vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Codex Astartes - Chapter Fleet: The Codex Astartes makes provision for every Space Marine Chapter to maintain its own combat-capable fleet. Indeed, some Chapters are entirely fleet-based, roaming the galaxy aboard armadas of voidcraft that between them serve the same functions as other Chapters' fortress-monasteries.The majority of each fleet comprises frigates and strike cruisers, well-armoured and heavily armed warships that excel in line-breaking, blockade-running and planetary drop-assault operations.Many Chapters, especially the older and more established amongst them, also retain a handful of battle barges; these potent voidcraft are every bit as formidable as Imperial Navy battleships, and often serve as the storied flagships of each Chapter's fleet.It is in the launch bays of such warships that the Chapter's Drop Pods and Boarding Torpedoes wait to bear the warriors of the Chapter into war. Their launch decks, meanwhile, house squadron after squadron of fightercraft and gunships ready to swarm out and defend their parent craft or support ground forces in battle.
Codex Astartes - Siege Tactics: When manoeuvres break down and rapid strike offensives prove impossible, the Codex Astartes offers two solutions: bypass the heavily defended area, or besiege it. The Astra Militarum might enter into attritional sieges that last solar decades or longer, but such is not the way of the Adeptus Astartes.Space Marine siege tactics are many and varied, with most involving a complex series of choreographed attacks. Defences are probed and then distracted as assaults breach the enemy line or take the heavily defended objective.The Space Marines have a number of vehicles designed for besieging foes, such as Vindicators and Ironclad Dreadnoughts, that are ideal at bringing maximum firepower to bear against any fortress. There is no force in the Imperium that can exploit an enemy weakness more rapidly than the Adeptus Astartes.
Codex Astartes - Stealth Tactics: The small but elite forces of the Space Marines put a high value on the element of surprise. Sometimes this can be achieved through speed -- rapid strikes that deploy before a foe can counter.While such sudden assaults are a hallmark of the Adeptus Astartes, they are also able to utilize stealth attacks in a manner few other forces can emulate. By using auto-senses and sophisticated scanning equipment, some Space Marines learn to avoid visual detection, dodging patrols or enemy pickets when needed.Sniper teams secret themselves in commanding overviews. Assault Squads and Grav-Chute bearing Reivers are silently air-dropped into position, while Scout Marines in Cameleoline Cloaks steal into position.When the attack comes -- coordinated to the millisecond -- it is a perfect example of the combined arms approach espoused so often in the Codex Astartes. Brief but bloody assaults follow, throwing the foe into disarray while other elements of the attack join the fray, be they massed Rhino transports disgorging troops or Drop Pods hurtling down from the skies.While nearly all Chapters regularly employ covert operations, some, like the Raven Guard, are particularly adept at such missions. Their ability to stalk their prey from the shadows is the stuff of legend.
Codex Astartes - Anvil Strike Force: Sometimes, a mission or adversary will demand that a Chapter must mobilise the entirety of its Armoury. In these instances, fully armoured battle groups are gathered, and truly does the ground shake beneath their treads.Led by captains mounted in Land Raiders or other tanks, they trundle forward, enemy fire pattering off their thick armour before they answer with a murderous barrage of their own.There are many types of armoured strike force, each tailored to suit the needs of its Chapter, the foe or the terrain. An Anvil Strike Force is perhaps the most famous of these, the strictures for its formation and use dating back to the creation of the Codex Astartes.The annals of the Space Marines are filled with glorious accounts of the Anvil Strike Force's might.In the wilderness of the Halo Stars, Captain Dauuk of the Iron Hands led just such a mechanised strike force into the Warren Worlds. There, among the caustic yield-nests of the Heretek cults, his Predators stalked the sentient mecha-fauna, blasting apart the Chaos worshippers and their daemonic allies.No Space Marine, not even an Iron Hands battle-brother, could have lived long in that toxic place, though the tanks of Dauuk's strike force endured, and scoured the planet clear of threats in less than a solar week.The Aurora Chapter is particularly well known for their lightning-fast armoured assaults, leading the way with Land Raider spearheads supported by Land Speeder suppression forces.Brother-Sergeant Antaro Chronus has led many armoured attacks for the Ultramarines, and he has won much acclaim for incorporating aerial support and using transported troops to hold the territory won by his vehicular assaults.The Repulsor grav-tank unleashed by the Primaris Space Marines in the Era Indomitus has added further power to the armoured might of the Adeptus Astartes.
Codex Astartes - Drop Assaults: Unheralded, the peaceful skies are torn asunder with a violence so sudden that the Human eye can barely follow. Across untold planets since the days of the Great Crusade, the arrival of the Angels of Death has signalled defeat for the enemies of the Imperium.Surgical drop assaults are swift deployments of ground-based forces by vertical take-off and landing aircraft such as the Thunderhawk or Stormraven, or by Drop Pods launched straight from orbit.While there are many tactical variants of the surgical drop assault, and a host of different force compositions, all rely on speed and surprise. They are used to seize and hold vital terrain, to misdirect enemy forces, or to seek and destroy key enemy commanders, defences or war engines.Many an Ork WAAAGH! has been halted in its tracks by a Space Marine drop assault. Billions of Greenskins have been left to squabble amongst themselves after their Warboss and his entire bodyguard were annihilated by a sudden assault that came from the skies.The fabled Defence Laser batteries of Ixx were so powerful they could destroy any fleet that entered orbit, yet they fell prey to a Space Marine assault that opened the entire planet up for invasion.When rebel armies surrounded the planetary governor's palace on Dhrax, the Astra Militarum could not react quickly enough, but an Ultramarines holding force arrived from the skies to keep the governor safe.Many Space Marine Chapters have a preferred method of planetstrike assault -- such as the Drop Pod and Land Speeder Skyhammer Orbital Strike Force favoured by the Raven Guard -- but much depends upon the situation and the forces at hand.No matter its composition, the timing and coordination of a vertical assault are always vital. With correct landing coordinates, Drop Pods can be the ultimate terror weapons, hurtling out of the sky to land at the very heart of the foe.Before the enemy can react, the occupants deploy -- either assaulting or blasting their opponents at close range. Landing in rapid succession, the Space Marines can quickly turn a staggered foe into a routing one. Mistime or misplace the drop assault, however, and the Drop Pods will be picked off one by one, the enemy able to concentrate their fire and seize back the initiative.When arriving by Thunderhawk or Stormraven, it is vital for the Space Marines to provide aerial support; Stormhawks keep the skies clear while Stormtalons make strafing runs to ensure the landing vehicles can deploy those inside.The most savvy of Astartes commanders will use a combined strategy: close support forces air-dropped in concert with a Drop Pod assault, while Stormravens deploy more squads, and even Dreadnoughts, to keep the foe off balance. By striking hard and fast, a Space Marine drop assault can sweep the battlefield of targets and be gone even before the smoke clears.
Codex Astartes - Heraldry: The Codex Astartes contains detailed sections pertaining to the heraldry of Space Marine Chapters. These dictate that a Space Marine should display his Chapter's badge upon his armour's left shoulder guard, whilst his right shoulder guard should show his squad markings.The Codex also states that a Space Marine should incorporate his company's heraldic colour into his armour, displaying it on the trim of his shoulder guards.The Codex suggests a number of variations on this basic system and even advises that each Chapter periodically revise its markings to confound the foe. This has led to myriad differences between the many Codex Chapters and to some having varied their appearance over the millennia.Each Chapter has its own unique power armour colour scheme and Chapter badge; however, Codex-compliant Chapters all follow a common heraldry system, though there are many slight variations from the system described below.
Codex Astartes - Company Colours: Each company has a unique colour that its members wear, commonly on their power armour's shoulder plate rims, but some Chapters use chest eagles, bolter cases, knee plates, helmets or other parts of a Space Marine's power armour to designate company number.1st Company - White or Silver - Members of the 1st Company should also paint their helmet the company colour.2nd Company - Yellow or Gold3rd Company - Red4th Company - Green5th Company - Black6th Company - Orange7th Company - Purple8th Company - Grey9th Company - Blue10th Company - Nominally white, however the company colour is not displayed on the members' armour because they are Scouts.
Codex Astartes - Squad Markings: The left shoulder plate of a Space Marine in power armour always shows the Space Marine's Chapter badge. Squad markings are shown upon a battle-brother's right shoulder guard, except in the case of some older marks of Space Marine power armour that instead display them upon knee plates or within the Chapter badge itself.The right shoulder plate shows the squad badge, which indicates the tactical specialty of the squad the Astartes belongs to and the number of his squad within his company. Veteran Squads use a Maltese cross, Battleline Squads use an arrow, Close Support Squads use four perpendicular arrows pointing outwards and Fire Support Squads use an inverted V.Space Marines in Terminator Armour wear the Crux Terminatus on their left shoulder plate, and their Chapter badge on their right shoulder plate.A sergeant's badge of rank is the red skull and is often displayed on the left shoulder. The Codex leaves the display of back banners to the sergeant's discretion.Space Marine helmets frequently display rank and battle honours, either through colour or insignia. Red helmets, for example, are reserved for sergeants, whilst a white helmet or laurel design denotes Veteran status.Veteran sergeants typically wear both colours, incorporating a white stripe down the centre of their helm.Whilst company colours are typically displayed on the trim of a Space Marine's shoulder guards, they can also be displayed on helmets, chest Aquilas, knee plates or even on the squad markings.
Codex Astartes - Vehicle Markings: The Codex Astartes has many pages devoted to regulations for the markings and heraldry of a Chapter's war machines and armoured vehicles. However, just as with Space Marine armour markings, the Codex also warns about complacency and the danger that enemy intelligence can pose.Because of this, the Codex encourages Chapter Masters to occasionally review their markings and offers many variants and alternative icons that can be displayed upon Space Marine main battle tanks.Space Marine vehicles are generally painted in the livery of their Chapter. In addition to displaying the Chapter's icon, the vehicle's hull is also emblazoned with unit, squad and company markings, although the exact placement and application of these varies according to the Chapter and the vehicle in question.In addition, the most ancient vehicles may display mottos as well as honour badges and names; for their roll of battle victories is as illustrious as that of any breathing hero of the Chapter.Indeed, though every Dreadnought is assigned an identification number, this is quite often superfluous; every one is a famous hero of his Chapter whose names and histories are known even to raw recruits.Troop transports, Centurion warsuits and armoured vehicles such as Assault Bikes, Attack Bikes and Land Speeders carry the same heraldry and organisational squad markings as the Space Marines that crew, or ride inside them.Space Marine tank crew typically display their vehicle's Chapter numerical designation within a roundel upon their right shoulder guard. Whilst every company maintains a permanent number of Rhino armoured transports, other vehicles are attached based upon an individual mission's requirements. When a vehicle is attached to a company, a small roundel shows the company's number and/or corresponding colour.Chapter symbols are displayed prominently on the hulls and turrets of Space Marine vehicles. Space Marine battle tanks and Dreadnoughts are assigned a unique identification number within the company. This is typically rendered as a numeral upon the vehicle's hull.
Codex Astartes - Army Campaign Badges: When fighting alongside other forces of the Imperium of Man, it is common for the Imperial commander to choose a simple symbol to act as the campaign badge. This army badge is used for the duration of the campaign and identifies every squad and vehicle in the task force.Normally painted upon the hull of Space Marine vehicles and the greave of a battle-brother's armour, it is not uncommon for these badges to be incorporated into an individual's heraldry as a permanent honour somewhere on his power armour after the campaign's completion, either to commemorate exceptional deeds or as a mark of remembrance for the fallen.
Codex Astartes - Officers and Specialists: Captains - Wear the heraldry of their company, sometimes embellished with their own personal heraldry.Librarians - Wear blue armour, irrespective of what Chapter they belong to so that they can be immediately identified by their brethren, and wear their Chapter badge as normal. This practice is now widely ignored, even among the more Codex-compliant Chapters.Chaplains - Wear completely black armour, irrespective of what Chapter they belong to so that they can be immediately identified by their brethren, and wear their Chapter badge as normal.Techmarines - Wear red armour traditionally, irrespective of what Chapter they belong to so that they can be immediately identified by their brethren, but some, Ultramarines Techmarines in particular, choose to sport their Chapter colors predominantly while still being heavily adorned with red. They wear their Chapter badge as normal.Apothecaries - Wear white armour traditionally, irrespective of what Chapter they belong to so that they can be immediately identified by their brethren, but some, Ultramarines Apothecaries in particular, choose to sport their Chapter colors predominantly while still being heavily adorned with white. They wear their Chapter badge as normal.Sergeants - Wear the same heraldry as their squad, but carry the squad's banner, which displays the Chapter badge and the squad's number, plus a red skull (the symbol of a sergeant). Sergeants often paint their helmets red, or in some cases wear a red skull in the centre of their helmet instead.Veteran Sergeants - Wear the same heraldry as their squad, but carry the squad's banner, which displays the Chapter badge and the squad's number, plus a red skull (the symbol of a sergeant). Veteran sergeants often paint their helmets red like standard Space Marine sergeants and add an additional white stripe or laurel wreath that indicates their Veteran status.Terminators - Veteran battle-brothers, usually of the elite 1st Company, who make use of Tactical Dreadnought Armour. In normal power armour, their Veteran status is often designated by a white helmet and a Maltese cross worn on their shoulder plate as their tactical specialty symbol.
Codex Astartes - Codex-Compliant Chapters: The Chapters that rigidly follow the word of the Codex Astartes are sometimes referred to as "Codex-compliant Chapters" or even simply "Codex Chapters." These Space Marines adhere to the Codex as the model for their organisation, identification markings and tactical doctrine. The Genesis Chapter, Red Scorpions, Praetors of Orpheus, Black Consuls, Novamarines and Hammers of Dorn, are strong examples of these vehement Codex Chapters. Of all of the Codex Chapters, the most famous is the Ultramarines, the Chapter of Roboute Guilliman himself.Many Chapters, however, do not adhere so rigidly to the Codex patterns laid down for organisation or other processes. These Chapters are further shaped by their homeworld or the personality of their primarch, while still maintaining Codex compliance in many ways.The Adeptus Terra has never decreed it necessary to enforce the Codex absolutely. Indeed, it is doubtful whether it could. However, with subsequent Foundings, they have always favored the Ultramarines' gene-seed and created many new Codex Chapters from their line.With the passage of time, some of these Chapters have subsequently strayed from the strict letter of the Codex, introducing new variations but remaining broadly faithful to the principles laid down by Roboute Guilliman many thousands of Terran years before.
Codex Astartes - Blood Angels: The Blood Angels generally adhere closely to the organisation laid down in Roboute Guilliman's Codex Astartes, and the Chapter's Astartes are equipped in a similar manner to most other Space Marines.However the Blood Angels and their successors among the Sanguinary Brotherhood that share their primarch's gene-seed collectively suffer from the Red Thirst and Black Rage which has lead to the necessity of several Codex deviations.
Codex Astartes - Dark Angels: The Dark Angels make use of very different terminology when referring to the Chapter's officers as compared to that commonly used by other Space Marine Chapters.This is because the Dark Angels have continued to draw upon the ancient military traditions of The Order of lost Caliban in organising the Chapter. In general, this terminology is also replicated in most, but not all, of the Unforgiven Successor Chapters of the Ist Legion.
Codex Astartes - Deathwatch: Although formally counted as a Chapter, the Deathwatch has a highly unusual organisation since it serves as the Chamber Militant of the Inquisition's Ordo Xenos, which bears little resemblance to that laid down in the Codex Astartes.While a regular, Codex Chapter is organised so as to be highly mobile and flexible, and to be deployed almost anywhere in the galaxy on short notice, the Deathwatch often focuses on one threat, in one region. This means that a Watch Commander is able to tailor his forces to the task at hand.Some watch fortresses stand guard over vast Ork empires, ever ready to oppose the nigh-unstoppable invasions they periodically unleash. Others guard against more shadowy threats, far harder to detect yet every bit as dangerous. Still more face a myriad of foes and must constantly adapt to an ever-changing strategic situation.The Deathwatch has access to all of the specialised war machines used by other Chapters, and more. Even if a watch fortress makes no regular use of such equipment, it keeps mothballed stocks of everything from Attack Bikes to strike cruisers, for use as and when required.In structure, the Deathwatch does not adhere to the strict organisation of squads and companies that the Codex Astartes dictates. The only relevant tactical unit is the Kill-team, which may be organised and equipped in any way the Watch Captains deem appropriate. In one mission the team may go to war on Space Marine Assault Bikes, and in the next mounted on a mighty Land Raider.Those battle-brothers with the requisite knowledge might go to war clad in hulking Terminator Armour, or in lightweight Scout Armour with Cameleoline Cloaks. Occasionally, several Kill-teams are combined into a larger force, a sure sign that a highly dangerous foe is to be faced.It is perhaps inevitable that Space Marines new to a term of service in the Deathwatch might experience a period in which they must adjust to this foreign mode of organisation.This is especially the case when it comes to Chapters that adhere rigidly to the Codex Astartes, such as the Ultramarines and their successors. In practice, a battle-brother who could not adjust would not be sent to the Deathwatch, and those that do are often the most highly effective of warriors.
Codex Astartes - Space Wolves: The Space Wolves strongly resist the central command structure of the Imperium. The sons of Leman Russ never fully bowed to the dictates of the Codex and certainly do not now.Theirs is a philosophical deviance. Given that they live for the honour of battle, it is almost certain that the younger Space Wolves will abandon a standard tactical structure in favour of simply rushing headlong at the enemy, howling at the top of their lungs.
Codex Astartes - White Scars: Following the defeat of Horus, during the tumult of the Second Founding, Jaghatai Khan was amongst those primarchs who willingly embraced the wisdom of Roboute Guilliman's great work, the Codex Astartes.Ever since, the White Scars have adhered to the teachings of the Codex, but have always maintained the long-ingrained traditions of their own culture alongside them.
Codex Astartes - Sources: Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (8th Edition), pp. 8-10, 14, 73, 84, 93, 100Codex: Blood Angels (5th Edition), pp. 7-8, 25, 27, 40, 80Codex: Dark Angels (6th Edition), pp. 11, 14-15, 17, 33, 35, 46Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition), pp. 7-9Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pp. 7-9, 21-22Codex: Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 8-15, 246Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition) (Revised Codex), pp. 6-21, 184-185Codex: Space Marines (9th Edition), pp. 7-41Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition), pp. 9, 14Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition), pp. 9-10, 12-13, 17-19, 22-23, 25, 28-30, 32-36, 39Deathwatch: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 12-15, 38, 43, 45, 52, 54, 79, 153, 174, 182-184, 312How to Paint Space Marines (2004), pp. 34, 36, 38, 40-42, 44-48, 93-95Insignium Astartes: The Uniforms & Regalia of the Space Marines by Alan Merrett, pp. 9-38, 40-49, 51Index Astartes I, "Codex Astartes: The Holy Tome of the Space Marines," by Rick Priestley and Andy Chambers, pp. 11-16Index Astartes III, "Warriors of Ultramar: The Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter," by Graham McNeill, pp. 18, 22Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (6th Edition), pp. 168, 187, 225, 389, 403White Dwarf 299 (UK), "Creating a Chapter," pp. 72-75Age of Darkness (Anthology) edited by Christian Dunn, "Rules of Engagement" by Graham McNeillArmageddon (Novel), by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, pp. 464Stratagem (Audio Drama) by Nick Kyme
Codicium Aeternum - Codicium Aeternum: The Codicium Aeternum, also sometimes referred to as the Grimoire of True Names, is one of the most valuable and dangerous texts in possession of the Ordo Malleus, the division of the Inquisition that specialises in fighting the daemonic servants of the Ruinous Powers.
Codicium Aeternum - History: The origins of the Codicium Aeternum are shrouded in mystery, and no one truly knows when the titanic endeavour of writing the Codicium Aeternum began. The Codicium contains the information the Ordo Malleus has earned in bloody battle against the daemons of the Warp. It serves as a compendium of the most powerful Greater Daemons thus far encountered by the Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus and the Space Marines of the Grey Knights Chapter that acts as the Holy Ordo's Chamber Militant.The Codicium focuses primarily on recording each daemon's True Name, as knowing the daemon's true identity considerably weakens the foe in battle. The volume also contains a recounting of the daemon's previous clashes with Imperial forces, the successful rites for its banishment and a determination of the banishment's duration according to a reading of the Emperor's Tarot.No one truly knows how many copies of the Codicium Aeternum exist or where they all may lie. It comes as no surprise that given the highly sensitive material it contains, only the most experienced and trusted Inquisitors and Inquisitor Lords may consult or even own a copy. The Inquisitorial Archives on Tethys, one of the moons of Saturn that has been claimed by the Ordo Malleus, currently holds a mere two copies of the Codicium Aeternum.The original copy, long thought lost or forgotten as a matter of precaution, was discovered to have been stolen from the archives by the Renegade Inquisitor Gholic Ren-Sar Valinov, an agent of the great Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, Ghargatuloth. Following the banishment of this mighty foe, Inquisitor Nyxos deemed it profitable to manufacture a second copy which consisted of an updated version of the original. This would indicate that several more or less up-to-date variants of the Codicium Aeternum may exist within the Imperium.
Codicium Aeternum - Content: The Codicium Aeternum contains much information on the most powerful daemonic entities, including:Angron, Daemon Primarch of the World EatersCherubaelDoombreedGhargatulothN'Kari
Codicium Aeternum - Trivia: The Codicium Aeternum seems to be a mixture of both the Malleus Malificarum ("The Hammer of the Witches"), the 15th century treatise on witchcraft extensively used to justify countless witch trials in Late Medieval / Early Modern Europe and later pseudo-scientific publications on demonology and occultism that were quite popular in the 19th century.These included the Dictionnaire Infernal (1818) of Jacques Auguste Simon Collin de Plancy. The Codicium Aeternum's equivalent in the Warhammer Fantasy universe -- The Witchhunter's Handbook -- was published in 2006 by the Black Library.
COG - COG: A COG is a robot utilised by the Leagues of Votann for various labour and military tasks. Unlike the Ironkin, a COG is an unintelligent machine that lacks true self-awareness, and is little more than a robotic drone similar to an Imperial servitor or Servo-skull that is able to follow the simple commands of its Kin masters.Many COGs are outfitted with anti-gravitic engines that allow them to float, while others are placed within humanoid robotic bodies similar to those used by the Ironkin that allow them to carry out those tasks that require more physical dexterity.COGs possess many different variants, with some specialised for basic repair and maintenance tasks, others for manual labour with the Leagues of Votann Guilds, and still more serving as robotic bodyguards for various important Kin like a Brôkhyr Iron-master on the battlefield.More specialised variants accompany the Grimnyr into battle, and are outfitted with barrier-tech that allows them to better focus the psychic energy the Living Ancestors are able to draw out of the Warp.
COG - L-COG: An L-COG is a COG that has been specialised to provide manual labour. Unlike other COG variants, which normally are outfitted with anti-gravitic engines that allow them to float across any surface, an L-COG is outfitted with a humanoid robotic form that is very similar to that provided to their truly self-aware Ironkin counterparts.On the battlefield, L-COGS are often involved in logistical efforts, moving weapons, supplies and other materiel around for a Kin Oathband. More directly, an L-COG accompanies members of a Cthonian Beserk squad into battle who have been tasked with wielding the potent Cthonian Beserk Mole Grenade Launcher. That warrior needs the extra pair of robotic hands to transport and maintain his wargear and its ammunition.
COG - CORV: A CORV is a specialised COG drone that serves as a companion for the Leagues of Votann's Grimnyr. Outfitted with a form of psychoactive barrier-tech, two CORVs serve as robotic assistants to a Grimnyr and possess the ability to help the Living Ancestor better focus the psychic energies they draw from the Immaterium.Each CORV is outfitted with an Ancestral Warding Crest for defence and an Autoch Pattern Bolter to help protect the Grimnyr while they prepare to unleash their Empyrean abilities.
COG - E-COG: An E-COG is a COG variant that has been specialised to aid the Kin's Brôkhyr engineers and artisans in their various technological tasks. On the battlefield, three E-COGs accompany an elite Brôkhyr Iron-master to aid them in their attempts to repair and maintain Kin vehicles and to provide defence.Unlike some other COGs, E-COGs are often outfitted with highly dextrous manipulator arms that allow them to carry weapons or other devices and engage in tasks that require fine dexterity, such as vehicle and machine repair.E-COGs that accompany an Iron-master possess anti-gravitic engines and are outfitted with either a Plasma Torch, an Autoch Pattern Bolt Pistol or manipulator arms.
COG - Trivia: The term CORV may be derived from corvus corax, the Latin binomial species name for the common raven. This is because the Leagues of Votann Grimnyr's appearance is also reminiscent of the mythological depiction of Odin as the god of wisdom in Norse legends, with the two CORVs taking the place of Odin's twin raven companions, Huginn and Muninn. Additionally, the CORV's Ancestral Warding Crest is shaped like a raven's head.
Cog Mechanicum - Cog Mechanicum: The Cog Mechanicum, also called the Opus Machina, is the ancient symbol used to represent the pre-Horus Heresy Mechanicum, the present Adeptus Mechanicus and the religious faith of the Tech-priests known as the Cult Mechanicus.The sigil has been in use since before the signing of the Treaty of Mars in 739.M30 that incorporated the Priesthood of Mars into the newborn Imperium of Man.The emblem, a hybrid Human/cyborg skull in front of a mechanical cog, represents the fusion of Human flesh with the machine that is the goal of every Mechanicus adept.The members of the Mechanicus believe that slowly replacing portions of their organic bodies with more "pure" bionic replacements leads to a greater spiritual union with the Omnissiah, the physical avatar of the Machine God in the mortal realm who represents the sum total of all knowledge in the universe.
Cog Mechanicum - Sign of the Cogwheel: The Sign of the Cogwheel is a universal hand gesture used to show one's allegiance to the Cult Mechanicus, similar to the Sign of the Aquila used in the wider Imperium of Man. It is used as a respectful neutral greeting or farewell gesture, mainly when one is unsure of the recipient's rank and/or the proper etiquette.The Sign of the Cogwheel has its user splay the fingers of both hands wide and interlace them together, possibly rolling the hands against each other. This symbolises the meshing teeth of the cogwheels in the Omnissiah's sacred machines. The Cogwheel gesture is often accompanied by a nod or slight bow.
Cogitator - Cogitator: A cogitator is the most commonly used term in Low Gothic for any type of digital computer in the Imperium of Man. Imperial cogitators function much like their real-world equivalents (though capable of more advanced functions), but like most Imperial technology they often possess a far more arcane and Gothic exterior.Cogitators vary in size and function, from the gigantic data-looms of the Adeptus Administratum which help process all the bureaucratic data required to run the Imperium, to the slim microprocessors used in the brains of the Adeptus Mechanicus' tech-priests and the more advanced types of servitors.All cogitators are believed by the tech-adepts of the Mechanicus to have an animating Machine Spirit, though true, general Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is not allowed to develop within any cogitator.This is because A.I., or "Abominable Intelligence" as it is known to the servants of the Machine God, has been a form of technology forbidden to Mankind by the Cult Mechanicus since before the end of the Age of Strife.This prohibition is the result of the role the legendary Men of Iron, robotic artificial general intelligences, played in rebelling against their Human masters. These thinking machines unleashed a war known as the Cybernetic Revolt upon Mankind in the days of the Age of Technology that devastated Humanity's first interstellar civilisation.
Cogitator - Murder Cogitator: A Murder Cogitator is an abomination abhorred like few other forms of technology by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Such a device is built for the single purpose of slaying other cogitators' Machine Spirits (artificial intelligences) and extracting secrets from the steaming ruins of their digital mindscapes.Such a process is absolute anathema to all orthodox tech-priests, and they are prepared to do anything to exterminate this foul technology.Most existing Murder Cogitators are based on the designs of the Arch-heretek Nomen Ryne, who is venerated as a saint by some of the most degenerated users of dark technology within the Dark Mechanicum.
Cognis Flamer - Cognis Flamer: A Cognis Flamer is an Imperial Flamer Weapon used by the military forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus which has been outfitted with a Cogitator.The spark-like anger of the Cognis Flamer's artificially intelligent Machine Spirit has been fanned to a roaring blaze. When under duress it will fight with incendiary wrath, even should its wielder be distracted.
Colchis - Colchis: Colchis was the Imperial Feudal World of the Segmentum Pacificus that was the homeworld of Primarch Lorgar Aurelian and his Word Bearers Legion of Space Marines before the Horus Heresy. Colchis was a world governed by a theocracy called the Covenant dedicated to the worship of a polytheistic religion they named the "Old Faith," which centred on the worship of the Chaos Gods before the arrival of Lorgar, who unleashed a planetary civil war to establish a new faith based in the worship of the Emperor of Mankind as a god.After the Horus Heresy, the planet was destroyed in 032.M31 by an Exterminatus action, an order carried out by the forces of the Imperium as the Loyalists sought to purge every source of Chaos corruption from the Emperor's shattered realm, including the damned homeworlds of every one of the Traitor Legions of the Heretic Astartes.
Colchis - A Planet of Faith: The world of Colchis was one of the first worlds settled in Mankind's exploration of the stars during the Age of Technology. Located to the galactic northwest of Terra within the region of space later known to the Imperium as the Segmentum Pacificus, Colchis was located towards this segmentum's westernmost region along the border of the neighbouring Segmentum Obscurus. Colchis' continental masses were dotted with strange, crumbling edifices, and no amount of exploration and research could fathom their purpose.At three times the size of Terra, with a fraction of the population, it took almost five standard years to turn once around its merciless sun. And it turned with great patience; a local day lasted a Terran week, a week lasted a Terran month. From orbit, its skin was a visage of unforgiving mountain ranges and auburn desert plains, veined by threading rivers. It was in dry lands like these that Humanity's ancestors -- the very first men and women on the world no longer called Earth -- rose in lands that would become known as the cradle of civilisation.Mechanicum Explorators at the time of the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium put the date of its first Human settlement sometime during the 16th Millennium A.D., though it is impossible to be certain. Imperial scholars and historitors believe that the world of Colchis was once highly advanced technologically during the Dark Age of Technology like much of the rest of Human-settled space, but fell into anarchy during the turbulent time known as the Age of Strife and that its population regressed to the level of a pre-industrial, feudal society.
Colchis - Coming of Lorgar: Of Lorgar's coming, Carpinus speaks of a fiery comet smashing into the foremost temple of the Covenant bearing the infant primarch, while Lorgar himself often made oblique references to his "pilgrimage" to Colchis. Another tale tells of the arrival of a strange, golden-skinned child at the doors of the Covenant's largest temple, asking to be schooled in their ways. The child was taken into the temple and given the name Lorgar, growing to manhood within its walls and quickly mastering the many tenets and codes of faith imposed by the Covenant.The truth of the matter will, in all likelihood, never be known, though the answers may lie in the blasted words of the Liber Malum which is sealed in the deepest vaults of the Library Sanctus on Terra, though its pages must never again be opened.However it came to pass, Lorgar eventually became a devout member of the Covenant, taking fiery words of faith to every corner of the globe, where the power of his oratory and charisma won him many supporters. In his preaching, Lorgar promised the population of Colchis that a saviour god would soon come to them, offering them both spiritual and material salvation. He rose rapidly through the ranks and though the people of Colchis loved him, he had political enemies within the Covenant who grew jealous of his popularity and challenge to their power.
Colchis - Schism Wars: His enemies had vastly underestimated the depth of belief in Lorgar's words and the Covenant eventually split into two factions, the believers in the "Old Faith" of the Great Powers and the so-called "Godsworn" of the Brotherhood of Lorgar who believed in the imminent coming of Lorgar's saviour god, each deeply opposed to the other's belief, and each believing that only they could save their people.A holy war of horrific proportions erupted, with more and more of the population forced to choose sides as the battles grew larger and spread across the planet. For six Terran years the fighting in these "Schism Wars" raged across Colchis and many were the atrocities carried out in the name of holy righteousness.
Colchis - Arrival of the Emperor: With the end of the war and the triumph of the Godsworn faction of the Covenant over the Old Faith, the people awaited the arrival of the divine being prophesised by their saviour Lorgar, and less than a standard year after the final battle, a mighty, sky-borne vessel descended to the main temple in Vharadesh on a trail of fire. The Apocrypha of Skaros tells that the Emperor and the primarch of the Thousand Sons Legion, Magnus the Red, descended to Colchis with two squads of Thousand Sons Astartes, to meet its mighty war leader.Lorgar dropped to one knee, immediately recognising the Emperor from his visions, and swore his undying fealty to him. Under Lorgar's rule, every facet of the Covenant's belief structure was already devoted to the worship of the Emperor and the population of Colchis rejoiced at the culmination of Lorgar's prophecy, united behind their new and wondrous god.The arrival of Lorgar had brought with it both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the primarch's presence later brought the world into the fold of the Imperium with all its advancements, a curse because his arrival signed the planet's death warrant two hundred standard years later. Under Lorgar's brief rule the planet prospered, but when the Emperor came to Colchis and put Lorgar in command of the XVII Legion, the Imperial Heralds, who Lorgar renamed the Word Bearers, those officials of the Covenant Lorgar left behind to govern the world allowed the planet's civilisation to fall into decline.Under their rule, the planet rapidly plummeted back into a feudal, pre-industrial state. Imperial commericial traffic avoided Colchis not only due to its lack of orbital infrastructure but also due to rumours that the region suffered from unstable Warp routes after the disappearance of the 2188th Expeditionary Fleet near the planet under suspicious circumstances.
Colchis - Fate of Colchis: Following the end of the Horus Heresy in 014.M31, the Imperium launched a retribution crusade, known as the "Great Scouring," to drive out the remaining Traitor Legion forces and those mortal Heretic forces still loyal to them and corrupted by Chaos-taint. Following this period of bloody vengeance and violence, around 032.M31 the Ultramarines finally took the fight to the Word Bearers' Legion homeworld of Colchis, in retribution for what the Word Bearers had done to Calth during the early years of the Horus Heresy.When they arrived they found a devastated world, its industry in ruins and its people clinging desperately to civilisation. Given Lorgar's treachery and the Imperium's fear that his Chaos taint had spread throughout the population who had converted to the Word Bearers' heretical faith in the Ruinous Powers, the newly-formed Inquisition ordered the planet to undergo Exterminatus, and following a planetary assault of the planet, the Ultramarines' battle barge, Octavius, bombarded Colchis with Cyclonic Torpedoes.The geological structure of Colchis was highly unstable and the resultant seismic activity caused by the torpedoes' detonations split the planet apart. Nothing now remains of Colchis and where it once existed is still a closely guarded secret by the Inquisition.
Colchis - Geography: Colchis was an unusually massive terrestrial world, three times larger than Terra. It took 4.8 Terran years to orbit its sun and 170.4 solar hours to rotate once around its axis, giving it an extended day-night cycle to which Humans struggled to adapt.As a result, Colchisian civilisations developed a unique method for keeping track of time. Each local day was broken up into seven sub-days of approximately 24 solar hours each, known as "Dawnaway," "Mornday," "Long Noon," "Post-noon," "Duskeve," "Coldfall," and "High Night." These sub-days were further divided into three segments -- "wake-rise," "wake-main," and "rest-eve" -- to correlate more closely with the stages of a Terran day. The hottest time of day on Colchis was the wake-main of Long Noon, and the coldest was rest-eve of High Night.Mountains and deserts dominated the arid surface of Colchis and Human civilisation clustered along its coastlines, relying on water and air transporation to travel between settlements. The largest city-state on the planet and its later planetary capital during the rule of Lorgar, was Vharadesh, the "City of Grey Flowers."Life on Colchis with its difficult planetary environment could be harsh outside of the city-states, which were all controlled by the theocratic government of the Covenant. Slavery was rife, and the desert nomads who dwelt outside of the city-states were named "The Declined" by the urban dwellers and seen as damned by the divine "Great Powers" of the Covenant's Old Faith -- simply another version of the Chaos Gods.
Colchis - Indigenous Life: For the other forms of life besides Humans on Colchis, lacking the capacity to affect their own environment, adaptation and evolution went hand-in-hand. Many plants in the drought-wracked scubland had leaves with a layer of fine hairs to catch and hold more moisture from the infrequent rainfall, and as a defence against the wind's drying touch.Colchis demanded much from its native life. These forms of plant life had been catalogued by Imperial scholars over the years, and promptly ignored. All except for one wildflower growing in the alluvial deserts -- a flower that could not be dismissed so readily when it meant so much to the Colchisian people.This flower, the moon lily, bloomed with leaves of silver, white and grey -- all to reflect more of the sun's harsh light, stunting its own photosynthesis in the name of survival. Fragile, beautiful, the moon lily was a gift between Colchisian lovers, a decoration at weddings and festivals, and those trained in its breeding and care were as respected as teachers and priests among the populace.Across balconies throughout the capital city of Vharadesh, especially on the spires claimed by the Covenant, great hanging gardens of white and silver blooms contrasted against the tan stone walls. Vharadesh was the Imperial designative name for the capital city, and in the ruling caste's religious sermons, it was referred to with passion and pride as the "Holy City." But to the people of Colchis, Vharadesh would always be the "City of Grey Flowers."
Colchis - Trivia: In the real world, Colchis was an ancient kingdom of the Caucasus located on the coast of the Black Sea in what is now the Republic of Georgia. In Greek mythology, Colchis was the country where King Aeetes kept the famed Golden Fleece which Jason and the Argonauts had to recover to put Jason back on the throne of Iolcos. Lorgar Aurelian's name could therefor be a reference to the Golden Fleece.
Cold Trade - Cold Trade: The "Cold Trade," as it is known in the Calixis Sector and the Koronus Expanse, is the illegal trade of xenos commodities and technology by unscrupulous individuals who deal with the alien either for profit or for survival's sake. Though highly-frowned upon by the Inquisition's Ordo Xenos, many of these items are not considered outright illegal in the Imperium of Man due to the impossibility of categorising and banning every item, device, or object that may or may not have been made by nonhuman hands.The legality of such items are further muddied by the fact that certain Imperial individuals and agencies have had the right to exploit xenos species, conduct commerce outside Imperial space, or profit from alien plunder enshrined in law since the Imperium's founding.Foremost amongst these are those individuals or dynasties who hold a Warrant of Trade, known as Rogue Traders. This also includes Explorators of the Adeptus Mechanicus as well as lesser merchants, Renegades, and those Frontier Worlds who have the potential for contact with the alien.
Cold Trade - Bonetrader: The Koronus Expanse is strewn with the bones of alien species long forgotten. For most Rogue Traders, these ruins are curiosities at best and grim reminders of a shadowed time before the Emperor's light spilled through the Koronus Passage and into the Expanse at worst. Most Cold Traders make their living sorting through the debris of forgotten species and passing on the baubles they uncover to the bored Imperial nobility of the Calixis Sector in exchange for vast sums of money. Of course, sometimes the alien devices and artefacts that Cold Traders salvage have greater purposes and powers than one might guess, and thus have unforeseen consequences upon their buyers.The dread Halo Artefacts are such cursed objects, and many of the lost species of the Koronus Expanse left behind equally wicked machines in the most innocuous of packages. While certain nobles will pay a great deal for any object of alien manufacture, there are those within the Imperium, and some say beyond, who do not wish to see the most dangerous of these artefacts entering the Calixis Sector. These cursed devices are the primary interest of so-called "Bonetraders," merchants and grave-robbers who traffic specifically in psychically-resonant objects left behind by careless or malicious precursors.For Bonetraders, psykers are an integral part of business. Only a psyker can be relied upon to separate valuable caches of buried artefacts from the detritus of dead empires scattered across the Koronus Expanse. However, as any successful trader knows, trust is a luxury, and a particularly expensive one at that when one is dealing with those touched by the Warp.A Bonetrader may need a psyker -- or indeed, a great many psykers -- to carry out their business, but they must also know how to handle the trouble that any given psyker could bring down upon them if they are not cautious. Beyond the usual perils of the Koronus Expanse, anyone who relies on taking psykers into potentially dangerous situations must be prepared to clean up the inevitable messes that follow.