Jiun Xiao and the Scourge

By author SIngemeister

The Seventeenth Primarch: Jiun Xiao

Name:
Jiun Xiao. Known as the Scourge of the Heavens, the Sword of the Stars, Chondyu Chondyari, Karapeitha of the Karakarsh, the Demon Queen, Empress of the Seventy-Nine Hells, the Harpy of the West, the Wolf of the North, the Dragon of the South, the Falcon of the East, the Dread Beyond the Horizon, Crowfeeder, Bullslayer, Serpent-Spear, Eagle Rider, or Houndsinger.

Appearance:
Jiun Xiao is a lean and muscular woman, slightly taller than most of her sisters. Her facial features are sharp and angular, giving her a certain harsh and fearsome beauty. A single long scar, a remnant of Xiuttilangi tradition, runs the length of her right cheek and jaw line. Her hair is long, slick and black, and she has almond-shaped eyes the colour of steppe grass.
Her left arm has been haphazardly replaced from the elbow down with an improvised prosthetic cannibalised from an archaeotech device that makes for a crude yet highly effective combat weapon, especially when wielding her Relic Sword, Shard of the Blood Moon. Her mastercrafted Power Armour bears the colours of her Legion, but is ostentatious to the point of being gaudy. Its most notable feature is the Helm of the Demon Empress, a specially crafted helmet that bears the image of a screaming daemonic face, bearing two powerful vox emitters that can stun and disorientate the enemy. Off the battlefield, she usually wears fine riding leathers.

Talents and Personality:
Jiun Xiao is a woman of many talents. She is one of the best mechanics of her siblings, to the point where most of her chosen vehicles are practically unrecognisable. She is a keen general, capable of incredible feats of battlefield co-ordination. Strangely, she is also a highly skilled organiser and logistician, with a noted ability for a hands-off style of management that works most effectively on tributaries and client states.

Possessed of an easy charm and a quick wit, as well as a light-hearted disregard for ceremony and protocol, Jiun Xiao meets all and sundry with a disarmingly casual familiarity. Whilst this side of her remains genuine for those she likes and respects, she quickly grows contemptuous, dismissive, and cruel of those whom she thinks poorly of. At heart, she is a deeply cynical and callous woman, with little time for high-minded ideals. She thinks poorly of the Imperial Truth, and indeed the whole mission of the Great Crusade, seeing the Emperor as just another warlord who happens to have better weapons. She is not possessed of any especial superstitions, but is happy to use them to further her own goals. More so than any of her Legion, she is a collector of fine artefacts and trophies as plunder, loot or tribute—often wearing captured crowns and coronets on a chain around her neck. Ultimately, her only goal is the accumulation of more wealth, power, trophies, and influence. In battle, she rides a heavily modified jetbike with an underslung lascannon called Sunstrike, or the equally-heavily modified motorbike Hell's Thunder.

Homeworld:
Xiuttilang, a continental world that was once a paradisiacal trading centre and residential planet, before falling apart and being overrun by exotic imported wildlife and plants as new, barbarous societies arose. Though now nominally united in the name of Jiun Xiao, conflicts between the various marauding tribes and the settled tributary nations flare up regularly—serving to create more recruits for the Legion. Most of the pre-Age of Strife ruins have been renovated for Imperial use, and the orbiting starshipyards and space stations have been recovered to become the main naval base for the Scourge. The orbiting fortress-monastery, the space station Kardja, rests above the planet. Xiuttilang has numerous cashes of archaeotech. However, most of them are so old as to be little better, if at all, than current Imperial technology.

Psychic potential:
Jiun Xiao shows no psychic abilities.

Background:
"I am the Scourge of the Heavens. If you had not committed great sins, they would not have unleashed me upon you. And yet, here I stand."
—Jiun Xiao, before the Destruction of the Kulathid Empire.

"You would send me to hell? But how? For hell's halls are empty now, and all the devils follow in my wake!"
—Jiun Xiao, reply to the Merchant Kings of Saiwef Gholk.

"Behold, for I bring you advancement, I bring you technology beyond your wildest dreams! Observe carefully, whilst you yet have eyes to see."
—Jiun Xiao, to the scholars of the Tower of Ash-Crystal.

"I have fought ten-thousand battles, and now only see death. It closes even now, a black shroud upon your shoulders."
—Jiun Xiao, to Pelekh Shoregan, Champion of the Seven Cities.

Xiuttilang. Once a prosperous trade hub, a jewel of a planet, where men and xenos alike dwelled in harmony, content to interact and engage in commerce with one another. Vast spaceports dotted the planet, and space stations ringed it like stars. Hundreds of ships visited it every day, and a thousand languages and dialects where heard on its clean and prosperous streets. In particular, it became known as a refuge for all sorts of collectors, with many showrooms and vaults filled with utterly ancient technologies dotting the world.

When the Golden Age of Technology collapsed into the Age of Strife, Xiuttilang fell with it. Dependent on food imports and with little-to-no agricultural infrastructure itself, food riots became commonplace, followed by revolutions against the merchant princes who clung to power, and in turn by famine that rent the world asunder. As people starved in the streets, unable to care for the technology around them, it began to erode and collapse, succumbing to wear and disuse. Plague followed as the medical industry fell apart for lack of staff and equipment. Exotic lifeforms kept as pets, in zoos, or as items for trade spread across the face of the planet as society fell and nature, once so carefully kept in check, reclaimed abandoned cities and buildings.

Within two-hundred years, society on Xiuttilang had collapsed. Man and alien alike degenerated to hunter-gatherer tribes, with scattered villages of agriculturalists and pastoralists dotting the world. Over time, the arts of agriculture spread across the world, hastened by rediscovered technical manuals and what little functioning machinery remained. Xiuttilang began to recover, all but ignorant of its own, poorly-remembered past. The Fall had been blamed on many things, from gods to aliens to man to hubris, assigned a religious significance as the Scourge of Heaven. Pre-Fall artefacts were of considerable value, with entire cities being traded for a single tractor, and a handful of lasguns.

Cities began to rise across the face of the planet, and soon empires followed them. The nomadic hunter-gatherers and pastoralists took their craft and their charges into the more desolate regions of the planet, forced back by the endless spread and more organised armies of the farmers and the city dwellers. Some took to raiding, leading daring bands of mounted warriors to sack and pillage their hated foe.

The Karataconii were an especially fearsome conglomeration of warrior tribes, human and alien alike, led by a mighty king and queen, Kroshichutis and Savmadyes. Renowned for their brutality in battle as well as for their undying love for each other, the pair had grown increasingly bold in their raids and targets. Now they laid their forces, fearsome cavalry all, against the powerful Kingdom of Emhis. They started small, leading numerous sackings and pillages against outlying towns and outposts, but were now faced with the prospect of an Emhisian army, backed by other tribes and nations who the Karataconii had enmity with.

As they prepared their battle plans, they were interrupted by a screaming in the sky. As they rushed from their hide tent, the raider-royals saw a comet pass overhead, blinding as the sun, and crash into the heart of the Emhisian army.

Knowing celestial providence when they saw it, they mounted and drove their horde into the heart of the reeling Emhisian host, who scattered and broke to be hunted down by the Karataconii. Those few who remained swore fealty to the monarchs, either as riders if they were worthy, or slaves if they were not.

Thanking the skies and the heavens for the destruction of the enemy, Kroshichutis and Savmadyes approached the crashed craft as their warriors looted and scavenged around them. They opened it to find a baby girl, giggling, it seemed, at the circumstances around here. Lacking children of their own, the king and queen took the child with them and named her Jiun Xiao—the Scourge of the Heavens.

Jiun Xiao grew quick and strong, soon towering over even her father, unable to ride all but the strongest and mightiest of mounts. Under the keen and loving tutelage of her mother and father and the Shamans of the Four Directions, she learned and mastered the many arts required of a barbarian princess, as did her later brother Tomosaulis, and her two sisters Zhujucheng and Toksarga. Despite Jiun Xiao's obvious superiority, the family was close, loving, and highly supportive, a fact that made them all the more fearsome as they campaigned. The parents had been ferocious enough, and the three youngest children were no shadows of their mother and father, but none could stand before the hurricane that was Jiun Xiao. Her mastery of weapons and tactics was unparalleled, and all fell before the Demon Princess. Many resorted to simply bribing her to go away, and she shortly formalised the process of making tribute to her, occasionally even encouraging conflict between nations and hiring her warriors out as mercenaries. Indeed, in time she and her warriors strayed far from the centre of Karatoconii power to gain glory and plunder. This would prove disastrous.

Back closer to the homelands of the Karatoconii, a coalition was forming against the growing power of the tribes. Led by the sluggish yet mighty Kulathid Empire, financed by the hand-wringing Merchant Kings of Saiwef Gholk, and provide bizarre pre-Fall technologies from the Scholars of the Ash-Crystal Tower, this coalition lured the ageing raider-monarchs into a trap with the aid of several hunter-gatherer tribes. Attacking from ambush, with the aid of several high-tech devices, they devastated the Karatoconii forces. Savmadyes and Kroshichutis fought like demons, but were eventually overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the enemy. They were paraded through the streets of Halmongar, capital of the Kulathid Empire, before being publicly executed.

Coalition forces then plunged deep into the heartlands of the tribal conglomeration, liberating client states and scattering the tribes. The twins Tomosaulis and Toksarga led ferocious counterattacks against the invaders, but much of their strength had been lost with their mother and father. Zhujucheng rode like the wind to find her sister, knowing that the Demon Princess was the best hope of survival the Karatoconii had.

Yet the Crowfeeder, as she had become known to the nations amongst whom she plied her bloody trade, faced difficulties of her own. With the news of her parents' death passing through the cities like wildfire, they turned upon her. With only six-hundred riders at her side, she faced thousands of soldiers.

Without knowing the reason for the treachery, Jiun Xiao relished the conflict. Never before had her tactical and strategic skill been so challenged, each new battle providing new opportunities to innovate and improvise. With half-a-thousand soldiers she routed armies ten times that with minimal casualties again and again, breaking even the most fearsome foes with pinpoint lance charges and arrow volleys. She laughed amidst the carnage, for she was truly in her element. Uncounted scores died at her blade and bow. No foe could stand against her.

Her joy died when Zhujucheng found her. She wept for a day at the loss of her mother and father, and the strength they had built, before her sorrow turned to fury. With her sister at her side, she ceased her aimless slaughter and rode with all haste to the endless grasslands of the Karataconii heart-home. More armies marched against her, to prevent the Demon Queen, as she was now known, returning to her place of power. Much of her strength was spent even as she won battle after battle against those who stood in her way, so that when she finally returned to the ruined remnants of her home, to find the trophy rooms emptied, the long halls burned, and her twin siblings disappeared.

She and her sister wandered for a while amongst the dead, before Jiun Xiao swore a terrible oath of vengeance against the coalition who had broken the tribes of the Karataconii, that she would not rest until they had suffered and died in their thousands. The men who cowered behind their walls had called them devils once, she said, but they knew nothing of devils. Jiun Xiao swore by the Four Directions that they would learn at her bow and blade.

Jiun Xiao sent her sister to find and rally the scattered remnants of the tribal armies, while she herself ventured beyond the horizons to the north and the west to unite the vicious and barbarous tribes of the tundra and the savannahs. As she rode amongst them, slaying their leaders and claiming dominance over their warriors, she searched for ancient caches of technology scattered across the wastes. Long held taboo by the superstitious tribespeople, she raided these mechanical tombs for their secrets, breaking all sorts of twisted mechanical guardians as she went.

It was here she found another talent: tinkering. Fixing and refurbishing the ancient weapons and machinery came as naturally to her as riding and slaughter, and soon her burgeoning army had a schizophrenic array of weapons, armour, and even vehicles to their name. Jiun Xiao gathered to her side the shamans, witches, psykers, and warlocks of the scattered tribes as well, knowing their power would serve her well in the war to come.

In the decade and a half after they had slain the bandit king and queen, the Kulathid Empire had taken many of the states so damaged by the Karataconii as protectorates and client states, and were very secure in their strength. In their complacency, they believed the Demon Queen was dead or broken, not listening to the rumours that filtered down from the steppes.

Thus was Emperor Yerract Kulathid rudely awakened to the news that the hunter-gatherer tribes who had set the ambush and had acted as his eyes in the wild lands had been slaughtered to a man, and their dismembered bodies discovered at a burned and ransacked border fort of one of the client kingdoms. Worst still, they had arrowheads typical of the Karataconii.

Some amongst the Empire swore that it was just the work of imitators or renegades trying to use the memory of the Demon Princess for their own ends, but more and more did people believe that the whisperings of the Dread Beyond the Horizon were more real than they had ever feared.

In two weeks, their worst nightmares were brought to a horrifying reality when Jiun Xiao arrived at the Capitol. Dragging a long chain, covered with the nailed heads of the guard captains of the outposts, the Demon Queen demanded that the emperor come to speak to her.

Yerract had taken his Palanquin along the great walls of his city to see this barbarian queen. He had had half a mind to dismiss her outright, but one of his advisors had tempered him. At the very least, he could humour this savage—who knows what might happen if this capricious and violent woman was spurned outright.

As he peered over the parapet, he was struck by her appearance. He felt foolish for dismissing the tales of her height and strength as exaggeration—even from here he could see that she must have been at least thirteen foot tall, and the mighty beast she rode made her yet more intimidating. Her arms and stomach were bare, uncovered by the light furs she wore, showing corded muscular arms and abdominals that could have been carved from granite. She was beautiful in a fashion as harsh and frightful as the hurricane, hair black as obsidian over sharp features, and her eyes, oh, her eyes. Brown-green like the grass of the endless steppe, but piercing as any arrow, eyes that looked at you as if you were an insect, looked right through you to your very core and soul—

The Emperor flinched away from trying to meet her eyes, raising his head to the heavens.

"You requested an audience, chieftainess of the Karataconii, and I have deigned to grant you it. What request do you beg of the Bull Throne?"

Jiun Xiao threw her head back and laughed, a high and cruel cackle.

"Beg? I beg nothing of you, Yerract! Instead, I offer peace. You will have peace with the Karakarsh—my new and greater tribe—in exchange for a small tithe."

This time, Yerract did not bother to lower himself to the level of the savage, instead gesturing for his imperial herald to speak for him.

"His Imperial Majesty inquires as to what, exactly, this small tithe would entail."

Rather too magnanimous for his tastes, Yerract thought. Besides him, one of the nobles cracked a joke about farming equipment, and another replied that they would sooner need soap, instead. A ripple of laughter ran along the wall.

Jiun Xiao spoke undaunted.

"My requests are simple. Firstly, I seek return of my brother and sister from your custody, and of the skulls of my parents so that we may bury them in the old way."

Yerract could feel her grinning without even seeing it.

"Secondly, the matter of recompense. I demand all that which was taken from us those fifteen years ago. I demand a tithe of one half of your treasury, and two-thirds of your grain. We must, of course, rebuild, and you will pay for that."

Yerract's lip twitched into a snarl involuntarily. How dare this witch make such outrageous demands of him, the man who had destroyed her empire and slain her parents. He kept his head high, but his blood ran hot.

"Thirdly, there is the matter of replacing those who died in your war against us. For this, we shall require you to deliver unto us your children, all of those in your empire who have not seen their fifth year, boy and girl."

She paused, briefly.

"I believe you yourself have a three-year-old son, emperor. Do not worry, I shall raise him as a warrior true—a far better fate than he would have under your pathetic tutelage."

Before his advisors could stop him, Yerract lunged for the parapet, roaring at her.

"You dare! You dare come before me, and make such mockery! Remember, girl, I slew your parents and captured your siblings, and broke your petty tribesmen! You shall have nothing from my empire but steel and blood and death! Who are you to speak to me so, to try to judge me!"

Jiun Xiao grinned like a wolf.

"I am the Scourge of the Heavens. If you had not committed great sins, they would not have unleashed me upon you. And yet, here I stand."

She reached behind herself and detached the heavy chain behind her. With one hand, she gave it a testing whirl, then flung it towards the top of the wall. There was a crunch and a scream as it pulped the head of one of the nobles who had mocked her, and dragged the other to his death.

"There, emperor! Iron, blood, and death, just as you said. I keep my promises too, and I swear now to burn this empire to ash. And you, Yerract Kulathid, you shall be last to die, as I drag you behind me through the ruins of your empire."

The Demon Queen turned her steed, and rode away. Archers fired after her, the guard was mobilised, but she was already too far away.

Try as he might, Yerract could not shake the image of his palace burning from his mind.

"Mobilise our armies," he muttered. "Call our allies. War comes."

Jiun Xiao had expected Yerract's response, and had her forces mobilised and ready. Each border fort had been isolated and exterminated, and her outriders had been busy stopping news from spreading. Plans for the invasion had already been made, with her forces spread all along the outskirts of the Kulathid Empire and its tributaries, and hand-picked leaders at the head of every warband.

Once she reunited with her forces, she gave the invasion order. Within three days of her confrontation at the capital, the Karakarsh went to war. Outrider forces ran ahead to scout and skirmish, identifying and destroying reinforcements behind enemy lines. Raiders and marauders burned villages to the ground, slaughtering the people and carrying off their goods and crops. Revitalised cargo vehicles and powerful beasts of burden dragged mobile artillery both advanced and archaic, unleashing rockets, energy blasts and ballista bolts upon the hapless foe. Armoured Kataphraktar on a menagerie of ferocious steeds tore apart enemy lines, whilst mounted archers blocked out the sun with their arrows. The heavy thrum of motorbike engines filled the air as they carried heavy weapons into battle. At the head of it all was Jiun Xiao and her Karagarde, the most elite warriors of her campaigns far from home. As it had always been, she was utterly unstoppable.

Armies fell before they were even ready to fight, caught unawares by the speed and ferocity of the horde. Cities were overwhelmed by waves of refugees fleeing the advance of the riders who ran amok amongst unprotected villages. Starvation broke out as crops were burned and livestock were slaughtered or carried off. Often, the Karakarsh would hurl the diseased and rotting carcasses of man, alien, and animal alike into the cities, causing outbreaks of plague to run rampant.

Every city that fell, be it to artillery, disease, or hunger was slaughtered and put to the torch. Only young children were spared, to be inducted as new riders of the horde.

Jiun Xiao purposefully plotted her war plans to leave the Capitol of the Kulathid Empire until last. Her warriors would ride within sight of it, occasionally enough to let loose an arrow or a rocket barrage at the city, but they only came to besiege the city after the rest of the Empire had fallen. The horde channeled refugees towards the city even as they excised military reinforcements with pinpoint precision. Soon, the city was full to bursting, running low on food, and disease and vermin ran rampant.

In an attempt to force a ceasefire, Emperor Yerract—though he could hardly be called an emperor anymore—brought the twins, chained and shackled, to the top of the city walls, threatening to execute them if a ceasefire was not reached.

Jiun Xiao unveiled a weapon she had kept hidden for this moment—a surviving, refurbished jetbike. With two quick shots from her mighty compound bow, she slew the guards holding her siblings, pulled the vehicle from under the false battering ram that had hidden it, and took the skies.

With her best archers and witches providing covering fire and using her own bow to pick off any who dared close on her siblings, she swept down to Tomosaulis and Toksarga, and carried them away with her, under a withering hail of fire as the defenders recovered from their shock.

The reunion of the siblings was a joyful one, even considering the circumstances. Jiun Xiao embraced her sisters and brother, crying in happiness, taking care not to smother the twins who had been weakened and withered by their imprisonment. Zhujucheng took Toksarga and Tomosaulis to the tents of the healers, whilst Jiun Xiao changed mounts and ordered the final assault on the city.

Half of her horde was besieging the Capitol, with the rest engaged in suppressing what few remnants of resistance remained, or harassing and dissecting enemy forces attempting to relieve the Kulathids—though by this point, the Coalition had mostly given up trying to help the Empire after their forces had been ripped apart by Jiun Xiao-led raids and were focusing more on fortifying their borders and aiding whatever people crossed into their lands.

Most of her mobile artillery and psykers were gathered with her at the siege, and now she unleashed them. For hours, stones, ballista bolts, rockets, shells, and energy blasts rocked the city walls, those firing utterly ambivalent to the possibility of civilian casualties.

Even when the first break in the wall appeared, they kept hammering the city until several further breaches had appeared. With a fearsome shout, Jiun Xiao led the charge into the city atop her new steed: an armoured motorbike. Following her came other bikers, and riders mounted on vicious reptiles, insects, birds, hounds, and other beasts. They raced over the wreckage and rubble as the siege weapons began a creeping barrage forwards from the walls. Hastily assembled defence lines shattered before them, and the Kulathids retreated further into the city, hoping to trap the riders in the winding back alleys.

These were false hopes. The bike riders raced down the most open streets of the city, hurling incendiary bombs and crude gunpowder exclusives into the houses, purposefully targeting poorer and more flammable parts of the city. Combined with the fires started by the artillery bombardment, it wasn't long until a firestorm began to roar, herded and fuelled by the riders, incinerating soldier and civilian alike.

Jiun Xiao dismounted, for once in a lifetime of war, to take the Kulathid Palace. After all, she had made a promise.

Yerract had obviously kept the most impressive and esoteric remnant technology for himself. As she stalked through the palace, Jiun Xiao fought through guards dressed in bizarre yet powerful armour, and armed with weapons that even gave her pause. Cackling in bloody glee, she tore apart the guards even as they dealt her more damage than she'd received in a lifetime of war. As she ascended the staircase to the upper portion of the palace, she was set upon by some great relic of before the fall, a mechanical monstrosity with three gnashing jaws, a whirring maw of circular blades, and mechadendrites that lashed wildly around. For the first time in her life, Jiun Xiao found herself matched in combat, fighting for her very survival, and her laughter shook the palace itself.

Eventually, she cast the beast down by thrusting her hand down its gullet and crushing its engine before her forearm was shredded, and threw it from the stairs to the palace floor.

The guardian had failed. Procured at impossible expense, the only entity that could have slain the Demon Queen—and she had broken it. He had heard the fighting on the stair for the past three hours, but the mechanical whine and crunch of metal had been unmistakeable even over her manic laughter.

The door swung open. There had been no more guards to send against her. His family had refused to leave him. Yerract had begged them, but he would not beg her. At the end, he would have his dignity.

There she stood, Jiun Xiao, the barbarian empress of ten-thousand names, each more impressive and fearsome than the last. She breathed heavily, chuckling slightly to herself.

"Ah, Yerract. I did hope you'd be here. I'd hate to have to break my promise to you."

She glanced around, her eyes the same as he remembered. Certainly, she was covered in blood and oil, lined with scars, and her left arm was a bloody, ragged, handless ruin, but the eyes were just the same.

"You kept my parents' skulls by your bed? Seems rather morbid."

She took one dragging step forward. His daughter, Tirassa flinched, and his wife, Olyrh grabbed her arm. Mahlyar, his son, stayed stoic. Yerract was proud of him for that.

"Your son, he's yet five? Then I can yet do as I swore. And you, girl, know you how to ride?"

Tirassa shook her head. The Kulathids were borne in palanquins or carriage, they were not riders.

"A pity. Horde has no use for walkers."

Jiun Xiao's good arm blurred, and Tirassa fell dead, something metal sticking from her throat. Olyrh collapsed besides her, a similar dart poking from her breast. The Demon Queen's eyes never left the emperor.

"Your boy's brave. He'll make a fine warrior yet. Be proud, for the Karakarsh will forge a true man of him."

With her good hand, she took the quavering boy and set him upon her shoulder, before grabbing Yerract's arm in a bone-breaking grip and dragging him out of the room.

"Come, Bull-Emperor. I have such sights to show you."

The destruction of the Capitol took three days, all of which the emperor was forced to watch. Across the rest of the Kulathid Empire, Karakarsh raiders ran wild, levelling every single structure with fire, stone, and blasting powder. Fields were burned, peasants were slain, beasts were slaughtered or driven into the wilds. Few survived, either as slaves taken by more independent clans, or in the case of many young children, adopted to become new riders for the horde.

Yerract saw all of this as the Demon Queen dragged him behind her mount on a chain, though his thoughts were focused on his son being raised by one of Jiun Xiao's sisters, even when she ended his misery by galloping down a broken road. His last sight was the gargantuan pile of skulls that stood as a grisly cairn over the former Capitol.

All the meanwhile, the Merchant Kings of Saiwef Gholk and the remaining members of the Coalition had been fortifying their defences. Crenelated walls had been built along the border, and covered with Ballistae and catapults, lined with moats and spikes. A series of watchfires lined the border, to be lit at the first sign of an invasion. Their allies, the scholars of the Tower of Ash-Crystal worked on refurbishing more and stranger pre-Fall artefacts for the defence.

They failed to account for their coastline. Though they had sunk or captured the Kulathid navy, they presumed too heavily that the steppe-peoples' superstitious distrust of water and complete lack of naval experience of any kind would thwart them. They did not recognise in turn that Jiun Xiao was a being designed wholly for war and conquest.

As had happened on land, the expansion of empires had driven nomadic sailor-folk offshore into islands and archipelagos. Joined by a variety of dissatisfied merchant or mutinous naval commanders, the islands soon developed a culture of piracy to support their fisheries.

Commandeering an intact fishing vessel, Jiun Xiao rowed for a week to an archipelago of desolate islands that housed one such group of corsairs. Upon her arrival, she assumed authority over them in her usual blunt and direct manner. Most of the captains fell in line after she offered them plunder from the rich Merchant Kings and she ripped a couple of dissenters in half and hung them on their masts.

Having now acquired a fleet, she set herself to the task of destroying the rest of the Coalition. Briefly sailing back to her territory, she loaded as many of her riders and steeds as she could into the fleet, before depositing them at unpopulated areas along the shore under cover of night, from where they rode far inland.

Jiun Xiao had plotted a three-pronged attack, and now she set her plan in motion. Her corsair allies began assaulting ports and burning the coastline whilst the parts of her army that had stayed behind led a full-scale siege of the wall. This led to a mass mobilisation of forces within the Coalition lands in turn, which were prey to those forces placed behind their lines. The infiltrated riders, which had been uncharacteristically silent and controlled were now unleashed, hunting down armies and ravaging food stores. Unlike the directionless barbarity they had wreaked upon the Kulathid Empire, here they were focused and targeted, purposefully forcing the Coalition to split up their armies to hunt them down or protect their lands, only making the coasts and the borders more vulnerable.

Jiun Xiao used her jetbike to move between each portion of her horde, co-ordinating attacks, managing foraging and supplies, changing plans as need be, and occasionally indulging in wanton violence—such as disposing of the savant general Ollityr Mnerte by lifting her into the air and hurling her into the peak of a mountain.

Slowly but surely, the coordination of the Coalition began to fail, especially as outriders began to probe further inland to prey on the weaker members. The hammer blow came when two breaches were made in the bastion, and the Karakarsh flooded through before the defenders could consolidate a defence.

Faced with the prospect of the same fate as the Kulathid Empire, panic spread across the nations of the Coalition. Whole cities rose in rebellion, throwing their gates open and giving great and welcome tributes to the horde. Those that did so were spared—those that resisted were besieged and sacked, with their populations slaughtered, enslaved, or taken to ride with the horde.

Jiun Xiao let the panic and fear fester, magnanimously allowing entire nations to surrender in exchange for significant tithes. Eventually, she rode to the mighty city of Saiwef Gholk itself, and told the citizens that they would be spared if they opened the gates and handed over the Merchant Kings.

When the Kings were dumped unceremoniously in torn bedclothes in front of the open gates of Saiwef Gholk, they provided great amusement by swearing empty threats against the Demon Queen. She rewarded their actions against her by imprisoning them in a cage above the main gates of the city. She did show some mercy though—when only one was left, half-mad from isolation, exposure, and cannibalism, Jiun Xiao let him go free into the wilds.

As for the Scholars of the Ash-Gate Tower, they found themselves dragged from their place of learning to be executed by all manner of bizarre and ancient weapons. Their leader was forced to help Jiun Xiao create an augmetic hand from the wreckage of the guardian machine that had taken it from her. His reward was to have his face shredded by the grinding saw blades encased in her palm.

This pattern repeated itself across the face of the planet, for Jiun Xiao sought nothing less than dominion over the world. Those who surrendered to her and paid tribute were spared; those who stood against her were burned and broken until they kowtowed to her. The exceptions were few—the Seven Cities sent a champion encased in archaeotech who gave her such a worthy fight that she let them off with a relatively light amount of burning and pillaging; and the nation of Voil-Estaq, who built a wall the length of their border, only to fall victim to the plague warfare tactics the Karakarsh had used before. Any who tried to flee over the wall were mercilessly cut down by the horde.

In one way or another, the nations of the world were sworn to her. When one nation rose against the Empress of the Seventy-Nine Hells, the riders were set against them. If one nation turned against another, Karakarsh warriors would fight on both sides. Occasionally, suffering countries would be gifted from the tribute coffers.

And so was a unity brought to Xiuttilang—a strange and bloody unity, based on loose fealty to a brutal bandit queen. In time, she set her gaze upon the stars, cannibalising various spaceports and ruined spacecraft into a crudely spaceworthy vessel and launch mechanism. At first alone, and then with small groups of trusted mechanically-minded individuals, she worked on scavenging and salvaging the orbiting detritus. Lacking any real purpose for the space stations she managed to restore to base functionality, as well as any real terrestrial support structure, they instead become storage for the greatest and most precious objects taken in tribute. The greatest success she had was restoring an archaeotech sensor array to gaze into the stars.

When the Imperium came to her planet, she ruled it still. Her siblings were long dead, but the family still held power alongside her most powerful and skilled warriors. She accepted Imperial envoys peacefully, but outright rejected any Imperial attempts to change the way she ruled in exchange for Compliance. The situation almost escalated, until Malcador spied the actions of a Primarch.

The golden being looked at her with such intensity that she had to squint.

"Jiun Xiao, I am your father."

"You must be mistaken," she found the words coming almost unbidden, "for I had a father, aye, and a mother too. They are both long dead, and I see no need for a spare."

The entity tilted its head slightly, perhaps in confusion. It was difficult to tell.
"Your creator, then."

The Demon Queen grinned unpleasantly.

"A creator? Have you come to debate philosophy? On what creates somebody—nature or nurture? I'd have hoped a visitor such as yourself would have brought more than that."

At this, the golden figure chuckled slightly, and seemed to fade.

"I do indeed. Worlds to conquer, and warriors and weapons for the task."

Jiun joined in with his light laughter.

"Well, now you are speaking my language."

She took the proffered hand, and knelt before her new commander.

The reuniting of Primarch and Legion was a joyous one, and calculatingly so. Jiun Xiao, recognising the strength she had suddenly gained, did much to ingratiate herself to her new daughters and to break down the barriers between the Terran-born Space Marines and those recruited from Xiuttilang, including encouraging and participating in warrior lodges. Bit by bit, the sense of solemn, stoic honour that had once pervaded the Death Riders was eroded and replaced by the callous yet joyful brutality of the Karakarsh.

The XVII Legion: the Scourge

Name:
The Scourge. Formerly known as the Death Riders. The XVII Legion is also called the Bloody Seventeenth, the Demon Wolves, the Destroyers, and the Slaying Wind.

Insignia and Appearance:
Their insignia is a drawn bow crossed over a barbed, three-headed whip, worn on the left shoulder. The insignia of the Kindred sits above it, with the signifiers of the Sisterhood and the Warband on the right shoulder. Some of the Legion still bear the old insignia of the iron horseshoe.

The Legion's colours are halved ash-grey and bone white, with golden trim and ornamentation, but different Kindreds and Sisterhoods may alter these colours.

Gene-seed Status:
The gene-seed of the Bloody Seventeenth is considered to be remarkably stable, showing practically no deviancy and binding very easily to all manner of candidates. Some have accused it of causing sociopathic tendencies, but there is no evidence to support this.

Legionary Assets:
—220,000 Astartes.

—Xiuttilang, a major recruiting planet with a large population and significant orbital infrastructure.

—Tomtar Ghol, Yntriklas, Ares IV, New Vaalbara, Hozo's Stand, all worlds with at least a minor permanent Scourge present, used for recruits.

—Maharaal, a semi-Forge World with a focus on small vehicle production. Jiun Xiao has managed to use her influence to make it somewhat more autonomous from the Mechanicum, and it has become a haven for less orthodox thinkers.

—The Heavenfall, a modified Gloriana-class battleship with extensive docking bays.

—Several speciations of fast attack vehicle, such as the speedy Korgu'ul-class jetbike, the lascannon-armed Xao Ghor-class jerbike, the heavily armoured Khujia-class Attack Bike, and the Bontazr-class speeder, capable of carrying small bomb loads.

—Unique breeds of mobile, bike-portable artillery pieces.

Legion Organisation:
The organisation of the XVII Legion had always been fluid, but under Jiun Xiao's influence it became even more so.

—A Warband, led by a First-Rider.

—A Sisterhood, led by a Tarchan. In how many Space Marines they comprise, Sisterhoods are highly variable.

—A Kindred is of anywhere between 400 and 25,000 Space Marines, led by a Kiral. This is the largest subdivision, under the full Legion. Numbers in a Kindred depend on the prestige and desires of the Kiral in question—with warriors transferring to and from different Kindreds depending on the glory and plunder promised and on the types of warfare preferred by the war-leader.

It is not uncommon for a Tarchan of a Sisterhood to be replaced after trial-by-combat. Theoretically, a Tarchan can be challenged for the right to leadership by any First-Rider under her command, but in practice only the most renowned of First-Riders dare do so.

Though this seems a potent recipe for instability, the Legion's savage devotion to the idea of an innate meritocracy meant that sisters only in it for power and not actually capable as leaders would be beaten down more often than not, in one way or another.

The Devil Cavalry—Though the Scourge's combat doctrine encourages the use of terror tactics, the true masters of such stratagems are the Devil Cavalry, experts at spreading fear and panic in their wake. Through savage and unrelenting attacks on civilians, to incineration of hab-blocks, the mass deployment of foul chemical weapons, and the usage of screaming sirens that bled the ears on their bikes, the Devil Cavalry aim to force soldiers and civilians alike to break and tremble in fear. Against more psychologically durable foes, the Devil Cavalry strike behind enemy lines, destroying infrastructure, manufactora, and farmland, acting as brutal and bloody mobile saboteur teams.

The First Lance—They ride the fastest of jetbikes available to the Legion, and rove to strike far in advance of the main body of the army. Part vanguard, part scouts, the First Lance often hit the enemy days before the main body arrives, acting to disorientate and confuse the enemy.

The Kataphraktar—These are the close combat and assault specialists of the Legion. Riding the more durable bikes, and often possessing heavy weaponry mounted in their sidecars, the Kataphraktar are sent to break the heaviest of resistance with whirling chain-halberds and a storm of Bolter shells.

The Nokkors—Named for an obscure storm being of Xiuttilangi myth, these are the specialist Land Speeder and Attack Speeder riders of the Legion. Acting as mobile heavy weapon platforms that can decimate enemy units when acting in concentration, the Nokkors are renowned for the level of alteration they perform to their vehicles.

The Hepthakia—The women who operate the more mobile artillery platforms of the Legion. While often derided for their less mobile role in the battle, the majority of Space Marines of the Scourge do acknowledge the usefulness of the stand-and-shoots—or at least the firepower of their bike-portable Thunderfire Cannons and mobile rocket batteries.

The Eternal Sky Riders—They are the answer to the conundrum posed by the Dreadnought. The XVII is both respectful to the dead and dying and cynically pragmatic in equal measure, and while the idea of the Dreadnought appeals, the practicality of such lumbering behemoths to such a mobile force is suspect. As such, the Eternal Sky Riders exist: wounded and crippled veterans permanently wired in to specialised aerospacecraft chassis to continue fighting alongside their sisters.

The Karagarde—The greatest and most brutal fighters get to join the Karagarde, the personal wardens of the Primarch. Quite possibly the greatest honour of the Legion, the Karagarde act as her representatives and speak with her authority.

The Outriders—The scouting corps of the Scourge. Containing a mixture of newly inducted neophytes and long-term veterans, the Outriders are the eyes of the horde, and can often be found deep behind enemy lines making detailed reports as well as sowing death and confusion. It is of little surprise that the Devil Cavalry and the Outriders are very closely associated.

The Shamans of the Four Directions—These women are the psykers of the Legion, and are afforded considerable respect. On Xiuttilang, the Shamans were considered blessed for their talents, and they preach the philosophy of the Four Directions and the Eternal Sky just as they tear their enemies apart with ethereal storms and supernatural wolf packs.

Auxilia—The Scourge's auxilia are notable for the fact that they are mostly dissociated from the actual Legion, being mostly used as cannon fodder and suppression weapons, there to draw an enemy's fire or bog them down in combat whilst the XVII do their bloody work elsewhere. Due to the nature of this treatment and of the Primarch and her Legion, this auxilia is mostly made up of the dregs and scum of the Imperial Army. Penal legions, mercenaries, failures, those too stupid or aberrant to seek assignment elsewhere, and others make up the bulk of these forces.

Expertise and Combat Doctrine:
"Silence is for mice and frightened birds, and cowards of all stripes. Give me the roar of racing engines, the jet-bikes' howling scream, the shriek of ten-thousand soaring missiles over silence any day."
—Jiun Xiao, Reflections upon Lamentation.

Speed and mobility is the main focus of the Scourge. As an army on the battlefield, it aims to be in constant motion, flowing and shifting in complex and unpredictable waves, never allowing the enemy a moment to consolidate and forcing them to forever be reacting. As such, quick thinking and imagination are highly valued in the Legion's officers. Artillery bombardments are a common feature of Scourge assaults as well, with creeping waves of rockets and shells following in the wake of the jetbikes and heralding the arrival of the main force. Transport vehicles are very rare, due to the almost total lack of dedicated infantry forces within the XVII. Some have been modified to be able to deploy bikers onto the battlefield.

The XVII use combined air/land strategies, heavily integrating both the aerial and terrestrial parts of their forces, and also work to strike terror and destruction far beyond enemy lines to weaken their resistance and resolve. Indiscriminate bombing runs are a common feature of Scourge campaigns.

The Scourge have little to no restrictions on what weaponry they will use in battle. Rad and phosphex are rarely used due to their overly destructive nature and long-term effects. Almost every other weapon, from Volkite to toxic gases, is happily employed by the Scourge in battle.

Almost every vehicle employed by the Scourge has been modified for rapid deployment and movement, up to and including the artillery, which is expected to shift and change position as quickly as the front lines. Specialist units deploy lightweight, bike-trailered artillery pieces such as miniature rocket batteries or Thunderfire Cannons, whilst many other bikers will have inbuilt grenade launchers on their vehicles, all the better to tear apart and disorientate the foe—toxin, knock-out, and choke grenades are well-beloved.

Prominent among the Legion is the use of war chains attached to their bikes and land-speeders, ending in vicious hooks and grapnels, used to drag soldiers to their deaths, rip open vehicles, topple walkers, and unbalance aerospacecraft.

The Scourge are a terrifying and confusing enemy, moving and shifting in a cacophony of roaring engines and screaming rockets. To fight them is to be forever on the defensive, always trying to react against a force that moves and strikes like lightning from a cloudless sky, dispensing a myriad varieties of vile death to the front even as they ravage the back line and beyond.

Legion Weaknesses:
The Scourge is relatively lacking in heavy armour and ordnance, and what it does have is often heavily modified for whatever speed and mobility it can be given, leading to Legion often having a dearth of truly heavy firepower.

The XVII's preference for aerial dominance and hit-and-run tactics mean that they are often at a disadvantage in more enclosed battlefields, and their fondness for terror tactics only works on those opponents who can actually feel fear. As a whole, the Legion is somewhat averse to "hard" targets, and prefer to seek out softer targets that can be used to weaken the hard point.

Beliefs and Practices:
"What is best in life? To drag your enemy behind your horse for a mile, to burn her cities for disobedience, and to take her possessions into your care."
—Jiun Xiao, to the Iterator Menthet Yalkassian, assigned to the 103rd Expeditionary Fleet.

"The Shamans spoke of the Winds of the Four Directions as impossible to thwart, blowing and buffeting a man down the road to his fate. This is idiocy. Anyone of sufficient strength may stand against the wind, walk into it, tame it with kite or sail. The winds may howl, but destiny is made by those it belongs to."
—Jiun Xiao, Reflections upon Lamentation.

The brutal meritocracy, callous spirituality, and strong bonds of sisterhood of the Karakarsh soon came to dominate the character of the XVII Legion. Few Legions could claim to be so cavalier and apathetic in their disregard for the lives of enemy combatants or civilians. Yet at the same time this is tempered by the strong camaraderie between Space Marines of the Legion. Though competition for power and prestige is encouraged, it is understood that ultimately the Legion comes first, much as the horde once did.

Lodges are a welcome place for Sisters and Commanders alike to relax and bond together—even the Primarch herself is known to partake.

The Imperial Truth never really took hold of Xiuttilang and its inhabitants, who look upon it with scepticism. The old tribal beliefs of the Eternal Sky that souls went to and came from and of the Wind of the Four Directions that blew men towards their destiny still exist, if perhaps in a more philosophical and secular sense, modified by Jiun Xiao's staunch opinions on self-determination.

Imperial views on human supremacy and the innate inferiority of xenos are considered bizarre and even risible by the Xiuttilangi, for although the nonhuman populations there were censured and forced to isolated reservations as part of Compliance, many rode alongside or stood against Jiun Xiao in her campaigns. As a result, xenos nations can often receive paradoxically better treatment as client states under the infamous Scourge than they can under more honourable, compassionate Legions.

The taking of plunder or tribute is one of the most deeply held traditions of the Scourge. Though the taking of trophies is a common practice across the Armed Forces of the Imperium, the Bloody Seventeenth take it to an almost farcical level. Plunder is seen as a measure of one's prestige, and commanders with more loot are more likely to have warriors seek to join their command for a share.

The Legion is also heavily mechanistic, with a deep and abiding love of customising their vehicles, armour, weapons, and themselves. Each rider heavily modifies their own vehicle to their personal taste and skill set, both altering the appearance and the performance. Armour and weaponry are similarly customised, with crests of horsehair or bicycle parts being popular additions to helmets, and weapons often being chained to arms for ease of use.
In the fashion of the Primarch, it is not uncommon for more veteran Space Marines to have their left hand replaced with an augmetic, often one designed to interface directly with their vehicle. The Nokkors and sky-pilots especially are known for being able to wire themselves directly into their vehicle for better control.

Recruitment and Discipline:
Recruits are taken from Xiuttilang and from various tributary worlds, as well as being taken whilst on campaign. Training normally takes place aboard the ships of the fleet itself, or on orbital training centres above the worlds in question. Due to the stability of the gene-seed and the non-discriminatory nature of the recruitment process, the Scourge is one of the larger Legions. Disciplinary actions within the Legion are rare, since Astartes of the Scourge are usually fairly free to do as they please within certain boundaries upon the battlefield. If a Space Marine does earn the ire of a superior, rituals of humiliation or mutilation are commonplace. One who truly falls low may be dragged for set distances behind a motorbike or jetbike.

Characters of Interest:
Haran Qo, Equerry to the Primarch—A former Great Commander of the Death Riders, and current second-in-command of the Crowned Kindred. A solemn, stoic woman, Haran Qo reflects the old ways of the Legion, but is nevertheless a staunch supporter of Jiun Xiao.

Atrakilac, Tarchan of the Karagarde—A close relative of the Primarch, Atrakilac has had to work against accusations of nepotism her whole life, and has proven herself on her own skills time and time again, to the point where she is widely considered the most capable combatant in the Legion.

Susharsis, Leader of the Crowned Devil Cavalry—Personally recruited from the Kindred of the Arrow-Blinded by Jiun Xiao after seeing her brutality and ferocity first hand, Susharsis is the epitome of the cruel and callow warriors found in the Devil Cavalry.

Tou Xi, Leader of the Crowned Nokkors—Disbarred from the ranks of the Tech-Marines for conduct unbecoming, Tou Xi has put what knowledge she gained on Mars to good use in the ranks of the Attack Speeder riders, tuning and modifying her vehicle to almost ridiculous extremes—even the Legion's Tech-Marines are confused as to how she has managed to put such a frightening combination of command equipment, engine power, and heavy weaponry onto her Attack Speeder. Jiun Xiao cares not for how, merely for outcomes, and brought Tou Xi into her Kindred.

Munije, Leader of the Crowned Kataphraktar—Taken at quite a late age from an earlier conquest, Munije's innate fury has made her a terror on the battlefield, redirecting her rage and hatred against the foe. As an important member of the Crowned Kindred, she is allowed a place in the Primarch's circle of advisors, where she acts as a loud and vitriolic devil's advocate.

Zhenershpa, Leader of the Crowned First Lance—Widely considered one of the greatest jetbike riders in the Imperium, let alone the XVII, Zhenershpa is considered unusually compassionate and idealistic by many within the Legion. Nevertheless, her sheer unadulterated skill has earned her much respect despite philosophical differences.

Hutes, Kiral of the Shattering Shard—Leading one of the smaller Kindreds, Hutes has extremely high standards for who she will let fight for her. Her preferred tactics include extremely well-timed and spaced artillery barrages across an engaged frontline, necessitating a much higher regard for orders in the Shattering Shard than others.

Valash Kol, Kiral of the Kindred of the Arrow-Blinded—Largest of the Kindreds, Valash Kol's horde is mostly known for its high turnover of Astartes. Possessing a disproportionate number of Outriders and Initiates especially, the Arrow-Blinded's relatively cautious tendencies under Valash Kol make it a target of some derision, a place where newly-inducted Space Marines may learn the most basic aspects of battle before transferring to a different Kindred. Nevertheless, those who stay with the Kindred may go far indeed, gaining a grudging respect for their patient and watchful temperaments.

Lao Shein, Kiral of the Kindred of the Dying Sun—Few have been as taken with the utility of combat gases and smokescreens as Lao Shein as she rose to the rank of the Kiral. Naming her nascent Kindred from a battle when, as Tarchan of a Sisterhood, she blocked out the Sun with the overuse of smoke grenades causing the enemy to break in fear and confusion, Lao Shein takes great joy in covering war zones with clouds of poisonous, choking smog.

Palber, Kiral of the Kindred of the Bloody Lance—Unconcerned with more complex tactics since her days riding on Terra, Palber was more than welcoming of the changes in Legion temperament that came to be with Jiun Xiao's ascension, welcoming the chance to truly cut free upon the battlefield as she rode over the foe. Astartes flock to her banner for the chance to ride at her side, drenched in the blood of the enemy.

Orystheng, Kiral of the Kindred of the Falling Star—Ever since the days on Terra, the Falling Star Great Company has been known for its bloody-minded determination in the face of a bizarre run of bad luck spanning most of its existence and carrying on into its transition into a Kindred. Losing more Kirals to causes both mundane and surreal than any other Kindred, the Kindred of the Falling Star is a refuge for the diehard stubborn, the luckless and skill-less, and those with a bizarre sense of curiosity. Orystheng is the latest to inherit the position of Kiral after her predecessor's starship started a Warp jump and never finished it. Time will tell if she has better luck than those before her.

Skandihoulak, Kiral of the Kindred of the Weeping Child—The first of the Devil Cavalry to ascend to the rank of Kiral, Skandihoukak's Kindred maintains a significant number of the terror-riders amongst its ranks. The Weeping Child Kindred is often used a hammer against disobedient worlds, capable of leaving a world broken but still alive.

Artheasar, Matriarch of the Shamans of the Four Directions—Leader of the XVII's Librarius, Artheasar claimed her rank in a fatal psychic duel with her predecessor. Potent yet loyal, the Matriarch of the Shamans is a common companion of the Primarch on the battlefield.

Lord-General Mantragar Kulathid—Descendant of the Kulathid emperors, Mantragar is a visionary strategist, and fanatically loyal to Jiun Xiao, who keeps him as one of her closest advisors.

Revered Zho-Qi-Zhen—The first of the Eternal Sky Riders, her prototype aerial chassis contains many features that are not found on most other such vessels. Unfortunately, her mental state is deteriorating as a result, leading to hallucinations, babbling, and most worryingly, occasional flirtations with pacifism.

Iterator Anchebe Raynar Qunquess—A Terran Iterator who has become Jiun Xiao's personal philosophical sparring partner and biographer, after she caught him venturing into a forbidden area of the Heavenfall. A relentless idealist and true believer in the Imperium's goals, he struggles to not be disillusioned by the Demon Queen.

Battle-cry:
"We ride!"

"Hell has come!"

"We bring judgment upon you!"

"Flee whilst you can! The Scourge is here!"

[Manic laughter]

Legionary History:
—The first of the XVII Legion were recruited from the tribes of Ursh and the Caucasus Wastes, a people known for a brutish and dour look on life.

—The Death Riders slaughtered the strong and durable, yet all-too-slow Hraggan as they conquered the Hraghthad Co-Dominion.

—They engaged in several terror and suppression missions against rebellious worlds.

—Eventually the Death Riders were reunited with their Primarch, Jiun Xiao.

—They seized the Forge World of Maharaal. Jiun Xiao used her influence within the Imperium and a bribe of carefully stockpiled STC templates to secure it as a more personal domain.

—The Scourge clashed at one point with a host of Shining Spears under Drastanta, Jiun Xiao herself personally duelling the Phoenix Lord. She later described this as one of the most exhilarating experiences of her life.

—Rebellions on several worlds brought into Compliance by the Scourge rebelled, despite no prior signs of anti-Imperial sentiment. Elements of the Scourge crushed the uprisings, with dissatisfactory Planetary Governors being replaced with handpicked leaders.

—Numerous complaints about Legion conduct on campaign from Imperial Army officers.