Brine

Territorial map of the Hive world Brine

**Brine** is a former hive world located in the Segmentum Ultima. Originally under Imperium control, contact was lost around M38, it would be rediscovered by a Blood Angels fleet following a distress signal around a millenium later. Unbeknownst to the Administratum, this world had entirely flooded and was festering with heresy and xenos alike. The original plan was for the Blood Angels to land and locate the gene-seed vault of whatever Space Marine Chapter had sent out the distress signal, but nearly 2 thousand years have passed and not even the identity of such a chapter has been uncovered.

Instead, Imperium forces are in a fight for survival to push back the rampant tides of other races on this world. Much of the underwater architecture of hive cities has become saturated with aquatic biomes, and now that contact with Holy Terra has been lost, all human organizations on this world are left to make due until some kind of solution can be reached.

Brine is orbited by a small tropical moon known as "Drifting." It had always been a tropical world with nearly 50% of the globe covered in water, however now it is slowly being converted into a full fledged "Forge World" by the Mechanicus in order to aid the forces below.

Brine is not the only planet in the system; there also exists the rainforest world of Mazonia, also known as Brine II, and another as of yet unnamed world archived as Brine III within this system.

## History

Brine was originally found and conquered by the Vth Legion “Star Hunters” and hastily rebuilt as a civilian world. Along with the aid of native Knight Houses, the Astartes had little trouble cleansing the world of noncompliant human factions before leaving to conquer other local systems. Most of its Hive Cities were erected during The Forging and the planet at large managed to survive much of the conflict involving the Nova Terra Interregnum. During the Age of Redemption, trade ships from that system seemed to halt entirely, and plans were made to eventually send an investigative fleet. Due to bureaucratic errors, these plans never went beyond the “conceptual” stage.

Prior to its rediscovery, Brine was an arid world where whatever ecosystem there was had been killed off by the pollution of Hive Cities by around M36. Its oceans were little more than glorified rivers at the bottom of vast geological chasms.

It was rediscovered after a fleet of 6 companies from “The Blood Angels” Astartes Chapter tracked down a distress call from an unknown chapter located somewhere on this world. What they discovered was a very different world, entirely unrecognizable from Imperial accounts. Though natural topography had remained, there was now a massive ocean that spanned the entirety of the world with no surface continents remaining. Along with the mysterious appearance of the ocean was a whole host of sealife native to Brine (as far as we know) and had seemingly adapted to flourish among both natural and artificial terrain.

## Climate

Due to its nature as a waterworld, the climate above the surface is distinct from that below. Above the waters, enormous hurricanes sweep across the sky without resistance. Even the mightiest of Imperial star vessels find these storms highly aggressive and damaging, and so the majority of structures are built below the sea level where climate is more “controlled.”

In the ocean depths, most of life congregates around the equator where the waters are just shallow and warm enough to host a “tolerable” level of habitation. This is where great kelp-like forests and vast reefs flourish, as well as the most active of human populated Hive cities.

To the north and south, however, temperatures drastically drop and currents pick up substantially. “Undertow maelstroms” become a major concern for any moving armies and are often treated as no man’s lands where traversing becomes an impossibility. The temperature and the pressures get even worse deeper down into the many abysses across the planet. However, there has been evidence to suggest that somehow at the bottom of trenches, temperatures suddenly tick far up for unknown reasons. This may be due to the chaos daemons that seem to congregate there, or perhaps down that deep there may be passages leading into the upper mantle of the planet where magma is likely to increase temperatures despite the cold.

## Military

Due to the severe amounts of heresy and rampant xenos on Brine, every major military presence in the Imperium is involved in some way. Though in considerably smaller numbers than other planets, there exists enough of each faction to work together and stave off the endless tides of war. The Deep Angels along with the Dark Krakens are constantly involved in nearly every battle where humans are involved and act as the spine of Brine’s human occupation forces.

All 500 regiments of The Drownedmen fight on every front and serve as the fodder for their stronger faction counterparts such as the Deep Angels and the Pearlescent Sisters. They are responsible for holding the line and are as close to a PDF as Brine has had since M36. Most Drownedmen are recruited directly from Brine.

Though smaller than either of the prior mentioned factions, The Order of the Perfect Pearl is consistently capable of holding key military points as well as pushing back the ever-growing armies of the Necrons from the north and south poles. Due to the shortage of humans to draw upon, Pearlescent sisters are sometimes recruited directly from the greatest female fighters within the Drownedmen regiments.

On Brine, the Mechanicus faction serves purely a support role with only the occasional need to bring in a battalion for battle. However, on the tropical moon of Drifting, they are constantly at war with orks and drukhari. The nascent forge world continues to grow little by little every hundred years and outputs resources and equipment as fast as possible to the other human factions.

The Assassination Temples are represented on Brine as well, albeit in a very minor way. There are at least 10 members of each class of assassins active on Brine, and most are recruited from the Underhive.

Two or three inquisitors seem to jump between planets in the Brine system frequently, but make an effort to be present at all the major battles where the stalemate could be broken. While uncovering the mysterious nature of “The Flooding Device” is a priority, it will always be second to sustaining Imperial presence on Brine.

There are rumors that Custodes agents from the Aquilan Shield exist somewhere on Brine, but these may only be rumors and myths.

## Government

As with most hive worlds, Brine is governed by a single noble house, House Orcea, that holds a web of control and influence over the many lesser houses that own each of the remaining Hive Cities. However, the Planetary Governor remains subservient to the orders of the High Commander of the Deep Angels, the General-Fabricator of Forge World Drifting and the Prioresses of The Order of the Perfect Pearl. They also abide by whatever requests are made from one of the three Inquisitors within the system, though for the most part they do not face them often.

While the military factions are typically in consistent allegiance, the lesser houses and undergangs of the Hives tend to constantly struggle and vie for power despite the looming threat of xenos and heretic forces. Most code is enforced by the Drownedmen, with Arbites often playing cleanup or general enforcement.

## Culture

The Imperial citizens of Brine have had 3 millenia to adjust to their watery world. Despite this, however, the dangers of the sea including drowning and freezing always remain a constant threat. Hive Cities must be locked down even more than usual, whereas the ocean is constantly hammering every human structure for a way to get in, and once it finds one, no matter how small, it will force its way in while enlarging the breach. For this reason, the ubiquitous ocean is a major part of every human’s life on this world.

While the government is highly distracted with sustaining society on Brine at large, the population is given an unusual amount of freedom to decorate and express themselves and their “homes.” Clothing is unusually colorful and often decorated with patterns of native sea life. Walls are frequently painted with wave and coral patterns, and oxygen tanks along with masks are as common as skulls. Fishing is a frequent occurrence, even though it is deemed illegal without a license. But due to the abundance of flooded passages, it is difficult to police such a thing.

The majority of humans stay inside the walls of the Megastructures, as the outside ocean is not only inhospitable but bustling with hostile sea life. Even within the Underhives it is not uncommon for entire sections to flood and then be drained only to flood again. It is difficult for any one person, even a noble of high standard, to avoid coming into contact with the ocean outside.