House Alaricum

The insignia of House Alaricum

A Knight Paladin in the colors of House Alaricum.

"*Loyal and noble fighters! Today we repel the enemy! Today we reclaim our home!*"
— King Zentos Alaricum during the Battle of Cuznov
**House Alaricum** is a noble House of the Questor Imperialis that took roots upon the Shrine World of Cuznov. Dating back to the Age of Strife and the Great Crusade, the House abandoned their homeworld for many millennia after the Scouring. They spent most of that time constantly Questing, prosecuting an unending crusade against the Emperor's foes. Plagued by shame and disunity during the Age of Apostasy, they underwent a period of decline that was reversed by their cooperation with the Forge World of Ferrata. They served as staunch allies to that world until its fall near the end of the 41st Millennium. Afterwards, they completed a great pilgrimage back to Cuznov, reclaiming their old home and once more becoming a significant player in the Zylos Sector.

## History

House Alaricum has been a loyal Imperial Vassal since the Zylos Sector was discovered during the Great Crusade. Under the rule of nigh-mythical Ajax Alaricum they proved skilled fighters in the Emperor’s name, crushing the foes of the nascent Imperium in the name of glory and reconquest.

### The Horus Heresy

The Horus Heresy would see dire consequences for House Alaricum. When news of the Warmaster’s treachery broke, the main body of the House was back home on Cuznov. Several Lances of Knights were sent to the nearby Forge World of Epipolae to aid it in its struggle against a heretical insurrection. The bulk of House Alaricum, however, amassed as one and drove headlong South, rushing to the aid of the Throneworld. Ultimately, they would arrive in time to partake in the Imperium’s most desperate hour, struggling through Segmentum Solar and arriving solar months before the Warmaster did. The Siege of Terra was brutal. This is a widely accepted fact, and the Knights of House Alaricum who participated came to know it. The battle claimed the life of many a great Knight, including their great High King. However, they ended up contributing to the successful defense of Terra, doing their small part to save the Imperium in its darkest hour.

### The Great Scouring

The transition from the Great Crusade to the modern Age of the Imperium would see the house under the rule of High King Lysander Alaricum. Eager to revenge his father, Lysander pressed his Knights once more into battle, pursuing the routing Traitor Legions as part of the Galaxy-wide campaign known as the Scouring. During this period, the vassals farther from Cuznov were decentralized, their obligations lessened to better enable them to chase the Heretic near their own homes. After several centuries, when this next High King passed on, it marked the House’s transition in and of itself. Father and son were sealed with House relics including their Knight in a grand tomb beneath the surface of Cuznov. The House was ordered, as Lysander’s final decree, to take to the stars once more, to start an unending quest against the enemies of the Imperium and its glorious God Emperor. His tomb was to remain sealed until the Galaxy itself was split in twain.

Over the following millennia, Cuznov became less and less relevant to the House. As the burial site of its two greatest Kings it remained the frequent recipient of Pilgrims but most of the House’s Knights spent their time on the Unending Quest. Over time, the world would become divorced from the control of the House entirely, becoming a Shrine world dedicated to the man who once ruled it, Saint Ajax Alaricum of the Imperial Cult.

### The Age of Apostasy

The House’s power would wane starting in the end of the 35th Millennium punctuated apocalyptically with its involvement in the Age of Apostasy. When Goge Vandire came to power in Terra, the current High King fell in line with the Ecclesiarch, believing it to be the will of the God Emperor. When the fighting broke out, the King’s children, brother and sister, fled towards Cuznov, seeking aid with the Ecclesiarchy personnel there. The daughter Zylpha gave a rousing speech before the planet’s ruling class, while her brother descended into the depths of the planet to try and open the Alarican Crypt, believing that this represented the Galaxy split in twain. He did not return. The House was on campaign in Segmentum Pacificus at the time, and Zylpha headed back to her Father, with a cohort of Thorist priests at her back. When they arrived at the host of House Alaricum, the Princess delivered a sermon unto the Knights, swaying many of them back to the true faith of the Imperial Creed and out of the heretic Vandire’s sway. However, her father and his loyal retainers attempted to flee to the ships which had for generations carried the Knights on their quest through the Galaxy. A fierce battle ensued upon the planet’s surface as the Knights of House Alaricum fought amongst, Vandire driving a wedge into the House where even Horus himself had not. Ultimately, Zylpha’s forces were victorious. Her father’s fate is uncertain, but it is known she inherited the throne soon after. The previous King has had his name censored, simply changed to the Traitor King of Deraka.

In the aftermath of the House’s brief civil war, they headed on deeper into Segmentum Pacificus. Here, the new High Queen would be presented with a reversal of fortune. On the large mining outpost of Zephyr IV, House Alaricum found an in progress battle between the Tech Guard of a nearby Adeptus Mechanicus world, Forge World Ferrata, and the Heretical forces of the Iron Warriors traitor legion, with their Dark Mechanicum cohorts from the Hellforge Fornax. The Skitarii were defending themselves valiantly, but the vile Daemonic war machines of the fallen Astartes were taking their grievous toll. Zylpha ordered her Knights once more into battle, and House Alaricum relieved the beleaguered Mechanicus forces with a hail of shells and a charge of revving chainswords, led by the Queen herself into the fray with the heretics. Subsequently the House had the aid of the Ferratans in a series of battles against the Dark Mechanicum, and, grateful for their service, invited Zylpha to a summit where she was offered a generous treaty to provide Ferrata with protection. Thus the House was for a time settled, and while elements of the House always were away maintaining the Quest Unending, the main force took up residence within a new fortress, constructed for them by the Ferratans on their Forge World.

### The Time of Ending

The alliance between House Alaricum and Forge World Ferrata proved lasting, and beneficial. For millennia House Alaricum managed to flourish thanks to the aid and production that came from working with the Adeptus Mechanicus. The House entered a new Golden Age as its questing Knights roamed the Galaxy fighting the Imperium’s wars. However, it was not destined to last, and in 985.M41, both Forge World and Knight House would meet their reckoning at the hand of the returning threat of Fornax. Having vanished centuries prior, making no known contact with Imperial forces for most of the 41st Millennium, the vile Hellforge bided its time, and now it struck. Alongside them marched new allies, the corrupted Knight House Iratus, led by the Traitor King of Deraka. The War for Ferrata was brutal, raging for 5 long years as the forces of the Imperium were slowly but invariably pushed back. After around a year and a half of fighting, the Forge World itself came under siege. House Alaricum fought valiantly in its defense, but soon it became apparent that without assistance, the Forge World was in serious danger. Maneuvers began to be made to gather the most important production machinery, including the Forge World’s ancient STC fragments, moving them to the most defensible positions and, if all else failed, preparing them for evacuation.

In short, all else failed. No relief arrived from the larger Imperium, far too preoccupied with its own defense in the chaotic period that led up to the turn of the 42nd Millennium. Ultimately, the ships of the Basilika Astra would have to preserve House Alaricum alongside its Ferratan allies. The Princeps, Zentos Alaricum, led a mighty force of war machines in the defense of the planet, a noble rearguard action to enable the flight of the Ferratans. This force was wiped out, and the Princeps vanished after his Knight, the valiant ***Socium Fidelium,*** was shot out from beneath him.

On the subsequent 9 year Ferratan Exodus, Knights of House Alaricum stayed with the great refugee fleet, aiding them in their running battle with the Hereteks who pursued them. It was Baron Metellus Phokion who first directed the Ferratan Exodus towards what would be its ultimate destination, the Forge World of Epipolae, located back in their ancestral Zylos sector. During the whole trip they were harried by Fornax’s dark forces, and the Knights of House Alaricum fought a dozen heroic battles in the fleet’s defense.

When they arrived in Zylos, they were met with the combined armies of the Sector, ready to help them fight off the small armada of Chaos warships that followed. At that moment, everything was thrown into chaos as a massive disruption surged through the Warp. At that moment, half the galaxy away, Cadia fell, and at that moment the Great Rift spread across the galaxy. This had no immediate effect on the forces arrayed, except that every psyker in the sector at once felt the power of the Warp surge through them. Many were killed, and many others driven mad. When the Heretics struck their blow, it was not at the refugee fleet, nor the Forge World Epipolae, but the Shrine World of Cuznov.

House Alaricum’s homeworld had undergone considerable change. Now under the marginal administration of the Ecclesiarchy, it was defended principally by its own Imperial Guard Regiment, the Cuznov Templars. Soon after the Heretics landed they found themselves trapped between the reinforced refugee fleet and the defenders, who put up unexpectedly dogged resistance. When the Hereteks landed a shuttle on the planet and were detected moving something towards the main Cathedral to Saint Ajax, the Adeptus Astartes of the Battencian Heralds Chapter were unleashed in a lightning strike to destroy what was believed to be some kind of horrific explosive or secret weapon. What they actually found was a miracle. Princeps Zentos Alaricum, born King of House Ferrata, alive.

Zentos had spent the entire duration of the Exodus as a captive of the enemy. He did not know until they arrived over Cuznov why he had been spared during the final phases of the Siege of Ferrata. It was only when he was informed of the Fall of Cadia that he truly knew what was meant for him on the planet. The Hereteks had brought him there to access the Alarican Crypt, and gain access to the ancient technologies within. Now once more at the head of his House, Zentos descended beneath the grand Cathedral to Saint Ajax and entered the Crypt. When he returned hours later, he was at the helm of *Bellator Vindex* which then marched to war once more, repelling the Heretics from Cuznov in a grand display of its revived glory.

### The Era Indomitus

With the end of the Ferratan Exodus and the settling of the refugees upon Epipolae, it was mutually decided that the terms of the original Treaty with Ferrata had lapsed, and thus House Alaricum was free to its own devices. After much discussion with the Ecclesiarchy, it was decided that they would settle on Cuznov once more. At the same time Zentos changed his title, abandoning the Princeps of the Mechanicum to once more become King of House Alaricum. The old title of High King was decided against, for he was not yet truly worthy of it. After a period of restructuring and replenishment, soon the House once more began dispatching Questing formations of Knights to aid in wars across the Imperium. With the proximity of the Great Rift, they found plenty of opportunities for glorious combat not far from home. This was the state of things as dread forces from the Warp once more looked upon Zylos with hungry eyes.

## Homeworld

Cuznov is a Civilized Shrine World in the Northeastern portion of the Zylos Sector. It is a world of plentiful cities, many of which are full of churches and shrines of the Imperial Creed. The planetary capital of Aurelia contains the Grand Cathedral to Saint Ajax. The city itself is ringed by great mountains, the largest of which, Gran Opala, contains *Lysander’s Redoubt* the grand castle fortress of the Knightly House. Due to House Alaricum’s long absence, there is a well-established Planetary elite, with a system of governance divorced from House politics. Plots of land on the world have been dedicated as the demesne of Zentos Alaricum and his descendants, but the King does not rule his ancestral world entirely. This has led to the House playing the game of Imperium politics with the Ecclesiarchy and the other factions. House Alaricum's influence is considerable, and it seems that every year their holdings on the world grow.

## Culture

House Alaricum’s culture is deep rooted, going back to its very founding upon the plains of Cuznov. It is their belief that no respect is to be held for the sworn enemies of Mankind, but that even if they have no honor there is honor to be gained in killing them. The House’s culture has long endured in the image of its founding, the mental programming of their Knight suits and the tenets of young nobles’ education preserving the old ways.

Over the last several decades, however, House Alaricum’s culture has been significantly altered for the first time in centuries by its intermixing with the peoples of Cuznov, long divorced from the House’s own ways. Millennia of intermingling with the servants of the Ecclesiarchy, pilgrims, and the other worlds of the Zylos sector has resulted in a new culture that has left a stark imprint on the House. Members of upper class families of this new order have, by necessity, begun to take up positions of their own within the House as interbreeding proves insufficient to keep up numbers. The House’s armsmen is provided by two regiments of the Cuznov Templars Imperial Guard, which have been seconded to House Alaricum indefinitely on orders of the Planetary Government.

Recently, more and more of the House’s political management has fallen onto the next generation, with the King’s son, along with his daughter in law, possessing an increasing say in House Alaricum’s policy.

## Notable House Members

### House Rulers

* **High King Ajax Alaricum**  - The first recorded High King of House Alaricum left his mark upon the Galaxy in a truly exceptional manner. Rising from relative obscurity, Ajax led House Alaricum headlong into the Great Crusade, fighting alongside disparate Imperial forces to win hundreds of victories in the Emperor’s name. The hard fighting and treacherous journey had had an effect on the High King, which led to his conversion to the new Cult of the God Emperor. Upon the walls of the Imperial Palace one day before the battle was joined, he gave a proselytizing speech, a sermon of sorts in the Emperor’s name. Under normal circumstances, he’d probably have died for it, but the defenders of Terra were in no position to be killing their own. It is unknown how many days this was repeated for, records being spotty of that chaotic time. What is known is that one day Ajax Alaricum addressed the faithful of the Emperor for the last time. That day, in the ferocity of the fight against Traitor Knights and Titans, machines like their own corrupted by the power of the Dark Gods, the High King’s legendary Knight, Bellator Vindex, was struck down, and he was killed. The fighting over his body was ferocious, lasting several solar hours, but ultimately it was recovered. In the 32nd Millennium, the new Imperial Ecclesiarchy would canonize Ajax as a Saint of the God Emperor, a heroic warrior who preached the word of the Emperor and was martyred during the Imperium’s greatest battle
* **High King Lysander Alaricum**

* **Princeps Zylpha Alaricum**

* **King Zentos Alaricum** - The current ruler of House Alaricum has had an interesting life. Zentos Alaricum was born in the latter half of the 41st Millennium, a scion of the ruling dynasty of the long-lived House Alaricum. By the time Zentos was born his House had been for two thousand years bound by treaty with the Forge World of Ferrata, located in Segmentum Solar. Zentos’ youth was considered a part of a Golden Age for the house that spanned much of the 41st Millennium. He grew up largely within a fortress that had been wrought on Ferrata’s surface specifically for House Alaricum’s use. Zentos’ captors took him with them when they moved to pursue the Ferratans. During their harrowing journey he was repeatedly tortured and psychically probed for information on his house’s past. When the Fornax fleet arrived in the Zylos Sector, which houses Forge World Epipolae, Zentos was taken under escort to the Shrine world of Cuznov, home of his ancestral crypt. Currently an active warzone, Zentos was sighted upon the world’s surface and rescued by Imperial forces. Wounded both in his imprisonment and his rescue, Zentos was taken to the rear of Imperial lines and shown beneath the Cathedral to Saint Ajax Alaricum, founder of his Knightly House. The crypt beneath had been long sealed, but a millennia-old prophecy, fulfilled when Cadia fell and the Great Rift was opened, dictated that now the blood of an Alaricum was needed to open it. The truth turned out a bit more complex. Zentos was allowed into the crypt’s antechamber, but it was not simply blood given that would allow him full ingress. It would require blood shed. In the antechamber he endured a rigorous trial, a trial of physical prowess that pushed his injured body to its very limits. The mental trials he was subjected to were far harder. While he labored, he was under constant psychic assault, his mind and spirit under the constant watch of his ancestors. At the end, he found himself face to face with *Bellator Vindex*, the Knight Paladin that the Saint had manned during his life. The mighty war machine of House Alaricum’s founders.

### House Nobles

* **Crown Prince Demetrios Alaricum**

* **Princess Katarina Alaricum**

## Notable Knights

* ***Bellator Vindex*** -
* ***Socium Fidelium*** -

## Relations

### Enemies

#### House Iratus

House Iratus represents perhaps the greatest shame to House Alaricum in its history. Their name before they fell has been lost to Imperial records, but it is likely they were one of the Houses seeded in Segmentum Obscurus by Saint Ajax Alaricum during his participation in the Great Crusade. For millennia they fought side by side against the Emperor’s foes, even during the darkness of the Horus Heresy. As the Age of the Imperium wore on, they became more estranged from House Alaricum as the Knights became more focused on their unending Quest. In the 36th Millennium, they gave their wholehearted support to Goge Vandire, welcoming the Traitor King of Deraka when he fled from the House’s Thorist majority. Indeed, due to his bloodline connection to Saint Ajax, he managed to take lead of the wayward House. When Vandire fell, the Traitor King led his Knights onwards, ultimately entering the service of the Dark Gods.

## Gallery

House Alaricum livery shield with Household coat-of-arms, affixed to the hull of a Knight Paladin.House Alaricum Princpes Honour Banner of a Knight Paladin.