House Valkia

"*The horrors of the galaxy will never stop. The doom of the Imperium is here, and the fall of the Artemis Sector is all but written. We are the only line of defense against the horrors and the realms of mankind. Never shall we yield, and when we fall, we will do so with glory.*"
—Jonas Valkia, the current High King, after the opening of thee Great Rift.
**House Valkia** is an Imperial Knight house of the Questor Imperialis and is aligned with the Imperium of Man. It is located on the hot, tropical world of Indivia in the Sunder system of the Artemis Sector. They are renowned across the sector as its saviors and guardians, and many knights have been hailed as heroes of the sector.

They had a strong bond with the forces of Antara Sigma, a forge world also located in the depths of the Artemis Sector. The house and the forge world fiught side by side on countless wars during the Great Crusade.

They fought back the swarms of Hive Fleet Anubis during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Anubian Wars, the tides of Chaos, and many other threats. They are currently ruled over by High King Jonas Valkia, and now fight in Guillimans Indomitus Crusade.

## History

### Founding and Origins

House Valkia was founded in the 25th Millennium at the end of the Age of Technology and in the early days of what would later be called the Age of Strife by Seria Valkia on the world of Indivia. At the time, Indivia was home to multiple Knight houses, with House Valkia being but one amongst many, and they protected the settlements from the predators that stalked the dense jungles.

When the Age of Strife tore the first human civilization apart, the Knight houses of Indivia took power, and founded multiple kingdoms and domains across the world, though the peace would not last. Shortages of many vital materials that were imported from off-world led to war against the Knight houses. House Valkia fought valiantly against the other houses, and the civil wars lasted for over two millennia.

Knight houses were destroyed, rebel houses formed, and new ones rose from the ashes as the wars raged unrelenting, but House Valkia held firm, defeating and subsuming rival houses and eventually gaining ground. House Valkia finally assaulted the remaining strongholds of the other houses, and the civil wars finally ended, and House Valkia rose as the sole surviving house, and claimed sole dominion over the world.

### Great Crusade

Indivia was rediscovered by an unrecorded expedition fleet of the Blood Angels Legions in what is believed to be the year 837,M30, and the current High King, Ramus Valkia, agreed to the proposal and pledged the houses support to the Great Crusade. The closets forge world of the ancient Mechanicum, Antara Sigma, began sending representatives and advisors to the Knight World to help repair the Knights, which were dilapidated for the millennia of isolation.

Antara Sigma indoctrinated the local artisans into the Cult Mechanicus, and also began trading the materials needed for repair for the food and minerals found on the Knight World. House Valkia and Antara Sigma developed a close bond, and regularly fought together in the wars and campaigns of the Great Crusade.

### Horus Heresy

When news of Horus' betrayal was heard of on Indivia, it was met with a mix of betrayal and hope. Some were still unhappy that they were forced into the Imperium and fought wars for a man they never met. Others were loyal to the Imperium, and would side with the Emperor no matter the cause.

A meeting was called in the Court of Indivia, where all Barons and Baronesses gather to discuss the affairs of the galaxy and world. The High King Lanto Valkia proposed sending out some forces of Knights to help put down Horus' treachery. There were some Barons, however, that secretly supported Horus and his cause, as they wanted to be free from the Emperor.

As the loyalists gathered in the world's only Spaceport, *Gate of Valhalla,* which is located in the capital city of Indivia, Achallor, as they prepared to depart to worlds besieged by the Traitor Legions, the traitors struck. From within the ranks of the gathered Knights, the traitors suddenly attacked their brethren without warning, as massive Reaper Chainswords and Thunderstrike Gauntlets tore into the loyalists and ripped them apart. Cannons fired into the adamantium carpaces of the Knights, blowing them apart, and before the loyalists comprehended what was going on, almost a third of loyalist Knights were destroyed.

Despite the losses and the unexpected betrayal, the loyalists fought back, as the battle spread out from the spaceport to the rest of the city. The House Guard, the foot soldiers of the house that protected the world and served as the PDF, fought alongside them, fighting against their traitorous brethren as well.

The battle in Achallor quickly moved on from the city, and across the world, loyalist and traitor Knights, and the House Guard fought their traitors as well. Cities were leveled and destroyed, and many millions died as the Knights fought one another for control of the world.

Lanto Valkia, the reigning High King, led a final, massive assault on the traitors stronghold in the city of Omnicia, and Lanto would duel the traitors leader, Baron Ravica Helwin, as their Reaper Chainswords clashed and battle cannons fired and tore massive holes in another. Lanto eventually gained the upper hand and slew Ravics with a strike of his Reaper Chainsword, which destroyed the Throne Mechanicum where Ravica sat, and the Knight fell in a fiery explosion. It would take another solar year for the last traitors to be killed, and at this point, only about a dozen or so Knights were still operational.

### Post Heresy

After the end of the Horus Heresy, House Valkia was badly scarred and near extinction. It did not help that Antara Sigma, their once great ally, had suffered terribly during the Heresy, losing their holy shipyard, the Celestial Foundry*,* to the traitors attack, and would slowly descend into isolation. One of the last interaction between the two worlds was Antara Sigma sending a final shipment of about 20 Knights to Indivia, and the house sending a final shipment of food and minerals.

## Homeworld

Indivia is a world covered in dense jungles, towering mountains, and vast oceans. The world is dominated by two major continents along with several minor islands and thousands of smaller islands. The house fortress is located on the Abasta continent, and is the place where the original colonists settled.

## House Organisation

### Overview

Indivia, much like the other Knight Worlds of the Imperium, is a feudal place, where most of the populace are peasants who toil on farms, mines, and herd the beasts of the world. The population dwells in walled, stoned cities similar to the cities of Terras medieval age, and each city is ruled over by a Count or Countess. Cities tend to be grouped together into Fiefdoms, each ruled over by a Baron or Baroness, who pilots a Knight suit, and is the protector of the Fiefdom and commander of the local defenders.

Every Baron is part of the Court of Indivia, which discuss the affairs of the world, sector, and the wider Imperium. They deliberate where to deploy to and what warzones are closets and more feasible to fight in. When a High Ruler dies, the Council will elect a new High Ruler from the Barons and Baronesses, and similarly, when a new Kingsward is needed, the greatest warrior of the Barons is elected for the position.

### Bloodlines

Every Fiefdom will be ruled by a noble lineage known as a Bloodline, and it is these that make up the backbone of the survival of House Valkia. The Barons of the Fiefdom will be the leaders of the Bloodline and Counts will be the more prodigious and older of the Bloodline. Every Fiefdom is named for the ruling Bloodline, such as the "The Hassak Fiefdom" and "The Valemarn Fiefdom", with the most power Bloodline in the 41st Millennium being the Nullflame Bloodline.

#### Notable Bloodlines

* **Nullflame Bloodline**

* **Hassak Bloodline**

* **Fiztura Bloodline**

* **Valemarn Bloodline**

* **Narman Bloodline**

### House Guard

The House Guard are the regular soldiers recruited from Indivias population and serve as the planets PDF. Every Fiefdom will be assigned a "Regiment" that protects said Fiefdom, and every cities House Guard will be commanded by the Count, and the entire Regiment by the Baron.

### House Rulers and Nobles

* **High King or Queen** - Known also as just the High Ruler, the High King or Queen has complete control over all the Knights of House Valkia, and is the supreme commander of the and is the de facto governor of Indivia. Upon becoming the High Ruler, the recipient is then rid of their surname and replaced with "Valkia" as a nod that they are the ruler of the world and homage to the founder of the house, as all living descendants of Seria Valkia were killed during the Age of Strife.
* **Kingsward** - The Kingsward is the loyal bodyguard of the reigning High Ruler, accompanying them anywhere they may go, be it in a Knight suit or not.
* **Barons** - Barons are the rulers of the Fiefdoms of the world and their noble Bloodline, and they will be the pilots of the Knight suits. They are the main protectors of the Fiefdom, and are also the commanders of the local House Guard, regular soldiers that form the planets PDF.
* **Counts** - Counts are the rulers of the many cities that dot the surface of Indivia and the lesser rulers within a Bloodline. They are responsible for the day to day affairs of the city and surrounding region of the city, such labor management, the supply of food and minerals for trade to the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the training and management of the local House Guard. Some of the more wealthier and powerful Counts are able to pilot Knight suits.

## Combat Doctrine

Barons (and the occasional Count) will come to form Lances, formed of 5 Knights and led by an appointed High Baron.

## Notable Knights

* ***Valkia Dominatus*** - *Valkia Dominatus* is a Dominus Pattern Knight and the oldest Knight still in service of the house, having been constructed by the Mechanicum of Antara Sigma during the Great Crusade as a gift for the deeds done by House Valkia on the world of Yerna. It became customary for the ruling High King or Queen to inherit and pilot the Knight, and the first such to pilot this legendary knight was High King Oto Valkia in the later years of the Great Crusade.

* ***Hand of Fortitude*** - *Hand of Fortitude* was an Imperial Knight serving during the Great Crusade and later the Horus Heresy.