HISTORY OF THE OBSCURUS SYSTEM
The Obscurus penal colony is a free-range prison across a dry, scrub-covered wasteland dotted with the ruins of ancient battles and infested by feral orks. Only thin grasses, thorny brush, and a particularly sour-tasting cacti grow under the hot and dusty sun.
The world was once invaded at the same time by both the Ork forces of Warboss Manstompa Megakilla and the Chaos forces of the Sorcerer Anupharis the Cruel. Its deliverance came at the hands of the Blood Ravens whose forces defeated both Manstompa and Anupharis; though Obscurus was left heavily ravaged at the battle's end. Once the ruined habs and battlefields had been picked clean by the chapter, all the planet was good for was scrap salvage and disposing of undesireable bodies.
Thus, for the past several hundred years it has been relegated to a dumping ground for undesirables from across the sector; those unfortunate souls whose offenses against the nobility or Administratum had made them problematic to execute outright, or just were in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up as a scapegoat for the various problems afflicting an empire spanning a million worlds. Many of the denizens are generational dregs, still serving multiple life sentences issued to ancestors they never met. For these poor souls, the annual roundup of the Imperial Tithe offers a hope of freedom or redemption; Serve the Imperium with your life, and the sins of your fathers will be absolved.
COMMAND STRUCTURE OF THE OBSCURUS 23rd ROUGH RIDER REGIMENT
Most who join the tithe end up rather surprised, when after they are packed like ration-sleeves into the holds of the awaiting lifters and ushered off the dreary world, they are not given the freedom or honor they are anticipating. The lie is revealed; they are dead men, the canary in the coal mine. Their missions are often suicidal, probing enemy defenses with paltry numbers so that Command may count the number of pulse monitors flatlining. On the ship they are stripped of everything except their boots and their hats, whipped and beaten and starved, and only once they finally clamped into the vicegrip of an explosive collar are they allowed to receive their orders and gear.
Colonel Augustine Jones, or "Warden" Jones as he prefers to be called, is a callous tyrant even by the rather heartless metrics of the Adeptus Munitorum. The elegantly mustached commander is a heartless taskmaster, who personally attends the incorporation of every soldier under his command just so they can put a face to the orders he'll hand down. He's spearheaded the founding of no less than four penal legions in his lifetime, and by this point it's become routine for him to gather his forces and literally run them into the ground to achieve maximum results in record time. Under his command there is no rest for the wicked; you hold your guts in and get to the target, or heads start rolling.
TRAINING AND REGIMENTAL DOCTRINES
Very little training is provided to the dregs pulled from Obscurus that was not already beaten into them by their lives under the dismal sky. Knowing how to ride, navigate, spot threats and shoot them is second nature; the hard part for the soldiers is learning to keep their mouth shut, not talk back, and follow orders. To which, Warden Jones simply opted to outfit the entire regiment with explosive collars with remote triggers and a generous vox range. When the Hanged Men hear that little voice in their ear, they can either leave their mark on the battlefield or they will end up a mere stain on the saddle of the next rider.
Often, riders will have to first break in their steed. The Hanged Men are usually paired up with steeds deemed unfit or untrained, picked up from the leavings of other regiments in the field... or even issued without one, having to train one up from the local fauna of whatever battlefield they find themselves posted to. Those who do so quickly are given a scant bit of downtime before being shipped out to the frontlines as scouts and skirmishers; those who tarry or fail, rarely get a second chance.
CHARACTER HISTORIES (optional)
Roll 1d5...
- Snitch: Halve penalty to interactions with authority figures.
- Scoundrel: Gain the Street Fighting talent.
- Thief: Gain the Commerce and Sleight of Hand skills.
- Unclean: Start with a common-craftsmanship Bionic, OR a Cranial Armor implant.
- Sins of the Father: Upgrade the quality of one weapon, armor, or piece of wargear by one degree.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:37, Thu 15 Dec 2022.
