Myramodons

Like many aspects of the Crimson Lions' legion structure, the Myramodons are an echo of the structure of the Mycenaean tribes. In the case of the Myramodons, they are an echo of the Brod of Mycenae's kings.

The Brod, a word that can be roughly translated as meaning something akin to a pride (specifically of lions) in gothic, were a particular section of a king's Curadhi. However, unlike the Curadhi who were selected for their skill at arms, a king's Brod had only one requirement: its members needed to be linked by blood to their king, for it is bonds of blood and honour that Mycenaeans hold in highest regard. It was his Brod who slept closest to their king on campaign, often on the floor inside his tent, and before their drink from a barrel of nerith, it was custom for members of his Brod to drink from it first to check it was free of poison.

While some especially trusted members of a king's Curadhi might be inducted into a king's Brod through being made the king's blood brother, these were always the rare exceptions and to be elevated in such a way was an honour beyond imagining. The vast majority of a king's Brod would have been born related to him, his sons, nephews, brothers and cousins, even sometimes daughters, nieces and sisters although once again these were exceptions rather than the rule. In this, Hectarion was no different to any other king of Mycenae and the vast majority of his Brod were members of his adoptive family, the Clan Mycenor, at first his adoptive uncles and cousins and later his nephews and nieces by his adoptive sisters and brother, although Hectarion also raised no fewer than six of his Curadhi to his Brod over the course of his reign, most famously his old guardian Maridius.

When he began to restructure his legion to better suit his tastes, this was another feature of Mycenaean war bands that Hectarion introduced to it. Where other primarchs have a personal bodyguard, Hectarion has his Brod and any member of Clan Mycenor (the ruling family of the Sakseath tribe rather than the Clan of the Crimson Lions legion) who wins a place within the Crimson Lions' ranks and survives implantation is guaranteed a place within it. At present, it is sixty three members strong, of whom fourteen were "adopted" from Hectarion's Curadhi. His Brod 's current commander is Cuchuláin Ua'Mycenor, a great nephew of Hectarion, nicknamed "Thunderfist".

Quite when the Brod Mycenor started being referred to as the Myramodons is unknown. This is certainly not how they are referred to within the legion. It is likely the confusion arose when Hectarion was being tutored by Alexandros Darshan von Salim, who is known to have likened them to his own Myrimodons. This would have passed down through ship captains and mortal crew and soldiers who witnessed such exchanges and it is likely that in the telling the two primarch's bodyguards became interchangeably referred to as Myrimodons or Myramodons depending on the teller and the name has stuck.

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