Asgard

Asgard is one of the founding members of the Imperial Trust and was the capital of the Asgard Sub-Sector from which the Imperial Trust was formed.

Asgard was classified as a Knight World in the Old Imperium, and is the base of the Aesir, an ancient Knight House that traces its roots back to the first colonisation of the Sub-Sector early in the Dark Age of Technology. During the time of the Imperial it had close ties with the Forge World Atlas, though these ties were broken by the Warp Storm after the Death of the Emperor and Atlas' later fall to the forces of the Abomination. Like most Knight Worlds Asgard is dominated by its ruling knights, though unlike many it is a civilised world with a large population.

## Environment

Asgard is a fertile world with large reserves of metal that is a major food exporter within the Imperial Trust.

## People and History

The history of Asgard, goes back into the Dark Age of Technology when they were the fourth of the Nine Worlds to be colonized, after Niflheim, Helheim and Muspelheim. During the Age of Strife they were one of the few worlds to maintain a continues history and culture like many of the other Knight Worlds and they were quick to rejoin the Imperium when the Great Crusade reached the Nine Worlds. In the time of the Imperium the Aesir earned the reputation of a skilled and loyal Knight House but a large combination of factors led to the Imperium greatly underestimating their numbers. The main factors in this estimation is the sheer number of Freeblade Knights who hail from Asgard and the connection that these Freeblades maintain with the Aesir, the fact that they never deployed more then a single Branches force to a single theatre outside of their Sub-Sector and that when asked how large their House is they always answered how large the branch of which they are a member of is rather then how large the Aesir as a whole are. This was increased by the fact that the Aesir have always viewed the protection of the Nine Worlds as their main duty and have often deployed against threats to the Nine Worlds with no support from outside the Sub-Sector, not really needing any.

Since the formation of the Imperial Trust Asgard has developed into a powerful world even outside of its rulers, exporting food and advanced technology in large amounts. This is in part due to the reformations of Lord-Marshal Sigurd, who gave many more rights to the Thralls, who had more rights then most serfs to begin with, and encouraged the expansion of Asgards population and industry to better support the Imperial Trust in the times to come.

## The Aesir

The Aesir are one of the least formal and most progressive of the Knights Houses in the Imperium a fact often attributed to the fact that they have always had their own patterns of Knights which they have been using since the formation of Asgard. They are also among the most individualistic and activity encourage their members to spend a decade or more as a Freeblade in order to prove their worth. This has led to the Aesir being one of the most individualistic of the Knight Houses with each Knight and Noble House having a large degree of independence but conversely the Aesir are highly loyal to those who have proven themselves such as their Marshalls.

The Knight House of the Aesir is divided into twelve lesser branches each of which themselves are divided into different noble families of varying levels. The Royal Houses are those houses who can field over twenty-five maniples of Knights and there are currently twenty Royal Houses. Below the Royal Houses are the Ducal Houses who can each potentially field at least ten maniples of knights, next are the Baronial Houses who can field five maniples and last are the Knightly Houses who can field at least one Knight. The other two categories of noble House on Asgard are the Noble Houses which are the minor nobility who can't field any Knights for any reason and the Honorary Marshals who are those who have earned high position for great deeds or wisdom and are counted among the upper Nobility whether or not they can currently field any Knights. There are currently six Honorary Marshals of Asgard and these consist of the commanders of the Guardians of Valhalla, the Aesir Air Superiority Force, the Men-At-Arms, the navy, the chief diplomat and Governor Rotbart of Avernus. Each of the Marshall is given an Earldom, either for their lifetime or in perpetuity and there are currently twenty-two Earls among the Aesir, being considered to be between the barons and the Dukes in the noble hierarchy. Given that the rank of a house is determined by how many Knights it can field at any given time it is quite common for houses position in society to change and less empathizes is put on current noble title then in many Knightly Houses.

### Leadership

The leader of the Aesir, and therefore Asgard, is the Lord-Marshal who is advanced by the Marshal of the Aesir, including all Honorary Marshals and the Marshals of the twelve branches of the Aesir.

The title of Marshall which is given to the leader of each of the branches of the Aesir and is chosen after a challenge of wit, skill, leadership and might that pits potential candidates against each other. Any Marshall can be challenged by one of the Knights n a yearly event with the position of Marshall going to the victor. Given that the incumbent has a significant advantage it is rare for a Marshall to lose his position this way until he has reached an extreme age, or as is far more likely died in combat. Those who have lost the position of Marshall in a challenge are given the title of Elder and are often the main advisers to their successors. The Lord Marshall is the leader of the Aesir and can be challenged by the current Marshall's to a far more equal contest.

## Military

The military forces of Asgard are built around the Knights of the Aesir to a massive extent, and it shows. While the Aesir themselves are skilled, relatively disciplined Knights with incredibly powerful machines and some of their support lives up to them the Men-At-Arms that make up the vast majority of the forces of Asgard are considered to be some of the worst troops in the Imperial Trust, if not the worst.

Outside of the Knights Asgard has two formations that are respected both within Asgard and in the trust itself.

The first are the Guardians of Valhalla, an elite unit of infantry that guard the halls of the Aesir and protect the Knights when they are not in use. This power armoured formation is a respectable grenadiers unit by Imperial Trust standards, and recruits from a range of sources, with loyalty being valued more then skill.

Next is the Aesir Air Superiority Force, which is one of the best equipped and most skilled airforces in the Imperial Trust even though it mostly consists of fighters and Dropships. This is due to the fact that the Air Superiority Forceis considered to be the best way to earn glory if you are unable to pilot a Knight, so the Air Superiority Force is made up mostly of Aesir. As such its pilots have often been trained since childhood to use their war-machines under the tutelage of the best pilots their noble parents can find. Due to the wealth of its members the Aesir Air Superiority Force is one of the best equipped in the Imperial Trust, with Dark Age designs and pilot armour as standard.