vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Argenta - Personality: While no oath is sworn to forgo romantic relationships within their orders, many of the Adepta Sororitas prioritize the sanctity of their charge as the sword and shield of the God-Emperor over dalliances of the heart. Argenta is one such individual -- she will reciprocate no romantic advances from men or women.With her mind, body and soul given over to the Emperor and His people, Argenta is counted as a member of one of the most devoted and zealous of Imperial organizations. She brooks faith in her fellow man, but her belief lies squarely in that of the God-Emperor and His holiest of laws, that which govern and define the Imperium in its day-to-day life.Sister Argenta is considered a hardline Puritan as the Inquisition judges such things, a dedicated adherent to the Imperium and the sacred doctrines of the Master of Mankind above all else.
Argenta - Abilities: Whether it is by bolter, flamer or melta, the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas teaches its members how best to bring death to the Heretic, mutant and alien with a vast and blessed arsenal of weaponry. They are taught how best to punctuate their sermons toward the unclean and unfaithful with the staccato of bolt shells, delivered unto them from the barrel of their most iconic choice of weapon. And in this regard, Argenta is no different from the rest of her battle-sisters.
Argenta - Wargear: Mesh ChestplateAutopistolMedi-kitBolter (Human-sized)
Argenta (Saint) - Argenta (Saint): Argenta was a saint of the Imperial Cult venerated by the Imperial faithful in the Calixis Sector and the neighbouring Koronus Expanse.Her name was chosen at a Schola Progenium as a replacement for the birth name of an orphaned girl whose parents were Astra Militarum officers killed in the line of duty. That girl would grow up to be Sister Argenta of the Adepta Sororitas' Order of Our Martyred Lady and later the Orders Pronatus. Sister Argenta would go on to serve in the retinue of the Rogue Trader of House von Valancius in the Koronus Expanse.
Argoth - Argoth: Argoth is a Hive World that has, like many populous worlds in the Jericho Reach, suffered greatly through the ages, but few worlds reclaimed by the Imperium suffer as Argoth does.Once a teeming Hive World many thousands of Terran years old, which had endured the long nightmare of the Jericho Reach's "Age of Shadow" largely intact, Argoth now faces a slow and cruel demise at the hands of the Imperium.Quarantined and isolated from the desperately needed supplies of food, water and mineral resources supplied by nearby Rheelas and Kaggeran, Argoth starves.In a few short years, the world's population has been reduced to roaming bands of scavengers and raiders, with the most desperate driven to madness, cannibalism and blasphemy as supplies dwindle to nothing.In a matter of generations, Argoth will be a wasteland, a savage realm of steel caves and haunted old manufactoria, populated by the barely-Human degenerate descendants of those hardy enough to endure their world's isolation. Not long after that, the world will be dead and filled with the bones of those the Imperium condemned.Lord Commander Sebiascor Ebongrave seems unconcerned by the brutality of the fate to which he has condemned the Quarantined Worlds, seeing so cruel a punishment as fitting for the crime of consorting with xenos.He would sooner leave worlds to die in this fashion than risk the spread of their perceived taint, content in the knowledge that the worlds can be repopulated by true, loyal citizens of the Imperium in due course.In spite of this, however, it is rumoured that he has sanctioned a handful of missions to the Quarantined Worlds, perhaps in search of some method of more swiftly ridding them of the taint of the insidious T'au.The planet's standing army is non-existent, the societal collapse on Argoth having been a 98.114% likelihood within the first two Terran years of isolation, removing all capability for an organised military. Now, with Argoth under strict quarantine under General Order 169, a blockade prevents all interplanetary trade or distribution of resources.The local economy is believed to be nonexistent, due to a lack of natural, usable resources. Projections indicate that a subsistence-level hunter-gatherer society is inevitable within two solar decades, and that this is incapable of sustaining a Hive World's population for any length of time.
Argoth - Hive Korianthus: During the long years of the Age of Shadow, Hive Korianthus was the home of the ruling council of The Unity. From the fortress known as the Pinnacle, at the very top of Hive Korianthus, The Unity ruled across the worlds of the Arkalas Cluster.In the millennia before the Age of Shadow began, Hive Korianthus was the planetary capital of Argoth, an honour and responsibility gained simply by being the oldest and largest of the world's three hive cities.As the Jericho Sector collapsed, it seemed as if Argoth would fall as many populous worlds had, unable to sustain themselves and lacking the infrastructure of the Imperium to maintain them.Unwilling to see their world starve, the planet's ruling nobility set about trying to strengthen ties with the other worlds of the Arkalas Cluster, restoring simple starships to defend the systems and carry goods between them and thankful that the distances were small enough to be traversed by calculated Warp jump.As Argoth's situation stabilised, and then began to improve, the needs of the populace grew, and the world's Adeptus Mechanicus congregation found themselves needing to test the limits and tolerances of every machine they could produce and maintain, pushing them further than their doctrine would permit and succeeding in spite of it.As their successes accumulated, so too did their certainty, and over the millennia, the congregation ceased giving worship to the Omnissiah and the Machine God, viewing themselves as masters of the machine.When the Imperium returned to Argoth, it was a Techmarine of the Storm Wardens Chapter who discovered the forge-citadel of these presumptuous Hereteks, and the Adeptus Mechanicus wasted no time in laying waste to the defiled temple and its impure mechanisms, as Skitarii phalanxes butchered the apostate mechanics who commanded Argoth's technology.At present, Hive Korianthus is a ruin. Much of the city was damaged during the initial assaults of Operation Hammerfall, and little opportunity existed to repair and remake the city before Unity forces began their uprising.The upper tiers are entirely inhospitable without well-maintained rebreather equipment, while the lower levels and underhive depths are a crumbling wasteland, prone to hive-quakes and collapse, with ancient atmosphere processors failing due to lack of maintenance.Isolated pockets of survivors exist, but they are few in number and growing fewer by the day as the air becomes increasingly toxic and food supplies become ever more scarce.
Argoth - Hive Tiestomadan: During the time of the Jericho Sector, Hive Tiestomadan was a centre for mass industry within the region, containing the highest concentration of manufactoria anywhere within the sub-sector. However, while it could produce vast quantities of equipment, little of what it produced was regarded anywhere within the sector as anything other than cheap bulk goods.The situation changed with the fall of the Jericho Sector. As The Unity came into being, the manufactoria of Hive Tiestomadan were the only places capable of manufacturing a variety of items in sufficient quantities to supply three worlds, and the hive city's prestige grew.The number of engineers and technicians within the city grew with every passing standard year, as necessity forced the manufactoria to produce ever-more complex items.Unlike Hive Korianthus, Tiestomadan emerged from the return of the Imperium relatively unscathed, its status as a manufacturing hub important to the burgeoning Achilus Crusade, and its relative lack of political status making it a far lower priority than Korianthus.As a result, when the engineers of Korianthus were forced to flee the purges of the Adeptus Mechanicus, they fled to Tiestomadan, going into hiding amongst the manufactoria and biding their time.Similarly, when The Unity rose up against the Imperium, it was from Tiestomadan that the rebels gained their arms and armour, some using designs gifted by the T'au in good faith, and from Tiestomadan that they drew the bulk of their numbers.The city fell after eighteen solar weeks of conflict in a war that saw millions die for meagre gains, and was left a ruin in the aftermath of the rebellions.However, the hive city's nature has allowed it to endure longer than the others, taking advantage of technology to aid the hunt for food and the maintenance of life-sustaining machinery, and while its populace are much-depleted after decades of isolation, they remain far closer to the civilisation they once were than the populations of Korianthus or Akirrorhineus.
Argoth - Hive Akirrorhineus: Almost too small to be worthy of being termed a hive, Akirrorhineus was still a massive city at its peak, originally formed as a conglomeration of scattered mining settlements before the world's worthwhile natural resources became scarce.It was not until the establishment of The Unity that Akirrorhineus gained notoriety as a source of supplementary labour for the other two hive cities.Isolated from the Imperium, the worlds under The Unity lacked contact with the Black Ships of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, and thus had no way of dealing with the new generations of psykers being born. With no means of sending the psykers away as they had always done, an alternative solution was required.The few remaining Astropaths and other Sanctioned Psykers on Argoth, Rheelas and Kaggeran were put into service passing on their knowledge to those who shared their gift and given the responsibility of monitoring the populace for emergent psykers, eliminating those too dangerous to live and training those who could be of use to The Unity.The Collegium Psykana sprang up in the relatively small and isolated city of Akirrorhineus, to act as a hub for this solemn duty, and for millennia, its staff oversaw the training of generations of witches and seers, far from the light of the Astronomican and the gaze of the Emperor.By the time the Imperium returned to Argoth, Akirrorhineus was a haunted and heavily depopulated shell of a hive city, with much of its populace having relocated to the other cities to escape the psychic fallout from the Collegium Psykana.While it had produced numerous skilled and stable psykers to serve The Unity, the techniques of the Collegium masters were a far cry from the age-honed and meticulous methods of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica.The city was obliterated without mercy upon discovery of this fact, though none who are there will speak of the method used to bring that nest of witches to the Emperor's judgement.Rumours amongst the loose lipped and foolish tell of silver-clad warriors who could wield the Emperor's holy fire and wrathful lightning as easily as a man wields a lasgun, who turned the city into a pyre in a single solar week. Rumour mongers who tell such tales swiftly vanish, but the rumours persist nonetheless.
Arhra - Arhra: Arhra, once the "Father of Scorpions," now usually referred to as the "Fallen Phoenix," is the original Phoenix Lord of the Craftworld Aeldari's Striking Scorpions Aspect Warriors.He is the only Phoenix Lord to have been completely lost to the Asuryani and his Aspect Shrine when his murderous nature ultimately overwhelmed him and led to the consumption of his soul by Chaos, transforming him into a life-destroying monster like the Drukhari.
Arhra - Tale of the Incubi: The Drukhari Incubi of Commorragh tell a different tale than that told among the craftworlds about Arhra's fall. They claim that Arhra was known as the "Father of Scorpions," and his disagreements with the other Phoenix Lords were said to be deep and vitriolic from the first. The Phoenix Lords preached discipline and caution, a slow rebuilding of the Aeldari civilisation around the preserved kernel of the Asuryani of the craftworlds.They foresaw that the heightened passions of war could destroy what was left of the Aeldari in the centuries that followed. To forestall this, their Aspect Warriors learned to adopt a persona, a "war aspect" or "war mask" that could insulate their souls from the carnage and prevent them developing a taste for it.As with so many other things, the Craftworld Aeldari saw the allure of bloodletting and senseless violence as a gateway for Chaos to enter their hearts and complete their ruination. What Arhra believed was a secret known only to his true followers, the Incubi.Arhra believed that the other Phoenix Lords wished the Asuryani to learn to lay down and take up the role of the warrior at need, as if donning a mantle or mask. He knew they wished to abandon the Drukhari of Commorragh and fight only for the Craftworld Aeldari they viewed as uncorrupted by the hedonism that had destroyed the Aeldari Empire.Arhra saw that the Aeldari's long fight against Chaos would require true devotion from all the kindreds of the Aeldari, including the inhabitants of Commorragh, not weak compromise for the benefit of a few. He refused to accept the Asuryani's ideals and he went his own way, leaving the craftworlds behind.Followers flocked to Arhra's shrines and he tested them for their worth. The weak and corrupt he slew. He taught discipline and martial skill only to those who were possessed of sufficient fury to stand against him. Where Chaos threatened, Arhra always stood against it. It is told by the Incubi that in his final battle, Arhra stood alone against the Daemons of Chaos without respite through solar days and nights when the other Phoenix Lords failed to come to his aid.At last Arhra was pierced through the heart by the dark light of Chaos. What returned to the first Incubi Shrine showed Arhra's face, yet burned with unholy fire that drove Arhra's students into terror and madness.When all seemed lost, the students heard their master's voice from amid the flames. It bid them to marshal their fury and stand against his mortal form, that now was the ultimate test of their discipline. Such was their devotion that they obeyed despite their terror.They slew Arhra's Chaos-corrupted mortal form and partook of his untouched spirit, taking it into themselves so that the way of Arhra should endure forever more as the way of the Incubi.
Arik Taranis - Arik Taranis: Arik Taranis, also known as Babu Dhakal, was one of the first Thunder Warriors -- the first group of genetically-engineered soldiers created by the Emperor of Mankind to help conquer the techno-barbarian warlords of Old Earth, and to reunite the homeworld of humanity beneath his rule after the long night of the Age of Strife. Once Unity had been achieved and the world united following the end of the Unification Wars, the Emperor intended to launch his galaxy-spanning Great Crusade and establish his Imperium of Man by reuniting all the lost colony worlds of humanity under his rule with the aid of a second generation of genetically-engineered warriors who became the first Space Marines.Imperial history records that Arik Taranis died valiantly alongside all of the remaining Thunder Warriors at the Battle of Mount Ararat, the final battle of the Unification Wars, where Taranis boldly raised the Emperor's banner at the very moment that the Unity of Terra was finally achieved before his own death. But the truth was far different. Arik Taranis survived that battle, only to face a terrible betrayal wrought by the Emperor himself and to carry this dark secret for centuries until he played an extraordinary role for a second time in the history of the Imperium during the Horus Heresy.
Arik Taranis - The Outcast Dead: Eventually fate would bring Taranis into the path of the Traitors known as the Outcast Dead. This small group of Astartes warriors were made up of the remnants of the Crusader Host -- a small honour guard of Space Marines comprised of representatives from each of the 18 Space Marine Legions that served on a rotational basis within the Imperial City outside the Imperial Palace on Terra. These Astartes were considered Traitors because of the actions of their Legions, half-a-galaxy away, during the opening days of the Horus Heresy when they joined in the Warmaster Horus' rebellion against the Emperor. They were hunted and eventually captured by Imperial forces and thrown into the Legio Custodes' prison of Khangba Marwu. Located beneath the mountainous peak of Rakaposhi, Khangba Marwu was where individuals deemed hostile to the Emperor were isolated from the world above. Dug into the rock of the mountain, its limestone walls were clad in Adamantium plate, a material that was resistant to virtually all forms of weaponry and deaf to the pleas of innocence that echoed from its cells. But the seven warriors were no ordinary prisoners, for they were a distinctive brotherhood comprised of Astartes from the various Traitor Legions, including one Astartes from the Thousand Sons, three World Eaters, one Emperor's Children, a Death Guard and a Luna Wolf.Taranis encountered the Outcast Dead at the Temple of Woe, located within the slums of the Petitioner's City. There, the Outcast Dead were cornered by an Imperial hunter team that had been tracking them since their escape from their prison. During the ensuing battle the majority of the Astartes of the Outcast Dead were killed during the confrontation with the Imperial forces. But Taranis and his lieutenant within the Dhakal gang Ghota, another Thunder Warrior who had survived the Emperor's cull, took advantage of this distraction and managed to escape during the ensuing chaos. Somehow, Taranis managed to obtain the Progenoid Glands of one of the fallen Astartes. These organs contained the vital key needed to provide the means for Taranis to unlock the genetic secrets that would allow the surviving Thunder Warriors to extend their lives. Deep in the heart of the Petitioner's City Taranis experimented with his ill-gotten samples within his secret laboratory. Using gene-samplers he managed to extract the necessary information encoded within the Gland's stored zygotes of Astartes organs and the impossibly complex amino acid chains were decoded. Taranis unraveled the complexities of this biological miracle, and managed to replicate the process of its creation and clone a new set of Progenoid Glands from the original sample. It is assumed that Taranis had the new organs implanted within his and his lieutenant's body. Their whereabouts after the Horus Heresy remain unknown.
Arioch Power Claw - Arioch Power Claw: The Arioch Power Claw, also called the Arioch Power Fist, is a Titan-sized Power Fist that is deployed on Warlord-class Battle Titans to serve as a Titan-grade close combat weapon.For vehicles as large as Titans, "close combat" is a relative term. Melee combat between these massive walkers essentially starts once the enemy has gotten within the vehicle's defensive Void Shield perimeter.Accordingly, Titan close combat weapons are often large enough to mount additional secondary ranged weapon systems or are themselves extremely short-ranged directed energy weapons of surpassing power.Most typically, however, Titan close combat weapons resemble standard close combat weapons used by the infantry of the species that built the titan, but on a stupendous scale and utilising essentially the same technologies.
Arjac Rockfist - Arjac Rockfist: Arjac Rockfist, also known as "The Man-Mountain," "Grimnar's Champion" and the "Anvil of Fenris," has served as the personal Champion of Logan Grimnar, the Great Wolf of the Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter, for longer than some men live.A mountain of a man, Arjac was large even before he drank from the Cup of Wulfen, growing to become a true giant as the Canis Helix took root within his flesh.Arjac was formerly a blacksmith of the Bear Claw tribe of Fenris, whose true skills lie not at the forge, but in the crucible of battle.His incredible strength and fortitude so impressed the Great Wolf that he was made his personal Champion even before he was inducted into the Space Wolves as an Astartes and made the leader of Grimnar's Wolf Guard.It was not his size and strength alone that won him an honoured place at the side of the Great Wolf. Arjac's bravery is matched only by his unflinching loyalty to the Chapter and his Battle-Brothers, and countless times he has risked his own life in order to save his pack mates'.During the Battle of the Weeping Stars, Arjac was the last to abandon the crippled Strike Cruiser Fangs of Fenris, dragging wounded brothers to the salvation pods even as the hulk burned around him.While protecting the Great Wolf on the crystal plains of Vhaldon IX, Arjac filled the Mirrored Gate with the corpses of Hormagaunts until the weight of the Tyranids' own dead halted their advance.Arjac's strength affords him the ability to wield weapons of unusual bulk and heft. The Anvil Shield is a huge Storm Shield that can be used as a bludgeon in itself -- many a foe's skull has been shattered on its rune-covered surface.Foehammer is an equally oversized Thunder Hammer, which delivers devastating blows when combined with the Champion's superhuman strength.Foehammer is more than merely a potent close combat weapon, for it incorporates an ancient miniaturised teleporter keyed to Arjac's gauntlet, allowing it to be hurled at the enemy from a distance before returning to its wielder's outstretched hand in a flash of scorched atmosphere.
Arjac Rockfist - History: Arjac Rockfist's life began as a blacksmith of the Bear Claw tribe. He was renowned as a giant of a man possessed of prodigious strength. Though he spoke little, he was no mere simpleton. When he was elevated to the esteemed ranks of the Sky Warriors he keenly missed his Iron Priest brethren and someday hoped to revisit his former life at the furnace.But any who witness his legendary rampages in the heat of battle know that Arjac's true skills lie not at the forge, but at war. During a particularly hot year the Iron Priests of the Bear Claw tribe were too busy tending their forges to recognise the dire portents of an imminent attack, for algae covered the shores of the Iron Isles and around each volcano the vegetation had grown to surreal proportions.Not all the monsters that live in the oceans of Fenris are confined to the briny depths. A thousand Kraken-spawn boiled out of the seas of Fenris, and soon the brotherhood of the Iron Isles found themselves sorely pressed.Left with no choice, the senior Iron Priest, Hengis Blackhand, ordered the vaults sealed against the tide of creatures, trapping hundreds of good men outside on the volcano slopes.Rockfist did not agree with Hengis' decision. Wasting little time on words, Arjac smashed his way out of the vaults with his warhammer and forced open an escape route for those caught in the path of the alien tide.Almost all of the trapped men made it inside, but the last dozen Iron Priests turned and stood with Rockfist to bar the vaults once more, setting their feet firmly as the first wave of alien horrors struck. Less than two solar hours later the skies above the Iron Isles were filled with a hundred Thunderhawk gunships.Those within could see that the entire archipelago was teeming with Kraken-things but for one exception -- a lone figure surrounded by black-carapaced monsters and the crackling blue arcs of a Thunder Hammer in full swing.Logan Grimnar and his men joined the raging battle below, and with the help of the other Great Companies, drove the Kraken-spawn back into the sea. Arjac's body was dug out from under a mountain of chitin and scythe limbs, still plugging the entrance to the vaults.He was given to the Chapter's Wolf Priests, who brought him back from the threshold of Morkai's realm. So impressed was he by the Fenrisian warrior's incredible display of strength and resilience that Arjac was made the Great Wolf's Champion on the spot.Since that day, Arjac has earned his place in Logan Grimnar's Wolf Guard a dozen times over, his hammer never resting for long. Despite his modesty, not even Arjac can deny that he has a rare gift for crushing the mightiest of foes.
Arjac Rockfist - The Kingsguard: Logan Grimnar not only commands utmost respect from those that fight for him, but as the Great Wolf, he takes to war at the head of the greatest warriors in the entire Chapter. This collection of mighty heroes is known as the Kingsguard, and they are Grimnar's personal bodyguard, tasked with his protection on the battlefield.As Grimnar's Champion, Arjac Rockfist traditionally leads the Kingsguard alongside his liege-lord. At the head of the foremost warriors of the Chapter, Grimnar advances into the heart of the fighting, extolling his men to ever greater deeds of heroism with hearty bellows of encouragement as they carve through their enemies.
Arjac Rockfist - Composition: Great Wolf Logan GrimnarArjac Rockfist2 units of Wolf Guard comprised of Terminators (in any combination)2 Land Raiders (of any type)
Arjac Rockfist - Arjac's Shieldbrothers: Arjac Rockfist is a legend among the Kingsguard, and when not fighting directly at his lord's side as part of his Wolf Guard, can be found accompanying formations of Assault Terminators equipped with Storm Shields and Thunder Hammers.When joined by their High King, the Shieldbrothers, as they are known, close ranks around the Great Wolf to form an impenetrable wall of lightning-wreathed ceramite.Where one blow lands, two shields are raised to meet it, while brutal overhead blows come crashing down upon the skulls of those foolish enough to test the strength of these elite Wolf Guard.On the offensive, the Terminators will advance in a tight wedge formation, driving their way through their enemies like the prow of an armoured ship. Those not pulverised by their warhammers are crushed by their arcing shields and heavy ceramite boots.
Arjac Rockfist - Composition: Arjac Rockfist1 Unit of Wolf Guard Terminators1 Land Raider Crusader
Arjac Rockfist - Wargear: Foehammer - Arjac uses a rune-etched Thunder Hammer known as the Foehammer. Arjac is physically formidable enough to throw the Thunder Hammer a decent distance, using the massive close quarter weapon as a form of ranged attack. When this weapon leaves Arjac's massive fist, its built-in teleporter device ensures it will quickly return to his gauntlet, ready to be used again.Anvil Shield - The Anvil Shield is an immense Storm Shield that Arjac utilises both as an impenetrable defence and as a convenient additional weapon to knock down and batter foes away from him in battle. This powered slab of Adamantium-laced obstinate has crushed the skulls of a score of enemy warlords.Terminator Armour - Arjac wears a suit of standard Indomitus Pattern Tactical Dreadnought Armour.
Ark Mechanicus - Ark Mechanicus: An Ark Mechanicus is a vast and powerful Imperial starship that the ancient Mechanicum and the present-day Adeptus Mechanicus uses to scour the stars for their ultimate holy grail, a working Standard Template Construct and other forms of archeotech.This quest is the most central tenet of the Mechanicus' religious Quest for Knowledge. As is to be expected, each Ark Mechanicus is filled with some of the most advanced current technology in the entire Imperium.Though these rare, nigh-mythical ships are seldom brought to battle, when they do enter combat they can bring to bear nearly impenetrable defences and weaponry whose range and firepower puts even that of Imperial battleships to shame. An Ark Mechanicus-grade vessel is equipped standard with a Nova Cannon, four Lance batteries, and two weapons batteries. This makes these rarely-seen starships truly powerful opponents on those infrequent occasions when their missions of exploration are actually interrupted by void combat.Arks Mechanicus are truly massive in size, among the largest of all Imperial starships. The extreme mass of these vessels creates a distorted gravity field equivalent in strength to that of an unstable moon. Wider than a Dominator-class Cruiser is long, an Ark Mechanicus is also outfitted with industrial capabilities rivaling that of many hive cities, with kilometre upon kilometre of manufactoria, refineries, crackling plasma reactors and laboratories, test ranges, chemical vats and gene-bays. The engines of these vessels are larger than the full mass of most starships.At least one notable Ark Mechanicus, the Speranza, secretly contained a fully functional and still updating STC database. The commander of the vessel, Archmagos Lexell Kotov, while cybernetically connected to the Speranza's Machine Spirit (artificial intelligence), learned of the STC's existence on his ship and theorised that all Arks Mechanicus secretly contained fully intact STCs, the artefacts which were the ultimate goal of the Tech-priests' sacred Quest for Knowledge, but the Mechanicus just did not realise this and had not retained the knowledge of how to access that portion of their ships' functions. Unfortunately, the knowledge of the STC's existence within the Speranza was wiped from Kotov's mind upon disconnecting from the vessel.So valuable is an Ark Mechanicus that the destruction of an entire Forge World was considered a small price to pay by the Adeptus Mechanicus just to successfully reawaken one of these vessels' Machine Spirits (artificial intelligence).The extreme rarity of these venerable voidships is such that to discover one intact is considered by the Cult Mechanicus a miracle rivalling that of the discovery of a fully-functioning STC database system in importance in the theology of the cult. This is because only a handful of Arks Mechanicus are said to still exist.
Arkalas Cluster - Arkalas Cluster: The Arkalas Cluster is a region of space in the Jericho Reach that was once a sub-sector of the lost Jericho Sector before the onset of the region's "Age of Shadow."
Arkalas Cluster - History: The worlds of Argoth, Rheelas and Kaggeran were, during the time of the Jericho Sector, collectively known as the Arkalas Cluster, and existed close together within a pocket of relatively stable Warpspace.During the Age of Shadow, their proximity and the relative safety of interstellar voyages between them allowed the worlds to remain in contact with, and in support of each other using only relatively crude Warp-capable vessels.It should come as little surprise, then, that the worlds slowly united into a single polity, as their fates were inexorably linked together.According to the limited observations released by the Deathwatch during the planning of Operation Hammerfall which initiated the return of the Imperium to the Jericho Reach, the worlds of the Pelegiath Cluster collectively existed under the rule of a political body known as The Unity from approximately the 36th Millennium onwards, forming a tiny stellar pocket empire not dissimilar to those encountered by the Imperium during the Great Crusade.However, unlike a few other enduring worlds within the Jericho Reach, such as Karlack and Castobel, those governed by The Unity did not maintain a properly Imperial government, nor did they retain their faith in the God-Emperor, forcing considerable corrective action on the part of Adeptus Administratum and Adeptus Ministorum elements of the Achilus Crusade to re-establish Imperial rule.This matter was complicated by actions taken by The Unity to ally with the T'au Empire, a matter that would surely have resulted in even greater expansion of the territory claimed by the T'au within the Reach had the Achilus Crusade not swiftly annexed these worlds.Since 786.M41, the worlds of the cluster have been quarantined and blockaded by Lord Commander Sebiascor Ebongrave's General Order 169 as punishment for their dealings with the T'au.Ebongrave has determined to let the populations of the cluster die off and then be replaced by what he considers loyal Imperial settlers.
Arkash Hakkon - Arkash Hakkon: Arkash Hakkon is the current High Executioner (Chapter Master) of the infamous Executioners Space Marine Chapter. Although he possesses ultimate authority over his Astartes, he must also heed his Company Captains (treated as warlords in their own right by the Chapter's traditions), who along with the Chapter's Chief Librarian, Master of the Forge and Lord Speaker of the Dead, form a war council which by ancient right may, by unanimous assent, overthrow the High Executioner should he prove unfit or unworthy in their eyes.Unlike the traditions of most Space Marine Chapters, leadership contests for the command of the Executioners can be bloody affairs; with each of the Company Captains having the right to challenge for the title of High Executioner in trial by combat should they so wish. Hakkon more than likely ascended to this esteemed rank through this ritual combat.In battle, Hakkon wields the Lifetaker; a massive black-bladed Power Axe of archaic design, carried by successive High Executioners as a badge of their office. In 904.M41, Arkash Hakkon entrusted the Lifetaker to High Chaplain Thulsa Kane to signify his leadership of the Executioners during the dark days of the Badab War. To honour the ancient blood debt between the Executioners and the Astral Claws Chapter, the Executioners came to the aid of the Tyrant of Badab's cause in payment to this debt. But they did so on their own terms, much to the Tyrant's frustration.Operating as an elusive raiding force that struck at the Loyalist's lines across the length and breadth of the Maelstrom Zone, the Executioners remained a persistent thorn in the side of the Loyalists and a force perhaps able to turn the tide of the war, yet seemingly unwilling to do more than give battle against targets of their own choosing, seeking glory and victory, rather than fulfilling the Tyrant's strategic goals. Of all those caught up in the Secessionists' cause, the Executioners Chapter perhaps endured the least scathed and the least tainted.They had fought honourably and had lived and died by their oaths. In punishment the Chapter was forced to give up reparations and exiled from their home system for the span of a hundred years, in which time they would undertake a penitent crusade to atone for the Loyalist blood they had spilled and be forbidden from taking up new initiates.
Arkhan Land - Arkhan Land: Arkhan Land was a famed technoarcheologist of the ancient Mechanicum who led an expedition into the massive ruins of the Librarius Omnis on Mars in the early days of the Imperium of Man during the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium.He rediscovered the lost Standard Template Construct (STC) template for the heavy armoured battle tank that would become the Land Raider (originally known as "Land's Raider"), the anti-gravitic Land Speeder ("Land's Speeder") and the Land Crawler ("Land's Crawler"), a widely-used civilian vehicle employed on most of the Imperium's Agri-worlds. Tragically, Land met his end leading a second expedition into the Librarius Omnis in search of lost knowledge.
Arkhan Land - Angron and the Butcher's Nails: After the Primarch Angron's rediscovery during the Great Crusade, the Emperor noted that his genetic son had been altered by the cybernetic implants known as the Butcher's Nails that had been implanted in his mind by the gladiatorial slave lords of Nuceria. Arkhan Land aided the Emperor in investigating the nature of this terrible technology intended to increase aggression and rage.In the course of his investigation, the Emperor explained to Land that, in truth, he had no emotional attachment to the Primarchs because they were simply tools and weapons. When asked why the Emperor had allowed the Primarchs to call him "father" although he felt no such filial attachment, the Emperor told the ancient story of the puppet named Pinnochio who had sought to become a real boy and explained that it was simply natural for any creation to refer to its creator as father.
Arkhan Land - Horus Heresy: During the Horus Heresy, Arkhan Land was a busy man. As the galaxy was riven by terrible conflict, he proved instrumental in designing the gravitic suspensor plates used by the Legio Custodes ' Caladius Grav-Tank, as well as their -- rather beautiful, in his opinion -- Paragon Pattern Jetbikes.
Arkhan Land - Final Fate: Land eventually met his fate leading a second expedition into the Librarius Omnis; his Vox diary was discovered two Terran centuries later by one of a number of rescue teams. It is believed that he and his party were picked off one by one by some mysterious predator, although it is still a matter of much controversial debate whether this predator was some kind of living beast, a psychic entity or perhaps even a sentient virus. For most it is simply proof that the secrets of the Dark Age of Technology are best left to the shadows of mystery and prehistory.
Arkhan Land - The Land Enigma: Disciples of the venerated Machine-Archaeologist Arkhan Land, discoverer of the Land's Raider and Land's Speeder STC pattern, form their own sub-cult within the Adeptus Mechanicus, called Landites or Landists. They continue their founder's work and research the many potential STC variants of Land's discoveries. This has led to a number of innovations, such as the Land Raider Prometheus variant. The inner circle of the Landist cult, which includes some very senior Adeptus Mechanicus Artisans, is rumoured to have evidence of a new vehicle, but to be keeping their discovery a secret.The cult's esoteric research has revealed that once, during the Great Crusade, there was an armoured vehicle which was heavier than the Predator, but lighter than the heavy assault transport of the Land Raider, and that within the blueprints of this revered war machine exist system compatibilities and redundancies, down to a microscopic level, that could help reconstruct the missing tank. Others within the Adeptus Mechanicus dispute this, and in the 39th Millennium several members of the Landist cult were tried as Hereteks and condemned to Arco-flagellation for their crimes, meaning that ever since, the Landists have been highly secretive about their work. Many Tech-priest disciples of Land have become obsessed with hunting down this pattern, but it seems that ultimate success has continually eluded them and the mythical tank remains an enigma to this day.
Arkhan Land - Land's Raider: The appropriately named Land's Raider was the personal Grav-Raider transport of Arkhan Land, a variant Land Raider that used an anti-gravitic propulsion system designed by Land himself rather than the usual treads. This Grav-Raider was larger even than a Spartan Assault Tank and was armoured with rare Martian alloys deemed too rare for use even by the Legiones Astartes. It featured an armoured turret with an array of four Volkite Culverins arranged in a quad-turret.
Arkhas System - Arkhas System: The Arkhas System is located deep into the frontier territories claimed by the Orpheus Salient of the Achilus Crusade in the Jericho Reach. It is home to the Deathwatch's Watch Station Arkhas.
Arkhas System - History: The Arkhas System lies within a region dubbed the "Tuam Transitional Nexus," a point where three distinct stable routes within the Warp intersect, named for the Navigator who discovered it.This makes the system of considerable strategic importance to the Imperial Navy as a waypoint between key worlds along the Orpheus Salient and beyond; especially for the movement of troops, fleets and resources.Designated "Rally Point Epsilon-Four," this has warranted the Divisio Tactica to recommend a resupply station be established within the system.Arkhas itself contains many worlds, none of which are inhabited, though two -- Arkhas III and Arkhas IV -- both possess the capacity to support Human colonisation, though Arkhas III is but a temperate rocky desert, with no indigenous life to speak of.Unbeknownst to even the most senior officers within the Achilus Crusade, however, the Arkhas System was claimed long ago by the Deathwatch for exactly that reason, with the void station known as Watch Station Arkhas being located within the clouds that wreath the system's outermost world, the gas giant of Arkhas VII.
Arkhona - Arkhona: Arkhona was a former Imperial Fortress World of the Kharon System, located in the galactic northern marches of the Segmentum Obscurus, in the dead centre of a void of star systems right on the edge of Imperial-settled space. Kharon is a trinary star system, consisting of three suns locked in orbit with one another. The fifth planet of the system, Arkhona is a former Fortress World first settled tens of thousands of standard years ago before the birth of the Imperium of Man.Although the settlements of Mankind at one time stretched across all of its continents, when representatives from the Inquisition's Ordo Xenos arrived recently they found that the entire Human population of Arkhona had been destroyed, later determined to be the result of an unexpected incursion by the Tyranids. Shortly afterwards, the Inquisitors themselves were lost under terrible circumstances, thus setting the terrible events of the conflict on Arkhona into motion.
Arkhona - Eternal Crusade: Arkhona was the world that served as the setting for the massively-multiplayer online third-person shooter game Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade, where players taking on the roles of the Craftworld Aeldari, Space Marines, Orks or Chaos Space Marines could battle each other in massive online battles.
Arkio - Arkio: Arkio, known as "Arkio the Blessed" and the "Reborn Angel," was a Space Marine of the Blood Angels Chapter who became the unwitting pawn of the Chaos God Tzeentch and one of his servants, the vile Lord of Change Malfallax.Arkio was mutated through the power of Chaos to possess a pair of angel wings in order that he might resemble the Blood Angels' Primarch Sanguinius as part of a Chaos plot to take control of the Blood Angels Chapter for the Changer of Ways.Arkio was eventually confronted and killed by his biological brother and fellow Blood Angel Sergeant Rafen at the Battle of Sabien, saving the Blood Angels from the outbreak of an internecine war within their Chapter.
Arkos the Faithless - Arkos the Faithless: Arkos the Faithless, also known as the "Scion of Alpharius," was the Chaos Lord of the Alpha Legion warband known as The Faithless.Since the Horus Heresy, this vile Chaos Lord has continued the Long War against the "Corpse Emperor" and His unwitting servants. Arkos continued to stir up dissension and rebellion within the realm of Mankind until he met his eventual fate during the Siege of Vraks late in the 41st Millennium.Confronted by a strike team composed of Loyalist Astartes drawn from the Angels of Absolution and the Dark Angels Chapters, Arkos was eventually captured and brought back to the Dark Angels' mobile fortress-monastery, The Rock, as a prisoner.
Arkos the Faithless - History: Arkos was once a loyal Space Marine captain, a proud officer of the Alpha Legion during the Great Crusade, but during the Horus Heresy, he, along with the rest of the XXth Legion followed the Arch-Traitor Horus into damnation.As would later be discovered Arkos became one of the most trusted servants of the Primarch Omegon, twin to the Primarch Alpharius, and acted as his equerry while the Alpha Legion conducted its own campaign against the Loyalist forces.After Horus' defeat at the hands of the Emperor at the Siege of Terra, Arkos fled alongside the remains of his Legion to the Eye of Terror and continued the Alpha Legion's Long War against the False Emperor at every opportunity that has presented itself ever since.He led a powerful warband of Alpha Legion Space Marines from his personal Despoiler-class Battleship, Anarchy's Heart. Arkos had spent the long millennia after the end of the Heresy raiding Imperial space from the Eye of Terror, attacking Imperial shipping lanes, and cultivating agent provocateurs who spread discontent, sedition and false rumours, especially in sectors close to the Eye of Terror.His Alpha Legion warband were also known to supply captured weapons and training to selected Chaos Cultists.Arkos' warband sometimes masqueraded as Loyalist Space Marines in order to infiltrate small units of Heretic Astartes onto Imperial worlds. These units then acted as saboteurs and commandos behind enemy lines.Arkos planned such daring missions very carefully. Usually he preferred to orchestrate attacks from his warship and allow his lesser, mortal minions to do the fighting.Arkos was a master of subtle and devious schemes. He planned carefully and rarely fought a battle in which he did not already possess a tactical advantage.As a true son of Alpharius, his Primarch's gene-seed ran strong in his blood, making him a master of the more shadowy arts of war. Like his Primarch, Arkos was a potent inspiration to his Astartes and those lesser mortals he led into battle.
Arkos the Faithless - Siege of Vraks: The Faithless took part in the Siege of Vraks, a 17-year-long campaign of attrition waged by the Imperium to retake the important Imperial Armoury World of Vraks Prime from the forces of Chaos.Seven standard years after the first shots were fired, in 820.M41, new reports reached the commanders of the 88th Siege Army on the world of Thracian Primaris that the Vrakisian Renegades had been reinforced by unknown Space Marines garbed in dark blue Power Armour.These mysterious Astartes launched swift attacks that destroyed an entire regiment of the Death Korps of Krieg when they attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Traitors' lines.In truth, Arkos' battleship Anarchy's Heart had crept into the Vraks System and its Chaos Space Marines had landed openly at Vraks Prime's starport.Disguised as newly deployed Loyalist Space Marines, The Faithless had infiltrated through the Death Korps' lines and, under the guise of launching an attack, crossed no-man's land to reach the Renegades' lines before making for the Citadel, the headquarters of the Apostate Cardinal-Astra Xaphan, the leader of the Renegades and the man whose corruption by Chaos had initiated the conflict.Arkos and his followers presented themselves at the Citadel, offering his support in the name of all the Chaos Gods.Arkos offered not only his superb Veteran Astartes, who were masters at conducting bloody raids that generated disruption behind enemy lines, but also training for the Renegade's less-skilled militia forces. Arkos himself could add his own tactical experience to the defensive campaign.He also promised more allies to follow, other warbands who would hear of Vraks, and they too would join their cause against the False Emperor and his corrupt Imperium. His aid gratefully accepted, Lord Arkos and his veteran brothers were immediately put to work.
Arkos the Faithless - Summoning Chaos: In 822.M41, The Faithless' Chaos Sorcerers sent a psychic signal through the Warp to call forth their old allies to Vraks Prime. Lurking around the Eye of Terror, those forces that heard the call were drawn to the Imperial Armoury World like moths to a flame by the flickering psychic light that promised battle, slaughter and plunder in the name of the Dark Gods.Fortunately for the Imperial forces, the tides of the Warp did not favour the intentions of the Renegade forces on Vraks Prime. The Warp Storms that continually engulfed the star systems of the Eye of Terror at this time were fierce, raging without end and making interstellar navigation all but impossible.Most of the ancient Chaos warfleets that received The Faithless's psychic signal were comprised of raiding ships and their supporting troop transports. These vessels constantly skirted the Eye of Terror, emerging to launch bloody raids against Imperial colonies or poorly defended Imperial shipping convoys.Many splinter groups from these vengeful Traitor Legion warfleets heard The Faithless' clarion call to war, and began to make their way to the Vraks System.