Pride of the Emperor - Heliopolis: The Heliopolis was the personal council chamber of the Primarch Fulgrim aboard his flagship. The beauty and majesty of it had the power to render those who laid eyes upon it speechless with its towering walls of pale stone and rank upon rank of marble statues on golden plinths that supported the vast domed room. Intricate mosaics, too high to make out the details, filled the coffers of the dome and long, silk banners of purple and gold hung between fluted pilasters of green marble.Lustrous beams of starlight shone down from the centre of the dome, reflecting dazzlingly from the black terrazzo floor of the Heliopolis. Marble and quartz chips laid into the mortar and ground to a polished sheen turned the floor into a glittering, dark mirror that shone like the heavens beyond. Dust motes danced in the brightness, and the smoky aroma of scented oils filled the air.Rows of marble benches ran around the circumference of the chamber, rising in stepped tiers towards the walls in serried ranks, enough to seat 2,000 people, though barely a quarter of that number were present at most of the IIIrd Legion's councils of war. A chair of polished black marble sat in the centre of the pillar of starlight and it was from there that Fulgrim heard the petitions of his warriors and granted audiences.If the primarch had not yet graced an assemblage with his arrival, the empty chair was a potent presence in the chamber. Officers drawn from all the military arms of the 28th Expedition would be seated in the marble benches. Senior officers would take their place on the bench nearest the floor. Casting one's eyes around the chamber, an individual would see silver and scarlet liveried officers of the Imperial Army filling the lower tiers of the Heliopolis, their closeness to the floor indicative of their higher ranks.The Heliopolis was also used as a gathering place for the Brotherhood of the Phoenix, a clandestine warrior lodge that existed within the IIIrd Legion that consisted of select officers of the Emperor's Children and was conducted under the guidance of their primarch. The Brotherhood of the Phoenix met by firelight in the Heliopolis, taking their seats around a wide, circular table placed at the centre of the dark floor.Reflected light from the ceiling would bathe the table in light and crackling orange flames burned in a brazier set into the surface of the table’s centre. The high-backed chairs of black wood were equally spaced around the table, half of them occupied by cloaked warriors of the Emperor's Children. Though the circular table was, in theory, supposed to do away with rank and position, there was no doubting who the master of one of the Brotherhood's gatherings was.Other Legions might have a more informal setting for their warrior lodges, but the Emperor's Children thrived on tradition and ritual, for in repetition came perfection. The assembled warriors would stand and bow their heads as the primarch of the Emperor's Children took his place at the table. As always, Lord Commanders Eidolon and Vespasian would flank the primarch, their armour similarly wreathed in cloaks of feathers. Each carried a staff topped with a small brazier of black iron that burned with a red flame.During the events of the Horus Heresy the Heliopolis was defaced much like the legion that used it. The walls of the once magnificent place were splashed with paint and blood, the banners that once hung proudly around the room were torn and burnt, and the once lavish depictions of the first heroes of unity and the legion had changed. Now they represented old Laer gods, clandestine things whose heads were bowed or turned to the side as though keeping a delicious secret. The seats of the Heliopolis above the primarch's throne were demolished, for no one would sit higher than Fulgrim.