vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Serita - Serita: Serita is a canoness of the Adepta Sororitas' Order of Our Martyred Lady who aided in the defence of the Cardinal World of Benediction during the Talledus War.
Serita - History: The assault upon Talledus came entirely without warning, and the system's significant Astra Militarum presence was left reeling before the Chaos onslaught. On the surface of Benediction, a makeshift coalition of shattered Astra Militarum regiments fell back to the Grand Honorificum cathedral city, there uniting under the command of Canoness Serita of the Order of Our Martyred Lady.The Imperial Navy Battlefleets Ios and Cemeres -- orbiting the bastion world of Ghreddask prior to the assault -- suffered terrible losses as they attempted short-range Warp jumps to the embattled system capital planet. Warp interference claimed the lives of dozens of Navigators, their skulls bursting in a shower of bone and gore, unable to contain the magnitude of the Night Lords' corrupted signal. Others felt themselves inexorably drawn towards the psychic scream of desperation.On all fronts the Chaos forces surged forward, their momentum terrifying to behold. Upon the surface of Benedictionitself, the Word Bearers -- under the direction of Kor Phaeron -- committed terrible atrocities and mass executions, weakening the fragile membrane between reality and the Warp.Within the Sanctum Solaris, at the heart of the Grand Honorificum, more than ten thousand priests, acolytes and non-militant Sororitas gathered in communal prayer, not moving, eating or taking water for solar days, even as the guns of the Word Bearers thundered relentlessly. They prayed to the God-Emperor for salvation and the light of their faith was a furious beacon, visible from far across the cold blackness of space.Just as the hour seemed darkest, the Honorificum's long-range prognosticator arrays picked up a surge of activity on the coreward edge of the Talledus System. At first it was feared that this new presence was merely another fleet of Chaos warships, but a macroencoded Vox transmission from the Strike Cruiser Fulminating Hammer brought the first signs of hope to the beleaguered defenders of Benediction; Captain Mir'san of the Salamanders Chapter had heard the pleas of the faithful, and led a spearhead of Adeptus Astartes warriors to the defence of Talledus.At his ritual site on the banks of the River Carmine, within an eight-pointed star of Chaos made up of the bloodied corpses of saints and warriors, Kor Phaeron saw the arrival of the Imperial warfleet. Such a response had been expected, of course, and the appropriate preparations had been made.As far as Phaeron was concerned, it was all the better that the Corpse Emperor's lapdogs were here to witness the brutal fall of Benediction.
Serita - Miracle of the Saint's Wall: With the collapse of the last bastion between the Word Bearers and the heart of Benediction, the battle for the capital world of the Talledus System seemed decided. Yet Canoness Serita and her warriors refused to give in to despair. They fought with selfless dedication and fury, striking out with gun butts, blades and Chainswords when ammunition ran dry. Those who looked upon this valorous stand were filled with a holy fire.Civilians and cosseted ministers alike took up weapons against the forces of Chaos. At first, the Word Bearers and their daemonic allies laughed at such pitiful defiance. Yet, as the blood of the faithful spilled, spears of golden light broke through the stained armaglass windows of the Honorificum. As the prayers of the God-Emperor's servants echoed over screams and gunfire it seemed, to astonished onlookers, that the dead souls of Benediction arose to protect the living.Golden, skull-faced spirits swept forth from ancient tombs and reliquaries, rising high into the heavens to encircle the Grand Honorificum. These manifestations formed a shield of impassable light, a radiant halo that filled the faithful who looked upon it with renewed hope. Daemons and Heretics that attempted to force their way through this aegis of faith were burned to ashes.Even the Word Bearers' artillery could not force a breach in the shield. Where the golden light of what was later remembered as the "Saint's Wall" shone, the barrier between reality and the nightmare realm of the Warp was remade.Kor Phaeron could only look on in fury as great swathes of the daemonic army he had summoned disintegrated back into nothingness, howling in impotent rage as their connection to the material realm was severed.Inspired by the bizarre phenomenon they had witnessed, Mir'san's Salamanders launched fresh assaults on the advance formations of the Word Bearers, breaking through to the bridge over the River Carmine and cutting the Heretic force in two.The battle for Benediction had not been decided by any measure, but the momentum of the Word Bearers' assault had been repelled, and the Grand Honorificum remained in Loyalist hands. Still, the Dark Cardinal had no intention of retreating, not with Benediction so nearly in his grasp.
Sermon of Exodus (Short Story) - Sermon of Exodus (Short Story): Sermon of Exodus is a short story published in the The Horus Heresy series. Sermon of Exodus was originally published as a part of the event-only anthology novella Sedition's Gate. It is now also included in the War Without End anthology. The cover image used is that of War Without End as Sermon of Exodus has yet to be released separately. Sermon of Exodus is prequel to the events of Book 30, The Damnation of Pythos.
Sermon of Exodus (Short Story) - Synopsis: In the wake of Horus' miraculous recovery on Davin, the Davinites begin an exodus to the stars, joining with the Traitor Legions to whom they will offer the power of the Dark Gods.
Serpent (Short Story) - Serpent (Short Story): Serpent is the tenth short story published in the Horus Heresy that was not originally part of an anthology novel. It was first published as an event-exclusive Horus Heresy Short Story that was printed upon the programme for the Horus Heresy Weekender held in Nottingham UK, on the 18-19/5/2013 and is written by Black Library author John French. It was later republished as an unabridged audio book. It is now also included in the Legacies of Betrayal anthology novel. Cover art shown is from unabridged audio-book version.
Serpent (Short Story) - Synopsis: Stranger things than xenos and mutants dwell in the dark places between the stars -- things known only too well to the inhabitants of Davin. Cult priest Thoros calls upon the favour of his patron gods to aid him in casting out the pretenders and non-believers, for only the true disciples of Chaos can be allowed to rule the galaxy...
Serpent Lodge - Serpent Lodge: The Serpent Lodge was a tribal warrior society and a Chaos Cult whose headquarters was a place of worship known as the Temple of the Serpent Lodge or "the Delphos" that was located on the world of Davin.The cultists of the Serpent Lodge and their temple was devoted to Chaos Undivided, and was the location where the Warmaster Horus was treated for injuries incurred while quashing a rebellious Chaos force on Davin's moon during the final days of the Great Crusade in the early 31st Millennium.With Horus on the threshold of death after being wounded by the mutated and Nurgle-corrupted rebel Planetary Governor Eugen Temba who was wielding the potent Chaos weapon known as the Kinebrach Anathame, Horus' senior commanders of the Sons of Horus Legion were desperate to save their Primarch's life. They allowed Horus to be treated by the Davinite Priests who were in truth a Chaos Cult.Using sorcery, which had been outlawed by the Emperor at the Council of Nikaea, the cultists managed to turn Horus against the Emperor by playing on the seeds of jealousy, ambition, fear of irrelevancy, desire for power and resentment that the Warmaster felt for his father after the Emperor had left the Great Crusade behind to return to Terra.Magnus the Red, the Primarch of the Thousand Sons Legion, attempted to reveal these manipulations of the Chaos Gods for the lies and falsehoods that they were, but Horus' corruption by the Ruinous Powers could not be stopped as he gave in to his egotism and bitterness.Once the now-tainted Horus recovered his health, he schemed with the Word Bearers First Chaplain Erebus and the Astartes of the Luna Wolves' Warrior Lodge to overthrow the Emperor of Mankind as the ruler of the Imperium of Man and purge his XVI Legion of its remaining Loyalists, bringing about the great galactic civil war known as the Horus Heresy.The savage priests and cultists of the Serpent Lodge would follow the Traitor Legions into the warzones of the Horus Heresy, summoning the terrible powers of the Warp and Chaos at Horus' command.
Serpent Lodge - Horus Falls: In the final days of the Great Crusade, during a battle against Chaos-spawned undead on Davin's moon, whose Planetary Governor, Eugen Temba, had been corrupted by the forces of the Chaos God Nurgle, Horus was poisoned by a xenos blade dedicated to Nurgle known as a Kinebrach Anathame.The blade had been stolen from the Hall of Devices, a museum of the human civilisation of the Interex, by the Word Bearers' First Chaplain Erebus after Horus and the Luna Wolves of the 63rd Expeditionary Fleet had made a disastrous first contact with that advanced human civilisation on the world of Xenobia.In the course of that battle against Temba, the potent Chaos blade wielded by the plague-infused monstrosity that had once been Temba left Horus with a bleeding, toxic wound in his shoulder that his Legion's Apothecaries could not heal despite all the advanced technology available to them.Having manufactured this chance to further the nefarious designs of the Ruinous Powers, Erebus next persuaded the recently renamed Sons of Horus' warrior lodge to allow a group of Davinite shamans -- Chaos Cultists all -- located on the surface of Davin at the Temple of the Serpent Lodge to heal him.The Luna Wolves, besides themselves with grief and the fear that their beloved Primarch would die, agreed to the suggestion, despite its direct violation of the creeds of the Imperial Truth.With the Warmaster on the threshold of death, neither religion nor its denial seemed very significant any more. It was the only hope the Sons of Horus had left and they felt they had nothing left to lose. If they did nothing, the Warmaster would die.At least this way Horus had a chance of life. But there were those amongst the XVI Legion, such as Garviel Loken and Horus Aximand, that wondered what price would be paid to buy that life. The Emperor had long taught that human civilisation would only achieve perfection when the last stone of the last church fell upon the last priest.To turn to the savage gods of a primitive, superstitious primitives went against everything that the Astartes of the XVI Legion had fought for over the course of two standard centuries.
Serpent Lodge - Horus Is Corrupted: It was on Davin, within the blasphemous fane known as the Temple of the Serpent Lodge, that things began to turn, where the momentum that led to the corruption of Horus and his Sons of Horus came to a head, planting the seeds of the monstrous betrayal that was to come.Horus fell and then he rose, healed by the arcane powers of the Davinite witches after he agreed within the Warp to betray his father the Emperor in return for mastery over the galaxy, as delivered to him through service to Chaos and the powers granted by the four major Ruinous Powers.From the day of Horus' resurrection on, he took the once good and open nature of the Sons of Horus' warrior lodge and turned it slowly to meet his own ends, using it as the instrument of corruption to determine which of his Astartes would join him in rebellion -- and which would have to be eliminated before the betrayal could be consummated.Within the warrior lodges of the Sons of Horus and the other Legions targeted by Horus to join his cause, dark shadows grew over the hearts of warriors who had once been devoted and loyal to the Imperium's highest ideals.After Horus' "miraculous" resurrection, the proliferation of these warrior lodges quickly spread amongst the other Legions, especially those that maintained close bonds with the XVI Legion and eventually turned Traitor.Though these warrior lodges had venerated no god or occult principle, the ritual and secret elements of the Astartes warrior lodges did not fit with the ruthless rationality of the Imperial Truth and were soon turned to the purposes of those who sought to spread the worship of the entities of the Warp through the Legions.Frowned upon but tolerated, the lodges persisted and flourished even in the years before Horus' corruption. They had survived in part because many of the officers within the Legions saw them as relatively harmless, and in part because they did promote fellowship within and between Legions. It was a fatal misjudgement that would have dire consequences for all Mankind.
Serrated Query - Serrated Query: The Serrated Query is a clandestine criminal organisation that exists across the galaxy, but particularly in the Calixis Sector and Koronus Expanse, and often runs afoul of the Inquisition. Its sole purpose is to make profit without thought to morality, conscience or the Imperial Creed.The group actively promotes conflicts throughout the Imperium of Man, making proceeds by selling information and resources to all sides involved in any given war. The Serrated Query also engages in smuggling, drug trafficking, slavery, extortion and the forbidden movement of xenos goods and technology that is called the "Cold Trade."In short, if there is Throne Gelt (the currency used in the Calixis Sector and some other regions of the Imperium) to be had, the Serrated Query is interested.
Serrated Query - Origins: Those that search after the Serrated Query's history do not find a lack of information, but rather an overabundance of conflicting stories ranging from the plausible to the completely outlandish. All stories agree that the group is very, very old with a history that stretches back further than most are prepared to believe. The Inquisition regards three different versions of the Serrated Query's history as being the most plausible:The first account holds that the Serrated Query was founded not long after the Horus Heresy, in the turbulent times of the Great Scouring that followed the internment of the Emperor into the Golden Throne. Supposedly, the success of the Great Crusade grossly cut into the profits of a considerable number of criminal cartels throughout the galaxy. Realising that universal peace was not in their best interests, the various organisations formed an alliance in order to perpetuate uncertain times and steady revenue.The second version states that the Serrated Query was already in existence during the Great Crusade, composed in the main of Human rebels that had ties with various xenos species and were opposed to the new order that the Emperor was imposing on the galaxy. Those that believe this version of the Serrated Query's history consider the fact that the group maintains connections with a wide variety of aliens as proof that this theory is correct, especially considering how reluctant the majority of xenos are to deal with Human groups.The last story is the one that most Inquisitors, to their regret, find to be the most plausible of all. This version holds that an Istvaanian Inquisitor, whose name has been lost, created the Serrated Query as a tool to foment rebellion throughout the Segmentum Solar in order to strengthen the Imperium as part of his Radical philosophy. The Serrated Query then took on a life of its own, growing far beyond the Isstvanian Inquisitor's ability to control. Or perhaps, that was the intention all along. Regardless, those that believe the third story regard the Serrated Query as the misbegotten child of the Inquisition itself.
Serrated Query - Purgation of the Serrated Query: Oblationism is a rare and relatively new creed of the Radical Inquisition which holds that its members will use the means of the Archenemy and xenos to destroy any threats to the Imperium and any other Radical Inquisitors they encounter even at the cost of their own damnation. Its adherents did not appear within the bounds of the Calixis Sector until many standard centuries after the final battles of the Angevin Crusade. One of its first acts (once it had gained some measure of stability) was to begin a secret war of annihilation with one of the oldest and most intransigent recidivist organisations within the sector -- the Serrated Query.The Inquisitors Ixon and Cordul had dedicated their careers to the complete destruction of the Serrated Query. Having hunted the criminal syndicate across the stars, the pair came to the Calixis Sector and found a royal nest of their prey. Upon arrival, they joined the fledgling Oblationist sect to seek the extreme means to do what they had never been able to do before -- meet and vanquish the cult on its own terms. With the help of their Radical new allies, the two Inquisitors worked in silence and shadows. They unleashed a flock of their most trusted and deadly servants and charged them with the destruction of every last member or associate of the Serrated Query.This shadow reaping occurred at the turning of the 801st year of the 41st Millennium, and for several solar months, none within the Serrated Query would have realised that a murderous force was bearing down on them like the silent fall of a headsman's axe. The oathed Acolytes of Ixon and Cordul needed knowledge, the kind of knowledge that takes solar months or standard years to gather.Rather than waste time, they went to work obtaining it from those most likely to have it -- the Inquisitors and Acolytes of the Calixian Conclave. Kidnapping, torture, theft, and the psychic flaying of truth from minds, were the primary tools employed in this pursuit. The Oblationist Acolytes were so efficient that they obtained all the necessary information for the real operation whilst the Calixian Conclave struggled to respond.The servants of Inquisitors Ixon and Cordul had all they needed and moved like murderous ghosts through the Serrated Query's membership and allies. Nobles, merchants, and crime bosses vanished. Merchant voidcraft and warships alike were destroyed. The corrupt pawns and secret allies of the Serrated Query went into hiding against the onslaught, only to be assassinated and hunted down in seemingly impossible circumstances.So grave was the damage to every level of the Serrated Query in the Calixis Sector that their complete extinction seemed inevitable. Then, just before the final death blow could be struck, the onslaught stopped. Overnight, the two Inquisitors and all their secret Acolytes had vanished as if consumed by some great predatory beast disturbed from its slumber by their activities.
Serrated Query - Organisation: The Serrated Query typically operates in an extended cell fashion, with each group knowing only minimal amounts of knowledge about the others. A cell generally has between three dozen members that are actually a part of the Serrated Query. Any others found within such a cell are hired muscle, unaware of their employer's true affiliations.Each cell makes profit in various illicit ways, passing information and a regular tithe to their unseen masters in another, older cell. In the way it conducts itself, the Serrated Query resembles a mercantile version of the Inquisition, an irony not lost on its more knowledgeable members and one of the reasons why many informed Inquisitors suspect the involvement of one of their own in its foundation.The cells of the Serrated Query are far-flung, stretching from the Segmentum Solar all the way to the edge of the Astronomican's reach within the Segmentum Obscurus. While the cell organisation prevents the group as a whole from being compromised, it also makes each individual faction vulnerable once exposed. This is acceptable to the higher echelons of the group for it acts as a sort of natural selection for the whole: clever cells subtlety expand and thrive; foolish ones overextend, exposing themselves to Imperial scrutiny and swift destruction.The Serrated Query is not a cult, nor affiliated with the Ruinous Powers, though individual cells may have members who believe it to be such, or who venerate the forces of Chaos. The upper levels of the Serrated Query seem to regard Chaos worship as bad for business as it almost always attracts the wrong sort of attention to their activities.Faith in the Chaos Gods is thus allowed, but somewhat discouraged. Their superiors swiftly scourge individual cells that have become "corrupted" and thrown their lot in with the Ruinous Powers. Their former brethren often destroy such well-hidden corrupted cells in quick, brutal assaults. Others are eliminated by the Imperium as the Serrated Query tips off the Adeptus Arbites or the Inquisition to their existence, allowing their foes to do their dirty work for them.
Serrated Query - Beliefs: The Serrated Query tends to engender a great deal of loyalty within its ranks in much the same way that various Chaos Cults and the Inquisition do: by telling them certain "truths" that the Imperium has hidden from them. Serrated Query members are given access to a wide variety of data-storage units and exposed to a great deal of knowledge about the galaxy around them, though much of it is slanted by the Serrated Query's point of view.The Serrated Query starts by telling its newest recruits that the Emperor is merely a powerful psyker, not a god. After showing the new member various proofs of that revelation, the superstitions that the Imperium works so hard to instill become stripped away one at a time.Serrated Query members are allowed and encouraged to experiment with various technological devices, while specifically being told that they are not to in any way "appease the Machine Spirit" of the device as there is no such thing. They are told of the existence of Chaos and Daemons, but such are described as "powerful extra dimensional xenos" or by various other scientific rather than religious monikers.Eventually, they will be introduced to a xenos ally and shown that not all aliens are immediately bloodthirsty. Successfully indoctrinated members of the Serrated Query are thus cosmopolitan and somewhat condescending in their outlook to those outside their ranks, believing those loyal to the Imperium and the Imperial Creed to be deluded fools. They tend to be cynical Heretics, believing that profit to be made in the here and now are far more useful than any spurious hope of future salvation after death.Members of the Serrated Query are thus knowledgeable and dangerous opponents with access to a great deal of proscribed information, capable of jury-rigging technology without qualms, and willing to employ xenos devices with little hesitation. They count mutants, psykers, xenos and even Chaos Cultists among their ranks, yet none of these groups actually define who they are.They are a dangerously amorphous group with an uncertain agenda. In short, they are a perfect foe for Acolytes of the Inquisition.
Serrated Query - Calixis Sector Operations: The Calixian Conclave of the Inquisition has long been aware of the existence of the Serrated Query within the Calixis Sector, though there is little they can do about it other than root out one cell at a time as they come to light. Many believe that various cells of the Serrated Query in fact serve members of the Inquisition in one capacity or another.Several members of the Tyrantine Cabal, however, have far darker suspicions about the activities of the Serrated Query within Calixis. They believe that the shadowy being and Chaos sorcerer known as Eloeholth the Faceless either created or suborned the Serrated Query within the Calixis Sector as an extended information-gathering tool in order to further its agenda -- an agenda somehow tied to the Tyrant Star. None knows Eloeholth's whole history, though there are a few who suspect parts of it -- then again, like the Query itself, the Faceless seems to have a long history shrouded with lies.The Inquisition deduced the connection, though, because the Serrated Query within the Calixis Sector almost exclusively uses the symbol of the "question mark that cuts" as their own -- a symbol also associated with the Faceless One.
Serrated Query - Koronus Expanse Operations: While they do not have a fixed base in the frontier region of the Koronus Expanse that borders the Calixis Sector, the Serrated Query are widely respected for the breadth of their activities and operatives, as well as the extensive network of spies feeding information to their controlling cells.If there is illegal Throne Gelt to be made, the Serrated Query are probably already aware of it and demanding their slice of the action. They are also known for the extreme loyalty and ruthlessness of their agents, with their organisation acting more like a religious cult than a criminal syndicate.The Serrated Query is involved in the Cold Trade in xenos artefacts that is highly active in the Expanse and is part of the so-called "Quintet" of criminal organisations that controls the trade in that frontier region. They work together, driving out the irritants of lesser traders, and carving up the lucrative business of xenos artefacts and goods.
Servitor - Servo-skulls: Servo-skulls are drone-like robotic devices that are Human skulls outfitted with electronic and cybernetic components that utilise embedded anti-gravity field generators to allow them to hover and drift bodiless through the air. They are fashioned using added robotic components from the skulls of loyal adepts of the Adeptus Terra and other pious Imperial servants so that they may continue their work for the Emperor of Mankind even after death. Presumably, to have one's skull chosen to serve as a Servo-skull is a great honour in the Imperium.Servo-skulls form an important niche in Imperial work, serving as everything from auto-scribes that copy down important conversations and confessions of prisoners, to simple moving torches, hovering about their charge with candles and electric lanterns to illuminate the area.Certain magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus and high-ranking Imperial officials have special logic engines or cogitators (computers) that slave Servo-skulls to a particular owner.Servo-skulls are used throughout all the different governmental organisations of the Imperium, and each is built to perform a certain task. Some are designed for military service, and among these some are built with enhanced optical sensors to allow them to serve as reconnaissance scouts.Servo-skulls are often used by Inquisitors and Inquisitor Lords as non-Human assistants referred to as "familiars." In this case they are mentally linked to the Inquisitor through psychic or cybernetic means, allowing the Inquisitor to control them and see and hear through their augmented senses.
Servitor - Sources: Black Crusade: Broken Chains (RPG), pg. 31Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (8th Edition), pp. 85, 107, 137, 155Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus (8th Edition), pp. 41, 47, 77Codex: Astra Militarum (8th Edition), pp. 61, 100Codex Imperialis (1st Edition), pp. 22, 41, 45Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition)Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition)Dark Heresy: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 340-341Dark Heresy: The Inquisitor's Handbook (RPG), pp. 141, 153Dark Heresy: The Lathe Worlds (RPG), pp. 67-68, 100, 103Dark Heresy: Blood of Martyrs (RPG), pp. 122-124Dark Heresy: The Book of Judgement (RPG), pg. 75Deathwatch: First Founding (RPG), pg. 107Deathwatch: Mark of the Xenos (RPG), pp. 90-91Only War: No Surrender (RPG), pg. 138Only War: Shield of Humanity (RPG), pp. 121-124Realm of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned, "The Cult Mechanicus"Rogue Trader: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 374-375Rogue Trader: Hostile Acquisition (RPG), pg. 87Rynn's World (Novel) by Steve Parker, Part 1, Ch. 6Deliverance Lost (Novel) by Gav ThorpeWarhammer 40,000: Rulebook (8th Edition), pg. 50
Servo-skull - Servo-skull: A Servo-skull is a drone-like robotic device that appears to be a Human skull outfitted with electronic or cybernetic components that utilise embedded anti-gravity field generators to allow them to hover and drift bodiless through the air.They are fashioned from the skulls of loyal adepts of the Adeptus Terra and other pious Imperial servants to which robotic components and an antigravitic impeller have been added. This is so that they may continue their work for the Emperor of Mankind even after death. To have one's skull chosen to serve as a Servo-skull is a great honour in the Imperium, for it implies one's service in life has been satisfactory enough to warrant continuation beyond death.Pious believers of the Imperial Cult like many Ecclesiarchy priests hold that the souls of those whose remains are chosen to be Servo-skulls cling to them after their deaths so that they may continue to serve the Emperor even in the afterlife. Those who hold this view believe that Servo-skulls can sometimes respond to stimuli in certain ways due to the perceptions and motivations of these unseen spirits.Servo-skulls form an important niche in Imperial work, serving as everything from auto-scribes that copy down important conversations and confessions of prisoners to simple moving torches, hovering about their charge with candles and electric lanterns to illuminate the area.Certain magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus and high-ranking Imperial officials have special logic engines and cogitators (computers) that slave Servo-skulls to a particular owner.Servo-skulls are used throughout all the different adepta of the Imperium of Man, and each is built to perform a certain task. Some are designed for military roles, and among these some are built with enhanced optical sensors that allow them to serve as a reconnaissance scout.Servo-skulls are often used by Inquisitors and Inquisitor Lords as non-Human assistants referred to as "Familiars." In this case they are mentally linked to the Inquisitor through psychic or cybernetic means, allowing them to control the Servo-skulls and see and hear through their electronic senses.While the manufacture of Servo-skulls is common across the Imperium, they remain incredibly rare artefacts normally only found in the company of the nobility, Ecclesiarchy priests, Imperial military or naval officers, or even in the service of Rogue Traders and Inquisitors. Yet they do sometimes appear in other, less-elite places, such as the underhives of Necromunda's hive cities, occasionally coming up for sale offered by a Guilder or trader unwilling to speak about their provenance, or, more rarely still, as antiques of certain Clan Houses, artefacts of a famous gang noble from history perhaps, or of a house member who succeeded beyond the confines of normal Necromundan expectations.
Servo-skull - Sources: Codex: Witch Hunters (3rd Edition), pp. 14, 22Dark Heresy: The Inquisitor's Handbook (RPG), pp. 144, 145Dark Heresy: Book of Judgement (RPG), pg. 76Dark Imperium (Second Edition) (Novel) by Guy Haley, Ch. 13Necromunda: Book of the Outcast (Specialty Game), pg. 129Rogue Trader: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 147, 375Rogue Trader: Into the Storm (RPG), pg. 136The Horus Heresy - Book Eight: Malevolence (Forge World Series) by Neil Wylie and Anuj Malhotra, pp. 300, 303Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (PC Game)Forge World - Servo-Skulls
Sevastus Acheran - Sevastus Acheran: Sevastus Acheran is the current captain of the Ultramarines Chapter's 2nd Company and Master of the Watch. Acheran originally served under the command of the 2nd Company's long-time commander, Captain Cato Sicarius.But Sicarius was lost in the Warp with the birth of the Great Rift while returning to Macragge from Terra with Fleet Avenger. Sicarius had accompanied Roboute Guilliman to see the Emperor during the Terran Crusade and was now returning with the gift of the first Primaris Space Marines to the Ultramarines, which reached the Chapter even as Sicarius was lost.With Sicarius missing, Acheran was assigned to serve as his replacement.
Sevastus Acheran - Plague Wars: Captain Acheran survived the action on Nemendghast and the War of Beasts to later take part in the defence of the Realm of Ultramar from the forces of the Plague God Nurgle during the Plague Wars.Acheran led the 2nd Company to many victories over the Chaos forces assaulting Ultramar in the years before Roboute Guilliman returned home to Macragge following the end of the Indomitus Crusade.But when Guilliman returned, he brought with him Cato Sicarius, who had survived his sojourn in the Warp and had been named as the commander of the Primarch's Victrix Guard.It is unclear whether Acheran will continue to serve as the commander of the 2nd Company or whether Sicarius will be restored to his old position.
Sevastus Acheran - Recidious Campaign: During the Fourth Tyrannic War, the Ultramarines 2nd Company was deployed to the Recidious System to defeat a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan that was assaulting the three settled Imperial worlds of that system. On the orders of Chapter Master Marneus Calgar, Acheran reincorporated Demetrian Titus into the company he had once commanded over a standard century before as a Primaris Lieutenant. Titus had been recovered by the Ultramarines on the world of Kadaku where he had been serving with a Deathwatch kill-team.Acheran maintained some concerns about placing Titus in his company, both because of the dishonour he had incurred while serving as a Deathwatch Black Shield and because of his prior solar-decades-long imprisonment by the Inquisition. Yet Titus' performance in the Recidious Campaign soon assuaged these concerns and Acheran later fought under Marneus Calgar against a thrall-band of the Thousand Sons on the Cemetery World of Demerium commanded by the Sorcerer Lord Imurah who sought to claim Project Aurora for his own. In the wake of the Ultramarines' victory over the Thousand Sons and their summoned Lord of Change on that world which brought an end to the Recidious Campaign, Acheran congratulated Titus for his efforts after the battle.
Seventh Serpent, The - Seventh Serpent, The: The Seventh Serpent is a limited-release novella in the Horus Heresy Series of novels, released in hardback format. The novella was first released during the 2014 Horus Heresy Weekender and later on the Black Library's website. The Seventh Serpent is now available as a non-limited hardback, an ebook, and as an audiobook (MP3).
Seventh Serpent, The - Synopsis: The crew of the Sisypheum, consisting of a band of Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders survivors, seek to strike a decisive blow against the Traitor Legions. Their target: a heavily defended Alpha Legion outpost. Aided by some unlikely allies, they take their vengeance against the Sons of Alpharius. But as with anything involving the XX Legion, what awaits them on the station is not what they expect, and as the true architect of the battle reveals himself, the warriors of the Shattered Legions face a deadly opponent unlike any other.
Seventy, The - Seventy, The: "The Seventy" was the colloquial name given to those Loyalist Astartes of the Death Guard Legion who made up a portion of Captain Nathaniel Garro's 7th Great Company and the single Loyalist Astartes of the Sons of Horus Traitor Legion, Iacton Qruze, who escaped aboard the Imperial frigate Eisenstein during the Istvaan III Atrocity.The Seventy brought word of the Warmaster Horus' betrayal of the Emperor of Mankind to Terra. This group of Loyalist Astartes was referred to by this moniker even after their numbers began to dwindle as a result of the casualties incurred during the conflagration that was the Horus Heresy.
Severan Dominate - The Green Tide: None can tell what might have come of Severus' fiefdom had events continued unchecked. Perhaps he would have grown so bold as to risk openly declaring secession, or perhaps his shadowy allies would have turned upon him in his hubris.Instead, it was another xenos species that decided the matter. An Ork invasion under the Warlord Ghenghiz Grimtoof, the self-titled "Git-Slaver," came crashing out of the darkness and fell upon the outermost fringes of Severus' pocket empire, slaying millions in a few short solar months.The Planetary Defence Forces of these worlds were geared largely towards the suppression of their own populations, or else for blustering parades honouring their master in House Severus, and few were able to mount anything like a capable resistance.World after world slipped from Severus' grasp as the Git-Slaver's Orks rampaged all but unchecked through his realm. There was nothing either he or his sinister allies could do to halt them.Severus XIII brooded upon his granite throne as millions perished. His closest advisors counselled him to beseech the Imperium for aid, yet all were silenced by the executioner's blow.At the last, his counsellors all dead or fled, Severus was left alone and his empire all but fallen. In a moment of grim revelation he saw they had all been correct. He dispatched his own kin to the court of the Calixian Lord Sector Marius Hax on Scintilla to beg for aid against the Ork invasion.Though most of the messengers were intercepted by unknown assassins or fell prey to other, equally deadly fates, one got through. Severus' own granddaughter went before Sector Lord Hax and delivered the plea for aid. Hax simply laughed at her.The patrician Calixian Sector Governor had been watching the Periphery from afar for years and knew well the treachery of Severus XIII, though how much he was aware of its origins, he did not reveal. Later hearsay implied that some link between Severus and Hax, some dark tie, perhaps even a blood tie, stayed his hand as Severus built his own private realm.Yet, when the Orks attacked, it was to Hax's own benefit, for it humbled Severus and forced him out of the wilderness in a very public manner. At length, Hax agreed that the Orks must be checked and the Calixis Sector's military reserves were mobilised.Kulth, the capital of the Periphery Sub-sector, was relieved, though in truth the Imperium never committed sufficient force to truly turn the tide against the Orks. The worlds beyond the Periphery descended into a churning cauldron of total war, yet so many Calixian troops were being committed to the secret war in the Jericho Reach that to many in the highest Imperial circles of the sector the endeavour in the Periphery seemed to have little hope of success.Some whispered that those who prosecuted the distant Achilus Crusade had need of a war closer to home to mask the huge drain on resources, and so a deadlock in the Periphery was at best convenient, and at worst deliberately maintained.
Severan Dominate - Only War: While the situation on Kulth was stabilised, the war beyond the Periphery was going badly for Severus XIII. While the Orks plundered the worlds of Deluge, KW-9, Pertinax, and a score of lesser star systems, a myriad of other threats rose up. Despite the pacts Severus believed he had secured with the Drukhari, the pernicious children of Commorragh launched ever more audacious raids against those worlds of the Periphery on the verges of the war zone.Drawn by the near total collapse of the Imperium's power in the region, the servants of Chaos, in particular the warband of Chaos Space Marines led by Sektoth the False Whisperer, launched a series of brutal assaults, pursuing their own blasphemous missions.Beset upon all quarters, Severus XIII announced his personal annexation of the chaotic zone of space beyond the Periphery into what he termed the "Severan Dominate" until the crisis had passed. Lord Sector Hax was incensed, declaring Severus a Secessionist and a Traitor, and the war escalated to a previously unseen pitch.The servants of Chaos now walk openly upon the war-torn worlds, doing the unknowable bidding of their masters, while the Drukhari raid where they will, their pact with Severus XIII all but torn up. The Orks have now entered the second phase of their WAAAGH!, the focus shifting from slaughter to enslavement. The Ork Warlord has established his own bastion world at Avitohol and enslaved its Human populace so that countless millions of tons of ramshackle war materiel are being churned out to feed the greenskinned species' incessant hunger for weapons and munitions.The lines are drawn and the pressure on the front is increasing, and it is only the far more pressing needs of the Jericho Reach fronts that keep the Imperium from flooding the Spinward Front with so many regiments of the Astra Militarum that all resistance is crushed.Each standard year that the Severan Dominate is not brought to heel is another year it spends reinforcing its core worlds, and another year the Orks' strength becomes ever more established. And all the while, the forces of Chaos move unchecked through the region, and mad prophets whisper of an imminent manifestation of Komus, the dreaded Tyrant Star that has long afflicted the Calixis Sector.
Severan Dominate - The Dominate: As a political entity, the Severan Dominate exists only in the head of its titular figurehead Duke Severus XIII, and in the hearts of those of his followers who fight to maintain its tenuous borders. As far as the Imperium of Man is concerned, it is nothing more than a collection of rebel worlds dominated by an arrogant Secessionist, its peoples having betrayed their very Humanity.Despite the Imperium's refusal to acknowledge the entity's existence, its troops on the ground have come to refer to the rebels they fight as "Dominates," investing them with an identity and a cause, against which the Imperial Guardsmen can rally.The core worlds of the Severan Dominate lie along the Calixis-Scarus Warp conduit, while a number of subsidiary worlds are located on lesser spurs of this great route. None of the core worlds are untouched by war. At various times, they are being attacked by the forces of the Imperium or those of Grimtoof Git-Slaver, while numerous other foes take advantage of the general anarchy that has gripped the region.The Drukhari launch massive realspace raids wherever they will, their agreements with Severus XIII only barely holding, while the followers of various Chaos Lords operate openly and according to their own unknowable agendas.The nature of Warp travel is such that war can, and frequently does, ignite almost anywhere within the Severan Dominate. Imperial vessels can drop out of Warpspace at any point along the Calixis-Scarus conduit, making defence against such assaults all but impossible to coordinate in any meaningful way.As disruptive as these attacks are, they are difficult to maintain over extended periods, and so they tend to be prosecuted by the elite of the Imperium's forces such as veteran Astra Militarum forces, Storm Trooper detachments or even the superhuman Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes.The bulk of long term operations on the Spinward Front are concentrated on those worlds nearer to the Calixis Sector's borders, where countless thousands of troops are fed into the meat grinder of total war each day.The Severan Dominate faces enemies at all quarters, yet somehow, it continues to withstand them all, if only tenuously. Its populations still rally to the cause of their despotic master and willingly renounce the rule of the Imperium.Severus and his agents have been able to separate the rule of the High Lords of Terra from religious devotion to the Emperor of Mankind in the hearts and minds of the people of the Dominate, supplanting the High Lords with Severus XIII while maintaining worship of the God-Emperor of Mankind.Thus, Severus' agents preach that the High Lords are the true Traitors to the Emperor and to Mankind, while Severus is the rightful leader of the Dominate. The Imperium's brutal suppression of this notion is held up as evidence of Severus' creed, evidence that can scarcely be denied.
Severan Dominate - Initial Assets: For centuries, the Severus family has gradually lost their holdings throughout the Calixis Sector. Duke Severus I earned the rights to a substantial number of worlds, and leveraged those throughout his lifetime, leaving his heirs in a position to have a controlling interest throughout the sector's future.Unfortunately, vitriol and vengeance were also a major part of their inheritance. Because of this, his descendants tended to squander their assets as part of a seemingly endless quest to clear the name of the founder of their lineage.When Duke Severus XIII initially assumed his title, he had little more to his name than a dilapidated palace located on a world ruled by another sovereign. This was hardly a powerful position from which to launch a rebellion.Even before he assumed his title, Duke Severus XIII had begun to catalogue his limited assets and grow his network of contacts. From an early age, the duke held grandiose dreams, which he pursued relentlessly. Though he was always willing to take necessary shortcuts to advance his plans, his goals remained sharply in focus.With his noble title came a limited amount of influence in the Periphery, which he was able to leverage into connections with those who had greater power and assets, but lacked the trappings of Imperial nobility.By creating dozens of alliances with such powers, the duke managed to secure a broad variety of assets, including both military and political favours of considerable value.It was not mere chance that led Duke Severus XIII to leadership of the Periphery Sub-sector. He had chosen to target this location as his first significant holding for a number of reasons. Of course, the fact that the region was long associated with his ancestor's dream played a major part.As it existed on the Imperium's frontier, it offered a degree of autonomy which would be unavailable in the heart of the Calixis Sector. There were also a number of physical assets which might be leveraged to offer a fledgling stellar nation some small chance of resisting the monolithic Imperium.Key among these was the presence of the Warp Conduit between the Calixis and Scarus Sectors. As traffic passed through the region, the duke knew that he could legitimately levy a tariff on some of that traffic -- along with bribes and the seizure of anything that he could reasonably label as contraband.In a worst case scenario, the vital trade route might also offer an opportunity for piracy. If his situation were to become untenable, he might even flee to the Scarus Sector.
Severan Dominate - Severan Diplomacy: When war erupted among the Spinward Front, the Severan Dominate was hardly ready for an extended conflict. Duke Severus XIII had invested many standard years preparing for secession, but WAAAGH! Grimtoof arrived unexpectedly. In short order, a two-front war enveloped the Secessionists.Now, the duke continually scrambles in an effort to support his military, at the same time as he tries to preserve a tenuous alliance with the Drukhari of the Children of Thorns. With every possible resource in short supply, it is unclear how long he can continue the war against overwhelming opposition.The only possible avenue for success seems to be leveraging his enemies to fight one another as he attempts to secure additional assets. The Severan Dominate's consistent philosophy towards diplomacy is exactly the same as the duke used in founding his fledgling stellar nation.Every single measure is focused upon stalling an enemy advance through deception. No promise is too grandiose, nor is any lie too dishonourable. The Secessionists realise that their backs are to the wall. All of their choices are made out of desperation; Severus and his followers believe that morality is of little concern at this stage in the conflict.