Towards the end of the Age of Strife, the Emperor crafted 20 magical clone babies that he called Primarchs. The forces of Chaos didn’t like the Emperor very much, so they kidnapped his magical clone babies and threw them randomly all over the galaxy, and the Emperor had all kinds of adventures finding them again. This thread is about the 13th magical clone baby the Emperor recovered – Mortarion, Primarch of the 14th Legion.

These retellings have been light-hearted so far, but there’s something about poor Mortarion’s story that sobers me. Mortarion landed on the world Barbarus, a world with a strange, poisonous atmosphere that got thicker the higher up it went – humans could just barely survive on the surface, but the toxins at the mountaintops would kill any normal human who attempted to climb them. Barbarus had long ago been conquered by aliens calling themselves The Overlords, who could thrive in the toxic atmosphere.

Mortarion’s clone-pod crashed into the site of a massacre. The greatest of the Overlords had just won a great victory against a rival Overlord’s armies, and was celebrating when he heard the cries of the infant. The Overlord searched for a full day for the clone baby, reasoning that no mere human infant could possibly survive this far up the mountains. When he found the baby, he named him Mortarion, which meant Child of Death in his language. The Overlord thought to raise this strange, powerful infant as his heir.

Taking the child further up the mountains until the clone-baby finally started to choke, the Overlord erected a great black iron wall at that altitude and rebuilt his fortress above that line. He then had Mortarion kept in the old fortress, which was below that line. Thus, he would be safe if the child decided to rebel against him. Which was a safe assumption, since Mortarion very quickly realized he wasn’t the same species as his “father” and openly wondered about the humans down below. He ran away from home, and went to live among his people.

The misery of the humans was exceeded only by the cruelty the Overlords would inflict on them. Mortarion swore that he would get revenge. Being a Primarch, he quickly taught the humans how to defend themselves, driving the Overlords back to their mountain fortresses but never being able to “seal the deal” because of the toxic atmosphere. But Mortarion helped his people build environment suits that could survive higher up, allowing them to begin to defeat the Overlords.

Eventually, only Mortarion’s “father” remained, on the top of the tallest mountain on Barbarus. That was when a mysterious stranger with golden-skin and luxurious hair arrived on the planet, seeking his own son. Mortarion, he said, Mortarion is my son. Mortarion was not pleased to have another dad when he hadn’t finished killing the first one, and said all this nonsense would have to wait until he finished the job he started. The Emperor, because of course the stranger was the Emperor, said, “Son, if you’re able to kill this joker on your own, I’ll leave you be, but if you need my help, you have to work for me”

Mortarion set out to win his freedom. Wearing the best environment suit the Barbarans were able to construct, Mortarion began climbing his “father’s” mountain. At the altitudes at which the last Overlord dwelled, Mortarion’s suit began to disintegrate, the valves and seals corroding away before his eyes. But still Mortarion pushed on. His skin blistering, his lungs burning, he knocked down the gates of the last Overlord’s fortress. Gasping and choking, he crawled into the Overlord’s throne room, determined to succeed. He almost made it to the Overlord’s throne when he collapsed; before he blacked out, he saw the golden stranger who claimed to be his real father strike the Overlord dead.

Mortarion has one goal in life, and before he could see that goal realized, the Emperor snatched it away from him. He never really forgave his birth dad for that; Mortarion, much like The Emperor, would rather die than ask for help. This header has been long enough, we can’t get into the story of how Mortarion got coerced into serving Nurgle, the Lord of Decay, just to save his Legion. Suffice to say, Mortarion is one of the real tragedies of the Magical Clone Babies. Don’t be like the Emperor, Day Thread – don’t bogart your children’s chances at happiness because you’re impatient.