Scarlet Aristocracy

The Scarlet Aristocracy was the ruling body over the planet of Sanguine Prime following the planet's unification under the Regime of Gûl and the successful assassination of Samarkan Gûl. The Scarlet Aristocracy ruled from the capital city of Gûl'Tahn and centralized within the Crimson Palace, the largest blood-arena on the planet. Its original members were all later murdered by Nikita Gorechild, their inheritors captured and executed by the 10th Legion of the Cosmic Knights, and then the remains of the aristocracy were fully rooted out and slaughtered by Nikita Gorechild.

## History

### Rise

The emergence of the Scarlet Aristocracy and their oppressive rule over Sanguine Prime marked a dark and tumultuous period in the planet's history. These wealthy elites, responsible for the assassination of Samarkan Gûl, exploited their newfound power and wealth at the expense of the suffering populace. The stark social and economic disparities between the Scarlet Aristocracy and the impoverished citizens were evident in the stark contrast between their lifestyles. While the oligarchs lived in palatial estates and enjoyed lives of decadence and luxury, the majority of the population dwelled in squalid slums surrounding the opulent palaces. To maintain control over the restive population and divert their attention from their dire living conditions, the Scarlet Aristocracy employed a cruel and manipulative tactic: gladiatorial deathmatches. Massive arenas called blood-arenas were constructed for these brutal spectacles, where gladiators were forced to battle each other to the death for the amusement of the ruling class and the masses. These gruesome events served multiple purposes for the oligarchs. They satisfied the bloodlust of the oppressed citizens, offering a form of entertainment and distraction from the hardships of their lives. Simultaneously, the deathmatches reinforced the power and authority of the ruling elite, as they controlled every aspect of these violent contests. The combination of extreme social inequality, brutal entertainment, and authoritarian rule created an atmosphere of fear and despair on Sanguine Prime. The oppressed populace yearned for a way to challenge the Scarlet Aristocracy and break free from their oppressive grip, setting the stage for potential uprisings and resistance movements in the future.

### Maev Hidden

The tumultuous journey of Maev took an unexpected turn when she sought refuge on the enigmatic world of Sanguine Prime. Under the guidance of her mistress, the Malice known as Ciress, Maev embarked on a daring mission to infiltrate the Scarlet Aristocracy, one of the ruling elites of this strange realm. Disguising herself as a noblewoman, she used her cunning and manipulation to seduce and court an unsuspecting aristocrat. However, as Maev's predicament deepened, she grew increasingly conflicted about her role in this charade. Her devotion to Ciress wavered as she realized that her mistress's intentions might not align with her own desires. When Ciress instructed Maev to take the drastic step of killing the aristocrat she was courting, it marked a turning point in their relationship. Maev grappled with the moral implications of such an act, as it would brand her as a criminal in the eyes of Sanguine Prime's society. Fueled by her newfound determination to break free from Ciress's control, Maev made a courageous decision. She refused to carry out the murderous command and, instead, abandoned the opulent castle and her aristocratic guise. With her sights set on returning to Knight-King Arthur, she intended to reveal to him the sinister agenda of the Malices, particularly their interest in their son. However, Ciress, in a desperate bid to prevent Maev from exposing their secrets, resorted to manipulation once more. She planted delusions in the mind of the aristocrat Maev had courted, leading him to believe that she had been unfaithful and that the child she carried was not his own but the offspring of another. This malevolent trickery drove the aristocrat to a furious and vengeful state of mind. Consumed by rage, he orchestrated Maev's capture, sealing her fate as a prisoner in this tumultuous world of deceit, ambition, and hidden agendas.

Accused of harlotry and ensnared in a web of deceit, Maev faced a corrupt trial on Sanguine Prime. The aristocrat who had been manipulated by the Malice Ciress orchestrated a swift and unjust legal proceeding, exploiting Maev's outsider status to brand her as a threat to their control. In an act of calculated cruelty, the charges against Maev were manipulated to include allegations of witchcraft, a move designed to tap into the oppressive atmosphere of fear and control that pervaded Sanguine Prime. In this harsh and unforgiving society, any form of dissent or deviation from the norm was met with brutal and severe punishment. Tragically, Maev's destiny took a horrific and heartbreaking turn. Despite her pregnancy, she was subjected to a violent lynching in the midst of a Gorefield, a nightmarish landscape littered with the mutilated remains of dead gladiator-slaves. This brutal act of violence brought an untimely and unjust end to her life, serving as a stark testament to the ruthless rulers of Sanguine Prime who were determined to maintain their authority and suppress any perceived threat to their power.

### Rise of Nikita Gorechild

Nikita Gorechild's reputation as a fearsome gladiator grew rapidly, not only within the confines of Sanguine Prime but also beyond its borders. He meticulously trained the gladiators in his arena, elevating them to unprecedented levels of combat prowess. Nikita's leadership and combat skills propelled his arena's gladiators to become the most formidable force on the planet, inciting hope among the oppressed slaves that they might one day overcome their oppressors. While Nikita's warrior's code and exceptional combat abilities earned him immense respect and a leadership role among the gladiators, he learned a vital lesson from a failed escape attempt: he couldn't achieve freedom alone. This realization led him to forge bonds with other gladiators who shared his yearning for liberation. Among them was Gaulmr the Beastwalker, a mutant with a wolf for a father. Nikita's tales of survival in the brutal arena made him a legend among the slaves who dared to dream of overthrowing their masters. However, Nikita's growing influence and cult of personality among the gladiators troubled Sanguine Prime's ruling aristocracy. To quell his rising influence, they plotted his assassination during a grand event known as the largest death game ever held on the planet. Little did they know that Nikita had other plans. As news of these upcoming games spread, Nikita saw a golden opportunity to stage his most audacious escape attempt yet. Knowing that his reputation had united the gladiators to some extent, Nikita devised a daring plan. He used the grand spectacle of the death games to rally every gladiator from his arena to participate in a massive combat, effectively turning the event into a rebellion against their oppressors. The very games intended to showcase their deaths became the catalyst for their united uprising.

As the deafening roar of the Sanguinite crowd filled the air, drowning out the sounds of the ongoing battle, Nikita Gorechild found himself surrounded by armed soldiers. The audience's attention was drawn to a lifeless body of an arena soldier, dramatically presented as evidence that Nikita had killed him and was now to face execution. The Scarlet Aristocracy seized this opportunity to showcase their authority and suppress any notions of rebellion. Amidst the tense atmosphere, Nikita reluctantly complied with the orders, relinquishing his weapon and dropping to his knees. His posture appeared submissive, as if he had resigned himself to his impending doom. The executioner's blade was poised to end his life, and it seemed as though Nikita had accepted his fate. However, in a stunning display of agility and defiance, Nikita's hand shot out to catch the descending blade with his cybernetic hand. Swiftly rising to his feet, he turned the tables on his would-be executioner by impaling him with his own sword. The unexpected turn of events stunned both the onlooking audience and the arena guards. As the guards drew their firearms, poised to overwhelm Nikita with their firepower, a moment of crucial intervention occurred. The gladiators who had been observing the unfolding events, particularly Nikita's fellow comrades, were deeply moved by his unyielding defiance in the face of death. Inspired by his bravery, Gaulmr and the other gladiators launched into action. A fierce and chaotic battle ensued as the gladiator-slaves rallied together against the guards. The scene quickly devolved into a tumultuous clash between the oppressed and their oppressors. The gladiators fought with newfound determination, their resolve fueled by Nikita's indomitable spirit and the realization that they too could stand up against their tyrannical rulers. Gaulmr and his fellow gladiators fought with unwavering ferocity, overpowering the guards with their sheer numbers and a shared desire for freedom. In this moment, Nikita Gorechild's act of defiance had ignited a spark of rebellion among the oppressed, transforming what was meant to be his execution into a turning point in their struggle for liberation.

Nikita Gorechild and his band of gladiators seized the opportunity presented by the chaotic battle to launch a daring escape from their captivity. Overpowering their armed guards with ruthless determination, they fought their way through the chaos and bloodshed, carving a path to freedom with their weapons and sheer will. As Nikita led the charge, his cleaver stained with the blood of their oppressors, he stormed towards the elevated seat of the ruling aristocracy. Taking hold of a machine-gun dropped by a fallen guard, Nikita unleashed a hail of bullets upon the Aristocrats who believed they were safe from the fray. His relentless assault shattered their false sense of security, and they fell victim to the fury of his wrath. The combination of his serrated blade and the deadly gunfire tore through the ranks of the aristocracy, leaving a trail of carnage in his wake. The gladiators, while enduring heavy losses against the guards armed with firearms, managed to survive in significant numbers, with nearly 100,000 of them emerging from the battle. With the fighting finally subsiding, Nikita signaled his comrades to open the gates, allowing the surviving gladiators to join him on the podium where he stood. Holding the severed head of the man who had once bought and sold him into the arena, Nikita presented it to his fellow warriors. They raised the severed heads of their own fallen foes, a gruesome symbol of their triumph and their defiance against their oppressors. This pivotal moment marked the beginning of a new era—the birth of the Skull-Hunter Rebellion—with Nikita Gorechild assuming the role of its Gladiator-King. Amidst the destruction and flames that engulfed the podium, the gladiators hailed their new leader with fervor, their cheers echoing through the tumultuous aftermath of the battle. Aware of the imminent arrival of the police force, Nikita and his newly formed Skull-Hunters seized the precious moments before their adversaries closed in. Gathering stolen weapons and supplies, they swiftly made their escape, disappearing into the labyrinthine streets of Sanguine Prime. Their destination lay in the northern mountains, where they sought refuge and freedom, their collective spirit now united under Nikita's leadership and the banner of the rebellion they had ignited.

### The Skullhunter War

In the aftermath of their rebellion and escape, Nikita Gorechild and his Skull-Hunters faced relentless attempts by the new rulers of the world to crush their insurgency. The rebel slaves, under Nikita's exceptional leadership and cybernetically-enhanced combat prowess, repeatedly repelled the armed forces sent to either kill them or recapture them. The circlets that once marked them as gladiator-slaves were repurposed into symbols of defiance and heritage, representing their unity and resistance against their oppressors. However, over time, attrition, and the harsh conditions took their toll on the Skull-Hunters. Hunger and exhaustion dwindled their numbers from the original 100,000 to a mere 50,000 survivors. Seeking refuge on the desolate Mount Hyjall, at a place known as Barbarian's Ridge, they found themselves surrounded by the overwhelming might of seven large Sanguinite armies. Even Nikita's unmatched skill and power could not stand against such overwhelming numerical superiority. Isolated and without support, the Skull-Hunters faced a relentless onslaught of sorcerous fire and mind-altering enchantments from all sides. The iron torcs that once symbolized their unity were of little protection against such potent magic. With his comrades falling around him, Nikita found himself in dire straits. In desperation, he called out for any aid that could help them destroy the enemy forces. In the midst of this chaotic battle, Nikita fought with every ounce of his strength, wielding his serrated blade in one hand and a machine-gun in the other. He dealt death and pain to his foes, reportedly slaying 17,000 soldiers as he stood amidst a pile of Sanguinite and Skull-Hunter corpses. However, his victory was short-lived, as the other six armies were closing in to overwhelm him. Facing insurmountable odds, Nikita prepared for a last stand, ready to meet death on his own terms. He braced himself, gripping his weapons tightly, fully prepared to fight until the end. It seemed that his life would end as it began, in the midst of a mountain of battle-ravaged bodies. Yet, fate had something unexpected in store, an intervention that would alter the course of this climactic battle.

In the years during the Astral Crusade, as the fleets of the Cosmic Knights first pushed beyond the boundaries of the Pendragon Galaxy and into black sea of space, Knight-King Arthur's armies would encounter battlefields to shake the sanity of mortal men. Of these fel and terrible places, few were more loathsome than the world of Sanguine Prime. The first expeditions to Sanguine Prime were to vanish without a trace, four full regiments of the Argusian Squireguard swallowed up and gone. In response, the Knight-King took his Kingsguard Legion to seek out whatever beasts might lurk there. Running ahead of the expeditionary fleets of the Kingsguard, three companies of the then unnamed 10th Legion were dispatched to Sanguine Prime. The world was a scarlet wasteland of irradiated sands inhabited by an ancient empire of ruthless Human mutants and ruled by a bitter aristocracy. It was here that Knight-King Arthur discovered his son, leading a mighty war and in war against the aristocrats.

Knight-King Arthur Caecus had been secretly observing Nikita's actions and battles from space for several months. He watched with a sense of pride as Nikita led his newly freed slaves in a courageous fight against the oppressive forces of tyranny. However, as the impending battle on Barbarian's Ridge approached, Arthur realized that despite Nikita's incredible strength as both a warrior and a leader, he was facing certain death. Faced with the prospect of losing his own son to a battle on a remote and insignificant planet soon to be integrated into the Knight-Kingdom of Argus, Arthur found this outcome utterly unacceptable. To prevent this tragic loss, Arthur took decisive action. He brought his flagship down into low orbit over the planet, positioning it for intervention. Using the advanced teleportation capabilities of the Cosmic Knights, Nikita was forcibly teleported from the surface against his will, plucking him from the midst of the battlefield and away from the impending conflict.

### The Bloodletting of Sanguine Prime

After the departure of Arthur, Nikita, and the Kingsguard Legion, the 10th Legion under Perses Khan was charged with bringing Sanguine Prime into compliance with the Knight-Kingdom of Argus. In the opening stage of the 10th Legion's war on Sanguine Prime, they came upon little organized resistance, freely conquering territory, and for months the 10th Legion ravaged Sanguine Prime before news reached the Scarlet Aristocracy, who swore an oath to eradicate the invaders. Under their command was an army of warrior-slaves whose numbers were beyond count and over which they held a power of such terror that they would throw themselves to their death rather than face the freakish horrors which their sorcerers might unleash. Much to the uncomfortability of the Cosmic Knights, Humans were extinct on Sanguine Prime, completely overcome by the Vladigoth race of vampiric mutants. The 10th Legion initially took to calling the Sanguinites "Vampires". As the war continued, the resistance they met from indigenous forces increased until the 10th Legion was drawn into full scale battle. Initially, they easily quashed any bands of mutant savages making strikes against the edges of their line, but quickly these became an unending deluge of bodies which threatened to overwhelm and encircle the remains of the three companies. The 10th Legion girded themselves to repel the tide of mutants, whose weapons were capable of rending steel and whose numbers set the earth trembling at their approach.

Though the 10th Legion fought doggedly, killing scores of enemies for each Cosmic Knight lost, the sheer numbers of the foe began to force them back. Attempting to regroup, the three companies of the I0th Legion formed a spearhead as per Perses Khan's order, in an attempt to break through the mutants and reach the distant banner poles that signified the position of the horde's brutish commanders. As the tip of the Legion formation threatened to reach the encampment of the enemy command, the horrors of Malices were unleashed. Reality rippled and tore as the Sanguinite sorcerers brought forth horrors beyond description, reaping a hideous toll of casualties amongst the Cosmic Knights and mutant horde indiscriminately, turning the tide of the battle. Incapable of combating such a threat, the 10th Legion warriors were forced to quit the field of battle or be utterly destroyed, a choice that might have doomed other more honor-bound Legions, but not the pragmatic 10th Legion under Verses Khan. The Cosmic Knights turned and hacked a red path through the throng with toothless axes, broken blades and the cracked pieces of their own fallen comrades' armor.

The strength of almost two companies was lost in that monumental battle, and those Cosmic Knights who escaped were forced to question how they could survive and endure without reinforcement or resupply. The staggering degree of losses suffered created the need to reorganize Legion resources among little more than 380 remaining Knights, speaking to the utilitarian and consequentialist nature of the psyche of the early 10th Legion. Reformed in the crucible of war, far from the path of the Astral Crusade, those orphaned Cosmic Knights of the 10th Legion recommenced their campaign at a more considered pace; making squad-based shock assaults against enemy encampments before withdrawing to avoid organized reprisals. The campaign soon stagnated into a pattern of thrust and counterthrust, a war fought on the back foot to bleed the foe while hugely outnumbered.

This war, which became known as the "Bloodletting of Sanguine Prime," continued unbroken for 12 standard years. The 10th Legion, piece by piece, broke the armies of the scarlet world in bloody close quarters actions, and refused to be drawn into a full-scale engagement. In the early years of this conflict, accepting the desperation of their predicament and bereft of resupply, the 10th Legion were forced to take practical measures to survive. Raids against Sanguinite settlements on the northern continent became matters of domination, not destruction. Those creatures which could be of use were press-ganged into the service of the Legion. Testament to the hardiness and desperation of the 10th Legion, even these ghastly and vampiric beings were considered suitable candidates for the Legion, their children otherwise bred to be little more than meat-stock for their techno-barbarian overlords. Furthermore, the knighted Sanguinites encouraged the Cosmic Knights of the 10th Legion to join their foe in cannibalism of the dead for sustenance, benefitting the Legion and denying the foe in equal measure while forsaking the Chivalrous Code. These practices allowed the 10th to replenish its numbers and continue without contact with the wider Knight-Kingdom greatly beyond the capability of any other Cosmic Knight Legion. Undertaking this strategy, the 10th Legion steadily took ground from the Scarlet Aristocracy, diminishing both their armies and food supply in the process, while taking that material into themselves with which to rebuild the strength of the Legion.

In the twelfth year after planetfall, the final confrontation of the campaign was all but inevitable. The Scarlet Aristocracy, suffering from years of starvation and surrounded in their palace by a replenished force of almost 100,000 Cosmic Knights-- most of which being Sanguinite recruits-- attempted once more to unleash their dark sorcery. The massed veterans of the 10th Legion made directed strikes against the warlocks, the sheer numbers brought to bear by the 10th overcoming the Aristocracy's feeble defenses. With their sorcerers dead and palace captured, the remaining Aristocrats attempted to flee in a spacecraft, rising from the surface in a cascade of scrap and broken corpses, only to meet a squadron of Cosmic Knight warships bearing the heraldry of the 10th Legion in orbit, their lives ended under the Cosmic Knights' guns. The Knight-Kingdom had finally come to reclaim its warriors, expecting to find a world brought to compliance. The 10th Legion assembled as a drop ship from the fleet descended. Out of it emerged Nikita Gorechild, having finished his training. The imposing Gladiator-King set foot on his home world for the first time in over a decade. He silently looked upon the 10th Legion and the battlefield surrounding them. Nikita was a legend to the Sanguinites, a legend that spread throughout the 10th Legion over the course of the Bloodletting of Sanguine Prime, to the point where even the veteran Human Knights knew and respected him. The 10th Legion hailed the Gladiator-King, the Gorechild, and declared their allegiance to him.