vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
House Vyronii - House Strength: At the time of the coming of the Warmaster Horus and his Traitor forces to the Coronid Deeps, House Vyronii was grievously understrength. Its numbers stood as just below 100 operational Knight armours, predominantly of the Cerastus and Questoris patterns. This would place House Vyronii in the lower segment of Secundus-grade Knight households.As a consequence of the former grand master's reluctance to forge bonds with the Mechanicum after the coming of the Great Crusade, few of its ancient Knight armours had been replaced and almost every one was a relic of the Dark Age of Technology and a veteran of the wars of the Age of Strife, repaired and rebuilt countless times.As such the Machine Spirits residing within each was possessed of a singular anima, at once bellicose and brooding, and this demeanour was inevitably transmitted to the Scion pilots via their integration with the Thrones Mechanicum. Only later, in the aftermath of the vicious attack by the Cyclothrathe Mechanicum and its consequent pact with the Forge World of Mezoa, did House Vyronii received limited re-armament.In particular Grand Master Gios, who was mortally wounded in his brave mission to bring news of the Warmaster's betrayal to his father ahead of the treacherous Cyclothrathe Taghmata host, was gifted by the magi of Mezoa with a precious Questoris Knight Magaera, dubbed Dei-phagia in reference to the Knight house's extermination of the autochthonic god-things of Damaetus III/II. The armour's artificer-wrought systems not only saved his life, but rendered him all but immortal in a manner not unlike a hero of the Legiones Astartes interred within the sarcophagus of a Dreadnought.At the time of the Warmaster's march on the Coronid Deeps, the bulk of the house's Scions were concentrated once more on Damaetus III/II, with a handful of other houses serving in far-distant expeditionary fleets. This included those House Vyronii Knights which were known to be fighting at the Siege of Sebundapor alongside a chapter of the Blood Angels Legion on Feron III, while contact with those Knights serving with the Death Eagles Millennial of the Emperor's Children was lost around the time of the Isstvan III Atrocity, and it would be many standard years until it was re-established.As war gripped the Coronid Deeps, the Vyronii would not shirk their duty as exposed as the Damaetus System was, deploying households to bolster Imperial force concentration on Lascal, Manachea and Port Maw, while at least one battle group is known to have been trapped behind the closing blockade of Mezoa before the reaper's shadow fell across the Cyclops Cluster.Of the remaining Scions of the Vyronii, perhaps no more than 50 in number, each stood to defend their homeworld with the resolution born of generations of such dark watches against the horrors of the night, against the doom which came for it across the blackness of space.For the entirety of the Horus Heresy, and the years of war that followed, the survival of House Vyronii was far from guaranteed, and the losses it suffered may still condemn the household to a slow death.
House Vyronii - House Colours: Throughout the Age of Strife, the Knight armours of House Vyronii were uniformly cream, the natural green glow of the gas giant of Damaetus II giving their armours the emerald green sheen they would later adapt as their House's official colour. It would only be after its integration within the armed forces of the Imperium and the subsequent expeditions under distant stars that this lack of adornment would be noticed by the Scions themselves.As of 891.M30, the emerald green and white livery of House Vyronii was officially recognised by the Officio Militaris College of Arms, and by 904.M31 it had been ratified as their sole privilege. Beside these primary colours, the Nobles of Damaetus III/II favour red or gueules as a secondary colour, symbolising the blood they have shed in the defence of their homeworld and its people.
House Vyronii - House Arms: House Vyronii's chosen emblem is a crowned white skull on a field of emerald green born upon two crossed white lightning bolts. When fielded as a blazon, the heraldry includes the avian wings of an Imperium-aligned Knight house as supporters.
House Vyronii - House Personal Heraldry: Perhaps in contrary to other Imperial Knight houses of the Segmentum Obscurus Extremis, such as House Orhlacc or House Makabius, House Vyronii favours a colourful and complex heraldry which incorporates countless honour badges. Some of these honour badges are more common, whilst others are only the privilege of a select few.These honour badges can take on both the aspects of pictographic emblems, as well as more abstract forms such as bands of secondary colours or other motifs to denote rank, accomplishments or vows taken prior to battle.Most notoriously, House Vyronii reveres their century-old Knight armours over the identity of its pilot; which explains why the Vyronii do not favour runes or the names of their pilots adorning their Knight's armour.As such, the deeds of the pilot are usually borne on honorary banners or the shoulder-borne tilting shield, which is easily replaced. As a result, they can vary greatly from one Knight to another. As an esteemed badge of long services, the armour itself may harbour a campaign badge or the revered emblem of the Imperialis on its armoured cowl.Perhaps most common is the fortified tower icon, usually rendered in white. This honour badge proclaims that the Knight has partaken in the defence of House Vyronii's ancestral domain, the Felweather Keep.Amongst the Knights having endured a particular challenging hardship, it was common to wear a raguly bend sinister, a jagged diagonal band to commemorate the deed and the triumph over a particularly challenging foe. Elsbet Vorr bore the raguly bend after her victory over the god-beast she slew.Ranks such that of the Chancellor were denoted by the chequered red and white livery borne on the shoulder armour as it is still in use amongst numerous Knight Houses. This was the case for Chancellor Jasstan who also bore three diagonal red bands to commemorate the three grievous wounds he was dealt, as well as the three swords he adopted as "The Thrice-Slain."As it was demanded by tradition, the colour scheme on honour banners are always inverted from its depiction on the shoulder-mounted shield, creating a colourful mix of red, white and green which constitute the typical appearance of a House Vyronii Knight.
House Vyronii - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Rulebook (Specialty Game), pp. 50-51Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Shadow and Iron (Specialty Game), pg. 9Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Titandeath (Specialty Game), pp. 72, 92-93Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Loyalist Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 114-117The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 52-53, 114-121Mortis (Novel) by John French, Chs. 13, 17, 21Siege of Terra Website - Mortis Novel
House Warwick - House Warwick: House WarwickImperial KnightQuestor MechanicusAdeptus MechanicusKnight World
House Warwick - Notable Campaigns: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Warwick - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Warwick - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Warwick - House Colours: The colours of House Warwick are purple and green.
House Warwick - House Arms: The arms of House Warwick are not listed in current Imperial records, although the images attached suggest that they might be a green dragon head breathing flames on a field of purple, or some variation thereof.
House Warwick - Canon Conflict: This Knight House appears in the outdated 126th issue of the UK edition of White Dwarf magazine, and the images presented here do not mesh with existing canon. The Knights shown in this article are all labelled as Knight Lancers, although these Knights in their current incarnation do not use any of these chassises.
House Warwick - Sources: White Dwarf 126 (UK), "Knights: Eldar & Human War Machines" by Andy Chambers, pg. 31
House Wentorth - House Wentorth: House Wentorth was once a Knight Household that competed with House Makabius for dominion over their shared home world of Baroda in the Grail Abyss. Installed on Baroda at the same time as other Knightly Houses, sometime during the Age of Technology in the 25th Millennium, House Wentorth was the sole survivor of a century-old internecine war between the Knight Houses of Baroda and was the last true rival to House Makabius. The House's history ended abruptly with its final defeat against House Makabius in 831.M30. Having been destroyed solar decades before the Great Crusade reached this storm-wracked world, Imperial records of this obscure Knight House are scarce at best, as any survivors would have been absorbed by the victorious House Makabius. It may well be that some of the Makabius' Scions are indeed descendants of House Wentorth by blood; however their incorporation into House Makabius means that the history and identity of House Wentorth are now truly lost.
House Wentorth - Notable Campaigns: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Wentorth - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Wentorth - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Wentorth - House Colours: The colours of House Wentorth are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Wentorth - House Arms: The arms of House Wentorth are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Winterscale - House Winterscale: House Winterscale is a powerful Rogue Trader dynasty that is one of the three largest Rogue Trader houses operating within the Koronus Expanse of the Segmentum Obscurus. It was founded by Sebastian Winterscale, who went on to establish Winterscale's Realm in the Koronus Expanse. The house still rules that region of the Expanse to this day. The current head of the dynasty is Calligos Winterscale.
House Winterscale - Notable Members: Sebastian Winterscale - Sebastian Winterscale was the founder of House Winterscale.Elbor Winterscale - Elbor Winterscale was the first to make contact with the Asuryani ghostship Whisper of Anaris, the only survivor of the Chaos-cursed craftworld Lu'Nasad.Arturos Winterscale - Arturos Winterscale was Calligos Winterscale's predecessor as head of House Winterscale.Calligos Winterscale - Calligos Winterscale is the current head of the dynasty, though some claim he seized the house's Warrant of Trade after Arturos Winterscale's death with no actual hereditary right to it.
House Winterveil - House Winterveil: House Winterveil is a Loyalist Imperial Knight House of the Questor Imperialis, directly aligned with the Imperium of Man.There is very little information in Imperial records about this Knight House, and it is unknown from which Knight World it hails.However, the ebon Knights of House Winterveil have thwarted dozens of Drukhari raids in the systems surrounding their home world, earning bitter enmity from the scions of Commorragh.
House Winterveil - Notable Campaigns: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Winterveil - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Winterveil - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Winterveil - House Colours: The colours of House Winterveil are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Winterveil - House Arms: The arms of House Winterveil are not listed in current Imperial records.
House Wyvorn - House Wyvorn: Once a loyal House of Imperial Knights from the proud Knight World of Adrastapol, House Wyvorn is now a mere footnote in Imperial history, the entire House having been declared reductum hereticum extremis by the High Lords of Terra following their betrayal during the Donatosian War.During that conflict, House Wyvorn willingly followed House Chimaeros into sedition, betraying their brothers and sisters in order to ally themselves with the traitorous Heretic Astartes of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion.It is currently unknown if any member of House Wyvorn is still at large in the galaxy, though according to official records, House Wyvorn has been totally destroyed.
House Wyvorn - House History: As one of the more obscure households of Imperial Knights from the Knight World of Adrastapol, there is little information on the origin of House Wyvorn. On Adrastapol itself, House Wyvorn has always stood in the shadow of the more influential Knight Houses like House Chimaeros or House Draconis, which might explain why Adrastapol's own historians like the esteemed Sage-Scribe Sendraghorst speak so little of House Wyvorn, even before their ultimate betrayal of the Imperium.Overshadowed by the other houses, the Knights of House Wyvorn possessed a dubious reputation amongst their fellow Knights. While their martial abilities were never questioned, the Knights of House Wyvorn were generally considered callous fighters for whom the end justified the means and who were more determined to earn victory than care how the combat was carried on.Although the origins of the tension between House Draconis and House Wyvorn are now lost and buried beneath a pall of secrecy, it was no secret that House Wyvorn was always politically closer to House Chimaeros, which made it the perfect target for Viscount Gerraint's machinations.Already shunned by the other Houses and tight-lipped about their actions, House Wyvorn seemed to be the perfect partner for Gerraint's plot to retake the high kingship of Adrastapol for himself.More than House Wyvorn's reputation, it was the persistent rumour of some "hidden strength" of the house that ultimately led the Traitor Gerraint Tan Chimaeros to ally himself with the Wyvorn.
House Wyvorn - Notable Campaigns: Donatosian Uprising (Unknown Date.M41) - Also referred to as the Donatos War, the Donatosian Uprising marked the Imperial assault upon the rebellious Industrial World of Donatos Primus. Through the laxity of its rulers, previously undetected Chaos Cults had been allowed to grow strong until their presence invited the direct involvement of their tenebrous masters -- a Word Bearers warband under the control of the Dark Apostle Varakh' Lorr. The cultists succeeded in overthrowing the Imperial planetary government and killing the Planetary Governor as well as corrupting large portions of the Donatosian Planetary Defence Forces. However, the enemy's victory was not complete: Loyalist PDF troops and the world's contingent of the Adeptus Arbites still held out against the enemy and were able to issue a call for aid. The Imperium acted with uncustomary swiftness, despatching a sizeable army of Astra Militarum regiments under the general command of High King Tolwyn Tan Draconis and his Imperial Knights. Having secured a beachhead, the men and women of the Cadian Shock Troops, Tanhollis Highlanders and Mubraxis Dustdogs pushed back the insurgents. Both sides knew that control of the Adamant Citadels, an extensive network of powerful fortifications, would bring victory on Donatos Primus and it was with this goal in mind that High King Tolwyn prosecuted his war. As the Loyalist Imperial Knights of House Draconis, House Minotos and House Pegasson charged the enemy, they were betrayed by the Knights of House Chimaeros and House Wyvorn. With the death of High King Tolwyn during this betrayal, Viscount Gerraint Tan Chimaeros proclaimed himself the new High King of Adrastopol with the backing of Archduke Dunkan Tan Wyvorn whilst Tolwyn's son and heir was proclaimed counter-king to Gerraint's claim. For a small time, Renegade Knights, Chaos Cultists and the Word Bearers Heretic Astartes were able to unite their forces against the Imperial troops, but ultimately their clashing agendas led to considerable infighting, allowing the Imperials to emerge victorious. Both Renegade Houses were virtually annihilated on Donatos Primus, declared reductum hereticus extremis their deeds removed from all mention in Imperial records.
House Wyvorn - Notable House Wyvorn Knights: Iron God - The Iron God was the personal Knight armour of Archduke Dunkan until he chose to abandon his mount in the final act of the Donatos Uprising and bond with the relic Acastus Knight Porphyrion House Wyvorn secretly possessed. What happened to the Iron God in the wake of the Loyalists' victory remains unclear.
House Wyvorn - Notable House Wyvorn Personnel: Archduke Dunkan Tan Wyvorn - Dunkan Tan Wyvorn was the last ruler of House Wyvorn and the one responsible for his House's downfall. Described as a brutal and capable warrior, the Archduke never had the means to satisfy his personal ambitions. As a leader, he was incapable of winning over the hearts of strangers and lacked the charisma of other great leaders, or for that matter basic sincerity, as one of his most recurring traits seems to have been that when he smiled, the smile never reached his eyes. Rumour had it that he was a man of cruel intention. Proud of his station and the extensive history of his House, Dunkan was a hard man to like, believing himself superior to all common Imperial citizen or soldiers. When forced to cooperate with other branches of the Imperium's military, Dunkan has been noted to display no small amount of arrogance, especially when in the presence of officers of the Astra Militarum. Dunkan was known to deliver barely hidden insults to the face of a commanding officer. He remains famous to this day for daring to ask Cadian officers if their troops would be able to keep up with the rapid advance of his Knights during the Donatos Uprising. Emotionally distant and reserved, the only thing that truly satisfied the Archduke was the prospect of fighting and the glory he would be able to claim for himself and his House. However, as House Wyvorn lacked both the numbers of the greater Adrastapolian Houses or the martial reputations of such distinguished knightly households as House Minotos, the Wyvorn Knights were often relegated to secondary tasks, where little honour could be won. This seems to have considerably agitated Archduke Dunkan and might even have been the cause for his House's eventual treachery. While Dunkan respected the military might of the Word Bearers he allied himself with, House Wyvorn's treachery was motivated purely by the better political standing they would be granted in the wake of House Draconis' destruction. Archduke Dunkan's last and perhaps greatest flaw was to be overly confident in his own abilities. When the tides of battle turned against the turncoat Knights, Archduke Dunkan unleashed his House's secret weapon -- a relic Acastus Knight Porphyrion, which in his arrogance Dunkan Tan Wyvorn assumed he would be able to control without consequence. This proved to be his undoing, as his mind broke under the stress of attempting to bond with the Acastus Knight armour. Dunkan lost all sense of reality, his egomaniac tendencies leading him to believe himself to be a god. Despising the weakness of his own Knights, Dunkan turned his new steed's guns on his own retainers before confronting both the remaining Loyalists and his former allies in House Chimaeros. Archduke Dunkan Tan Wyvorn was eventually killed when the Acastus Knight Prophyrion's reactors exploded and the mighty machine was brought low by the combined efforts of Markos Dar Drakonis, Suset Dar Drakonis and Tamsane Dar Pegasson.
House Wyvorn - House Strength: As one of the secondary Knight houses of Adrastapol, House Wyvorn was rated a Tertius-Grade Knight house. Fragmentary records that survived the conflict on Donatos Primus and the data-purge on the house's homeworld of Adrastapol suggest that prior to the Donatos Uprising, House Wyvorn may have been able to field between 40 and 50 suits of Knight armour.As a Questoris Familia, House Wyvorn relied upon the Knight Paladin and its variants such as the Knight Errant, Knight Gallant and Knight Crusader. As would later be revealed, House Wyvorn had also been able to maintain one of the most powerful patterns of Knight armour ever produced: the Acastus Knight Porphyrion.This terrible machine of war was unleashed in the desperate final battle of the Donatos Uprising, the same battle that would mark the end of House Wyvorn -- for even the Prophyrion's tremendous firepower was not enough to halt the determined assault of the Loyalist Knights of Adrastapol.
House Wyvorn - House Appearance: Alone amongst the knightly households of Adrastapol, House Wyvorn favoured a single-tone colour scheme, whereas the other Houses dispalyed bisected or quartered heraldry.
House Wyvorn - House Colours: The colour of House Wyvorn was a simple acid green.
House Wyvorn - House Arms: The arms of House Wyvorn have been purged from all official Imperial records. All that is known is that it bore the symbol of the wyvorn, or wyvern, an ancient mythological beast from the legends of Old Terra from which House Wyvorn derived its name.
House Xerathon - House Xerathon: House Xerathon is a Renegade Knight House formerly of the Questor Mechanicus that repudiated its oath of loyalty to the Mechanicum and the Imperium of Man during the Horus Heresy.
House Xerathon - Notable Campaigns: Battle of Beta-Garmon, "The Titandeath" (006-013.M31) - House Xerathon took part in the long and savage Beta-Garmon campaign, which included hundreds of war zones across dozens of worlds. During this conflict, House Xerathon provided Knight support to the Legio Mortis. 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 Xerathon - Notable Knights: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Xerathon - Notable Personnel: None listed in current Imperial records.
House Xerathon - House Colours: The colours of House Xerathon are purple and black.
House Xerathon - House Arms: The arms of House Xerathon are not listed in current Imperial records
House Zavora - House Zavora: House Zavora, known also by the cognomen "The Wayward Knights", is a Secundus (Maxis)-grade Loyalist Knight house of the Questor Mechanicus that served the ancient Mechanicum directly.During the earliest days of the Age of Strife, the fallen House Morbidia began as one of the early rivals of the Houses of Zavora and Taranis for power and favour of the Omnissiah's priesthood on Mars.During those dark and lost centuries however, House Morbidia erred and for crimes the truth of which has been long-suppressed within the vast and ancient data cores of the Red Planet, was pronounced excommunicate by the fabricator-general and condemned to servitude, allowing Houses Zamora and Taranis to ascend to primacy among the Knight houses of Mars.
House Zavora - House History: The House of Zavora was not originally intended to stand guard over the sands of Mars. Indeed, the Knight armours that would become the foundation of the household were originally destined for a planet elsewhere in the galaxy during the Dark Age of Technology.As the colony ships of Humanity spread across the galaxy the means of their survival were often forged upon the Red Planet, sent forth with technological marvels designed to ensure the prosperity of those seeking a new life. Many such expeditions were accompanied by complements of Knight armour devoid of name or legacy.This was not to occur, for the galaxy was engulfed by Warp Storms and the Red Planet fell into anarchy and war following the onset of the Age of Strife. Against the degenerate hords of the Cy-carnivora, the fledgling Cult Mechanicus raised many tools of war and the Knight armours intended for a distant colony were instead transformed into the House of Zavora, pledged to defend the beleaguered forge-fanes scattered across the oxide deserts of Mars.Few other details relating to the history of House Zavora have survived the passage of time, save that the household aided in the chastisement of House Morbidia for its heinous actions against the fabricator-general of the ancient Mechanicum.
House Zavora - Great Crusade: When the time came for the Mechanicum forces to take their place amongst those of the Great Crusade, 200 Knights of House Zavora departed the surface of Mars, finally ascending to the stars as they had long been destined to do. The long-standing ties the warriors of Zavora held with the Cult Mechanicus had done much to influence the rites and practices of the household. Many of the house's practices lie unrecorded save within the sealed records of the now-destitute fortress constructed upon the plain of Syrtis Major, yet it remains common knowledge that each warrior of House Zavora would exchange a single organ for an augmented cybernetic counterpart come their ascension to the Throne Mechanicum.Further esoteric augmentation would be borne by more seasoned warriors of the household, with the greatest sign of devotion deemed the permanent entombment of a Scion within their own armour, to bring them closer to the Omnissiah and His greatness. These practices were often viewed as extreme, if not outright deviant, by the more puritan supporters of the Imperial Truth and by many outside the Mechanicum, which consigned House Zavora to solely serve aboard Mechanicum fleets, save for the rarest of circumstances.
House Zavora - Horus Heresy: Both the eventual fate and true loyalties of House Zavora remain open to much interpretation, for the details of its actions during the Horus Heresy are severely lacking and prone to conflicting statements. That over half of the house's strength, some 200 Knight armours and supporting Sacristans, were present on Mars during this time is well known, as is the fact that none still lived upon the liberation of Mars following the Siege of Terra.Pict-captures taken within the walls of Zavora's Martian fortress show an edifice torn asunder by war, its halls littered with the broken remains of Knights bearing the livery of House Zavora; analysis of their positioning and fragmented tactical data suggest that the warriors of House Zavora fought amongst themselves, though the reasoning behind such actions remains unknown. Those of Zavora located elsewhere in the galaxy come the Horus Heresy found their loyalty split.Many held ardent loyalty towards Mars and, upon hearing that the Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal had sworn himself to the Warmaster Horus, turned away from the Imperium. Others refused to believe that the Cult Mechanicus had turned against the Emperor and stood alongside His Loyalists. It was this latter group that was to have the greatest impact on the unfolding conflict, for it turned to Ryza for aid and in doing so found a means to replenish the house's numbers.House Zavora were instrumental in throwing back the tide of Traitors that sought to conquer the Furnace of Shackled Stars and those that survived that conflict earned countless honours across the Ultima Segmentum in the years to follow.
House Zavora - Notable Campaigns: Schism of Mars (005-006.M31) - During the opening days of the galaxy-wide conflict that would come to be known as the Horus Heresy, Mars too, fell into infighting as Loyalist factions of the Mechanicum fought the Dark Mechanicum faction loyal to the Traitor Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal in a deadly and bitter civil war. Pict-recordings from this tumultuous ers show that House Zavora fell into opposing factions and fought one another in a conflict that mirrored the larger conflict that would consume the galaxy during the Age of Darkness.Defence of Ryza (012.M31) - During the Horus Heresy, a great battle took place on the Legio Crucius' home Forge World known as the Defence of Ryza. Forces of the Dark Mechanicum, led by the Traitor Titan Legions and their Chaos Knight allies fought against the Loyalist servants of the Omnissiah. Knights of House Zavora, House Sidus and House Taranis, alongside the Titan Legios of the Legio Honorum, Legio Osedax and the Legio Crucius, stood their ground against the Traitors. During this conflict countless Titans and Knights fell on both sides. Eventually, the Loyalists were able to drive back the Traitors, only to be bombarded by a Chaos Warfleet from orbit. There was little to celebrate, as the guardians of Ryza tasted pyrrhic victory, and the world never recovered the prominence it had known as a true rival to Mars before the Heresy.
House Zavora - Notable Knights: Immortal Numen (Acastus Knight Porphyrion) - One amongst many households standing as protectors of Mars, House Zavora remained one of the most ardent adoptees of Mechanicum beliefs and rituals. The Scions of House Zavora were known to bear augmentations that helped establish a deeper bond with their armours. In rarer instances, long-serving Scions, such as Gafrali Bex, commander of the Immortal Numen, pictured above before its departure from Mars during the Great Crusade, participated in elaborate rites that saw them permanently sealed within their armour. Amongst the greater Imperium, many saw such a practice as barbaric, yet to House Zavora it was the greatest honour and the pinnacle of their devotion to the Omnissiah.Veiled Hunter (Questoris Knight Errant) - Veiled Hunter was a Questoris Knight Errant that fought in the battles of both the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. At the time, Veiled Hunter was one of House Zavora's preeminent beast slayers during the Great Crusade. Of particular note are the successful hunting tactics utilised by this Knight Errant in hunting of the bio-colossi of the Gransathian Dominion during a seven-year-long xenocidal campaign against this upstart empire.
House Zavora - Notable Personnel: High Scion Vincent Nayadayus - Vincent Nayadayus was the pilot of the Questoris Knight Errant Veiled Hunter and was considered his house's preeminent beast slayer during the Great Crusade. Of particular note are the articles of war written by Nayadayus' own hand that detail tactics best suited for hunting the bio-colossi of the Gransathian Dominion, penned during the seven-year-long extermination of that xenos empire. This experience saw Nayadayus appointed Seneschal of War for those disparate elements of House Zavora not located on Mars when the time came for the household to fight against the god-engines of the Collegia Titanica. Despite  expressing great displeasure at the circumstances of his position, he proved ardently devoted to his task, registering three engine-kills during Mankind's civil war, as well as writing several tactical manifests that were disseminated across Loyalist households.Gafrali Bex - Gafrali Bex was the pilot of the Acastus Knight Porphyrion Immortal Numen during the Great Crusade.
House Zavora - House Strength: By the time of the Horus Heresy, House Zavora bore the grade of Secundus (Maxis), which indicated it was known to stand at the higher end of that grade. As the house relied upon the forges of Mars to replenish its numbers, the Scions of Zavora were regularly supplied with freshly-forged Knight armours and the latest innovations produced by the manufactoria of the Red Planet.Before the Death of Innocence, House Zavora were recorded as possessing 383 operational Knight armours, with over 100 others sealed within the vaults of its fortress awaiting Scions possessed of the skill required to pilot them. Over half this number were upon Mars when warfare broke out; logs pulled from dozens of fallen Zavora Knights suggest that the house battled on Mars for nearly two standard years before falling silent.The remaining strength of Zavora split into two factions, one of which supported the Warmaster Horus and sought to return to Mars and the other which declared loyalty to the Imperium. The former placed themselves within the Warmaster's fleets, and several were recorded as having walked upon the Red Planet when the Warmaster reached the Sol System. The latter faction took temporary lodgings on Ryza, increasing its numbers in preparation for the war to come.
House Zavora - House Colours: The colours of House Zavora is a halved red and white colour scheme with black hazard markings often displayed on the left armorial of their Knight suits.
House Zavora - House Arms: The arms of House Zavora is a large black skull crowned by an Iron Halo, with multiple snakes protruding from the bottom of it. This central symbol is displayed upon a field of white.
House Zavora - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Loyalist Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 108-113, 118-124, 128-137Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: The Defence of Ryza (Specialty Game), pp. 19, 60-61, 78-79The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 96-105, 99Warhammer Community - The Defence of Ryza: The Story (23 July 2020)
House Ærthegn - House Ærthegn: House Ærthegn (pronounced Ay-ER-thay-en), known also by its older name of Wræken Dreor in its autochthonic household language, was a Renegade Knight house loyal to the Warmaster Horus during the latter years of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia. Accepted amongst the ranks of the Imperial Knight houses only by the personal writ of Horus, and treated by their peers with disdain and wary hostility, the Knights of House Ærthegn were masters of the marauder's bloody trade.Striking unannounced and with overwhelming force, the stark black machines of these border reavers hunted with brutal efficiency first for their own ends, and later under the authority of the Warmaster's command, placing no value on honour duels or other Knightly ideals which have been for so many Terran centuries the cornerstone of a Knight World's culture.Survival alone on the cold, dark fringe of the galaxy had, by necessity, forced the Knight house to become more fearsome than the monsters that surrounded it, and in the wars of the Heresy was to prove a deadly weapon in the Traitors' arsenal.
House Ærthegn - Notable House Ærthegn Knights: Kerberos - A Questoris Knight Magaera seized in battle from House Atrax at the height of the fighting on Numinal, the Maegera class armour Kerberos bore the heraldry of the Ærthegn Chieftess Ædalfae Red-wroth. Ædalflae's warband was one of the few to spurn Horus' attempts to dominate their house, returning to the old reaving ways of the Wrækan Dreor. Bloody raids by Ædalflae and other bands of Wrækan Dreor were to be a constant thorn in the side of both Cyclothrathe and Agathaon forces during the fighting in the Coronid Deeps.Great Thunoz - A Cerastus Knight-Lancer, Great Thunoz was recovered from the burning hulk of a Mezoan void ark sacked by a raiding band from House Ærthegn, whose sealed Knight armours allowed them to board and assault the craft while it was still in deep space and far from aid. This Knight armour bore the heraldry of Ærthegn warrior Grædan. Despite official records downplaying the size of House Ærthegn, they proved capable of fielding dozens of rare Knight patterns, like the Cerastus Knight Lancer Great Thunoz depicted below, during the Horus Heresy. Great Thunoz was to participate in multiple raids upon macro-cargo haulers across Ultramar to both cut Loyalist supply lines and secure materiel for the Crusade of Iron. The most audacious of these raids remains that of an assault upon a Legio Lysanda "coffin ship," overcoming the Scions of House Orhlacc tasked with defending the ship and capturing those Titans that remained in their cradles.
House Ærthegn - Notable House Ærthegn Personnel: Kynerak Gravewalker - Chieftain and appointed House Master of Ærthegn by the Warmaster Horus. Under his leadership, armed competition between the hosts of the Wrækan Dreor only intensified in order for them to prove their worth both to their Chieftain and their new overlord.Ædalfae Red-wroth - Chieftess Ædalfae Red-wroth was the Knight pilot of the Questoris Knight Magera Kerberor. Ædalfae's warband were one of the few to spurn Horus' attempts to dominate their House, returning to the old reaving ways of the Wrækan Dreor. Bloody raids by Ædalfae and other bands of Wrækan Dreor were to be a constant thorn in the side of both Cyclothrathe and Agathaon forces during fighting in the Coronid Deeps.Grædan - Ærthegn warrior, and Knight pilot of the Cerastus Knight-Lancer Great Thunoz.
House Ærthegn - House Strength: In the years before their unification with the Imperium, the Wrækan Dreor were thought to have operated well over 150 Knights split between sub-factions, supported by a large force of marauder infantry and slave-catchers aboard shuttlecraft and other small atmosphere-capable interface vehicles. While some of those who resisted Horus when he arrived at the hidden home system of House Ærthegn perished in battle, it seems the majority survived, and being the charismatic warlord he was, Horus was able to bind them to his sway rather than needing to destroy them.As the Knight House was taken into Imperial service, official records submitted to the Divisio Militaris by officers of the Sons of Horus attest that the total fighting strength of House Ærthegn numbered at around 100 Knight armours, mostly of ancient Knight Paladin or Knight Errant designs; an estimate which places them amongst the smaller Knight Houses incorporated into the Imperium of the Tertius-grade. After the beginning of Warmaster Horus' rebellion, it quickly became apparent that these numbers were far from accurate; even as the first fratricidal acts of the Horus Heresy were undertaken, hosts bearing the colours of House Ærthegn, whose numbers were far in excess of those reports held bythe Divisio Militaris, were unleashed upon Imperial outposts and isolated garrisons who had declared themselves for Terra, or had held to a naive claim of neutrality. The warriors of House Ærthegn, their numbers concealed at Horus' orders, may have numbered closer to 300, rivalling some of the most ancient and largest Knight Houses that were in Imperial service.Those few destroyed Knights recovered from battles along the vanguard of Horus' advance across the northern reaches of the Imperium, often Cerastus Knight-Lancer armours of recent manufacture, bore the distinctive marks of the forge-wrights of Cyclothrathe. That such forces were concealed in plain sight and bolstered with the most advanced of technologies in secret speaks of the hidden subtleties and long planning for the Warmaster Horus' rebellion.It is, however, quite possible that these suppositions and reports do not hold the whole truth. Several reports from embattled Loyalist commands on the northern galactic rim detailed the intervention of bands of Knights whose markings and tactics match those of the Wrækan Dreor of old, before the arrival of the Imperium. Unpredictable and savage, these warriors seem equally likely to set about the annihilation of those fighting under Horus' banner before departing as they are to slaughter both sides and strip the battlefield clean once the fighting ends; yet in the dark days of the Horus Heresy, even the most unpredictable of allies made welcome news.
House Ærthegn - House Colours: House Ærthegn has always been known for their austere appearance, disdaining the use of more colourful heraldries of other houses. As such the Ærthegn official colours were recorded as the sable and red of the Wrækan Dreor of old. The patterning of red and black chosen by Wrækan Dreor warriors for their armour follows no known scheme of heraldry recorded by the Officio Militaris College of Arms, with no apparent correlation berween the pattern's complexity and the rank of the bearer.
House Ærthegn - House Arms: The Ærthegn coat of arms was represented by a black and red eight-pointed star on a white background, with the inscription of the House's name, "Ærthegn," displayed prominently beneath it.
House Ærthegn - House Personal Heraldry: Despite the lack of ostentatious decoration or adornment of the Knight mounts, among the barbaric warriors of House Ærthegn is the application of often surprisingly artistic emblems, such as the spread-winged crow applied to their Knights and Honour Banners -- a symbol of prophecy and fate among the Wrækan Dreor. Some Knights would utilise their own personal arms, often depicted by a skull surmounting crossed spears. This combination appears to indicate a position within the House sub-cult of the Anhaga, known among other houses as the Scions Dolorous.Many of Ærthegn's Honour Banners would depict the emblem of a crow slaying a serpent, synonymous in Ærthegn myth with triumph over adversity; the inclusion of the Eye of Horus into this ancient symbol of victory suggested the impact the Warmaster Horus' arrival had on the Wrækan Dreor. Another notable feature would be the prolific runic inscriptions in the autochthonic script used by House Ærthegn, often displayed prominently on a Knight's carapace plating and greaves. These inscriptions would declaim the bearer's past triumphs in a ritualised and archaic style.
House Ærthegn - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Traitor Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 23-27The Horus Heresy Book Four: Conquest (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 130-137
Howl of the Hearthworld (Short Story) - Howl of the Hearthworld (Short Story): Howl of the Hearthworld is a short story published in the Horus Heresy Series. Howl of the Hearthworld was originally published simultaneously as a part of the anthology novella Death and Defiance and as a stand-alone E-Book. It is now also included in the War Without End anthology novel.
Howl of the Hearthworld (Short Story) - Synopsis: In the wake of Prospero and Magnus the Red's betrayal, Space Wolves Watch Packs were sent to keep an eye on each Primarch, ready to strike should treachery rear its head. One Pack made their way to Terra itself, assigned to the Emperor's Praetorian, Rogal Dorn...
Howling Banshees - Howling Banshees: The Howling Banshees are the all-female Craftworld Aeldari Aspect Warriors who specialise in highly mobile melee combat and represent the Aeldari war god Khaela Mensha Khaine's ability to instill fear in his foes.The banshee is a harbinger of woe in Aeldari Mythology. It is fitting that these most feared of all the Asuryani Aspect Warriors draw their inspiration from this creature. These lightly-equipped warrior-women are fearsome melee combat specialists who draw their inspiration from the unearthly creature with which they share a name.What the Howling Banshees lack in brute, physical strength they make up for with their uncanny and inhuman precision and efficiency. The piercing warcry of these Aspect Warriors has heralded the coming doom of countless enemies of the Aeldari people.
Howling Banshees - History: According to the tales of Aeldari Mythology, the spectral creatures known as banshees are the harbingers of grief and death. It is said that their cry heralds misfortune and the certainty of coming death, and calls forth dead spirits from the Warp.Even worse from the Craftworld Aeldari point of view, are those stories which claim that a banshee's cry may even call the spirits of the dead out from the safety of their Spirit Stones and thus lure them into the waiting embrace of Slaanesh, "She Who Thirsts."What is known is that the release of an Aeldari soul into the Warp is always accompanied by a terrible shriek, one which is felt by others' souls rather than heard, and that Aeldari souls have been known to disperse unexpectedly into the Immaterium during the transference between Spirit Stones or even from a Spirit Stone into a craftworld's Infinity Circuit.Legend says that the Howling Banshees Aspect was first created when the Aeldari Crone Goddess Morai-Heg, the goddess of fate, desired the knowledge contained within her own divine blood and to this end sent her daughters, the banshees, to haunt their father, the war god Kaela Mensha Khaine, as he was the only being capable of harming another god.Seeking to end the torment caused by the banshees' constant wailing, Khaine decided to grant Morai-Heg her wish and severed her hand, which allowed her to drink the knowledge contained within her own divine blood.In exchange for his help, Khaine was granted the Howling Banshee Aspect by Morai-Heg and thus it came into being after the Fall of the Aeldari when the first Aspect Warriors were raised on the craftworlds. As such, it is only fitting that the Howling Banshees are perhaps the most feared of all of the Aspect Warriors, since their spiritual ancestors tortured even Khaine.When the Phoenix Lord Asurmen raised the first Aspect Warriors, he selected the warrior Jain Zar for her ferocity and speed, whereupon she became the first of her species to lose herself upon the Path of the Warrior and become an Exarch, and then she became the Howling Banshee Phoenix Lord. Of all the Phoenix Lords, Jain Zar is the most devoted to her Aspect Shrines, travelling the Webway to spread and nurture her Aspect's teachings on every craftworld within reach.In 838.M41 in the campaign that became known as the Pyre of Kiliak's Bane, Imperial xenographers began to plunder buried Aeldari artefacts on the Maiden World of Kiliak, bringing about a devastating retaliatory assault from the nearby craftworlds of Biel-Tan and Ulthwé. A sighting of the Phoenix Lord Jain Zar, accompanied by one hundred of her Howling Banshee disciples, was confirmed before the entire Imperial force was slaughtered and incinerated, their ashes scattered to the winds in retribution for their assault upon the Aeldari's lost patrimony.
Howling Banshees - Role: A notable exception in the otherwise genderless meritocracy that is the society of the Craftworld Aeldari, the Howling Banshees are almost always female Asuryani. This is because the banshees of Aeldari legend, the daughters of the Crone Goddess Morai-Heg, are themselves always female spirits.However, it is possible for Asuryani males to walk the Path of the Howling Banshee, though this is extraordinarily rare due to the lack of the needed psychological and physical assets amongst most males.However, there do exist several males amongst the ranks of the Banshees, often autarchs pausing on their advance along the Path of Command in order to master yet another aspect of Khaela Mensha Khaine. These often unique individuals are welcomed equally into the Aspect by their sisters-in-arms as long as they prove able to master the varied demands of the Aspect.Fast and athletic, the Aspect of the Howling Banshee emphasises swiftness of foot and the importance of mobility in hand-to-hand combat when training their Aspect Warriors. Howling Banshee Aspect Armour is coloured bone-white and contrasts sharply with the flaming shock of orange hair that marks each Aspect Warrior.Howling Banshees are swift and athletic female Aeldari warriors who specialise in deadly hand-to-hand fighting. Howling Banshees wear armoured helmets called Banshee Masks that contain psychosonic amplifiers which magnify their keening battle screams into mind-destroying shock waves.The forces unleashed by the Banshee Mask can inflict severe damage to the central nervous system of a Banshee's foe; inspiring a feeling of mortal terror and causing momentary paralysis to take hold over a victim's body. A full squad of Howling Banshees activating their masks in unison can cripple an enemy unit before a single blow is struck, leaving them paralysed and helpless before their onslaught.Howling Banshees each utilise a Shuriken Pistol and an Aeldari Power Sword in combat. This armament enables them to carve through even the toughest of enemy armour. Skillful use of their pistol can also eliminate vulnerable targets whilst their blade brings down heavily armoured foes such as Space Marines.Exarchs of the Howling Banshees Aspect Shrine can wield a deadly pair of Mirrorswords or the dreaded Executioner, a potent, powered polearm.Howling Banshees operate in squads of five to ten warriors, and these squads are sometimes lead by their Exarch. While capable of extraordinarily rapid transit on foot, these squads may also make use of Wave Serpent transports to move to their destinations even more rapidly.