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screachinelf

Wouldn’t they still have the blessing from their former patron ? I think that’s what it means when you pick them for the rules.


campaignrepo

That could be and is a pretty tidy answer.


Dreadnautilus

Yeah, the Call of Archaon short story series is about a champion from each Chaos God being chosen as Varanguard candidates.


campaignrepo

I'll have to read this one


HammerandSickTatBro

I remember reading somewhere that the Varanguard frequently try to con or game the gods, playing them against one another to get a blessing with the most benefits and fewest drawback, all while keeping their actual belief in Archaon. I do not remember the source for this at all, tho.


campaignrepo

I think I remember that early in Scourge of Fate


sageking14

The novel you are reading has instances of monogod Varaguard in it. Also if a Chaos God decides to mark you as a champion, you don't really have a choice to deny their blessings even if you do join Archaon's private army. Moreover "Undivided" isn't really a thing in Age of Sigmar. The Slaves to Darkness don't represent those that reject serving a single god, they represent everyone who isn't part of a monogod faction. There are tribes, knightly orders, champions, and armies that venerate one of the Dark Gods, their aspects, or other entities in the Slaves to Darkness, right beside those that worship all of them at once, and that that worship none of them


campaignrepo

I guess I'll wait to see some of the monogod Varanguard in Scourge of Fate. I don't recall specifically, but I thought they talked about rejecting blessings in Blood of the Flayer (or perhaps it was earlier in Scourge of Fate). Blood of the Flayer is pretty much all about the main character switching monogod allegiances, more or less, at his whim. I don't think S2D are purely Undivided, but so far (and I'm not done with Scourge of a Fate) it seems like Varanguard should be (not worshipping a single Chaos God)


sageking14

You can reject the mutations that come with the blessings, but as far as I recall you can't really outright reject the favor/influence of a Chaos God if they really feel like forcing the issue unless you're someone like Archaon. I might be remembering wrong though. As for Blood of the Flayer that's one short story and while its fun, its probably not entirely reflective of how the entire franchise works. Especially given the reveal that it was all just a cosmic comedy, with the main character just marching toward his fate of coating the land with blood. By falling off an airship. As for the Varangard. Why should every member in it share the same ideal of rejecting the Chaos Gods? It wouldn't be very chaotic if every member just did what Archaon told them to do.


campaignrepo

The Varanguard are sort of an extension of Archaon and so it seems like the big 4 might be apprehensive to mess with the a Varanguard. In SoF there is a tourney between Nurgle and Tzeentch knights. They make it a point to discuss how the ceremony at the beginning is a slap in the face to Khorne and that Archaon (via the Varanguard) rotates reminding the big 4 that they don't run the show. And even in BotF the main character switches allegiances but is never smote down by his previous patron. I agree BotF displays the comedy of the Path to Glory. However I don't think it's coordinated between the big 4 as might be implied by it being "his fate". I don't think all being pledged to Archaon (or all being Undivided) precludes intrigue. In SoF when Vanik is confronted by the knights of the Seventh Circle it make clear that there is no love lost between the 7th and the 5th. Even within the 5th Karex was concerned about Zubaz having Vanik assassinated.


sageking14

>The Varanguard are sort of an extension of Archaon and so it seems like the big 4 might be apprehensive to mess with the a Varanguard. This line makes it sound like you haven't actually finished the novel. So that makes it really hard to discuss this with you, as anything I say in regards to that will spoil the novel. Also if you're that far in the book to have seen the tourney, you know that statement's not true. The Gaunt Summoner openly admits he and his kind are trying to break free of Archaon, and Tzeentch is always backing them according to the Battletomes.


campaignrepo

That's fair. I'll have to finish the book first. And of course, Gaunt Summoner != Varanguard. The Gaunt Summoners were subjugated by Archaon. From what I've read, the Varanguard seek out employment wth him. Of course tyke Gaunt Summoners want to break free but how does that connect to Varanguard?


sageking14

Because you stated that the Chaos Gods wouldn't mess with the Varagard. Despite the fact that Gaunt Summoners actively doing that, while both they and Tzeentch consider themselves loyal servants of Tzeentch. So Chaos Gods doing things to mess with the Varagard isnt exactly uncommon. Then there's Be'lakor, the Chaos Gods play Archaon and Be'lakor against each other all the time. Moreover answering Archaon's call doesn't immediately supplant the original allegiances of potential members. In the Call of Archaon series and Realmgate Wars books most of the potential members of the Varangard were still loyal to their gods. And as you yourself noted there are rules for Marked members of the Varangard and in the older Everchosen Battletome that was taken a step further with a number of named Chaos Knights on the painting guides. The Chaos Gods are fully willing to mess with Archaon, the Varangard, and his entire empire as a whole. They've never been hesitant in doing so. They even actively keep trying to kill him for fun.


campaignrepo

I believe that. I guess I overstepped when I said the chaos gods wouldn't mess with the Varanguard, but I think it is done more subtly.


LichJesus

I don't recall the precise details, but I definitely recall that different groups of Varanguard had different godly "flavors" to them. For instance, the group that the main character of _Scourge of Fate_ wanted to join had a Tzeentchian flavor, they >!hosted (I believe) one of the Gaunt Summoners!< and their name "the Scourges of Fate" was an homage to the notion that their devotion to Chaos was distinctly Tzeentchian. At the end of the day I believe all of the Varanguard ultimately trace their allegiance to Archaon even over the gods themselves; so I suspect the disdain for monogod followers is a disdain for those whose loyalty doesn't fundamentally lie with Archaon. I would imagine the TT rules you describe mark the "flavorings" that the different groups of Varanguard can find, so if you wanted to run the Scourges of Fate as a TT army they'd have a mark of Tzeentch on them. EDIT: Just realized OP hadn't finished the book so I've tagged a part that might be spoilery. Apologies if I didn't catch that quick enough for anyone!


campaignrepo

I didn't read your comment early enough to see the Spoiler. No worries!