Crom wrote:
Are these serfs in the traditional sense of the word? I mean, are they and their families basically property of the Chapter? Could a Marine's descendants be among the serf families serving the Chapter?
This si what BFG says about Chapter Serfs:
These serfs come from the Chapter's home planet or the enclave they protect, many of them Novitiates or applicants who have failed some part of the recruiting or training proess. These serfs are fanatically loyal to their superhuman masters, and indoctrinated into many of the lesser orders of the Chapter's Cult. Although human, they still benefit from remarkable training and acess to superior weaponry than is usually found on a naval vessel, making them a fearsome prospect in a boarding action - even without the support of their genetically modified lords.
This basically echoes what other people said, though I recall that some chapters differ a bit (Space Wolves still recruit from their home planet, but they will recruit serfs directly from the planet (as free men, but still armed and ready to fight if need be.) - given how utterly fatal Space Wolf training is even before implantation.
Also note that the "serfs" are not modified in any way, so they are recruited prior to the genetic modification procecss. After that they almost certainly are scouts.
Back to the topic of automation, would the Techmarines be responsible for maintaining their warships?
Yes. The Techmarines are basically the Astartes version of a techpriest/enginseer, though indoctrinated as much in the Chapter Cult as much as in the Machine Cult. (Some may have loyalties more one way or another, depending on Chapter.)
And what do they call computers?
Cogitators, Logic engines, Codifiers, and Metriculators there are probably lots of other names I can't recall offhand, but the first couple are the most common. Me I've favored "Cogitator" or "Logic Engine" the most since alot of 40K "computers" when used (like on starships) seem to have a semi-sentinent nature to them, especially on Space Marine warships.
Oh, and would it be believable to have a highly literate Black Templar? It sounds less and less likely the more I learn about them. What books are available for scholars, anyway, in the 40th millennium?
I'd imagine the most "scholarly" would probably be the Psykers - the Librarians, but the TEchmarines could be very literate as well. I also imagine Company commanders and Chapter leaders would be very literate/well read.
There are alot of chapters that favor literacy to some level - the most notable data-obsessives are the Blood Ravens. BEar in mind however that your "literate" person would also have to be exceptionally physically fit and tough as wlel as genetically pure.
One idea might be that the person was recruited off a Hive World, and was a former noble that for some reason abandoned his high upbringing in favor of the lower levels - such things have been known to happen before (Necromunda is my favorite example for this.) I doubt many "Feral" or "feudal" worlds would have many literate souls up to Imperium standards.
Mind you, if the Space Wolf novels are anything to go by, the training process of actual marines makes the whole "education level" of the applicant irrelevant - they seem to use some sort of machine with mind-impulse links to directly force-feed an accelerated (and vast) education into the recruit's mind, so they may end up becoming (basically) literate by that process too (perhaps the applicant's mind was unusually curious or receptive to new concepts and thsu assimilated it better.)
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- PeZook
