Londinium

**This article, Londinium, was written by RavensOfLondinium. It may be linked to any page without asking for the author's permission.**

## Planet

### Class

Hive World
Sentinel World
Space Marine Chapter Homeworld

### Temperature

Min: −89.2 °C / −128.5 °F
Mean: 13 °C / 55 °F
Max: 56.7 °C / 134.0 °F

### Gravity

9.80665 m/s2 (1 g)
32.1740 ft/s2

### Military Forces

White Ravens Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes
Silver Crows cadre of the Sisters of Silence
Fourteenth Fleet, Ultima Segmentum of the Imperial Navy
Londinium Regimentum of the Imperial Guard

### Tithe Grade

Exactis Extremis, lowered to Decuma Extremis due to being an Astartes homeworld

### Ruler

Knight Magna Stella Sir Robin Rokslay
Duchess Goodrede Blackrock

## Location

### System

5C911ADC

"*You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany; the men we take from there are the worst of Humanity: thieves and whores, cut-throats and murderers. But we make of them such fine warriors!*"
—Colonel Siegrune Blackrock, 333rd Londinium Dragoons
Londinium is a Hive World located in the Albion Sector of Segmentum Ultima, bordering Segmentum Obscurus. Serving as the locus of subsector Londinium, the planet has recently been designated the Chapter Homeworld of the White Ravens and their associated Cadre of the Sisters of Silence, the Silver Crows. At the same time, the planet was designated a Sentinel World of the Imperium Nihilus.

Such is the prominence of the Hive World that the planetary system is almost always referred to by the primary planet's name, rather than the name of the star it circles... indeed, that star is officially unnamed other than as a catalogue number of the *Cartographica Imperialis*: 5C911ADC

## History

### Forgotten Foundations

Though oral history maintains that Londinium was originally a penal colony, this is a hoary tradition with its corners worn off and its print faded; no one can tell you where these purported prisoners came from, nor when they arrived. Another tradition holds that the planet was settled in the Age of Strife or even before, but if this tradition is true, no records remain of which Expedition Fleet brought the world into Imperial Compliance, nor when. All that can be said with absolute certainty is that the world existed and was populated by Humans by M32, when records of the Second Londinium Dragoons appear in the **First War of Faith**. By M41, Londinium had grown into a Hive World which was home to some sixty billion people. The current population, following the **Purgation of Londinium**, is somewhat less, with some ten billion inhabitants having perished in the Genestealer Cultist uprising.

### Genestealer Infestation

"*Humanity has always looked to the stars for enlightenment, and at last, salvation descends from bejewelled skies!*"
—Genestealer cultist propaganda
As with so much about Londinium, it is not known when or how the first Genestealers arrived. Evidence gathered by Sisters of the Departmento Investigates after the Purgation, however, determined that there were likely a minimum of six of these Tyranid agents provocateur in the initial infection vector. Regardless of the actual number, what is certain is that they had time to spread their curse and establish their Genestealer Cults with populations in the millions, perhaps as many as a billion. After-action reports of the Purgation reveal that both Magus and Primus hybrids were present, but none of the Metamorphic clades which herald the imminent arrival of a Hive Fleet.

This stroke of luck is attributed to the sudden appearance of the *Cicatrix Maledictum*. Though Londinium lies too far from the center of the galaxy for the Rift's darkness to visibly engulf the world, the psychic scream of the universe upon its creation was heard in the dreams of every living being. This shock, it is believed, caused the Londinium Genestealer Cultists to arise before they were completely ready.

The cults' incomplete preparation enabled Imperial authorities to hold out, and the same warp storms which silenced the Imperium's Astropathic choirs kept the cultists from summoning their Xenos masters. Despite the turmoil of the warp, a handful of fast courier ships departed, begging for aid from any authority they could reach.

### Roosting of the Ravens

Time flowed strangely in the Noctis Aeterna which followed the birth of the Great Rift. Londinium is not free of the effects of warp storms and differing chronology. For the 103rd Mithran Light Infantry, an Imperial Guard regiment fighting Genestealer Cults in the Underhive depths of Hive City Four on the continent of Pretania (known as **Cheapside**) logs, ammunition use reports, requisitions and other evidence point to eight years passing. At the spire-top palace of the Imperial Governor, Archduke Artos CCXII, two horrifically busy years were recorded. **Whisp**, the Imperial Navy courier which eventually brought word of Londinium's plight to the attention of Lord Commander Guilliman, reached him in the narrow window between the  **Battle of Raukos** and the start of the Plague Wars of Ultramar. The newly erected White Ravens Space Marines Chapter took over a year to muster and provision their Chapter Fleet and the Black Ships of the Silent Sisterhood's Albion Vigil which traveled in convoy with them. That journey, known as **The Migration**, was said to take twenty subjective years for the conjoined host.

And yet, by the Emperor's grace, the end-point of all these timelines is the same: **The Roosting of the Ravens**. The conjoined Migration fleet exited the Warp at the system's Mandeville Point, and within hours, Vox-caster contact had been established between Archduke Artos and Sir Robin Rokslay, Chapter Master and Knight Magna Stella of the White Ravens. Archduke Artos was grateful for the chance to step down from his inherited position of responsibility, accepting death or exile if only the White Ravens would save his world and evacuate his family before the arrival of a Tyranid fleet. By the time the Migration Fleet made orbit, drop pods full of Space Marines and Silent Sisters were loaded and targeted.

The Purgation was neither fast nor easy, but the outcome was certain. So many Astartes knights; so many Null Maidens, made the defeat of the Genestealer cultist forces inevitable. Archduke Artos was offered the chance to remain in administrative control of the planet, but declined, retiring instead to a Garden World with his immediate family. One of the Archduke's aides who had proved herself invaluable throughout the Genestealer crisis, Viscountess Goodrede Blackrock, was selected to take the former governor's place as chief administrator of the world, though she now answers to Sir Robin. Two years into the planetary rebuilding process, as the White Ravens Fortress-Monastery rose in the Times river estuary, a ceremony was held elevating Blackrock to Duchess.

## Sentinel World

"*And you find it not yet fallen, you shall take the world of Londinium as your own. There, you shall establish a bastion worthy of my Father; a world to stand sentinel against such tides of darkness as may come to you.*"
—Lord Regent Roboute Guilliman to Sir Robin Rokslay
Since the assumption of planetary responsibility by Sir Robin, all of Londinium's considerable resources have been turned to obeying the Lord Regent's injunction to prepare the world to fight and stand against whatever forces might assail it, and to provide aid and comfort to other planets -- first within the sub-sector, then the sector, and finally, it is hoped, across the segmentum. To that end, vast military resources have been gathered.

### Ravens of the Tower

Foremost of the powers, in terms of prestige and per-unit combat effectiveness, are the Adeptes Astartes of the White Ravens Chapter. It is their Chapter Master, the Knight Magna Stella Sir Robin Rokslay, who rules the world, and it is their continuance, maintenance, and resupply which justifies the Imperium's enormous investment in Londinium's defense. From their Fortress-Monastery **The Tower**, the White Ravens project and enforce the will of the Emperor across the stars.

### Imperial Navy

Londinium -- or, more accurately, the star system of which Londinium is the principle planet -- is a designated fleet anchorage of **Battlefleet Albion**. All ***Navis Imperialis*** vessels present in the system are administratively designated as part of the **Fourteenth Fleet**, and thus, under the command of the system's **Solar Admiral**. The actual fleet base is located on the outermost of the system's rocky worlds, relatively close to the Mandeville point. The base serves as a rest, refueling, repair and refit nexus, and some ten to twenty percent of the warships present in the system at any time may not be able to immediately get under weigh due to damage or fueling status. The fleet's remaining weight of metal, however, is greater than many sector fleets throughout the Imperium could have boasted prior to the foundation of the Imperium Nihilus.

More trusted crews of Imperial warships may receive liberty on Londinium itself, but the numbers of such visiting voidsmen are carefully controlled and closely monitored. The teeming hive cities' jails are often emptied into the indentured ranks of ships, never to see planetfall again. Even law-abiding citizens are targets of press gangs, and the Schola, colleges, and universities of the world are regular haunts of the Navy's recruiters looking for fresh officer candidates.

### Garrisoned Troops

One lesson learned from the Genestealer Cultist uprisings on Londinium and other worlds is that garrisons should not consist primarily of troops raised on the planet where they are stationed. Such practices lead to increased subversion of the defenses by Xenos corrupted individuals. There is, of course, the corresponding risk of regiments raised elsewhere bringing corruption to the garrison planet, but that has not yet proven to be as great a risk.

In keeping with its status as a Sentinel world, Londinium's Imperial Guard bases are numerous and host to diverse units. Although these units rotate in and out as the needs of the Imperium dictate, some of the more prominent units currently or recently based on the planet include:

* **256th Alban Highlanders** A heavy infantry regiment raised in the Albion sector, the Highlanders are slow moving when compared with other units garrisoned at Londinium, but make up for that lack of speed with ability to absorb damage and hit hard. Line troops are equiped with unpowered but advanced ballistic and energy-resistant personal armor, and the regiment has light, vehicle-towed artillery attached.
* **34th Ayrine Hussars** A light armor regiment, the Hussars specialize in lightning warfare. Their tanks resemble Sentinel walkers, but have crews of up to four soldiers, and carry heavier weapons and armor.
* **158th Nyanta Drop Scouts** A Militarum Auxilla Abhuman regiment raised from a Felinid (*Homo sapiens hirsutus*) world. Their homeworld's population has a weak Y chromosome, resulting in a dozen or more females born for every male. Consequently, military forces raised there are almost entirely composed of female troopers. Drop Scouts specialize in behind-the-lines reconnaissance and disruption missions, which they refer to as "sneaking and peaking."

### Regimentum Londinium

While Londinium is a Space Marine Chapter Homeworld, and the White Ravens get first pick of potential recruits, the fifty billion inhabitants also provide enough recruits for the world to muster a new Imperial Guard regiment every month. These fresh regiments, each in different stages of training, initial outfitting, and readiness for deployment, constitute the **Regimentum Londinium**, along with regiments raised on other worlds of the Londinium sub-sector but staged to Londinium for initial outfitting from Damascus as well as Londinium's own manufactoria.

Because of the large number of regiments raised, Londinium's regimental count is reset every century, as it is presumed that the previous holders of that number have ceased to exist as a combat-effective formation. Each new regiment is nevertheless assigned a completely new alphanumeric code by the Regimentum's administratum.

Regiments raised on Londinium include:

* **Dragoons**: Mechanized infantry. Though individual troops are light infantry without any kind of armor, they have high-speed, high-mobility vehicles sufficient to move the entire fighting strength quickly to counter changes in enemy deployment, and to hold positions until heavier troops can catch up and relieve them.
* **Hoplites**: Heavy infantry. The unpowered personal armor provided by Forge World Damascus is some of the finest in the Imperium, and the Londinium Hoplite regiments train with Chain Glaives as well as the standard Lasgun of the Guard.
* **Cuirassiers**: Armor. Fields Damascus pattern tanks, similar to the Leman Russ main battle tank seen throughout the Imperium. A typical Cuirassier regiment raised on Londinium may arm fifty percent of its units with standard Battle Cannon, and the remaining fifty percent with energy weapons such as Lascannon or even Plasma Cannon.

## The Law

As one of the few Hive Worlds to survive a Genestealer infestation, Londinium has an unusually heavy presence of **Adeptus Arbites** forces patrolling its underhives. These forces are vigilant against the Mutant, the Witch, and the Xenos, but they also keep a wary eye on sanctioned abhuman populations such as the Ratlings and Ogryns.

Pre-pubescent males apprehended in violent crime are routinely turned over to the White Ravens -- if the boys survive candidate testing, they'll be mindwiped to remove any loyalties and associations they may have, and inducted into the Chapter as Pages. Likewise, Untouchables found by the Arbites are turned over to the Albion Vigil of the *Divisio Investigates* -- though it is less clear what the general fate of these individuals might be. Finally, though many violent offenders who have passed puberty are simply executed, others who haven't earned such a fate are turned over to the Imperial Guard or Imperial Navy and eventually shipped off-world, making them somebody else's problem.

## Industry

Human bodies, while a prominent product of any Hive World, are not Londinium's only product. The Hive Cities are full of manufactoria which produce not just munitions and goods for on-world consumption, but also for export. Acme General Products, the primary brand of Londinium, is known not so much for *quality* exactly, as for *durability*. A common jest among the **Regimentum Londinium** is that a Damascus-made lasgun will bullseye a womp rat at a thousand meters, but the weapon will require maintenance and cleaning every day to keep working. A Londinium-built lasgun, on the other hand, won't hit anything in particular, but you can drop it in the mud, march a regiment over it, fish it out, hose it off, and it'll work as well as it ever did. Quietly, many new recruits believe exactly this fate has previously befallen weapons issued to them for training.

## Choir Lofts

The Imperium, and indeed, the Galaxy, are too large to be conquered by vox-caster. With the inverse-square law constantly attenuating signal strength and the iron-clad laws of physics limiting the propagation speed of those signals, the Imperium relies on Astropaths of the **Adeptus Astra Telepathica** to communicate among the myriad stars and countless ships in the void.

Londinium, however, presents unique issues for such psychic communication. Perhaps the root of the issues is the lingering resonance of a Genestealer cult, their psychic stain muddying the proverbial waters for sanctioned psychers. Perhaps it is the presence of more than a hundred Null Maidens on the world, skilled and trained in the suppression of psychic expression. Perhaps it is the Blackstone obelisks the Tech-Priests of Damascus have erected in the heart of each of the world's hive spires. Perhaps it is all of these things, or none of them, but the fact remains that it is incredibly difficult for astropaths to ply their trade on the world, or even in close proximity to it.

In light of these issues, and of the absolute necessity of interstellar communication, the Adeptus Astra Telepathica have commissioned six great "choir lofts." Each was originally a metallic asteroid, towed close to the primary and melted by cyclopean mirrors, spun for even distribution of materials, and then allowed to cool again before being hollowed out to form living and working spaces. The six stations were then towed into position to form the points of a great octahedron: one station at the system's zenith, above the primary's north pole; one at the nadir, below the star's south pole; four far out in the cold darkness of the system's Oort cloud placed in long orbits with obsessive precision.

Some whisper that only the four stations in the plane of the ecliptic function as Astrotelepath bases, rotating choirs in and out of duty on a regular schedule. They whisper that, with Holy Terra cut off on the other side of the Great Rift, dread Black Ships which still collect the Imperium's Great Tithe of Psychers dock now at these stations, where the psychers are selected and tested to destruction or agonizing induction into the ranks of Astropaths and Sanctioned Psychers. Whatever the truth, those who whisper such things generally do not whisper for long.