View Full Version: Night Lords fleets?

The Great Crusade > Pre-Heresy Background Q&A > Night Lords fleets?


Title: Night Lords fleets?


lord_caldera - October 30, 2009 08:26 PM (GMT)
I was wondering if we have any information on Night Lords expeditionary fleet designation and who commanded them, as well as anything on planets they pacified.

The Red Sorcerer - November 2, 2009 11:51 AM (GMT)
We don't really have any detail on Night Lords crusade fleets unfortunately. Konrad Kurze took the bulk of the Legions fleet with him when he went AWOL, first to destroy Nostromo and then on a wideranging rampage (although the fleet may have split up during this period).

As for planets they pacified, there are a few mentioned. Index Astartes and The Lightning Tower mention the Cherault system (pacified along with the Imperial Fists and the Emperor's Children) and one of the Imperial Armour books mentions the purging of the Shi'Hu'Gal Dominion in cooperation with the titans of the Legio Vulcanum. They took control of the planet Tsagualsa after the Heresy broke out and used it as their base (it was where Kurze was eventually assassinated). And of course the destruction of Nostromo. So far those are the only planets mentioned as far as I can remember.

lord_caldera - November 2, 2009 10:10 PM (GMT)
Thanks a lot; I guess I'll invent some background for my story then since the possibilities are so open. What are the dates for Kurze's receiving his Legion and when he goes AWOL?

Pacific - November 3, 2009 10:17 AM (GMT)
Mate, i would take a look at the IA article in the Night Lords section, it will flesh out all this kind of info for you!

Its a bit vague about when he is discovered, but from this extract you would have to say that its later on in the GC (having reached the edges of the galaxy):

QUOTE

Imperial historians have correlated Night Haunter's rule over Nostramo Quintus and its surrounding cities with the time the Great Crusade reached the fringes of the galaxy where Nostramo orbited its dying sun.


As for going AWOL, how about an exact year? :)

QUOTE

The excerpt is allegedly part of an account by Lord Princeps Ichabod Lethrai of the victory banquet held in honour of the pacification of the Cheraut System in 7232826.M29. It is kept in a solution of oils to prevent its degeneration, and is among the most closely guarded texts within the cloister-archives of the Library Sanctus.
<SNIP>
Night Haunter beats up Mr. Dorn
<SNIP>
When the council of the Primarchs disbanded many hours later, they found Night Haunter missing, his honour guard butchered to a man.....ight Haunter had already mobilised his legion's craft. By the time the Primarchs had enough craft ready for pursuit, Night Haunter had already entered the warp.


The Dark King short story deals with exactly what happened there, its well worth getting hold of if you havent already!

The Red Sorcerer - November 3, 2009 11:22 AM (GMT)
The problem with the date is that it doesn't fit in too well given that:

A. The Heresy broke out early in the 31st Millenium, and the siege of Terra took place, at least according to the old Bill King story, 14 years into the 31st Millenium.

B. The Great Crusade lasted 200 years, and the Index Astartes suggests Night Haunter was found towards the end.

The Cherault date is given in the Official Imperial System (see here) so is in the year 29,826.

So if the date is correct, this means Kurze fought Dorn and went AWOL over 170 years before the Heresy broke out. Given that based on the novels the period between the end of the Great Crusade and the outbreak of the Heresy was measured in years rather than decades, this would place Kurze's dissapearance early in the Great Crusade, which seems highly unlikely - first of all because it seems he was found later in the Great Crusade, and second because this means after 170 years of rampaging around the galaxy indiscriminately slaughtering planetary populations he had still not been declared a traitor, and had only just been summoned to return to Terra and account for his actions (seeing as this occured just before the Heresy broke out).

I reckon that particular date should be treated with a hearty amount of scepticism personally.

lord_caldera - November 4, 2009 03:18 AM (GMT)
D'oh! I didn't even think to check the IA article. Thanks for the info guys. I think I'll tailor the dates to match more with the novels, since all of the timelines I've found say the Luna Wolves were renamed at 125.M30 and Istvaan III was 012.M31, which just doesn't make sense. Would it be ok to suggest that Kurze was found around 965.M30, and his fear tactics becoming widespread in the Night Lords by 970? That would leave about 45 years before the Heresy for them to build up a nice catalogue of atrocities, and perhaps move the date of the confrontation with Dorn to just about the turn of the millenium.

The Red Sorcerer - November 4, 2009 04:40 PM (GMT)
That sounds like as good a guess as any really. Certainly placing the confrontation with Dorn around the turn of the Millenium seems eminently reasonable given all the factors. I would perhaps have Kurze being found rather earlier - although he was (probably) found late, I think most Primarchs (perhaps barring Alpharius) would have had at least 50-60 years leading their Legions before the Heresy broke out. Note that they didn't really start working on their 'nice catalogue of atrocities' until Kurze went AWOL - before that they were known as being harsh, but no more so than, say, the Iron Hands. It was only after the destruction of Nostromo that they started getting really nasty.




Hosted for free by InvisionFree