Stella Laurentia

Brightly burns the emerald sun Laurentia, the jewel of Glaive's Reach. Nestled in the Alacoque Nebula, it illuminates the homeworld of Gondwana's sole Astartes Chapter. The brotherhood of the Hallowed Glaive has long made Stella Laurentia a sacred place, elevating the humble system to one of the Sector's ruling Triumvirate.

Every year, vast pilgrim fleets embark from Laurentia's post for the Forlorn Worlds, carrying with them the mortal brethren of the Astartes and untold millions of believers to bestow the Emperor's blessings upon those worlds in need. So close to the imperial frontier, the emerald sun has become a beacon of hope, shining symbol of the Imperium's eternal vigil over the fate of all humankind.

## Astrography

Located near the heart of Subsector Cambria, Stella Laurentia forms a nexus for many important celestial routes. It is a bastion of utmost strategical import, due to its central position in the subsector's defense. This importance was last proven during the incursions of the Thetys Surge, where the lack of an established stronghold in this system allowed the ruinous powers to penetrate deep into imperial space. This is one important reason why Laurentia was chosen as the seat of the Astartes Chapter and why its fortifications have grown ever since the Emperor's finest warriors settled there.

### Laurentia

The emerald sun is hot and strong of heart, evocative of the fighting spirit of those living in its light. The inner well of the system is swept free of most anomalies by the burning sun, creating clear pathways and routes among the inner planets and safe points of transition for the civilian ships en-route.

### Pilgrim's Heart

A barren world, close to the sun, Pilgrim's Heart was chosen for its harsh conditions to serve as an off-world training ground for the aspiring battle-brothers of the Hallowed Glaive. Surrounding a domed fortress on its scarred surface are wide stretches of nearly habitable land, kept in their twilight state through the half-dead systems of an ancient terraformer. It is here that the young Astartes measure themselves against the elements, experiencing the hellish heat of the sun by day and the deepest cold of the spatial abyss at night.

In high orbit over this world, an in-system shipyard siphons raw energy from the close-by star to facilitated the continuous production of reinforcements for the Pilgrim Fleets.

### Ladislaus

The anchor world of the Nimbus Imperatoria appears to the observer from afar as a lush paradise of untouched continents and glistening, shallow seas. Even upon close inspection, this world would appear nothing short of a terrestrial garden, were it not for the inherent acrid nature of its biosphere, rooted in the unique chemical composition of its crust and soil.

Everything upon this world has undergone billions of years of evolution adapting to the extremely corrosive chemistry perpetuated by the highly active volcanoes of Ladislau, which would kill any foreign organism of remotely Terran nature. For this reason, Ladislau has maintained an entirely native, alien ecosystem thoroughly untouched by all humanity and its creations.

Only a handful of temporary outposts exist in those acrid jungles, from where Astartes in the latter stages of their training launch expeditions hunting for the predators of this deceptively beautiful world.

### Nimbus Imperatoria

The artificial satellite world of Ladislaus is a monument of imperial technology, a grand design devised and realized by the hallowed tech-priests of the Omnissiah. It was forged to stand as a bulwark against the ruinous powers and all the multitude of imperial foes, and gifted to the Astartes of the Hallowed Glaive as their new homeworld after the loss of the old one among distant stars. At the Nimbus Imperatoria, the long pilgrimage which took them across the entire segmentum, finally came to an end and the Emperor's chosen warriors took their place at the center of the Subsector Cambria.

A golden tether connects the imperial ring and Ladislaus, and further golden lines reach out to the multitude of habitats and star forts in the system. Together, the intricate web of human feats creates a system-wide civilization, thriving in the light of the emerald sun.

### Kariathedra

On the long way from their lost home to this far-flung corner of the Imperium, all brothers of the Hallowed Glaives became pilgrims before the golden throne. Faith urged them on when all was lost to their chapter, and it guided them to settle here after the Thetys Surge was quelled.

Ever since those early days, the pilgrim cult has been a foundation of the chapter's culture and despite this, it remained far removed from the Adeptus Ministorum and its holdings on Calhall. Whereas the Ecclesiarchy of the Sector represents the far and distant light of Holy Terra at the center of the Imperium, the pilgrim cult is centered around the Domes and mountain temples of Kariathedra, where the preachers speak of the strength of all humanity which rests in every pilgrim's sou

### Lonreia Major

The purple pearl Lonreia Major is an invaluable treasure to the order of the Omnissiah. Rich in rare, exotic gases and crystalline matter flung high from within its inner layers, the giant offers opportunities for material harvest which are matched nowhere else in the sector. For this reason, the Adeptus Mechanicus erected a series of gargantuan spatially suspended installations reaching down into the atmosphere and harvesting it for its treasures.

#### Lonreia Minor

The largest of Lonreia's many moons is an icy world spending most of its time in the gas giant's shadow. Little is known about its facilities, safe for the existence of a deep range vox relay for coordination of massive fleet actions, and rumors that the Emperor's Holy Inquisition has created an outpost of its own somewhere deep beneath the crust. Such rumors are, of course, never confirmed in any way and will remain secretive mysteries for centuries to come.

### Vodesh

The outermost planet of Stella Laurentia is a world of endless water ice-plains, devoid of any tectonic activity. Cutting deep into glacial gorges in the ice, imperial colonists established several major ports for civilian travelers coming through the system. These early colonies grew into venerable, rich trading hubs now often frequented by the pilgrim fleets to acquire equipment and supplies. In more remote places of this world, rogue traders of the Crimson Queen are said to have established their own waystation, serving also as the first point of contact between the Astartes and the elusive fiefdom.

## Phenomena

### Alacoque Nebula

The nebula coalescing around the Laurentia system reaches far into interstellar space. While it doesn't impede the drives of starships directly, its interference with auger- and vox-frequencies make it an ideal ambush-point in times of war.

## Routes

### Pilgrim Path

Formerly the Via Nunrianmahat, the Pilgrim Path is the primary route leading spinward out of the Stella Laurentia system. It follows a narrow strait through the most dominant nebulae of Glaive's Reach and is fortified by lesser star forts and burgs in regular intervals. Notably, this is also the primary route of approach for vessels coming directly from the Administratum World Trantor, as the path via Panthalassa is denied by spatial anomalies since the Thetys Surge.

### Panthalassa Strait

A major system of the Region, Panthalassa is connected to Laurentia via a minor, but well-maintained route. Watchtowers on both ends monitor the stream of the Immaterium between them, deploying local inter-system patrols regularly to keep the route safe of brigands and raiders.

### Via Immunhain

Few vessels frequent the Via Immunhain except for the mass conveyor convoys bringing in goods and supplies from every harvest of the horticultural Agri Worlds. Despite its minimal use, the route is kept secure by a dedicated fleet detail of the Pilgrims, so high is the value of the additional sustenance these worlds provide. Goods of Immunhain were often used to feed massive displaced populations from the No-Man's-Land, as well as providing reserve rations for massive campaigns being staged in the general region.

### Cambrian Axis

The most important interstellar route links Stella Laurentia to the system of Forge World Cambria, where the hallowed ringworld of ancient humanity lies as the old seat of sector-wide power. It is an artery of trade and commerce, used by military and civilian vessels alike, thousands of them swarming around the transition points, waiting to be admitted by the authorities controlling the Cambrian Axis.

### Black Route

To the commoners of Laurentia, the Black Route is little more than a half-forgotten legend rooted in the founding of their world. More precise records of it undoubtedly exist in the vaults of both the chapter homeworld and the Ringworld Cambria, but they are reserved for high commanders and the delegates of the Triumvirate.

Established during the age of the Great Crusade, the Black Route was to facilitate the covert deployment of massive fleet elements toward the imperial frontier. For this reason, an obscure path was charted through treacherous shoals in the warp. To the days of the forty-first Millennium, this hidden way allows elements of the inquisition and elite units of the Imperium to facilitate such rapid deployments in the dark.

## Chapter Homeworld of the Hallowed Glaive

Throughout the Sector Gondwana, Laurentia is renowned as the chapter homeworld of the Hallowed Glaive. The presence of Astartes alone lends those worlds an air of legend, making it a distant place to most who could never think of making the journey. This image of Laurentia as a sort of promised land is lifted even higher due to the closeness of the chapter brothers with their mortal brethren. Laurentia, to many, is the place where the Emperor's immediate will and creation intersect with the mundane realities of a sector so far from Terra.

### Pilgrim Cult

Despite its close alignment with the Adeptus Mechanicus, the populous of Laurentia has a strong spiritual side to it, quite apart from the creed of the Adeptus Ministorum. The faith of the pilgrims is strongly tied to the duty of the Astartes to aid in humanity's dominion over all stars.

This conviction drives the Pilgrims not only to vanquish the enemies of mankind but to go further and uplift those lost and scattered worlds of humanity, to aid them in their survival beyond the military victory. In large part, it is this effort that allowed the Forlorn Worlds to rebuild and even flourish in the aftermath of the Thetys Surge.

## History

### The old System

Little is known of the fate of the Emerald Sun in the eons of old. Long before it was called Stella Laurentia, this system was registered in ancient charts and given a designation nigh twenty-thousand years prior to the forty-first Millennium. It likely held little significance in those days, however, as no world shows clear signs of strong habitation by humanity.

### The claim of the Mechanicus

Like many systems of the central regions, the Stella Laurentia was long contested as a primary territory between the two forces of Cambria and Trantor. For the length of that dispute, neither side could ever take a hold of those worlds for more than a few centuries. Consequently, both were unwilling to invest in long-term colonization, leading to the system remaining under-developed for a long time, until the cost for this was finally paid during the Thetys Surge, where Laurentia offered no strong point of resistance against the incursion of the ruinous powers.

In the aftermath of that war and the weak centuries which followed, it was the Forge World Cambria that found itself in a stronger position and the children of the Omnissiah seized the opportunity to finally cement their claim over the system.

### Nimbus Imperatoria

The construction of an entire world was a monumental effort to be undertaken by a not-insignificant portion of Mechanicus enclaves and clades of Cambria, with the purpose of creating a permanent imperial stronghold in the system. A stronghold which, as decreed by the Archmagos of Cambria, was to be a reflection of humanity's old strength and mastery over technology. It was to be a symbol as much as a physical asset, which is why the construction of the Nimbus Imperatoria was chosen over a planetary colonization attempt of Ladislaus.

Over centuries, the workers of the Mechanicus toiled, every year of their duty a celebration of the Omnissiah, until the new world stood under the emerald sun.

As a gift, it was given to the Astartes of the Hallowed Glaive in return for their crucial role in the liberation of the Subsector Cambria.

### Seat of Angels

Since the Thetys Surge subsided, the Stella Laurentia has become the Seat of Angels in the eyes of those countless souls saved by the push of the Hallowed Glaive Astartes Chapter during the latter parts of that crusade. In the centuries since, the Astartes and their mortal brethren have kept an active presence in the system and beyond, establishing themselves as a pillar of the Triumvirate Gondwana and the imperial authority over all the Sector Gondwana.