vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Victrix Guard - Unit Composition: 1 unit of Ultramarines Honour Guard4 units of Sternguard Veterans or Vanguard Veterans, in any combination2 Victrix Honour Guard (Era Indomitus)
Victrix Guard - Wargear: Artificer ArmourPower Sword (Gladius)Ultima Storm Shield
Victrix Guard - Notable Campaigns: Terran Crusade (999.M41) - The Victrix Guard was first assembled by Roboute Guilliman to accompany him on his successful Terran Crusade to reach the throneworld of the Imperium after his resurrection so that he could speak to his father the Emperor of Mankind.Indomitus Crusade (ca. 999.M41 - ca. 111.M42) - Elements of the Victrix Guard accompanied Roboute Guilliman throughout the century that the Indomitus Crusade lasted.War of Beasts (Unknown Date.M42) - The Ultramarines Chapter Master Marneus Calgar, newly transformed into a Primaris Marine, launched the counter-invasion of the xenos-tainted planet of Vigilus with the veteran warriors Lethro Ados and Nemus Adranus -- two of his most trusted aides from the Victrix Guard -- always at his side.
Victrix Guard - Notable Victrix Guard: Cato Sicarius - Cato Sicarius was recognised by Roboute Guilliman as the commander of the Victrix Guard.Dibus - Dibus was a trusted member of the Victrix Guard who accompanied Roboute Guilliman during the Indomitus Crusade.Lethro Ados - Lethro Ados was one of the two members of the Victrix Guard who served as Marneus Calgar's bodyguards and aides during the War of Beasts.Macullus - Macullus was a trusted member of the Victrix Guard who accompanied Roboute Guilliman during the Indomitus Crusade.Nemus Adranus - Adranus was one of the two members of the Victrix Guard who served as Marneus Calgar's bodyguards and aides during the War of Beasts.Issoros Praernon (KIA) - Praernon was slain aiding Corpus Helix, the Ultramarines Chief Apothecary, in evacuating precious gene-seed from the recruiting world of Cietara before it was overrun by Mortarion's Death Guard.Trismerus Gerorian (KIA) - Gerorian was a member of the Victrix Honour Guard slain aiding Chaplain Ortan Cassius in preventing the fall of Agnuna to the world's Genestealer Cult. Cassius might have lost his life to its Genestealer Patriarch and a horde of Genestealers without Gerorian's intervention.Morvio Tarilis (KIA) - Tarilis was slain aiding Master of the Forge Fennias Maxim in reaching the broken Void Shield generators aboard the Battle Barge Severian in time to restore them before the ceaseless attacks of WAAAGH! Grorgnork destroyed the ancient warship.
Viduity (Anthology Short Story) - Viduity (Anthology Short Story): Viduity is a short story published in the Gaunt's Ghosts series that was originally part of an anthology. Viduity was published as part of the Sabbat Worlds anthology in November 2014, and has yet to be released as a stand-alone e-book.
Viduity (Anthology Short Story) - Synopsis: Elodie, Tona Criid and Ana Curth, take charge as they investigate a string of suspicious injuries turning up amongst the single women in the civilian population dedicated to handling the Astra Militarum's supply trains.
Vigilance Quadrex - Vigilance Quadrex: Vigilance QuadrexImperialSegmentum PacificusGenestealer CultCult HydraicFor hundreds of Terran years this organisation has sent broods of Purestrain Genestealers from the orbital dockyards of Vigilance Quadrex. Though many have been subsequently destroyed, many more have started the Cult Hydraic anew, their colours flown on a dozen Imperial worlds across the Segmentum Pacificus.
Vigilant Guard - Vigilant Guard: The Vigilant Guard was a Militarum Regimentum of the Astra Militarum whose regiments were raised from the Imperial Sentinel World of Vigilus.The Imperial Guardsmen of the Astra Militarum are recruited from hundreds of thousands of Imperial worlds across the galaxy, and each regiment has its own customs and traditions as a result. The Guardsmen recruited from Vigilus were known for one thing above all -- their unwavering faith in the Emperor.
Vigilant Guard - Regimental History: The troops of the Vigilant Guard were already aligned with the Imperial Creed upon inception, for most of their number hailed from the Hive World's Hyperia hivesprawl, where the Imperial state religion was a way of life. The appointment of a standing body of Adeptus Ministorum Priests to their ranks saw their ever-burning belief in the God-Emperor fanned to a blazing inferno.Sent to fight alongside the Vigilus-based Orders of the Adepta Sororitas on hundreds of occasions, they witnessed so many miracles over the years that they had iron-clad faith in the old Imperial maxim, "The Emperor Protects" -- and, if the logisticians of Hyperia were to be believed, they were quite correct.Many are the stories of true and faithful Vigilants having enemy kill-shots turned away by their devotional medallions, lights in the sky guiding them to lost comrades, or ruined buildings suddenly collapsing upon ravening xenos raiders just before they could plunge into the Vigilant lines.This intense belief manifested in several ways. Firstly, the Vigilant Guard were far more superstitious and reverent than their more pragmatic peers in other regiments. In the early 41st Millennium, when several battalions from the Cadian Gate were shipped to Vigilus and given the ongoing task of training the defenders to the high standard of the Cadian Pattern regiments, this dissonance was a cause of conflict between the more military-minded Cadians and the faithful of the Vigilant Guard.The endless rites, services and obeisances that the high command of the Vigilants demanded of their men rankled many of the Cadian officers. Proctor Commander Hallatar of the 23rd Vigilant Guard was so unbending in his insistence that every tradition and rite be adhered to that some Cadian footsoldiers started to call him the Little Pontifex. For them, this behaviour was a drain on their resources, a drag factor on their teachings -- an unnecessary indulgence that would ultimately do more harm than good.All that changed with the opening of the Great Rift and the start of the War of Beasts on Vigilus. The Vigilant Guard were not troubled by the nightmares that afflicted the rest of the populace; they awoke fresh and rested after each sleep. Where the Vigilants fought they fought hard, fixing bayonets and charging gene-cursed Aberrants and even Purestrain Genestealers when needed.The Cadians grew to respect their allies, and even attended their religious services. Though they were strange company and believed every war hymn to be literal truth, something about the Vigilant Guard inspired hope in the time of war.
Vigilant Guard - Notable Vigilant Guard: Proctor Commander Venedar - During the War of Beasts, Venedar became the Proctor Commander, the overall leader of all the Vigilant Guard regiments stationed on Vigilus.
Vigilator - Vigilator: A Vigilator, usually a member of a Vigilator Cadre, is a Sister of Silence who serves in the most-senior tactical role granted only to the most experienced of Null Maidens. These sisters were members of the Execution Blade-equipped close combat elite of the Silent Sisterhood -- it was their task and the task of cadres like theirs to close rapidly in combat with enemy psykers and dispose of them with the bloody certainty of a power sword strike, preferably one inflicting a decapitating blow.While they relied not only upon their power as psychic Nulls, but also their skill and speed as well as the protection of their advanced Vratine Armour to defend them from harm in such close assaults, to serve as a Vigilator was still to invite peril and death, but this was an honour that the Silent Sisterhood's ranks aspired to above all.
Vigilator - Role: As the most senior of the mainstay of the Silent Sisterhood's tactical formations, the Vigilator cadres are often deployed in battle in order to identify and excise the key components of an enemy force at closequarters. Whether their quarry is a single Rogue Psyker among a civilian hab-block or an Imperial resistance movement thousands strong, they serve to root out the command centres responsible and remove them, allowing the other units deployed in tangent to destroy the scattered resistance.In larger detachments, the Vigilator cadres also provide a greater level of versatility to the frontline assault, and the effect of their sweeping blades on the ranks of a cult rabble or rebel militia is as much a psychologicalweapon as a direct tool of war. As their name implies, the Vigilators' charge outside of direct militant action is often to oversee the collection of the Great Tithe and the escorting, under threat of death, of individuals to the Black Ships.
Vigilator - Unit Composition: 4-14 Vigilators1 Vigilator Mistress
Vigilator - Wargear: Vratine ArmourExecution BladeBolt PistolHand Flamer (As replacement for Bolt Pistol)Needle Pistol (As replacement for Bolt Pistol)Frag GrenadesKrak GrenadesPlasma Pistol (As replacement for Vigilator Mistess' Bolt Pistol)Power Weapon (Any type) (As replacement for Vigilator Mistess' Execution Blade)Power Fist (As replacement for Vigilator Mistess' Execution Blade)Proteus Neuro-Lash (As replacement for Vigilator Mistess' Execution Blade)Kharon Pattern Acquisitor (Dedicated transport)
Vigilator - Notable Vigilators: Sister Kaeria Casryn - Casryn was an Oblivion Knight of the Steel Fox Cadre of Vigilators during the Horus Heresy. In the War Within the Webway, Sister Kaeria was paired with the Custodian Diocletian Coros. During this conflict, the two formed a strong bond and grew to become close comrades. Coros had fought alongside the Silent Sisters for several solar decades and was able to understand Kaeria's meaning by simple facial expressions without having to sign to him in Thoughtmark. As a result, Sister Casryn eventually accompanied the Custodian outside the Imperial Webway as they attempted to recruit reinforcements for this clandestine war. Later on, Sister Casryn would help implement the Unspoken Sanction as decreed by the Emperor, as she oversaw the sacrifice of a thousand captured psykers in order to power the Golden Throne long enough for the Emperor to leave it for a single solar day, to help bring the War Within the Webway to a successful conclusion, closing off the Imperial Webway from the gateway into the Imperial Palace. During the Siege of Terra, Casryn was one of those chosen to come before Malcador the Sigillite before he ascended the Golden Throne and carry out the final tasks he gave to them before his death. At his command she gathered captive psykers to sacrifice to the Golden Throne to aid Malcador in his struggle to power the ancient device while the Emperor confronted Horus upon the Vengeful Spirit.
Vigilus - The War of Beasts: Vigilus is a planetary asset deemed vital to the Imperium of Man's continued survival. Situated on the far side of the Nachmund Gauntlet -- the only stable Warp route through the dreaded Cicatrix Maledictum -- the strategic importance of Vigilus to the Imperium cannot be overstated.Control of Vigilus allows the Imperium to just barely keep its beleaguered worlds in the Imperium Nihilus on the far side of the rift reinforced and re-supplied; to lose it would cripple the war effort against the rampaging forces of Chaos. Vigilus also provides a vital staging ground for the billions of refugees that come through the Nachmund Gauntlet to escape the threat of Chaos (or worse) in the Dark Imperium.Roboute Guilliman himself designated Vigilus invaluable. The planet was something between a sentinel bastion and a staging post for further conquest, and its many Astra Militarum regiments and Adeptus Mechanicus macroclades formed a second line of defence against Chaos incursions from outside the Cadian Gate.Vigilus comprises a number of continent-sized hive city sprawls that in recent years have become filled to overflowing with refugees seeking to escape the horrors besetting the worlds of the Imperium Nihilus beyond its aegis. Each such sprawl is protected by psychically charged Bastion-class force fields that render comatose any who would seek to breach their boundaries, enabling the defenders to slaughter them at leisure.
Vigilus - The SPEEDWAAAGH!: These force fields proved so effective that even when a vast WAAAGH! controlled by the Ork Warlord named Speedlord Krooldakka literally smashed into Vigilus soon after the opening of the Great Rift, the Greenskins were unable to assail the hivesprawls beyond, and took to seeking entertainment elsewhere by engaging in violent races across the sweeping open plains that separate the vast hivesprawls.However, since the Great Rift tore across the galaxy, these Bastion-class force fields began to experience glitches, and eventually collapsed entirely to leave the hivesprawls open to attack. To make matters worse, the tide of Orks that poured past the inactive force field networks also had other, unforeseen consequences...
Vigilus - The Claw of the Thirsting Wyrm: For many Terran years, a gene-sect of the Pauper Princes Genestealer Cult calling itself the Claw of the Thirsting Wyrm had been thriving in the shadows of Vigilus. Having taken root in the subterranean depths below the militarised reservoir known as Greigan Hollow, many of their number had never seen the sky before their bloody uprising brought them to the planet's surface.Unbeknownst to the Vigilite defenders, the threat posed by the Ork WAAAGH! that attacked the world's hivesprawls had directly forced the cult's hand, for their long-planned time to rise was still a few solar months off.Despite the initial successes achieved by roving Kill-teams of Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii sent to counter these new attacks, every attempt to track the Genestealer Cultist threat to its source met with failure. Assailed by xenos from without and within, the Aquiliarian Council that governed Vigilus sent out a desperate call for aid -- unless the Genestealer Cults could be eliminated, Vigilus was as good as doomed.
Vigilus - Strike Force Icepelt: But the plight of Vigilus would not go unanswered, with the Ultramarines, Space Wolves, Iron Hands and more Space Marine Chapters besides committing their forces to the planet as the conflict raging across its surface escalated. The Space Wolves would prove invaluable in driving several elements of the Genestealer Cults underground once more.A strike force from Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company of Space Wolves, led by the Primaris Space Marine Battle Leader Haldor Icepelt, had been thrown wildly off course as it travelled to reinforce the beleaguered Imperial armies battling the Chaos forces rampaging across the Stygius Sector.Upon receiving the distress signal from Vigilus, Icepelt immediately ordered his ship, Wind of Fimnir, to change course. The Battle Leader was acutely aware that, should Vigilus fall, any retreat from the Stygius Sector could become impossible. Upon arrival, the Space Wolves vessel forced a passage through the flotilla of Ork spacecraft orbiting Vigilus and Strike Force Icepelt made planetfall.By relying on their incredibly acute senses -- a trait of the Canis Helix unique to the gene-seed of the Space Wolves Chapter -- and the instinctive hunting skills inherited by those born of the world of Fenris, the Space Wolves were able to achieve results that even the most advanced technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus had failed to deliver.Within only a matter of solar days, the Space Wolves were on the trail of another Genestealer Cult, the Cult of the Pauper Princes, that had eluded the defenders of Vigilus for so many solar months. But it was only when Icepelt led his warriors into the ruined cityscape of Greigan Hollow that the full extent of the Genestealer Cults menace was revealed and the true battle for the survival of Vigilus began.
Vigilus - Aeldari Assault: With the Genestealer Cults of the Pauper Princes driven back underground thanks to Haldor Icepelt's efforts, Vigilus seemed safe. However, tragic misunderstanding and ancient rivalries once again brought open war to this crucial world.The Craftworld Aeldari have always been a race of prophets and seers, gifted with preternatural foresight. As the Great Rift yawns across the galaxy, each Craftworld has scrambled to re-align the skeins of fate, conducting lightning raids and pursuing hidden agendas to secure a future for their kind.Foreseeing disaster on Vigilus, the Wild Riders of Saim-Hann dispatched a strike force to assassinate Vannadan the Firebrand, a rising demagogue who had already convinced thousands of citizens of that beleaguered planet to throw their lot in with Chaos. Their mission was a success -- but not one without cost.Upon completion of their mission, the forces of Saim-Hann were rewarded for their service to the Imperium in blood and steel, torn apart by a response force of Imperial soldiers. Interpreting the actions of the Craftworlders as an attack, no mercy was shown, and the forces of Saim-Hann were butchered, retreating with the Spirit Stones of their fallen and an lust for vengeance.Spiritseer Qelnaris of Saim-Hann then sought to vent his righteous fury upon the Imperial forces of Vigilus. His assault was met by a force of Primaris Space Marines drawn from the Ultramarines Chapter.Vigilus also became a target for the various Aeldari factions. Vigilus had become a hub for many refugees seeking to traverse the Nachmund Gauntlet. The Drukhari's ruling Kabal of the Black Heart, who had annihilated whole flotillas of these civilian spacecraft, began spiriting their captured human cargo back to Commorragh.
Vigilus - The Worldclaimer: Finally, on the orders of Abaddon the Despoiler, a force of Heretic Astartes drawn from the Black Legion under the command of the Raptor Chaos Lord Haarken Worldclaimer has arrived on Vigilus to claim the beleaguered Sentinel World for Chaos.
Vigilus - Climate: Water was scarce on Vigilus, for the planet had a very low water table, and, aside from the wide-scale recycling operations, there were few ways to replenish used stores. In addition, plant growth and arable farming were a rarity. The planet's food production came from various inventive sources, amongst them cactus farms, vermin abattoirs andsubterranean nutri-vats.These latter methods recycled the fat-rich run-off and nutrient-rich sweat that dripped from the grates of the planet's grossly overpopulated manufactorum habs.As a result, on Vigilus, the kind of water a person drank was a powerful status symbol, indicative of their wealth and position in its society. The majority of people in the underclasses and working populations drank water from deep underground, known as aqua subterra. This was dirty, foul-tasting and yellowish, but affordable.The rich and powerful drank aqua glacius, mined in vast cuboid icebergs on the polar continent of Kaelac's Bane. The faithful flock of the Adeptus Ministorum in Hyperia Hivesprawl drank recycled water purified with holy oils -- aqua sanctus -- whereas the Adeptus Mechanicus drank aqua meteoris, which was mined from frozen asteroids they harnessed with the Greater Omnissian Hoist.
Vigilus - Hyperia Hivesprawl: At the onset of the xenos invasion of the War of Beasts, Hyperia was the capital hivesprawl of the planet Vigilus, home of the Planetary Governor's palace and the Adeptus Ministorum stronghold that surrounded it.
Vigilus - Saint's Haven: Together, the strongholds of the Agamemnus Dynasty and the Ministorum formed the capital city-state of Saint's Haven, high-walled, gunstudded and surrounded by a vast, moat-like chasm known as the Ring of Nothingness. It is said that this abyss was bottomless, though some who looked down from the bridges that crossed it at its eight cardinal points reported seeing lights in the deep darkness below.Over time, the Ministorum presence in Hyperia went from being a loose confederation of advisors and chaplains to a vast military force with a controlling interest in the region. The Ministorum were considered by most to be the power behind the throne, and none could deny them -- they were doing the Emperor's will, and His was the ultimate authority.
Vigilus - Trinity Hives: At the start of the war, the Adeptus Ministorum held de facto political control over a trinity of massive hive cities, known as Sanctifi-Ultima, Hivespire Magentine and Martyr's Pyre. From these strongholds, the agents of the Ministorum and the Adepta Sororitas sallied out to punish any whose faith they feared might waver, and to spread inspiration and courage amongst those that remained true.A legion of Crusaders and Adepta Sororitas, acting under Canoness Superior Temperance Blaise and based at the Abbey Septimus of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, kept the citizenry under strict control, rooting out Traitors and Heretics, and stopping undesirable elements from disturbing their betters in Saint's Haven.The Ecclesiarchy's head representative was the Pontifex Slyne Galluck, a man so obese he had to be conveyed about by an anti-grav hover-bier. He maintained that it was the unceasing prayers of the Ministorum that had kept Vigilus safe for so long, and that as long as the Trinity Hives remained standing, the planet would endure.The Ministorum controlled the water drunk by the people of Hyperia Hivesprawl, called aqua sanctus, which was chemically treated as well as being blessed with holy writ and sanctified with holy oil. Their monopoly of this precious resource saw them gain even more power. Furthermore, any members of the Agamemnus Dynasty who stood against the Ministorum soon found their fortunes take a sharp downturn.
Vigilus - Industrial Enclaves: To the west of this city-within-a-city were the Industrial Enclaves, an endless maze of manufactorums from which a large portion of the planet's war materiel came.
Vigilus - Negation District: The Negation District, also in the west, was once a well-maintained gothic quarter, used as neutral ground for the continent's factions to debate the planet's destiny.By the time the Great Rift split the sky, however, this region had become a slum district populated only by itinerants and refugees of the faith.
Vigilus - Twin Chasms: To the north were the Twin Chasms, mined exhaustively for amethyst since they yawned wide after the Greater Hyperian Quake of 882.292 previo VCM.M41.
Vigilus - Magnetine Veils: Nearby was Sanctifi-Ultima -- a giant spiral-tipped hive city with huge concentric rings of amaranthec manufactoria around its base. These liquor-sludge distilleries spewed out baleful magenta-hued emissions that were carried across the northern limits of the continent, known as the Magentine Veils. The citizens there were said to lead short and dirty lives.
Vigilus - Macro-yard: The Macro-yard district to the northeast of Saint's Haven reclaimed voidships consigned to disuse, and enjoyed a thriving black market as a result. Governor Agamemnus assigned troops to defend it in the early stages of the war, and it was put under the purview of the ramrodstraight Proctor Venedar of the Astra Militarum Vigilant Guard.Venedar held the line against the Ork incursions from Hurrikane Rekk, despite constant Deathskull raids and headlong assaults led by war leader Stormboss Stampskul.Unfortunately, though the Macroyards remained inviolate, they relied upon the adjoining Eastgate Bastion Nexus to ferry munitions, and this site was overrun by the Orks of Mob Kommander Grokker. Amidst allegations that the disaster had been the result of a diplomatic feud between Venedar and Lord Commissar Asdan, Tempestus Scions of the 23rd Betic Centaurs and 12th Kappic Eagles launched pitiless counter-incursion strikes to retake the nexus.
Vigilus - Hubridon Sub-sprawl and the Triadine Plateau: The southeast of the hivesprawl, including the hive of Martyr's Pyre, the Hubridon Sub-sprawl and the Triadine Plateaus, held fast against Ork incursion throughout the war.By keeping the Van Gollick Macrohighway open and hence allowing Astra Militarum and Adepta Sororitas vehicles to redeploy at speed, the major Ork incursions were stymied and eventually forced to retreat.Meanwhile, the tireless efforts of Temperance Blaise's Adepta Sororitas Kill-teams saw each uprising of xenos insurgents among the Genestealer Cults swiftly exterminated before they could gain a foothold.
Vigilus - Cape of Lost Causes: The southernmost point of the Hyperia Hivesprawl, known as the Cape of Lost Causes, became a stronghold for incursion elements that bled into the city via the Hyperia-Dirkden Fortwall.Though the Brazen Claws Chapter practiced a scorch-and-scramble program of incendiary war across the widest point of the Cape, its tip was still in enemy hands at the time of the Ultramarines' arrival and the skirmish with the Aeldari that came to define the strife in Saint's Haven.
Vigilus - Megaborealis: The continent of Megaborealis was ceded to the Adeptus Mechanicus in an ancient treaty, and from that time to the dawn of the War of Beasts, they strip-mined almost all of its resources. The rapacious industry of the Tech-priests proved to be the perfect cover for the clandestine deeds that were occurring below ground.Even before the war began, Megaborealis was one of Vigilus’ most dangerous continents. This was thanks, in part, to its tectonic instability and the proliferation of volcanic mountain ranges that crisscrossed it. Yet it was the touch of the Machine God that truly cursed Megaborealis.Over a thousand Terran years before the War of Beasts broke out, the Magi of Stygies VIII forged a pact with Vigilus' then Planetary Governor, Donsor Agamemnus, giving them absolute ownership of Megaborealis. In return, it wasagreed that the Tech-priests would contribute the might of the Adeptus Mechanicus and its aligned KnightHouses to the planet's defence. That agreement, known as the "Pact of Fire and Steel," was swiftly ratified. The Adeptus Mechanicus began their excavations at once.
Vigilus - Bore-hives: Though Megaborealis' bore-hives looked huge from above, their sprawl was greater still below. Where their immense excavator engines and macro-drills laboured ceaselessly, tunnels, mine workings, underhabs and manufactorums radiated out like tree roots.The majority of these excavations brought up streams of ores and minerals, gems and crude fuels that were funnelled into the upkeep of the bore-hives themselves, and the war efforts of Vigilus' many armies.The bore-hives began their existence as drill engines, each one several Terran miles in length. They were so enormous that they had to be transported to Vigilus within dedicated space-faring barges. Painstakingly manoeuvred into precise low orbit trajectories, the drill engines were launched into the crust of Megaborealis like enormous harpoons, each churning its way down through the bedrock to anchor itself deep within Vigilus’ planetary crust.The tectonic upheaval of this monumental act was so great that the planet's landscape was changed forever. Volcaniceruptions caused the lands to convulse for years to come. Earthquakes of phenomenal violence opened chasms that could have swallowed cities, while a pall of ash and smoke rose above the continent that blotted out the skies.The destruction was judged worthwhile, for deep beneath the planet's surface lay resources that the Xenarites of Stygies VIII believed to be incredibly valuable.After that day -- known as the "Day of the Omnissiah's Claw" -- the drill engines were built up until they transformed into sprawling bore-hives. Thousands of levels and districts rose above ground, comprising laboratories, foundries, shrines, data-stacks, manufactoria, biologus dissection chapels, generatoria, weapon batteries,cogitator networks and countless other arcane facilities.So high did the bore-hives stretch that their uppermost levels pierced the atmosphere, meshing with space docks where lumbering ore barges and manufactorum ships were moored.
Vigilus - Black Levels: In the underdeeps, below even the sacred bore-points and sump-pits of Dredger's Abyss and Unguent Sprawl, lay the Black Levels. Worked by neuro-wiped Servitors overseen by secretive Magi, these were the mines from which the precious blackstone veins within Vigilus' crust were painstakingly extracted.Gathered in sanctified haulage-reliquaries, the substance was stockpiled deep within each borehive, for the Tech-priests would no more relinquish their grasp upon that extraordinary substance than they would give up their own lives.Underground, billions of labourers lived and died in service to the Machine God. Countless mining clans dwelt in subterranean cities, never knowing the warmth of any light save that of petrochemical lanterns, never seeing any future but one of endless toil amidst the mainways and bore-shafts. It was amongst these clans that an offshoot of the Genestealer Cult of the Pauper Princes spread, bringing corruption disguised as hope.
Vigilus - Hive Ankhar Tertius: Deep beneath Hive Ankhar Tertius, the infestation first took root when a single, slinking Genestealer escaped from a harvested asteroid. Hidden away in the half-collapsed subterranean district of Piston's Hollow was the tainted broodcathedrum where the Genestealer Patriarch, Grandsire Wurm, often made his nest.The Patriarch was a terrifying figure even to the cultists that worshipped him, yet he was the spider at the centre of the infestation's web, and his will bonded millions. Under this alien despot’s influence, much of Ankhar Tertius' miner militia fell to the cult's sway. Over twenty miner clans based around the rebel hold of Tecton followed suit, concealing their corruption from their Tech-priest masters by dint of diligent labour and ever-increasing yields.This gene-sect was far from the only one lurking beneath Vigilus' crust. Only Grandsire Wurm himself knew the true extent to which his progeny had spread, undetected, through the infrastructure of the bore-hives and beyond. For long years they built their stockpiles of munitions and materiel, suborned positions of authority, stole codes, and laid plans for their day of ascension. This diligence lent them a critical advantage when the first stages of the war erupted on Vigilus.
Vigilus - Piston's Hollow: Piston's Hollow was a subterraean district of Hive Ankhar Tertius that had partially collapsed.
Vigilus - Kraxxon: Kraxxon was a region of Megaborealis dominated by petrochemical factories.
Vigilus - Scelerus: Scelerus was a bore-hive built atop a great thermal stack that yielded practically endless geothermal power. Scelerus provided over half of the energy that kept the countless manufactoria of Megaborealis operational.
Vigilus - The Greater Omnissian Hoist: The Greater Omnissian Hoist was a true marvel of the Adeptus Mechanicus' genius. Via this immense pulley, the Tech-priests captured and processed ice-clad asteroids for their elemental bounty.Reaching up from the Stygian Spires -- the tallest hive city in Megaborealis by some margin -- was a vast construction known as the Greater Omnissian Hoist. This edifice was testament to the incredible willpower and vision of the Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and was famed across the sector for putting into practice a hypothesis that had intrigued Tech-priests for millennia.The Hoist and its supporting structures rose so high that the tip was invisible to the naked eye. They linked the Stygian Spires with the wheel-shaped space station of Sacrus Tora Hawking in geosynchronous orbit high above. It did this via a complex system of microfibre carbon chains and duraplas capillaries.Partially telescopic and modular, these were created on an industrial scale by the workshops of Megaborealis' primary hive city and hauled into the stratosphere by a succession of low orbit tugs.Across the span of an entire Terran century, the carbon chains were extended and reinforced until they not only reached Sacrus Tora Hawking, but passed through its specially constructed engine mills and back down to the planet's surface again. These chains were counterweighted with sections of the original space station in order to pull up replacement components from the hive below, the interstitial point of the Median Sacrus Way-station ensuring that each winchnode passed on in safety.That was the first freight transaction made between the hivesprawl and the space station above it, but it opened thedoor for the tens of thousands of other exchanges that happened after. For its part, Megaborealis sent up manpower,food, repair parts and other necessities. In return, Sacrus Tora Hawking shipped down asteroids clad in thick layers of ice, a vital source of water for the planet.The asteroids harvested by Sacrus Tora Hawking were native to a great band of space debris known as the Octiline Belt. Early auguries determined that the rocks drifting in that band were clad in ice water, and almost immediately a plan for the capture and exploitation of this resource was put into place -- the thirsting citizens of Megaborealis cared little where their water came from.The plan to harness the Octiline Belt's seemingly endless bounty was so ambitious, and of such immense scale, that only one with the processing power of an Arch-Magos could dare to attempt it. But, with the help of his most trusted colleagues, Fabricator Vosch oversaw the Hoist program from beginning to end, adapting and installing banks of tractor beam cannons that could lock onto the asteroids within reach and slowly draw them into the space station's armature talons.From that day, the transit of ice from orbit to the processing factories of the Stygian Spires -- where the meltwater was "refined" with the addition of sacred oils and blessed lubricants -- became a miracle so commonplace it was rarely considered worthy of mention.
Vigilus - Mortwald Hivesprawl: Mortwald was the primary source of food growth and harvest on the planet Vigilus, as well as a centre for rejuvenat processing -- but for all the life it gave, its guns promised death to those who approached unauthorised.The fabulous wealth of Mortwald's ruling aristocracy was largely due to its rejuvenat clinics and the system-famedadepts that worked within them. The bio-regressive procedures and neo-nascent surgeries conducted there were so advanced that so-called "immortality pilgrimages" were once common practice.The privileged inhabitants of the Vigilus System worlds under Astravigila's light would make the long journey to Vigilus, and though it cost them Terran years to do so, they would leave looking solar decades or even centuries younger. There were rejuvenat clinics that dared to claim that they could lift the soul as well as the body, and in doing so honour an age-old tradition set down by the Master of Mankind Himself.They maintained that the planet had the Emperor's blessing, and that evidence of His miraculous beneficence could be found in the tranquillity of the bio-domes. This same serenity could be conferred upon a visitor's soul -- for the right fee, of course.The opening of the Great Rift quickly put an end to safe space travel in the region, all but eradicating this once-lucrative industry.
Vigilus - Forests: The majority of Mortwald's land was given over to the cultivation of hyperflora -- massive swathes of cactus and other succulents that formed oxygen-generating forests. These were force-grown on an industrial scale to counteract the huge amounts of gaseous by-product that Vigilus' industry churned into the planet's air.The oxygenating effects of the Eastern Cactus Forests, the Ageless Weald, the Viridian Forests and the Emerald Strain did initially give the planet enough clean air for its ever-expanding population to survive.Unfortunately, the atmosphere-scrubbing effects of Mortwald's forests were soon surpassed by the rampant pollutionproduced by the hivesprawls; not only did the other metropolises grow larger, but the northern third of Mortwald itself was taken over by a sprawling cityscape much in the manner of its neighbours.
Vigilus - Djodrolev Hivestar: Djodrolev Hivesta was the largest hive city in the Mortwald Hivesprawl and its administrative capital in the north of the region.
Vigilus - Electros Hive: Electros Hive was the second largest hive city of the Mortwald Hivesprawl.
Vigilus - Enclaves: The rich and influential inhabitants of Mortwald lived in secluded enclaves far from the northern capital of Djodrolev Hivestar and its smaller but no less overcrowded sibling, Electros Hive.The domain of the rich and the indolent, these enclaves consisted of specially commissioned bio-domes, their interiors verdant oases of sanctity filled with trickling waterfalls, glittering lakes and sculptures of dynastic aristocrats past and present. They were called a paradise, and rightly so. The domes appeared quite different from the outside, dotted with brutal-looking gun-nests and sentry crenellations constantly manned against aerial attack.No expense was spared to keep the biodomes safe, for these complexes were ruled over by Grand Castellan Deinos Agamemnus, brother of Governor Lucienne Agamemnus IX, and he had grown accustomed to a life of unalloyed luxury.The Castellan was a famed Imperial history enthusiast who collected devastating archeotech weapons like they were trinkets, and spoke at length on the subject whenever possible. It is said that his personal collection boasted no fewer than six Deathstrike Missiles.
Vigilus - Deinos Trench Network: Due in part to the suspicion that Deinos Agamemnus held for the Adeptus Mechanicus, Mortwald's perimeter wasprotected not only by bastion-class force fields, but by a network of squat bastions, trenches and aegis lines. The Deinos Trench Network in the continent's northeastern reaches was a superlative example, an overlapping labyrinth of raised revetments, gun emplacements and rockcrete roads lined with sentry towers some hundreds of feettall.Over time, that trench network was expanded to cover the vast majority of the eastern border of Mortwald, joining with the Tzeller Line in the south to protect the region's most valued holdings.
Vigilus - Tzeller Line: The Tzeller Line was a southern defensive line that joined with the Deinos Trench Network.
Vigilus - New Vitae Docks: It was through the New Vitae Docks that the continent's wealthy visitors came and went.
Vigilus - Paradisiac Domesprawl: The Paradisiac Domesprawl was the enclave where the most high-end rejuvenat treatments took place for the wealthy of Morwald.
Vigilus - Rejuvenus Strongport: Rejuvenus Strongport was where the lesser nobility enjoyed having a few years stripped from them by more affordable treatments.
Vigilus - Biosanctic Fleshplants: Those whose bodies were beyond recovery, should they receive permission from Grand Castellan Deinos Agamemnus himself, were allowed to visit the Biosanctic Fleshplants. It was said that extreme methods of rejuvenation, such as the suturing of old heads to fresh young bodies, were not beyond the abilities of the complex's biomagi and elite anatomagisters.
Vigilus - Oteck Hivesprawl: The source of water for billions of Vigilus' citizens, Oteck Hivesprawl was best known for its five vast reservoirs, which were to become hotly contested during the war. An insidious Genestealer Cult uprising from beneath and five Ork Scrap Cities in proximity saw Oteck assailed from without as well as within.Like the other hivesprawls on Vigilus, Oteck was made up of hab-blocks and manufactoria that rose only a few dozen storeys above ground level, but spread out over enormous distances. Limiting the height of buildings helped them to avoid suffering catastrophic collapse when the inevitable tectonic upheaval caused by the mining operations in Megaborealis hit the continent.Though there was a significant Imperial military presence in Oteck, the vast macro-districts were run by the Adeptus Arbites, who kept the labouring classes in check.
Vigilus - The Hollows: Water supply in Oteck was regulated through the Hollows -- five enormous reservoirs, more like inland seas than conventional containment sites. These gathered water from deep under the planet's crust via an elaborate system of pumps, capillary banks and pipe-ways, and were topped up with regular infusions from the island-like precipitation sites of Tzardonica, Luthvren Isle and the Lenkotz Chain.Networks of macro-ducts pumped Oteck's water to the furthest extents of the continent, and even beyond. In return they brought back polluted water, industrial run-off and reclaimed biomass to be recycled into potable fluids.Much of the purer water Oteck conveyed to its prime clients was transported via convoy under armed guard -- it was not unheard of for Astra Militarum Hellhounds and Devil Dogs to carry two tanks of purewater alongside those filled with volatile fuel in their rear quarters.As well as ensuring safe delivery, this tacitly meant that the crew of the armoured convoy would not die of dehydration on the long journey from one continent to another.The five reservoirs of Oteck were known as the Greigan, Mysandren, Trevig, Ostaveer and Agamemnus Hollows. This last was named for the world's ruling dynasty, and was maintained as a back-up water source in case Hyperia's ownstore should be compromised.
Vigilus - Aquadine III Processor Districts: The Aquadine III Processor Districts linked, processed and distributed the water drawn from the Hollows.
Vigilus - Hives Dagda and Pneumos: The Hollows were overseen by Hive Dagda in the south. Dagda shared a fierce rivalry with Hive Pneumos, which bothgenerated the immense pressure needed to force the water supplies across the planet.
Vigilus - Ellerophosus Hivebelt: To the southwest of the Hollows was the Ellerophosus Hivebelt, a cluster of medium-sized hivecities that were classed as one vast conurbation.
Vigilus - Solor, the Sentinel Hive: To the far south of the Hollows was Solor, the Sentinel Hive, which kept watch over the waste-grounds and shanties at the point closest to the freezing wilderness of Kaelac's Bane.
Vigilus - Hive Zontanus and the Sumphall Districts: Hive Zontanus and the Sumphall Districts were also overtaken by Oteck's sprawl, which reached all the way to the Siltid River in the north.
Vigilus - Turingsbane Datahives: Perhaps the most coveted sites in all of Oteck -- aside from the reservoirs -- were the Turingsbane Datahives, whose foundations pre-dated Imperial settlement upon the planet. It was said that buried in their lower levels were rich troves of data so dense and meaningful they would make a Tech-magos weep.The Agamemnus Dynasty knew well how much the Adeptus Mechanicus coveted the ancient data contained in the catacombs of Turingsbane, and the Planetary Governor used access to these data vaults as a bargaining chip with which to manipulate her Adeptus Mechanicus rivals on the Council of Cogs.Part of the Pact of Fire and Steel made between the planetary government and the Mechanicus stated that the Tech-priests of Megaborealis could never access the archives unaccompanied, though evidence suggests that the magi eventually found a way to remotely access the data without permission.
Vigilus - Dirkden Hivesprawl: Dirkden Hivesprawl, characterised by its rudimentary cityscape, was a troubled metropolis indeed. It was abandoned by Vigilus' elite, and was home to as many subterranean, half-feral outcasts as it was productive civilians.Dirkden long ago reached a threshold in its expansion, after which it was all but abandoned by the Agamemnus Dynasty.Unbeknownst to all but the Cult of the Pauper Princes, however, this discarded cityscape did indeed supply something to its fellows -- the mutating xenos genetic pattern known as the "Genestealer's Kiss."From Glaive Point in the north to the Rescalid Underworks at the southernmost tip, the hivesprawl was shot through with subterranean levels. These had become so liberally infested with Genestealer Cultists by the end of the War of Beasts that if a census had somehow been taken, it would have revealed far more in thrall to Grandsire Wurm than to the Emperor of Mankind.
Vigilus - Ashenid Non-Hive: Dirkden's tallest and proudest structure was Ashenid Non-Hive, a half-finished skeleton of a hive city that, although teeming with life, was open to the stars. Its construction was never finished, for the architects that built it -- now lost in the annals of history -- changed tack halfway through, and began to build downwards into the naturallyoccurring cave networks beneath.
Vigilus - Hyperia-Dirkden Fortwall: Dirkden was joined to the southernmost reaches of its parent hivesprawl by the massive Hyperia-Dirkden Fortwall, a vast double row of crenellated defences with a rockcrete macrohighway running between them.Mortwald was similarly linked to its neighbour by the Mortwald-Oteck Fortwall, and the Dontoria- Megaborealis Line connected the two northernmost continents to facilitate trade and transit. The original plans for these links between the hivesprawls were put into place by Deinos Agamemnus shortly before his fourth rejuvenation.Growing ever more irate at the toll the native hazards of Vigilus were taking upon his endeavours, and determining that his losses in export convoys were unsustainable, he leant on the Aquilarian Council to provide a more stable means of transit. It was hoped that by allowing the faithful of Hyperia to flood along the highway to Dirkden they would raise the hivesprawl to new heights of productivity -- and one day, should all go well, build outwards to merge the two into a single hivesprawl that would empower Hyperia all the more.Instead, the macrohighway seemed only to drain the capital of Vigilus of its manpower and resources -- and in return, infect the Cape of Lost Causes in Hyperia with the gene-tainted xenos cult that plagued the subterranean levels of so many of Dirkden's districts.Still, the Fortwall itself stood strong throughout the War of Beasts, even with the rampaging Orks that marauded around the wastelands occasionally mounting raids against it.
Vigilus - Dontoria Hivesprawl: Dontoria was critically overpopulated, even amongst its fellow hivesprawls. So densely packed were its districts that it had access to incredible manpower -- though when the Genestealer infection broke out in the populace, it could not be stopped.Dontoria passed the standard metropolitan population density recommended by the Administratum in 943 previo VCM.M41. Over a thousand Terran years later, it continued to pack more citizens into its earthquake-ravaged slums.The endless manufactoria and fabrication shanties that surrounded its numerous hive cities were so steeped in pollution their outer walls were blackened and flaking, and their insides were a sickly yellow reminiscent of a lifelong lho-stick addict's fingers.Hacking coughs and expectorant splutters were common there; the lands of Mesha's Delta, Smog Field and the Great Choke were swathed in a dense blanket of vile pollution that damaged the lungs of those without respirator augmetics.
Vigilus - Lake Dontor: This false continent's sole source of water, the inland sea known as Lake Dontor, was polluted to the point that no life could exist within it and it sickened any who dared drink from it. That did not stop floating shanty towns being built upon it.So desperate was the population to find living space that much of the lake was covered in walkways, rowing boats, decommissioned barges, flora batteries and sump haulers, all bound together in a latticework teeming with shouting merchants, hustling traders, merciless opportunists, tattooed thugs and smogwater urchins.The scrap-built shanties of Tzimitria, Stump and Vostoyev Subsprawls were far from wealthy in the conventional sense, but as with many desperate populations, they were rich in faith. The Ministorum found it easy to sway the swathes of smoke-stained workers, so desperate for hope as the Great Rift glowered above, to the fervent worship of the Emperor at the exclusion of all else.Their daily task was to make the autosanctioned relics and holy weaponry with which the Ecclesiarchy waged itsWars of Faith, and the strongest of their holy gangers often went on to lead new lives in the Vigilant Guard.
Vigilus - Dontorian Subsprawls: Grodholev, Pravdus, and Hallordwight were older; these subsprawls were considered to be the original foundation of Dontoria and hence were more heavily tithed.The extreme north of the continent, optimistically named New Horizon, was slowly encroaching on the Vigilant wilderness in order to provide more living space.Similarly, Missionary Point to the south was extending towards Mortwald.Lord Tharenst, the Hive Marshal of Mesha's Delta, wished to link his province with the northernmost point of Mortwald, but his entreaties and proposals were met only with contempt, until the outbreak of war on Vigilus relegated them to the status of a distant dream.