vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Haemonculi - The Ebon Sting: The Ebon Sting is renowned for its exceptionally well-made Talos. Innovation is key to this coven's artisans, and their respect is given only to those who can combine art with efficacy to create the ultimate war machine.From the revolting Black Jester, with its forest of macrosteroidal syringes, to the many-bladed Iron Dervish, the pain-engines of the Ebon Sting are true abominations.Yet it is for their forcibly administered poisons that the coven is truly feared. The weapons of their Talos are coated in the Ebon Sting's signature elixir -- a black toxin derived from the rendered flesh of the worm-like nichtovermid.The moment it is introduced to the victim's body, the toxin begins to replicate, manifesting dark and leprous blotches. Eyes harden into sightless orbs, and skin stiffens into black chitin. Soon, the victim has swollen and solidified into a shuddering chrysalis. This is taken back with the utmost care to adorn the coven's galleries.Inside the agonised host, a new clutch of nichtovermids grows, chewing through flesh and bone to finally burst out in a geyser of stinking liquid that draws a ripple of polite applause from its audience.
Haemonculi - The Everspiral: The Haemonculi of the Everspiral consider even the lords of the other covens to be rank amateurs. They are the most committed of all to the headlong plunge into depravity, believing themselves evil gods born to prey on the cusp of the mortal realm.Treading the downward spiral into the blackest depths of immorality is an unholy crusade for these monsters, and they do everything in their power to ensure each day is a little viler than the last. Because of their wholehearted dedication to the arts of evil, their ranks boast a great many Nadirists -- those who seek to become deified not by ascending into the heavens, but by descending into the abyss.The Haemonculi of the Everspiral require even more anguish to survive than their fellow Covenites, and utilise Cronos Parasite Engines to better supply the soul-stuff that they require for nourishment.Amongst their number are those so ancient, so inured to the spectacle of suffering, that without the constant feedback loop of dark psychic energy provided by a syphoning Cronos they would wither away to dust.
Haemonculi - The Hex: The Haemonculi of the Hex consider themselves to be the pre-eminent artists of flesh, with the entirety of realspace as their canvas. To construct truly impressive works they employ large cells of Wracks and Grotesques, mind-bound in much the same manner as hive organisms so they can be better suited to enact their master's artistic vision.Ever since their creation in the dark days that followed the Fall of the Aeldari, the coven has specialised in the fabrication of curses. Most of these are the product of baleful technologies, the effects of which have been refined to the point where -- in the eyes of the primitive races -- they are indistinguishable from magic.However, some of the coven's favourite curses truly border on the supernatural. It was the Hex that harnessed the Plague of Glass in 926.M36, their discoveries leading to the invention of the Hexrifle that bears their name to this day.It was the Haemonculi of the Hex that refined the macrosteroidal effects of a stolen bone virus to create the Ossefactor -- a weapon favoured by the Acothysts of their employ. They were even responsible for the creation of the fabled Orbs of Despair -- heavy black spheres so saturated with raw negative psychic energy from tortured souls that they can reduce a grown man to a gibbering wreck in a heartbeat.The glee with which the Hex unleash their carefully-cultivated curses upon an unsuspecting universe is palpable in its intensity, and their Haemonculi's thin lips curl back over their sharpened teeth as they drink in each fresh nightmare.However, the unbridled use of curses leaves its mark on the wielder as well as the victim. Those that deal with the coven's most arcane weapons are often pale to the point of albinism, covered with inkblot discolouration, or possessed of a slight greenish pallor.Regardless of form, the servants of the Hex are always unsettling, their leers somehow obvious even behind their masks.
Haemonculi - Prophets of Flesh: The Prophets of Flesh enjoy the favour of Urien Rakarth himself. So many aspirants seek their employ that each of the Prophets presides over thousands of Wracks. Upon induction into the coven, each Wrack's limbs will be extensively branded, tattooed or altered according to his new master's whim.Should he impress his superiors with especially inventive acts of sadism, the Wrack will have one of his marked appendages cut off and replaced with a bare limb taken from the Prophets' flesh libraries. Those favoured few who make it to the lesser ranks of these Haemonculi will be entirely free of blemish.Though they become convinced of their own purity, the opposite is true, for in climbing the heights of status, the aspirant will have stained his soul.Many of the Prophets of Flesh dabble in soothsaying, despite the prohibition of psychic activity that pervades Commorragh. They seek to learn the truths of the universe not through the shaman's technique of reading entrails, but by interpreting the effects of the atrocities they wreak.
Haemonculi - Carnival of Pain: Only events of great import will see a coven gather its cells, cliques and coteries into a Carnival of Pain. Named for the riotous assembly of freaks that make up its number, the Carnival boasts anatomies from the rake-thin to the colossal.Bursting from the Labyrinth Dimension of the Webway in an explosion of dagger-sharp craft, the coven lords hover over the battlefield, savouring every nuance of the bone-freezing terror they inspire.Their finest creations fall upon their prey like a madman's worst fears thrust into the waking world. The massacre that follows is considered high art by the Drukhari, and even the most jaded Archon will pay handsomely to witness it.This unique formation is comprised of a Grotesquerie, Scarlet Epicureans, a Scalpel Squadron, a Corpsethief Claw, a Dark Artisan and a Covenite Fleshcorps.
Haemonculi - Warform of the Haemonculus: 1. The blades used by Haemonculi during their realspace raids are razor-sharp without exception, and frequently envenomed.2. The vital organs of the Haemonculi are invariably moved to a location easier to protect -- usually placed within a fleshy sump at the top of the spine.3. The toxins borne to war by the Haemonculi are distilled to such concentrated lethality that even their scent can paralyse a foe. Some coven lords will even replace their own blood with such fluids.4. A Haemonculus' waist is waspish and thin, not only because of their relocated organs, but also likely because of some proto-fashion of the ancient Aeldari that never faded.5. The core form of a Haemonculus rarely, if ever, touches the ground. Instead, the coven lords prefer to slither on elongated spines, hover upon anti-gravitic suspensor crystals, or even be borne aloft by writhing nests of blood-sucking haemovores.
Haemonculi - Sources: Codex: Dark Eldar (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 15, 43, 71-84, 92-93, 114, 150-154, 169, 223Codex: Dark Eldar (5th Edition), pp. 37, 54, 60-61Deathwatch: The Outer Reach (RPG) pg. 60-61Haemonculus Covens - A Codex: Dark Eldar Supplement (7th Edition)Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook (6th Edition), pp. 206-209Only War: Enemies of the Imperium (RPG), pp. 86-87Path of the Archon (Novel) by Neil RobertsPath of the Renegade (Novel) by Andy ChambersRogue Trader: The Soul Reaver (RPG), pg. 120Dawn of War: Soulstorm (PC Game)Codex Supplement: White Scars (8th Edition), pg. 28Psychic Awakening - Phoenix Rising (8th Edition), pg. 17Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (PC Game)
Haephos - Haephos: Haephos was an Imperial Mining World located in the Chalnath Expanse of the nothern Ultima Segmentum in the Imperium Nihilus. It was one of the worlds of that region that was caught up in the multi-sided conflict between the Imperium and various xenos powers that was known as the Chalnath Expanse Campaign.After the birth of the Great Rift in the Era Indomitus, Haephos was afflicted by numerous uprisings unleashed by Chaos Cults, mutants, Genestealer Cults and an invasion by the forces of the T'au Empire's Fifth Sphere Expansion. Though the effects of the Great Rift on Warp travel and communication had cut off the planet from the wider Imperium, the world's Imperial Commander, Zula Hatiar, is still loyal to the Emperor and has vowed to wipe the Heretics, mutants, Genestealer cultists and aliens from Haephos' surface.Haephos raised a number of different types of regiments for the Astra Militarum, including the Haephosian Phalanxari, the Haephosian Klibanarii, and the Haephosian Tritons.
Haephos - Cleansing of the Eletyrio Spaceport: Haephosian Phalanxari - 13 Infantry RegimentsHaephosian Klibanarii - 3 Armored RegimentsHaephosian Tritons - 17 Infantry CompaniesCatachan Jungle Fighters - 2 Infantry RegimentsThaxarillian Guard - 3 Infantry RegimentsYamnin Volunteers - 4 Artillery MustersRiatov Grenadiers - 2 Infantry RegimentsRiatov Dragoons - 2 Armored RegimentsDremian Carronadmen - 4 Artillery RegimentsFaeburn Bullgryn Auxilia - 4 Brute Regiments
Haephos - Defence of the Volushun Shipyards: Haephosian Phalanxari - 6 Infantry RegimentsHaephosian Klibanarii - 2 Armored RegimentsHaephosian Tritons - 27 Infantry CompaniesIndigan Praefects - 2 Infantry Regiments16th Paruthan Immortals (The "God Slayers") - 1 Super-heavy RegimentGnarvis Ogryn Auxilia - 3 Brute RegimentsFormund Scorpions - 2 Artillery Regiments
Haephosian Klibanarii - Haephosian Klibanarii: The Haephosian Klibanarii are armoured regiments of the Astra Militarum raised from the Mining World of Haephos in the Segmentum Ultima. They fought in the Haephos Containment campaign and contributed a total of 5 armoured regiments to that conflict.
Haephosian Phalanxari - Haephosian Phalanxari: The Haephosian Phalanxari are regiments of elite, well-armoured Astra Militarum infantry raised from the Mining World of Haephos in the Segmentum Ultima. They fought in the Haephos Containment campaign and contributed a total of 19 infantry regiments to that conflict.
Haephosian Tritons - Haephosian Tritons: The Haephosian Tritons are the primary regiments of Astra Militarum infantry raised from the Mining World of Haephos in the Segmentum Ultima. They fought in the Haephos Containment campaign and contributed a total of 44 infantry regiments to that conflict.The Haephosian Tritons also contributed 23 companies to the Argovon Campaign of the Pariah Crusade in the Pariah Nexus.
Hagia - Hagia: HagiaImperialAgri-worldSabbat WorldsSectorSegmentum PacificusSaint SabbatShrine WorldEcclesiarchyDuring the Sabbat Worlds Crusade the Forces of Chaos attacked Hagia and mocked its people by calling themselves "Infardi," which was the word in the local dialect for "Pilgrim." Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and his Astra Militarum regiment, the Tanith First and Only, fought the Infardi in the planetary capital city of Holy Doctrinopolis and drove them out though at a very heavy cost.To redeem himself and his regiment, Gaunt led an honour guard to the Shrinehold of Saint Sabbat to safeguard the relics there from the incoming Chaos Fleet.
Hagia - Notable Settlements: Holy Doctrinopolis - Holy Doctrinoplois was the planetary capital city.Bhavnager - Bhavanger was a town that was the scene of a pitched battle between the Imperial liberation force and Infardi cultists during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.Shamiam - Shamiam was a town on the Tembarong Road.
Hakanor's Reavers - Hakanor's Reavers: Hakanor's Reavers are a warband of Chaos Space Marines of unknown origin and allegiance. They are led by the mighty Daemon Prince Hakanor who was formerly known as the Chapter Master Prometian. The Power Armour of these warriors now blazes with a heat that would melt its Ceramite plates if it was not sorcerous in nature. The plates now constantly crack and then cool and reform as a result of this constant heat.
Hakanor's Reavers - Warband Colours: This warband wears predominately black Power Armour that cracks and reforms lines of burning lava on its surface even as it burns with sorcerous power. The shoulder and helmet trims are gold.
Hakanor's Reavers - Warband Badge: Hakanor's Reavers badge is that of two reddish-orange, crossed scythes on a black background. Centered between the scythes are what appears to be a pile of burning skulls.
Hakatar - Hakatar: Hakatar was a Chaos Lord of the World Eaters Legion who led his warband of Chaos Space Marines through Warp Storm Örgvayr to invade Greater Thurian League space in the galactic core after the formation of the Great Rift in what became known as the Battle of Örgvayr.Joining with the forces of his fellow World Eater Chaos Lord Urthak Skullripper and the Nurglite Heretic Astartes of The Purge, Hakatar's forces assaulted the Kin World of Törg, trapping the Kin Cthonian Guild miners there within their besieged harvester fortresses.A rescue force of Oathbands belonging to the Thurian Kindred of Vôrtun arrived at Törg under the overall command of Kâhl Ûthar the Destined and succeeded in driving off the Chaos forces long enough for the Kin to rescue their miners and a significant amount of the valuable resources they had mined from the volcanic world.Hakatar was slain in a duel with Ûthar fought upon the stone span bridging the Chasm of Embers when the kâhl took the World Eater's right leg off with a vicious sweep of his Blade of the Ancestors and pitched him, still howling with fury, into the flames below.
Halberd of Caliban - Halberd of Caliban: A Halberd of Caliban is an archaic Power Weapon commonly utilised by the Company Champion of the Dark Angels Chapter's 1st Company, which is called the Deathwing. The Company Champion of the Deathwing, a member of the elite Inner Circle of the 1st Company called the Deathwing Knights, traditionally carried this massive weapon as his primary close combat defence. The Halberd of Caliban's blade was reforged from the remnants of a Blade of Caliban shattered in battle long ago. The Halberd of Caliban incorporates the same grim and now long-lost technologies that power the other weapons of the Deathwing Knights.
Hall of Judgement - Hall of Judgement: The  Hall of Judgement is the great edifice that serves as the Imperial headquarters of the Adeptus Arbites on Terra. The Hall of Judgement is an unusually modest structure compared to the headquarters of most of the other components of the Adeptus Terra located in the teeming world-city of the Throneworld.A hardened fortress, the interior of the Hall of Judgement extends through many subterranean levels. It is an extremely well-defended citadel, protected by  anti-aircraft cannons, automated gun turrets, gunship launch bays, and legions of Arbites Gun Servitors.The Hall of Judgement is the home of the Adeptus Arbites' Book of Judgement, the complete record of the Lex Imperialis, Imperial law.  The Book of Judgement has been painstakingly collected, annotated and collated over millennia and embodies every decree ever passed by the Emperor Himself or the High Lords of Terra.In fact, the Book of Judgement has long-since grown beyond the confines of a single tome, no matter how large, and comprises countless records, books, and legal decrees.The most ancient articles are written on crumbling parchments, enscribed in unknown Human tongues by the nameless functionaries of a forgotten age. However, every solar day new volumes of parchment, data-records, and encoded holoscript are added to the Book of Judgement, and interred within the reinforced confines of the Hall of Judgement. Shelves of tomes rise hundreds of metres towards the vaulted ceilings above canyons of marble and iron.Over the ages, the Hall of Judgement has been expanded and extended many times, so that it is now an entire complex covering many acres, with kilometres of corridors, levels, and rooms.Scholars, scribes, and law lords pace the time-worn marble floors, while above their heads, on the narrow gantries and ladders that cover the shelf stacks like a spider's web, crawl legal assistants and low-ranking functionaries, searching through the detritus of judgement for solar weeks and months at a time to find just a single reference.Every Adeptus Arbites Judge, at some point in their career, attempts a pilgrimage to the Hall of Judgement on Terra, there to study the full intricacies of Imperial law. Many spend long standard years there, for the most heinous, subtle, or far-reaching crimes often require a lengthy process of research to pass judgement.The Hall of Judgement is a place around which rumours and legends swirl, particularly among the population of Terra's packed hive cities. Some claim  that its deepest cells hold mad Heretics kept alive from a bygone age. Others claim that the Emperor Himself appears in mirrors held within the Hall to deliver His verdict on the accused who disappear within its cavernous corridors.
Hallicon Armoured - Hallicon Armoured: The Hallicon Armoured are regiments of the Astra Militarum raised from the world of Hallicon who operate primarily as mechanised infantry protected by armoured vehicles. Five regiments of the Hallicon Armoured were deployed in the defence of Cadia and its surrounding star systems in the Cadian Gate from the Forces of Chaos under the command of Abaddon the Despoiler and his 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41.They were instrumental in aiding Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed's Long Retreat, which allowed the Imperial defenders to make their final stand against an offensive led by Abaddon himself before the fall of Cadia. Little else is known about them in current Imperial records.
Halo Brethren - Halo Brethren: The Halo Brethren is a Loyalist Codex Astartes-compliant Space Marine Chapter of unknown lineage created during the 4th Founding in 546.M32, following the disastrous events of the War of the Beast against the largest Ork WAAAGH! seen since the time of the Great Crusade led by the mysterious Greenskin Warlord known only as The Beast.The Halo Brethren was created alongside several other Chapters to help bring order to an Imperium rife with civil discord and insurrection, and to help restore Imperial law.
Halo Brethren - Notable Campaigns: Fury of the Space Marines (626.M32) - In 546.M32, after the departure of Lord Commander of the Imperium Thane and his Imperial Fists Chapter, the internecine politics of the Imperium took a calamitous turn when the High Lords of Terra were slain to a man on the orders of Drakan Vangorich, the Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum, and newly installed Lord Protector. This lamentable period of history came to be known as The Beheading which occurred in 546.M32. Though aware of the events that had occurred within the Senatorum Imperialis, Thane chose to temporarily ignore Vangorich's actions, and gave him a chance to rule the Imperium effectively, for once. At first, all was well, as the Imperium refortified itself and the Fourth Founding successfully took place. But after nearly 80 Terran years of rule, the Lord Protector began to display troubling behaviour and paranoia. Seeing enemies everywhere, he called for unnecessary purges and massacres, which only seemed to grow in number on a daily basis. Receiving troubling reports from abroad, Maximus Thane decided that the Imperial Fists would return to Terra to remove the troublesome Vangorich. When the Crusade finally arrived back at Terra, four hundred Space Marines were despatched to the capital world's surface. A company each from two of the newly-founded Chapters, the Halo Brethren and the Sable Swords, as well as two hundred Imperial Fists of the First, Fourth and Fifth Companies, took part in the efforts to remove Vangorich from power. The commander of the strike force, Qublicus Amar, Lord of the Sable Swords, was assassinated by a Vindicare Assassin's bullet soon after making planetfall. Seeing no other choice, the remaining Space Marines commenced their attack nevertheless. Assailed by hundreds of assassins, the Space Marines lost half their number securing the Imperial Palace from the agents of the Officio Assassinorum. Confronting the Inquisitorial Representative, the elderly Wienand, she convinced Thane of her loyalty, and gave the Chapter Master the necessary intelligence he needed in order to find and remove the mad tyrant Vangorich from power. The Grand Master of Assassins had taken refuge in the Eversor Temple at the north pole of Terra. Moving the retribution force there at once, the Space Marines proceeded with their attack. Within the Eversor temple, the Space Marines were assailed by a hundred Eversor Assassins. Only Thane managed to survive, to reach the Grand Master and deliver the Emperor's judgement with his Bolt Pistol. In the aftermath of Vangorich's fall, the Imperium would proceed to descend into a period of anarchy for some time.
Halo Brethren - Chapter Colours: The Halo Brethren's Chapter colours are not recorded in current Imperial records.
Halo Brethren - Chapter Badge: The Halo Brethren's Chapter badge is not recorded in current Imperial records.
Halo Devices - Halo Devices: Halo Devices, or Halo Artefacts, have been known to select Arch-heretics, recidivists, and the Holy Ordos of the Inquisition for Terran millennia, ever since renowned Explorators and Rogue Traders of antiquity returned from the Halo Stars bearing these devices, along with tales of corpse stars and disturbing pict-records of dead Xenos Worlds.These artefacts defy analysis by tech-augury and are nearly impervious to age and harm. The corrupt amongst the Imperial masses long ago discovered that, through dark transformation of body and mind, some of these xenos devices can grant life eternal. The body is restored to youth and the passage of years no longer weakens the flesh. Other Halo Artefacts were found to possess stranger and greater powers, their unholy potency behind the rise of a number of infamous Arch-heretics.As standard centuries passed, the artefacts were sought by masters of the occult and became legends amongst the power-hungry, associated with dire heresy and corruption. Nonetheless, perhaps a few score artefacts have changed hands for vast sums since the Calixis Sector came into being, and the opening of the Koronus Expanse in the 41st Millennium has added to their number.
Halo Devices - History: As far as can be ascertained, the first discovery of a Halo Device on the edges of what would one day be called the Calixis Sector was made by the Explorator Archmagos Khronus in the late years of the 36th Millennium, although apocryphal tales of dangerous and accursed xenos artefacts of a similar vein originated in the area millennia before. Despite analysis, the terrible properties of the seemingly mundane relics discovered by Khronus remained undiscovered.For these horrors to emerge, a Halo Device would have to fall into less scrupulous hands. It is believed that one did after Khronus' fleet returned many solar decades later to its base on the Forge World of Stragos where an incident occurred whose details have been long suppressed by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Whatever events transpired on Stragos resulted in the devices being identified and condemned by both the Ordo Xenos and the Machine Cult, and the lives off all those involved with Halo Devices remain forfeit within the Imperium.The threat posed by Halo Devices was known when Lord Militant Golgenna Angevin began his crusade and members and servants of the Ordo Xenos travelled in his wake seeking signs of their corrupting presence. It is even thought that some amongst the Angevin Crusade's greatest enemies used Halo Devices. That some of these enemies may yet live in secret, preserved by this blasphemous technology, is a terrible prospect that troubles the Holy Ordos to this day.The Inquisition, for its part, has watched the sectors around the Halo Stars for signs of this trade and the artefacts' malign influence for centuries, hunting for those who traffic in the Halo Devices and mercilessly destroying those who have come into contact with them. Dedicated cells of Acolytes have spent their entire careers researching and hunting out Halo Devices. Congregations of Inquisitors have been created and have died in the war against these malign gifts from the Halo Stars' past.
Halo Devices - Sinophian Prosecution: Concrete evidence of the effects of the Halo Devices is frustratingly rare, but the earliest confirmed instance of conflict with the artefacts came on what was then the Frontier World of Sinophia Magna, some hundred Terran years before Angevin's crusade. During what is named in official Ordos sources as the Sinophian Prosecution, Lord Inquisitor Ozymandias Ruthven destroyed the Heretic scion of a great and wealthy mercantile house of Sinophia. The Heretic's name was judged to be so reviled that it has been expunged from all records. The Arch-heretic, whose influence ran through the Segmentum Obscurus even to the borders of Segmentum Solar itself, was said to be possessed of unnatural powers and could not die. The Inquisition, of course, begged to differ...The crimes and secret atrocities committed by this foe of Mankind and his kin were so grievous as to merit execution not only for himself and his close associates but also for all of his house and its vassals. It became clear during this prosecution that the Heretic was not, as first suspected, a Daemon-worshiper, warped mutant, or witch. Rather, the Heretic's body was a hideous fusion of polluted Human flesh and a xenological artefact that had become so much a part of him that the Heretic and artefact were indivisible. It is recorded in one apocryphal source that Ozymandias hurled his bound enemy into the heart of Sinophia's sun, destroying him utterly.
Halo Devices - Origins and Nature of the Halo Devices: Halo Devices are so named because they come from worlds within the volume of space known as the Halo Stars -- a dangerous and ill-omened region that is bordered by several barbarous voids of space as well as a number of Imperial sectors including Scarus and Calixis. The worlds from which Halo Devices come are truly ancient and utterly lifeless, orbiting dead stars which must have burned their brightest many thousands of Terran millennia ago. That such worlds once were part of some antediluvian and now long-dead civilisation is a fact generally agreed upon by xeno-arcanists and Rogue Traders, but just what the creatures from this civilisation were or how they passed into extinction is a question that has never been answered.All that may be surmised about these creatures comes from the one legacy they left behind -- the artefacts referred to as Halo Devices. From these, it can be surmised that the makers of the Halo Devices had highly developed technology and a great understanding of physical matter and biological processes far in advance of perhaps any other known species or science. Whether the effects of these devices on Human tissue is deliberate or not is unclear; if they were deliberate, it would indicate a callous genius as well as a farsighted malignancy. If the effects of the devices are accidental, it speaks of a terrifying power that could cause such a by-product unrelated to their true purpose.Usually found buried in the decayed basalt biers and shattered cyclopean ruins of their maker's civilisation -- long rendered into anonymity by the erosion of ages -- the Halo Devices themselves are always inexplicably untouched by the effects of time. Halo Devices come in many forms, from smooth carbuncular talismans to strange, miniature, trilobite-like fossil curios and sinister orbs with fluid and glossy surfaces. All share a strange metallic feel, defy analysis by auspex or other scanners, and are nearly impervious to harm. Indeed any force sufficient to breach one will also destroy it, making any such act worthless. All that is known of their effects are half-truths and stories passed down across the millennia. In fact, there are as many strange and unreliable fragments of lore surrounding them as there are different forms to the devices themselves.Given the proscribed nature of Halo Devices, it is unsurprising that rumour and supposition persist as to their powers and use. The truth, however, is that the devices will indeed grant their possessor what they seek -- youth, vigour, and undying power, but in such a manner only the most deranged would choose. Over time, the devices become part of their possessor's body and mind, changing them according to alien inclinations and subjugating them to strange thirsts. The life of a possessor of a Halo Device becomes less their own and more that of the device itself.
Halo Devices - Temptation of Immortality: Those few who covet Halo Devices have a simple but terrible motivation for their desire -- the youth and eternal vigour bestowed by them. Rejuvenat treatments, sanguinary cleansing, and other techno-biological rituals can only preserve Human life so far. Even solutions to extreme age such as full augmetic conversion and life support offer at best a poisoned chalice for those that take them up.Rather than undergo the indignities of infirmity and the ultimate truth of their own demise, some who desire freedom from the cruel touch of time seek other, more desperate measures. For some, the Ruinous Powers await with their own lies and empty promises. However, this path is as uncertain as it is filled with caprice and danger to body and soul. Others, rich, ruthless, and sufficiently well-connected, may seek other means, turning to the half-rumoured mysteries of ancient Human science and the works of the alien for salvation.Fortunately, concrete knowledge of the existence of Halo Devices is rare and the means to obtain one even rarer yet. Only the wealthiest and most powerful seekers of eternal life in the sectors that border the Halo Stars are able to pursue these forbidden devices. Once they have obtained such a thing, they soon find that they have new purposes to occupy them -- first, concealing the crime that they have committed simply by possessing one, and, over time, concealing the side effects of the device's gifts.The price they pay for their immortality is ultimately everything they have and everything they are as they spiral slowly down a path of contamination, corruption, and madness. Over time, most will be forced into the life of the recluse in order to survive, attended by a few loyal or terrified servants, and ultimately must pass the millennia hunted and shunned by their fellow man and at the mercy of alien thirsts and ancient nightmares.
Halo Devices - Transfiguration: Halo Devices will begin to bond with and change any person who has prolonged contact (over several solar days or weeks) with them; this contact may be as simple as wearing the device as a piece of jewellery or keeping it in a pocket. However, embedding the device in an open wound may well speed up this process dramatically. Once the device bonds with the user, it begins to alter them. This process of change moves through three phases: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. Once a person is into the Primary Phase there is no turning back, and they will eventually pass to the Secondary and Tertiary Phases unless they are destroyed.Halo Devices require the flesh of an organic host, and if kept in contact with flesh, they will bond with it and, over time, change that flesh to suit their purposes. Halo Devices do have a purpose, corrupted by eons as it might be, and it is to transform the mind and body of those they bond with towards some dark and terrible configuration.As a person bonded to a Halo Device moves through each phase, various traits and other effects are applied to them as detailed below:
Halo Devices - Primary Phase (Once bonded to the device): Within a short span of time, ranging from a few solar weeks to a matter of solar hours in rare instances, the device becomes fully physically bonded with the user's flesh. The user rejuvenates so that they are in the peak of youth and health. Any physical diseases, deformities, minor mutations, or other long-term medical conditions that they were suffering from are negated. Any part of the user's body that has been lost re-grows during this phase (albeit slowly and painfully), their senses become superbly attuned, they move with an unnatural grace, and they shrug off all but the most grievous wounds.Even as their body changes, the user's mind begins to break; they increasingly discover that they finds no pleasure in normal sensory stimuli (food will taste ashen, etc.) and they suffer from violent mood swings. As time progresses, they learn that they no longer require sleep -- except for a few comatose hours every few solar days during which they suffer fierce phantasmagorical dreams of alien vistas and strange cities beneath mysterious stars.
Halo Devices - Secondary Phase (After several standard years of contact): Over time, the device insinuates itself completely into the user's body and becomes partially absorbed in the cellular makeup of the body itself, with the initial contact covered over by skin and scar tissue. The area where the device bonded to the flesh begins to change, becoming mottled and tough like the exoskeleton of an insect or becoming desiccated and cold like that of an embalmed corpse.The body of the user heals almost any damage (given time) and is inhumanly fast, strong, and resilient. They no longer sleep, eat, or drink normal food, but as they slip further into madness, they develop strange addictions and insatiable hungers that they must regularly indulge or grow increasingly unstable and sickly.These addictions often include spending long periods in total darkness or immersion in solar radiation, and the hungers are often for substances like Human tissue -- such as blood, flesh, and cranial fluid. The user also finds that they have memories of strange alien civilisations, languages, and scripts meshing with their own and may lose large chunks of their own memories.
Halo Devices - Tertiary Phase (After solar decades of contact or resurrection): There is no longer any separation between the user and the Halo Device whatsoever; their body becomes perceptibly altered, remaining humanoid but no longer Human. Instances of burning, radiant eyes, corpse-like flesh, distorted gaunt features, mottled or armoured hide-like skin, and even a fine, beetle-like carapace are all recorded, and almost invariably the fingers of the hands transform into long talons of exposed bone.The thing that was once Human is now so strong it can rip a man's head from his shoulders with casual ease, survive the touch of the void, and, it is said, may even return from death. The mind that once spiralled towards madness is gone and in its place is something else. It is something formed from an unholy union of intellects, something that can speak in long-dead tongues and brood on all-too-Human desires with inhuman patience.
Halo Devices - Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Threat Briefing: The subject of the direst sanction, Halo Devices, those who trade in them, and their users are under blanket order of destruction by the Holy Ordos. Thankfully, Halo Devices are exceedingly rare, and cases of their use are equally unusual.It is a matter of some rancour within the Inquisition that despite suppression, tales of wondrous devices or objects that grant immortality or eternal youth continue to circulate in the decadent circles of the wealthy elite of the Imperium. Almost without exception these rumours have the barest relation to the truth, but they still have the power to attract the foolish to pursue such devices down paths that lead them to heresy.Instances have been recorded in which a dissolute member of the Imperial elite has obtained a Warp-tainted item passed off as a Halo Device, with predictably destructive results. Of near-equal concern are the charlatans and miscreants who peddle in devices that they claim are Halo Devices but are in fact simulacra accompanied by suitably strange stipulations for use.These simulacra are the bane of the Ordos, as they create false leads and trails which the few true traders in Halo Devices can use to hide their own activities. The Inquisition shows no mercy to those who trade or are involved with the trading of false Halo Devices -- to sell such a lie is to feed heresy and so is judged as damning as if the artefacts were true in the eyes of the Ordos.How many have already fallen to the hideous mechanisms of Halo Devices cannot be known. However, in some secluded tower, or sealed estates, monsters undoubtedly lurk, their once-Human form twisted by baubles that promised life eternal.
Halo Dragons - Halo Dragons: Halo DragonsSpace MarineChapterFoundingT'auThird Sphere ExpansionZeist Campaign
Halo Dragons - Notable Campaigns: Zeist Campaign (999.M41) - The Halo Dragons heeded the call of the Lord of Macragge, Marneus Calgar, the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, who led the Imperial forces tasked with containing the T'au expansion in the Eastern Fringes of the galaxy during the Zeist Campaign in 999.M41. The Halo Dragons contributed at least one Tactical Squad that was instrumental in the successful assault and liberation of the world of Augura, which had served as a primary forward base of operations for the T'au Empire's forces during its Third Sphere Expansion.
Halo Dragons - Chapter Colours: The Halo Dragons primarily wear ebon Power Armour. The red squad specialty symbol -- Tactical, Assault, Devastator or Veteran -- is located on the right shoulder plate. A white Roman numeral is centred on the squad specialty symbol, indicating squad number. The colour of the Aquila or Imperialis on the chest plate indicates company number in accordance to the Codex Astartes -- i.e. White (1st Company), Yellow (2nd Company), Red (3rd Company), Green (4th Company), etc.
Halo Dragons - Chapter Badge: The Halo Dragons' Chapter badge is a stylised red dragon, its leathery wings displayed and inverted, a beaming halo above its head, centred on a field of sable.
Halo Stars - Halo Stars: The Halo Stars is the name given to the ancient formation of stars which encircle the outer edge of the galaxy, representing the last stellar clusters to be encountered before one enters the eternal, frigid night of the intergalactic void. The Halo Stars are believed to be the oldest stars in the galaxy and their circumference extends for approximately 200,000 light years around the Milky Way, usually grouped in a cluster formation. The Halo Stars may also be intermixed into the shroud of dark matter that is known to extend beyond the visible disk of the galaxy for several hundred thousand light years.These stars are older than most can understand, and are characterised by mystery and danger. They have remained largely unexplored by the Imperium and it is unknown what kinds of habitable worlds, if any, may circle them. The Halo Stars have a malignant reputation amongst Imperial starfarers and it is believed by many, including quite a few Rogue Traders and Adeptus Mechanicus Explorators, that those foolish enough to venture out into those mysterious reaches never return. Their beliefs have some credibility, as pirates, Warp entities, and new species of hostile xenos often dwell in the galactic frontier's darkness.The Koronus Expanse is a region of the Halo Stars adjacent to the Calixis Sector in the Segmentum Obscurus. The Imperium has begun exploration efforts into the Expanse, led by the fleets of various Rogue Traders who have been assisted by ancient Explorator star charts recovered from previous exploration efforts.
Halo Zone - Halo Zone: The Halo Zone is the name of the region beyond the psychic light of the Astronomican that lies in the Segmentum Pacificus but beyond the borders of known Human space.This region is composed of the ancient stellar bodies known as the Halo Stars. This thin band of old stars traces the circumference of the Milky Way Galaxy and is home to ancient worlds where men have never known the Emperor of Mankind. Their ancestors left Old Earth over thirty thousand standard years ago at the very dawn of Human interstellar history.So dimly does the Emperor's psychic light shine at the fringes of this region of space that even Navigators can sense only darkness.Due to the resulting difficulties in navigation in this region, the time needed to cross it is greatly increased from a similar volume of explored space, while also increasing the time differential experienced between travel in realspace and travel in the Immaterium.
Halo Zone - Macharian Crusade: At the end of the Macharian Crusade led by the famous Lord Commander Solar Macharius in 399.M41, after seven standard years of campaigning and having brought nearly a thousand worlds under Imperial control, his expeditionary fleet reached the edge of known space.When the lord commander attempted to push his crusade onwards into the Halo Zone, it was here that his generals wavered. They pleaded for him to reconsider. His men, tired and ageing, hesitated. The halo of the galaxy was dark and forbidding. Navigation was slow without the guiding beacon of the Astronomican.The astropaths were virtually beyond the range of psychic communication. There was a sense of growing unrest amongst the armies and fleets. Macharius knew that the end had come. His armies had simply run out of energy at the moment of his greatest challenge.To make matters worse, some of the exploratory teams had failed to return from their missions, whilst others reported mysterious phenomena. The troops whispered that the Old Stars were haunted, that the worlds which orbited them were inhabited by ghosts, and that the halo was not a place for living men.Eventually, the lord commander gave in, and with a heavy heart he ordered the fleets to turn back into the Imperium. Though his soldiers cheered for their hero and his generals sighed with relief, legend tells that Macharius was a broken man because of his inability to continue his conquests and he eventually died of despair on the return journey.
Haltmoat - Haltmoat: Haltmoat is a watch fortress of the Deathwatch Chapter that is located in the Segmentum Obscurus and is currently commanded by Watch Commander Vilnus.
Haltmoat - K'torkh: During the Era Indomitus, on the world of K'tokh, several kill-teams from Haltmoat faced their doom when they were caught between forces of the Necrons and the traitorous Heretic Astartes of the Emperor's Children. The battle turned back in their favour when a mighty force of Primaris Space Marines, freshly armoured in the black of the Deathwatch, arrived direct from the Indomitus Crusade to join the fight.
Haltmoat - Hive Fleet Tiamet: When the watch fortress of Haltmoat began receiving numerous reports of voidships disappearing near the Tiamet System, Watch Commander Vilnus sent a kill-team, led by Watch Sergeant Gjunheim, to investigate the system held by Hive Fleet Tiamet. Though the kill-team was able to infiltrate the system they soon met with disaster and were killed on the Jungle World of Ziaphoria. The kill-team's ship returned to the watch fortress, but it bore a final vox transmission by Gjunheim that warned of a nightmare biomechanical structure built by the Tyranids that they had discovered.The watch sergeant reported that it spanned an entire continent on Ziaphoria and when the Astartes approached it, the structure pulsed and sent out a tsunami of psychic energy. This pulse caused the death of the kill-team's Librarian from a cerebral hemorhage, which alerted the hive fleet to their presence. The kill-team was subsequently torn apart by the Tyranids.Once Vilnus finished the message, he transmitted it to the Ordo Xenos and it eventually reached the ears of the excommunicated Inquisitor Fidus Kryptman. The former Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos travelled to Watch Fortress Haltmoat and Vilnus agreed to meet with him. As they talked, Kryptman shared his own grim theories regarding the purpose of the unknown Tyranid structure on Ziaphoria and Hive Fleet Tiamet, and together the two began to formulate a plan to utterly obliterate whatever the Hive Mind was planning.
Hammer-class Battlekroozer - Hammer-class Battlekroozer: The Hammer-class Battlekroozer is a type of battlecruiser that possesses several variants found in Ork fleets.
Hammer-class Battlekroozer - Sources: Battlefield Gothic: Armada 2 (PC Game) (Images)
Hammer of Macragge - Hammer of Macragge: The Hammer of Macragge is a potent and revered relic of the Ultramarines Chapter of Space Marines, a millennia-old Thunder Hammer that has long remained aboard the Reclusium of the Battle Barge of the Ultramarines 2nd Company in a shrine of honour. The Hammer of Macragge has been wielded against foes of the Imperium of Man for many millennia, and it contains powerful ancient technology that is little understood in the late 41st Millennium.The 2nd Company's Ultima Squad swore their battle pledges on the Hammer shortly before their deployment to the Shrine World of Mithron which had come under assault from the Forces of Chaos, including the Chaos Space Marines of the Black Legion. Later, Battle-Brother Proteus confronted a daemon inside the Reclusium of the 2nd Company's Battle Barge and tore the Hammer from its reliquary, using it to banish the daemon back to the Warp, before it could use the Imperial Fists artefact recovered from Mithron, the Liber Mithrus, to open a Warp portal on Macragge itself.
Hammer of Macragge - Sources: Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 MovieDeathwatch (RPG) Ultramarines Movie Download, pg. 3
Hammer of the Soul Forges - Hammer of the Soul Forges: The Hammer of the Soul Forges is a Daemon Weapon that serves as the primary melee weapon wielded by Vashtorr the Arkifane, the Greater Daemon of Chaos Undivided who rules the Forge of Souls in the Realm of Chaos. But it is more than just a weapon, for it aids him in all his acts of creation and destruction within the Forge of Souls.
Hammerfall Bunker - Hammerfall Bunker: A Hammerfall Bunker is a space-to-surface deployable, heavily-fortified automated bastion used by the Space Marines to secure territory during their planetary assault campaigns.Hammerfall Bunkers are launched from Adeptus Astartes warships in orbit in the same manner as Drop Pods. Automated area-denial assets crewed by hard-wired servitors, they serve all kinds of tactical roles, including securing hard-won beachheads during a planetary assault, hampering enemy offensives and wreaking havoc if dropped behind enemy lines.The bunker's primary armament is the Hammerfall Missile Launcher. Anti-personnel weapony is supplied by an array of Heavy Bolters or Heavy Flamers.
Hammerfall Bunker - Wargear: Hammerfall Heavy Bolter ArrayHammerfall Missile LauncherSuperfrag Missiles -  Superfrag Missiles are used as even more explosively powerful anti-personnel weapons than standard Frag Missiles since they explode into thousands of highly lethal fragments of shrapnel that can easily shred even heavily armoured infantry.Superkrak Missiles - Superkrak Missiles are even more potent anti-armour weapons than standard Krak Missiles that can shred heavy armour plates with their powerful, shaped explosion.Hammerfall Heavy Flamer Array (Optional replacement for Heavy Bolter Array)
Hammerfall Missile Launcher - Hammerfall Missile Launcher: The Hammerfall Missile Launcher is an Imperial Missile Launcher used as the primary weapon system of the Hammerfall Bunker used by the Space Marines as an automated, area-denial fortification. It is usually outfitted with either Superfrag or Superkrak Missiles, which are more powerful variants of the standard Frag and Krak Missiles available to the Adeptus Astartes.Superfrag Missiles are used as anti-personnel weapons since they explode into thousands of highly lethal fragments of shrapnel that can easily shred even heavily-armoured infantry, while Superkrak Missiles are potent anti-armour weapons that can shred heavy armour plates with their powerful, shaped explosion.