vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Cult of the Second Son - Cult of the Second Son: The Cult of the Second Son is a Genestealer Cult native to the Hive World of Necromunda. Its genesis infestation was located in Hive Secundus, the second major hive city of the planet. The "Second Son" in the cult's name is a reference to its city of origin.Hive Secundus was eventually destroyed by a radioactive bombardment that caused it to topple, but the cult was not destroyed.Instead they took up residence in the vast subterranean warrens that lie beneath Necromunda's hives. The underhive gangs of Hive Primus have recently come into contact with the highly mutated cultists and the result has been internecine warfare.
Cult of the Second Son - History: On the infamous Hive World of Necromunda, the spire-like edifice of Hive Secundus was known for being rich in spirit and enlightenment as well as material wealth, more so even than its peer structure, Hive Primus, the capital of the world. Scholars sought to learn the mysteries of the Imperium from its extensive archives, and were so entranced by what they found they never left.But its outward appearance was a sham, for Hive Secundus was under the sway of a vast and frighteningly influential gene-sect. When this fact finally came to light, the lord general of Hive Primus ordered the bombing of the rival metropolis with high-yield rad munitions -- so thorough was this bombardment that the entire hive city, built far taller and thinner than its counterparts, toppled onto its side with an immense crash that caused seismic disruptions for hundreds of kilometres around.The entire area was declared quarantine extremis, and the denizens of Necromunda forbidden from even talking about it. Unfortunately for the hive lords, the bombing of the spire and its subsequent toppling did not prove enough to eradicate the cult that lurked at its heart.So hardy and determined were the cultists that hundreds of thousands of them survived, and ventured out once more through the extensive tunnel networks that tendrilled from their old haunts. The underhive gangs of Hive Primus, their interest piqued by the very forbiddal of raids upon the fallen metropolis, entered those same tunnels.The troglodytic creatures they found in there were mutated beyond all reason by the baleful emanations of the rad bombs -- and every bit as lethal as the Purestrain Genestealer from which they had been born.
Cult of the Star Saviours - Cult of the Star Saviours: The Cult of the Star Saviours is a Genestealer Cult that took over the world of Evergrind some time in the 40th Millennium.
Cult of the Star Saviours - History: Robbed of both its Genestealer Patriarch and Magus after a pinpoint strike by the Imperial Navy, the Cult of the Star Saviours misreads a solar-week-long meteor shower as a sign of imminent salvation. Taking the shooting stars in the skies of Evergrind as confirmation that celestial rapture is close at hand, the self-proclaimed "Last Hierarch," Primus Adamant, puts into motion his plans of conquest.On the night of the grand insurrection, every breeder city and dust farm upon Evergrind's surface is lit by the fires of revolution as the cult insurgency rises to impressively destructive heights. The cult's ascendance is like a flame to dry tinder. Riots break out in every quadrant as the local citizens take the opportunity to loot, kill and burn, exacting revenge for endless Terran centuries of oppression by their taskmasters.During the fighting, Primus Adamant is slain by an entrenched heavy weapons team, and with his demise the cult loses much of its cohesion. By the time the new moon rises, the planet has devolved into a post-apocalyptic bedlam populated by warring tribes, lone scavengers and scuttling half-xenos predators. Those craft whose captains are foolish enough to make planetfall upon Evergrind are soon brought low and claimed by the leaderless and atavistic cult -- and the ships' passengers with them.
Cult Tendricul - Cult Tendricul: The Cult Tendricul is a Genestealer Cult that originally infested the space station of Delugen but eventually spread to new worlds despite the intervention of the Craftworld Aeldari. In time, the cult even infected Aeldari space.
Cult Tendricul - History: A strike force of Black Guardians from Craftworld Ulthwé descended upon the gyroscopic space station of Delugen. The prophetic Farseer Anathroelle Starseeker led her warriors into Delugen's corridors. There they slew the Cult Tendricul in the most thorough fashion, putting every human they find to the sword whether they were infected by the xenos taint or not.The station's astropathic distress signal reached a Black Templars fleet, and whilst the Asuryani were rooting the last of the humans from the station's corridors, the Boarding Torpedoes of the Space Marines struck home.The Ulthwé force was driven off, and the last few survivors of Delugen escaped. Within a Terran year, however, the symbols of the Cult Tendricul were seen on a dozen planets, including the Aeldari Maiden World of Virgose.
Cult Tenebrous - Cult Tenebrous: The Cult Tenebrous is a Genestealer Cult that has been corrupted by Chaos, in this case the Plague God Nurgle.
Cult Tenebrous - History: Around 998.M41 elements of the Genestealer Cult Tenebrous found themselves becoming the infested, rather than the infesters, when their bulk lander was swallowed by a Warp Storm that stranded them on the outskirts of the Garden of Nurgle in the Realm of Chaos.The cult discovered the true meaning of parasitism and horror. Eventually, the Grandfather of Plagues allowed them to emerge into realspace once more, horrifically changed and ready to serve their new master's sickly agendas.
Cult Veridian - Cult Veridian: The Cult Veridian was a Genestealer Cult located on the Death World of Moraz III.
Cult Veridian - History: Moraz III, a Death World swathed in carnivorous jungle flora, is struck by the wreckage of a Rogue Trader's menagerie-ship. The Genestealer that broke free from the ship's hold infects the local populace, giving rise to the nascent Cult Veridian.However, every Human and hybrid member of the dynasty is killed when a regiment of Catachan Jungle Fighters uses Moraz III as a training world for their hunt-and-slay tactics. Only the Genestealers escape.Once the Catachans have left the planet, the xenos emerge once more, swiftly becoming the alpha predator of the jungle and reclaiming Moraz III for themselves before beginning the cycle anew.
Cults of Destruction - Cults of Destruction: The Cults of Destruction are warbands comprised of Chaos Space Marines who have devoted themselves to the merger of Daemons with machines and vehicles.These cults are primarily comprised of Obliterators, Mutilators and Warpsmiths, who all seek to spread the Chaos technovirus that creates hideous, arcane mergers of flesh and machine.
Cults of Destruction - History: An alliance struck deep in the Eye of Terror has seen a strange machine-plague boil across the worlds of the Imperium. The Cults of Destruction -- those warbands consisting of Obliterators, Mutilators and the Warpsmiths who strive to control them -- have always acted as seething hotbeds for the Chaos technovirus that infects them.Since the Daemon Primarchs Perturabo and Mortarion combined their genius in the Eye of Terror, however, this affliction has been weaponised. Now, instead of slowly and organically claiming the souls of those Heretic Astartes who obsess over their wargear, this curse now spreads in the form of an airborne info-virus, often referred to by the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus as "scrapcode."Scrapcode can be seen as the machine equivalent of the Dark Tongue, seemingly nonsensical at first, but harsh upon the ear to the point of causing physical pain, and possessed of an anarchic power that can cripple a Machine Spirit (artificial intelligence) and pervert a war engine to the cause of Chaos.Some say that even battle tanks and mighty Imperial Knights have been brought low by this ravening, self-replicating scourge, sprouting clusters of oil-slick gun barrels and forests of lashing cables from their adamantium hulls as they indiscriminately kill and destroy.Despite their mistrust of Warpsmiths, warbands of the Daemonkin welcome the Cults of Destruction amongst their ranks, for they bring with them unending carnage and anarchy.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cults of the Thousand Sons: The Cults of the Thousand Sons represented sub-formations composed of potent psykers within the Thousand Sons Space Marine Legion first created during the Great Crusade era who specialised in certain psychic and sorcerous disciplines.The Thousand Sons, like some of their fellow independent-minded Astartes Legions, employed a non-standard organisation within the XVth Legion that were known as "cults" and into which every Astartes was placed based upon their level of psychic ability.After the fall of the Thousand Sons to the service of Tzeentch during the Horus Heresy and the transformation in the Legion wrought by the casting of the Rubric of Ahriman, the five cults of the original Legion became nine.With this new Legion structure, the sorcerers of the XVth Legion delved more deeply into the true secrets of the Lord of Change and were guided by the will of their Daemon Primarch, Magnus the Red.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Athanaean Cult: The Athanaean Cult's members were practiced masters of the discipline of telepathy, and were able to transmit their thoughts and read the thoughts of others.They often acted as the Legion's communications officers since their communications were secure from all but other psykers and they assisted the Corvidae in conducting intelligence operations based on psychically-gleaned knowledge.While the Corvidae could provide an overall strategic direction based on their reading of the likely probabilities of future events occurring, the Athanaeans could use their ability to read the minds of the enemy to shape the Legion's battlefield tactics more directly, through weapon choice, the types of troops to be deployed and where, and the choice of the most advantageous terrain.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Corvidae Cult: The Corvidae were skilled in the psychic discipline of precognition, determining the likely probabilities of future events. They served as the XVth Legion's seers, warning their battle-brothers of dangers before they materialised.The Corvidae Cult also helped guide the Thousand Sons Legion along the lines of Fate during times of conflict and in pursuit of their overall psychic and material growth as a Legion. The Corvidae were responsible for much of the Legion's strategic planning.Corvidae could determine events that were not only far in the future but were immediately about to happen, which allowed them, for example, to navigate a minefield before it exploded or to know the exact sequence in which a series of enemy soldiers would fire at a particular target. The Cult badge of the Corvidae was a black raven's head.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Pavoni Cult: The Pavoni Cult tended to be the most egocentric of the known cults within the Thousand Sons Legion, as they had developed the psychic discipline known as physiokinesis. Physiokinesis allowed the Pavoni to manipulate body chemistry and physiology within themselves as well as others, a very useful trait for a group of already superhuman warriors.Skilled practitioners of physiokinesis were able to alter their physical appearance by manipulating the physical characteristics of their facial features at will as well as making themselves immune to the harmful effects of dehydration and other physical ailments.On the field of battle, the Pavoni were able to generate lightning by unleashing the inherent bioelectricity of their own nervous systems and focus it offensively, as well as cause the hearts of enemy warriors to explode by literally boiling the blood within their veins. When using these abilities against their foes, the Pavoni had a reputation for venality and spite which bordered on the sickening.The Pavoni were also the designated healers of the Legion, as they were capable of accelerating cellular growth and protein synthesis, which made them extraordinary medics who saved the lives of countless Astartes when even the Apothecaries could not.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Pyrae Cult: The Pyrae were pyrokinetics, meaning that they had developed the ability to both generate and control fire, the power for which was drawn from the Warp. The Pyrae could both generate lethal bursts of fire from their bodies that they could shape into a number of different forms, including projectiles fired from their hands as well as fire shields that could hold back foes and melt away incoming weapons fire.The Pyrae could manipulate existing or standing sources of fire and with their connection to the Warp could lower the temperature of flames striking their own bodies or the bodies of others, effectively making them immune to the effects of fire or great heat. The Pyrae also developed secondary psychic abilities that allowed them to control and manipulate mechanical automata like the robots of the Legio Cybernetica and even the massive Titans of the Collegia Titanica.These secondary abilities were known as technopathy. At the time of the closing years of the Great Crusade, the Pyrae Cult was in the political ascendence within the XVth Legion's hierarchy, while the Corvidae Cult was at its lowest ebb for nearly fifty standard years.For centuries, the Corvidae had been pre-eminent within the ranks of the Thousand Sons, but in the Legion's final decades within the Imperium, their power to read the twisting paths of the future had diminished until their seers could barely penetrate the shallows of things to come, largely a result of the masking efforts of the Chaos Gods. The cult badge of the Pyrae was a phoenix wreathed in flames.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Raptora Cult: The members of the Raptora Cult were gifted practitioners of the psychic discipline called telekinesis, and were known as telekines. In battle, a Raptora Cult member could psychically fling physical objects at their enemies or rip their enemies bodies' apart through the application of immense telekinetic power drawn from the Immaterium.When used defensively, telekines could generate barriers of invisible telekinetic force known as "kine shields" to block physical attacks on themselves or others.During the Fall of Prospero, the massed members of the Raptora Cult generated a massive kine shield over the whole of the city of Tizca intended to protect it from an orbital assault by the Space Wolves.The shield eventually failed when the sheer power unleashed by the Loyalists' assault upon the kine-shield proved to be more than the individual Raptora Astartes could mentally bear. They fell exhausted to the terrible mental strain, one by one, until the psionic shield collapsed.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cult of Change: The Cult of Change is anathema to order. They are the great unravellers, launching their armies wherever civilisation and reason exist. Similarly, in places of utter anarchy, the cult appears to impose their ever-shifting will.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cult of Duplicity: The Cult of Duplicity is unique within the Legion in that it both is and is not guided by a unified desire. The Sorcerers of this cult are by their very nature deceivers, at once appearing fractured and singular in their purpose. As such, it is impossible to know whether the sects within the cult are acting independently or as part of a singular, terrifying plan.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cult of Knowledge: The Cult of Knowledge is also drawn to the many curios hidden throughout the galaxy, particularly tomes of eldritch learnings, dark secrets and paradoxical logics. Through such lore, the cult is able to extrapolate the weaknesses in their enemies, and in the fabric of reality itself.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cult of Magic: The Cult of Magic is dedicated to the pure and unfettered use of sorcery. Their bloody campaigns are launched to secure arcane objects held by Imperial, xenos and other Chaos forces. These artefacts are then used as foci in the weaving of devastating spells.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cult of Manipulation: The Cult of Manipulation is similarly deceptive, using its tendrillar web of influence to sway the actions of its enemies. Vast networks of mortal and daemonic spies allow the cult to oversee their plots as they unfold through assassination, possession and the wreaking of pure havoc.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cult of Mutation: The Cult of Mutation embodies the transfiguring aspect of Tzeentch. Not only do they embrace the warping of flesh, but also the warping of reality itself. By their hand civilised planets are transformed into Daemon Worlds, and entire populations moulded into grotesque abominations.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cult of Prophecy: The Cult of Prophecy is guided by incessant whispers that bleed from the Warp. From these they divine the outcomes of multiple futures, and seek out events that can be twisted to their own purpose.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cult of Scheming: The Cult of Scheming is perhaps the most insidious of the cults, for the creation of convoluted plots is to them a form of profane worship. Every conquest and withdrawal is a perfectly planned manoeuvre, a single step that leads towards some unseen master stroke.
Cults of the Thousand Sons - Cult of Time: The Cult of Time is similarly enthralled by the future, as well as the present and past. They view the flow of time as an unwrought resource that can be shaped into a weapon. By their victories, ripples are sent both forwards and backwards in time, so that their enemies may be defeated before they are even engaged.
Currency - Currency: A currency is a standardisation of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example paper notes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money in common use within a specific environment over time, especially for people in a state. Currencies may act as stores of value and be traded between different governments or private individuals in foreign exchange markets, which determine the relative values of the different currencies. Currencies in this sense are either chosen by users or decreed by governments, and each type has limited boundaries of acceptance; i.e., laws may require a particular unit of account for payments to government agencies.In the galaxy of the 41st Millennium, the currency of Human-settled worlds consists of whatever objects are a common unit of exchange in a given locale -- government coinage, ephemeral digital ledger-data, ammunition, gold nuggets, or even beautiful shells picked from a beach. The currencies of Mankind are as varied as the worlds of the galaxy they inhabit, and are only measured in some standard unit of account when it comes time to collect the Imperial Tithe.
Currency - Xenos Currency: Xenos species and empires also have their currencies, though their interpretations of this concept may be remote and strange to Humans. The vile Orks, for example, count wealth in "teef" -- literally the teeth of enemy Greenskins kept for noisy, threatening trade with "dem 'ard gits what got the bitz we needz."By comparison, the deceitful Aeldari kindreds do not appear to employ any form of monetary currency at all, and are said to find such Human concepts of valuation primitive or debased. Aeldari do value certain items -- particularly the lost artefacts of their species. However, attempting trade with Aeldari of any kindred is a harrowing experience, with the negotiations ever treacherous and shifting.Perhaps of all the xenos known to Mankind, the nomadic Stryxis have the most "Human" outlook on trade. Though strange to look on, Stryxis caravans offer an often bewildering variety of goods, many perilous and outright prohibited within Imperial space. However, their inscrutable masters drive a hard bargain, and are never to be underestimated.
Curse of Solomon - Curse of Solomon: The Curse of Solomon, also called the Beast of Solomon, is a monstrous creature said to lurk in the darkness of the heavily industrialised territories between the hive cities of the Hive World of Solomon in the Calixis Sector known as the Interior Industrial Zones.Solomon is a blighted, slowly dying, and heavily industrialised Imperial Hive World where rebellion, superstition, and hate fester in the shadowed canyons of rockcrete and steel. Its hive cities are pollution-shrouded places plagued by suspicion, greed, and unrest. Between the towering monolithic citadels of Solomon's hive metropolises, thousands of square kilometres of rusting pipelines, thundering processing vats, and fire-belching pyro-towers cover the landscape and darken the skies with a thick haze of black smog.In the lightless spaces of these Interior Industrial Zones, or simply the "Interior" as the Solomonites call them, many terrors are said to haunt unseen. Of these tales, the dark legend of the so-called "Curse of Solomon" or "Beast of Solomon" is perhaps one of the oldest, most consistent, and most widely recounted. It is passed from generation to generation among the unfortunates forced to dwell in the work-houses and labour in the depths of Solomon's Interior. It is a myth of some monstrous alien thing that stalks the darkness seeking only to kill, a shadow within shadows, and of good people taken without warning to gristly deaths with only bloody shreds left to mark their passing.The Beast is an envoy of merciless death made manifest and a horror never fully seen -- a thing lurking at the edge of the terrified minds of the populace. Yet the Beast is no mere tale, but an ingrained fear that alone is powerful enough to move ordinary men and women to commit horrors in its name. Worse yet, the monster itself may be far more real and dangerous than the most febrile imaginings of those bound by its terrors can conceive.
Curse of Solomon - The Darkness's Due: Down in the lightless pathways beneath still-stacks of the Solomon Interior, in the pollution choked chem-spoils and rust barrens where people labour to eke out a living by the light of guttering promethium wicks, fear has an unfettered reign, and chief among these is the fear of the Beast of Solomon.A mind and heart consumed by terror can contemplate any act to gain a moment's respite, and amongst these dwellers in the dark a horrific tradition has grown. These people have been consumed by their fear of the Beast. They have no self-given name, no title, and no organisation. They are simply victims who have succumbed completely to their terror of what lies in the dark. They are united by a single factor -- their wish to placate and propitiate the Beast, to preserve themselves by giving the Beast its due, even sacrificing their own in desperate, appeasing worship of this emissary of death.Those not living their brief years cursed with poverty, disease, and fear in Solomon's darkest places cannot understand the fear of knowing that the darkness is watching you and may take you if it pleases. Accordingly, most who make sacrifice to the Beast are ordinary industrial labourers and families who are forced to live in the areas of the Interior where tales of the Beast are strongest. These stories are often backed up with slews of disappearances, the discovery of bloody remains, and sightings of monstrous things stalking the shadows.To understand those who sacrifice to the Beast of Solomon, it is important to understand how these bitter and fearful people live. Buried far away from light and wind in the depths of Solomon's Interior, these "zoners" labour by promethium lamps, drink water thick with pollutants that seep from the still-stacks, and know that they are born and will die at the whim of greater forces -- be it the slow death sentence passed by the Imperium's thirst for the product of their toil or the Beast that stalks their dark world.The poisoning of Solomon by its own industries has brought other miseries that those forced to inhabit the Interior bear the brunt of -- successful births are rare, and with each successive generation, a greater percentage of those born live only a few solar months or are touched by mutation. Those who sacrifice to the Beast believe that their only chance to affect their fate is to appease at least one of the forces that prey on them.
Curse of Solomon - The Ritual of Sacrifice: Around the areas considered to be the Beast of Solomon's hunting grounds, even those who do not seek to placate the Curse with sacrifice know of the practice and keep their mouths firmly shut on the matter to outsiders. Thus they are to some degree complicit. Though some may believe firmly in the God-Emperor, they also know that they are accursed and that they must offer sacrifice to appease the Curse.Those sacrificed to the Beast are often outsiders who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, so it is that offerings tend to be roving scum, minor officials, and those unfortunates who have been forcibly "relocated" to the Interior to keep up the work quotas. It may even be the case, where fear of the Beast has grown so strong that an entire community has fallen into sacrifice, that the community's leaders may lure outsiders into their deadly web so that they can be offered to the "Beast in the Dark." However, given the danger this poses to the community, the situation will be desperate indeed for this to occur.In other cases, sacrifices will be taken from amongst the local populace, the victims being selected by lottery or some other dubious means of divination. At the agreed time, the bound victim is taken by a throng bearing bright torches to keep the Beast and the dark away, their faces hidden by crude (yet sometimes elaborate) cloth masks. In a place where the tangle of pipes is thickest, the sacrifice is chained and left in complete darkness to await their fate.
Curse of Solomon - Inquisitorial Threat Briefing: The Ordo Xenos has been long aware of the myth of the "Curse of Solomon" but has also long relegated it to the mass of other petty myths and horror stories that abound on Solomon, as on many other worlds. The ordo reasons such stories are a simple, natural response to the frailty of life and harsh conditions there.Received wisdom points to the myth's widespread nature as evidence that it is likely a mere convenient scapegoat, as a single Beast could not be everywhere at once and a whole genus of such creatures would have made themselves apparent some time ago. They do not, however, dismiss the possibility of one or more rogue xenos predators' actions or even a localised Daemonic incursion being blamed on the Curse, or even some heretical faction using the myth for its own ends.Some factions within the Ordo Xenos are not so sure, however, believing that there is more than meets the eye in these "folk tales." Perhaps there is enough to warrant further investigation.
Curse of Solomon - The Nature of the Beast: Nobody really knows what the Beast of Solomon is. To the spire nobles and guildmasters, it is a childish fable. The Administratum scribes and hab residents know it as a chilling ghost story, or a parable of how terrible life is in the Interior.But to those doomed to live in the Solomonite Interior Industrial Zones, it is very real, and very deadly. Those scholars and adepts of the Holy Ordos who have taken time to study the stories of the "Beast in the Dark" have come up with several possibilities. However, until dedicated teams of investigators can be despatched to Solomon to uncover the truth, these will remain only theories. The truth could be any or all of these possibilities, or perhaps something else entirely.
Curse of Solomon - The Beast is This Place: The most popular theory amongst the Ordos Calixis, (especially with those adepts who have never had the misfortune of actually visiting Solomon) is that the Beast of Solomon does not exist in any literal sense. It is rather a figment of the imaginations of the ignorant and superstitious lower classes on Solomon invented to explain the bleak hopeless nature of the lives they lead.A mythical "Beast" lets these people blame their troubles on something they can regard as concrete and tangible. More importantly, their belief in a literal Beast gives them the misplaced hope that they can save themselves through the act of sacrificing. A small subset of researchers have suggested that although the stories of the Beast of Solomon may be myths, something more than the polluted environment and harsh conditions is responsible for hunting those who live in Solomon's Interior. They theorise that some arcane or even xenos mechanism from the ancient past may be responsible. Those theories are roundly ignored in the Ordos Calixis.However, if either case is true, then the Beast of Solomon cannot be appeased, hunted, or stopped. It would likely be a self-perpetuating fear caused by the blight and slow death of this world. Alternatively, the Beast may be some strange, unknown, external force -- all around and possessing reasons and purposes either too inhuman to comprehend or too mechanistic to placate.It takes people in the dark, and as long as people are there, they will disappear. As for those sacrificed to the Beast, some may be taken but most more likely starve to death or are eaten by rats. No matter how they end, their deaths are futile attempts to control something that does not understand the gifts or wishes of Humanity.
Curse of Solomon - Existential Enemies: More exotic theories as to the cause of the "Curse of Solomon" include an ancient alien device buried beneath the surface of Solomon that consumes life energy or an ancient system from the Dark Age of Technology that eliminates living things according to some inexplicable programmed parameter, its victims rendered down by blade-fingered servitors or swarms of brass-cased insects.It could also be some property of the materials used to build part of the foundations of that part of Solomon's industrial complex, causing people to slip out of reality and into the Warp. It could even be the work of some ancient creature or xenos species that predates Human settlement on Solomon, acting to preserve its secret existence.
Curse of Solomon - The Beast Is Man: When people fear the unknown, they may talk of Beasts that lurk in the dark and of fiends with sharp teeth that thirst for flesh. These tales, though, are the products of wishful ignorance -- Mankind is the worst Beast that lurks in the darkness of Solomon. Several Inquisitors whose minds tend to think in such terms privately suspect that someone is using and propagating the stories of the Beast of Solomon for their own purposes. After all, the population that lives in the depths of the Solomon industrial Interior are a hidden, blighted people who will not be missed and are perfect cattle for others who need a regular supply of Humans for some vile purpose.While the terrified dwellers gather around their chem-lamps and whisper about the Beast, others watch them unseen, waiting for one to stray into an isolated spot so that the others can do what they wish. To these quiet watchers, the whimpering offerings left in dark places are amusing and readily accepted gifts that do not dissuade them from their purpose.
Curse of Solomon - Potentially Monstrous People: Both the Amaranthine Syndicate and the Brotherhood of the Horned Darkness represent active Chaos Cults on Solomon whose activities may inspire the legends of a Beast of Solomon, just as they have inspired different tales in other parts of Solomon.A murder cult amongst the elite of Solomon could also be to blame, as could the needs of a hidden xenophile or heretek cabal that requires a continuous supply of Human subjects.
Curse of Solomon - The Beast is Real: While not a common theory, a vocal minority of Inquistiorial scholars contends that the Beast of Solomon actually exists as some sort of creature. Why, in a galaxy full of strange and terrible things, could there not be some sort of creature living in the depths of Solomon, preying on the population there?If this is true, then the frightening legends from Solomon's Interior describing the Beast cannot be dismissed out of hand. Those who dwell in the dark places of Solomon tell of a crawling nightmare and the silent scythe of death. Gorged on rumour, fear, and superstition, the Beast has as many forms as the people who tell of it, yet all speak of the thing in the dark that comes and snatches away the living without a sound.If the Beast is real, then it is a savage and unknown alien predator as dangerous as any anything that might be confronted in the depths of the void.
Curse of Solomon - Killing the Beast: If the Beast of Solomon is real, then killing it will not be easy. The stories describe it as a vicious and highly effective predator and an extraordinarily powerful creature, well-adapted to the cramped and dark conditions in Solomon's Interior industrial complexes.It is also likely to know its environment better than any Human could. It will retreat if attacked openly and then return to pick off an individual before disappearing again. Combined with the fact that it is a fearsome combatant, the only way to kill it is with extremely good fortune or an even better plan.
Curse of Solomon - The Beast of Solomon: The Beast is believed to be a hideous xenos predator stalking Solomon's Interior industrial wastes. From the reports of the fearful inhabitants of the Solomonite Interior, it is a huge creature, part serpentine and part insectile in outline and wholly, utterly alien. This nightmare made flesh can wait with inhuman patience amongst the bleeding fumes of the still-stacks and chem-refineries for its prey. Blind, it is able to sense the slightest vibration in the air and track the smallest trace of scent. It can stalk its prey for solar hours before striking, its mottled carapace shifting colour to match its environment.Targeting lone victims or small isolated groups, it kills as if its deep-bred instincts know that it must remain hidden. Once ready it uncoils, its taloned limbs propelling it swiftly forward with no more sound than the wind. Victims may catch a glimpse of its many rows of needle sharp teeth and may even manage to let out a short cry before they are cruelly silenced, to be remembered only as part of another whispered tale.
Cursed Company - Cursed Company: Cursed CompanyChaos Space MarinesFounding13th Black Crusade
Cursed Company - Notable Campaigns: 13th Black Crusade (999.M41) - The 13th Black Crusade was a massive invasion of Imperial space by the Forces of Chaos led by the Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler against the Fortress World of Cadia and the surrounding sectors. This was the largest mobilisation of both Imperial and Chaotic forces seen since the bygone days of the Horus Heresy.
Cursed Company - Warband Colours: The Cursed Company's colours are not listed in current Imperial records.
Cursed Company - Warband Badge: The Curse Company's badge is not listed in current Imperial records.
Custodian - Custodian: A Custodian is a member of the Adeptus Custodes, the valiant transhuman bodyguard and praetorians of the Emperor of Mankind, which is based in the Imperial Palace complex on Terra.The Adeptus Custodes are the Emperor's vengeance made manifest. They defend the Master of Mankind with singular determination and breathtaking skill, and whether their vigil requires them to stand immovable before the gates of the Imperial Palace or storm into battle on a distant alien world, they do their duty without a moment's hesitation.The Adeptus Custodes is comprised of three basic forms of heavy infantry -- the Custodian Guard, the Custodian Wardens and the Allarus Custodians.
Custodian - Custodian Guard: When Shield Companies of the Adeptus Custodes strike out to do battle with the enemies of Mankind, it is the Custodian Guard that form their backbone. These warriors are rank-and-file infantry only in so much as their numbers are greater than those of the other, more specialised Adeptus Custodes warriors.Even a single one of their number is a terrifying force of destruction, their every shot perfectly placed, their every cut, thrust and stab a masterclass in bladesmanship, footwork and combat awareness that sees enemy corpses fall like dead leaves at their feet. Ferociously strong, phenomenally resilient, utterly without fear or doubt, the Custodian Guard are the equal of many foes' most elite warriors.Custodian Guard are steadfast in defence and unstoppable on the attack. Such squads do not have formal memberships, and Custodians may swap from one squad to another before each new campaign, or even each new battle. With their individualistic fighting styles, the Custodian Guard do not fight as one in the way that a conventional squad of soldiers would -- it is enough for them to know that they fight shoulder-to-shoulder with respected comrades, and that their fellows will watch their backs when the enemy press close.As with all of the Adeptus Custodes, Custodian Guard have the might of the Emperor flowing through their veins, and His aegis of protection hanging around them like a shield. Their traditional armament is the Guardian Spear, a golden halberd so heavy it would take several mortal men to lift it. This composite weapon is both a powered blade capable of hewing a Chaos Space Marine in two, and a bolter to engage threats from afar.Conversely, some Custodian Guard prefer to enter battle armed with a Sentinel Blade and Storm Shield. The Sentinel Blade is a broadsword of daunting size, so large its hilt is flanked with the double barrels of a Bolt Caster that can lay down a hail of short-range fire. It is a testament to the strength of the Custodians that they can wield these powered blades one-handed. When coupled with the armoured bulwark of the Storm Shield -- whose protective powers are augmented with a built-in energy shield generator -- this potent combination allows the Custodian Guard to cut their foes apart while weathering even the most devastating of attacks.As befits their elevated status, Custodian Guard squads can call upon ancient Venerable Land Raider main battle tanks to carry them to war. The combination of demigod-like warriors and enormous war engine is a terrifyingly potent one, and when several such squads advance at once, even super-heavy armour and towering Daemonic abominations cannot endure their wrath.
Custodian - Custodian Wardens: Custodian Wardens can be recognised by the ceremonial robes that they wear over their armour. These are a mark of their veteran status, for every Custodian Warden has seen at least five Terran centuries in the Emperor's service.Those Wardens that do not carry the iconic Guardian Spears of their order wield heavy-bladed Castellan Axes. These weapons lend themselves to an elegant and brutal combat style that sees the wielder use their exceptional transhuman strength in conjunction with their axe's momentum, launching thunderous sweeps that switch direction with breathtaking suddenness to cleave through their victims' guard and hack off heads and limbs. The Wardens can also fire concentrated volleys of bolter fire from the hafts of their weapons, scything down those who attempt to stay out of their blades' devastating reach.The Wardens are known amongst their comrades as level-headed and endlessly patient watchmen. Upon accepting the robes that mark their station they swear binding oaths to fight as immovable sentinels, a living fortress of auramite and sinew that no foe will ever breach. Each Warden's oaths are personal, written by the Custodian themself after a full Terran year's contemplation sat in meditation upon the precipitous ledges of the Gallowtower of the Imperial Palace. To break their vows would be worse than death to these warriors, and their determination to uphold them bolsters their already formidable wills to something of truly frightening intensity.
Custodian - Allarus Custodians: The Allarus Custodians deploy with sudden fury to tear the throat from the enemy army, specifically targeting key commanders or vital units. Where a strongpoint must be cracked wide open, a Traitor warship boarded or a foul demagogue slain even as he stands amidst his dedicated bodyguards, there are the Allarus Custodians deployed.These warriors wear suits of Allarus Pattern Terminator Armour, expertly crafted armour whose worth can be measured in the output of entire worlds. Driven by magnatomic generator-shrines, articulated with Leonus-class actuators, and fashioned from layered auramite and adamantium, Allarus Terminator Armour is a marvel of craftsmanship. It provides its wearer with an exceptional range of movement and near-unencumbered speed, augmented strength and resilience, and the survivability to stride unharmed from the blast of a Macrocannon shell. Coupled with the protective blessings of the Emperor, Allarus Terminator plate is arguably the most effective man-portable combat armour in the entire Imperium. Just as well, for the battles fought by Allarus Custodians demand nothing less.Their weapons, too, are formidable. They heft Guardian Spears twice the height of a man, or swing massive Castellan Axes that can bisect a Chaos Lord or lop the head from an Ork psyker with a single blow. To supplement these weapons, Allarus Custodians also wield Balistus Grenade Launchers upon their left forearms. These drum-fed weapons can be triggered with a thought, spitting salvoes of sanctified projectiles in saturation patterns through the enemy ranks. They are also capable of launching Concussion Grenades that explode amidst bursts of electroexorcist chaff and overwhelming light and sound.Enemies subjected to these barrages are sent reeling, their senses rebelling against the onslaught even as their weapons and equipment falter and they spasm in pain. Such armaments allow Allarus Custodians to suppress and then swiftly slaughter their target's elite bodyguards, leaving their true quarry exposed in the face of their wrath.Hand-picked by the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes from amongst the most bellicose of the Ten Thousand, Allarus Custodians relish the chance to plunge into the most lethal battles. Their killer instincts are razor-sharp, their wrath honed to a fine point. Yet these are no maniacal berserkers. Where many of the galaxy's most dangerous close-combat specialists allow their rage to drive them, Allarus Custodians leash their aggression wholly to their will. They land every blow with murderous strength, but also with surgical precision.So aggressive and heroic are these warriors that, when the situation demands, they have been known to splinter their units entirely after the initial strike and scatter through the enemy's rear lines. Fighting as lone figures, the Allarus Custodians eliminate key targets, sow anarchy and confusion through unsuspecting forces, and completely destabilise the foe's formation before fresh Adeptus Custodes forces arrive to end the conflict. It is an effective tactic that has seen more than one Heretic fortress fall from within.
Custodian - The Gilded Fist: In recent years, one band of Allarus Custodians has become renowned for their skill as terror troops and executioners. Known as the "Gilded Fist," led by the indomitable Custodian Vanius Arcturon-Tybus, this squad has achieved remarkable feats of violence in the Emperor's name. It was the Gilded Fist who struck the head from the Ulgwyrm Cult of the Pan-Siberic Cluster, ended the insane machinations of Inquisitor D'anloxtos and led the purge of the Traitor-held space hulk Leviathan of Agonies before it could reach the edge of the Sol System.Unusually for Custodians, these warriors have fought side by side for solar decades now, asserting that they can best serve the Emperor operating as a single, tightly bound force of men and women who have come to view each other as siblings in blood, if not in truth. With such renowned members as Manastus Chaem, Parradon Helastes and Dalat Hap-Uramedes fighting shoulder-to-shoulder to bring low the Emperor's foes, few can doubt the veracity of this claim.
Custodian - Custodian Guard: 3-10 Custodian Guard
Custodian - Custodian Wardens: 3-10 Custodian Wardens
Custodian - Allarus Custodians: 3-10 Allarus Custodians
Custodian - Custodian Guard: Custodian ArmourGuardian SpearMisericordiaSentinel Blade (Replacement for Guardian Spear)Storm Shield (Replacement for Guardian Spear with Sentinel Blade)
Custodian - Custodian Warden: Custodian ArmourCastellan AxeMisericordiaGuardian Spear (Replacement for Castellan Axe)
Custodian - Allarus Custodian: Allarus Terminator ArmourCastellan AxeBalistus Grenade LauncherMisericordiaGuardian Spear (Replacement for Castellan Axe)
Custodian Apothecary - Custodian Apothecary: A Custodian Apothecary is a Custodian of the Adeptus Custodes who has received advanced training in the arts of medicae so that they might heal the wounds incurred by their brethren, though they are also fully trained Custodian warriors who stand by their comrades in battle.Custodian Apothecaries also act as coroners and pathologists who conduct autopsies on any remains brought to them by their fellows during their investigations. The information they glean from these corpses can aid the investigations their fellow Custodians are undertaking to safeguard Terra and the Emperor.
Custodian Apothecary - Notable Custodian Apothecaries: Ukende - Ukende was a Custodian Apothecary who served during the Era Indomitus and often used his medicae analytical skills to aid his brethren in their investigations.
Custodian Armour - Custodian Armour: Custodian Armour is an advanced form of highly sophisticated, Artificer-wrought power armour utilised exclusively by the ancient Legio Custodes and the present-day Adeptus Custodes, the elite guardians of the Emperor of Mankind.Finely-wrought, Custodian Armour was customised exactly to task, and was produced without any regard to the consumption of resources or rarity of components or lore required; to arm and outfit the Custodians to the optimum, nothing was spared. This supremacy was evident from the auramite-alloy-reinforced armour the Custodian Guard wore, each a planet's ransom in worth.In the 41st Millennium, the panoply of the Adeptus Custodes represents the pinnacle of the armourer's art. Far more sophisticated than production-model Space Marine power armour, Custodian Armour is still fashioned with rare auramite alloy such as that used for the armour the Emperor Himself wore in battle, rather than the standard ceramite used in all other forms of Imperial power armour.Each suit is unique to the Custodian who wears it, as it is customised to its user, a suit of master-crafted battle-plate in the Custodes' traditional golden colour, each a work of art in its own right and highly individualised after the fact by its user. Custodian Armour is also fitted with arrays of proximity sensors and Refraction Field generators to further enhance its formidable defences.Auramite is almost inert at a quantum level, making it far less of an inhibition to the manipulation of Aetheric energy by a psyker than other protective materials. During the Siege of Terra, the Emperor wore His own auramite battle-plate while fighting His immaterial battle with the powers of Chaos within the Warp. Bare skin is better when unleashing psychic power, but had the Emperor not worn it, the immense energies He unleashed while sitting upon the Golden Throne would have burned His flesh to the bone.