Karthas

Departmento Cartographicae pict-file of Karthas, Chapter Homeworld of the Astral Leviathans.

## Planet

### Class

Ocean World/
Adeptus Astartes Homeworld

## Location

### System

Orutan System

**Karthas** is an Imperial ocean world that serves as the Adeptus Astartes homeworld of the Astral Leviathans Space Marine Chapter. This planet is located in the Orutan System in the Segmentum Pacificus. The planet's surface is covered almost entirely in massive oceans and islands and archipelagos dot the planet's surface. Based upon this water world, the Astral Leviathans stand as resolute guardians over the Orutan System.

## Background

The homeworld of the Astral Leviathans is located in the Orutan system in the Segmentum Pacificus, and has a radius of 44,441 Terran miles. The surface covered in 86% water, massive oceans and islands dotting the planet’s surface. This created many diverse cultures in the face of the brutal death worlds and the massive creatures of the deep that plagued the naval based humans. Most of the cultures were built around brutal blood sacrifices, cannibalism, and martial prowess.

Karthas was chosen as a vital world in the Imperium due to the populace making wonderful candidates for astartes chapters along with the massive amounts of promethium under the planets crust. The Astral Leviathans take no control on the planet, leaving the populace savage and lethal with pure stock for future recruits.

### Fortress-Monastery

The Astral Leviathans' fortress-monastery known as '*Fathoms Keep*', is a massive complex of ceramite, reinforced glass domes and mighty void shields placed in the deepest trench of the Argevuian Sea. The oceans are held back by the majesty of the Adeptus Mechanicus' designs and labor. Vast schools of fish and large oceanic predators stalk the surrounding sea floor providing great training for the astartes housed within the mighty fortress. Hundreds of torpedo silos dot the gothic architecture while high chapels and arches are dotted with hurricane bolters and lascannons.

The fortress draws power from the massive amounts of geothermal energy within the planets core. Great swathes of the sea bed covered with thick armored cabling drawing heat from the planet and running it to the monasteries generators. The excess energy is stored in a number of electromagnetic pulse cannons and great thermal cannons ringing the base of the stronghold.

A set of massive ceramite coated adamantium doors are the main entrance, controlled from within the deepest sanctum of the monastery and only coded to be activated by the battle brothers of the Astral Leviathans. These great doors rest very near the forts hangar bays allowing any modified thunder hawks or other submersible cargo haulers to resupply and repair before making the journey back to the surface of the chapter’s fleet in orbit. The only other entrance is a large underground highway that leads to the nearest landmass, the continent of Gratia, 400 miles from the nearest city. Where this highway breaks back to the surface is another humongous fortified complex known as the "Break". The Break is mostly a gargantuan gate house protecting the highway, rumored to be able to fend off even the likes of titan legions.

Once through the gates to Fathoms Keep the submerged artificial biome is based on a great field of sand, the center dominated by the inner sanctum, the chapters keep. Around the keep two layers of large circular walls, with many gun batteries and battlements. Outside of the inner sanctums lay the supplementary buildings, hangars, launch pads, guest chambers, and the serf housing.

Upon gaining entrance to the inner keeps gates you find a grand hall of blue tanzanite, the name of every fallen battle brother along with their deeds carved into the stone. The hall is 25,000 feet in length. Statues of every Lord Commodus (chapter master) line the vast hall. Beneath this hall is the chapter crypts in which lie the dead and great treasures of the chapter, some of the treasure being the shattered Tartarus Armour of Regulus Proctus, and other storied relics.

Flanking the entrance hall are two cathedrals lined with many benches and reliefs depicting mosaics of the emperor. A grand pulpit resides at the head of each one where one of the chapters soul smiths will preach to the chapter serfs or any honored visitors.

The grand hall ends at an imposing stone door depicting the duel of chief Sharp maw and the imperial commander that discovered the world and lead to the founding of the chapter. This door rises into the ceiling revealing an opulent throne room, the throne of the Lord Commodus situated at the far end. This is where any dignitaries or guest would meet with the Lord Commodus. This room is also used as the chapters Assimularum.

Just before the entrance to the throne room you have a choice of turning left or right, up or down. To the left lies the great forges and armories of the chapter’s fortress monasteries, the fires always blazing away under the tutelage of the chapter’s war smiths crafting ammunition and repairing armor and the chapter’s vehicles. The right leads to the great dormitories and chapels of the Astral Leviathans companies. Great rooms filled with Spartan styled reef beds and sunken reliefs for foot lockers. Heading down will take you to the great libraries and crypts of the chapter. Grandiose rooms are stored with thousands of tomes and scrolls of knowledge. At the far end lies the teleportarium, staircases leading up to the armories and chapels above. Taking the stirs up above the throne room is the apothecarium and operation rooms.

### Orutan System

The Orutan System is Located in Segmentum Pacificus and home to six planets, one pleasure world, two hive worlds, one forge world, one death world, and one gas giant that was previously a hive world.

* **Orutan Prime** - The systems capital is Orutan Prime, the systems only pleasure world, the planet is not vast in size the smallest I the system and has the lowest populace, but is a center for the wealthy and powerful of many systems around. Orutan Prime is home to many exotic species and has large ornate cities grafted from the planets vast natural reserves of rare minerals. The world is also host to an array of pitted gladiatorial events.

* **Orutan Secundus** - Orutan Secundus is the second planet in system, a teeming hub of industrial activity and mining cities. The planets vast populace toils endlessly to drain the core of the invaluable resource of promethium for the Astral LEviathans and the local forgeworld. Grand complexes of pipes and mine shafts cover the majority of the planets surface, hive cities and hab blocks encrusting the rest. The planet's three moons heavily defended bases designed to protect the planet from any form of orbital assault.

* **Karthas** - Karthas is the third planet in the system, and the home world to the Astral Leviathans. The homeworld of the Astral Leviathans is located in the Orutan System in the Segmentum Pacificus, and has a radius of 44,441 Terran miles. The surface covered in 86% water, massive oceans and islands dotting the planet’s surface.

* **Meridas** - Meridas is the system's forge world, the great jungles barley held back by the vast superstructure erected by the Adeptus Mechanicus. The great forges complimenting the forges present in Fathom's Keep and keeping the Astral Leviathans large fleet combat ready at all times. The forge world also exports many stc designs out to other systems and has close ties to Kronn IV the forge world of the Legio Arctica.

* ---Classified material--- Access denied by the Ordo Hereticus, Lord Inquisitor level access required.

* **Orutan Tertiay** - The outermost planet in the system, Orutan Tertiary is completely covered in a single planet wide hive, creating a brutal combat zone for the great hive gangs that dominate the world. There is no intervention from outside sources, leaving the vast criminal empires to rule and bring out the toughest and most cunning that the world has to offer up to the Astral Leviathans.

### Recruitment

Only boys with born sons are accepted as recruit aspirants. Like all Astarte's chapters recruitment is a merciless series of trials beginning with a race across the mighty Argevuian Sea. The survivors are then split into groups according to how they placed (from first to last) in the race. They are then thrown into gladiatorial pits which are designed to be completely flooded in ten minutes forcing the aspirants to kill quickly or drown. The survivors from the pit fights are then taken and drugged with massive quantities of potent hallucinogenics and dropped in live-fire training fields of battle-brothers to test the strength of their mind.

The few who make it past this point are not fortunate, for then they are tortured for five days to see how well they can withhold a information. The great few who have made it past the torture will be faced with one final trial - they must combat a full-fledged battle-brother and on merit of their defeat, if they live, and are accepted as initiates to be implanted. Due to the many faults with the gene-seed of the Astral Leviathans a good number, almost one third, of the aspirants will die in surgery. The harsh trials and high mortality rate makes recruitment a slow and tedious process but only feeds the ego of those who make it as fully fledged brothers, pushing home the thought that they are truly the chosen of the God-Emperor.