House Lacus

Crest for the House Lacus

The knight of Lord Otto Calus Lacus XXVIII of House Lacus, "Apsalis".

### Warcry

*Vive, sustine. Sic noctem vinces!* (Survive, endure. So you may conquer the night)

### Colours

Bright deep red, black and white

"*For as long as this long night shall go on. We shall endure. For as long as the stars breath life. We shall survive. For as long as life itself lives on. So shall we*"
—Otto Apsalis Viridi on the night the trees wept.
**House Lacus** a noble Questor Imperialis hailing from the paradise feudal world of Iocath II. This luscious world has grand forests, gleaming oceans, blue skies and rolling grass plains. The defining natural feature however is the beautiful blue green lakes that are abundant across the world. The Lacus household holds a believe of survival of the fittest and loyalty. It formed these beliefs during the *Old Night* where one could not survive by being weak, nor callous enough to believe one can survive on their own. Thus as a result during an event known as *The night the trees wept* the rival noble houses of the time were annihilated by Otto Apsalis Viridi I, supplanting himself as the sole regent of the world. His family line would grow throughout the many long years with multiple secondary branches of the family tree being established should the worst come to be. The secondary line set fourth from their numerous fortresses across Iocath however the main branch launches any crusade against the dark from the *Jasper Bastion*, a truly formidable construction of stone. However since the House was rediscovered it has been upgraded with a great void shield being placed under the stronghold and the keep being reinforced with modern construction materials. In combat the House believes in the mindset of strike as hard and strike often, grouping their Knights and Armigers into smaller formations to be mobile enough to detect weaknesses in the enemy and exploit them to the fullest before moving on to the next target. Rarely does the House engage in open pitch battles but when it does it is a true spectacle.

## History

### First settlers (M19)

The records of this early era of Iocath are very sparse as like most knight worlds much was lost during *the Old Night*. What is known from this time is from oral history which is suspect to being warped overtime. Nonetheless, the aspiring youth of House Lacus and its subsidiary branches are taught that the early settlers used the planets bountiful soil to feed the greater human empire, much like they have done after rediscovery. Further the planet is host to the mineral Diamantine which was greatly useful in a industrial and military capacity. It is said that the planets earliest use of mediation pools and the establishment of the noble houses was born during this time.

### The Long Night (M25)

As the age of strife begun and Iocath was separated from the wider human race, psykers began to manifest amongst the peasantry. This flip in the balance of power towards the common man in addition to the unknown consequences of these beings cause the noble houses of the time to form the *Order of the Lake*. This orders primary purpose was to seek out these individuals and either destroy them or imprison them for experimentation, after the first daemonic possession however this order was changed to destroy them. In order to ensure no psykers were left unchecked the Order was even given power to kill members of the noble houses. This power was eventually taken away after the *Beowulf incident* where House Beowulf was effectively all but wiped out due to the Orders overzealous purge.

#### Otto Viridi

Otto Apsalis Viridi the 1st was born of House Viridi Lacus roughly in 670.M27. By the time he reached 14 years of age it became clear he was brutally intelligent and cunning, this caused his father to raise him to heir of the House in recognition of his abilities. His father then died under mysterious circumstances a year later. As Otto reached adulthood he begun rapidly expanding his Men at arms far beyond what the other houses had, the more savvy houses saw the writing on the wall and pledged their allegiance to him behind closed doors. As his power amassed the remaining houses began a arms race to catch up, however this was apart of his plan.

#### The night the trees wept (~M27)

In 700.M27 during the shortest day of the year, Otto enacted his long awaited plan. In the dead of night assassins infiltrated each of the rival houses and murdered all the rival nobles. By the time dawn broke Otto's army had walked into his rivals fortresses and keeps without resistance. To further cement his rule his stripped his allies of their power and adopted the members he personally saw potential in, into his own house. Afterwards he found the first secondary branch of the house the *Pointed leaf* branch, this branch would oversee the mines in the northern part of the Adamas continent.

#### The night drags on (M27-M30)

As the *Old Night* dragged onwards, Otto's decedents established further branches of the main house that being the *Green Blades* which oversaw the training and leadership of a majority of the men at arms. And the *Aedificators* which oversaw the maintaining of the remaining knights, this branch unlike the other which where given their own fortresses and keeps stayed the Jasper Bastion this way the main line could keep very close tabs on them.

### Rediscovery (920.M30)

Iocath's discovery by the Adeptus Mechanicus during the Great crusade was a boon for the backwater region of the galactic southwest. Lord Otto Gravus Lacus IX pledged his allegiance to the Imperial of Man itself however, greatly aggravating the Mechanicus. As such House Lacus was restructured, with the Aedificator branch being fully absorbed back into the main house.

#### Horus Heresy (011.M31)

In 011.M31 Lord Otto Lacus IX received word from Verica of Horus's rebellion against the Imperium, this deeply troubled him however his loyalty held firm. A portion of what remained of the Raven Guard including Corvus Corax passed by the sector in 012 Iocath sent 80% of its knights to aid the Primarch with the Lord being among the force. The combined force moved northward putting down rebellion in their path, until they reached Yarant III where Leman Russ was under siege. The combined forces saved Leman from destruction.

In 014.M31 the combined force heard of the Siege of Terra itself they planned to make great haste to aid but where bogged down without the light of the Astronomican. When the force arrived it was too late and the Emperor has been mortally wounded. House Lacus began the long trip home, along the way aiding the in crushing of remaining traitor forces, this delay would prove fatal however. When the knights returned home they found their world under siege from members of the dark Mechanicum, unable to make planet-fall without support Otto IX called for support this called was answered by Verica sending what they could to break through the blockage.

After making planet-fall Otto IX and his Mechanicus allies begun a desperate defense of the Main Bastion Jasper. This defense would be prove not enough and they were pushed back. On the edge of being overwhelmed all seemed lost, that was until a element of Space wolves arrived to assist. With there new found support the Imperial forces fought a long and bloody battle for control of the planet, with it being fully reconquered by 064.M31.

Many of the knights of House Lacus were destroyed in their desperate defense with 155 knights being destroyed in combat. It took many years to rebuild; However the house never recovered to per-heresy strength, reason being the serious degrading of technology and industrial capacity along with the house being not affiliated with the Mechanicus. To prevent the total depletion of knight forces in the future the secondary branches were given more knight forces of their own to ensure a compartmentalization of knight forces.

### Post Heresy (M31-M32)

In 994.M31 The missionaries of Temple of the Saviour Emperor would reach the Iocath the religion and its following forms was slow to take root, and was never fully embraced by the House itself finding it to be a betrayal of the Imperial truth.

In 341.M32 Vincere Balus Lacus set begun the colony of Iocath III or better known as Coralus. Coralus a ocean world with long snake like landmasses with beautiful waters but lacking in compared to the mineral deposits and space of Iocath Prime. However the world was discovered to have a truly gargantuan amount of small fish with a seeming young evolution progression. Thus the world became known for exports of fish and sea foods. This demand for mass exporting of goods warranted Vincere to levy for a star-port to be built on the world. However his requests went unanswered until a local agri world experienced a mass crop failure. The star-port of mare-stella was built in 368.M32 on in the middle of a large atol, with a train network stretching to sea ports on the atol itself for ease bottlenecks. As a result of Coralus becoming a exporter of food to the local area Vincere made multiple treaties with local worlds for a constant flow of foodstuff and protection in exchange for thrones or advanced manufactured goods. In particular forge world Verica was given the lions share of exported goods, both as a way to help bolster the still small knight numbers and so the House was on more amicable terms with the Mechanicus

#### The War of the Beast (M32)

In 544.M32 The War of the Beast would begin, shortly afterwards Iocath was assaulted by an Ork Waaagh. The Waaagh’s main push is crushed by a counter attack by the *Green Blades*. Hearing the blights of Terra Lord Sarah Malus Lacus sent a force from the main house along with the Pointed Leaf to aid Lord Vulkan. She would personally lead her forces in the push to Ullanor. After the light resistance of planet-fall the knights led by their Lord pushed forward acting as a spear for the Imperial army, however when the Ork counterattack led by Gargants set forth when they reached Gorkogrod the Houses forces are wiped out completely.

##### Ork Waaaghs

Hearing of the devastating losses of the away forces sends the rest of House Lacus into shock, with their Lord dead and their heir untested their was a great sense of unease amongst the house and local worlds. With the Orks still on Iocath reorganizing for another push the now Lord Gal Gravus Lacus enacts a high and run campaign with his remaining forces managing to delay the Orks for sometime. This protracted length of minor skirmishes by the main force of Orks sent them into a rage where they sent everything to Jasper. This direct assault is met by the entirety of what remains of the Houses forces. The following battle saw Lord Gal engage the Ork warboss *Nugduzak Starsnag* in single combat. He managed to defeat the warboss despite only being connected to his Knight for 8 months, he then rallied his forces to push the orks back. The following route pushed the Orks into the Demius canyon, but not having the numbers to kill the Orks outright the Lord decided on building a number of smaller forts to keep the Orks contained.

###### Great peace (640.M32 - 101.M34)

Following the containment of the Orks, Iocath saw a extended period of peace and prosperity. With the forces of the House regaining their strength and the forts around Demius canyon being reinforced with a subsequent new branch of the House *Demius*. During this time the peasant population exploded to a record 230 Million people.

###### 2nd Waaagh (101.M34 - 113.M34)

In 101.M34 the isolated Orks of Demius canyon saw a substantially size Ork become the new warboss, he then broke through a Demius fort with the garrison growing complacent. After this the Ork took the name of the last warboss *Nugduzak Starsnag*, the following Waaagh was of relatively small scale with only small deployments of knights and the following ambushes being brutal. This carried on till the Lord at the time died, his son Otto XIX taking the Ork threat much more serious deployed his houses forces in its full might. The overwhelming power seemingly destroyed the Ork forces in 113.M34.

###### 3rd Waaagh (170.M34 - 175.M34)

However after around 50 years the Waaagh returned with another Nugduzak Starsnag at the helm. His waaagh would be more successful, capturing 3 secondary line fortresses. The surprise was total and paralyzed much of the house with what to do next. The now senior Otto XIX took to the field to put down the Orks for good. He lead the forces of the main line to crush the new warboss, the ensuing pitch battle saw Otto XIX slay the warboss. The Lord then spent the next 5 years ensuring the Orks had been annihilated.

#### Fragmented Millennia (400.M34 - 800.M37)

##### The Great Fire of Jasper 972.M37

In 972.M37 Bishop Enos Benevyon Malkul made his visit to Iocath prime. To be expected the Bishop brought along a number of followers with him, however what was unexpected was the sheer fanaticism of the devotees even by Imperial standards. As the Bishop toured the world and his pilgrims followed, they acted like an inquisitorial probe towards every village, town and even House Bastions. Being followers of the Bishop their wasn't much the average soldier or arbitrates would do out of fear of retribution. As the tour went on the zealots became increasingly volatile, apparently the citizenry and even nobility were not pious enough for the group. This reached a climax when the tour finally ended at the Lord's Bastion *Jasper*. While the Bishop and his upper cadre where occupied with meeting with the lord, the zealots began their usual nuisance of testing the piety of the Bastions residents. However this questioning of religious morals which had been so far ignored or treated with indifference was meet with a rageful response from Knight Cornelius Vaum-Lyrzode Lacus, a junior member of the main house's 3rd platoon.

The encounter saw one of the deacons of the group Erasmus Arkhix, emboldened by previous idleness by planetary forces; Burst into 3rd platoons hanger, a completely outrageous act. As the Bishop was staying at the fortress many knights of the main house were on patrol or being shown off to the Bishop, however *Atrenton* (Cornelius's knight) machine spirit was aggravated and was put on stand by to avoid an incident. Seeing to him peasantry barge into his platoons hanger drew out a tremendous fury from Cornelius, he started immediately shouting and the deacon and his followers from beside his god-machine. Seeing a supposed opportunity to expose the house and gain more favour with the Bishop, Erasmus started an argument with Cornelius primarily about authority. Erasmus however made a mistake, his assumed Cornelius was a mere laborer or at best a Aedificator; His mistake became rather apparent quite quickly when Cornelius began responding to the Deacon in high gothic. Although it was much too late for retreat, he'd already trespassed on near holy ground for the Mechanicus and begun arguing with a god-machines pilot over authority. The gravity of the situation became very real to Erasmus, either out of arrogance or denial he escalated the argument into a full on shouting match. With his followers behind him he began marching towards Cornelius and shouting **Heretic!** this grew to a chant. Cornelius realized if the mob got to him they would probably kill him for being a heretic, the thought of being killed by insignificant common folk made his blood cold. Seemingly having enough with this farce Cornelius boarded *Atrenton* and powered up the knight.

As soon as the knight moved into an upright position the mob halted and begun to slowly move backwards in fear, the deacon started praying for his survival. The eyes of the god-machine glowed with a bright red fury surpassing that of glorious red giants. *Atrentons* war horn blared with a intensity that shattered the windows of the grand hanger, and ruptured the eardrums of many of the mob. This of course drew the attention of the man at arms. Which near instantly began flooding into the hanger to stop any intrusion, they were greeted by a knight staring down a mob of zealots. The man at arms assumed rather perceptively the mob had endangered a princeps life and they'd gotten into their knight for safety. The soldiers swarmed the mob and began pushing them out the hanger, however the mob with alot of their members suddenly deaf and confused began pushing back. As this was going on *Atrentons* the spirits of past pilots began overtaking Cornelius, the Las-Impulsor on the right arm began charging to fire. As the weapon reached full charge the men at arms that noticed began fleeting with great haste but most of the along with the mob were too focused on each other thus failing to see the bright blue glow the room now had.

A tremendous heat could be felt anywhere within 600 meters of the hanger, the glass in the room turned into liquid within seconds. The mob of zealots and men at arms had been reduced to to burn patterns on the parts of the floor that didn't melt, in where it did melt there was no evidence they ever existed. A hole stretching from the hanger floor deep into the earth now premeditated through the fortress like a cross-section. Rapidly the all connecting rooms to the hole filled with smoke and toxic gases as wood, rock and metal melted and burned. The fortress was on fire for over 3 days, when all was said and done many parts of the fortress were not recoverable and had to be completely demolished this included a large portion of the records library which had suffered great damage with records between 400.M34 and 100.M35 being completely reduced to ash, and the records from 100.M35 and 800.M37 where greatly damaged and partly non readable.

Relations between the Ecclesiarchy and House Lacus were greatly affected as a result, the Eccaslarchial power on Iocath virtually evaporated overnight. The church only had a say in what happened in the churches and shrines on Iocath and Coralus, and a very strict policy of no pilgrims ever stepping foot on Iocath was put into place. No high ranking member of the Ecclesiarchy has visited Iocath since.

##### War of Recovery (104.M36 - 204.M36)

According to what remained of the documents of this era aswell as cross reference from Mechanicus records, House Lacus was apart of the 12 knight houses that partook in the War of Recovery. The house had the honor of recovering 2 first generation STC copies, this deed proved greatly beneficial in improving the stance with the Mechanicus. Aswell as the liberation of human colonies in the Mortuam Chain. As a reward House Lacus was given the Styrix Knight *Corentis*.

##### Other fragments

Approximately around 549.M36 Coralus grew rapidly nearly tripling the population

Assisted Imperial in repelling and wiping out the Fe'Zhor Empire.

In 610.M36 House Lacus dispatched a force to aid in a crusade in the dark marches.

#### Bellrath Crusade (182.M38 - 453.M38)

In 182.M38 House Lacus joined the titan legions in the Bellrath Crusade with Praetor Slayban Bellrath personally making an appearance on Iocath to ask for their assistance. Lord Philp Ion Lacus was moved by the personal touch and humility of the Praetor and gladly accepted the request sending a full platoon of 9 Knights and 12 Armigers led by Baron Gavil Lacus. Over the next 300 years the Baron and his successor achieved many victories for House Lacus. During the years of the crusade, members of the House got rather familiar with the Janus Marines Chapter, their adaptability proved rather useful in the high mobility style of the House. As such the chapter proved useful in protecting the flanks of House formations assaults and then using said flanks to rapidly and thoroughly crush any counterattack. As such the House recognized the chapter as *Companions of Honor* a rare and profound meaning of loyalty, comradeship and friendship in the Iocath culture.

### The Waning (M38 - M41)

#### Dark Eldar (673.M38)

As the winter had fully begun in 673.M38 a Dark Eldar raid assaulted Coralus with the primary objective being slaves for capture. Luckily for the House the Dark Eldar didn't seem to know the planet which Coralus orbited was a knight world the Lord Otto Ophilus Lacus XXII was quick to recognize this and rapidly deployed the bulk of his knights to Coralus in hopes to completely crush the raid. The surprise assault was successful in initially driving back the Eldar, however a second wave of raiders caught the force out of position and blunted the forces vanguard. As a result Otto Ophilus personally led *Iocaths Rage* an elite formation of knights to wipe out the Eldar. In the resulting battle the Lord was separated from his unit and subsequently surrounded, his last stand went down in annals of House history the example of honor till death. He wiped out a full 3 battalions of Dark Eldar raiders before his knight succumbed to overwhelming firepower. More over his sacrifice was not in vain the commander of the raiding force foresaw that the measly amount of slaves available was already not worth the casualties they'd sustained thus he withdrew from the Iocath system.

#### Civil war (163.M39 - 193.M39)

In 163.M39 a coup to overtake the main family was led by the head of the secondary branch *Pointed leaf*. The coup failed and the resulting instability turned into a 3 decade long civil war. This civil war saw 2 fortresses hold out against the rest of the Lacus family until another secondary line *Green Blades* broke away also claiming to be the true heir. This 3 way civil war was brutal and for a short time looked like the *Pointed leaf* would come out the victors until an engagement near the city of *Arabella* saw their primary force outwitted and destroyed. After this the *Green Blades* surrendered out of fear they would be next to fall. They were welcomed back into the family but with a very tight leash compared to prior, seeing half of their knights be confiscated and limiting the number of new knights allowed to be built. Both then assaulted the *Pointed Leafs* fortress ending the conflict. The *Pointed Leafs* would be all but killed off, their bloodline was seen as heretical and they a disgrace to honor and loyalty. The exception to this rule was a fragment of the line that didn't follow the head into battle and remained neutral until the civil war broke out and then joined the main family in battle. They would be reformed into the *Jaded leafs* in 196.M39.

#### Verica War (429.M39 - 435.M39)

In 429.M39 a chaos force of Iron warriors, World Eaters and Daemons of Khorne laided siege to the forge world of Verica VII, a protectorate and trade partner of House Lacus. Seeing the grave threat this posed with Verica being mere light years away and a needed trade partner Lord Malicus Oboron Lacus set out to relief the world with the **entire** might of the House.

##### Intail siege

It began with a lone derelict void ship entering the Verica system, nothing to raise alarm but odd nonetheless. So the Magos in charge of the world sent out a small force of Skitarii and a tech priest to investigate, they would not return. Sensing a possible threat he sent a larger force of again Skitarii but supported by multiple tech priests and a Kastelan robot. They would find the space hulk empty, however the ship itself was a Great crusade era vessel. With the bounty of likely technology onboard the Magos mobilized a large host of tech priests and servitors and himself to salvage the ship.

Not long after the Magos boarded the vessel he was bombarded by vox hails from the planet saying they were under attack. With all haste he could muster he returned to the planet however in transit his ship was intercepted by a chaos vessel and destroyed. Leaderless organized resistance on a planetary scale near collapsed with individual tech priests and their hosts trying to repel the invaders. This was when the call of aid rang out.

##### Reinforcements

With the absolute threat this invasion posed to the entire sub sector and Iocath itself Malicus mobilized and organized as fast as was possible under the short circumstances. A month later the entire House of 83 Knights, 114 Armigers and 250.000 man at arms departed Iocath for Verica. Another month would pass by the time the reached Verica. The void battle was small and with no losses. At this time Chaos forces controlled around 68% of the planet with the only major holdout being the massive Leman Russ manufactorium. In which the remaining forces had rallied around. With all haste the forces of House Lacus began preparing for planet-fall.

##### Fall

The first knight to land on Verica's soil was *Incarnate Retribution*. His planet-fall was joined by 8 other knights of his platoon, this platoon single-handedly crushed an ongoing assault on Mechanicus lines. Seeing the god-machines joining them in battle prove rather well in boosting the spirits of the tech priests. Following the repulsion of the enemy assault, a 16 knight strong force led the first counterattack of the renewed Imperial army. The assault was a resounding success with chaos forces not expecting any knights forces their heavy equipment was deployed elsewhere along the front.

Over the course of 5 long months chaos control of the planet was pushed from 68% of the planet to a mere 16%. The remnants had holed up in a formidable fortress on Verica's north pole. However with most titan killer weapons destroyed at this stage Lord Malicus saw fit to annihilate the traitor forces outright. Styrix Knight *Corentis* was the spear of the charge, using its *Volkite Chieorovile* it **incinerated** the outer wall of the fortress and any hostile forces within 50 meters of the blast. After the first shot from *Corentis* the entirety of House Lacus opened fire on the fortress seeing to erase it from the world. Needless to say they were successful. This was the final action of the war, 17 knights were destroyed in the brutal fighting. As a token of thanks the forge world would once able replace every lost knight the house suffered.

#### Recapture of Urdesh (791.M41)

In 791.M41 then Prince Otto Calus Lacus XXVIII was dispatched to recapture the forge world of Urdesh that was lost during the *Sabbat Worlds Crusade*, he was joined by other Imperial forces fresh off said crusade. He saw his first victory in the battle of manufactorium #3821 which saw him destroy a regiment of chaos cultists single handled.

#### Betalis Campaign (894.M41)

Now the Lord of House Lacus Otto XXVIII received calls for additional support on Betalis III from Legio Gryphonicus. This call was heeded however by the time the contingent reached Betalis the Eldar had retreated, supposedly achieving their goal. However the force sent was soon needed elsewhere.

#### Khyatis War (907.M41)

In 904.M41 the Janus Marines a long time ally of House Lacus was throw into civil war, around the time of the Badab war. However at the time House Lacus was unable to provide the manpower due to growing threats of tyranids and the ongoing transfer to Betalis. However this changed in 905.M41 when the force that reached Betalis was no longer needed. Thus Lord Otto XXVIII rerouted the contingent to aid the Janus Marines, they reached their home world unfortunately after a major engagement which saw the death of the chapter master of the Abators Golden Chapter. To avenge this loss the 3 knights and 5 amigers dispatched fought with a fury not usually shown by the House. The war took a dramatic turn after their deployment, not long afterwards the war was over however the Janus Marines were ordered on a penitence crusade thus no further aid could be provided.

#### Hive Fleet Perseus Route (976.M41)

In 976.M41 Lord Otto XXVIII received calls for assistance in stopping Hive fleet Perseus from the Ultramarine's, the threat posed by the Hive fleet was considerable in the region so Otto accepted. The following battle was tough but the House and Ultramarine's were victorious, the Hive fleet seemingly vanished afterwards.

### M.42

With the Cadia destroyed and warp storms ravaging the galaxy Otto XXVIII mobilized the House to full war time conditions; All men not critical to their work sector were drafted and all knights placed readied. However contact with Iocath was lost shortly after the *Great Rift* split the galaxy in two, all attempts to contact the world have failed. It is speculated that with a stroke of horrible luck all astropaths on the world were killed by the psychic scream the *Great Rift* produced on its birth.

## Iocath System

The Iocath system is home to a lone F class white main sequence star, orbiting the star are 4 planets and 1 gas giant. The 4 planets in order are: Iocath I a small barren rock. Iocath II or Iocath Prime as its more well known as. Iocath III or Coralus. And Iocath V a frozen Ice planet near the edge of the system. The Gas giant or Iocath IV is of a medium size for gas giants but still dwarfs the rest of the planets.

### Iocath Prime

Iocath Prime is a Gaia world or paradise world, with unnatural levels of beauty and a soil so fertile crops are said to grow at double the rate they would on average worlds. The world also hosts a massive chain of lakes which are fed by the nearby mountain range rich in minerals. As a result the lakes have a teal color to them, this would later be the prime inspiration for the main color of the House of Lacus.

### Coralus

Coralus is an ocean world with long snake like landmasses with beautiful waters but lacking in compared to the mineral deposits and space available for settlement of Iocath Prime. However the world was discovered to have a truly gargantuan amount of small fish with a seeming young evolution progression. The world boasts a coral reef system so large it encompasses more surface area than dry land, this area became known as the *Talus abyss*, Reason being the depth of the water mixed with coal rich ocean bed creates a near black appearance. Several fishing vessels go missing every year but it is considered a worth while endeavor as the biodiversity of the reef creates ideal conditions for large schools of fish.

## Culture

The ruling nobility of House Lacus rule the world without question, as such their word is law. Because of this the culture of the world is everything can and will be sacrificed for the benefit of the House, however the average laborer would scoff at the notion of doing otherwise. The reason being most commoners are property of the House either by being bound to the land they work or because they serve the House directly, thus most commoners take pride in the Houses success even if it means they as an individual don't prosper. This communal pride is something the Lord, Dukes, Barons and Knights take great care in fostering and will go to great lengths to push the Houses standing even further. However this is mostly for their own sense of pride, honor and desires but the added bonus of stability among the common folk is at the least acknowledged and taught to House youth.

## Notable Members

Lord Otto Apsalis Viridi I: The first of his namesake, he united the warring Houses of Iocath during the Age of Strife.
Lord Otto Gravus Lacus IX: Was the Lord during the rediscovery and Horus Heresy.
Lord Gal Gravus Lacus: Saw the defeat of the first Ork Waaagh on Iocath during the War of the Beast
Lord Malicus Oboron Lacus: Oversaw the campaign to relieve Verica from a chaos siege
Lord Otto Calus Lacus XXVIII: Current Lord, oversaw the Urdesh reconquest, Betalis Campaign, Khyatis War and Hive Fleet Perseus Route