House Devine - Pre-Heresy: The Knight World of Molech was located very close to Terra, only several light years from the Imperial Throneworld. Molech was reclaimed for the Imperium in a bloodless Imperial Compliance action by the Space Marine Legions in 869.M30. Led by the Emperor Himself, this world was visited by no less than three of the primarchs, Lion El'Jonson of the Dark Angels Legion, Horus of the Luna Wolves Legion and Jaghatai Khan of the White Scars Legion, all of whom left their mark.Once Molech was successfully brought into the fledgling Imperium, a significant Imperial garrison was left in place. The planet thrived under the rule of House Devine, the populace of its capital never knowing the true reason why the Emperor had taken it upon Himself to lead the force that claimed it -- His desire to protect an ancient Warp Gate which led into the Immaterium. House Devine ruled over the Knight World from their mighty stronghold, the Dawn Citadel, and maintained close links to the ancient Mechanicum.The Imperial Knight houses of Molech were supported by a priesthood of Sacristans who helped maintain their Knight walkers and were responsible for overseeing the mechanical interface of the Throne Mechanicum between the Noble pilots and their mounts. They also maintained their own military forces, in the form of the Sacristan Guard and lent their support to House Devine's Dawn Guard, their personal forces of huscarl cavalry, mechanised infantry, artillery, super-heavy tanks and cohorts of Battle-Automata.Even before the Warmaster Horus' corruption on Davin, and long before the horrors of Isstvan III, House Devine was descending into decadence and madness. For centuries, it had held the position of High House of Molech, its Seneschals ruling the world from the spires of the Dawn Citadel, but at the same time harbouring dark secrets. Over a standard century of rule by the Imperium had largely stamped out the superstitious practices of Molech's people, principal among them the worship of the serpent god, a primitive naga deity of excess and vengeance.Of course, the implementing of the Imperial Truth only drove the serpent god's cults underground, and into the protective embrace of their ancient sponsors, House Devine. Once House Devine had been the Seneschals of the High King of Molech, legendary First Scions of the Knight World, and they were unmatched in honour and bravery. However, when the High King's bloodline was broken and the Knight house fragmented, Devine's journey into darkness truly began.Some whisper, well out of earshot of any members of the High House, that Devine's ancestors had a hand in the ending of the High King's line, perverted even then by the serpent god. It was certainly no accident that House Devine claimed the Western Marches and what would one day become the city of Lupercalia as their own, donning the mantle of the High House long before the Imperium ratified it by recognising them as the rulers of Molech.Despite the poison that festered at the heart of this Knight house, it long maintained the outward appearance of nobility and honour. In fact, the last true Seneschal of Devine, Cyprian Devine, had little clue as to the machinations perpetrated by his wife and second son in the name of the serpent god. Perhaps if he had been more aware, the fate of his house might have been different, though like so many of his Noble peers he was blinded by tradition and his own bombastic sense of righteousness.