Nocturne - History: When not at war, the Salamanders prefer to live among the people of Nocturne and Prometheus, and usually serve as the leaders of a Nocturnean settlement. Once every 15 Terran years (1 Nocturnean year), the two worlds approach so closely that Nocturne is almost torn to pieces by the resulting gravitic tidal stresses. This is called the "Time of Trial" by the Nocturnean people.Vast tidal waves crash across the seas, thousands of volcanoes explode, their ash and fumes further blotting out the weak haze from the sun of Nocturne while powerful earthquakes constantly ravage the land. All life is sent reeling, towns collapse and people die with heartbreaking regularity. Then, a terrible winter sets in for the next quarter of a Nocturnean year. The young freeze and most, if not all, of the native reptilian livestock dies, unable to withstand the extreme cold as they had the heat.One of the largest volcanic mountains on Nocturne is named Mount Deathfire. This is where the most massive of the great fire-resistant reptiloids called "salamanders" who are common on Nocturne live, and they are known as "fire drakes." They are huge, fire-breathing beasts, and one was killed each by the Emperor of Mankind and Primarch Vulkan during the legendary contests held between the two ten millennia ago when the Emperor rediscovered His lost gene-son.This world may seem a strange place for Humans to live and even thrive, but the Nocturnean people have been moulded both physically and mentally into stronger and more resilient forms by this adversity. The Time of Trial also brings great rewards. Rich veins of gems and strategic metals are revealed by the earthquakes and eruptions, large enough to be mined by the Nocturnean clans to pay for new livestock and food on the Imperium's interplanetary markets.The Salamanders and other residents of Nocturne live in giant underground "Sanctuary Cities," the largest of which is called Hesiod and which tend to be home to a single one of the Nocturnean people's clans. Each Salamanders company is usually recruited entirely from one of these clan settlements so that the battle-brothers of a company will share their clan as well as Chapter loyalties and will also feel strongly connected to their homeworld's common people. The Salamanders either live on Prometheus in the fortress-monastery or live among the people on Nocturne, where they usually serve as the leaders of the clan settlements that dominate the relatively small Nocturnean population of 15 million people.Recruitment for the Salamanders starts early on Nocturne, at the ages of 6 or 7 Terran years. Those selected as aspirants are first apprenticed to a Salamanders Astartes who will be their mentor and guide through the process and then taught the ancient ways of the forge. As their training progresses they are required to perform the same trials as Vulkan did in his competition with the Emperor, culminating in the capture of a great salamander reptiloid on the slopes of Mount Deathfire. Those aspirants who survive to complete all of these tasks are taken for biological enhancement and implantation of the Chapter's gene-seed at the Salamanders' fortress-monastery on the moon of Prometheus.It should be noted that after their implantation with their gene-seed, every Salamander Astartes is slightly mutated by the interaction between their genetics and constant exposure to the high levels of radioactivity present on their world due to the radioactive rare earth elements often uncovered by the extreme volcanism. They have developed deep ebony skins, regardless of their original ethnicities, and the irises of their eyes now glow red in the darkness. This is because they have developed the ability to see in the infrared levels of the electromagnetic spectrum to deal with the constant volcanic pollution that blocks out their world's sunlight, an ability they call "Fire-sight."The Imperium's Ecclesiarchy does not consider these mutations heretical as the Salamanders and the Nocturneans themselves have always been among the most staunchly loyal to the Emperor of the Adeptus Astartes. The Promethean Cult prevalent on the world is an accepted variant of the Imperial Cult.