vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Asdrubael Vect - Wargear: Ghostplate Armour - Those Drukhari who desire a substantial amount of protection whilst retaining a high degree of mobility sport armour made of hardened resins and shot through with pockets of lighter-than-air gas. Ghostplate Armour also incorporates minor force field technology to better protect its wearer.Shadow Field - The Shadow Field surrounds its wearer in a dark miasma of energy that is almost impossible to penetrate. However, should a solid blow connect, the shadow field will short out, leaving its wearer vulnerable.Splinter Pistol - This side arm is a smaller version of the Splinter Rifle. Often carried as a sidearm by Drukhari assault and shock troops, it fires a hail of splinter-like shards of crystal at the enemy. The only disadvantage of its smaller size is its more limited effective range. Splinter Pistols are often fitted with vicious combat blades, which the Drukhari use to slash and stab opponents in close combat.Plasma Grenades - These grenades explode into a ball of super-heated plasma, negating the effect of cover in close combat.Haywire Grenades - Haywire Grenades are used for disabling or crippling enemy vehicles. They send out a powerful electromagnetic pulse that shorts out and destroys electrical circuits.Sceptre of the Dark City - This unique sceptre is the badge of office of the Supreme Overlord of Commoragh and is an advanced Power Weapon that contains sophisticated pain-inducing devices.Obsidian Orbs - Extremely advanced and rare Drukhari soul-technology. When an Obsidian Orb is used against living opponents, it can suck out their very souls and use their stolen life-energy to heal Vect's own wounds.Dais of Destruction - When Vect deigns to lead a battle personally, he often does so upon the Dais of Destruction, a modified Ravager skimmercraft dedicated to his own use and armed with Dark Lances and force shields.
Asgardian Rangers - Asgardian Rangers: Asgardian Rangers are the elite cavalry-based regiments of the Imperial Guard that specialise in scouting, camouflage and infiltration. Hailing from the Feudal World of Asgard, the Asgardian Rangers are often viewed as primitive, almost feral, and the Ranger's feudal background does little to alter this perception. It has been observed that the Asgardian Rangers have many advantages in their use throughout a warzone above and beyond the Scouts of the Space Marines. When facing a tactical situation that is very fluid, the Asgardians take advantage by utilising the sheer speed of their biologically enhanced mounts, manipulatively bred for generations by their world's contingent of Tech-priests. The mounts' incredible endurance and tenacity, coupled with their engineered resistance to wound and toxin can carry the Rangers through the worst of enemy held territory as they follow armies, staying out of the reach of opposing scouts and outriders.During the Third War for Armageddon in 998.M41, the Asgardians' ability to stay in the field and subsist in the most desolate of areas often proved invaluable. Scout Marines mounted on Assault Bikes were often constrained by the need for fuel, for resources could be sparse in the Ash Wastes of a Hive World like Armageddon, and they also suffered in situations where stealth, rather than skill at arms, was required. In addition, the territory north of the Hive City of Helsreach, and that surrounding the nearest Ork drop site, was directly comparable to the terrain of the Ranger's own homeworld, thus granting the Asgardians a familiarity of surroundings that so many of the Imperial forces on Armageddon lacked. The Asgardian Rangers were the clear choice to be utilised in such regions in the absence of Adeptus Astartes support. No other army on the planet had their skill or knowledge of reconnaissance within enemy-held territory.Though small in number, the Rangers of Asgard provided a great deal of intelligence on the force distribution of the Orks. Despite their late appearance as a component of the Imperial forces on Armageddon, many tactical catastrophes were averted by the vigilance of these versatile troops. Under the guidance of General Odwin, these cavalry-based regiments were dispersed across the entirety of the continent of Armageddon Secundus. It was rare that these units were actually consigned to fight at the front line, but all reports suggested the Asgardian Rangers were fierce and able fighters, and their biologically enhanced steeds were as ferocious as their masters.
Asgardian Rangers - Notable Asgardian Rangers Regiments: 89th Asgardian Rangers Regiment - The 89th Asgardian Rangers fought in the Mannhaeim Gap during the Third War for Armageddon.
Asger Warfist - Asger Warfist: Asger Warfist was a Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Chapter in the mid-32nd Millennium who was appointed as the first watch commander of the Deathwatch Chapter during the War of the Beast by Lord Commander of the Imperium Koorland.
Asger Warfist - History: Asger Warfist was named the very first watch commander of the Deathwatch when the title still served to designate the Chapter's overall master like a standard Chapter Master. Asger Warfist was already a Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Chapter when the Ork forces of The Beast invaded the Imperium during the War of the Beast of the mid-32nd Millennium. He took part in his Chapter's battle against the Orks when they invaded an Imperial system near the Eye of Terror and he later successfully led his Great Company in defending the Industrial Moon of Fabrikk.Afterwards, he was commanded by his Great Wolf to travel to Terra when the Space Wolves received word that their aid was requested to form an Adeptus Astartes strike force to attack the world of Ullanor, which was discovered to be the origin point of The Beast's invasion force. Warfist later appeared before Lord Commander of the Imperium Koorland as part of his Chapter's taskforce on Terra. Warfist reluctantly tolerated the presence of Dark Angels in the strike force and took part in the invasion of The Beast's homeworld of Ullanor.Warfist later became one of the first members of the Deathwatch and took part in the destruction of the Attack Moon over Terra. Shortly before the second invasion of Ullanor to try once more to slay The Beast, Lord Commander Koorland made Asger Warfist the first Chapter Master of the Deathwatch with the title of "watch commander."Warfist fought alongside Koorland when the lord commander was slain by the second massive Greenskin warlord that revealed himself to be another version of The Beast. During the third Imperial offensive on Ullanor, Warfist commanded one of the five Imperial attack groups.In the millennia after the War of the Beast, the Deathwatch became a far more decentralised organisation that was deployed across the galaxy. Now based out of watch fortresses largely independent from each other, the title of watch commander stopped being a singular rank used to denote an overall leader of the Deathwatch. In the 41st Millennium the title now simply refers to the commanding officer of a particular watch fortress, who is almost always a watch master, but sometimes can be a senior watch captain.
Ashen Circle - Ashen Circle: The Ashen Circle was a unique formation of the Word Bearers Legion utilised during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras during the 30th and early 31st Millennia. Descending from the sky on Jump Packs, they were the destroyers of false gods, ashen angels sent to reduce libraries and shrines to cinders with Flamers and, where a truly lasting destruction was required, phosphex.Attached to the Legion's various chapter-sized forces but standing as a circle apart, only the most dedicated of Word Bearers could enter the ranks of the Ashen Circle. Many who passed through their ranks eventually ascended to the role of Chaplain.
Ashen Circle - History: Serving alongside the Destroyers of the Word Bearers Legion, the Ashen Circle was a unique formation created for a unique purpose: the destruction of heretical cultures, learning and faith. These Space Marines were members of the XVIIth Legion's original Iconoclast faction, charged beyond the battlefield with hunting down works of false doctrine and those who purveyed it, consigning both to destruction and eradicating flame.On the battlefield, their task was deemed no less important by their Legion; seeking out those things which gave the foe the heart and courage to fight: charismatic leaders, priests, battle flags and champions. These they singled out, dragged down with the hook-blades of their axe-rakes and destroyed with brutal fervour, often making plunging attacks far in advance of their own lines in order to do so, with no thought as to their own survival.On world after world, the Ashen Circle tore down libraries and churches, parliaments and sepulchres, first so that the Imperial Truth might be set up in their place, but later so that far darker creeds could take root and fester.The Ashen Circle is an organisation that predates Primarch Lorgar's return to the XVIIth Legion, and as such maintained a unique pattern of heraldry that was distinct even within such a diverse Legion as the XVIIth. By the time the Word Bearers revealed their treacherous intentions at the Battle of Calth during the Horus Heresy, few elements of the Ashen Circle's original heraldry remained, with only a modified Destroyer icon somewhere on their armour and the dark, gun-metal grey colour of their battle-plate now unobscured by the Colchisian symbology. Instead, they now wore the trappings of Lorgar's new creed in service to Chaos.The Space Marines who made up squads of the Ashen Circle were called "Incendiaries" while their sergeants were known as "Iconoclasts."
Ashen Circle - Unit Composition: 4-9 Incendiaries1 Iconoclast
Ashen Circle - Wargear: Hardened Armour - Warriors of the Ashen Circle wore a variant Mark III Iron Pattern Power Armour unique to the Word Bearers Legion.Hand FlamerAxe-Rake - A heavily reinforced axe-weapon with a grappling barb, this vicious blade was used to drag down victims, and topple graven idols and false icons for the Word Bearers' pyres.Jump PackFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades
Ashen Circle - Optional Wargear: Power AxeInferno PistolPlasma Pistol
Ashen Circle - Optional Wargear (Iconoclast Only): Artificer ArmourMelta Bombs3 Phosphex Bombs
Ashen Circle - Sources: The Horus Heresy - Book Two: Massacre (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 142, 257The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 105, 111, 247Forge World Webstor - Word Bearers Legion Ashen Circle
Ashen Claws - Ashen Claws: The Ashen Claws were originally the 18th Chapter of the Raven Guard Legion during the Unification Wars, Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras of the late 30th and early 31st Millennia.Comprised of several thousand Astartes, near every one was a Terran-born Veteran of the old XIXth Legion, before their reunification with their lost Primarch Corvus Corax upon the world of Deliverance during the Great Crusade.Following the Battle of Gate Forty-Two during the Great Crusade campaign in the Akum-sothos Cluster, those that survived the crucible of that deadly near-suicidal assault were gathered together and despatched by Corax into the northeastern reaches of the Ghoul Stars to bring the light of the Emperor to the outer darkness.Later considered a Renegade Blackshield force by the Imperium, the Ashen Claws believed themselves to be continuing the work of the Great Crusade, carving a swathe of blood and ash across the void in memory of a dream which had turned to nightmare with the Warmaster Horus' betrayal at Isstvan III. Their ultimate fate by the 41st Millennium was to become a band of Renegade Space Marines who continued to haunt the region of the Ghoul Stars.
Ashen Claws - The Raven's Cast-Offs: The term "Ashen Claws" is not one immediately known to Imperial scholars of that most tumultuous period of the Imperium's history, the Horus Heresy. It is not listed as the title of any existing Chapter, battalion or fleet within the eighteen Space Marine Legions at the outbreak of the civil war, nor is it a title taken by one of those ad-hoc formations that survived to the war's end. Indeed, a casual search of the Imperial Archives on Terra reveals but a few possible references: an Acheron-class Battleship that was designated the Ashen Claw, a Solar Auxilia cohort whose unofficial designation was the "Ash Claws," and the patriarch of the Knight House Moritain, whose honourary titles include "He whose claws rend all to ash."Obviously, none of these are linked to the unknown Legiones Astartes force that ravaged the Nostramo Sector in 011.M31. However, those with the access to the sealed vaults of the archives might uncover two further references that offer a potential answer to the puzzle. The first of these comes from the Legion records of the XIX Legion, in the times before the Primarch Corvus Corax took command and the warriors of the XIX fought under the patronage of Horus Lupercal. These records note that among the Chapters of the XIX Legion there was a Chapter by the name of the Ashen Claws, a name carried over from the Terran Xeric tribes that these fierce warriors were recruited from. The Raven Guard of modern times hold no record of these warriors. Indeed, of the original Terran recruits of the Legion little is known, as it seems Corax bore a measure of ill-will towards the Terran recruits within his Legion, both their time under the tutelage of Horus and their heritage as slaver-warlords in the Asiatic Dustfields of Ancient Terra marked them out as unworthy in the eyes of their new master. Some observed that Horus treated the XIX Legion like a Chapter of his own Legion rather than one with its own identity and destiny to forge. The XIX Legion remained close to their Terran roots, their demeanour not deviating far from that of the savage Xeric tribes.By the time the Raven Lord took command of his Legion, the Great Crusade was over a standard century old. Corax was quick to impose the style of war he had perfected on Lycaeus over that which had come to define the XIX Legion, melding stealth and guile with vigilance and swiftness. It was during these early years that much of the native demeanour of the old XIX Legion, particularly the more cold-blooded ways of the Xeric tribes, was purged. The Legion had so often served in oppression, repression and occupation forces that Corax saw in some of the Terrans of his XIX Legion something akin to the slavers of Lycaeus. Several of the Legion's highest-ranking officers were displaced or reassigned to non-command roles, including Shade Lord Arkhas Fal, who had commanded the XIX Legion as its Master for three solar decades before the coming of the Raven Lord.
Ashen Claws - Carrion Birds All: What became of the Ashen Claws is subject to much conjecture in the Imperium of the present, but extant sources revealed that the Ashen Claws became an independent Blackshield raiding force that followed a mandate of greed and mercenary intent, and only nominally fought for the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. What became of them following the end of that galaxy-wide conflict wouldn't be revealed until over half a standard century had passed, following the Great Scouring.Full research into the origins of the Ashen Claws fleet notes that they were despatched on-Crusade in 002.M31, the commander of the expedition, Praetor Calvus, a Deliverance survivor known for his loyalty to Corax. What fate Praetor Calvus met is unknown, but it is likely that by the return of the Ashen Claws to Imperial space in 011.M31 he had perished. With an original complement of thirteen capital-class voidcraft, a score of smaller starships and some 4,000 Astartes assembled from the survivors of the fighting in Akum-sothos, the fleet was a significant force, even assuming that nine Terran years of Crusading had taken its toll on the fleet. In fact, it is this slow bleeding of resources and manpower over the course of their exile that likely led to the tactics displayed in the few records the Imperial Divisio Militaris possessed of their actions, all of which seem to have been focused on the acquisition of resources and munitions.Following the fragmentation and collapse of the Nostramo Sector in 011.M31, at the recommendation of the Divisio Militaris, the Council of Terra issued an edict declaring the Nostramo Sector and those sectors adjoining it a forbidden zone to Imperial voidcraft, save those with special dispensation. The borders of the Imperium contracted and a great swathe of space was abandoned to the ravages of xenos predators and the few scattered bands of rebels that lingered on remote worlds. With the final fate of the Ashen Claws undocumented, it may be that they also lurk somewhere within these forbidden stars, that far from the eyes of the Imperium those worlds brought to Imperial Compliance by their final Crusade still survive. Some Imperial scholars wonder perhaps, in the face of the changes wrought on the Emperor's realm in the wake of His hollow victory at the end of the Heresy, if perhaps they chose the wiser course.
Ashen Claws - Ultimate Fate: Long years have passed since the original report on the Ashen Claws was entered into the archives of the Divisio Militaris, a relic of times past that had been reborn anew to serve a changed empire. Few in the new Imperium cared to look back at what once was, and of those even less had time for the forgotten mysteries of a war that had passed into legend and myth -- yet some few still harken to the words of past scribes. Passed to their hands by those who still remembered the day when the Emperor walked among His people was the last piece of the puzzle, a warning perhaps that in the dark beyond, there yet remained those who were unwilling to accept the new order that now overtook the Imperium. A long-range Astropathic message was sent by Far Rim Monitoring Station Occludus, 108th Independent Company, by Captain Crysos Morturg, Commanding.In 063.M31, while conducting a routine sweep along the outer edges of the restricted sectors of the Ghoul Stars, Imperial strike craft of a Deep Range Patrol intercepted a fragment of an Astropathic message bearing Imperial code-memes of ancient provenance. The transmission date appended to the message would have it as being less than a standard year old, but this must have been in error as no human realms were known to have survived in the Ghoul Stars. As such, the nature of the message led Imperial authorities to believe that it might be some kind of Warp echo, perhaps dating back to the days of the Great Crusade, although it showed none of the degradation that usually accompanied such echoes.A full transliteration follows:"...Fourth Company reports the asteroid settlements of the Orcades brought into Compliance as per the edict of the Second Crusade, one thousand souls claimed as bondsmen for the Legion that it may grow and prosper. Expect our return to Atargatis within the month for reassignment."
Ashen Claws - Forgotten Exiles: Unbeknownst to the wider Imperium, the Ashen Claws managed to survive not only the events of the Horus Heresy, but beyond. Finding a home within the Atargatis System, the Ashen Claws manage to eke out a harsh existence amongst the shattered worlds of that isolated star system. Aeons before, two of Atargatis' worlds had collided, shattering into countless fragments and leaving the system a broken, desolate place, choked with shards of dead rock and blasted by cruel, radioactive solar winds. The Atargatis System was a miserable realm, ruled by a decrepit red star, without natural resources and far from habitable space. A perfect haunt for pirates, Renegades and worse.The Ashen Claws conquered this region ten millennia ago, and managed to build a fixed base of operations upon the world of Atargatis Prime. Called the Lost Eyrie, it was a twisted spire of black rock that rose from the surrounding wasteland, tapering to a spike of stone that nearly pierced the low, bleak clouds above. From low orbit, there were no visible structures and no evidence of human artifice, but the uneven rock faces, crags and crevasses hid all manner of defensive batteries and sally ports. The Lost Eyrie looked like a lonely outcrop on a lonely world beyond the Imperium's borders. In truth, it was a haven of piracy and recidivism. The Ashen Claws lived alongside the void tribes and Renegades that infested the system, recruiting the youngest and strongest youths as potential Aspirants.The Ashen Claws continued to survive for Terran millennia by raiding Imperial holdings. But by the mid-800's of the 41st Millennium, this Renegade Chapter had become indolent and fearful. Though they still occupied Atargatis and dominated its tribes, they rarely forayed beyond its borders. Their prey had been reduced to outlying void clusters and lost human colonies and they had not struck an active, tithe-paying Imperial holding for many years.
Ashen Claws - Notable Ashen Claws: Chapter Master Nehat Nev - Nehat Nev was the Chapter Master of the exiled Ashen Claws Renegade Chapter in the mid-800s.M41. Nev was a particularly broad Space Marine, arrayed in ancient Power Armour and wielding a wicked dagger at his side at all times. When dealing with him in person, the Chapter Master appeared haughty and cruel, and was prone to violence if he felt disrespected or threatened.Praetor Nerat Kirine - The Terran-borne Nerat Kirine was formerly a Shade Captain of the XIX Legion's 18th "Ashen Claws" Chapter; one that served as a potent exemplar of the early XIX Legion's brutally efficient style of warfare. He was present during the Battle of Hell's Anvil, a campaign which typified the bloody-handed and cold-blooded ways of the early XIX Legion that its Primarch Corvus Corax would later seek to repress. This particular battle cemented the reputation of the XIX Legion as harbingers of death for those units of the Imperial Army assigned to their support, for their daring decapitation strikes often left their mortal support units in the path of destruction with little hope of rescue. This remnant of their heritage as slave-masters and raiders on the dust plains of Old Earth did not find favour with the Raven Lord when he joined with the XIX Legion. Following the ascension of Horus Lupercal to the esteemed rank of Warmaster of the Emperor's vast military forces, the Raven Guard were recalled to the Akum-sothas Cluster to help put down an insurrection that was instigated by the xenos influence of the so-called Unsighted Kings. Contrary to their usual tactics, Corax bowed to the Warmaster's wishes, and so ordered the Terran elements of the 18th Chapter to lead a near-suicidal assault on the enemy's fortifications. They were only carried through the fires of battle bloodied and unbroken by the brutal efficiency of then-Praetor Nerat Kirine. Several thousand Astartes of the 18th Chapter remained, but instead of being feted, they were instead marshalled by the Raven Lord and formed into a Crusading fleet. They were to carry the light of the Emperor into the outer darkness of the Ghoul Stars, apart from the greater bulk of the Legion. At some point when the Ashen Claws' former commander, Praetor Calvus died, Nerat Kirine took command over the Crusading fleet. His ultimate fate remains unknown.Praetor Calvus - When the Ashen Claws Chapter was despatched on-Crusade in 002.M31 following the Battle of Gate Forty-Two, Praetor Calvus, a Deliverance survivor known for his loyalty to Corax, was chosen to be the commander of the expedition. The fate that befell Praetor Calvus is unknown, but he more than likely had already perished by the time the Ashen Claws reemerged in 011.M31 and were encountered by a Blood Angels Retribution Fleet during the scouring of the Nostramo System.Captain Rama Sixx- Captain of the Ashen Claws' 1st Company. Rama Sixx later led three companies to reinforce the Carcharodons' 3rd Company during their campaign on Piety V.
Ashen Claws - Chapter Fleet: When the Ashen Claws were despatched on-Crusade in 002.M31 they possessed an original complement of thirteen capital voidcraft and a score of smaller starships, most of their exact classes unknown.Wicked Claw (Infernus-class Battleship) - The Wicked Claw is an ancient Great Crusade-era capital ship that served as the primary command vessel of the Raven Guard's 18th Chapter, and later the exiled Ashen Claws. It is a monster of a vessel and a weapon of terrible destructive presence, easily outclassing many warships utilised by the Imperial Navy in the 41st Millennium. The Infernus-class Battleship had been been out of commission since the days of the Heresy, one of a number of vessels considered too powerful to be left in the hands of any single commander after the betrayals of the Heresy. The Ashen Claws had clearly preserved theirs since their exile over ten millennia earlier. This massive vessel is covered with weapons towers, crenellations and Macrocannon-studded flanks, the arching crest of its bridge block and, most fearsome of all, the vast, spinal-mounted exo-laser battery that runs down its length.
Ashen Claws - Chapter Colours: The Ashen Claws Chapter was observed to wear battle-plate of dark grey, almost black, with the power pack, both pauldrons and vambraces a dull red. Their helms were also daubed in this colour. Many of the Chapter's Legionaries were observed wearing baroque variations of older patterns of Power Armour once common during the Great Crusade. Many of the segmented plates also had symbols inscribed on them, not in a regimented pattern that would indicate marks of rank or status, but almost at random and in the form of primitive tribal runes or gang symbols like those once worn by the Sons of Horus. Many also bore the raptor and lightning bolt symbol of the Emperor, an honour usually reserved only for those Terran recruits of the Great Crusade who fought by His side on the battlefields of Ancient Terra and other worlds of the Sol System, and often considered a sign of Loyalist allegiance. Trophies from fallen enemies, in the form of fragments of weapons, and skulls and claws of xenos beasts adorned the warriors, many in forms never witnessed before, and small charms on carved green stone, similar perhaps to Terran jade.
Ashen Claws - Chapter Badge: The Ashen Claws icon is a strange sigil that would normally boast the symbol of one of the ancient Space Marine Legions. Instead, it is a circle ringed by jagged claws, ash-white on a field of red that matches the colour of dried blood, an ominous and sinister emblem. Its exact meaning is unclear.
Ashen Claws - Sources: The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 150-151The Horus Heresy - Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 132-147Carcharodons: Outer Dark (Novel) by Robbie Macniven, Ch. 3
Askellon Sector - History: Like the origins of the Imperium itself, historical truths surrounding the beginnings of the Askellon Sector have long since devolved over the millennia into myths and legends. Even these tales have become splintered, with many worlds and denominations holding their own unique beliefs. Most of the legends, though, hold certain areas in common, to an extent that most across the sector believe them as uncontested truths.These cherished beliefs on the origins of Askellon help bind the sector together in its continual and unstinting service to the Emperor. Taught on almost every world herein, they show a history older than the Imperium, that only became more grand once it united with the Emperor's divine purpose. It is one of uninterrupted loyalty, faithfulness, and devotion to the Emperor and His subjects, and none would dare whisper otherwise.
Askellon Sector - The Founding: Though the founding of the sector is shrouded with the ashes of history, most of the endlessly copied records indicate it occurred during the ages before the Imperium rose, when Humanity seeded itself across the stars in the Age of Technology. The epic saga, the Lay of Askellios, contains this commonly held recital, though many hold it to be allegory and not a factual accounting. Its most famous copy, a gilded tome many metres tall enshrined in a massive stasis chamber on Juno, relates of a huge fleet arriving after a long, perilous journey to a region of space unmarred by Warp storms. Finding the area peaceful and unsullied, they decided to build a grand civilisation and await other starships to eventually arrive. Stable Warp routes connected a handful of worlds, and the fleet split to settle them.For reasons that many of the tales refuse to codify, one ship refused this scheme and the others turned on it, refusing to allow it to hinder this grand vision. Myths state it was filled with sinners and Heretics, and though heavily damaged it managed to get away, never seen again. The settled worlds grew and prospered, though, mastering the space around them into a stable union that managed to weather the terrible Age of Strife. For generations it remained isolated, until the blessed day when the one of the nascent Imperium's expeditionary fleets arrived as part of the Great Crusade.Imperial Compliance brought the region, now named Askellon, into the Imperium. Some of the legends of this time consist of nothing but tales of the grand ceremonies that many believe lasted several standard years and included the unnamed Space Marine Legions accompanying the Imperial fleet. They also relate tales of scattered worlds attempting to resist the Emperor's will, but that they were swiftly crushed. Of them, no more is spoken and none know of their names, though several still-charred planets present in the sector perhaps give some evidence of their fate. No world living now would ever admit to such unthinkable betrayal in its past, and all are content knowing that none from those planets still live.
Askellon Sector - Rise of the Pandaemonium: The time of peace was brief, as soon civil war on a scale undreamt of erupted. Many tales speak of how the sector's people fought valiantly during the dark times when the Imperiumwas nearly split asunder during the Horus Heresy. Though much of the region faced horrific damage and many of its main worlds were reduced to ruin, Askellon, like the Imperium, survived. Almost unnoticed amongst these early days of unification and rebellion were the first recordings of terrible Warp storms raging across the once-peaceful region.Twisted legends began that the storms were growing in appetite, and only abated after they had devoured sufficient starships or worlds to sate themselves temporarily. It was not until millennia later that Argo Kappellax, then archmagos of Cerix-Magnus, established they were not legion but instead a singular storm, rising and falling, though no aerythmatical formulae could fully predict its actions. The name the Navis Nobilite's Houses of Askellon cursed it with ages ago, "the Pandaemonium," soon became commonplace amongst those who ply the Warp routes across the sector and beyond.The Infernal Storm continues to ravage the sector to this day, with periods of relative calm only to be followed with times so tumultuous that interstellar travel and communication become nigh impossible. With each generation it appears to grow stronger, though most assume this is more a reflection of Askellon's earlier, more golden ages than any true measurements. Some scholars believe that the Pandaemonium is once again growing in fury, this time to such a level that reality itself might not withstand the storm surge.
Askellon Sector - The Vaxian Sundering: For almost all of the Inquisitors in the Askellon Sector, the Vaxi Atrocity was a horrible error. For those of the Ordo Malleus who secretly investigated the sector's ruling families, though, it holds a special significance. For them, the great tragedy is that a renewed wave of blasphemy and abomination swept through the sector's populations. By design, the bulk of their resources in the sector were committed to re-establishing their hidden networks and to infiltrating the Askellian aristocracy. With their resources thus devoted to what they considered their most important -- yet distant -- goal, however, their enemies established themselves as major powers in the sector.Thus, many of the Ordo Malleus Inquisitors in the Askellon Sector were visited by a tragedy known only to themselves, one dubbed by those that bore witness to it as the "Vaxian Sundering." It was an age when much that they had achieved was undone, for while the undercover networks were built, the worship of Warp entities and the seeking after forbidden knowledge went all but unchallenged. Even more threatening, schisms within the Ordo Malleus itself emerged, and factions that would have once been eradicated immediately festered and grew.
Askellon Sector - The Chialistica: It was a mere standard year after the Vaxi Atrocity that a new and highly divisive faction formed amongst Ordo Malleus Inquisitors active in the sector. Exactly what triggered the appearance of this group is not yet certain; some Inquisitors claim it represents nothing more than the rantings of broken men and women whose minds and souls were pushed beyond the limits of sanity by the terrible scope of the horrors they witnessed. Others, however, claim that the Chialistica, as it has come to be known, has existed in some manner since the very dawn of the sector's formal establishment as part of the Imperium, and possibly even since the first Human settlers arrived in Askellian space during the Age of Technology. The Chialistica appears similar to other strands of mysticism found across the Imperium, obsessed with the notion that Mankind is drawing towards a Time of Ending. Such creeds are known to wax and wane throughout the domains of Humanity, in particular at the closing of centuries and especially at the turning of millennia.This instance is even more powerful, however, for the Chialistica's adherents look forward to the closing of the ten-thousand-standard-year period since the Emperor ascended the Golden Throne. These Askellian Inquisitors hold that the Emperor's period of rule is drawing to a close, and after it there shall come an eternity of Chaos. None have ever openly declared membership in this most apocalyptic of sects, yet a plethora of evidence suggests that some cleave to its nihilistic philosophies. Many in the sector have spoken out against the faction, claiming that any Inquisitor who shares its beliefs is a traitor to their calling, for regardless of how they do so, it is an Inquisitor's most sacred task to stand sentinel over the future of Mankind.In secret, however, the Chialistica hold that the Emperor has fulfilled a prophecy spoken millennia ago, and must soon either descend from His throne or transcend it, and thereby usher in a new, final, age. In their beliefs, the Chialistica veer dangerously close to several existing philosophical factions known to hold sway within the Inquisition, leading some to conclude that they are a still more extreme offshoot of another Radical philosophy, one that has gone beyond even the sins of the Istvaanians and abandoned all pretence of rebirth of the Imperium in favour of a final, galaxy-wide apocalypse.
Askellon Sector - Catacalixian Heresy: The Catacalixian Heresy appeared in the Askellon Sector soon after the Chialistica, though the two are not believed to be linked in any way beyond the fact that the Vaxi Atrocity paved a way for their emergence in the sector. This heresy takes the form of a series of coded warnings relating to the imminent collapse of the Imperium's power across the entire Segmentum Obscurus, warning that such a fate has already befallen several unnamed nearby sectors and shall soon come down upon Askellon.This aberrant philosophy appears to be spreading along the worlds of the region by way of trans-sector shipping, suggesting that travellers coming into the sector from neighbouring Imperial regions are preaching their warning to others they encounter along the way.Of particular concern is the fact that the Catacalixian Heresy appears not to have taken hold of the greater masses, as so many doomsday sects do, but instead has swept through the upper echelons of the region's Imperial adepta. It has found a home of sorts in the hearts of those whose existence or station grants them a perspective denied to most Humans, such as starfaring Chartist Captains and Rogue Traders, senior adepts of the Adeptus Ministorum and the Adeptus Administratum, and, most disturbingly, some Inquisitors. There are plenty who hold that when such highly-ranked servants of Terra believe that doom is descending upon the Imperium, then surely the end is at last nigh.
Askellon Sector - Vaxian Aftermath Wars: In the annals of the Inquisition, the Vaxi Atrocity stands as a cautionary tale of the doom that can befall a region when the most highly-ranked servants of the Emperor set aside their mutual duties and allow hubris to dictate their actions. The Atrocity itself has been debated endlessly in such Askellian circles, its causes analysed over and over so they might never occur again. Some scholars have even gone so far as to suggest the entire calamity might have been engineered by hidden xenos intellects, seeing the far-reaching influence of the Aeldari in the still-unfolding events of the Atrocity.Most such theories are dismissed as fanciful musing at best, or the death-rants of fallen Traitors at worst, yet still they refuse to fade away. Certainly, Inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos have known for generations that the Craftworld Aeldari in particular are capable of engineering events far into the future for their own sakes, their Farseers able to unravel the twisted threads of an unfolding future and to re-knit them according to their own unknowable schemes.Might the Atrocity have been intended to weaken the sector in order to turn the attentions of some hungering void-born horror away from the Craftworld Aeldari and towards Mankind? Arguments rage endlessly over these and other myriad forces -- perhaps even from within the Inquisition itself -- that might have had a hidden hand in launching the terrible event, or guided it to results that few can fully understand. In truth, no sane mortal can say, though many still make such claims. Many savants have dedicated themselves to studying the ebb and flow of cause and effect in the wake of the Vaxi Atrocity, for it was to affect the region for many standard years to come.The most notable of the events that followed the terrible event are known in the circles of the Askellian Inquisition as the "Aftermath Wars." As a great many of these conflicts were fought against various xenos strains and factions, they are of particular note to those Inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos operating in the Askellon Sector, many of whom stand guard for more such ramifications, even many Terran years after the event.
Askellon Sector - Domains of the Askellon Sector: Numerous stable Warp routes cross the Askellon Sector, the most important of which is the "Grand Processional." It is easily the most widely-used and reliable route, and in many ways it is the lifeblood that sustains the sector. Lesser routes branch away from its way, diverting into ever-fragmenting paths that line Askellon like some mad tattoo.The settled worlds of the sector are connected via these routes, with the stability of a route often determining its influence. The handful of star systems where the Grand Processional visits are known as the "Grand Worlds," though not all are the most powerful of Askellon. The "Tributary Worlds" are greater in number, and though only linked via lesser routes, they are perhaps the sector's mainstay star systems and ruled through a complex web of aristocracy bound together with chains of fealty, marriage, and other, less obvious, ties. Only tenuous and hazardous routes reach the sector's so-called "Low Worlds," though they are still very much part of the sector's rule. The "Lost Worlds" of Askellon, however, exist only in rumour and legend; lacking charted routes (or at least routes not kept as jealously guarded secrets), they are hidden and abandoned -- sometimes by design.There are seven Grand Worlds of Askellon along the Grand Processional: the sector capital Juno; Desoleum, perhaps the oldest of Askellon's many Hive Worlds; the dark, Feral World of Enkidu; Kalto, the bountiful Agri-world; the foetid swamp-world of Orinoca; Pellenne, the enormous Mining World; and Vouxis Prime, home of continent-spanning cities.The Grand Processional is not itself an eternal pathway, and decaying parchments from millennia ago show other worlds along its trail than those currently listed. Legend has it that Juno and Desoleum have, as best can be told, always been Grand Worlds, and such is their power that none gainsay this. Should the Grand Processional change its path, there could be new Grand Worlds, something many Tributary Worlds eagerly pray for.
Askellon Sector - Askellian Sub-Sectors: Like most sectors in the Imperium, Askellon is divided into a number of administrative regions called sub-sectors. Each of these smaller regions has its own ruler often called a sub-praefect Askelline, an adept of the Priesthood of Terra charged with coordinating interactions between the worlds under their purview and the central sector government.The sub-praefect has no direct power over the planetary governors of those worlds, except in areas pertaining to the payment of tithes and the culling of psyker populations. The sub-sectors of Askellon are the Stygies Cluster, Cyclopia, the Asphodel Deeps, Thule, and Rubicon, all regions mapped out according to the flow of shipping along the major Warp routes of the sector. Currently, Thule Sub-sector is without a sub-praefect, the prior incumbent having been assassinated by a previously unknown psyker cult calling itself the Brothers of Celestial Enlightenment.
Askellon Sector - The Black Ships: The Black Ships of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica ply the space lanes of the Imperium in an endless circuit, laying over at its worlds to collect those psykers swept up in the regular culls every planetary governor is required by most solemn obligation to enact. None can say how many Black Ships exist, and none can predict when one will next arrive in any given volume of space. At times when a world's psyker population grows so unmanageable the authorities are threatened with being overwhelmed, a governor may order a pogrom. This is a risky gamble indeed, for should the Black Ships arrive and find no psykers rendered up, the governor might forfeit his life as punishment.This has not stopped many of Askellon's worlds from lethally culling suspected psykers, for in recent times their numbers have grown to dangerous numbers and overflowed the cells customarily used in Askellon for imprisonment. Some worlds have not been visited for several generations, cut off as Warp routes in Askellon dry up or change paths; unchecked psyker populations can only cause the Immaterium to grow ever more turbulent and give the Ruinous Powers easier access to reality.
Askellon Sector - Xenos Threat: Orks are an ubiquitous threat to the domains of the Emperor, as the barbarous Greenskins are encountered everywhere Mankind has voyaged. The Askellon Sector is far from immune to their predations, and has been assailed by their periodic invasions countless times in its history. In each case, the Imperium has reacted by raising additional regiments to confront the threat and, while countless millions have martyred themselves in the process, each invasion has eventually been halted.Nonetheless, once Orks have set foot upon the surface of a world, they are all but impossible to repulse entirely, even when they appear to have been wiped out. Intermittent Feral Ork infestations plague several of Askellon's frontier star systems, the bestial aliens appearing as if from nowhere to lay waste to Mankind's holdings. To date, these infestations have been kept largely in check by the increasingly ragged forces of Port Lokhart and, in recent years, the Surena Dynasty's daring but costly interventions. It remains to be seen how the sector's forces might react to a renewed period of full-scale invasion, beleaguered as they are by so many other pressures.The Craftworld Aeldari represent a less obvious danger. This ancient xenos race cares little for Humanity, a species it often considers barely intelligent at best. Some say the galaxy bent to the Aeldari's whims before Humanity's ancestors even descended from the trees of ancient Terra, and that star systems lived and died at their command. The Aeldari of the 41st Millennium, however, are a doomed race, reduced to a relative handful scattered thinly across the stars.Their piratical raiders harass and pillage across the sector, and no vessel seems safe from their attentions. There does not seem to be any rationale for their attacks, as a small freighter might be destroyed while a promethium-laden bulk hauler is ignored. This unpredictability adds to the fear their Corsairs wield throughout Askellian space. There are rumours that the Aeldari have also conducted slave raids and planetary attacks, but no clear evidence has been recovered from the devastated remains found on many remote planets. Worse yet are rumours that these inscrutable aliens are also conducting targeted assassinations and thefts, and that any who unknowingly have gained their notice are doomed.The remains of other intelligent alien races litter the sector like scorched bones on a battlefield. Some were thought destroyed during the early days of Askellon's founding, but many appear to have ended long before Mankind left Terra. Each of these dead species is unique, as near as the Tech-priests of the Xenos Biologis can determine, common only in their silence. They are long-dead, forgotten, and, thankfully for Askellon's future, could never return.