogal Dorn would be known by names such as the Praetorian of Terra and the Unyielding one.   

Roboute Guilliman - Primarch of the 13th legion - Ultramarines.

The story of the rediscovery of Guilliman is one of the most widely known, a stark contrast to some of the other Primarchs. Much of this story has been incorporated into Imperial propaganda throughout the millennia, but certain consistent facts remain unchanged over time. The gestation capsule of Roboute Guilliman landed on the planet of Macragge, part of an interstellar empire that had waned and decayed over the long ages of the Age of Strife, yet still functioned as a society by the end. Even though the warp storms had ravaged the universe, Macragge had managed to keep its empire together with void ships and other craft that kept them in contact with other human-controlled worlds. The Primarch was discovered by some hunters in a forest, and they recognised the capsule as a device of advanced technology. They broke the seal, finding the perfect Primarch inside, surrounded by golden power that radiated from him. The baby was taken to a nobleman named Consul Konor Guilliman, who adopted the young Primarch. Very quickly, the Primarch began to display his unusual traits. By the time he was 10 years old, his tutors couldn't keep up with him on all fronts; he far surpassed them in the subjects of history, philosophy, and science. His natural abilities, gifted by the Emperor, made these factors even more apparent. Guilliman's greatest gift seemed to be found in times of war. As soon as he was of a legal age to conduct war, he was granted command over an army that was sent to pacify the dangerous lands to the north of Macragge. After a campaign in which Roboute had won not just the submission of his foes but had also won their respect, he returned to find that his adoptive father had been killed by his traitorous co-consul. Jealous of Konor's political power and popularity, they were very fearful of the future that they all knew Roboute would bring. The nobility of Macragge, in reality, did not like that Konor had started a program of diluting their power and forcing them to improve the long left to ruin infrastructure of the planet at the nobility's cost. As the victorious Roboute rushed to the rescue of Konor, they saw a drunken mob burning and looting its way around the government district. The consul had been wounded in a failed assassination attempt and had defended the Senate house for three days. With his final breaths, he managed to tell the Primarch who was to blame. After the death of his adoptive father, Roboute was unstoppable in his rage and revenge. By the time he had his revenge, the Emperor of mankind was at the edges of the furthest worlds of Ultramar. He and all who saw what Guilliman had created were impressed by the law and order that had been implemented throughout the empire of Ultramar. Anyone who went on to meet the Primarch commented on his amazing abilities to analyse any given situation, his powers of statecraft, and macro organisation. The potential of what he could achieve was limitless. 

Magnus the Red - Primarch of the 15th legion - Thousand Sons. 

The Primarch that would come to be known as the crimson king was unique among his brothers in the fact that he could remember his creation and origin clearly; he was even able to communicate psychically with the Emperor during his gestation. His formidable psychic talents would only grow from this point until he was truly one of the strongest human psykers that had ever existed. He was able to bond with his father because of these similarities; unfortunately, Magnus did not listen to the Emperor's warnings about these powers and would go on to be damned by them later in life. When the infant Primarchs were scattered by the ruinous powers, Magnus would come to end up on the colony world of Prospero. This planet was the location many human psykers had fled to escape the bigotry and attacks they suffered on other planets. Prospero had been chosen as a refuge because of its location and difficulty in reaching, so they would be safe from all kinds of persecution that followed them wherever they had previously tried to hide. Crashing to the surface like a comet near the largest settlement called Tisca, Magnus became the adopted ward of the leaders of Prospero and quickly began to display warp-based abilities very similar to their own. Within a few years, Magnus began learning every aspect of psychic knowledge he could get access to, and very rapidly he surpassed even the strongest psykers on the planet. The young Primarch began a campaign to eliminate the very dangerous psychic predator, the Psychneuein. These huge insectoid creatures were drawn to weak, unprotected, or injured psykers; they invaded their minds to lay their young, causing a horrific death. Once this threat had been dealt with sufficiently, Magnus was announced as the leader of Prospero, bringing the planet into a period of prosperity and peace. With Magnus having such potent abilities, it was not long unit the Emperor had sent one of his fleets to reclaim one of his lost sons, and Magnus embraced him immediately and joined the great crusade.

  

Sanguinius - Primarch of the 9th legion - Blood Angels.

The pod containing Sanguinius would crash onto the moon of Baal, known as Baal Secundus, forever after named Angels Fall. One of the many wandering tribes found the Primarch. Somehow, during the theft of the pods' ruinous powers, the touch of the warp had altered Sanguinius, and he had grown wings. The tribe named themselves the Folk of Pure Blood and very nearly killed the young child as a mutant; luckily, compassion won, and he was adopted by the tribe. As the Primarch grew to maturity, it was obvious that the young angel was not just angelic in looks but in essence as well. stories of Sanguinius saving members of the Blood from Fire Scorpions are still kept by the Blood Angels. Baal Secundus was an irradiated moon, covered in Sand and full of extremely dangerous beasts. By the time he was a Terran year old, he could walk on the moon without a radiation suit and could deal with any of the dangers that the moon held. The Tribe prospered as Sanguinius grew and began to teach them, helping them to grow wise with his gene-implanted knowledge. A wandering feral tribe of mutants surprised the people of the Blood, and Sanguinius was forced to slay them all by his self, even though they numbered over a hundred strong. This would be the first time he was seen to display true wrath, thanks to Sanguinius' teachings, and help the humans of Baal start to drive back the mutants so that humanity could truly be safe. Shortly after this campaign had concluded, the Emperor c. as me to the moon and, after hearing a rousing speech from Sanguinius, was convinced he had found another of his lost sons. As with some of his brothers, he accepted the Emperor's rule straight away and fell to his knees swearing his eternal loyalty immediately. He would take his place at he helm of his legion and help his father with the sacred duty of bringing all of humanity into the imperium.