vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Commander Farsight - Hero of the Empire: The T'au Empire had faced off against an insanely strong opponent and emerged victorious, but the cost of that victory had been high indeed. Every one of the worlds settled on the other side of the Damocles Gulf had been left to the Imperium in the early stages of its crusade, and one of the prime Sept Worlds of the empire had been badly mauled. The notion of the T'au's natural supremacy in the universe had been shaken to its core. In this time of doubt, Ethereal Master Aun'Va negotiated with the then-Ethereal Supreme Aun'Wei, and a plan of reconquest, led by O'Shovah, was initiated.Aun'Va's decision for Farsight to lead the reconquest was not taken lightly, but when the matter was settled, it had the full power of the master behind it. The first few weeks saw O'Shovah elevated from the status of hero of the Arkunasha War and Damocles Gulf Crusade to that of vaunted saviour. With the persuasive arts of the Water Caste as his tools, Aun'Va began a propaganda campaign that saw O'Shovah's military successes become oft-told legends.Statues to Farsight's greatness were erected in every major battle dome, pod complex and naval harbour across the worlds of the First Sphere Expansion. Fire Warriors of every rank had images or holo-cuts of Farsight somewhere in their possession, sometimes even displayed alongside those of Aun'Wei and Aun'Va themselves. For O'Shovah, the attentions were bewildering and unwelcome. The commander was greeted with the hunter's salute so many times each day that he feared he would wear out his arm joints before the crusade even started. Yet he bore it all stoically, understanding that the empire needed its heroes.In the councils of the Ethereals, there were concerns that O'Shovah would not live up to the propaganda. The Damocles Gulf would not fall twice to the wiles of T'au diplomats; this time, the Fire Caste would have to lead the charge on every world. If Dal'yth was any indication of the Imperium's threat, blood would be spilt in great measure, and these worlds had no little access to reinforcements. The final result of all the effort saw the mobilisation of greatest fleet the T'au Empire had yet seen. The sheer number of T'au battleships, navy vessels, escorts, colony ships, warspheres, gravpulse tugs, dropships and outrider patrols assembled for the coalition defied belief. Once the preparations were complete, Aun'Wei gave one of his final speeches and the fleet of the Great Reclamation was launched into the Damocles Gulf amongst grand celebration. Something in Farsight's gut felt strange, but he was the model of a noble commander nonetheless. If the Empire needed a conqueror, a conqueror he would be.
Commander Farsight - War in the Farsight Enclaves: When O'Shovah's fleet emerged again from the Damocles Gulf, he was shocked to find the Farsight Enclaves in a state of full-scale war. Panic rising within him, Farsight ordered his fleet to close with Vior'los, most populous of the worlds, and long-range communications confirmed O'Shovah's worst suspicions; those scattered asteroid ships that were not destroyed had fallen from the skies upon the vulnerable Enclave planets. Much like before, the asteroid ships had been used as weapons, the night skies now empty where the necklace of asteroids had glinted before. With the majority of their military on campaign, the garrisons defending each world were locked in a desperate battle for survival.Farsight met with his commanders at the new Fire Caste headquarters, a giant disc-city hovering in relative safety above Vior'los' ocean. The situation was much the same on the neighbouring worlds of Lub'grahl and Tinek'la; even the ocean world of Salash'hei was prowled by iron-hulled Ork battleships. The greenskins were running riot throughout the enclaves, and the Fire Caste had already made plans to withdraw the survivors into evacuation zones. His voice level and controlled, O'Shovah asked how they could have let events get to this point. They reported that the war had hung in the balance until a great Ork potentate appeared and united their armies. Since then, they had lost territory fast. The warlord Farsight had hunted all the way to Atari Vo had seemingly escaped, only to double back and strike at the vulnerable Enclave worlds whilst their commander was busy elsewhere.Ordering his lieutenants to remain behind and fight on in his stead, Farsight strode quickly out of the Fire Caste's high command, climbed into the command cradle of his XV8 Crisis Battlesuit, and took off toward the horizon. Months passed, and the war for the enclaves ground on. Though O'Shovah's armies were led capably by his lieutenants, without their leader, it was all they could do to hold the seething hordes of Orks back from total victory. Murmurs of dissent, and even anger, began to spark in the corners of the Enclaves with O'Shovah's disappearance
Commander Farsight - An Empire Mourns: The T'au of the core Sept worlds heard progressively less from the Farsight Expedition as the years wound on. Soon, the probes sent across the Damocles Gulf failed to reappear altogether. Commander Farsight, whose natural lifespan was long spent, was officially proclaimed dead. The entire T'au Empire mourned the passing of their mightiest hero and the end of his glorious quest to bring the light of the Greater Good to distant stars.The truth was to come to light some decades later, when an outrider probe's routine orbit led it past the Farsight Enclaves and back to the Sept worlds at the Empire's core. Instead of being barren of T'au life, the colonies were flourishing. They had clearly found their own way in the galaxy, independent of the commands of the Ethereal council. Even their Sept colours and symbols had changed. Aun'Va was furious. The Ethereal's white-hot anger at Farsight's desertion cooled into a cold fury that was far more dangerous.Since Aun'Wei's passing, Master Aun'Va had become the Supreme Ethereal in his stead. He used every bit of his influence to destroy the hero he had created all those years ago. He informed the council of the probe's findings, insisting that O'Shovah was a dangerous rebel, a rogue influence whose heresy should be condemned in the most public way possible. All images of Farsight were to be destroyed, all monuments to his glory reduced to rubble and all mention of him erased from history. The entire area of space on the far side of the Damocles Gulf was renamed the Forbidden Zone, off-limits even to the most senior of T'au.All across the T'au Empire, O'Shovah's supporters were forced into hiding; those who spoke well of him were taken away for sessions of questioning, from which very few emerged. Only upon his home planet of Vior'la did a few images of Farsight still linger, for the Commander still had many supporters on that world. To destroy all sign of his presence would risk a dangerous backlash that Aun'Va, even in his anger, was wise enough to avoid. Instead, the Supreme Ethereal allowed a single statue to be left standing outside the battle dome of Mont'yr, repurposing it from a glorious monument to a grave reminder that without the guidance of the Ethereal Caste, even the finest mind could be turned from the light.On the far side of the Damocles Gulf, the Farsight Enclaves continued to forge their worlds to better suit their own destinies. Yet with their leader missing for so many years, they too had begun to see O'Shovah as a distant memory. Generation after generation was born, lived briefly, and died out. Over a hundred years passed without sign. As time marched on without him, Commander Farsight became little more than a whispered myth.
Commander Farsight - A Hero Reborn: The last act of the Earth Caste scientists had moved Farsight on a deep level. Here was the true expression of the Greater Good; not in clever politicking or the waging of war, but in self-sacrifice, so that others might live better lives in their stead. Though he was used to the warriors of the Fire Caste laying down their lives in the name of the T'au Empire, to see such selflessness in another caste humbled him. The deaths of the scientists had ignited the flame of ambition in his heart once more.O'Shovah strove to see Vior'los rebuilt and resettled, its three principal cities named for the T'au scientists that had given their lives so that the rest of the enclaves might live. The barren wastes and volcano ranges would be rebuilt as T'au cities that boasted many grand monuments. On Lub'grahl, the favoured planet of the Earth Caste, field after field of white, oval memorials were lain in the name of all those that had given their lives for the Greater Good. No longer would O'Shovah shy away from his destiny as a leader and a hero. The fight must go on.
Commander Farsight - Name: Farsight's name meaning in the T'au language, or T'au Lexicon, can be broken down thusly:Shas (member of the Fire Caste)'O (T'au Commander, highest rank attainable within the Fire Caste)Vior'la (the Sept where Farsight was born)Shovah ("Farsighted," the core concept of his name)Kais ("Skilful")Mont'yr (Blooded)
Commander Farsight - Wargear: Commander Farsight pilots an early XV8 Crisis Battlesuit model that has been extensively modified and customised by his Earth Caste artisans and engineers over its lifetime. O'Shovah typically wears deep red in memory of the blood spilt by Arkunasha's fallen heroes and in honour of his old homeworld, Vior'la. Many of the warriors from the Farsight Enclaves have also taken up this tradition. Farsight's personal colours are also the inverse of the primary and secondary Sept colours of Vior'la, the T'au Sept he was born in. Commander Farsight's Battlesuit is most commonly equipped with the following weapon systems and wargear:Dawn Blade - The Dawn Blade was found by Commander Farsight in the ruins of a pre-human xenos civilisation on the T'au Artefact World of Arthas Moloch. It flickers with unknown energy when he swings it, and cuts a swathe easily through most types of enemies and even armoured vehicles. Unknown to Farsight, its blade is forged from chronophagic alloys which can absorb life force and add a slain foe's remaining natural lifespan to that of its owner. This is the secret of Farsight's remarkable longevity for a T'au, though he is unaware of this effect and would be appalled if he knew the truth of the weapon's origin.Plasma Rifle - A Plasma Rifle is a T'au Plasma Weapon that delivers pulses of searing energy and superheated matter that has been transmuted into a gaseous plasma state that carries an electrical charge. The plasma "bolts" fired by these weapons generate the destructive heat of a small sun; impacting with the fury of a supernova and scything through steel, flesh and bone as if they were nothing. Whilst Plasma Weapon technology is employed by many of the main spacefaring races of the 41st Millennium, the T'au favour a form of technology in their Plasma Rifles that exchanges some damage output for increased safety for the user by almost completely eliminating the risk of a catastrophic overheat of the weapon. Nevertheless, T'au Plasma Rifles are still extremely effective against targets such as heavy infantry, and are able to melt even ceramite with ease. The T'au Plasma Rifle can be considered the equivalent of an Imperial Plasma Gun.Shield Generator - A Shield Generator is a T'au defensive technology that projects a cohesive energy field around its bearer, deflecting weapons fire and melee blows that would otherwise outright destroy the Battlesuit; whether they be shots from heavy ordnance or anti-tank weapons fire. Commander Farsight's Shield Generator bears the heraldry of the Farsight Enclaves upon its ablative shield.Hard-wired Target Lock - A Target Lock is a specialised target acquisition system that enables the user to engage different targets from the rest of the squad. As a hard-wired system, it is most likely a cybernetic system surgically implanted directly into the Battlesuit or Farsight's body.
Commander Farsight - Sources: Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition), pp. 16, 29, 56-57Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition), pp. 10, 14, 21, 44-45Codex: Tau (3rd Edition), pp. 22, 50-51Farsight Enclaves, A Codex: Tau Empire Supplement (Digital Edition), pp. 1-505Xenology (Background Book)Kill Team (Novel) by Gav ThorpeWar Zone Damocles: Mont'ka (Digital Edition), pp. 147-155Games Workshop Catalogue - Commander Farsight
Commander Flamewing - Commander Flamewing: Commander Flamewing -- the preferred translation of his true name Shas'O Vior'la Suam Eldi into Low Gothic -- is one of the most prominent leaders amongst the Fire Caste of the T'au Velk'Han Sept within the Jericho Reach. Currently, he is in command of the Fire Caste Hunter Cadre operation on the outskirts of the Zurcon System.This relatively young Shas'o has earned a great deal of frontline combat experience, particularly against the outlying tendrils of Hive Fleet Dagon.More than most T'au Commanders, Flamewing is willing to work alongside the Imperial forces of the Achilus Crusade towards the destruction of the Tyranid menace.Flamewing strongly believes that the hive fleet is far more dangerous to the Greater Good than the presence of the Humans, and he has made some tenous alliances towards this end with a few like-minded Inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos -- including Inquisitor Adrielle Quist.
Commander Longknife - Commander Longknife: Commander Longknife, as he is known in the Low Gothic tongue, or Shas'O R'myr in the Tau Lexicon, led the Tau Empire's invasion of the Imperial Mining World of Taros, called by the Tau T'ros. As the Tau Empire's Third Sphere Expansion began under the bold leadership of O'Shaserra (Commander Shadowsun), the Tau Fire Caste's Supreme Commander, Tau forces began to seek out new planets in the Eastern Fringes of the Milky Way Galaxy that were suitable for colonisation. This fresh mobilisation of the Tau Empire’s military strength required the development of new military technology and many new leaders to be recruited from the Fire Caste. One such commander was Shas'ar'tol R'myr, who made excellent use of the latest experimental technology, including the XV8 Crisis battlesuit. At the start of the Third Sphere Expansion R’myr was awarded a command position under O'Shaserra, and was responsible for several long-range raids against human colonies. R'myr first success came when he commanded the successful defence of the Tau world of Fi'rios against invading Orks. His growing reputation as a reliable, dedicated and tactically astute leader was sealed by his command of the Tau’s campaign to capture the Imperium of Man's desert Mining World of Taros.
Commander Longknife - The Taros Campaign: Taros was an Imperial frontier Mining World in the Eastern Fringe of the Segmentum Ultima and Tau Water Caste diplomats had long been in contact with its Imperial Planetary Governor, trading luxury goods for the planet’s rare heavy metal strategic mineral resources. Both sides had benefited from the arrangement, but it was just the first step in the Tau’s long term plan to eventually incorporate the planet into their expanding Empire. When the Planetary Governor’s illegal contact with the Tau was discovered by the Administratum in the course of a desire to speed up Imperial mining operation to increase industrial production in preparation for the defence of the Cadian Gate during Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade, the Imperium's response was swift and powerful. A Space Marine strike forcecomprising a reinforced company of the Avening Sons Chapter was dispatched to remove the governor from power and execute him, thus sending a strong message to the encroaching Tau that the Imperium would fight to keep Taros. Facing execution for their crimes, the Planetary Governor and the world's mine owning aristocracy turned to the Tau as an ally. Negotiations saw Tau forces invited onto Taros to protect the planet and Shas'O R'myr led the first secret landings. His forces engaged the Avenging Sons Space Marines who arrived on the world using drop pods from their strike cruiser in orbit and after fierce fighting around the governor’s palace drove them from the planet because of their superior numbers. Following this victory,R'myr moved against the governor himself, removing him from power and quickly disarming his Tarosin Planetary Defence Forces. The Tau commander also ordered the desert planet’s Adeptus Arbites precinct surrounded and destroyed. The planet was now under the martial rule of the Tau and the Imperium again responded, launching a large army comprised of Tallarn Imperial Guard Regiments against the Tau defenders in a counter-invasion. The fighting on Taros was fierce. For 100 days the Tau fought a mobile, defensive campaign across Taros' savage deserts. Masterminded by R’myr the Imperial Guard forces were worn down, broken and eventually forced to evacuate the planet with heavy losses, allowing the Tau Empire to bribng the Greater Good to yet another strategically important world.
Commander Longknife - Loss of Ethereal Aun'Vre: During the Taros Campaign the Imperium attempted to assassinate R’myr using an agent of the Officio Assassinorum's Eversor Temple. The attempt failed, but R’myr’s mentor and guide, the Ethereal Aun’Vre, was killed in the attack. Driven by grief and a desire for vengeance, R’myr personally led the final assault on the Imperium’s landing fields that ended the Taros Campaign in a complete victory for the Tau Empire. R’myr swore vengeance against the Imperium of Man for the death of Aun’Vre. The Ethereal’s death at the hands of an Assassin has deeply affected the once-serene Commander, and as time passes his grief and hatred towards humanity and the Imperium grows stronger.
Commander Longknife - Experimental Weaponry: Shas'O R'myr's personal XV8 Crisis Battlesuit is the very latest incarnation of the advanced Tau XV8 Crisis Battlesuit. It not only boasts the use of a unique experimental weapon, the Double-Barrelled Plasma Rifle, but also contains various modifications to the suit's defences such as a strengthened Shield Generator and a modified Tau Vehicle Flechette discharger built directly into the armour. R'myr is also often accompanied by a dedicated bodyguard in an experimental advanced XV-81, XV-84 or XV-89 variant of the Crisis Battlesuit.
Commander Shadowsun - Commander Shadowsun: Commander Shadowsun, known among her own people as Shas'O Shaserra, and also called the "Spearhead of the Greater Good," the "True Disciple of Commander Puretide" and "Heroine of the Third Sphere Expansion," was the commander of the T'au Fire Caste's military campaign that carried out the T'au Empire's Third Sphere Expansion.After the alleged betrayal of the Greater Good by Commander Farsight (known as Shas'O Shovah or simply O'Shovah in the T'au Lexicon), the T'au Empire's ruling Ethereal Supreme Aun'Va selected Commander Shadowsun as a more-steadfast replacement to conduct the Third Sphere Expansion of the T'au Empire.
Commander Shadowsun - Wargear: XV22 Stealthsuit - This experimental battlesuit, gifted to O'Shaserra, incorporates the latest advances in T'au cloaking technology, targeting systems and miniature shield generators.2 Fusion Blasters - Fusion Blasters are anti-tank weapons that reduce reinforced armour to molten slag in the blink of eye.Advanced Targeting System - This specialised target acquisition system enables the battlesuit to identify and pick out priority targets in the midst of battle.MV52 Shield Drone - Commander Shadowsun is often accompanied into battle by prototype drones.
Commander Shadowsun - Sources: Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition), pp. 58-59Codex: Tau Empire (7th Edition), pg. 38, "Commander Shadowsun"War Zone Damocles: Kauyon (7th Edition), pp. 6-7War Zone Damocles: Mont'ka (7th Edition), pp. 105-110Blades of Damocles (Novel) by Phil Kelly, pp. 122-128Games Workshop Catalogue - Commander Shadowsun
Commander Surestrike - Commander Surestrike: Commander Surestrike is a T'au Commander of the T'au Empire and one of the disciples of Commander Shadowsun. He commanded the disastrous Fourth Sphere Expansion, the events of which have left him embittered and highly suspicious of all non-T'au species.
Commissar - Commissar Training: Commissars are trained from a young age to be strict adherents and upholders of the Imperial Creed and its associated strictures by the Schola Progenium, which serves the purpose of education and military training centres for commissarial cadets, Grenadiers, and Storm Troopers for all Astra Militarum regiments, and also provides officers for some. Training in this respect is highly demanding, and is designed to weed out the weak as soon as possible so as to concentrate on the most skilled candidates.Training includes military exercises, weapons proficiency, hand-to-hand combat, religious studies, and is directed at ensuring the total dedication of the student, and developing the ability for them to deliver the Emperor's justice without hesitation or remorse.After attaining suitable age and education at one of the many Schola Progenium institutions, a potential commissar is assigned to a regiment in the Astra Militarum at the rank of commissar cadet (akin to the rank of private in the Imperial Guard), and under the tutelage of either the regiment's commanding officer, or another commissar.These young soldiers form their own units of ten to twenty cadets, led by a veteran commissar and armed with the ubiquitous lasgun like all other regular guardsmen.Astra Militarum commanders consider themselves fortunate when a commissar cadet unit joins their campaign, for the cadets fight with a ferocity and courage uncommon even in the elite units of the Astra Militarum.Some of this may be put down to the fact that they will be summarily executed if they falter or retreat on the field of battle, but most commissar cadets are so dedicated to the cause of Mankind that they will eventually go on to become fully ordained commissars if they do not die in combat. Other guardsmen usually see the commissar cadet units as a blessing from the Emperor Himself, and as an omen of certain victory.Promotion to full commissar status happens only when the commissar cadet unit's observer considers a cadet ready, and this can take any length of time depending on the commanding commissar in question.
Commissar - Lords Commissar: Amongst the ranks of the Officio Prefectus there are many heroic individuals who have become legend through their deeds. Some of those paragons may achieve the rank of lord commissar. Where a commissar will be attached as an ancillary officer to an Astra Militarum regiment's company, fulfilling their charge under the tactical direction of the company commander, a lord commissar will often lead the soldiers they oversee into battle directly.In this role they are more than capable -- after solar decades of service within multiple regiments, a lord commissar has experienced first-hand the various ways in which the strengths of the Astra Militarum can be put to effective use. A lord commissar may be placed in command of soldiers about to enter a particularly nightmarish war zone. At other times, they will assume the position of senior officer after executing the standing company or regimental commander, whom they have judged and found wanting.A lord commissar is expected to exemplify everything the Imperium of Man strives toward, while still discharging  their duties as a grim-faced arbiter of disciplinary retribution. Each is a fearsome warrior whose skill and experience in front-line combat makes them the match of heretical demagogues and xenos warlords on the battlefield.As military leaders, lords commissar can appraise the battle lines of the enemy as swiftly as they measure the mettle of their own troops, punishing any weakness they see with merciless expedience.
Commissar - Unit Composition: 1 Commissar or Lord Commissar
Commissar - Wargear: The commissar's standard uniform consists of the great coat, with identifying gold and red epaulets, and red lining on collar and cuffs, a peaked officer's cap, usually black with red lining, and bearing an Aquila, or skull motif that denotes a member of the Officio Prefectus, a black undercoat, with either red or gold finery, black combat pants, and combat boots.Many commissars, particularly those who take on active combat roles, wear breast plates, usually decorated with the same motifs as their caps. Many also carry devotional symbols such as Aquila pendants or copies of various Imperial Cult gospels or Imperial war manuals.Commissars are issued with a standard weapons complement of a Bolt Pistol and a chainsword, which is first presented at their commissioning ceremony as a full Commissar in their Schola Progenium's High Chapel.Commissar cadets are issued with a standard Imperial Guard Lasgun or an Autogun depending on their associated regiment, as well as any other kit their regiment may supply them with.Commissars attached to certain regiments sometimes adopt unique elements of that regiment's uniform, such as a gas mask or desert head scarfs, for the dual purpose of practicality and to make them seem more at home in the regimental culture.Commissars have access to an Imperial officer's armoury, and as such, can arm themselves with a variety of weapons. Commissars usually tend to stick with their standard load-out for sentimental reasons, until they lose an element of it or gain enough notoriety to request more powerful weapons. Plasma Pistols, due to their rarity, are usually reserved for high-ranking Astra Militarum officers and commissars, though many tend to stick with their Bolt Pistols, due to Plasma Weapons' tendency to overheat when used rapidly in the heat of battle.Some commissars prefer to replace their Bolt Pistol with a full-sized bolter. Power Weapons are easier to requisition, and are often requested to replace the standard-issue Chainsword.Commissars have been seen carrying anything from the classic Power Sword to the rarer Power Axe. Some commissars have been known to use Power Fists, though these are by far the rarest weapons used by the members of the Commissariat.Commissars have also been known to carry laser weapons, from Laspistols paired with a close combat weapon to their regiment's standard-issue Lasguns.This is usually attributed to a familiarity and fondness developed for the reliability of the less powerful but more stable laser weapons during their stints in the Imperial Guard as Commissar Cadets.
Commissar - Lord Commissar's Wargear: Commissar's GreatcoatPeaked Officio Prefectus CapFlak Armour BreastplateBolt PistolPower SwordBolter or Plasma Pistol (Optional replacements for Bolt Pistol)Power Fist (Optional replacement for Power Sword)
Commissar - Trivia: A commissar was a type of political officer of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union utilised primarily by the armed forces of the former Soviet Union and the present-day People's Republic of China, responsible for political education, control and organisation of the population and military.During the early 20th Century, the term commissar was associated with a number of Cheka (Emergency Committee) and military functions in Bolshevik and Soviet government military forces during the Russian Civil War.The voenkom, translated as "war commissar," was the head of a military commissariat -- a regional office that drafted men for military service, executed plans for military mobilisation and maintained records on military reserves. During the Second World War, these war commissars were the driving force of the Soviet Red Army, ruling with cunning and cold-bloodedness. They were also noted for being extremely strict and would often execute soldiers for retreating in the face of the enemy or for perceived cowardice.Astra Militarum HierarchyGeneral OfficersLord Commander Militant • Warmaster (Lord Solar) • Lord Commander • Lord General Militant • Lord General • GeneralOfficersColonel • Major • Captain • LieutenantNon-Commissioned Officers and EnlistedSergeant • Corporal • Trooper (Guardsman)SpecialistsInquisitor • Commissar • Priest • Tech-Priest • Enginseer • Sanctioned Psyker • Primaris Psyker  • Wyrdvane Psyker
Commissar - Sources: Codex: Astra Militarum (6th Edition), pp. 15-16, 21, 28, 31, 53, 57-58, 71, 80-82, 91, 109, 151-153, 184, 200, 307-308Codex: Astra Militarum (8th Edition), pp. 10, 64, 90, 101Codex: Imperial Guard (2nd Edition) pp. 20, 78, 84Codex: Imperial Guard (3rd Edition, 1st Codex), pp. 6, 13Codex: Imperial Guard (4th Edition), pp. 41, 52-53Codex: Imperial Guard (5th Edition), pp. 32, 63Codex ImperialisDark Heresy: Core Rulebook (RPG), pg. 260Dark Heresy: The Inquisitor's Handbook, pp. 18, 60-61Deathwatch: The Jericho Reach (RPG), pg. 137Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000 (PC Game)Horus Heresy: Collected Visions, pg. 121Only War: Core Rulebook (RPG), pg. 61Only War: Final Testament (RPG), pg. 136Warhammer 40,000 Compendium (1st Edition), pg. 151Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (3rd Edition), pg. 7White Dwarf 248 (US), "In Defence of Armageddon"White Dwarf 227 (US), "Chapter Approved - Imperial Guard, Commissar Yarrick"White Dwarf 152 (US), "Commissar Yarrick and Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka", pp. 14-22White Dwarf 115 (UK), "Commissar Training Squads," by Nigel Stillman & Sean Masterson, pp. 5-7White Dwarf 113 (UK), "The Pacification of Flotis III"Ciaphas Cain (Novel Series) by Sandy MitchellGaunt's Ghosts (Novel Series) by Dan AbnettRebel Winter (Novel) by Steve Parker, pg. 52Dawn of War - Dark Crusade (PC Game)Dawn of War - Soulstorm (PC Game)Imperial Creed (Novel) by David Annandale, Ch.1, EpilogueThe Pyres of Armageddon (Novel) by David Annandale, Ch.1The Last Ascension of Dominic Seroff (Short Story) by David Annandale
Commorragh - Commorragh: Commorragh, also called the "Dark City," is the massive city-state within the Webway that is the primary home of the Dark Eldar, or Drukhari, kindred of the Aeldari species. It is said to be impossible for outsiders to find, and anarchy and terrorism are a well-established way of life for its debased inhabitants. It is widely believed to be hidden deep within the inter-dimensional labyrinth known as the Webway, described by the Craftworld Aeldari as a "dark stain" growing within their holy pathways.Commorragh is no mere metropolis, for it is to the greatest cities of realspace as a soaring mountain is to a mound of termites. Its dimensions would be considered impossible if they could be read by conventional means, its population greater than that of whole star systems. If anything, Commorragh is more like a vast collection of satellite realms and cities linked by myriad portals and hidden pathways.Viewed from one perspective, Commorragh is a loose collection of far-flung nodes spread throughout the arteries of the Webway like a malevolent virus. Its clustered concentrations are in reality scattered across the galaxy, thousands of light-years apart in places. Yet these locations are linked together by shimmering dimensional shortcuts. Within the Webway, the immense distances between each sub-realm can be crossed with a single step.The Dark City is known to have "wandering shadows that tear apart the unwary" and is bathed in the crimson half-light of the Ilmaea, or "black suns," dying stars taken from realspace by the Aeldari at the height of their technological prowess and installed within their own sub-realms within the Webway to provide Commorragh with light and power.In the final weeks of the 13th Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler in ca. 999.M41, the Craftworld Aeldari collapsed several Webway portals leading to Commorragh, isolating it from much of the rest of the Webway. Given the mutable nature of the Webway, however, the Drukhari can still use artificial Webway portals which are a part of their technological base to create temporary tunnels through the Warp to reach realspace. As a result they remain largely unaffected by their craftworld cousins' actions.
Commorragh - Satellite Realms: Beyond the runic wards that define the borders of Commorragh lie the tributary realms of the Drukhari, ancient vassal states of the Dark City dating back to the Fall of the Aeldari. These are the hidden domains in which the Drukhari enact their vile rites and Machiavellian schemes. To venture unheralded past these satellite realms is to invite destruction -- many large and territorial Kabals of Drukhari reside within their twisted geometries, deadly pirate bands of pitiless warriors who live only to inflict pain on others, and will suffer no intrusion on their realms.Worse things lurk in their crooked shadows, or swoop swiftly and silently through the air above in their never-ending hunt for prey. These are the hidden domains in which the Drukhari enact their vile rites and devilish schemes.Their origins lie in the tumultuous times that preceded the Fall: as the Aeldari Empire's hedonistic cults of excess began to thrive, the private realms they maintained within the Webway flourished unseen until the largest of their number grew large enough to pose a threat to Commorragh itself.Over the course of its long history, the Dark City has absorbed all of the vassal domains that it has not destroyed outright, linking one massive sub-realm to another using ancient Webway portals and gates. Within the gilded corridors and flesh-pits of these myriad satellite realms cavort those debauched Aeldari who are responsible for the fall of their own species. Despite all the terror and misery that has befallen the Aeldari since the Fall, these self-absorbed hedonists still laugh at the warnings of their sober Craftworld Aeldari counterparts.
Commorragh - Inward to the Core: Within the inner rings that surround the Dark City's core can be found the oldest Drukhari noble houses. Descendants of the architects of the Fall of the Aeldari live in massive mansions that are crested by citadels full of proud aristocratic warriors. Sorrow Fell, the largest of these city-states, can trace its lineage to the ancient Aeldari.It surrounds a massive promontory that leads into the region known as Corespur. Thirteen screaming statues of Supreme Overlord Asdrubael Vect stand sentinel over Sorrow Fell, each representing one of the Foundations of Vengeance, serving as stark reminders that even the most powerful of the Drukhari noble houses was ultimately undone by the raw intellect of a Drukhari who was once a slave.Aelindrach is one of the Dark City's ancient city-states that has literally fallen into shadow, existing in more than one dimension at once. Here amongst the velvet domes the dreaded Mandrakes make their lairs, bathing in the darkness.The outskirts of Aelindrach give way to the Bone Middens of the Wych Cults, a district buried under mounds of calciferous matter. Here can be found a massive ossuary of millions of skeletons, representative of each self-aware species in existence, ranging in size from insects to massive colossi, positioned in grim tableaus and mock battles. They stand throughout the Middens as a testament to the Drukhari's status as the apex predator of the galaxy.Beneath these inner districts are ranged the weapon and food factories of the city that are massive in scale. They spread outward and down into the lower spires underneath the Old City. Each year these factories ravenously consume millions of workers and slaves; Humans, Orks, T'au and even other Drukhari are amongst their number.Divisions of cruel taskmasters watch over their charges, each of which is locked in a murderous rivalry with their peers. The world beneath the Old City puts out prodigious output of war materiel, allowing the Drukhari war machine to wage its ceaseless war against all intelligent species in realspace. Without such labour performed on such a massive scale, the Dark City would soon be forced to feed upon itself.
Commorragh - High Commorragh: The impossibly high structures of the Dark City's upper regions are the province of the Drukhari warrior elites. Thousand-foot idols of Kabalite Archons and Dracons stand incomplete amongst the spiralling starscrapers that vanish beyond sight. Blood continuously drips down from the highest spires in squalls of red raid. Slaves are forced to crawl across the facias of titanic buildings, suspended in near-invisible webs as they labour to carve titanic likenesses of their cruel masters.Further toward the core, the central mass of towers, statues and spires forms a close-packed threatre for inter-Kabalite war. Mercenaries and armoured bounty hunters clad in segmented Ghostplate move steathily under the vaulted arches, stalking those with a high price on their heads.The battleground that exists above the thickets of spires and towers plays host to the deadly world of the Scourges, terrifying aerial predators, as well as the lightning-fast Jetbike pilots who hunt them for sport. Though most of High Commorragh is controlled under the iron rule of the Kabalite masters, this volatile region is firmly under the control of these aerial apex predators.Those who dwell in the aeries of High Commorragh consider themselves blessed, and have little but contempt for those who fester in what they scornfully term, Ynnealidh, "the necropolis below," their term for the entire rest of the Dark City.Further down into the murk of Commorragh lies the Middle Darkness, an area plagued by Hellion gangs. These skyboard-riding rebels fly through the foul air in great swarms that attack on sight. Though these gangs are known to be feral and wild, they are not adverse to allying with the Kabals for the right price when a realspace raid is in the offing.
Commorragh - Arenas of the Wych Cults: The Wych Cults of the Drukhari stage displays of ultraviolence in the massive areans built into their lofty citadels and razor-edged ziggurats, allowing the citizens of High Commorragh to feed upon the acts of wanton murder and killing refined to the level of an art form. These multi-level structures are clustered with barbed stages upon which thousands of warriors and slaves meet a gruesome end. The arena's spectators observe from ornate thrones or from anti-gravitic pleasure-craft, drinking in the pain from a thrillingly unsafe distance.Wyches are paragons of physical perfection, and the Syrens and Succubi that rule over them are supernaturally adept at the art of dealing death. The ruling archons of the Kabals know that without the imaginative displays of killing put on in the Wych arenas, Drukhari society would soon collapse in order to slake its eternal thirst for suffering. This practice of feeding the populace of High Commorragh with regular displays of bloodletting is known amongst the archons as Lith'antu Khlavh, "the knife that stays the blade."Around the peaks of the Wych Houses are the toroid arenas, elaborately curved racetrack complexes famous for their death races. Cliques of elite Jetbike pilots known as Reavers take part in fighting battles at breakneck speeds around the curvilinear interior of each arena, hurtling past the ingenious traps and moving blades of each deathscape, careening into each other with their custom-bladed craft and mowing down those nearby with blasts from their sophisticated weaponry.
Commorragh - The Haemonculi - Dwellers Beneath: The underworld that lies beneath Commorragh is an exceptionally dangerous place. It is the domain of the Haemonculi, a twisted brotherhood of Drukhari torturers and monsters so ancient and thoroughly steeped in evil that their continued existence requires daily acts of indescribable torment.The seedy underside of Commorragh is host to almost as many edifices and spires as the top. Clustered together, these spires are often hollowed out by controlled acts of destruction in order to form cavernous lairs. Within these deadly complexes, the Haemonculi ply their trade, dealing body modification, fleshcrafting, drug distillation, and beauty elixirs.Often times, Haemonculi of similar bent are wont to form into "covens," which occupies a vast demesne of cells and laboratories under the core. Here they practise their vile experiments, torturing the unfortunates that fall into their clutches and savouring their endless torment and pain like a fine meal.Most Haemonculi covens dwell at the bottom of spiral-edged pits underneath the Core. At the heart of each spiralling labyrinth, the eldest and most vile Haemonculi dwell at the heart, revelling in epic depravities of their own invention.
Commorragh - Khaine's Gate: In the depths of Commorragh's central Undercore, in a region known only to a select few, stands a massive, circular metal door. This door -- known as Khaine's Gate -- is emblazoned with glowing runes of warding, bound shut with chains of superdense starsteel. For Terran millennia, since the time of the Fall of the Aeldari, it has remained this way.Beyond Khaine's Gate lies the madness of the Warp, a hideous rent in the otherwise smooth fabric of the Webway that can never be stitched shut or severed. The consequences for the Dark City would be dire indeed were Khaine's Gate ever to be breached, for Commorragh would be opened to the realm of the Warp and the hellish denizens within.The Daemons of the Empyrean would love to feast upon the souls of the Drukhari as readily as they would upon the galaxy's more benevolent peoples.
Commorragh - The Stolen Suns: Far above the glinting metallic peaks of Commorragh are the Ilmaea, or "black suns," dying stars ablaze with poisoned light that were captured and harnessed to serve as energy sources for Commorragh at the height of the lost Aeldari Empire. Though held in sub-realms of their own, these celestial phenomena provide a near-endless supply of energy to the Dark City.Their twilight hues glint from the hulls of grav-vehicles that swarm from spire to tower, from arena to battleground. Every now and then, a thin solar flare curls from a captive sun out into Commorragh, briefly illuminating the horrors below. Each such flare is reflected from a billion panes of crystal across the Dark City, and yet it will be barely heeded by the teeming citizens, for they know that the captured suns' claws were blunted long ago.Though a few solar cults still exist in Commorragh, most Drukhari view their tame stars with contempt; to them, they are but another resource to be mercilessly exploited. It is said that no starlight can shine upon the Drukhari without being harnessed, bled away and eventually snuffed out altogether.
Commorragh - A Realm Unbound: Described above is but a fraction of the surreal sights and landscapes scattered throughout dread Commorragh. Across the Rift of Dead Hope, pillars of bone reach up to form a makeshift bridge into the Pale Fortress.In the City of Titans, enormous statues enact historic assassinations and coups with terrible inevitability.Vitreous Heap is filled to capacity with piles of glassened body parts, sorted into a landscape of limbs, torsos and heads, and in the bleak wilds of Iron Thorn the choking gut-clouds of the red smog bring the corpses of the cursed back to life.Cyclopean gates of crackling jade fire link one realm of Commorragh to another, guarded by the most vigilant warriors, and in Devil's Orchard noisome hanging gardens of grave-lotus sprout from a mosaic of the dead.There is no end to the depths of the Dark City, just as there is no end to the chilling depravity of its occupants.
Commune - Commune: A commune, or kavaal in the T'au Lexicon, also sometimes translated into Low Gothic as a "battle," is a large T'au Fire Caste military unit of organisation that is a temporary grouping of contingents and the highest level of Fire Caste military organisation thus far committed in the field by the T'au Empire.Communes are often formed by contingents drawn from different septs, and although rarely seen before the Damocles Gulf Crusade, they are now more regularly formed, most famously during the solar-decade-long campaign against the Orks known as the Great War of Confederation. Only the combined forces of many septs could have hoped to stop the gargantuan Ork WAAAGH! that threatened the empire, necessitating the widespread use of this level of organisation.
Company (Space Marine) - Company (Space Marine): A company is one of the standard organisational units within a Space Marine Chapter, normally comprised of 100 Astartes led by an officer with the rank of captain.It is the largest of such formations within a Chapter, and a single company of Astartes is still a potent force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, fully able to engage and destroy the enemies of Mankind without any external support.
Company (Space Marine) - History: The Space Marine Legions, also known as the Legiones Astartes in High Gothic, were the original unit formations of the Space Marines created during the First Founding by the Emperor of Mankind on Terra in the late 30th Millennium. A Space Marine Legion was a frontline force of shock-infantry comprising tens of thousands of Astartes warriors armed and equipped with the finest wargear the Imperium could supply.A Space Marine Legion, unlike the 1,000-warrior Chapters of the present-day Adeptus Astartes created after the Second Founding, could number anywhere from 10,000 to more than 250,000 Space Marines. The Legions were massive armies, and the size of each could vary tremendously. A precise, pre-set formation was never truly achieved or maintained. Even during the Great Crusade some Legions were very large, while others were not. The size of each Legion was fluid, with the numbers of combat-ready Astartes dependent on the number of new recruits, the inevitable battle-losses, the availability of potential recruits, and the administrative skills of the Legion's primarch and his officers.Much of the discipline and organisation of the early Astartes Legions owed greatly to the ancient and proven Terran patterns of strategy, hierarchy and functions as laid down in the revered texts of the Principia Belicosa of ancient Roma and the mid-M2 general Krom's fragmentary "New Model" army that had survived in the hands of the tyrants of Old Earth down the blood-stained generations of the Age of Strife.To these venerable treatises and their ilk the Emperor and His commanders had added their own genius and created a sturdy but adaptable strategic framework that spoke to the fundamental strengths and transhuman abilities of the Legionaries themselves. At the outset of the Great Crusade, in ca. 798.M30, many of these early Legions were organised along the so-called "Terran Pattern" of organisation as formulated by the Imperial Officio Militaris.By the time of the outbreak of inter-Legionary hostilities during the Isstvan III Atrocity, the command and organisational structure of a Space Marine Legion was often more a mirror of the character and preferences of its primarch and its abiding culture than formal writ. While certain formations and features were common as an outgrowth of practical manners such as deployment and logistics, their organisation and use was far from standardised.During the Great Crusade there were numerous terms for the internal constituent units of a Space Marine Legion, from largest to smallest: great companies, regiments, chapters, battalions, cohorts, demi-chapters, companies, squads and maniples. Most often, the practical reality of their disposition would vary still more as terminology used within different Legions for equivalent ranks and specialisations bore the mark of the Legion's character rather than the desires of the Imperium's central administrators for a common nomenclature. In some cases this discrepancy increased as local languages and dialects such as Fenrisian or Khal'd had come to replace Imperial Terran (the forerunner of High Gothic).