vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
House Raven - A Brotherhood of Iron: House Raven maintains its power only through the strength of its alliance with the Forge World of Metalica. Before the Nobles of Kolossi were reconnected with the Imperium during the Great Crusade, their arsenal of Knights, like their world, was slowly slipping into decay. Without skilled Sacristans to tend to their great war machines, many rusted within the shadows of the Vault Transcendent, rendered useless by mechanical fault, cursed Machine Spirits (artificial intelligences) or flawed repair.The mines of Kolossi were also failing -- House Raven lacked the machines and knowledge to reap the mineral bounty of their world, the mines close to the surface long since scoured clean of useful ores. Indentured workers toiled in ancient pits, using archaic tools to chip ore from the unforgiving rock, hundreds dying each day for pitiful returns.When Lord Gregor met the first ambassadors of the Imperium it was the agents of Metalica that cemented the alliance. A famous tale tells of Gregor leading the Metalica emissaries into the Vault Transcendent to show them the Knights of House Raven. Upon discovering so many of the Knights cold and unseeing, the Metalican magi expressed their sorrow for the slumbering Machine Spirits.Beginning to chant, the magi then called out to the Machine God, entreating plasma reactors to burn brightly, sacred oil to stir within blessed hydraulics and neural nets to awaken once more. To Lord Gregor's surprise one of the venerable Knight Paladins, an ancient machine that had remained dormant for hundreds of Terran years, lifted its head toward the chant, its spirit finally stirred back to life by the presence of those with the blessing of the Omnissiah.Lord Gregor swore an alliance with Metalica and for ten thousand standard years it has endured. The Sacristan sons of Kolossi are sent to the Forge World upon their naming day, to be trained in the rites of the Machine God. Well-versed in the secrets of Knight technology, those that serve House Raven excel at their craft, and a Knight never remains idle for long should it fall in battle or suffer some technical malady.As might be expected, the Sacristans wield considerable power on Kolossi, and the "Iron Brotherhood," as they are known, divide their loyalties between House Raven and the Tech-priests of Metalica. There are those amongst the Nobles who are deeply suspicious of these returned sons and their motives, even though they must rely on them for upkeep of the Knights. Indeed, such is the change that comes over a Sacristan when he returns from his years of training on Metalica that his family and lords say he has been "cast in iron", changed forever from the tearful child which bade them farewell.
House Raven - Trial of the Companions: Centuries ago, the Princeps Grunwald Raven created the Companions, an elite formation within House Raven made up of its greatest heroes. Numbering only in their dozens, entrance into the Companions is a great honour, and competition between families of Kolossi is often intense. In the early years of the Companions, Nobles were often chosen because of their connections to the Iron Duke, or the status of their family within the hierarchy of the Order Inviolate, the capital city's complex social strata.To combat nepotism over merit, or at least to ensure that a well-connected Noble was also a skilled warrior, in 621.M38 Princeps Sukomvald Raven created the Trial of the Companion. The Trial is an annual event in which those wishing to join the Companions must navigate a perilous series of tests each more challenging than the last. Though the Trial is shrouded in secrecy, rumours whisper that much of it must be completed without the benefit of a Knight suit. So the stories go, a Noble must prove himself an able warrior and cunning adventurer to overcome Sukomvald's tests.Even before a Noble is allowed to embark on the Trial he must have made a name for himself, gaining glory in countless battles and bringing honour to House Raven. Each Terran year, the current princeps of the house will review the deeds of his Nobles, and create a list of those he deems ready for the Trials, inviting them to compete. It is a rare privilege to be invited to attempt the Trial of the Companions, and a deep insult to turn it down. House Raven Nobles have been known to retire from solar-decades-long campaigns, even on the eve of battle against hated foes, to return to Kolossi to prove themselves should they receive the call of the Iron Duke.The Master of the Trial is an office held by the house princeps' most senior Seneschal, and it falls to him to prepare the tests for aspiring Companions. The Trial takes place in the vast abandoned mine workings of Kolossi, and the Master of the Trial will spend the year between each Trial changing the test from the previous year to ensure that each one is unique. Even though the Trial changes from year to year within the depths of Kolossi, what tricks, traps and opponents the Master of the Trial sets for them, those that fail -- and survive -- can only hope that the Iron Duke gives them a second chance to compete.
House Raven - Loss of Kolossi and Founding of House Korvax: Agents of anarchy, harbingers of terror and ruinous heralds of the Dark Gods' lust for destruction, the Chaos Knights of House Korvax are corrupted and towering servants of Chaos. This Infernal house operates from a veiled and fractured planet within the Imperium Nihilus. Their Fallen Nobles are in thrall to a fell Daemon Prince of Chaos; their Knights' twisted appearance shows them to be suffused with the power of the Warp. Many Korvax Knights bear diabolical appendages and Warp-powered cannons supplied by forge worlds of the Dark Mechanicum. Daemonic entities bound within their titanic forms scream with soul-piercing fury, and coronas of  darkness play about the Knights' helms.It was not always so. The name of House Korvax has only been heard since the Great Rift's opening at the start of the Era Indomitus. No astrometric chart is even known to record the presence  of a star system in the region they now operate from. The truth is that Korvosi is a stolen Knight World and was once Kolossi, the home of House Raven. While the princeps of House Raven and most of his warriors were embroiled in the war for the Charadon Sector in the Ultima Segmentum, the Daemon Prince Be'lakor whispered into the minds of Kolossi's Sacristans. Be'lakor manipulated the artisans into tainting the Thrones Mechanicum of those Knights left to guard Kolossi. When Be'lakor's Daemon hosts attacked the planet's capital at the Keep Inviolate, a full third of the defending Knights turned on their fellows in Be'lakor's name.Before Imperial reinforcements could reach Kolossi, Be'lakor completed his audacious theft. Through the use of potent sorcery, he spirited the entire planet away into the Imperium Nihilus and employed his dark powers to reshape the world into a form more pleasing to him. Be'lakor did the same with the knightly house he had stolen, allowing the Dark Mechanicum to get their talons upon what had once been a house loyal to the Adeptus Mechanicus. They corrupted stockpiles of Knight suits, as well as those aspirants who had not yet undertaken the Ritual of Becoming, tainting their flesh and souls. Now, House Korvax is a dark mockery of House Raven, and Be'lakor's sneering insult to the nobility of that great line.Warriors in service to Be'lakor -- Traitoris Militarum regiments and Heretic Astartes warbands alike -- now congregate around Korvosi. It is a staging ground for an empire of tyranny and terror. Chief amongst these forces is House Korvax.
House Raven - Notable House Raven Knights: Ferrous Maximus - Knight Warden of Lord Grevan Raven, current Princeps of House Raven, Iron Duke of Kolossi.Impenetrable - Knight Gallant of Baron Randul.Tempered Fury - Knight Crusader of Baron Daklorn.Adamantium Will - Knight Errant of Sir Ursumna.Blade of Fire - Knight Errant of Sir Lornarus.Glory Unblemished - Knight Errant of Sir Krewald.Hammer of Mars - Knight Errant of Sir Rommarus.Red Vengeance - Knight Errant of Sir Horlund.Steel Guardian - Knight Paladin of Sir Havlorn.Unyielding Iron - Knight Paladin of Sir Walkorn.Pride of Kolossi - Knight Castellan of Sir Omnitros.Hammerblow - Armiger Helverin of Sir Krewald.Triumphal - Armiger Warglaive of Sir Tolos.
House Raven - House Colours: The deep red of House Raven honours the ancient world of Mars and their formal alliance with the Adeptus Mechanicus, while the silver and iron on the edges of their Knights' plates hark back to the industrial might of the house and shows that under its heraldry hides tons of metal.As a house of the Questor Mechanicus, the Cog Mechanicum features heavily on the Knight suits of House Raven, along with arrows, warning and binding sigils and other industrial icons that would be meaningless to those not raised in the service of the Machine God. The complex inner workings are also apparent, making it clear that only the Adeptus Mechanicus could have created such a machine.Every inch of a Knight of House Raven is dedicated to the Omnissiah's living prayer to the god of the Adeptus Mechanicus and His infinite wisdom. Alongside the many devices that comprise the house heraldry, House Raven Knights show the symbol of the Keep Inviolate, the vast adamantium fortress of the house on Kolossi.The keep is a symbol of might and Nobles bear it on their Knight suits as a declaration of the size and strength of House Raven. It is important to all Nobles of the house that they never forget their origins. No matter how far a Noble might stray from Kolossi, he need only look upon his Knight to see his homeland, the image of the Keep Inviolate forever emblazoned upon his war machine.
House Raven - House Arms: The crest of House Raven depicts their colossal adamantium-clad stronghold, the Keep Inviolate. Not only is this magnificent structure a mighty fortress, but it is also the capital city of Kolossi. There are few fortifications in the Imperium besides the Emperor's Imperial Palace and The Fang on the Space Wolves' Chapter homeworld of Fenris that are as impressive to behold. So does Raven's crest depict its greatness, their house icon a symbolic pillar of strength that bears the cog of the Adeptus Mechanicus, for they can field enough Knights to rival the battlefield power of a Titan Legion.The evolution of House Raven's crest stretches back many millennia to the 24th Millennium, when Alistar Raven laid the first mighty foundations of the Keep Inviolate. For millennia each ruler added to this massive edifice, and it would one day rival the Imperial Palace on Terra.Four millennia later in the 28th Millennium, Lord Grunwald Raven introduced the honourable institution of the Companions. Its first leader was Lady Syrtana Raven, who saved Grunwald's life during the Kortasa Blitz. The crossed blades symbol of these veterans was incorporated into the crest of House Raven. To this day, the most meritorious of Raven's Nobles endure the Trial of the Companions to join the order.In the 31st Millennium Lord Gregor Raven met the first emissaries from Metalica and swore enduring oaths of alliance with the Mechanicum. In exchange for skilled Sacristans the Knights of House Raven would take their place beside the Legio Metalica. This is represented by the other side of the crest, which displays the Cog Mechanicum of the Adeptus Mechanicus, for it was to them, and specifically to the Forge World of Metalica, that House Raven pledged allegiance, and its strength grew under the Forge World's patronage.
House Raven - House Raven Personal Heraldry: Underneath the sacred symbols of the Omnissiah and observances to the Adeptus Mechanicus, every House Raven Knight is unique to its Noble. One of the key elements that differentiates one Knight from another are the use of black and yellow chevrons. These appear primarily on the canopy plate but can be used almost anywhere on the hull of the Knight suit.Originally the chevrons were used the mark the age of a Knight suit, those with the largest and widest ones ancient and precious pieces of archeotech. In time the chevrons took on another meaning for House Raven, identifying the age and experience of its Nobles. This continues even outside the Knight suits where the Nobles will wear robes and cloaks emblazoned with markings identical to their war machines.In contrasts to the more archaic-looking face plates of the Knight houses of the Questor Imperialis, the Knights of the Questor Mechanicus use face plates in the image of the Machine God. The stylised mechanical skull prevalent on many Knights mirrors those on Adeptus Mechanicus Automata and Servitors. It is always a personal choice of a House Raven Noble whether or not to wear this face plate, many arguing that their Knights "see" better without them.
House Raven - Sources: Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus (8th Edition), pp. 28, 57Codex: Chaos Knights (9th Edition), pp. 28-29Codex: Imperial Knights (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 18, 39, 43, 70-75, 105, 107, 122Codex: Imperial Knights (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 50-55Codex: Imperial Knights (8th Edition), pp. 36-41The Imperial Knight Companion (6th Edition), pp. 68-79Warhammer 40,000: Forgebane (Boxed Set Book), pg. 31Imperator: Wrath of the Omnissiah (Novel) by Gav Thorpe, pg. 94War Zone: Charadon Act II: The Book of Fire (9th Edition), pp. 14-15, 18-19, 43
House Reinharn - House Reinharn: House Reinharn is a Loyalist Imperial Knight House of the Imperium. There is little information on this knightly house in official Imperial records or what Knight World they originally hailed from. It is rumoured that the Freeblade Retribution Incarnate is the last surviving noble of House Reinharn, which was destroyed in the Macharian Crusade in the late 390's.M41, though the Knight bears no trace of that house's livery or heraldry. The truth has never come to light.
House Reinharn - Notable Campaigns: Macharian Crusade - War for Synn Secundus (c. Late-390's.M41) - During the Macharian Crusade, led by Lord Commander Solar Macharius, the Imperium's greatest Imperial Guard commander, the world of Synn Secundus lay in the path of the Imperial crusade. The Warmaster ordered its surrender. In his desperation, the Jade King of Synn turned to agents of the Dark Gods to deliver him. The Warmaster responded with unforgiving force, and dispatched General Arrian -- leading twelve regiments of Imperial Guard, and Knights from House Arokon and House Reinharn. Making a daring strike right into the heart of the Jade King's domain, the Imperial ground forces were unaware that Alpha Legion Chaos Space Marines had been preparing for the arrival of the the Imperial forces, and as the loyalist soldiers entered the jungle they came under attack from all sides. Unleashing Helbrutes and Forgefiends, Guardsmen were torn into while their tanks were smashed apart. A withering storm of fire from concealed Predators and Land Raiders laid down a brutal barrage against the beleaguered forces. Blinded by the jungle, the Knights could do little to support the Imperial Guard. Lothar, one of the House Reinharn Nobles, found his Knight entangled by heavy writhing cables strung among the trees, and before he could free himself he was forced to watch as a swarm of Defilers pulled down his younger brother's Knight, tearing it apart with their jagged pincers. The loyalist forces fell back to their landing zone, thousands of soldiers dying screaming in the jungle as they tried to flee from the Chaos forces. Lothar was one of the few Knights, and the only member of his house, to make it out of the jungle. Enraged, Lothar turned upon the traitors as they attempted to surround the clearing. His furious charge caused such carnage that the Chaos forces were momentarily checked, falling back before his rage. This gave his allies precious moments to evacuate their forces back into orbit, though Lothar was not among them. In memory of his sacrifice, Arrian posthumously awarded the Noble the Medallion Crimson and named the engagement in his honour. Days later, when the Imperial Guard were fighting their way through the fortifications of the Jade King, a battered Knight limped back towards their lines. At first it was believed to be a survivor of House Reinharn, but when hailed the lone warrior identified himself only as Retribution Incarnate.
House Reinharn - Notable Knights: Retribution Incarnate - Knight Errant of Sir Lothar.
House Reinharn - Notable Personnel: Lothar Rheinharn - Freeblade and former noble of House Rheinharn.
House Reinharn - House Colours: The colours of House Reinharn are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Reinharn - House Arms: The arms of House Reinharn are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Reinharn - Sources: Codex: Imperial Knights (7th Edition), pg. 71Codex: Imperial Knights (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 32, 44, 91-92The Imperial Knight Companion (6th Edition), pp. 138-139
House Senica - House Senica: House Senica was a formerly Loyalist Imperial Knight household that repudiated its oath of loyalty to the Imperium of Man during the Horus Heresy. There is little information on this house in official Imperial records or from what world they originally hailed from. All that is known is that they were allied to the traitorous Legio Mortis Titan Legion.
House Senica - Notable Campaigns: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Senica - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Senica - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Senica - House Colours: The colours of House Senica are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Senica - House Arms: The arms of House Senica are not listed in current Imperial records
House Sidus - House Sidus: House Sidus is a Tertius-grade Imperial Knight house of the Questor Mechanicus, known also by the cognomens "Scions of Ryza," and the "Shackled Knights," that has valiantly stood amongst the defenders of the Imperium of Man for millennia. Despite the paucity of records claiming the foundatioin of this Knight household occurred during the early years of the Great Crusade, this has proven untrue in light of the events that occurred during the Horus Heresy. Founded upon the Forge World of Ryza, House Sidus has stood as its stalwart protectors, standing eternal vigilance over their homeworld from the encroachment of those that would do it harm.House Sidus shares Ryza with the Titans of the Legio Crucius, whom hail from the western edge of the southern continent of Erudition, this Titan Legio makes the Fortress of Iron, a towering hollow mountain as their bastion. Located further east is the forge city of Endeavour. This locale serves as a repository of knowledge, for beneath the city lay archival catacombs containing the sum of Ryza's knowledge.Deeper still sits the war vaults of Ryza, sealed by order of the Emperor for fear of what they contained. Known only to a few, it was also here that House Sidus made their home, engaged in simulations until such time that war called and their existence was finally revealed during the Defence of Ryza during the Horus Heresy.The existence of House Sidus was known only to a select few before Ryza was invaded during the Horus Heresy, though many had once questioned why Ryza laid claim to no Knight house despite possessing the knowledge and capabilities to support one. In hindsight, Ryza's refusal to found a household even after support was offered from Mars indicates that the secret of the existence of House Sidus was kept for the Forge World's own purpose, perhaps in the hope of retaining a measure of power known only to themselves.Assurances by the hierarchs of Ryza that no such ambition was held, and that House Sidus was forged following the Warmaster's betrayal, are suspect at best. Regardless of their intent, the continued loyalty of Ryza to the Imperium remained without question and whether House Sidus stood newly-forged or millennia-old remains one amongst many mysteries that emerged from the Horus Heresy best left unanswered.Though the Defence of Ryza was reported as the first engagement of House Sidus, its Scions acquitted themselves well, besting the Knights of House Morbidia atop Mount Causcaut and claiming two engine kills during the Loyalist assault upon Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega. Despite their existence being kept secret prior to the conflict, House Sidus did not stand idle for the remainder of the Horus Heresy and beyond, marching in support of the Legio Crucius, possessed with a singular desire to punish those who had devastated their world and restore the faded glory of Ryza.
House Sidus - Notable Campaigns: Defence of Ryza (012.M31) - During the Horus Heresy, a great battle took place on the Legio Crucius' home Forge World known as the Defence of Ryza. Forces of the Dark Mechanicum, led by the Traitor Titan Legions and their Chaos Knight allies fought against the Loyalist servants of the Omnissiah. Countless Titans and Knights fell on both sides. Despite achieving several notable victories against the Loyalists, including the destruction of the bastion of the Legio Crucius, the Traitor forces soon faced a new threat. The Hierophant of Ryza ordered the opening of the Forge World's war vaults, giving her allies full access to the deadly, and once-forbidden, knowledge held within. When the defenders of Ryza marched out once more, they did so with weapons capable of sundering even a Titan with terrifying ease. Alongside them came a whole new force -- House Sidus, a Knight house previously unknown to the Imperium, consisting nearly exclusively of Mechanicum Knights and kept hidden away beneath the city of Endeavour until such time as they were needed. So assembled, the Loyalists went on the offensive, hoping to throw back the Traitors before they too could regroup. It was at Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega that the two forces were to meet in great numbers, the spaceport hosting the last battle of the invasion as it had the first. The Scions of House Sidus acquitted themselves well, besting the Renegade Knights of House Morbidia atop Mount Causcaut and claiming two war engine kills during the Loyalist assault upon Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega. Eventually, the Loyalists were able to drive back the Traitors, only to be bombarded by a Chaos warfleet from orbit. There was little to celebrate, as the guardians of Ryza tasted pyrrhic victory, and the world never recovered the prominence it had known as a true rival to Mars before the Heresy.
House Sidus - Notable House Sidus Knights: Ursanshou (Knight Magaera) - Ursanshou was a rare and ancient pattern of Knight armour --a Knight Magaera -- that was produced by the forge-fanes of the Mechanicum. Despite its rarity, the conflict upon Ryza revealed several dozen of its kind amongst the ranks of House Sidus, their numbers unleashed upon the Traitors during the Siege of Endeavour at the Defence of Ryza and the subsequent battles. Depicted above before departing Ryza after the recapture of Conveyance Terminal Nine-Omega, like all Knights of House Sidus, it took its name from the stars recorded within ancient cartography records charted by Mankind's first explorers. Translated, the Knight's name meant "Guard of the Stars" and in recognition of its title, Ursangshou was amongst the first Knights of House Sidus to give chase to the Traitors across the stars during the Horus Heresy.Virealis (Cerastus Knight-Atrapos) - Records indicate that Virealis, depicted above, piloted by techno-savant Scion Haddeusi Unyrix, holds the honour of being the first amongst House Sidus to awaken from the stasis vaults during the Storm of Endeavour on the Forge World of Ryza during the Horus Heresy. Furthermore, the household's first two reported engine-kills are also attributed to this Knight Atrapos, with engagement reports showing Virealis to have emerged from concealed bunkers into the midst of a Legio Vulturum Warhound Titan pack. Virealis is recorded as having felled two Scout Titans by expertly severing their locomotors with its las cutter then retreating into the streets of Endeavour before the remaining Traitor engines could move to engage the Knight.
House Sidus - Notable House Sidus Personnel: Scion Haddeusi Unyrix - This Scion of House Sidus piloted the Cerastus Knight-Atrapos Virealis during the Horus Heresy.
House Sidus - Titan Legios: Legio CruciusLegio Osedax
House Sidus - House Strength: In number, House Sidus stood amongst the smallest of Mechanicum-aligned households, for records released by Ryza in the years following its invasion indicated a complement of around sevenscore Knights, a number far lower than expected for a Forge World of Ryza's prominence. This would normally mark House Sidus as a Tertius-grade household. Such a discrepancy can be explained, however, by the nature of the Knights that made up House Sidus' numbers, for all but a decade of its number consisted of the rarest of Knight patterns, those of Knight Magaera, Knight Styrix and Cerastus Knight-Atrapos.Such numbers were unheard of in all but the largest of households and even rarer was it that such patterns formed the bulk of a house's numbers for any reason save catastrophic losses. The presence of so many rarer Knight armours would no doubt offset their low numbers, for the raw power and esoteric technology wielded by the Knights of House Sidus provided them with the capability to contest households twice their number under the command of a shrewd tactician.A Knight Magaera is a marvel of lost technology and stands amongst the rarest examples of Knight armour produced by the forge-fanes of the ancient Mechanicum. Despite its rarity, the conflict upon Ryza revealed several dozen of their kind amongst the ranks of House Sidus, their numbers unleashed upon the Traitors during the Siege of Endeavour and the subsequent battles during the Defence of Ryza.
House Sidus - House Colours: The Knights of House Sidus are painted in the black and orange of their homeworld of Ryza with gold trim.
House Sidus - House Arms: The arms of House Sidus takes the form of a black star, the center of it bright yellow and marked with a High Gothic letter "s". This symbol is centred upon a field of orange.
House Sidus - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Loyalist Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 118-127Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: The Defence of Ryza (Specialty Game), pp. 18-19, 24, 56-57Warhammer Community - The Defence of Ryza: The Story (23 July 2020)
House Skandos - House Skandos: House Skandos is a Loyalist Imperial Knight House of the Imperium. There is little information on this knightly house in official Imperial records or what Knight World they originally hailed from. Like most Knight Worlds, House Skandos maintains its own distinctive culture and traditions. By long tradition the nobles of House Skandos are known as Jarls, and their household detachments as Jarlhosts.
House Skandos - Notable Campaigns: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Skandos - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Skandos - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Skandos - House Colours: The colours of House Skandos are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Skandos - House Arms: The arms of House Skandos are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Sterlund - House Sterlund: House SterlundKnight HouseQuestor ImperialisKnight World
House Sterlund - Notable Campaigns: Battle of Beta-Garmon, "The Titandeath" (006-013.M31) - House Sterlund took part in the long and savage Beta-Garmon campaign, which included hundreds of war zones across dozens of worlds. During this conflict, House Sterlund provided Knight support to the Legio Defensor. Even before the greater armies of the Warmaster Horus reached the star cluster, the battle lines had long since been drawn, and fighting had been going on for many Terran years. It was a cauldron of battle that would consume millions of lives before its end and see the demise of entire Titan Legions, earning this campaign the dire moniker of the "Titandeath." The Beta-Garmon Cluster, also known as the gateway to the throneworld of Terra, was the last hurdle that the Warmaster Horus' forces had to overcome before they reached the Imperium's capital world. Heavily fortified by the Loyalists, Beta-Garmon would become one of the greatest and bloodiest battles of the Horus Heresy, as well as one of the longest-lasting.
House Sterlund - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Sterlund - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Sterlund - House Colours: The colours of House Sterlund are red and green.
House Sterlund - House Arms: The arms of House Sterlund are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Sublico - House Sublico: House SublicoImperial KnightQuestor ImperialisImperium of Manth
House Sublico - Notable Campaigns: Dark Marches Crusade (610-758.M36) - Launched in the wake of the Age of Apostasy after a period of relative calm for the Segmentum Tempestus, the Dark Marches Crusade was an Imperial Crusade launched to expand and fortify the domains of the Imperium. Considered a great victory, the so called Dark Marches-region was brought into the fold of the Imperium and several xenos threats were eliminated, which brought the entire region a standard millennium of stability. By edict of the High Lords of Terra, four new sectors were constituted from these newly conquered worlds: the Haxan, Leyak, Eurydice and Orpheus Sector. House Sublico contributed to the war-effort by sending two fully fledged households to fight as part of the expeditionary forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus, which mainly constituted of a demi-legio of Battle Titans from the Legio Osedax.
House Sublico - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Sublico - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Sublico - House Colours: To this day, the colours of House Sublico are unknown.
House Sublico - House Arms: The arms of House Sublico are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Taranis - House Taranis: House Taranis, also known as the "Knight Patriarchs" and among themselves as "Primus Inter Pares," is an Imperial Knight house of the Questor Mechanicus that has sworn direct fealty to the Adeptus Mechanicus. The first of the knightly houses to be established in the galaxy was that of House Taranis.This truly ancient house predates any other by many hundreds of Terran years, for it was first founded on Mars during the Age of Technology alongside the technology of the Knight suit itself. As the industries of the Red Planet developed into a vast metropolis of technological mastery, so too did it evolve to become the first and foremost of the Forge Worlds, and the Knights of House Taranis were its guardians.The STC technology supplied to many of the sublight Long March expeditionary fleets during Mankind's first expansion across the stars included designs for armoured suits of exo-armour based on those first developed to be used by the Knights of Taranis. When the Knight Worlds were first rediscovered during the Imperium's Great Crusade many thousands of standard years later, it is likely that the Mechanicum used their intimate knowledge of the Knight suits worn by House Taranis to help win the loyalty of many of those worlds as part of the Questor Mechanicus.House Taranis was the first of the knightly houses to join the nascent Imperium. Having never been forced to survive on a frontier or build keeps against the dark void, they were more akin to the Adeptus Titanicus than their peers from the feudal Knight Worlds. However, the civil war that erupted on Mars during the Horus Heresy saw House Taranis suffer near-total losses at the hands of the Traitors.As the internecine conflict drew to a close, only two Knights remained. Only incredible commitment, and the skill of Mars' Tech-priests, saw House Taranis survive its darkest hour, and rebuild to be stronger than ever before. This experience has stayed with the Knights of House Taranis; they believe the Omnissiah will always protect them, no matter how dark the hour, and it is this faith that has so emboldened them since the Great Rift yawned wide.The motto of House Taranis is, "Honour thy Forge, Honour the Primus Ordinus."
House Taranis - House History: House Taranis stands as first among equals amongst the esteemed and ancient ranks of the Questoris Familia, for within the veins of its Scions flows the blood of those who first strode the red sands of Mars from within the confines of a Knight armour. It was they who shaped the tenets and traditions upon which all Knight households were once built and they who first swore allegiance to the forge-lords of Mars.From this heritage was born House Taranis and long has the household served the Red Planet, first againt the degenerate souls that sought dominion and death upon its sands and then across the stars, taking its place amongst the ranks of the Great Crusade.Through every trial, those of House Taranis strive to uphold its ancient legacy, believing that to shirk in one's duty is to dishonour not just the household but all households that came after, defiling the countless sacrifices given over the millennia since the first Knight was forged.
House Taranis - Origins: Centuries before the Emperor conquered the warrior tribes of Terra during the Unification Wars of the late 30th Millennium, Mars was the centre for Mankind's mastery of technology. Among the wonders born from the forges of the Red Planet was the Knight suit, a weapon of such fearsome power as the mysteries of the Titans themselves.House Taranis can trace its ancestry back to these times; its ancestors were the first to pilot the new and deadly Knight war machine, thousands of Terran years before the establishment of the Knight Worlds. In a time before the Throne Mechanicum contained the neural conditioning to create a Noble's sense of honour, loyalty and tradition, the pilots gave their allegiance to the Machine God and the ancient Mechanicum. It was only in the centuries after the bloody events of the Horus Heresy and the civil war on Mars (known as the Schism of Mars) that House Taranis rose to power.It alone remained from the Knights of Mars in the wake of that terrible civil war, and the house would go on to form a core part of the armies of the reformed Adeptus Mechanicus and dedicate themselves completely to the worship of the Machine God during the Age of the Imperium. It was a path that would set them apart from the other knightly houses of the Imperium, even those dedicated to Forge Worlds or in sacred alliance with the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Knights of House Taranis stand among the forces of Mars, true servants of the Machine God.
House Taranis - Genesis of the Knight Suits: The first Knight suit was one of the countless technological wonders created on Mars during the Age of Technology. The pioneering Nobles of House Taranis became the original Imperial Knights, and piloted the very first prototypes, fresh from the forges of Mars' industrial heart. Uniquely amongst the Nobles of the other knightly houses, however, the subtle, mind-altering technology was noticeably absent from the Thrones Mechanicum of Taranis' Knights.This was in part due to the fact that the Martian Nobles who became the first Knights were already fiercely loyal to their Mechanicum overseers and House Taranis was an integral part of Mars' military infrastructure. The Imperial Knight Standard Template Constructs (STC) were upgraded to include the subliminal stimuli in preparation for Humanity's exodus across the stars, the better to prepare the Nobles who would be responsible for the protection of others.Many of the Knight suits piloted by the Nobles of House Taranis were archaic compared to those of the "younger" houses, for they included the very earliest patterns and marks of Knight armour amongst their number. The destruction of so many Knights during the Horus Heresy saw this balance redressed, however, and the house was ultimately to be reborn with the very finest Knight suits at its disposal, as befitted the very first of the knightly houses.Many of the Imperial Knights of House Taranis date back to the time of Taranis' renewal during the Heresy, each proudly emblazoned with the amended heraldry of their house. Never again has the strength of House Taranis been so sorely tested, for it returned from the precipice of annihilation greater than ever before.
House Taranis - Mars, Cradle of the Mechanicum: Located in the beating heart of the Imperium, Mars is the centre of the ancient Mechanicum and the present-day Adeptus Mechanicus and the first and greatest of its Forge Worlds. A sprawling world of ancient factories, towering hive cities and maze-like mines, it is home to billions of Tech-priests and servitors. In the skies above the planet, gigantic orbiting manufactoria burn bright with the fires of industry, void-lifts ferrying trillions of tonnes of cargo every solar day down to the surface or up into space.Mars is also the port of the Battlefleet Solar, the largest of the Emperor's warship armadas, numbering thousands of vast and ancient battleships, each with the power to kill a world. In the centre of this teeming industrial planet, the Nobles of House Taranis hold council in spire palaces and void-station keeps. Unlike the Nobles of other worlds, those of House Taranis do not slavishly follow the ancient feudal traditions so common to those who sit on the Throne Mechanicum. Instead they are devotees of the Omnissiah, as much followers of the Machine God as the Tech-priests they call allies.The root of this difference comes from their unique past, and the role they have played as part of the Adeptus Mechanicus for hundreds of centuries. The first Nobles of Mars were skilled pilots and favoured Enginseers, who understood their machines in ways their contemporaries could only hope to achieve.As the Knight suits developed, so too did the Nobles, their personalities subtly changed by extensive neural connection to the Thrones Mechanicum. In time the growing sophistication of the Thrones and the Knights themselves meant that only those with a certain genetic makeup or biological heritage would make the best pilots. This led to the formation of knightly houses on Mars and preferential treatment for these special servants of the Machine God.
House Taranis - Great Crusade: The reputation of House Taranis is built as much upon its skill at arms and courage in the face of adversity as it is by the ancestry of its Scions. First amongst the Knight households to take its place within the expeditionary fleets, House Taranis brought battle to the galaxy's greatest threats, earning glories on hundreds of worlds from the Segmentum Solar to the distant fringes of known space.Yet all was not pristine within the ranks of House Taranis and as its number swelled and spread across the galaxy, discord grew as greater numbers of its warriors served beyond the gaze of Mars. Year by year, conquest by conquest, the loyalties of House Taranis fragmented with many amongst its ranks holding duty to the Imperium above duty to Mars.
House Taranis - Horus Heresy: Up until the time of the Horus Heresy and the civil war on Mars these knightly houses had remained wholly part of the ancient Mechanicum, ranked alongside the high magi of each of the tech-disciplines. They would march to war beside the armies of the Mechanicum, their own livery dwarfed by the cog-skull of their tech-lords. Though the first signs of division between the houses and Mars were beginning to show, even in those early days, it would take a climatic event to throw it into stark relief.The closing years of the Great Crusade were marred with increasing numbers of issued censures from the hierarchs of Mars to many amongst House Taranis, scolded for straying from complete devotion to the ruling fabricator-general. As the Horus Heresy began and Kelbor-Hal revealed his intentions to the Imperium, House Taranis was rife with discord and quickly torn asunder, its warriors turning against one another as each swore themselves into the service of those deemed worthy.When the Great Betrayal tore Mars in two, many Knights sided with the Dark Mechanicum, falling to the whispered promises of the Chaos Gods. It was a war that devastated the Red Planet as Titans and Knights fought each other like vengeful gods over cities turned to flame and blood.Those of House Taranis beyond the red sands were not spared death and destruction simply by their absence. With no guidance forthcoming from the war-torn surface of Mars, each fragment of House Taranis sought its own path. For most, this meant seeking new patrons, offering the services of the household in return for war materiel. Such benefactors stood on both sides of the civil war, and elements of House Taranis fought both for and against the Imperium, each believing they did right by the heritage of their household.Across the galaxy, the fortunes of House Taranis waxed and waned, its numbers growing as new domiciles were founded, only to be decimated once more in the fires of war. By the end of the Horus Heresy, House Taranis had died a hundred deaths and the handful of Scions that remained faced an uncertain future that spoke of a galaxy devoid of its legacy.In the end, only House Taranis Loyalists survived from among the Knights, its leaders swearing their fealty anew to the God-Emperor and the newly-appointed fabricator-general of Mars and father of the reformed Adeptus Mechanicus, Zagreus Kane. Since that time, House Taranis have been the favoured servants of the Machine God, never wavering in their loyalty or their dedication to its cause.
House Taranis - Knights of Mars: Though they bear the name of Noble and Knight, those of House Taranis do not follow the feudal ways of their kin. Having never been forced to survive on a Frontier World or build keeps against the dark void, they remain more akin to the Collegia Titanica than their peers from the Knight Worlds. Equally, they are not in thrall to the Throne Mechanicum like other Nobles, the subliminal neural conditioning that creates rigid traditions of the Knights absent from their own Thrones.The Nobles of House Taranis do not share this secret with their brothers -- in their arrogance as the first and greatest of the knightly houses, they see their lack of conditioning as another hallmark of the Imperium's preeminent Knights. With the might of Mars behind them, the Taranis Nobles have some of the finest examples of the Knight suit at their command, including large numbers of rarer configurations like the heavy Knight Crusader and Knight Castellan patterns, each one tended to by scores of Sacristan-priests of unequalled skill. While they might not share the feudal and hidebound lives of other Nobles, they too understand that martial prowess, and oneness with their machines, can come only through constantly developing and honing their skills in endless practice in their Knight suits.Across the ancient artificial landscapes and void gantries that cocoon the tiny Martian moon of Phobos, the Knights of House Taranis train alongside the Titan Legions in the specially-crafted proving grounds. Above the duelling war machines, the midnight sky is dominated by the huge red orb of Mars, the Forge World's millions of manufactoria and hive cities covering its surface in a burning spider's web of light.Unequalled in the Imperium, the Adeptus Mechanicus' proving grounds use holo-arrays, augur echo masts and transmorphic terrain fields to replicate any kind of environment a Knight might have to fight in. Across battlefields choked in luminous mist, hard solar rain or coiling lightning wind, the Nobles pit their Knights against diverse enemy-constructs armed with an array of lethal weaponry.Those Nobles that survive the proving grounds become the best of their kind, familiar with a wide range of the Imperium's myriad foes, from the cursed Warp constructs of the Traitor Legions to the living Bio-Titans of the Tyranid hive fleets. A master of countless kinds of warfare, a House Taranis Noble knows every potential limitation, strength and weakness of their Knight, eventually commanding the vast machines as if it were a second skin.
House Taranis - Psychosis-Neuracanium: The Ritual of Becoming is a hazardous process. Many of those who undertake its stresses do not survive, or if they do are rendered insensate or insane. For the Knight houses of most worlds these damaged family members are an embarrassment to be hidden away, the only hint of their existence the shuffling in a manor house attic or the rattling of chains from a castle dungeon. House Taranis, gifted with the learned presence of the Adeptus Mechanicus and an understanding of the Throne Mechanicum like no other, has a much more practical use for those incompatible with the device's delicate neural matrixes.Known to the Tech-priests of Mars as the Psychosis-Neuracanium, Nobles that have failed the Ritual of Becoming and survived are still a valuable resource. They are highly trained warriors with an affinity for technology bred into them from birth. Their genetic make-up renders them natural leaders and perfect stock for the bionic enhancements of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Their flesh takes to metal and mechanical devices with an instinctive ease. That their minds have been ravaged by the Machine Spirits (artificial intelligences) of the Throne Mechanicum is of little consequence for their new roles.Primarily, the Psychosis-Neuracanium are adapted for use as Skitarii captain-overseers. Their forebrains are implanted with emotive-selectors and memory-catheters to keep their rages and madness in check. Skull-plugs and flesh-connectors are then fused with weapon implants or auxiliary augur spines, further enhancing the Psychosis-Neuracanium's ability to perform a battlefield role.The remains of their personalities are still present in their minds, even if it is only as a mere shadow of their former selves. The natural leadership instilled in them as Nobles makes them ideal candidates to become able commanders. A Skitarii's own machine brain and augmented psyche respond instinctively to the presence of a Psychosis-Neuracanium, their base Mechanicus indoctrination making them react swiftly and without question.The families of House Taranis willingly give these broken sons and daughters to the attentions of the Mechanicus, on the promise that the regiments they lead, and the formations they fight in, will find a place at the side of the household Knights. Though the honour of commanding a Knight is denied to them, these damaged Nobles might still march with their brothers to war.