#smashkeysworld

SO ABOUT MY PRIMARCH I’m also sorry if my info is jumbled, there’s quite a few connecting dots that makes it hard to organize this right, I’ll also try to break it up with some images

(Img source of worms linked in their names)

40k has taken quite a fair bit of inspiration from Dune and I love Dune too but only for the worms and the desert/cave system— the planet. I also love the design of the worm gods from Destiny2, and the gilded wurms from Risk of Rain remastered, the lava worms in Risk of Rain 2 is also cool, and Driller from Transformer DOTM…

Yea so, worms! I like big monster worms! It’s probably called Wyrms in 40k, but that’s why the Primarch has Wyrm motifs and the teeth-like spikes on his armour. This is the first theme where I started planning his design and some bits of his lore.

On top of my great interest for monster Wyrms, the lore from The First Heretic book mentioned that the lost legions were expunged for religiosity, so I thought that the Primarch worshipping or getting obsessed with some big af Wyrms is probably a good idea and would also be a good connection to all the Wyrm motifs on his armour.

(Disclaimer: I only have the Lexicanum to rely on atm, not the actual books)

I decided he lost his legs to a Wyrm attack and this aspect of the design is important to me cause imo I believe Primarchs looking whole is a way to show that despite the extreme conditions they grew up in they can adapt and thrive, so I personally wanted my Primarch physically changed because if all these demigods can come out whole but this one Primarch didn’t then something might be wrong, out of the ordinary even. Whether it means his homeworld is extremely brutal to survive in or he’s been weakened enough to be inflicted such damage is up for interpretation.

Ropes! I was building both the homeworld and his story together at the same time. I incorporated ropes & twine on his armour cause this is a frequent tool used in his homeworld, chains are rarely used cause metal is an extremely difficult resource to get when the wildlife eats metal as food, and metal is a main contribution to the planet’s imperium tithes. I wanted the homeworld and the Wyrm ‘gods’ to be the reason to why his legion was expunged so I’ve been trying to tie in as many of his homeworld references onto his armour.

(Wyrm Grinders logo is meant to look vaguely like a radioactive warning symbol)

His hair is not too critical to his design but it’s meant to look somewhat dry and brittle— like he’s trying to keep them healthy, his planet has spots of intense radiation due to radioactive metal deposits which is usually avoidable but his pod crashed into one—and no sane human would want to go digging in a radioactive deposit unless absolutely necessary, so his biology & geneseed has been damaged due to prolonged exposure. This is also designed to tie into Fear to Tread book prologue where it’s implied the legion was expunged for genetic flaw

Also in the book where Horus was dreaming(?) about being in the geno-vault with all the Primarch capsule he punched the XI capsule and slightly damaged it, while it’s not confirmed whether this was an actual punch or a dream, it helped to imply that his gestation pod have been compromised before the scattering and that could be why the radiation was able to damage the Primarch.

(I actually think a living body would burn from the radiation before genetic breakdown happens if it’s that intense but I’m still struggling to understand the types of radiation and effects on biology)

(I almost forgot about this ) He carries an executioner sword and… I’ll be honest I’ve no idea what is the second one I drew, I thought it was a real weapon but I cannot remember and reverse image search of my sketch didn’t provide the result I expected, and the closest result I got was the two handed Mezzaluna kitchen knife but my design was meant to be one handed. The name of the executioner sword is ‘For Everything’ and the other weapon is ‘For Nothing’, but the ‘For’ is not always required.

The sketch for them is kind of basic cause I’m not confident this is the right weapons for him, but so far…

For Everything is the weapon he always uses. He only draws the sword to kill and never for any other reason, For Everything is used to further whatever purpose needed that caused/led to your demise. The Primarch fights, for everything is at stake and your death is necessary.

For Nothing is almost never used ‘cause it’s a last resort. His legion is meant to be lethal in close combat and if someone can force the Primarch to lose/throw away Everything to fight with Nothing, it means this has become personal, the Primarch has nothing at stake, and he has nothing to lose.

Slightly wide eyes are a minor detail, I just want him a bit unnerving when making eye contact. His eyes are the colour of peridot— a common gemstone from meteorites cause… the baby capsule crash landed like a meteorite?

Okay imma stop myself here and get to the Sacred beast— it’s a short one and we’re done haha

This was inspired by the few Japanese temples I had visited, I don’t really remember much of the experience tbh but after the visits I felt like designing a creature draped in fortune knots. I think the concept of worship might be the reason. The idea of a handler touring a powerful entity to different villages and the locals making wishes to it not knowing if it is benevolent.