vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
House Krast - House Krast: House Krast is an Imperial Knight house of the Questor Mechanicus that has sworn direct fealty to the Adeptus Mechanicus. House Krast hails from the Knight World of Chrysis, and was the first of its kind to be rediscovered by the Imperium at the outset of the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium. Chrysis and its Nobles are among the longest-serving allies of the Imperium and the Mechanicus. Chrysis retains a strong connection to the Sol System and Mars by a long-established stable Warp route.The most skilled Sacristans outside of Mars itself service House Krast; its Knights are functionally perfect, blessed by the Sacristans' digital-psalms and binary-hymns. In praise of their skills and in honour of Chrysis' ancient alliance with Mars, the Nobles of Krast bow down to the Machine God, revering him as an aspect of the God-Emperor and as the patron of their world.At that time, the surviving Nobles of House Krast swore two oaths: the first, eternal loyalty to the Red Planet; the second, eternal vengeance against those that betrayed them. Their descendants maintain these oaths to this day, honouring Mars while seeking out the forces of Chaos above all others, hoping to settle old scores and fulfil the oaths sworn by every one of their ancestors.Yet ten thousand Terran years has not been long enough to heal the bitterness that pervades House Krast. From atop shielded strongholds, its Nobles look with cold fury upon the toxic remains of their homeworld of Chrysis, knowing to whom they owe the blood-price for its death. Where once existed continents thick with plants and oceans teeming with life, now only skeletal forests and vast open basins remain. On shorelines turned from wave-washed beaches into dry towering cliff faces, and on islands rising up above empty seas, the crumbling ruins of long-dead knightly houses serve as a constant reminder of treachery.Still they burn, thirsting for vengeance upon those that betrayed them during the Horus Heresy. The treachery of that conflict took a fearsome toll on Chrysis, with the Chaos Titans of the Legio Mortis the chief culprits behind the utter ruination of their homeworld. Despite this, House Krast still honours Mars, and never shirks its responsibilities to its Adeptus Mechanicus allies, sending Knights to any Forge World that requests military aid.The motto of House Krast is, "Crush the Serpent."
House Krast - Horus Heresy: At the onset of the Horus Heresy, the warriors of House Krast were scattered across the galaxy and little of the household's strength remained in close proximity to Chrysis. Continued loyalty to the Imperium and the Emperor was never a question amongst the Knight houses of Chrysis and the forces of House Krast fought bitterly to cast down the Traitors, content in the knowledge that its own world was adequately shielded from harm.Alas, such confidence was proven false, for the Warmaster Horus deemed the Knight World too costly a target, in both time and numbers, to delay his march on Terra. As the defenders of Chrysis gathered to repel the anticipated Traitor invasion, they instead found the Knight World subjected to a prolonged bombardment of virus bombs, the once-verdant Jungle World reduced to a toxic wasteland where only the broken relics of Chrysis' Knight houses stood in memory of all those who had fallen.When the Scions of House Krast returned to find the dead world of which its house was the sole survivor, hatred erupted within the soul of its warriors. In the years that followed, this burning vehemence saw the warriors of House Krast hound the Traitors across the stars, vowing never to rest until all lay dead.Of Chrysis itself, House Krast refused to abandon it, choosing to align itself closely to Mars in the years following the Heresy in order to rebuild the household's fortification on its now-dead world. The broken remains of the households' heritage serve as a constant reminder of the Traitors' actions, so that no warrior of Krast may forget the vengeance they must wreak.
House Krast - Chrysis: The Knight World of Chrysis still bears the scars inflicted by Horus. Today, what were once continents thick with plants and oceans teeming with life have been reduced to skeletal, petrified forests and vast open basins, empty save for the fossilized remains of ancient sea creatures.The keeps of dead knightly houses still dot the landscape. On shorelines turned from wave-washed beaches into dry, towering cliff faces, and on islands rising up above empty seas, their crumbling remains are a constant reminder of the treachery of Horus. In places where the virus bombs fell from orbit, great toxic lakes still remain, as deadly now as they were ten thousand Terran years ago when the Warmaster ordered an Exterminatus action upon the doomed world.Periodically, huge dust storms scour Chrysis' surface, kicking up chemical clouds that roll across its dry ocean beds, killing anything in their path. Only the strongholds of House Krast remain, along with the Adeptus Mechanicus mining platforms still leeching the world for its mineral wealth. In the shielded enclaves of the Nobles some semblance of the world they once had remains, green gardens and artificial lakes protected from the ravages of Chrysis' ruined atmosphere.Even so, it is a parody of normalcy drawn from faded tapestries and half-remembered stories. When a Krastian Noble stands atop his keep and stares out through the shimmering haze of its void shield he knows his world has been taken from him, and to whom he owes the blood-price for its death. Ever since the Horus Heresy, the Knights of House Krast have vowed that whenever the threat of Chaos rears its malformed head, they will be there to sever the serpent at the neck.
House Krast - First to Fight: It is still a great point of pride for the Nobles of House Krast that they were the first Knight World to make formal alliance with the Imperium during the Great Crusade. That they fought for the Emperor during the Horus Heresy, and suffered greatly in the process, only strengthens their sense of superiority over the other knightly houses.After their planet was ravaged by Horus, the Adeptus Mechanicus helped the Nobles rebuild and strengthen their much-depleted households; in return House Krast swore eternal loyalty to Mars and became a member of the Questor Mechanicus. It is a union that has endured for a hundred Terran centuries, the manufactoria of the Red Planet maintaining the Knights of House Krast and the Nobles heeding the Tech-priests' calls to war.Their ties to the Mechanicus heavily influence Krastian society, and their Nobles offer up prayers to the Omnissiah in the vaulted machine-shrines of void-shielded castles. It is to the Machine God they pray, hopeful that His blessed technology will not fail them. By contrast with the other knightly houses, Krast contributes more Knights to the service of the Adeptus Titanicus of Mars than any other, with the exception of House Taranis, the Knights of the Red Planet itself. The Nobles of Krast relish the glory in fighting alongside the Titans of Mars and crushing enemy war machines and fortifications under blazing cannon rounds and howling Reaper Chainsword assaults. Wisely, the current fabricator-general of the Mechanicus maintains this eagerness among the Nobles by offering them war wherever the taint of heresy and the stain of Chaos can be found.Raised on the tales of the vile cowardice of those that follow the Ruinous Powers, and growing up seeing the ashes of their world every solar day from behind flickering energy shields, it is little wonder that the Nobles of Krast have an unquenchable hatred for Traitors. There can be no greater reward for a Krastian Knight than punishing the Heretic, and in battle the house's young Nobles are prone to recklessness if it offers the chance to claim a prestigious kill such as a Chaos super-heavy tank or Daemon Engine. "The Headtakers" are the greatest expression of this hate -- these are House Krast Nobles who have destroyed Chaos Titans and earned their eternal place as heroes of Chrysis.
House Krast - Headtaker Titan Hunters: Of the bitter betrayals that led to the destruction of all but one of the knightly houses on Chrysis, House Krast holds the base treachery of the Legio Mortis to be the worst. As one of Mars' own Titan Legions, the "Death's Heads" fought alongside the Knights of House Krast on many occasions during the early years of the Great Crusade. However, after siding with Horus during the ensuing galactic civil war, the Death's Heads were reborn in the image of the Plague God Nurgle, and led the assault that devastated Chrysis and annihilated the planet's lesser Knight houses.The Knights of House Krast have ever sought to avenge their fallen kinsmen, and seek out the Titans of the Legio Mortis above all others in battle. Should a Knight claim a Chaos Titan kill, his deed will herald many celebrations on his return to his homeworld. However, such revelry will pale in comparison to that on Chrysis should a Knight of Krast fell one of the Legio Mortis.The Noble will be treated to a triumph in his honour and he will henceforth be known as a Headtaker. Each Headtaker bears a broken Death's Head symbol on his Knight armour or tabard –- a battle honour reminding all of his heroic deed and celebrating the destruction of a hated foe. Rumoured sightings of the Traitor Titans of the Legio Mortis amongst the Chaos forces besieging the Cadian Gate during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41 led House Krast to redeploy its Nobles to that war zone in great force.
House Krast - Hammer of Traitors: In the middle of the Screaming Sea on Chrysis, on an island which was once a tropical paradise, a towering monument of adamantium stands watch over thousands of kilometres of dry ocean bed and cursed earth. This is the Hammer of Traitors, and it is here that House Krast records its tally against the servants of the Dark Gods. At the top of the monument are chronicled the greatest kills, the Legio Mortis Titans vanquished by the Krastian Knights. The tally works its way down through Daemon Engines, super-heavy tanks and notable fortresses.Towards the bottom are Heretic armies that have been crushed; little more than the names of worlds, prominent commanders and cults, and then casualty numbers in their tens of thousands, as if an afterthought. The base of the Hammer of Traitors serves a different purpose, and its huge foundation is ringed in chains and collars. It is here that House Krast brings the most hated Traitors, Chaos generals, Heretics and betrayers, often secretly taken from war zones without the knowledge of the Inquisition.These prisoners are stripped and shackled to the monument to suffer the foul work their gods have wrought on Chrysis. For most the poison air and chemical wind will kill them in solar hours, choking on their own bile and blood as their flesh burns and peels away. Stronger specimens, such as Traitor Marines, having been known to last for solar days, until a toxic storm washes over the island and flays their flesh away, leaving only scorched, smoking bones behind.Agents of the Inquisition have on occasion turned their attention to the knightly house, but always the political might of the Adeptus Mechanicus is there to confound their efforts. These strangers find no welcome on Chrysis, and are as likely to vanish as those sent to the Hammer.There are also no records of the Hammer of Traitors in any Krastian datacore or cogitator conclave, its location known only to the lord of the house and his most trusted Nobles. The Adeptus Mechanicus is aware of the existence of the Hammer of Traitors and House Krast's dark secret, though the current fabricator-general is content to let the Nobles punish their foes as they see fit, provided Chrysis fights for the interests of Mars.
House Krast - Notable Campaigns: Battle of Herald's Fall (Unknown Date) - House Krast has been involved in a number of great victories over the forces of Chaos, though they never shirk their responsibilities to their Adeptus Mechanicus allies should the Tech-priests of Mars summon them to war. During the Battle of Herald's Fall, four household detachments of House Krast's Knights fought the invading Ork forces of WAAAGH! Spleenrippa alongside the Legio Osedax ("Cockatrices") Titan Legion. Though they lost fully half of their number over the course of the fighting, the three survivors above earned what passes for acclaim from the Fabricator-General of Mars himself after bringing down Spleenrippa's Great Gargant in a combined assault before it could smash apart the irreplaceable war machine known as the Ordinatus Mars. In the wake of the battle, Headtaker Forillus, the Knight who gutted the Warlord's Gargant with his Reaper Chainsword, was seconded to the Legion.Battle for the Gates of Obsilom (663.M33) - Cyan Krast led his forces to a great victory against the servants of the Dark Gods, crushing the Golden Taint warband.Not Even In Death...(854.M40) - A trio of Knights from House Krast join Space Marines from the Ultramarines Chapter to defend the Mining World of Gorvax against a warhost of Asuryani Ghost Warriors from Iyanden Craftworld. A Knight suit's Throne Mechanicum takes control after its pilot is slain by a xenos sniper, the echoes of spirits long dead guiding the unmanned Knight into battle once more. The Knight carves its way through countless Wraithbone constructs before two Wraithknights, the largest and mightiest of the xenos combat walkers, finally bring it down in an epic duel of giant war machines. Though the Asuryani are eventually defeated, victory on Gorvax does not belong to the living.A Blade in the Void (512.999.M41) - A Chaos wolf pack attacks the Imperial heavy transport Penitent Blade while en route to the war zones of Heloeum. When the vessel is boarded, the Nobles of House Krast mount their Knight suits and prepare to repel the Traitor Marines. In the vast vaulted cargo halls of the voidship, the Knights crush the Traitors underfoot and blast apart their vanguard of Terminators and Helbrutes. When a fresh wave of Chaos boarders are sent against the Penitent Blade, the Nobles order the cargo hall doors opened, so they might engage the incoming assault boats. Their craft scattered and destroyed, the Traitors retreat into the void.The 13th Black Crusade (995.999.M41) - Houses Krast and Arokon join the Imperial forces rushing to reinforce the Cadian Gate against the Chaos hordes spewing forth from the Eye of Terror. The inbound Knights of House Arokon are feared lost amid the fierce etheric tides of Warp Storm Baphomael. However, news soon filters back to the Imperium that four household detachments of Knights bearing Arokon's colours have been seen taking the fight to the forces of Chaos, shattering two large formations of Iron Warriors siege tanks with righteous fury.
House Krast - Notable House Krast Knights: Fervorous Defender (Questoris Knight Warden) - This Knight armour depicted above was piloted by Knight Scion Garathi Ashbrone during the latter years of the Great Crusade until it was destroyed during the bombardment of Chrysis during the final years of the Horus Heresy.Redemption of Adamant (Knight Crusader) - Knight armour piloted by Baron Lagos.Blade of Vengeance (Knight Errant) - Knight armour piloted by Sir Dagos.Headtaker' (Knight Errant) - Knight armour piloted by Sir Forillus.Hexenhammer' (Knight Errant) - Knight armour piloted by Sir Teros.Exorcist of Hate (Knight Paladin) - Knight armour piloted by Sir Daimos.Steadfast Honour (Cerastus Knight-Acheron) - In the honour rolls of House Krast, the Steadfast Honour, depicted below, is recorded as having been piloted by no less than 32 different Knight Scions during the Great Crusade, exceeding that of any other of the household's Knight armours. This number is attributed to the Knight Acheron's frequent position at the vanguard during operations, a position of pride often given because of the storied history of the Knight's service. Dozens of victories are noted as occurring due to the efforts of Steadfast Honour and within the ranks of House Krast it became a portentous symbol to see the Knight armour at the forefront of battle. Household legend states that a battle has never been lost when the Steadfast Honour led the charge and, though its Scions might fall, the Knight has always risen anew, its form seemingly impervious to long-lasting damage.Hate's Requiem (Armiger Helverin) - Knight armour piloted by Bondsman Narsus.Serpent's Bane' (Armiger Warglaive) - Knight armour piloted by Countess Karyx.
House Krast - House Strength: The first amongst its kind to join the fledgling Imperium, House Krast benefited greatly from the forges of Mars, which worked tirelessly to restore the diminished industry of Chrysis and supply its households with the freshly-forged Knight armours and armaments. In the solar decades that followed its rediscovery, the Sacristans of Chrysis learnt much, their skill second only to those of Mars itself. The vast increase in Mechanicum supplies and knowledge ensured that, by the onset of the Horus Heresy, House Krast stood 400 strong, all but a handful of which fought at the forefront of the Great Crusade. This capacity marked House Krast as a Primaris-grade household.Though the Horus Heresy would bring about the death of Chrysis, and all those Knight houses left to defend it, House Krast survived, warring across the galaxy, ignorant as to the fate of its world. By the time the death of Chrysis became common knowledge within the household's ranks, over a 100 Scions of House Krast still lived and all declared oaths of vengeance against the Warmaster Horus and his allies, turning to Mars to restore the Knight house's strength and venture forth once more.
House Krast - House Colours: Before the Horus Heresy, House Krast displayed a blue livery colour on all of its Knights. Following the Horus Heresy, with their strong connections to the Forge World of Mars, House Krast chose to ever after bear the red of the reformed Adeptus Mechanicus as its livery.
House Krast - House Arms: Before the Horus Heresy, House Krast displayed the icon of a black Gothic cross as its arms.As House Krast was the lone survivor of the knightly houses of Chrysis in the wake of Horus' betrayal, in 976.M31 the house crest was changed by the unanimous consent of its Nobles. Instead of the black cross, they adopted the symbol of a gauntlet squeezing the life from the serpent of Chaos to show their hatred of the Traitors. Each Noble then swore a mighty oath of vengeance against the Traitor forces of Horus. Ever since the bitter wars of the Great Scouring, House Krast's Knights have been in the forefront of the fight against Chaos, relishing in their sworn role as the "Hammer of Traitors."In 663.M33, Cyan Krast led his forces to a great victory against the servants of the Dark Gods, crushing the Golden Taint warband in the Battle for the Gates of Obsilom. They added a pair of crossed Witchhunter hammers behind the main crest, representing how they crush the forces of Chaos wherever they might be.In 203.M36, Lord Taben Krast offered up his firstborn son to the Adeptus Titanicus of Mars as a mark of his allegiance to the Adeptus Mechanicus. In return, the fabricator-general of the time reaffirmed his support of the house's war against Chaos. House Krast's personal crest took on its currently recognised form at this time; the half-cog Opus Machina symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus prominently displayed in the centre of their crest. The dual-split displays House Krast's loyalty, which is equally divided between their house and the Machine Cult.
House Krast - Heraldic Devices: The Gauntlet - The symbol of an armoured gauntlet crushing a serpent symbolises House Krast's hatred of Chaos. The warriors of House Krast are violent opponents of the forces of Chaos. Historically they were the first knightly house to join their forces to the Great Crusade, and they took great honour in their part of the Emperor's galactic conquest. But when the Horus Heresy reared its head, they suffered terribly. Chrysis, the home planet of House Krast, was utterly ravaged by the Traitors, and left as little more than a husk, reduced to a poisonous wasteland by the virus weapons unleashed upon it. Even 10,000 standard years later, the Nobles now live in void-shielded enclaves, and look out at their ruined world and feel a burning hate. Their icon is now the embodiment of their quest for vengeance, and they proudly tally the many Chaos worshippers they have defeated. Prosecuting this endless battle against the forces of the Dark Gods has become their driving motivation. Such is their venom that there is a secret place on their homeworld, known as the Hammer of Traitors. Here they carve the names of Chaos worshippers they have destroyed -- and, rumour has it, bring heretical prisoners to die terrible, gasping deaths in the poisonous air.Knightly Honours - Glorious kills are celebrated by Imperial Knights with icons to be worn on their personal banner or suit of Knight armour. These take many forms, from targetting symbols or small skulls to rings around weapon barrels. House Krast's greatest hate is for the Traitor Titan Legion of the Legio Mortis, who they hold accountable for the horrors unleashed on Chrysis long ago during the Horus Heresy. The broken death's head symbol utilised by the Knights of House Krast is a modified badge of the Legio Mortis, with a crack in the skull which denotes a Titan kill of their most hated enemies.
House Krast - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Loyalist Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 84-87Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus (8th Edition), pp. 31, 57Codex: Imperial Knights (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 42, 82-87, 104, 107-108Codex: Imperial Knights (8th Edition), pp. 46-47The Imperial Knights Companion (6th Edition), pp. 15, 19, 90-99Titan Legions (1st Edition), "Knight", pg. 27, 29, 49-50, 54White Dwarf 179 (Nov 1994), "Epic: Titan Legions - Inferno" by Andy Chambers & Jervis Johnson, pp. 40-66White Dwarf 180 (Dec 1994), "GW & Citadel News - Epic Titan Legions" by Mike McVey, "'Eavy Metal: Imperial Knights", pp. 2, 26White Dwarf Weekly 5 (01 March 2014), "Houses & Heraldry", pp. 22-24Titan Legions (2nd Edition), pg. 54Games Workshop Online Webstore - Legio Metalica Transfer Sheet (with House Krast transfers)Warhammer Community - Pre-order: Titans, T'au and Tiny Collectibles (08 Feb 2020)Warhammer Community - New T'au, New Titans, and More! (02 Feb 2020)
House Lakar - House Lakar: House LakarImperial Knight HouseQuestor MechanicusAdeptus MechanicusKnight World
House Lakar - Notable Campaigns: Battle of Beta-Garmon, "The Titandeath" (006-013.M31) - House Lakar took part in the long and savage Beta-Garmon campaign, which included hundreds of war zones across dozens of worlds. During this conflict, House Lakar provided Knight support to the Legio Metalica. Even before the greater armies of the Warmaster Horus reached the star cluster, the battle lines had long since been drawn, and fighting had been going on for many Terran years. It was a cauldron of battle that would consume millions of lives before its end and see the demise of entire Titan Legions, earning this campaign the dire moniker of the "Titandeath." The Beta-Garmon Cluster, also known as the gateway to the throneworld of Terra, was the last hurdle that the Warmaster Horus' forces had to overcome before they reached the Imperium's capital world. Heavily fortified by the Loyalists, Beta-Garmon would become one of the greatest and bloodiest battles of the Horus Heresy, as well as one of the longest-lasting.
House Lakar - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Lakar - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Lakar - House Colours: The colours of House Lakar are blue and white.
House Lakar - House Arms: The arms of House Lakar are quartered, a white fleur-de-lys outlined in black on a field of blue on its upper left and lower right quarters, whereas the upper right and lower left quarters show a black and white checkerboard.
House Lucaris - House Lucaris: House Lucaris is a Renegade Knight House of Chaos Knights. Of all the Iconoclast houses of the Renegade Knights, there are none more bold nor tenacious than House Lucaris.They have waged multiple barbaric campaigns against the Imperium, butchering those who fight in the Emperor's name in all corners of the galaxy, and over the course of ten thousand Terran years have reaped a toll of carnage too high for any single scriptorum to record.They have been called the "House of Serpents," the "Fanged Knights" and many other names, but whatever they are called, the Knights of Lucaris are always synonymous with terror.Morda Prime -- the homeworld of House Lucaris -- is shrouded in perpetually raging storms. It is from beneath this lightning-scape that the Lucaris Knights launch their dread campaigns, striking out at Imperial holdings across the galaxy.
House Lucaris - House History: During the Great Crusade, the Luna Wolves Legion arrived at the tempest-wreathed world of Morda Prime, where they found the Knights of House Lucaris. The Nobles of the household immediately swore allegiance to Horus, for in the Warmaster they saw manifested their own tenets of virtue through strength, and mercy through dominance.They answered his calls to battle without question, employing thunderous assaults to crush all who daredoppose their liege's will. Even when he turned to Chaos, the Knights of Morda Prime held true to their vows of service.When the Warmaster was killed at the Siege of Terra, House Lucaris swore an oath of undying enmity against the Emperor. They also forswore their allegiance to the Black Legion, successor of the Sons of Horus, which had abandoned its fallen Primarch.In the millennia since, House Lucaris has waged apocalyptic wars against both the Imperium and the Heretic Astartes, though in more recent centuries there have been accounts of them marching alongside the Black Legion once more.Only the Fallen Nobles of Morda Prime and Abaddon himself know if this newfound alliance constitutes a reforging of their bonds of old.
House Lucaris - Fall of Graggen Keep: On the Death World of Friggenswald, Renegade Astra Militarum infantry regiments laid siege to the towering fortress known as Graggen Keep. Though the keep was defended by only a handful of soldiers, two factors prevented the attackers from achieving a swift victory.The sludgy acidic river surrounding the fortress instantly dissolved those Renegades who attempted to launch an assault. Furthermore, from its position inside the walls, the Freeblade Knight Unflinching Steel fired a ceaseless hail of Rapid-Fire Battle Cannon shells into the ranks of the encroaching army. The Knight had once been a member of House Lucaris, but had abandoned his household when they turned Traitor, and had fought valiantly for the Imperium ever since.Yet the initial victories of the defenders only delayed the inevitable. The Chaos Knights of House Lucaris arrived on Friggenswald and marched upon Graggen Keep. Having served their purpose of holding Unflinching Steel in place, the Renegades withdrww out of firing range while the Lucaris Knights wade through the acid flows surrounding the fortress.A trio of Knights Rampager made short work of the fortress walls, allowing the remaining war engines to pour through the breach and annihilate the defenders. Unflinching Steel was brought down and dismembered by the members of its former household, but was not destroyed. Instead, its battered and mutilated chassis was taken back to Morda Prime to face judgement.
House Lucaris - Battle of Vigrid: The Great Game for supremacy between the Chaos Gods eventually spilled into realspace, leading to a series of hellish conflicts across the worlds deep in the Imperium Nihilus. Greatest of these was the Battle of Vigrid, where vast armies of each of the Ruinous Powers engaged in a sprawling combat.Eventually a contest of champions was proposed whereby the Greater Daemons of each god would engage in single combat. The nightmarish war cries from this contest echoed through the Warp, liquefying the minds of psykers for light years in every direction -- and drawing the attention of House Lucaris.Four Lucaris Knights were sent to engage in the Vigrid tourney, to prove the might of the Iconoclast house. Those Knights that duelled the champions of Khorne, Nurgle and Slaanesh were all victorious, but it soon became apparent that they had been bestowed with a portion of Tzeentch's fate-bending power.These three Chaos Knights managed to escape the battle zone before the daemonic armies descended into open war once more, carrying with them the sorcerous gifts of the Changer of Ways.
House Lucaris - Notable Knights: Iron Malice - This Knight Desecrator is piloted by Lord Obidar who claimed the Stratus Keep on Morda Prime. When Iron Malice descends from its mountainous abode to gather warriors for another campaign, a nimbus of crackling electricity clings to its hulking frame. In the thick of battle, rivulets of lightning continually burst from its vents and spark around its joints, growing more anarchic as the Chaos Knight's fury increases.Bringer of Extinction - Bringer of Extinction is the Knight Rampager piloted by the Fallen Noble Ifanor.Thunderhead - Thunderhead is the Knight Despoiler piloted by Lady Elsyr.Empyrean Scythe - War Dog piloted by the Renegade Aesyr.
House Lucaris - Notable Personnel: Lord Obidar - With his Knight Desecrator known as Iron Malice, Lord Obidar has earned a fell reputation amongst House Lucaris. The dread campaigns he has launched against Imperial worlds are typified by their speed and ferocity. When besieging a planet, the Fallen Noble typically directs his onslaughts against spaceports and transportation hubs, ensuring that his victims have no means of retreat. However, he rarely targets astropathic relays, as he welcomes any enemy reinforcements that would dare face him. Obidar claimed the Stratus Keep on Morda Prime after crushing the head of its previous owner in a duel. Sitting atop a vast mountain range, the keep is perpetually engulfed by storm clouds.Ifanor - Since bonding with his Knight Bringer of Extinction, Ifanor has waged a merciless war against the Loyalist Knights of House Krast.Lady Elsyr - The impetuous Lady Elsyr and her Knight Despoiler, Thunderhead, are often the first of their lance to engage the enemy.Aesyr - Once a vicious warrior of House Lucaris, the War Dog Empyrean Scythe betrayed its house in War Zone Stygius. After its pilot Aesyr heard whispers in the Warp, the War Dog turned on its masters and pledged itself directly to the Chaos pantheon.
House Lucaris - House Colours: House Lucaris' Knights sport dark blue and gold house colours.
House Lucaris - House Arms: The arms of House Lucaris are a sinuous, red serpent with a lashing tongue.
House Lucaris - Sources: Codex: Chaos Knights (8th Edition), pp. 14-15, 29, 32-33
House Makabius - House Makabius: House Makabius is a force of Chaos Knights that was once a loyal Secundus-grade Knight house aligned with the Imperium of Man and also held fealty to the distant Forge World of Mezoa.Transformed by the century-long civil war that had engulfed their homeworld of Baroda in the Grail Abyss, House Makabius was always known for its bellicose temper, and some would even say avarice and recklessness. Yet the battle-hardened Scions of House Makabius would go on to distinguish themselves amongst the most bloody and savage battles of the Great Crusade, desperate to bring glory to their house and name.So it was that fuelled by his own hubris and thirst for power, one of House Makabius' greatest Knights, Markan Hrotham, Hero of the Pacification of Skarron, would damn his house forever. Haloed by the glory he had gained on Skarron, Markan Hrotham would seek to add further to his legend by throwing in his lot with the Warmaster Horus.Returning to his homeworld of Baroda at the head of a younger generation of Makabius Knights, he all but deposed by force of arms the ruling elite of the Makabius household before taking the mantle of the world's ruling Lord Protector and pledging his House in support of the Warmaster's cause.However, he would soon be betrayed, as instead of the Archtraitor Horus Lupercal it was Mortarion the Reaper, primarch of the grim Death Guard Legion, who would come to Baroda to claim House Makabius' oath of fealty. Thus were the dreams of glory and conquest of House Makabius cast down and its path into ruin and damnation ensured.
House Makabius - Notable Campaigns: Death of Dominica Minoris (007.M31) - House Makabius' first action alongside the traitorous Death Guard Legion would be the utter annihilation of the defenders of Dominica Minoris' starport. Here the Loyalists had succeeded in throwing back the Death Guard's first assault through the use of Titan-class mining engines. Landing with a force of only thirty Knights, House Makabius broke the deadlock and ensured the Traitors' total victory.Battle of Beta-Garmon, "The Titandeath" (006-013.M31) - The Knight banners of House Makabius, fighting alongside the Legio Interfector, took part in the long and savage Beta-Garmon campaign, which included hundreds of war zones across dozens of worlds. Even before the greater armies of the Warmaster Horus reached the star cluster, the battle lines had long since been drawn, and fighting had been going on for many Terran years. It was a cauldron of battle that would consume millions of lives before its end and see the demise of entire Titan Legions, earning this campaign the dire moniker of the "Titandeath." The Beta-Garmon Cluster, also known as the gateway to the Throneworld of Terra, was the last hurdle that the Warmaster's forces had to overcome before they reached the Imperium's capital world. Heavily fortified by the Loyalists, Beta-Garmon would become one of the greatest and bloodiest battles of the Horus Heresy, as well as one of the longest-lasting.Siege of Terra (014.M31) - Elements of House Makabius ultimately joined the Warmaster Horus during his final assault upon the Imperial Palace at Terra.
House Makabius - Notable House Makabius Knights: Black Slaker - The Questoris Knight Errant of Scion Bendrik Makabius. Claimed after the assault on the Black Tower against the Loyalist self-stylised "Knights of the Convenant" during which Bendrik slew the armour's former pilot in combat, Black Slaker became Bendrik's bonded mount until the time when he himself was slain only a few solar months later on Dominica Minor when Mortarion ordered House Makabius to force a breach in the Loyalist defences.Vindex Magnar - Cerastus Knight Lancer of Scion Julius Makabius. Lauded for its role in the defence of Akre Primaris during the Great Crusade, where the armour's title was granted it by the primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman himself, Vindex Magnar was to gain a far darker renown in later years, notably for its role in the genocidal assault on Lascal, where hundreds of the bodies left to rot were rendered unrecognisable by the tread of its metal feet.Gloriam Eternus - Unknown Knight class of Scion Sirus Arkhen. Destroyed during the Third Siege of Mezoa.Thonal - Thonal was a Questoris Knight Errant of Scion Zholon-Kuthos. It was named for a figure of the Underworld drawn from the deathly mythologies of the bloodlines of Makabius.Seeker's Grave - Seeker's Grave was a Cerastus Knight-Castigator piloted by Scion Erodoth that fought during the Battle of Beta-Garmon at Delta-Garmon II and during the Siege of Terra.
House Makabius - Notable House Makabius Personnel: Erodoth - Scion Erodoth was a young and ambitious Noble of House Makabius who piloted the Cerastus Knight-Castigator Seeker's Grave during the Horus Heresy. Erodoth typified the cruelty and thirst for vengeance of the new guard of House Makabius, and was among the vanguard of the Delta-Garmon II landings during the larger Battle of Beta-Garmon campaign. Erodoth made a name for himself carving a path through the defending Loyalist Garmonite armoured divisions, his Cerastus' Tempest Warblade and Cerastus-Pattern Bolt Cannon gutting the slow-moving Loyalist tanks. In time, Seeker's Grave saw all of Beta-Garmon's battlefields, before joining the Warmaster Horus in his final march against Terra.Sirus Lethale - Letha;e was the ruling Lord Martial of House Makabius at the time of its reunification with the Imperium during the Great Crusade.Markan Hrotham - Hero of the Pacification of Skarron and later Lord Protector of House Makabius at the beginning of the Heresy was -- and perhaps still is -- an emblematic figure of his house's downfall. Through his bond with First Captain Ezekyle Abaddon of the Luna Wolves he would bind the future of his house to the Warmaster Horus' fate and lead it to its destruction. Bold and borderline reckless when at the command of his personal Knight armour, Markan Hrotham was a consummate killer, having both coerced rulership from his house's Magna Concilium council pf senior Scions by force and crushed the open rebellion of the self-appointed Loyalist "Knights of the Covenant" within his own house. When in 006.M31 Mortarion the Reaper came to claim House Makabius' pledge to the Warmaster, Lord Protector Markan was summoned to attend the grim primarch of the Death Guard, never to be seen again. Still his Knight armour, its throne chamber sealed from the outside, would sometimes take to the battlefield and his gene-seal could be found countersigning each one of Mortarion's decrees to the house, further fuelling the rumours about his new servitude -- or as some even state, enthrallment -- to the primarch of the XIV Legion.Bendrik Makabius - Bendrik Makabius was the short-lived pilot of the Questoris Knight Errant Black Slaker.Julius Makabius - Julius Makabius was a feared Aucteller of House Makabius, pilot of the Cerastus Knight Lancer Vindex Magnar.Sirus Arkhen - Arkhen was a notable hero of the younger generation of Makabius Knights who followed in Markan Hrotham's footsteps and joined the Great Crusade. Arkehn was vanquished and killed by Magister Thenus Apeo in the Knight Crucible of Enlightenment of House Hermetika.
House Makabius - House Strength: In the earliest years of House Makabius' incorporation into the Imperium, it fielded few Knight armours considered battle-worthy, as most of those armours that had survived the Age of Strife and Baroda's technological decline were barely functional, mis-repaired amalgams of several different machines. What House Makabius did not lack was warriors or experience -- most of the surviving Scions were veterans of the civil strife that had engulfed Baroda for Terran centuries, including those bitter warriors incorporated into the Makabius from fallen houses -- yet without modernised armour, these warriors were forced to wait out many of the battles of the Great Crusade in near-exile on that world.As new Knight armours began to arrive on Baroda from the Forge World of Mezoa, the Makabius entered a period of slow rebuilding, and by the dawn of the 31st Millennium had received nearly a hundred new Knight armours, including several of the more advanced Cerastus pattern. However, due to the inherent difficulties of Warp travel through the treacherous Empyrean currents of the Grail Abyss, these armours arrived in small consignments via Explorator cruisers rather than large Ark Mechanicums, which the Mezoans would not risk in the region. Worse, once bonded to a Makabius Scion, the Knight in question often left Baroda at the first opportunity, either alone or as small demi-households, to join the vast forces of the Great Crusade.Thus, by the time of Markan's return to his homeworld, barely two dozen fully-equipped Knights were present as its garrison, and these were mostly controlled by members of the old guard and the Magna Concilium, whilst the vast majority of House Makabius' strength was scattered in small contingents across dozens of Imperial expeditionary fleets.With the installment of Markan as the new Lord Protector of Baroda, the House of Makabius cut its tenuous ties to the Forge World of Mezoa, and began a covert relationship of supply via the Warmaster Horus' agents, whose sources not even they truly knew. Within a few short solar months, their ranks had swollen to nearly two hundred fully-equipped Knights, and a sizable host of retainer troops and support war machines. Most likely these arms were largely diverted from shipments intended for other sources, and it is notable that several convoys of munitions and Knight armour bound for Damaetus III/II vanished in the solar months prior to the events at Isstvan III.
House Makabius - House Colours: House Makabius has always been known for their austere appearance, disdaining the use of the more colourful heraldries of other houses. As such the Makabius official colours are recorded to be a bisected heraldry of cream and shadow, although some sources also claim them to be quartered sable and shadow.This may well be a consequence of their household's neglected state at its implementation amongst the Knight houses of the Imperium or a shortage of chemical compounds needed for the production of more colourful drabs on Baroda.
House Makabius - House Arms: The House Makabius coat of arms represents a crossed pair of sable warhammers centred over a crimson, four-pointed star on a pale field. Due to its personal affiliation to the Warmaster Horus starting immediately after the Drop Site Massacre of Isstvan V, House Makabius also wore the personal sigil of the Warmaster, the Eye of Horus, as part of its heraldry, the latter being prominently displayed on armorial shield, banners and the armour itself as a revered campaign badge.
House Makabius - House Personal Heraldry: As befitting such a severe and austere Knight house as that of the Makabius, the heraldic rules that developed on Baroda during the Age of Strife are of a very strict nature. As is often the case on Knight Worlds that had to traverse a time of internecine warfare, these rules emphasise unity of purpose and submission to the will of the house over the flamboyant display of personal icons and honour markings.In accordance to this set of rules, the Knight's armour is given over to house heraldry, the personal heraldry of the pilot being limited to banners and sometimes the armourial shield. Personal heraldry invariably convenes a martial rank such as the diamond pattern of the Aucteller or the barbed bar reserved to members of the Implacable Order.Most personal emblems figure a distinctively military signification: swords and other weapons as well as skull motifs being the most common. As a matter of tradition these personal emblems are rendered in black, perhaps to better echo the house sigil. The personal emblem is usually chosen by the Knight after his or her Rite of Becoming.As an exception amongst the Knight houses, House Makabius incorporated the Eye of Horus into its heraldry, most notoriously in the aspect of a campaign badge showing the house's arms beside the Eye of Horus party-per-pale. It is also notable that despite siding with the Warmaster, House Makabius retained the symbol of the Imperialis on the armoured cowl of their Knights.With their induction into the Primarch Mortarion's dread fleet and the innumerable atrocities the house was later party to, the heraldry of House Makabius was increasingly simplified until only the sigils of Horus and the house remained, which meant that in the latter years of the Heresy, many Barodan Knight armours featured so few identifying marks that they were difficult to tell apart.
House Makabius - Sources: The Horus Heresy Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 33-34, 106-113Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Rulebook  (Specialty Game), pp. 48-49Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Titandeath (Specialty Game), pp. 94-95
House Malinax - House Malinax: House Malinax was a Traitor Imperial Knight house that repudiated its oaths to the Emperor of Mankind and followed the Warmaster Horus into the service of the Ruinous Powers during the Horus Heresy. The Knight house of Malinax was founded shortly after the rediscovery and incorporation of the Forge World of Xana II, located on the western fringe of the galaxy in the Vicidax Thule Sector within the Segmentum Pacificus.The newly-created Knight house went on to serve with distinction in some of the Great Crusade's more savage campaigns and alongside the Titans of the Legio Vulturum and the Taghmata Scoria throughout the later days of the Great Crusade.Ultimately, Xana II would attempt to serve both Loyalist and Traitor alike when the Horus Heresy erupted in the early 31st Millennium. When evidence mounted against the recalcitrant Forge World that there was substantial double-dealing occurring despite Xana II's professed neutrality in the internecine conflict, Rogal Dorn, primarch of the Imperial Fists Legion and Praetorian of Terra, declared Xana II Traitoris Perdita and under sentence of death in 007.M31.This later led to the desperate covert campaign conducted by the Loyalists known as the Xana Incursion in 009.M31. House Malinax defended one of Xana's major forge-fanes from an assault by Loyalist forces. Forced to choose a side, Xana II ultimately declared for the Traitor cause and followed them into damnation.With the failure of the Traitors and the death of Horus during the Siege of Terra, it is presumed that House Malinax fled alongside their Dark Mechanicum masters, moving their entire world through unknown means into the Eye of Terror where they still reside upon the Hell-Forge of Xana II, deep within that nightmare realm.
House Malinax - Origins: The Forge World of Xana II was a potent and storied example of its kind, an Ultima II-grade facility rated as one of the most capable Forge Worlds of the Imperium, and unmatched in its region of the galaxy. It comprised a main planetary sphere, Xana II, with a number of inhabited moons and extensive mobile sub-faculties in the form of void and gas-mining installations scattered throughout the debris belts and turbulent atmosphere of the macro-magnitude gas giant, Xana I, around which the Forge World orbited.Its position was on the very far tip of the galactic arm of the western fringe, granting it the title on the star charts of the Carta Imperialis as "Occidentem Thule" -- the last great port on the edge of the intergalactic abyss.Xana II was accidentally rediscovered in 843.M30, when a damaged galleass belonging to the Rogue Trader Casilida DeAniasie, having been flung far off-course after engaging in battle with Fra'al Corsairs, intercepted a trio of hulking automata warships at the edge of the intergalactic void.Although they might have taken or destroyed her already-damaged void ship with little effort, these vessels instead offered aid and carried with them a message of greeting and an offer of diplomatic exchange between the "Sovereign Forge Domain of Xana" and the Imperium of Man and its Emperor.The Xanite vessels made good on their intentions by taking the stricken galleass back under tow to the Xana System itself, where it was repaired and resupplied for its journey home with exemplary speed, and the Rogue Trader treated with courtesy and honour. Negotiations between the Imperium and Xana II soon followed upon the Rogue Trader's return.The Knight house of Malinax was founded shortly after the incorporation of the Forge World of Xana II into the Imperium as part of the re-alignment of native Xanite armed forces to better serve the Great Crusade. This would include the incorporation of the Malin-Qatlu Scion Bloodline, a regressed house which was at that stage without an extant Knight World of its own and with few remaining operable Knights.This cadre of Scions was provided with fresh Knight armours and bound by blood and oath to the Lords of Xana, and would form thenceforth part of Xana II's new order of battle. Brought back from the edge of extinction, the newly patented House of Malinax would serve with distinction in the savage wars of the Rangdan Xenocides, and detachments would continue to fight alongside the Titans of the Legio Vulturum and the Taghmata Setna and Taghmata Scoria throughout the later Great Crusade.