Caelus Secundus

Departmento Cartographicae pict-file of Caelus Secundus

**Caelus Secundus** *(Kay-lus Se-kun-dus)* is an Imperial Feral World located in the Aeaean Cluster of Ultima Segmentum and most famous for being the Homeworld of the Daughters of Athena Astra Militarum regiments.

## Overview

Imperial records indicate that Caelus Secundus was colonised prior to the Age of Strife and rediscovered by Rogue Traders during the Great Crusade. The inhabitants had reverted to a nomadic pre-technology lifestyle and the planet was classified as a Feral World. Slightly smaller than Terra, Caelus' landmass is composed of a number of continents with large grass plains. Along with a wide range of exotic flora and fauna, Caelus Secundus also boasts a variety of Terran-like animals, possibly seeded by the colonists for reasons unknown.
The Caelusians, are a nomadic people with a strong warrior culture. From a young age they (predominantly but not exclusively the men) participate in ritualistic hunts to gain pelts which are worn to display prowess and status.

## History

### Pre-Imperium

The date that Caelus Secundus was originally colonised has long been lost, but likely dates back to the Golden Age of Humanity and its colonisation efforts. The reason for their decline from this technological peak to the current nomads is similarly lost to time.

With the coming of the Imperium of Man through His servants the Rogue Traders, Caelus Secundus was designated a Feral World and assigned a suitable Tithe.
During the remainder of the Great Crusade and the resultant Heresy, the Caelusians would faithfully provide regiments for the Imperium, with the world never being actually threatened by the traitors

### Daughters of Athena

When neighbouring Caelus Prime was chosen as an Astartes homeworld, that planet was no longer required to provide the Tithe of regiments it had previously faithfully raised and dispatched to fight for the Emperor. It soon became clear however that there was a strong demand from the inhabitants to reinstate the creation of regiments as a way of deal with a large population surplus. Nemean culture (like that of the Caelusians) revolves around hunting the dangerous prey of the planet, which leads to a large percentage of the male population being killed off in these hunts thanks to the ferocious animals present and an gender imbalance in the global population as a result. Previously the tribal leaders had corrected this imbalance by ensuring that the Tithe regiments were mostly female, which largely solved the issue. It had also built up a strong martial tradition amongst the women of a number of tribes.
Several decades after the Founding began, a young Nemean Tribal Queen called Astraea sought an audience with Regulus Shaka, Chapter Master of the Nemean Lions Chapter and the former Prince of the combined tribes. She laid out a plan to create a series of regiments, raised from the martial females of the various tribes, to be offered up to Imperium. Shaka was impressed with these arguments, but he knew that the raising of regiments from Chapter home worlds was forbidden, something it was unlikely he could bypass. However he realised that a loophole could be found, for the other planets of the Caelus system had not been similarly constrained. He arranged for transport ships to be laid on between Caelus Prime and Caelus Secundus, to transport any woman who wished to join these fledgling regiments to travel off world. Caelus Secundus agreed to this request, and began raising the female regiments alongside their original mixed-sex Tithe units.

### Noctis Aeternae

During the Long Night the Aeaean Cluster was besieged by the forces of Chaos and subjected so xenos raids. Caelus Secundus was attacked several times, though the foes were unsuccessful thanks to the efforts of the PDF and aid from the Nemean Lions.

### Hive Fleet Ereshkigal

During the invasion of the Aeaean Cluster by a Tyranid splinter fleet, the Caelus system was assailed by the implacable xenos. Caelus Prime received the brunt of this assault, with the Tyranids finally being halted in orbit of that world. A small number of lesser hive ships bypassed Caelus Prime to probe the rest of the system, but these were halted by the defensive stations of Secundus, with the PDF and present Daughters fighting vicious battles in the corridors of these platforms to repel their attempts to overrun them. This staunch defence ensured that the vessels were defeated before they could land spores on the surface of the world.

## Military

Prior to the founding of the Daughters of Athena, Caelus Secundus provided mixed-sex Astra Militarum Regiments as part of their Tithe.
With the creation of the Daughters, this was supplemented by the formation of a smaller number of all-female regiments, including a sizeable contribution of volunteers from Caelus Prime. In addition to these units, Caelus Secundus also maintains a sizeable PDF, which is relatively well equipped with las-weaponry and flak armour.

## Climate & Geography

Caelus Secundus is predominantly composed of grassland with large expanses of tundra below the ice caps. Sitting further from the sun than the larger Caelus Prime, Secundus is cooler, with longer winters and significantly more rainfall, which supports large inland forests.

## Politics & Culture

Caelus Secundus is home to hundreds of tribes of various sizes, each one under the control of a tribal king or chieftain. The tribes are not united under any single leader, instead forming a number of smaller coalitions and empires, which are regularly shifting. The Imperium established a council for the tribal leaders to attend, where they can discuss important matters that effect the entire planet.