vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Talos Pain Engine - Role: These semi-sentient machines are invaluable to the Haemonculi, as they serve as both guardians and mobile torture chambers, inflicting punishment upon all those that displease their master. The fate of those caught within the death-grip of a Talos does not end with death. The remnants of the victims caught within its grasp are siphoned out to be used in the creation of new potions and elixirs.In battle, this gruesome process is immensely pleasing to the construct's Haemonculus owner, for not only does it provide an entertaining spectacle but it also affords the Talos even greater motive power as it harnesses and consumes its fleshy bounty. Clacking and twitching as if revelling in the kill, the Talos advances with renewed vigour, its high-technology weaponry spitting indiscriminate death into the ranks of the foe.When it catches its next quarry the process begins anew, but the fate of one caught by a Talos does not end in death -- upon the Engine's return to its Coven's oubliettes, the constituent parts of its victims will be siphoned out from within its metal shell and used to create yet more potions and elixirs.When Haemonculi send their Talos Engines to accompany a Drukhari raid in realspace, the monstrous servants are often tasked with collecting specific samples for their masters. Typically this involves devouring certain types of creatures from a planet's populace or subsuming a specific individual such as a Planetary Governor. However, at times the demands of the Haemonculi are far more nuanced.When raiding in T'au space, the Talos known as "Marrow Giver" was once instructed to consume only those Fire Warriors who had witnessed the rest of their Strike Team slaughtered before them. Failure to complete such a task -- or worse still, deviation from instructions -- inevitably sees the Talos dismantled and discarded.To outside eyes such stringency may seem wasteful, but in their craft the Haemonculi require absolute precision. Different types of harvested material carry different properties, each of which has a unique purpose. Musculature and nervous tissue are combined in ways unimagined by nature, and the emotions absorbed in flesh at the time of a creature's death are extracted, enhanced and fashioned into weapons.To pollute such work with impurities -- meat from the wrong species, or blood permeated with the wrong emotion -- would be to spoil the Haemonculus' work, which they may have slaved over for solar decades, and would deny a new morbid creation to the entire galaxy. Furthermore, the Haemonculi often wish to reconstitute the soupy remains of a Talos' victims and instil them with life so that they can be questioned in the oubliettes. More than one general has died only to end up in the torture chambers beneath the Dark City, bleeding secrets to the Haemonculi in a vain attempt to end their torment.
Talos Pain Engine - Unit Composition: 1-3 Talos Pain Engines
Talos Pain Engine - Armament: A Talos is valuable to the Haemonculi not only as a shield -- its metal shell and twisted mind make it all but impervious to harm -- but also as a tool, for it allows its master to punish the slow and the impudent without lifting a crooked finger.The forelimbs of a Talos can be mounted with a variety of cruel implements, such as macro-scalpels that can scissor even an Ogryn into bloody chunks, chain-flails that can rip flesh and metal with equal ease, or ichor-spewing funnels that siphon fluids from a Talos' thorax to reduce lightly armoured victims to primordial ooze.Additionally, the creature bears ranged armaments on its scorpion-like tail. But it is the manipulators and scalpel-keen claws that hang underneath a Talos' segmented carapace that are truly to be feared. When a Talos catches an enemy warrior, it holds them tight with a pair of grasping steel limbs and begins a rapid and efficient disassembly of its victim with the rest.Motors hum and drills whine as it works away with its surgically sharp implements, drawing each constituent part into itself, stripping and rendering down the physical form of its prey layer by layer until nothing is left but a few drops of blood.
Talos Pain Engine - Wargear: 2 Splinter Cannons (tail-mounted)2 Macro-ScalpelsIchor Injector (as replacement for 1 Macro-Scalpel)Twin-linked Liquifier Gun (as replacement for 1 Macro-Scalpel)Chain-flails (as replacement for 1 Macro-Scalpel)Talos Gauntlet (as replacement for 1 Macro-Scalpel)Stinger Pod (as replacement for 2 Splinter Cannons)2 Heat Lances (as replacement for 2 Splinter Cannons)2 Haywire Blasters (as replacement for 2 Splinter Cannons)
Talos Pain Engine - Notable Variants: The Talos is just one type of Pain Engine employed by the Drukhari Haemonculi, who are endlessly inventive in discovering new ways of dealing out pain and horror. Each of the Haemonculi Covens is always seeking to create their own, proprietary Engines of Pain that will give them a leg up over their rivals. Several of these variants of the standard Talos include:Chainghoul - The Chainghoul is a clanking, cumbersome Engine of Pain favoured by the Dark Eldar Haemonculi Coven called the Prophets of Flesh.Shrivener - The Shrivener is a drill-legged Pain Engine used to guard facilities of the Haemonculi Coven called the Everspiral.Flayer - A Flayer is a smaller variant of the Talos. Even though it is smaller than the other variants of Talos Pain Engines, it bears the same malevolence and thirst for blood and screams as its larger counterparts.
Talos Valcoran - Talos Valcoran: Talos Valcoran, called the Soul Hunter, was a former Apothecary who became the sergeant of the 1st Claw (squad) of the 10th Company of the Night Lords Traitor Legion.Talos suffered from prophetic visions, much like his "martyred" Primarch Konrad Curze. The visions were supposedly more accurate than most, and independent of Warp activity, unlike most seers who had a difficult time interpreting prophetic visions clearly due to the unpredictability and often turbulent Immaterium.These visions were debilitating and occurred randomly and without warning, but they were a great boon to his Night Lords warband and a sought-after commodity amongst those who seek power. His dark gift made him valuable to both the leader of his warband, who was known as The Exalted, and to the Warmaster of Chaos Abaddon, the leader of the fractious forces of the Chaos Space Marines within the Eye of Terror.Talos was subject to the manipulations of his immediate superior, as well as those of the powerful Abaddon, which placed him and his warriors in mortal danger time and again.Talos met his end on Tsagualsa in the 41st Millennium just before the start of the 13th Black Crusade, slain in single combat with the Phoenix Lord Jain Zar and the Asuryani forces of Craftworld Ulthwé, who viewed Talos as a potential future threat to the survival of their people. However, his gene-seed remained viable, and was used by the surviving Night Lords to eventually create a new prescient prophet to guide what remained of their fractured Legion.
Talos Valcoran - History: Shortly after the Night Haunter had reunited with the Emperor of Mankind and departed his homeworld of Nostramo to take part in the Emperor's galaxy-wide Great Crusade, Talos Valcoran was recruited into the VIIIth Legion from Nostramo along with his future squadmate Xarl.Talos served the Night Lords Legion as an Apothecary within the Night Lords' 10th Company throughout the Great Crusade and during the dark days of the Horus Heresy, willingly following his gene-father into treason against the Emperor. Talos' meteoric rise within the ranks of the Legion eventually allowed him to claim a place within the Night Haunter's inner-circle.Following the murder of Konrad Curze at the hands of the female Callidus Assassin known as M'Shen after the death of Horus, Talos disobeyed his primarch's last order and was the first to hunt the Imperial Assassin in the name of righteous vengeance. This is how he earned his sobriquet the "Soul Hunter" as had been prophesied by his primarch before his death:"One soul. You will hunt one shining soul while all others turn their backs on vengeance."Talos ignored his primarch's last orders to leave his Assassin be and began the relentless pursuit of M'Shen, whilst the rest of his fellow Night Lords wept for their gene-father, following his final orders and not pursuing his killer. Though his fellow Legionaries tried to dissuade Talos from his chosen path, he remained committed to his revenge.It was only after the discovery that the Imperial Assassin had stolen several of the primarch's possessions, including the Corona Nox, the "Crown of Night", a symbol of leadership for the Night Lords Legion, that the rest of the Legion eventually joined in the hunt.But Talos had no care for the Night Lords' stolen relics, he only burned for vengeance for his gene-father's death. The Soul Hunter pursued the Assassin from the Night Lords' base of operations on Tsagualsa across the galaxy. Eventually, Talos achieved his oath of vengeance and brutally disemboweled and mutilated M'Shen.Following the shattering of the Night Lords as an organised Traitor Legion into multiple competing warbands after the death of their primarch, Talos would follow Vandred Anrathi, "The Exalted," as part of his warband for many millennia.On the world of Crythe, Talos would refuse servitude to Abaddon the Despoiler, the Warmaster of Chaos, and his Dark Gods, and later abandoned the Black Legion forces after the Despoiler attempted to use 1st Claw as a way to shield his own forces against an Imperial warfleet.Later, Talos and The Exalted would play a key role in the Fall of Vilamus, allied with Huron Blackheart and the piratical Heretic Astartes known as the Red Corsairs. This alliance collapsed soon after it was initiated, with the Night Lords stealing the Red Corsairs' battle barge Echo of Damnation -- a former Night Lords Legion vessel the Red Corsairs had appropriated -- as the battle raged. As the Red Corsairs fleet pursued, Vandred would give his life to allow the escape of Talos and 1st Claw. Talos was thus left in sole command of 1st Claw and its allies.
Talos Valcoran - Death: Talos' prescient visions would eventually guide he and his warriors back to Tsagualsa, the place where their primarch had fallen so many millennia earlier, in an attempt to rebuild their Legion's depleted numbers. Here, they laid waste to the planet's new population of Imperial colonists but found themselves ambushed by the Asuryani of Craftworld Ulthwé who were looking to again kill the Soul Hunter before he could become a future threat to their dwindling species.In the ensuing battle, nearly every member of Talos' warband was slain and he himself became embroiled in a desperate single battle with the Phoenix Lord Jain Zar, an entity the Night Lords only knew as "Void Stalker." Talos allowed himself to take the Phoenix Lord's spear through his chest, and then detonated a Krak Grenade to kill them both. However the blast stopped short of killing the Phoenix Lord, whose crippled body was finished off by Malcharion.In the wake of his death, Talos' sacrifice was deeply respected amongst the members of the VIIIth Legion. His gene-seed somehow remained intact despite the damage done to his body by the explosion, and his comrade Variel the Flayer harvested Talos' gene-seed to ultimately create the new prophet of the Night Lords.Named Decimus, he would become the foretold prophet some solar decades afterwards and would begin to unite the VIIIth Legion in preparation for the 13th Black Crusade. This prophet advocated assaulting the Ulthwé Asuryani to keep them from offering their assistance to the Imperium during Abaddon the Despoiler's great assault, thus bringing to fruition the Asuryani's fear that Talos Valcoran would in some way represent a threat to their people.
Talos Valcoran - Personality: Talos, like his Primarch Konrad Curze, sincerely believed that the only way to keep Human society orderly and peaceful was through the fear of terrible punishment, and that the Night Lords' actions were important to the overall project of building the Imperium of Man in the years before the Horus Heresy, before the Emperor turned on them for the brutality of their methods.Even after the Heresy, Talos thought more about the justification and rightness of his actions than most Night Lords or other Astartes in general, and claimed that he fought to tear down the Imperium because he helped build it, and its current state was far less than what it should have been. His idealistic views of the Legion's past earned him a great deal of derision and a modicum of respect from his brothers. He maintained something of nobility and loyalty to Night Lords not even of the 1st Claw, and essentially only fought against his brethren when they started a conflict.Talos was wracked by periodic visions that sent him into seizures; he hated the visions and the accompanying weakness, but used and relayed the information. His visions typically centred on what he would be seeing and doing in the future -- narrow in scope, but clear, objectively descriptive, and as such more useful than that provided by an ordinary Warp-seer's, which garnered the notice of Abaddon the Despoiler. He was notorious in the VIIIth Legion for these visions, and equally notorious for his primarch-bestowed title of "Soul Hunter."Talos' view of the Chaos Gods is very similar to that held by many of the other members of the Night Lords Legion. Quite simply, Talos does not accept the Chaos Gods as his own, nor does he think highly of those that accept their corrupting power.This is exemplified by his interaction with his superior, a Chaos-mutated Heretic Astartes named The Exalted and his slavering, Khorne-worshipping comrade, and the disdain with which he approached them.Finally, Talos had a fond if rough affection for his Legion Chapter serfs that was quite unexpected and unusual for a Chaos Space Marine, but then nothing about the Night Lords ever fit the preconceived stereotypes of the Heretic Astartes among Loyalists.
Talos Valcoran - Wargear: Artificer Armour - Talos' power armour is an amalgamation of scavenged pieces won in battle or taken from the bodies of fallen brothers of the Night Lords Legion. He has chosen to maintain some Imperial insignia -- most notably an Aquila on his breastplate -- but desecrates them with partial removal or damage. His helmet is painted white with a purple Nostraman insignia -- the Nostraman acronym of his primarch-bestowed name, "Soul Hunter" -- painted above the helmet's eyes. His Narthecium was lost in a battle long ago, but he keeps some cryo-tubes on his person for storing harvested gene-seed.Anathema - Anathema was once the bolter carried by his Brother-Captain Malcharion, the former captain of the Night Lords' 10th Company, who is now a Chaos Dreadnought.Aurum - Talos wields an ancient power sword named Aurum, a holy relic that once belonged to the Blood Angels Chapter. Forged during the Emperor's Great Crusade when it had barely taken its first tentative steps into the stars, this venerable blade was crafted for one of the Blood Angels Legion's first heroes. The sword later came into Talos' possession several standard centuries later after he slew Aurum's heir, Captain Dumah. By possessing such a sacred relic, Talos and his company of fellow Night Lords are constantly harassed by the Blood Angels who have attempted to reclaim this sacred relic of the Chapter from the traitorous Night Lord. Talos finds the Blood Angels' attempts to reclaim the sword highly amusing, but has become disillusioned by the number of times that he has had to slay those amongst his fellow Night Lords who wished to possess this mighty blade.Legion Gladius
Talus IV - Talus IV: Talus IV was the homeworld of the Brazen Claws Space Marine Chapter. In the latter half of the 41st Millennium, Talus IV was destroyed by a bloodthirsty horde of Daemons and the Brazen Claws Chapter was forced to flee the planet as it fell to Chaos.Ever since, the Brazen Claws have embarked on an Imperial Crusade of bitter vengeance against Renegade strongholds and Chaos-tainted worlds surrounding, and even within, the Eye of Terror.Little record of the actions or whereabouts of the Brazen Claws exist within the Imperium's archives since they launched this crusade, but Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed of Cadia insisted that they had been sighted on numerous battlefields around the Fortress Worlds of the Cadian Gate during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, fighting against the forces of Chaos led by Abaddon the Despoiler.Elements of the Chapter appeared in force to take the fight to their hated enemy on every possible occasion.
Tamâkh - Tamâkh: Tamâkh is a Hold World of the Ymyr Conglomerate of the Leagues of Votann located in the galactic core. Its surface is heavily irradiated by its nearby star, forcing the Kin of the Orksbane Kindred who call it home to build their hold of Brôkhfyre deep within Tamâkh's planetary mantle.There it is insulated against the exotic and deadly energy spectra that pour from the world's sun. What violent apotheosis the tortured star is undergoing, none can say, but for three Terran millennia now the Kin of the Orksbane Kindred have captured the energies of its raging solar flares using kilometres-high stellar vanes. These energies are used to power Brôkhfyre's Forge, which is amongst the greatest in all the Leagues of Votann, renowned for the amazing weapons of war it can produce.
Tane Massata - Tane Massata: Tane Massata is an Imperial Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus, the holy Ordo of the Inquisition charged with safeguarding the Imperium of Mankind from the daemonic servants of Chaos. Once considered a rising star within the Ordo, Massata's latest actions have branded him a dangerous Radical, but so far none of his colleagues have called for his censure.Massata is best known for his hunt of a powerful daemonic entity of the Chaos God Tzeentch, a daemon known only as "That-Which-Dwells-In-Darkness." Massata's obsession with defeating this foe has been a matter of some concern within the Ordo. His covert operations against the daemon's mortal agents have been directly responsible for two major conflicts over the course of a solar decade: the near-loss of the Industrial World of Donatos Primus during the Donatos War and the invasion of the Knight World of Adrastapol by the Orks of WAAAGH! Killfist during the Second Ork War.
Tane Massata - History: Most of Tane Massata's past remains a mystery. It is unknown where Massata was born or even whose apprentice he was before reaching the rank of Inquisitor.However, the Inquisitor and his retinue repeatedly clashed with a powerful ally of That-Which-Dwells-In-Darkness, the Dark Apostle Varakh'Lorr, leader of the Scribed Blade warband of Word Bearers Heretic Astartes which ravaged eight separate Imperial worlds in the late 41st Millennium. On the Industrial World of Donatos Primus, Inquisitor Massata delayed the response of Donatos' Planetary Governor until the Word Bearers and their local allies had sparkled a planetary revolt, with almost half of the world's Planetary Defence Forces turning Renegade. Unable to prevent the rebellion from gaining momentum, Inquisitor Massata let Segmentum authorities order the Imperium's armed forces to reconquer Donatos Primus, initiating the Donatos War.Inquisitor Massata's interest was drawn when two previously loyal Houses of Knights from the world of Adrastapol -- House Chimaeros and House Wyvorn -- joined the rebellion and betrayed their allies, nearly causing the collapse of the Imperial effort to reclaim Donatos Primus. For House Chimaeros, it seemed that they had been corrupted by another, unknown servant of That-Which-Dwells-In-Darkness, the Witch Alicia Kar Manticos.The victory on Donatos complicated Massata's mission when Varakh'Lorr was killed by the newly elected High King of Adrastapol, Danial Tan Draconis, and the Freeblade known as the Knight of Ashes. Worse yet, the daemon's agent was able to flee the planet, leaving Massata with nowhere to begin his investigation save for the witch's homeworld, Adrastapol.As an Inquisitorial survey of the purity of the remaining Knight Houses of that Knight World was required, Massata used his influence and his proximity to the planet to have himself appointed as the inquiry's inquisitorial envoy. This official mission would serve as a cover to further his own secretive goals.
Tane Massata - Mission on Adrastapol: Traveling to the nearby Majestis System at the head of a small fleet led by the Oberon-class Battleship Light of Truth, Massata infiltrated the Knight World, spying on the remaining Loyalist Knight Houses even as they tore down the seats of their traitorous brethren and purified their lands with the help of the Adeptus Ministorum.Upon the High King's order, the lands of the Renegade Houses were shunned and armed men drawn from the household armies of the three loyalist Houses patrolled the ruins of the Renegades' fortresses. It took four Terran years for Massata to create enough contacts to gain entry to the ruins of the Chimaerkeep, House Chimaeros' bastion, a location where the Inquisitor rightly suspected a hive of Chaos Cultists lay. Before the Inquisitor and his retinue could investigate the ruins any further, they lost all contact with their local partners, who were killed by the Mutants and Beastmen eeking out a living in the subterranean barrows under the Chimaerkeep.Forced to reveal his presence to the loyal Knight Houses, Inquisitor Massata sought a way to make the High King more inclined to help him. The solution presented itself when the Ork horde of WAAAGH! Killfist began pillaging Imperial worlds. Thanks to an efficient campaign of hit-and-run attacks, the Light of Truth and her small fleet rerouted the WAAAGH! to Adrastapol, deliberately initiating the conflict known as the Second Ork War.Having secretly already condemned Adrastapol to Exterminatus, Massata staged his arrival as fate's messenger, warning the High King of the Orks' imminent invasion and using his official status to secure a small escort and means of transportation to travel to the Chimaerkeep. Goading the Knights of his escort to remain behind, Massata battled the Chaos Cult established in the ruins of the Chimaerkeep and was able to retrieve a blasphemous tome of arcane knowledge which he believed contained hints to the true name of That-Which-Dwells-In-Darkness.Leaving his escort behind on a fake surveillance mission, the Inquisitor's planned extraction back to his flagship failed when his Land Crawler came under attack by a roaming warband of Orks, who trapped the Inquisitor far from the Aquila Lander his retinue had hidden in Adrastapol's wilderness. Saved by the arrival of the Imperial Knights under First Knight Jennika Tan Draconis of House Draconis -- a Knight Massata had betrayed and left for dead in the burrows beneath the Chimaerkeep -- the Inquisitor was forced to reevaluate his position.Knowing full well he had abused his power and marked loyal warriors of the Imperium for death, and further humbled by the actions of Jennika Tan Draconis who fell to her knees and submitted to his judgement as a loyal servant of the Emperor, Massata had a change of heart and countermanded his order for Exterminatus of the Knight World.
Tane Massata - The Hunt Continues: In the wake of the Imperial victory over the Orks, Inquisitor Massata officially declared the warriors of Adrastapol to be pure and loyal subjects of the Emperor. Thanks to vital information gathered by the Knight of Ashes, Massata had learned the location of Alicia Kar Manticos, the only remaining servant of That-Which-Dwells-In-Darkness.But with the witch having fled into the Eye of Terror, she was beyond his reach. Using his authority as an Inquisitor, Massata called for a full-fledged Imperial Crusade in his quest to finally destroy the daemon that had plagued the Imperium for so long.
Tane Massata - Wargear: Like many Inquisitors who do not shun battle, Tane Massata has used his status to equip himself with the best weapons and materials available to one of his station. The Inquisitor commonly wears an ornate suit of immaculate white Power Armour with many details inscribed in gold. His Inquisitorial Rosette is enscribed into his armour's breastplate.  Other equipment is hidden beneath the folds of his wine-red cloak.Tane Massata wields a Power Axe and an ornate Bolt Pistol.As an Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus, Massata's dark skin is also covered in golden tattoos which are actually hexagrammic wards designed to shield him from the corrupting effects of Chaos and prevent daemonic possession.
Taninim Crusade - Taninim Crusade: Taninim CrusadeImperial CrusadeImperium of ManSegmentum ObscurusSpace MarineChaptersOver time, some of the Chapters that were sent to fight in the Taninim Crusade never returned. The Astral Claws, however, were one of the few Chapters able to Crusade throughout the Expanse for more than four decades and return relatively unscathed.
Taninim Crusade - History: In the aftermath of the Occlusiad War, the Imperium's attentions turned to regaining control of several regions lost to the Imperium along the northwestern fringe of the Segmentum Obscurus. As part of this Crusade no fewer than 11 Crusading Chapters were sent into the area of the Taninim Expanse in order to identify, target and destroy any emerging threats that might be found there. The Expanse is a vast, alien-haunted realm that extends past the outer edge of the Segmentum Obscurus and includes such infamous and darkly fabled worlds as Naogeddon and Alaks'tar within its bounds.Over time, some of the Chapters sent to fight what was to become known as the Taninim Crusade never returned, while at least one, the Storm Callers, infamously became corrupted by Chaos and fell into civil war between the Loyalist and damned factions within their own ranks. The Astral Claws, however, earned great glory during their more than 40 Terran years of Crusade in the expanse, and were one of the few Chapters that passed into the region and returned again largely unscathed by the experience.Upon returning to the Imperium the Astral Claws were awarded a Sceptre of Victory at the Segmentum Obscurus capital world of Cypra Mundi in recognition of their deeds and a temple to the Emperor dedicated in their honour (now deconsecrated following thei Chapter's fall to Chaos during the infamous Badab War) was raised on the Shrine World of Pycentos to commemorate their actions.
Taninim Crusade - Known Campaigns of the Taninim Crusade: Castigation of the Naraka Sub-Sector - The Astral Claws' first great campaign of the Crusade was in support of the Imperial counter-attack to regain the Naraka Sub-sector on the very edge of the Imperium. Naraka had suffered nearly a century of brutal Ork oppression under the iron-shod boot of the Warlord Rukka Manyteef and his Bad Moons Sky-Killas. The Astral Claws took the battle to the Orks in the conflict, destroying their yellow-painted tanka-mobs on the Ice World of Gulag-VI and cutting off the Greenskins' vital supplies of fuel, and later succeeded in slaughtering Manyteef's Glittanob bully-boyz on Midrash, spelling the end of the Ork pocket empire.Cythral Campaign - The Astral Claws Chapter went on to spend decades in the outer darkness of the Taninim Expanse, fighting and defeating many enemies including the outcast Eldar citadel-station of Cythral.Alaks'tar Campaign - The Astral Claws battled the Xenarch Empire enclaves at the world of Alaks'tar.Recovery of the Principia Gravis - The Astral Claws recovered the lost Explorator Ark Principia Gravis and returned it to Cypra Mundi to great acclaim.
Tanith - Tanith: Tanith is a Dead World, the former homeworld of the famed Tanith First and Only Astra Militarum regiment, whose population was exterminated by the orbital bombardment of a Chaos Warfleet.Tanith was formerly a heavily-forested Imperial Forest World, Frontier World and Feudal World located in the Sabbat Worlds Sector, a cluster of planets in the Segmentum Pacificus that was under constant assault by the forces of Chaos.Prior to the planet's destruction, Tanith had a spotless record for supplying its nalwood for the Imperial tithe. However, there were rumours that the planet was touched by Chaos.
Tanith - History: Research indicates that the initial settlers of Tanith belonged to a Human gene-stock branch called the Magmeta, an ethnic strand with multiple genomic markers suggesting it originated from the Terran regions of Albia and Europa.Due to its destruction, much of the earliest history of Tanith has been lost to Imperial records, but fragmented accounts speak of a time when Tanith was ruled by a planetary monarchy known as the Huhlhwch Dynasty. However, its rule came to end when the monarchy was brought low by the Nalsheen, the wood-warriors of ancient Tanith lore who fought using only spear-staves tipped with single-edged, silver blades. They united Tanith and overthrew the nobility and the feudal order they upheld, paving the way for the later, democratically-governed Tanith city-states.During the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, following the death of the Warmaster Slaydo, a splinter Chaos Warfleet slipped past the picket fleet set up by the Imperial Navy due to the newly-appointed Warmaster Macaroth's change of tactics. This small Chaos fleet attacked and destroyed six worlds, one of which was Tanith.The Chaos armada bombarded Tanith from orbit, and deployed ground troops to kill whatever the heavy orbital guns had missed. The forests of Tanith burned to ash under the crippling firepower of the Chaos fleet. It is not clear if Tanith had any functioning planetary defence artillery batteries, or if the Tanith Militia was able to fight back against the invaders.Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt was one of the last people to leave the planet before its demise, and was saved by a youth named Brin Milo, whom he took with him in gratitude. Milo confirmed that he was the only civilian to leave Tanith alive, having been too young to join the Astra Militarum.
Tanith - Government: The city-states of Tanith were great stone bastions. The capital city of Tanith -- known as Tanith Magna -- was no exception, and was known to be surrounded by a giant wall, presumably to keep the nalwood trees from moving into the city. The world was governed from the capital by an Imperial planetary governor, known locally as an "Elector," and the main governmental building appeared to be the Assembly (although Rawne also mentioned a place called the "Elector's Palace" when hypnotised on Monthax).It is unclear as to whether or not the Elector was elected as the title indicates, or if it is an inherited position like a monarch or other aristocrat. Tanith was administratively and culturally divided into counties, among which were Counties Pryze and Cuhulic. This system of organisation was very similar to that found among the Old Earth polities of Ireland and Scotland, whose cultures were similar to that of the people of Tanith.Each city on Tanith had a militia, from which a number of members of the Tanith First and Only were later drafted into the Astra Militarum.
Tanith - Flora and Fauna: The planet was covered in dense forests of mobile trees known as nalwoods -- these creatures were actually a type of photosynthetic animal-plant hybrid, while their wood was the world's primary export. The primary industry was the harvesting of seasoned nalwood timbers and a large wood carving industry that created pieces of beautiful woodwork that were highly prized across the Imperium.This wood became even more prized and valuable after the planet's destruction. The nalwoods themselves were capable of completely uprooting and moving to new locations, and were known to migrate from place to place following the seasons and the moving sun.The moving forests made any roads or paths through the trees quickly obsolete, and for this reason, the Tanith have developed an almost preternatural sense of direction, bred into them by adapting to this environment. Tanith had at least one major sea or ocean, and polar ice caps were present all year round.Tanith's native wildlife included larisel, small animals hunted by woodsmen -- presumably for food -- and shoggy; small amphibian creatures with bulging eyes that dwelled by woodland pools in Tanith's forests.
Tanith - Culture: The Tanith people were pale-skinned and dark-haired, with a lilting, sing-song accent when they spoke their dialect of Low Gothic. Most Tanith men were tattooed with blue ink from the time of their youth. No female Tanith are mentioned in detail, and it is presumed that none made it off-world, but if any did they did not accompany the Tanith 1st Regiment.The main Tanith curse-word is Feth, which is used in the same context as other common Imperial epithets, but it is also the name of an ancient Tanith tree-god. Sacra is an alcoholic beverage once favoured by the people Tanith, although it is not clear if it is native to Tanith as it is served in some bars off-world.Many Tanith names begin with "Mk", a variant of "Mc" or "Mac" used by the Irish and Scottish people of Old Earth, from whom inspiration for the Tanith culture appears to have been drawn. Tanith Pipes are described as a small clutch of spidery reeds attached to a bellows bag which is squeezed rhythmically under the arm, and make a sound similar to Uilleann Pipes. Their initial use on Tanith was to guide off-worlders through the shifting forests, but in the Tanith First they are used to rally the men and spook the enemy (although they have a similar effect on the Tanith's allies).According to Scout Trooper Bonin, most old Tanith families (his own included) baptise and officially name their children at the age of eight Terran years, as naming children at birth was considered premature and a child would grow into the names he or she would need. Bonin also remarks that this tradition wasn't observed much in Tanith's final years.Tanith was home to the legendary Nalsheen wood warriors, a brotherhood of Tanith who used the martial art cwlwhl (pronounced kil-wil); using blade-tipped staffs to fight off multiple foes. The Nalsheen were responsible for overthrowing the corrupt Huhlhuch Dynasty and ushering in the free modern era of Tanith. Mkvenner is the only Tanith to have been trained in cwlwhl who escaped the world's destruction, but has reluctantly admitted that he never completed his training.The Nalsheen used "Proto-Gothic" -- the early form of both High and Low Gothic used presently in the Imperium -- as their private language. The Tanith accent is noted to be lilting and sing-song-like. The main Tanith curse-word is feth, the name of an ancient Tanith tree-god.
Tanith - Tanith Militias: It is unclear in the sources whether or not Tanith had a standing Planetary Defence Force beyond the city militias, but if it had any major form of global defence network then it was evidently outmatched by the Chaos splinter fleet that swept through the sub-sector. It is confirmed that each city had a militia force, which presumably served as a local garrison force and assisted the local police.When Tanith was called upon to raise regiments for the Astra Militarum, men from the militias were drafted into the new regiments to help build up acceptable numbers. Notable Gaunt's Ghosts such as Colm Corbec, Hlaine Larkin, Elim Rawne and Mkvenner were recruited into the Imperial Guard through the militia.
Tanith First-and-Only - Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt: Perhaps no single individual has been as responsible for the survival and success of the Tanith 1st as Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt. Gaunt hailed from a family of soldiers, with a General Dercius as an uncle and a father who served as second-in-command to a regiment of the Jantine Patricians.After his father's death, Gaunt received schooling at the Schola Progenium on the world of Ignatius Cardinal, where he specialised as a commissar. As a cadet, he served with the Hyrkan 8th Regiment under the tutelage of Commissar-General Delane Oktar and distinguished himself, receiving promotion to full commissar upon Oktar's death.During his attachment to the Hyrkan 8th, Gaunt gained the attention of Lord General Slaydo, becoming one of his inner circle. With Slaydo's promotion to Warmaster and his charge of an Imperial Crusade to retake the Sabbat Worlds, Gaunt was amongst the chosen few with whom Slaydo swore a blood-oath: to see the crusade to its conclusion, no matter what, in order to honour Saint Sabbat from whom the sector drew its name.In the following years, Gaunt performed incredible feats and received the extremely rare rank of colonel-commissar and his own command over the Tanith 1st for his loyalty and achievement. From that point on, Gaunt and his regiment, later nicknamed "Gaunt's Ghosts," made their way from battlefield to battlefield, facing terrible foes and incredible challenges that tested them in every way, forging them into a deadly and renowned regiment.
Tanith First-and-Only - Regimental Wargear: The Tanith 1st are noted as being adept at using the Flamer and Missile Launcher (though the type of Missile Launcher they favour appears to be a cut-down rocket-tube referred to informally as a "tread-fether") and also regularly deploy Autocannons.In place of the standard-issue Astra Militarum combat knives, the Tanith Regiment makes use of 30-centimeter-long, straight-edged silver-plated daggers, known by the troopers as their "Straight Silver," which is also the weapon that officers mean to use when they give the order to fix bayonettes.The Tanith make use of Mark 3 Lasguns: the Tanith troopers of the regiment wield Lasguns with nalwood stocks and furnishings, while the Verghastites use Lasguns with fold-down wire stocks.Tanith snipers make use of needle-las Long-Las sniper rifles, and usually prefer the powerful, single-fire "Hotshot" charge packs.For stealth purposes, the Tanith 1st Regiment's fatigues and combat armour are black and grey in color, and each trooper is also issued a camo-cloak made from Cameleoline.As with any regiment, individual soldiers also have private stockpiles of trophy weapons claimed on the field of battle that they may use in a tight spot.
Tank Commander - Tank Commander: A Tank Commander is an officer of the Astra Militarum who commands the armoured companies or regiments of the Imperial Guard depending upon his given rank in the command hierarchy. A Tank Commander most often rides to battle in the cupola of a mighty Leman Russ main battle tank. These grizzled Guard officers are virtually one with their machines, possessing an implicit knowledge of mechanised warfare in all its forms. Granted their pick of the armoured fighting vehicles available to their regiment, they are further entitled to select their crew from the finest veterans. The average Tank Commander is therefore a steely-eyed ace, heading up a crew of the very best his or her regiment has to offer.
Tank Commander - Unit Composition: 1 Tank Commander riding in a Leman Russ Tank or other Astra Militarum armoured vehicle
Tank Commander - Wargear: A Tank Commander has access to all the variable armament loadouts available to his Leman Russ Tank or any other pattern of Astra Militarum armoured vehicle he commands. Please see the individual pages of those vehicles for more information.
Tankbusta - Tankbusta: A Tankbusta (pl. Tankbustaz) is an Ork Boy who has become completely addicted to the thrill of destroying the armoured fighting vehicles of his foes. The Tankbustaz' desire to hunt down and slay the biggest, most dangerous tanks they can find echoes the primal instinct of the big game hunter.Indeed, as primitive hunters might claim a gruesome trophy from a fallen beast to better brag of its demise, so Tankbustaz will strip the choicest loot from the wreckage of a ruined tank.Colourful hull plates are hammered into crude armour, internal gubbins worn proudly as warrior jewellery, and the flayed skins of crewmen are draped round the Tankbustaz' shoulders like pelts.They equip themselves extensively for dealing death to enemy armour –- their whistling volleys of Rokkits, and lethal Tankbusta Bomb assaults can spell annihilation for even the heaviest enemy tanks.
Tankbusta - Role: Orks tend to fixate upon whatever type of combat they enjoy most, gathering together with others of a like mind and forming a specialist mob. The Tankbustaz are a classic example of one of these Greenskin subcultures.They are Ork Boyz who have experienced the undeniable thrill of scoring a direct hit upon an enemy tank and seeing the vehicle explode in flames. If Orks were given to musing upon such things, they might equate the thrill felt by a successful Tankbusta with the elation felt by a Feral Ork who has managed to kill a rampaging Squiggoth or Megadon.An Ork finds something glorious in being able to boast about killing something twenty times his size. The victorious warrior becomes the focus of grudging admiration and envy from his fellows, a feeling to which a young Ork can easily become addicted.Just as a Feral Ork may take the talons, horns or skull from a great beast he has killed, a Tankbusta will invariably take a trophy from a vehicle he has destroyed and display it about his person.It is common for a Tankbusta to wear armour plates fashioned form pieces of a tank he has destroyed, sport armoured vehicle nuts and cogs as crude jewelry, or to hammer rivets or bolts into his flesh as kill markings.The Rokkit Launcha is not the only weapon favoured by these anti-tank specialists. Many Tankbustaz get sick of missing their targets and use personalised methods of delivering their Rokkits to the enemy.These range form Tankhammers to trained Squigs that carry explosive payloads. For close encounters, Tankbustaz also carry heavy magnetic discs they call Tankbusta Bombz.These are attached to enemy vehicles with a great clang that heralds the detonation of the explosive charge inside. A whole unit using their Tankbusta Bombz on the same vehicle is almost certain to destroy it in a spectacular fashion.This usually takes several Orks with it as shrapnel scythes through the air, but as the Tankbustaz say, "They know da risks when they took da job."Not all of these proclaimed "big game huntas" have claimed their first tank kill. Aspirants tend to hang around more experienced Tankbustaz, waiting for their own moment of glory.A Tankbusta who has succeeded in scoring his first confirmed kill of an enemy vehicle enjoys being "tanked up" after the battle, a ritual that involves devouring the wrecked tank's crew and drinking engine oil from the vehicle's smoking remains.
Tankbusta - Wargear: Rokkit Launcha - Crude but easy to manufacture, the Ork Rokkit Launcha is a stout tube with a simple trigger mechanism that allows the Ork at the "safe" end to fire a dodgy-looking Rokkit in the general vicinity of the enemy. The Rokkit Launcha resembles a slapdash "Orky" version of an ancient Jermani (Germany) Panzerfaust; a single shot, hip-fired, rocket-propelled grenade.Stikkbombz - Stikkbombz are an anti-infantry fragmentation grenade commonly utilised by Ork forces. Ork grenades are much bigger and heftier than those used by other races, which makes good sense to an Ork because the bigger something is, the more dangerous it will be. Stikkbomz are made up of a can filled with crude explosives which is screwed onto a stick so that it can be used as an equally crude mace if necessary.Tankbusta Bombz - A heavy magnetic bomb that can be attached beneath or to the side of an armoured vehicle. These are attached to enemy vehicles with a great clang that heralds the detonation of the explosive charge inside. A whole unit using their Tankbusta Bombz on the same vehicle is almost certain to destroy it in a spectacular fashion.
Tankbusta - Sources: Codex: Orks (8th Edition) pg. 42Codex: Orks (7th Edition), pp. 23, 144-145Codex: Orks (4th Edition) pg. 42Orks Collectors' Guide, pg. 22Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (PC Game)Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution (PC Game)Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (PC Game)
Tantalus - Tantalus: Tantalus was once an Industrial World of the Imperium, and remains the principle satellite moon of the Hive World of Castobel in the Jericho Reach.It hosted considerable natural resources in the form of sub-strata promethium [grade Vulcan-989] and other geologically attendant chemicals, exploitation of which is fully established and tithed to the consumption of the Achilus Crusade via Departmento Munitorum edict.The planet was overrun by the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Dagon, which crushed all Imperial resistance planetside. The primary starports and habitation zones were lost, the mainline Astra Militarum garrison effectively destroyed along with lunar governance. Prior to the arrival of a Deathwatch Kill-team,  intelligence estimated population causalities were already 89% and rising.In the colony's final days, catalytic organisms became environmentally prevalent in the Tantalus equatorial zone -- it was estimated at the time that only twenty to seventy solar hours remained until biospheric conversion began. Fragmented resistance held out in the polar regions.However, the armament and size of the remaining Imperial forces were totally inadequate to prevent the Tyranid swarm from systematically advancing to scour the world of all life.The crusade forces had used Tantalus as a "second line" rotation post for the Orpheus Salient warzone. Indeed, median garrison levels were approximately 10,000-15,000 troops on rotation.Additional forces of the Adeptus Munitorum provost command overseer/disciplinary corps were charged with maintaining order and ensuring production, and comprised roughly 200,000 operatives.
Tantalus - Geography: Tantalus is a world approximately two thirds the mass of Holy Terra in stable orbit around a Type III gas giant, whose length of day, gravity, and climatic conditions point to deliberate alteration during the High Dark Age, and was an Agri-world serving the primary Castobel Hive World during the period of established Imperial rule of the Jericho Sector.Over the last millennia while out of Imperial control, Tantalus had undergone a transition towards a cooler climate associated with the slow onset of a rotational ice age and prevalent conditions on the moon were now predominately stormy, its topography succumbing to sub-arctic/tundra with polar ice caps advancing to cover 32% of the moon's surface.Human life had dwindled considerably during the local Age of Shadow to fewer than ten million living as pre-industrial hunter-gatherers.However, with the coming of the Achilus Crusade and the resurgence of Castobel I, extensive promethium refinery infrastructure, the starport/city of "Tantalus Landing" and other settlements have been constructed and the population has trebled through forced immigration of tithed workers and crusade forces.