Index Astartes: Death Guard- The Imperium's Trudging Death
"My sons Horus that despicable traitor to our father the Emperor he who killed so many of your brothers at Isstvan now marches towards Terra and my father. There is nothing that we can do at this point the Warp is against us and Horus outnumbers us decisively so we will strike where they are not, and we will take vengeance. The world of Bodt lies near let us take our revenge against the mad dog that slaughtered us at Isstvan. Angron rampages across the Imperium along with his legion we will take our revenge at Bodt we will break the world and slaughter the Astartes being raised to aid that mad bloody dog." Mortarion launching the Bodt campaign against the World Eaters.
Origins
"YOU DARE CALL YOURSELF MY FATHER! YOU ARE NOHTING BUT A PARASITE MY TRUE FATHER HAS COME AND I WILL OBLITERATE YOU IN HIS NAME! FOR THE EMPEROR! FOR FREEDOM!" Mortarion killing the Xenos that raised him.
"I am Mortarion Lord of the Death Guard and I will purge you and every other worthless parasite from this world." Mortarion to the first warlord he killed.
The world that Mortarion landed on was a deadly world covered in gases while insane Xenos warlords ruled from the poisonous peaks. His pod would be captured by the most powerful of the Xenos warlords who decided to raise him as a weapon and named for that fact Mortarion 'Child of Death'. Mortarion grew quickly as did all of his brothers and his enhanced biology allowed him to live nearly as high as the warlords that ruled the planet. By the time he was fully grown he had already become a greater general then his adoptive father and he was sent off to wage war in the warlord's name.
Mortarion ravaged the enemies of the warlord that raised him leading the warlord's armies into victory after victory, but the seed of hatred was planted at this time. For the warlords that controlled the planet used the corpses of humans as their soldiers against their enemies. While Mortartion's father told him that they were the corpses of the prior inhabitants of the world and completely different to both the warlord and Mortarion. Mortarion knew better then to believe the lies that his father poured into his ears, but he waited for a time that he could secure his freedom and find out the truth for himself. When he saw the chance, he seized with both hands killing all his retainers in a manner similar to that of the other warlords and then fled into the valleys.
When Mortarion arrived in the valleys he found small human communities focused around farming and defending themselves from the raids sent by the warlords to replenish their armies for the war against each other. Mortarion arrived just before a raid and thus was able to throw the raiding forces back alone the community accepted him into their midst. Mortarion was unable to dwell in the clean air that the humans could breathe for long so he built a hut on the lower reaches of mountains where he and humans could breathe. The location of the hut also allowed him to warn the villagers of any raids. As he and the villagers began to throw back the raids sent by the warlords he began to plan the creation a force that could fight against the raids without him. As the raids slowly increased he realized that his thoughts of a militia force were decisively needed by the people of the world. After several weeks of training and engineering he founded the Death Guard a group of trained soldiers equipped with rebreathers and weapons so they could fight and guard against raids. After the creation of the first Death Guard Mortarion went on a trek across the planet visiting every village where he would train and from Death Guard communities. The Death Guard began to guard the lower passes between the mountains that separated the towns allowing the many villages to trade between each other and jointly train their Death Guard. The number of troops that the warlords had access to decreased sharply and they began to collapse with the only one who was able to grow was the warlord that had raised Mortarion and he swiftly managed to conquer the warlords and establish his absolute dominance over the planet. Yet when the last of the warlords was thrown from the peak on which he resided Mortartion's adoptive father launched his last conquest to crush the human settlements on the valleys and Mortarion stood against him.
The war against the Death Guard and Mortarion these days known as the Death War was a brutal slog as every battle was fought to the absolute death no holds were barred and entire towns were razed to the ground. The turning point was when Mortarion encircled and wiped out the majority of the warlord's troops allowing Mortarion to launch a massive counter-attack against the warlord's holdings. Many of the fortresses of the warlords that had fought against the warlord that had raised Mortarion fell during this time until only the fortress of the warlord that conquered the planet was left. Said fortress was at the top of the tallest mountain of the planet and not even Mortarion could breathe at the peak of the mountain. Thus, the Death Guard and Mortarion began to besiege the fortress and attempted to starve out the warlord. Then the Emperor arrived at Barbarus.
Mortarion imprinted swiftly on the Emperor but refused to bow to him and the Imperium immediately and instead requested a trail for him to join the Imperium. If Mortarion killed the last warlord the Emperor would let him be and if not Mortarion would join the Imperium. Mortarion laboured for three months to forge a rebreather that would allow him to breathe at the top of the mountain. When the rebreather was finished he began to climb the mountain and prepared to kill his father and finally free the people of Barbarus from the warlord's tyrannical rule. Mortarion managed to break down the gates and rampaged through the fortress until he reached the base of the tower where the warlord lurked. As he climbed his rebreather slowly began to fail and by the time he reached the top it was only working because of luck and the warlord was able to beat Mortarion easily and he was only saved by the Emperor teleporting him back to the base of the planet. Where he gifted Mortarion a manreaper sharp enough to carve through terminator armour like it was paper and a rebreather able to withstand the Life Eater Virus and Mortarion returned to the fortress with his full wrath where he slaughtered the warlord and threw the warlord's headless corpse from the mountain. When he returned to the Emperor he bent the knee and swore allegiance to the Imperium and the Dusk Raiders became the Death Guard the warriors of Mortarion in the stars.
The Great Crusade
"Drown them in gas." Nathaniel Garro at T'krahn
"I have always hated Xenos and none more than the Eldar so it will be a pleasure to crush their fragile skulls." Mortarion leading the assault on Malan'tai.
During the Great Crusade, the Death Guard focused heavily against Xenos due to Mortartion's loathing against any and all Xenos due to the warlord that raised him. The Death Guard soon became one of the legions most well-known for the slaughter of entire races. Thousands of Imperial propaganda pieces show looming Astartes in billowing clouds of poison gas surrounded by corpses of Eldar or Orks. Their greatest victory against any Xenos was the slaughter of the Craftworld of Malan'tai, their attempted attack on Biel'Tan and the slaughter of the Exodite world of T'krahn. The Death Guard coated the galaxy in Xenos blood during the Great Crusade in the name of the Emperor.
The Craftworld of Malan'tai was a small Craftworld that had been drifting through the galaxy peacefully until they received word from the Exodite world of T'krahn requesting aid. When Malan'tai reached the world, they found the fleets of the Death Guard bombing any and all settlements with gas alongside traditional orbital bombardment. Malan'tai attacked the Death Guard and fell into Mortartion's trap. Mortarion had attacked an Exodite world in the hope of drawing in a Craftworld and he had succeeded when two flotillas jumped into the system and opened fire on Malan'tai they destroyed several key systems allowing the Death Guard to board with ease. The Death Guard led by Mortarion tore their way through the Craftworld the Eldar defenders were disorganized and scared alongside lacking training on how to deal with the specialized chemical weapons that the Death Guard used against Eldar. Mortarion led the assault and his manreaper was designed to hold and release chemical weapons when used allowing him to slaughter the Eldar with ease. By the time that the Death Guard were able to see the Infinity Circuit the Craftworld was had effectively fallen to the Death Guard and the defenders knew it. The last stand of Malan'tai is an Eldar legend as the last survivor fought to the death against the Primarch himself before he fell from a single blow. Just as the last Eldar of Malan'tai fell to Mortarion the Craftworld of Biel'Tan arrived in the system. The Death Guard attempted to launch an attack on the Craftworld, but they were repelled at great loss and they were forced to abandon the system to the Death Guard.
The Horusian Heresy
"Kill the treacherous scum for the True Emperor." Mortarion leading the assault on Bodt
"I will have vengeance for my murdered brothers and cousins. I cannot find Horus so you will have to do." Nathaniel Garro during his hunt of revenge across the Imperium.
During the Heresy, the Death Guard mostly fled from the traitor legions following their slaughter at Isstvan however towards the end of the Heresy while the traitor legions attacked the Imperial Palace the legion reunited and launched an attack on the World Eaters' world of Bodt. At Isstvan the Death Guard had been the last loyalist legion to leave the planet and Mortarion had killed several thousand Ultramarines. Due to the lateness of their evacuation their retreating forces were divided into two fleets under Mortarion and Nathaniel Garro. The two fleets would bounce around the galaxy fighting the traitors wherever they could but manage to reunite at the end of the Heresy when they would launch their attack on Bodt.
The World Eaters had effectively abandoned Bodt, but it still was a vital location to the legion thus the Death Guard decided to unleash their wrath on the planet. The entire Death Guard fleet wiped out the few defences of the planet and the Death Guard stormed the few World Eaters positions across the planet. The few World Eaters on the planet were hacked down by the manreapers and bolters of the Death Guard as the fury and anger that had bubbling up within the legion for years were unleashed in their full force. Every building was destroyed with extreme prejudice everything that they could destroy or damage the Death Guard did. By the time that the Death Guard withdrew from the planet the entire population was dead and all settlements were razed to the ground.
The Scouring
"We are the pillars of the Imperium not its leaders." Mortarion explaining the duties of the Death Guard.
"Isstvan… more of my brothers died there than anywhere else. More than enough to stop us hunting the traitors." Nathaniel Garro to Leman Russ ranting about the weakness of the Death Guard.
During the Scouring the Death Guard did very little as their casualties caught up to them and their fury was no longer able to overwhelm superior enemy numbers. Thus, the Death Guard remained around Terra and Barbarus where Mortarion collapsed into depression which only ended when his father visited him and told him to take up gardening. The Death Guard however did fight several major Xenos threats while the other legions fought the traitors across the stars. The Death Guard accepted their place as one of the main pillars of the Imperium not their leaders as they had been prior to the Heresy.
The Forty-First Millennium
"I am a son of Mortarion, of Barbarus, and I am the Death Lord of the Death Guard Regent of Mortarion. You will bow before me and the Imperium or I will obliterate your culture." Death Lord Mortis talking to the revolting world of Ruthenia.
'WHAT DO YOU LOT WANT FROM ME THIS TIME?" Nathaniel Garro upon awakening M42
The Death Guard are one of the most active legions in the millennium of Darkness but even they cannot hold of the mighty hosts of those who attack the Imperium, yet still they stand against the rising darkness and carve their names into its heart. While the Thirteenth Black Crusade seems to be coming from the Black Legions dominions within the Eye of Terror, The Ultramarines are gathering for a great plague war and the Zaherialn Crusade is gathering in the Kingdom of New Caliban despite this the Death Guard are gathering together preparing to fight for the Imperium, Barbarus, Mortarion, and the Emperor.
Organization
"In the name of the True Emperor and his Imperium I Death Lord Mortis call the Heirs of Mortarion to battle against the rising threat of the Ork threat to the north." Death Lord Mortis calling the successor legions of the Death Guard to put down WAAAAGH Skarcrumpah.
"REAPERS FORWARD! FOR THE EMPEROR AND MORTAION!" The beginning of the final phase of any Death Guard assault.
The Death Guard legion is divided into several the traditional ten companies which are internally divided into three main groups the Sowers, Growers and Reapers. The Sowers command the ranged parts of the legion and is by the far the largest and their bolter fire alongside the blazing artillery that they can call upon to pulverise their enemy in the name of the Emperor. The Growers are the second largest and wield both melee and ranged weapons against their enemies. The Reapers are the smallest of the groups and consist of warriors that use solely melee weapons in battle. As the Death Guard trudge forward through the gases that they open every battle with. The Mark XXIII 'Perseverance' Armour that the Death Guard have adopted sends terror into the hearts of the enemies of the Emperor and the Imperium before they are slain by the wrath of the fourteenth legion.
Primarch
"My brother was a strange man fixated on revenge and his honour it stood him in good stead when the Heresy came. Though there was something that lurked on the edge of his personality Leman was always on edge when he was near, but he has proved his loyalty ten thousand times. The opening line of the Chapter on Mortarion in the Historical work The Primarchs: Heirs of the Emperor by Magnus the Red.
"I have always detested social interaction, but my brothers are different I enjoy spending time with them, and father is just so kind and understanding." The private writings of Mortarion prior to the Horusian Heresy.
The Xenos warlord that raised Mortarion crippled the Primarchs social ability so when the Emperor found him and brought him into the Imperial fold Mortation spent little time with his brothers. The only people that Mortarion spent time with was his sons and his father. The Emperor was one of the few people that Mortarion was able to connect with on a personal level. The Emperor became one of the most important people in Mortartion's life. The two other most important people in Mortartion's life were his brother Horus and his future successor Nathaniel Garro. The importance of Horus to Mortarion made the betrayal of the Heresy is one of the reasons that the Death Guard hunt down traitors of the Emperor with extreme prejudice. However, no discussion of Mortarion is complete without mentioning his gardening. Towards the end of the Scouring Mortarion was spending less time with his sons and fighting against enemies of the Imperium instead he just stayed in his quarters brooding. Then the Emperor came to Barbarus for the last time. During the last time that Magnus the Red sat upon the Golden Throne and the Emperor was able to go free throughout the galaxy and then he came to Barbarus. There he managed to enter Mortartion's quarters none know what they spoke of but when the Emperor returned to Terra Mortarion began to garden and so did many of his sons and to this day every Death Guard is assigned a gardening plot and their military stagey is focused around the three roles of an gardener.
Homeworld
"Lovely day today is it not humans can actually breathe past the lower passes." Nathaniel Garro on as stated a nice day on Barbarus M32
"People say Fenris is deadly you can't even breathe here." Bjorn the Fell-Handed ranting about Barbarus.
The world of Barbarus was covered by clouds of thick poisonous gas that mean any non-augmented humans could travel beyond a few hundred meters above sea level before they were killed by the gas clouds. The upper cliffs of the mountains that cover the planet are covered in the gardens of the Death Guard for every Astartes is assigned a plot of land to grow crops, herbs and flowers following the last order of their Primarch. The Fortress-Monastery of Science's Talon sits on the top of the mountain once used by the warlord that had captured Mortarion. The northern cliff has been polished to a sheer face carved with the name with the name of every Astartes that has the bore of the Gene-Seed of Mortarion from both the Death Guard and their many successor legions. The people of the world live in harsh conditions as the Death Guard desire strong hardy warriors for their recruits.
Gene-Seed
"Right so their skin is really pale, and they are able to deal with chemical weapons well. Could be worse I suppose?" Azheck Ahriman on the Death Guard Gene-seed
"I am a son of Mortarion was that gas supposed to hurt me?" Unknown Death Guard at the battle of Talon's Reach
The Gene-Seed of the Death Guard has a low level of mutation with the sons of Mortarion holding a strong resilience to chemical weapons. The members of the fourteenth legion all have pale skin and brooding eyes but beyond those two flaws the Death Guard Gene-Seed is pure, and they have spawned several large successor legions. The five legions that make up the Heirs of Mortation are the Scythes of the Emperor, Angels of Death, Knights of Barbarus, Guardians of Man, and Guards of Life. When the Death Lord of Barbarus calls the Heirs of Mortarion together their war cries of For Mortarion and the Emperor drown out the roars of the enemy weapons in their fury.