Zetum - Part Deux

Hello again, and how're you? Good? Good. I am tired, but that's irrelevant. Shall we? Great.

So, picking up from last week, we were discussing my Alpha Legionnaire's personality... or lack thereof. Well, now that we have a history, we can start to figure out what he is really like, can't we? Well, I hope s anyway.

So, right - quick recap; for my benefit mostly. Recruited just before Istvaan, deployed before the Siege of Terra, joined Epsilus following Eskrador, and has served under him since.

So... what's he like then?

Stoic, I imagine is a word frequently used to describe him. In fluff, he's often accused of being boring - although, this does come from a Slaaneshi Night Lord - and he certainly places completing the mission before any other concerns... Not exactly 'Chaotic' then, I'll admit, but I'd always thought of my army as Traitor Legions rather than Chaos Marines.

No, I think that he's goal-orientated not because he's dull, but because he hasn't lost sight of the point of the Long War. At the onset, the Legions turned on the Emperor for their own reasons, but it was ultimately because they felt him unworthy of his throne. They did not want to tear down the Imperium, merely change the leadership. And I feel that Zetum has remembered this where others have been distracted with petty revenge.

... and as a side note, I am not even touching the Cabal. I'm gonna make the assumption that Zetum was not trusted with that knowledge, and whether Alpharius-Omegon truly turned or not is ultimately academic.

So, right, Zetum - he's world weary. He's fought the people he once served for tens of thousands of years, even if for him it's only been a few centuries.
Few Centuries. 40k fluff does weird things to you, huh?
Anyways, getting back, personal motivations - beyond dethroning the Emperor. Why does he follow Epsilus, given that he's more interested in killing daemons than making a throne-shaped hole in the Imperial Palace? I think, ultimately, it's a combination of things. He likely fought alongside Epsilus for decades before he started his vendetta, so a lot of it might just be shared respect. Then, of course because he is comfortable in his role - third in command, with very few responsibilities - whilst he might have to start from scratch if he were to move. And, of course, I think the biggest thing is that, as a whole, the Legion is not a cohesive whole anymore. It can be, sure, but only briefly. At the moment, various warlords are busy running about pursuing their own vendettas (usually against Ultramarines), or trying to carve out an empire for themselves - or, worst, pledging themselves to the dark gods.
And, so, if his choice is someone who is mostly doing his job - barring the occasional unnecessary diversion - or an unknown element, Zetum has much to lose and very little to gain.

... actually, all of this reminds me. I never have actually said how Zetum feels about the gods... Which is probably a mistake. I didn't imagine for a second that he agreed with Epsilus, but still... lets have a think.
Well, I honestly reckon that it's something along the lines of the standard Iron/Night/Alpha approach. They're there. They're powerful. If you ask for help, you might get some, or you might get spawn'd. Either way you lose your soul. Best to keep 'em happy but avoid their attention.
So, pretty ambivalent then? Sure. I reckon that he might offer lip service to Tzeentch, but at the end of the day he'd prefer that the gods leave him to sort stuff for himself.

... Is this enough then? I think so... I mean, I have no interest in defining everything about Zetum - if for no other reason than it'd just turn into a long list of bullet-points. Plus, the thing about 40k is that it's so intriguing because there're so many mysteries. And whenever they answer one of them, the magic fades just a little... So, I think I will leave it here. Cos I have enough to go on now, but not so much that I can't add stuff in later.
And I reckon that's just about the right amount. Though, I do love improv...

Anyway - thanks again for reading. I hope you've enjoyed yourselves.

Volodanti out.

Oops

So... bit embarrassing... I don't actually have anything much to write about again... yes, I know I promised to have something special for y'all, but... it's been a super-busy week. I did an eight-day stint at work, and spent all my free time making a website for my friend's theatre company, so I've not really had the time to paint... and, in case you're curious, I'm spending today and tomorrow in Hull visiting a friend... I mean, technically I could film a game of M:TG and quickly post it this evening, but, I fear it'd be a poor video without audio, and a poor game with, since my main strategy is to tell bad jokes until my opponents make mistakes...

... I do have several projects going, as ever, but none of them are quite worth bragging about. three settings; one basically abandoned, one hardly past the map-drawing section, and the last still in arguments with my conspirators... Bronze Age Clockpunk seems playable to you, doesn't it? C'mon, you can be honest with me.

... Well, I liked it...

But, yes... unfortunately I don't have all that much to discuss... So, I suppose I could do something a bit different.

I'll make up a personality for an old character.

Now, this sounds weird, I know... so let me give you some backstory.

Back in 2011 I, like many of you, bought Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine... and I freaking loved that game. Still do. I'd play it regularly if I had room to plug my PS3 in. And, as many of you may remember, a lot of the fun in multiplayer was the customise-able armour... which, yes, I realise every game in the past half-decade or more has done... but no real 40k fan cares. This, this is what we'd all been waiting for. A chance to play as your homebrew chapter first person - and even in a personalised suit! It was perfect... Well, mostly - bionic arm was super ugly.

but, back to the point, my friend - The Unjust - named his main avatar, a Night Lord he took to calling Vaako, and after that he started coming up with a backstory for him; once a White Scar, turned during the Siege of Terra, later forced to paint his hands crimson for a crime against his company, avoids bikes for fear of falling to Slaanesh... actually a very interesting character...

... and I had Zetum. Who you may remember hearing about every now and then... but the difference is that I never exactly characterised him. He was in stories, sure... but he was always kinda a stoic. And whilst it was nice as a foil to Vaako's excesses, I never really was happy with him. I've just always put off doing anything about it, because he was a bit character... but now I've been writing about him more and more, so... perhaps I should finally take the time. And since I'm on this train for another hour, I suppose I will.

So, Zetum... to start, I suppose that I should have a history for him... I'd always seen him as fighting in the Heresy, but never in the Great Crusade. So, let's assume that he was recruited in the waning years of the Crusade, after the Emperor retired to Terra, but his first deployment was after the Drop Site Massacre.
So, there we have a man loyal to his legion, and the Primarch he may once have fought alongside, but never to the Imperium proper. Likely he'd have been raised to tails of the disrespect from peers, and his first interaction with another legion would be on the far side of the battlefield. So, we're starting to get a better sense for him.
Now, next, how did he end up with Epsilus? The easy answer would be that he served alongside or under him during the heresy - I have made reference to Epsilus being a sergeant at the time... but I think that a bit easy. No, I think it more likely that Zetum was in a different company - if such a thing existed - and instead met him after the Battle of Terra. Perhaps, in fact, they met following Alpharius' "death". No, I like that - in the rapid reorganization, he found himself in Epsilus' unit, and returned to home base - wherever that was - content with his placement. And then, however long after when Epsilus divorced himself from the Legion proper, he felt invested enough that he followed his commander into "exile".

... actually, I think that I'll leave it here. Partially cos I reckon this'd work better in two parts, but mostly cos I'm running out of rail.

Once again, thank you for joining me this week, and I really do hope you've enjoyed it.

Volodanti out.

Lightning Bolt... That cost me 25 cents.

So, just a quick one today... Cos I am shattered, and haven't done much. I got in a few games of magic, made a new silly-deck (which works surprisingly well) and traded for the parts to make a black-white warrior deck.

Yeah, I'm just a year and a half behind the curve now. Go me.

But, the main thing I've realised is that, my friends, I have been living a lie. You see, all this time, I have fought hard for the power of blue - calm, reactive, and so powerful when used correctly. But, I have moved past that falsehood, found my true calling, and realised the truth:

Dash is straight broken.

No, seriously - I was 4 games in with a mono-red deck before my opponent managed a to even touch my life total. And that is honestly not okay.

Bet yes, I have moved over to mono-red. And, to be honest... I'm really enjoying it. Don't get me wrong, a blue deck is still fun, in that I get to really annoy my friends, and there's nothing quite like unleashing a 12/10 green creature... but, at the end of the day, why do that when you can just set them on fire?

As has been said many a time; some men just want to watch the world burn. And I am some men.

No, but, seriously, I am really starting to get into M:TG, and I am gonna do my best to convince others to join up. You should too - you don't need that pesky money anyway, do you?

Thought not.

Anyway, sadly that is about it - I'm still sorting out my life at the moment, and working overtime to cover holidays. But, I'm on holiday next week, so I ought to have a chance to finish off a model I've been working on for a while now. I rather hope you like it - I certainly like what I have so far.

Anyway, have a great week, and thanks again for reading.

Volodanti out.

Real Talk...

... with real Andrew. Not Volodanti today, just Andrew.

... have I told you my name before? Two years of weekly posts, and I've never said my name. That's kinda embarrassing.

Anyway, today isn't about tabletop, or rpgs, or video games, or fluff, or settings, or anything like that. Today, it's a serious, and kinda depressing post. So, if you're not interested, you're welcome to skip over this week.

You see, there's a reason I went on hiatus last week. And I think it's the reason my posts have been so short recently. You see... two weeks ago, my girlfriend told me that it wasn't working. And last Thursday, she said it was over... And I should have seen it coming - we've been drifting apart for months... but it sucks. And it's left me moping around the house, sleeping in, and unable to focus on anything for more than an hour.

I'm okay, just... disappointed. Because I thought we could fight for it, and... Well, she didn't think it was worth it.

I won't get into the how's and why's, but suffice to say it's not really left me in the mood to paint, or plan or game.

... but I'm going to. Because, well... I could mope from now til Christmas, and it wouldn't make one iota of difference. That chapter of my life is over. And I need to move on.

So, next week, expect a proper post, with the normal host.

But for anyone who has stuck around to here... thank you. I do appreciate it.

--Andrew.