vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Crusade of Wrath - Crusade of Wrath: In 869.M41, at the instigation of the Astral Claws' Chapter Master Lufgt Huron, the Black Templars Chapter declared a Crusade of Wrath into the Maelstrom, assaulting it from its eastward marches. Meanwhile, the Astral Claws, Lamenters and Mantis Warriors launched their own assaults into the pathways of the great Warp Rift from its southern and northeastern approaches. Due to Huron's strategic planning as well as the mettle of the Chapters involved, no fewer than 23 alien or Heretic stronghold worlds were purged, including several on the Maelstrom's fringes that had fallen into the hands of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion and their apostate followers.At the height of the campaign, having made inroads deeper yet into the Maelstrom than any recorded Imperial fleet had attempted, the Astral Claws and Mantis Warriors directed their massed assault to smash the subhuman flesh-haunters of the Howling Gyre. At the culmination of the battle against the Howling Gyre, the Astral Claws' 1st Company led by Lufgt Huron fought their way deep within the foul creatures' carcass vaults before unleashing the Life-Eater virus upon the abominations. By this single act, they had ended a threat that had plagued the Imperium since before the Age of Apostasy in the 36th Millennium, earning a great and lauded victory. But once again, wider events intervened, putting a premature end to the Astral Claws' plans, as the Black Templars were suddenly called away to aid the beleaguered Realm of Ultramar in the wake of the First Tyrannic War.Having sustained substantial losses, and with readings from the Emperor's Tarot portending oncoming doom, the Maelstrom Warder Chapters were forced to withdraw from the Maelstrom without completing their objectives, much to Huron's fury. This incident would convince Huron that sterner measures would be required if the Astral Claws were to carry out their mandate to protect the Maelstrom Zone from all enemies of the Imperium.
Crusader - Crusader: A Crusader is a holy warrior of the Adeptus Ministorum who is recruited for his or her unflagging devotion to the God-Emperor. Most are inducted into the ranks of the Ecclesiarchy from a Schola Progenium, selected for their deep faith in the Imperial Creed and the Emperor.To be chosen to become a Crusader is a great honour, though it leads not only to a gruelling life of asceticism and martial perfection, but also inevitably to an unmourned death in battle against the forces of heresy and apostasy.Nonetheless, such a calling guarantees the opportunity to test sword and shield against Mankind's greatest enemies. Equipped with a Power Sword and Storm Shield, the Crusader is a stalwart melee warrior whose place is in the heat of battle, surrounded by his foes.It is improbable that a Crusader's fate will differ greatly in an Inquisitor's service. Some Inquisitors recruit Crusaders from the honour guard of the Cardinals Crimson -- that most mysterious of all the Ecclesiarchy's many orders.It is said that nowhere else in the Imperium of Man can more devout warriors be found -- save perhaps within the ranks of the famed Adepta Sororitas. In fact, several Crusaders have risen to become Inquisitors themselves in time, though they almost always begin their careers as staunch Puritans, as might be imagined.Inquisitors are not the only ones who recruit the martial prowess of Crusaders. Ecclesiarchy priests often gather a band of bodyguards to assist them in the execution of their duties (and Heretics). Known as Battle Conclaves, these groups are necessarily small.Anything larger would breach the prohibition of "men under arms" as laid down in the Decree Passive that prohibited the Ecclesiarchy from raising its own military forces in the wake of the abuses carried out during the Age of Apostasy in the 36th Millennium by the Renegade High Lord and Ecclesiarch Goge Vandire.Even so, the Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus covertly monitors the activities of the Ecclesiarchy's Battle Conclaves to safeguard the spirit of the Decree Passive, if not its letter.
Crusader - Role: The Crusader protects his allies from the unholy enemy, both with his martial abilities and the strength of his faith. He can serve an important role in any warband, bearing the brunt of the enemy's assault in order to protect allies, but is invaluable when facing daemonic adversaries.Resilient and focused as much on protection as on attack, as shown by the large shield he likely favours, a Crusader is a paragon of righteous battle. Standing strong against the enemy, a Crusader absorbs blows and gives back in equal measure against his foes, daemonic or otherwise.A Crusader excels in single combat, taking the ﬁght to the foe to neutralise the threat or buy time for his allies to complete their mission. Although heroic single combat is where he shines, a Crusader can also hold the line against the gibbering tide of horrid foes.A Crusader's strong defence allows him to survive outnumbered where others would fall. However, even if it means sacriﬁcing himself, a Crusader stands ﬁrm so that the side of righteousness wins the day. Often, an inspirational death can turn the tide of a battle as surely as any cleaving strike or accurate shot, and the Crusader knows the true importance is the ﬁnal defeat of his unholy nemeses, for to lose against such foes is more than mere defeat -- it can spell the doom of an entire world's worth of souls.The Crusader lives to battle the unholy enemies of humanity. One serving in a Battle Conclave or warband of Inquisition Acolytes is certain to receive numerous opportunities to test his skills against Heretics and deadly xenos. Perhaps the greatest calling for a Crusader is to serve an Inquisitor from the Ordo Malleus, pitting his sword against the Archenemies of Mankind, the servants of Chaos.A sanctiﬁed blade is a potent weapon against the daemonic, at least in the hands of a skilled warrior. But even the greatest swordsman is of no use against the daemon, should he succumb to fear or falter in his faith. A Crusader's resolve is as strong as his sword arm, ensuring the mental and spiritual fortitude to see the ﬁght through and stand against the unholy foe.Almost without exception, the Crusader is a master of melee combat, favouring a sanctiﬁed sword, axe, or mace to purge the daemonic. He is likely to eschew ranged weapons altogether. Many Crusaders view it as the ultimate show of faith and courage to take the ﬁght to the daemon in personal combat.In an Inquisition warband, a Crusader fulfils the role of front-line melee combatant. He does not sneak or shirk from the foe, but faces it head-on. Such displays of courage and faith inspire other Acolytes, giving them the resolve to ﬁght on against otherworldly enemies.
Crusader - Notable Crusaders: Cassara Novia - Sergeant Cassara Novia served for many years as an armswoman aboard the Imperial Navy cruiser Unyielding Triumph. During this time, she pitted her Shock Maul and Suppression Shield against pirates, alien raiders, and even Chaos reavers. In each battle, she fought with courage and skill, leading her squad to hold the corridors of the vessel against boarders, or leading attacking forces to take enemy voidships. Her greatest test, however, came with the most feared of events that might befall a voidship -- a Gellar Field failure. As daemons of the Warp swarmed the ship, many other crew succumbed to madness and mutation even before falling to the unholy claws and blades of the attackers. Most of the Unyielding Triumph’s crew were helpless against the daemonic onslaught. Yet Novia's faith held ﬁrm, and she rallied her armsmen to defend the ship's enginarium as Enginseers and Tech-adepts frantically beseeched the Omnissiah to restore the protective Gellar Field. Novia held the line against the unholy creatures long enough for a strange group of passengers to reach the enginarium, powerful individuals who were able to hold back the daemonic tide with esoteric weapons and abilities as the Tech-priests completed their work. In the aftermath, many of the crew faced mind-wiping or execution for what they had seen, but the intimidating leader of the mysterious group offered Novia another path. Now, she travels the Calixis Sector, pitting her faith, maul and shield against the daemon wherever it may be found.
Crusader - Wargear: Master-Crafted Power Sword or other Power WeaponCrusader Suppression ShieldStorm Shield (Optional replacement for Crusader Suppression Shield)Master-Crafted Carapace ArmourBadge of OfficeMicro-Bead - Micro-beads, also called comm-beads, are short-range communication devices used by the forces of the Imperium, worn in the user's ear. Its Vox range is good out to about one kilometre. Such phenomena as bad weather, dense terrain and intervening rock, plasteel, or other dense material can greatly reduce this range, however.
Crusader Host - Crusader Host: The Crusader Host was an elite Legiones Astartes Honour Guard stationed on Terra during the Great Crusade and early years of the Horus Heresy during the 30th Millennium and early 31st Millennium.It is presumed once the entirety of the Crusader Host was incarcerated, that it was formerly disbanded by order of the Terran Council. Following the formal disbandment of the Crusader Host, the fate of the majority of its members remains unknown.
Crusader Host - History: At the conclusion of the Unification Wars, the Legiones Astartes stood upon the precipice of launching the Great Crusade, to depart the Sol System in a great many cases never to return. Before leaving at the head of the first great expeditionary fleets, each of the Legions mustered a party of Legionaries who would remain on Terra and stand as their representatives before the Terran Council in all matters in which the Legions held a stake.In addition, they would serve as an honour guard to watch over Terra and all that the Unification Wars had won for Mankind. Perhaps most importantly, they would record the names of those Legionaries who would lay down their lives conquering the great darkness beyond the light of Sol, so that no sacrifice would ever be forgotten.In accepting this honour, the Legionaries of the Crusader Host would be making an equally great sacrifice, for they would partake in none of the glory their brothers would win and all their victories would be won by proxy.
Crusader Host - Crusader Host Composition: The Crusader Host was based in the Preceptory within the Imperial Palace. Within its hallowed halls they kept tally of their brothers' glorious victories, mourned the dead and acted as their primarchs' proxies in the Sol System.This unit was composed of representatives from all 18 Legiones Astartes and normally numbered at least 30 members. Although service in the Crusader Host was required on a rotational basis that all of the Legions adhered to, the Host was not required to have a member from each of the Space Marine Legions in its complement.The rotation of Astartes did not happen regularly, as some members of the Crusader Host had been away from their Legions for over 100 standard Terran years at the start of the Horus Heresy.
Crusader Host - Horus Heresy: During the early 31st Millennium, the Emperor's favoured son, the Warmaster Horus, fell to the seductive whispers of Chaos and instigated a galaxy-spanning civil war against the Imperium. Horus pitted primarch against primarch and Legion against Legion.When the Warmaster's betrayal was revealed at Isstvan III, the members of the Crusader Host were as one incarcerated by order of the Praetorian of Terra, the Primarch Rogal Dorn, in the prison Khangba Marwu, better known as "The Vault."If one such as Horus could turn, then who among the Host could be trusted? Under the orders of Constantin Valdor, the Captain-General of the Legio Custodes, a "hunt team" of Custodes warriors was assembled to bring all the members of the Crusader Host to justice, by force if necessary.At length, Dorn was satisfied that those of the Host drawn from his own Legion were sound in their loyalties and he ordered them freed. Of the remainder, each is a tale in its own right.Some escaped, their fates unknown. A small number were freed on condition of their performing some great and vital task, such as service in the ranks of the Knights-Errant. The ultimate fate of many of the Crusader Host is bound up in the events of the climax of the Horus Heresy, when total war came at last to Terra.
Crusader Squad - Unit Composition: 5-10 Neophytes4-9 Initiates1 Sword Brother
Crusader Squad - Wargear: Power Armour (Initiates and Sword Brethren only)Scout Armour (Neophytes only)BolterBolt PistolFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades
Crusader Squad - Optional Wargear: Chainsword (as replacement for Bolter)Combat KnifePower Weapon (Power Axe, Power Fist, Power Maul or Power Sword) (any type; 1 Initiate in the squad only)Grav-cannon or Heavy Bolter or Lascannon or Missile Launcher or Multi-Melta or Plasma Cannon (1 Initiate in the squad only)Astartes Shotgun (any Neophyte only as replacement for Bolter)Melta Bombs (Sword Brethren only)
Crusader Squad - Dedicated Transport: Drop Pod, Rhino, Razorback or Land Raider Crusader - Any one of these vehicles can carry the Crusader Squad into battle.
Crusaders - Crusaders: The Crusaders is a Codex Astartes-compliant Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and origin.Almost nothing is known about this Chapter in Imperial records, except that they were created some time after the Second Founding.
Crusaders - Chapter Colours: The Crusaders Chapter wears a quartered pattern of red and white on their power armour.The white squad tactical specialty symbol -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran or command -- is indicated on the right shoulder plate.A white Low Gothic numeral on the inside edge of the shoulder plate, next to the squad specialty symbol, indicates squad number. The chapter badge is worn on the left shoulder plate, which is white.The colour of the Aquila or Imperialis on the chest indicates company number in accordance with the Codex Astartes -- i.e. White (1st Company), Yellow (2nd Company), Red (3rd Company), etc.
Crusaders - Chapter Badge: The Crusaders' Chapter badge closely resembles the holy icon utilised by the Adeptus Ministorum -- a quartered red, stylised letter "I" with a large, white Human skull in the centre of it with a red halo surrounding it. This is placed over a field of white.
Crux Terminatus - Sources: Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (8th Edition), pg. 81Codex: Space Marines (6th Edition), pg. 44Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition), pg. 23Deathwatch: Rites of Battle (RPG), pp. 206-207Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (6th Edition), pg. 185White Dwarf 303 (US), "Index Astartes: Deep Strike", pg. 18White Dwarf 181 (US), "Space Marine Terminators: Tactical Dreadnought Armour", pg. 37White Dwarf 112 (US), "Terminator: Space Marine Tactical Dreadnought Armour", pp. 11-20White Dwarf 109 (US), "Terminator Squads", pp. 32-33Warhammer 40,000 Compendium (1st Edition), "Terminator, Space Marine Tactical Dreadnought Armour" by Rick Priestley and Andy Warwick, pp. 11-18Pandorax (Novel) by C.Z. Dunn, pg. 207
Cryptek - Cryptek: A Cryptek is one of the technologists and engineers of the Necron species, and they are responsible for studying and maintaining the technology of the Necron dynasties. A Cryptek's powers mirror that of the psykers found amongst the other intelligent species of the galaxy.However, while psykers channel the energies of the Warp to accomplish their seemingly supernatural feats, a Cryptek uses their highly advanced knowledge of science and technology to manipulate the purely physical universe's fundamental forces and produce many of the same seemingly magical effects.What a Cryptek often accomplishes with their technology is nothing short of magical to the eyes of the "lesser" intelligent peoples of the galaxy.With their knowledge of arcane sciences, a Cryptek can transmute a foe into liquid adamantium, turn them into a speck of dwarf star matter, set the air ablaze, call down eldritch bolts of lightning and other equally impressive feats of technological arcana.
Cryptek - Technomandrite Crypteks: All Crypteks possess a level of genius that makes the finest minds of Humanity appear drooling simpletons by comparison. The Technomandrites are the most inventive of them all.Many of the Necron species' most powerful technologies can be ascribed to this hermetic brotherhood -- from translocation beams that teleport them from pocket dimensions into material space, to Gauss Weapons that strip their targets to their constituent atoms. So powerful did these Crypteks become that the Silent King, ruler of the lost Necron Empire, arranged for their downfall.Only now they stalk from the shadows once more, released from exile by anti-Chaos protocols put in place against a breach from the Immaterium of cosmic scale, a breach like the birth of the Great Rift.Though many a Necron Overlord seeks the blackstone that will hold back the flood of Chaos in this new era, the Technomandrites are already several steps ahead -- if their plans reach fruition, their mastery of science will give them the keys to ultimate triumph.
Cryptek - Cryptek Disciplines: The Crypteks have developed countless disciplines of techno-sorcery, down through the aeons. Further, each individual Cryptek makes its own unique advancements in its chosen expertise. As such, it is unlikely for two Crypteks to ever wield quite the same abilities and weapons.Presented here are the five most common Cryptek techno-sorcery disciplines, but by no means are these the only ones, as there are literally hundreds of thousands of such disciplines in use by the different Cryptek Conclaves:
Cryptek - Psychomancer (Harbinger of Despair): Accomplished psychomancers are amongst the most keenly retained of all Crypteks due to their command over the powers of the mind.If their abilities are employed properly, the enemy's morale will be quickly shattered within moments of the battle's start, leading to their appelation of "Harbingers of Despair."Nightmare Shroud - When this small, black cask is opened, the worst terrors of a thousand aeons are unleashed on the Cryptek's foes, assailing their enemies with phantasms of dread as potent as any mortal danger.Veil of Darkness - With a simple wave of its skeletal hand, the Cryptek can summon a billowing sheet of almost tangible shadow, enveloping it and nearby allies before disappearing along with the enshrouded Necrons. When the darkness ebbs, the Cryptek and his comrades have disappeared, only to rematerialise some distance away.
Cryptek - Plasmancer (Harbinger of Destruction): Plasmancers are not subtle beings, for they choose to wield raw energy rather than go to the trouble of binding it into other forms.Thus are they known as "Harbingers of Destruction," as the spread of destruction is their gift to the galaxy.Gaze of Flame - Some Plasmancers choose to implant hidden weaponry within their own bodies. Many Necrons find this practice unsavoury, at best. Few, however, would question a Harbinger of Destruction to his face, particularly when that face may conceal all manner of terrifying weaponry. When in battle, the eyes of a Cryptek who has granted himself the Gaze of Flame burn with an unnatural, ghostly fire, stealing away both an assailant's speed and inducing great fear of the Cryptek.Solar Pulse - Often incorporated into an Eldritch Lance, the Solar Pulse unleashes a sizeable portion of the Lance's energy, not as a coherent beam, but as a flash of light bright as a solar flare.
Cryptek - Chronomancer (Harbinger of Eternity): Chronomancers are known as "Harbingers of Eternity," as knowledge of the future flows through their every act.Few chronomancers are trusted, as they always have a shrewd idea of how any event will unfold.Chronometron - The bearer of this arcane device exists slightly outside the flow of time, allowing him to glimpse possible futures and modify his recent actions accordingly. A Cryptek utilising a Chronometron appears blurred, its movements sudden and spasmodic like a primitive pict-reel or degraded hololith.Timesplinter Cloak - The most accomplished of chronomancers can weave together disparate strands of time, forming an unassailable shield against any attack that does not originate from the time stream corresponding to the precise moment of impact.
Cryptek - Ethermancer (Harbinger of the Storm): Ethermancers are called the "Harbingers of the Storm," for the fury of the turbulent skies lies at their command. They can summon lightning, or set punishing winds upon the foe.Ether Crystal - An Ether Crystal can control the fundamental forces of nature, summoning storms from tranquillity and lightning from clear skies. In seconds, the chosen area is assaulted by gale-force winds from nowhere as black storm clouds gather to block out the sky.Lightning Field - A Cryptek equipped with a Lightning Field is surrounded by crackling, incandescent electricity that arcs across his body and any nearby Necrons. Bolts of emerald lightning arc between the Cryptek and his comrades, electrocuting any foe who comes near.
Cryptek - Alchemist (Harbinger of Transmogrification): "Harbingers of Transmogrification", also known as "alchemists," or "geomancers," are adepts of geomancy and masters of the science once known to Mankind as alchemy.Alchemist Crypteks specialise in the transmutation of matter from one form to another and the instilling of animus within inanimate objects.Harp of Dissonance - Many an enemy has underestimated the power of this strange, alchemical weapon, most often fatally. An irregularly shaped metallic casket, a Harp of Dissonance is laced with numerous strings of different materials, each perfectly calibrated to a precise level of tension. A correctly played note, when amplified and focused through the arcane technology housed within the Harp, can burst the molecular bonds of nearly any material, transmuting it to brittle porcelain.Seismic Crucible - A skilled geomancer with a Seismic Crucible may command the very earth beneath his feet and, more importantly, the feet of his enemies. The Harbinger of Transmogrification can precipitate a powerful, localised quake.
Cryptek - Technomancer: Technomancers possess the power to augment and swiftly repair Necron units and Canoptek constructs in the field. Some Technomancers use Canoptek Cloaks to flit swiftly to wherever they are needed most, while others employ the nanoscarab beams of their Canoptek Control Nodes to augment from afar.Canoptek Cloak - The Canoptek Cloak allows a Technomancer to move swiftly across the battlefield to reinforce Canoptek constructs wherever needed.Canoptek Control Node - The Canoptek Control Node is a device that allows a Technomancer to control, repair or augment the abilities of Necron Canoptek constructs on the battlefield from afar. It works through the use of beams of microscopic Nanoscarabs that are sent to carry out the requested operations on the designated constructs.
Cryptek - Wargear: Necrodermis - Like all Necrons, Crypteks are composed of the living metal called necrodermis, which allows them to self-repair even catastrophic amounts of damage.Most Crypteks will be armed with a type of staff that contains arcane technologies used to unleash their techno-sorcerous powers against the enemy. The most common forms of Cryptek staffs include:Staff of Light - The Staff of Light is both a weapon and a symbol of authority for those Crypteks who have no real specialisation in the arts of techno-sorcery. Its haft is actually a disguised power generator rod, and the crest is a finely tuned focussing device, allowing the wielder to unleash searing bolts of energy at his foes.Abyssal Staff - Crypteks that are accomplished Psychomancers utilise Abyssal Staves. As dark as onyx and decorated with symbols designed to prey on the subconscious fears of mortals, an Abyssal Staff blasts the sanity of a Psychomancer's foes. To succumb to the swirling ebon mists called by the Abyssal Staff is to be swallowed in inpenetrable darkness.Eldritch Lance - The Eldritch Lance is utilised by Crypteks who are also Plasmancers and are able to wield raw energy. This long stave is laced with arcane circuitry, its flared tip studded with focusing crystals. An Eldritch Lance emits a beam of annihilating energy, compared to which the Staff of Light seems but a toy. The passage of its blasts of furious energies can make even the air scream in agony. For those rare cases when the Cryptek's enemies survive long enough to engage him in close combat, the Eldritch Lance can be wielded in a manner akin to a spear.Aeonstave - Utilised by Crypteks that are masters of Chronomancy, the crystalline sapphire head of an Aeonstave generates a kind of low-level stasis field that contains a massive chronal charge. With each blow from the Aeonstave, the energies unleashed will encapsulate and trap the Cryptek's enemy in a bubble of slow-time.Voltaic Staff - The Voltaic Staff is used by those Crypteks who are Ethermancers. Energy continuously crackles along the length of this heavy staff, arcing between exposed storage crystals. An ideal weapon for the Cryptek who wishes to demonstrate the superiority of Necron technology, the impossibly high voltages emitted by the staff are enough to fry even the most sophisticated Imperial technology. Just as the Ethermancer commands the Voltaic Staff, the Voltaic Staff commands lightning.Tremorstave - A Tremorstave is utilised by those Crypteks who are adepts of Geomancy and masters of the science once known as alchemy. A large staff enclosing numerous gyro-engines, grav-flux generators, and other sophisticated devices, a Tremorstave is as deadly a weapon as it is unconventional. When a Cryptek drives the tip of his Tremorstave into the ground, a wave of energy is released, travelling in a straight line directly towards his intended target, splitting the very ground open and sending shards of stone and sprays of dirt blasting out with deadly velocity; knocking any survivors sprawling.
Cryptek - Sources: Black Crusade: Hand of Corruption (RPG), pp. 82-83Black Crusade: The Tome of Fate (RPG), pg. 118Codex: Necrons (5th Edition), pg. 13, 32, 56, 57, 67, 77, 84-85, 90Codex: Necrons (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 134Codex: necrons (9th Edition), pg. 90Deathwatch: The Outer Reach (RPG), pp. 116-118Warhammer 40,000: Forgebane (Boxed Set Book), pp. 3, 9White Dwarf 389 (US), "Necrons of the Nihilakh Dynasty," by Chris Peach, pg. 45 (Drizyan)
Cryptos - Cryptos: The strange and sinister xenos race known to the Inquisition as the Cryptos comes from the cold darkness of the interstellar void where it can scarcely be conceived that anything could live. Without solid physical form, they appear as strange gaseous clouds tinted with an eerie greenish glow and filled with maddening, half-formed shapes. They are able to pass through solid matter and even through the hulls of star vessels, and far more dangerously, they have the power to take living human bodies as hosts in order to fulfil their inscrutable aims.The Cryptos are a cold and mysterious species whose desires and thoughts remain hidden from others and possess an implacable and patient intelligence. Masked in human flesh, they walk amongst Mankind and secretly infest communities, twisting them until they are completely under their dominion.They treat humans with utter disdain and a callous disregard, for these seemingly immortal creatures carry themselves as fallen gods fleeing something greater and more terrible yet, and Mankind is to them no more than cattle to be used and disposed of at will. The Cryptos are a rare and utterly insidious threat, and though no cities have burned in their name nor have they raised armies against the dominion of the God-Emperor, they are the manifestation of why the alien is loathed and mistrusted in all of its forms by the Imperium of Man.
Cryptos - History: How long the Cryptos have existed is completely unknown, but what can be guessed at is when the Cryptos first began to infiltrate Mankind. This moment can only have taken place during the ages in which man has moved amongst the stars, as the remote existence of the Cryptos beyond the warmth of suns would have kept them away from the planet-bound beginnings of humanity.Dwelling in the lightless margins of star systems or in the deep void, the Cryptos must have met with Humanity and learned its weaknesses, its flesh-bound desires, its fears, and its ignorance. They must have seen a possibility in the fleshy race they could so easily possess, the possibility of domination and concealment, because for all their utterly alien nature the Cryptos have one thing that can at least be approximated to a human emotion -- fear.The unknown object of their fear may even have driven the Cryptos into their bodiless existence, hiding in the emptiness, perhaps drifting away from some ancient enemy or star now long dead. However, it seems to them that the human Imperium represents their greatest chance of successfully hiding from whatever it is they flee.How long ago the process of infiltration and control began and how many Cryptos there are in the Imperium today can not be estimated with any accuracy. However, infestations have been uncovered on scattered Imperial worlds in the Segmentum Obscurus and Segmentum Pacificus ever since this alien species was formally identified and confirmed as "Diabolous" in the 35th Millennium. It has been noted by some in the Ordo Xenos that the number of instances of Cryptos infestation may extend far further into the past, but such instances may have been mistakenly treated as instances of witchery or daemonic influence.
Cryptos - The Incident at Fall Narrow: The Calixis Sector has had only a single, formally-identified instance of a Cryptos infiltration being discovered and destroyed since its foundation, although several more are suspected. This single verified infestation occurred at the mining community of Fall Narrow on 88 Tanstar nearly two Terran centuries ago in the seventh century of the 41st Millennium.Numbering under a thousand inhabitants, the settlement of Fall Narrow was relatively efficient and quite unremarkable; it met its quotas, people were born, worked, and died without unusual incident, and various officials passing through did not find any cause for concern. So things might have continued were it not for a mining accident that was witnessed by a travelling Administratum scribe detailed to carry out a local census.Dozens died during this mishap, and the scribe, to his horror, saw the settlement overseer impaled by a fallen joist. As he died, the overseer's body thrashed about and a green cloud billowed out of his eyes and mouth. The scribe recorded the unwholesome sight on his ocular augmetic before fleeing. In response, the panicking regional governor deployed Enforcer units that attempted to storm the settlement and conduct an investigation.The assault turned into a massacre as the ordinary men and women of the settlement resisted fiercely. The violence quickly and dramatically escalated with the miners attacking the Enforcers with makeshift demolition charges and industrial machines and the Enforcers responding with heavy assault units (the locals seemed to be under the delusion that they were being attacked by corsairs and outlaws).Captured prisoners showed signs of psychic suggestion and mental tampering, and it was clear something alien and malign was at work. This became particularly evident when the Enforcers' own encoded Vox-net was compromised and an entire strike force was led into a trap and destroyed.At some point during the assault, the central explosives store detonated, (although whether deliberately or by a stray round remains unknown). In the explosions and fires that followed, the settlement and almost all of its inhabitants and many of its besiegers were killed.When the Inquisition arrived shortly afterwards, it found that in a demonstration of either compounded incompetence or xenos conspiracy no records were kept of surviving inhabitants (if any) or the names of surviving Enforcers involved in the incident. Given the ability of the Cryptos to possess victims, their evident intelligence, and their skill at evasion, the xenos threat was likely merely displaced to another quiet and unassuming backwater. Despite a full Inquisitorial investigation, no further trace of the Cryptos colony was ever found.
Cryptos - Anatomy and Physiology: The Cryptos exist physically as an etheric, pseudo-plasmic, gas-like substance bound by an esoteric energy field that to the human eye appears as a hazy cloud of green-tinted vapour. In their natural state, the Cryptos drift in the great dark voids of the galaxy in small groups who commune via psychic means and are (unless destroyed by violence) effectively immortal.Usually these drifting groups are small, rarely numbering more than a dozen. The utterly alien preoccupations of the Cryptos prior to their contact with Mankind are not open to human understanding. Born in the deep void between star systems, they do not possess intelligence or emotions as humans understand them. However, they know and understand the human mind with an alien objectiveness gleaned from the minds of those they have possessed over the years.
Cryptos - Knowledge and Ignorance: Little is known of the Cryptos, and what is known is often confused with information about other alien speces. Presented here are guidelines on what different groups know about the Cryptos and their activities outside of academia and Imperial history.The Void Born and Ship Dwellers - There are many Void Born myths that relate to unexplained incidents and strange phenomena that may have the Cryptos as their true source. Particular references to small ships going missing only to be later discovered lifeless, deactivated, and sometimes concealed within asteroid belts and gas giants in outlying colony systems may have something to do with the Cryptos' activities. Likewise, tales of "ghost lights" haunting voidships when visiting distant and empty star systems or crewmen acting in an uncharacteristic manner may perhaps relate to the Cryptos.Ordo Xenos - The race has been declared Xenos Diabolus by the Inquisition and is to be destroyed whenever found. Various factions within the Ordo Xenos have differing ideas as to the severity and danger of the threat. Some Radicals even believe that some effort should be made to capture and preserve a specimen to unlock its potentially ageless knowledge.
Cryptos - Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Threat Briefing: Within the Calixis Sector, the current threat posed by the Cryptos is unknown. There have been no recent indications of a hidden infestation and no reports that an infestation might exist. On such evidence, there can be only one conclusion by the Ordo Xenos: the threat is most severe.The few instances of Cryptos activity within the sector indicates that this region of space is not unknown to them. Silence can only mean that out amongst the scattered worlds of the sector there lurk what seem to be men and women, who work, talk, and eat, blending in with their fellows, but inside them is nothing but a cold intelligence, born of the void and driven by terror to escape from something even worse.
Crysos Morturg - Crysos Morturg: Crysos Morturg was a section leader of the Death Guard Legion and staunch Loyalist of the Emperor of Mankind and the ideals of the Great Crusade.He would be betrayed upon the world of Isstvan III alongside one-third of the forces of the first Traitor Legions when the Warmaster Horus attempted to cull the Legions under his command of Loyalist elements during the Isstvan III Atrocity.Morturg would survive the initial viral bombardment of the planet and live to fight a protracted guerrilla campaign against the Traitor forces.Despite the odds stacked against him, Morturg miraculously survived, thanks to the actions of Calleb Decima of the Ordo Reductor, and was a part of only a handful of survivors that would later tell the Terran War Council their first-hand accounts of the events of the Warmaster's perfidy that had transpired on Istvaan III.
Crysos Morturg - History: Crysos Morturg was a bitter warrior, morbid and given to introspection. He was disliked by his battle-brothers despite his evident talents as a warrior and field commander.He was neither Terran nor Barbaran by birth, having been inducted into the XIVth Legion during an emergency influx of recruits from the induction pool of the 18th Expeditionary Fleet after the Death Guard suffered near-catastrophic losses during the Rangda Xenocide Campaign.Years after his induction, after he rose to the rank of lieutenant, his latent psyker talents manifested. This only served to further isolate him from his fellow Astartes, and he had barely begun his training within the Legion Librarius when Primarch Mortarion had it disbanded and ordered such "witchcraft" suppressed.Morturg was reassigned to the Legion's Destroyer Corps and was frequently given command of Legionaries judged to be fractious or unstable, and his units were tasked to the brunt of the worst fighting the Death Guard endured. Progression through the ranks as he might otherwise have earned was however barred to him, and he was clearly marked for death on Isstvan III for his loyalist sympathies.But Morturg did not die and instead endured, rising to become one of the most deadly commanders of the Loyalist resistance. Despite all the odds, Morturg survived the savage internecine fighting on Istvaan III and he and the few remnants of the slaughtered Loyalists he had gathered to him, formed a deadly and highly effective ad-hoc formation of Blackshields, who would live to avenge themselves upon their former brethren.The exact actions undertaken by Crysos Morturg, like many of his Blackshield contemporaries during the chaotic age of the Heresy, went mostly unrecorded and unheralded. All that is known is that Morturg managed to survive the calamitous events of the galaxy-wide conflict, and was eventually promoted to the senior rank of Captain.He was given command of the 108th Independent Company and stationed at Far Rim Monitoring Station Occludus, along the outer edges of the restricted sectors of the Ghoul Stars, located in the galactic north-eastern rim.In 063.M31, nearly five solar decades after the end of the Heresy, a squadron of strike craft under his command conducting a routine sweep, would intercept a mysterious Astropathic message bearing Imperial code-memes of ancient provenance. The transmission was originally believed to be some kind of warp echo, perhaps dating back to the days of the Great Crusade, although it showed none of the signs of the degradation that usually accompanied such echoes.This mysterious message indicated the last known possible whereabouts of the notorious Blackshield force known as the Ashen Claws, and implied that they still thrived within the forbidden reaches of the Ghoul Stars, undertaking their own Second Crusade to continue forging a human empire within this foreboding region of the galaxy.
Crysos Morturg - Wargear: Hardened Power Armour (Hardened against nuclear, biological and chemical weapons)Bolt PistolPower SwordCombi-FlamerFrag GrenadesKrak GrenadesRad Grenades
Crystal Harbingers - Crystal Harbingers: The Crystal Harbingers are a thrallband of Heretic Astartes of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion. The sorcerers of the Crystal Harbingers delve into the hidden recesses of the Silver Towers to explore the Tzeentchian crystalline labyrinth in the Realm of the Sorcerer in the Realm of Chaos to which they lead. Here they glean portents of the future and commune with Daemonic entities, which they then use to terrifying effect in their wars against the forces of the Imperium.
Crystal Harbingers - Warband Colours: The Crystal Harbingers' colours are indigo trimmed in bronze. White robes and tabards are often worn by members of this thrallband.
Crystal Harbingers - Warband Badge: The Crystal Harbingers' badge is the white sigil of the Cult of Prophecy in the form of a stylised eye, centred upon a field of cobalt trimmed in bronze.
Crystal Wyverns - Crystal Wyverns: The Crystal Wyverns are a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown origin and Founding known as the Bronze Gorgons. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Crystal Wyverns.
Crystal Wyverns - Abyssal Crusade: Following the Ecclesiarchal Purges of 321.M37, a dozen star systems were engulfed by Warp Storm Dionys, its echoes rippling along the spiral arms of the galaxy as it raged through the Empyrean. Records of mutation and Chaos Cultist activity quadrupled overnight. Worse yet, it was not only the citizens who were affected by the sudden influx of Chaos. Many of the Space Marine Chapters with homeworlds affected by the Warp Storm found that the secret imperfections in their gene-seed were writ large upon their new recruits, giving rise to a wave of disturbing manifestations both physical and psychological. The Bronze Gorgons were one such Loyalist Chapter of Astartes that had been affected by these Warp Storms.When the Ecclesiarchy heard of this sinister turn of events, Saint Basillius the Elder demanded that all those Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes whose homeworlds had been touched by the Warp Storm be rendered unto his judgement. Such was the elder's influence with the High Lords of Terra that within a standard year this had come to pass. After a series of stringent tests and prognostications, hundreds of Chapters were deemed unaffected by the Warp Storm. No less than thirty were found wanting. The Judged, as these fallen Chapters came to be known, volunteered for a redemptive Penitent Crusade. The most militant of their number demanded the right to purify their tainted flesh in the fires of battle, to make a noble end from tragic misfortune. To the surprise of his closest advisors, Saint Basillius agreed to this proposal. He saw it fitting to send the accused into the Eye of Terror, taking the fight for the Imperium's future to the Daemon Worlds inhabited by the Traitor Marines.A representative from each of the doomed Chapters held an emergency Council of Dismay to discuss the proposed Crusade. After scant hours of debate, they acquiesced to Basillius' demands, for they believed that martyrdom was preferable to an existence of suspicion and doubt. The last few days of 321.M37 saw a solemn procession of Strike Cruisers and Battle Barges pass through the Cadian Gate into the Eye of Terror, relay systems dormant and heraldic colours obscured by black mag-plates. One by one, the Chapters of The Judged disappeared into the iridescent dust nebulae that surrounded the Eye. As the massive Space Marine flotilla entered the Eye of Terror, they were set upon by a massive Chaos warfleet. The resultant battle was so fierce that the ships of The Judged were forced to retreat and were scattered to the furthest corners of the Eye.Chapter after Chapter fell to the perils of the Eye, for the Abyssal Crusade had entered a hell from which very few emerge unchanged. The true account of what occurred within the Eye to the Bronze Gorgons is unknown, but most of the tales of the Chapters of The Judged ended in tragedy and sorrow. By the time they reemerged from the Eye many standard centuries later, the Bronze Gorgons were no more, for they had become the Chaos Space Marine warband known as the Crystal Wyverns, wholly dedicated to the service of the Ruinous Powers.
Crystal Wyverns - Warband Colours: The Crystal Wyverns warband's colours are not listed in current Imperial records.
Crystal Wyverns - Warband Badge: The Crystal Wyverns warband's badge is not listed in current Imperial records.
Cthonia - Cthonia: Cthonia was the barren and impoverished Imperial Feral World and former Mining World on which the Primarch Horus was raised when his gestation pod crash-landed there after being stolen and transported through the Warp from the Emperor of Mankind's gene-laboratory deep beneath the Himalazian (Himalayan) Mountains on Terra by the Ruinous Powers.It was also later the homeworld of the Luna Wolves Legion of Space Marines before the Horus Heresy, which became the Traitor Legion of Chaos Space Marines known as the Sons of Horus and later, the Black Legion.Cthonia was destroyed and broke apart some time after the end of the Horus Heresy during the Great Scouring.Its destruction was caused either by the forces of the Imperium who sought to destroy any trace of Chaos taint in the Emperor's shattered realm or because of the geophysical instability caused by millennia of overmining within the planet's crust and mantle.
Cthonia - Birthplace of the Arch-Betrayer: The world of Cthonia existed in one of Terra's closest neighbouring star systems. Being within reach of even non-Warp-capable spacecraft, Cthonia had been colonised, built upon, tunnelled and mined probably since the dawn of human interstellar space travel before even the Age of Technology had begun.As such, all of the world's natural resources had been stripped away and used millennia before, and the planet's ancient mining technology had long since been rediscovered and removed by the tech-priests of Mars.The planet that remained was largely redundant and abandoned, completely riddled with catacombs, crumbling industrial plants and exhausted mine-workings. None now know who were the masters of this hell world before it was rediscovered by the Imperial forces during the Great Crusade. Some Imperial scholars speculate that it was the Priesthood of Mars, ever greedy for raw materials to feed their forge cities.Other sources indicate that it was a star kingdom that dwindled to nothing long before Unity was even a dream on Terra. No matter who had once controlled the world, they ate the heart of Cthonia until it was a dead husk.Afterwards, before even the coming of the Age of Strife, perhaps, Cthonia had become an orphan world, abandoned to entropy and violence, and even before the great collapse, true darkness had descended there.Whereas the early history of many primarchs is extensively if unevenly documented, the same cannot be said of Horus. Contradiction and omission tarnishes all accounts of Horus' formative years. It is clear that the Emperor did find Horus and also that he took command of the XVI Legion early in the Great Crusade.Beyond these manifest facts, agreement between sources is decidedly lacking, some even placing Horus on Cthonia as a foundling.Like many of his superhuman brethren, these sources say that the young primarch thrived in Cthonia's harsh environment, learning his first lessons in war and killing from Cthonia's tech-barbarian kill-gangs. Another source claims that Horus returned to Terra itself.It is said that Horus grew at the Emperor's side, learning from his father even as they took back the Sol System and forged the alliances between techno-barbarian nations and with the Mechanicum of Mars that created the Imperium of Man.Other highly creditable claims state that the Emperor found Horus, the first of His lost sons, but neither source specifies where, or the location of this finding. Surrounded in millennia of myths and allegory, the truth of Horus' origins will more than likely never be known.