Caedrum Primaris

Caedrum Primaris from orbit

Caedrum Primaris, commonly referred to as just Caedrum, is a harsh and frozen world in the Imperium of Mankind. It is the home world of the Templars of Sanguinius and home to more than 15 million people.

## History

Once a world colonized by the Imperium of Man with the intent of building a Fortress World, the project had to be abandoned despite decades of work due to unsustainable cost for what was deemed to be a strategically unimportant location compared to new discoveries. Caedrum was then forgotten, with ruins of some half built and some fully built fortress sectors around the globe.

A few thousand years later, the world was re-discovered and colonized, as the old ruined fortress tunnels and structures became the ground-work of what would become a mostly underground city, making habitation sustainable despite the frozen wastes of the planet. Most of the old imperial remnants were long since buried by ice and snow, leaving the growing population to discover new sections regularly.

A disaster struck the inhabitants of Caedrum in 836.M35, as the excavation had become more and more rushed, motivated by greed and borderline insanity, as the planetary Governor at the time had begun to believe that there was an invaluable treasure lost in the ancient chambers. The hurried and unplanned work eventually lead to a catastrophic collapse, all the previously discovered tunnels and chambers collapsing in on themselves, burying a vast majority of the colony population. The only survivors were those who had not been underground at the time, as well as a lucky few who were close enough to the surface to be dug out.

The remaining civilization became somewhat minimalistic, believing that their misfortune was brought on as punishment by the God Emperor for the greed of their Governor. Their first act however was the execution of said Governor since he survived the disaster itself. Following this, the survivors became nomadic, refusing to live underground and thus moving as best they could with the weather, even though Caedrum never really had any light weather.

In the start of M38, the planet was chosen by the Templars of Sanguinius as their home world. Before descending upon the world, they learnt what they could of its history and its current inhabitants, after which they landed and met the humans as angels of the God Emperor, proclaiming that their past sins that lead to their disaster was paid and that now would be a time of glory for them. To avoid similar disasters in the future, the Grand Excoriator proclaimed himself ruler of the world, letting the humans be lead by a lord appointed by the Grand Excoriator.

After that, the civilization on Caedrum began to regrow. The capital city of Tenrol was established far into the northern hemisphere of the planet, with new underground tunnels and chambers built with the assistance of the Astartes, this time built with the intent of being underground. With time they spread out, founding new cities and settlements, leading to a rather prospering civilization despite the harsh nature of the world.

## Climate and Geography

It is sometimes debated whether Caedrum qualifies for the designation of Death World or not, as it seems to just about lie on border of qualifying for such a classification. This comes mostly from the ability for the population to live there, despite their habitations being almost entirely underground.

The climate of Caedrum is frozen and harsh, the people of the world have only ever known temperatures far below feezing, as the world averages between -30 and -40 celsius, with a rare but comfortable ca -20 around the so called "summer" of the world.

The weather itself wrathful and unforgiving, with near constant blizzards and winds that would feel like they could blow the flesh off of your very bones.

The terrain itself is mountainous and treacherous, with several chasms hidden by sheets of ice, as well as avalanches that you can barely see through the snowy dust blown up by the winds.

### Size

Caedrum is approximately 50,100km in diameter.

## Military

Due to the climate of Caedrum, there is no Astra Militarum regiment based on the world. Though the populace maintains a military force, partially in case of attack as well a force that is dedicated to serve the Templars of Sanguinius.

At least 1.5 million soldiers are maintained at any time, 500 000 of which are dedicated to the chapter of the Adeptus Astartes.

## Government

The established government on Caedrum Primaris is a manner of modified monarchy. The Grand Excoriator of the Templars of Sanguinius holds the position akin to a monarch, and has final say in anything. Though the governing of the human civilization is tended to by an appointed Lord or Lady and their council of chosen advisors. The Lord or Lady will choose their own council, however the Grand Excoriator can deny their chosen council if he wishes, requiring the appointed Lord or Lady to choose a new set of individuals for their council.

## Resources

Due to the unforgiving and frozen environment of Caedrum, the harvesting of natural resources is quite difficult. The Templars of Sanguinius consider the greatest resource the world offers is the people they recruit from, and whom serve them. The Caedrumians, referred to as such as to avoid confusion between Caedrian and Cadian when spoken, have managed to find certain locations where they've been able to establish mostly safe resource hubs, such as mines. Other resources such as crops are grown and harvested mostly in large underground vaults, constructed by the Astartes, there are however smaller chambers for crop growth within the underground tunnels themselves.

Crops and other sources of food are incredibly important on Caedrum, as there is rarely any surplus of consumables.