House Vyridion - House History: With the loss of the House's own archive during the destruction of their homeworld, House Vyridion's history is sketchy as best. In truth the only true testimony of any length are those ancient documents compiled from Baroness D'Arcus' own admission of guilt before Malcador the Sigilite and the Emperor's envoy, Diocletian Coros of the Legio Custodes.According to this testimony, Highrock -- House Vyridion's homeworld -- was liberated by an Expeditionary Fleet of the III Legion, the Emperor's Children, under the leadership of their Primarch Fulgrim. As proxy to the Emperor, it was to him and the III Legion that House Vyridion swore their Oath of Allegiance. As dictated by the tenets of the Sidon Protocols, a group of House Vyridion's Knights accompanied the Emperor's Children as they conquered the galaxy in the Emperor's name. For three generations, House Vyridion faithfully served the Imperium of Mankind, but whatever honours they gained were lost when their homeworld was put to the torch. Then came the Horus Heresy. Unaware of what had transpired on Istvaan III and during the Drop Site Massacre, House Vyridion was summoned by the Emperor's Children to mobilise for a terrible new war, a war against the Emperor's own Legiones Astartes, who they declared had gone Renegade. Faring ill against a splinter force of the Iron Hands Legion, the Emperor's Children had called upon their allies to help them, thus obtaining victory.Yet the Iron Hands had not stood alone, as they too had been reinforced by two of the many Imperial Knight Households of the Imperium, Houses Kells and Rhiatan. Following the ferocious fighting that led to the Iron Hands' extermination, House Kells retreated to their bastions, several of which were attacked and razed by the Emperor's Children and House Vyridion. Yet, with their final bastion about to fall, House Kells broke radio-silence and tried to reason with their distant cousins of House Vyridion. They spoke of the utter collapse of the Great Crusade and the havoc the Warmaster's armies were wreaking across other distant regions of space. Above all, they repeated a name that several within House Vyridion had heard -- albeit in unfounded rumours-- the name of "Istvaan". The continued pleas to finally listen to reason led Baroness Jaya D'Arcus to doubt her House's present course of action. Boldly she advised the Emperor's Children that she and her Knights would not march against House Kells until she had obtained answers. The Emperor's Children's answered by opening fire on House Vyridion's tender fleet, forcing it to retreat. It became clear that House Vyridion had been lied to, and these lies had led them to attack loyal soldiers and subjects of the Emperor. The shame still burning brightly in her heart, Baroness D'Arcus ordered her hearth-ships to carry their sacred Knight-armours back to Highrock, while she and her fellow Scions would make haste to Terra. Yet when they arrived at Terra, the Master of Mankind had already retreated into the Imperial Dungeon beneath the Imperial Palace, following his own vital agenda which could not be interrupted. According to Imperial Law and under the authority of the Regent of Terra, Malcador the Sigilite, the noble scions of House Vyridion were imprisoned, awaiting trial. The growing demands of the war, however, caused the stressed Imperial bureaucracy to forget about these valuable prisoners, until, in His Hour of need, the Emperor ordered one of His most-trusted Custodians to gather whatever fighting forces he could to defend the part of the Eldar Webway that led to the Imperial Palace.Although the incarceration of Jaya and her fellow Knights had lasted only a little over three solar months, the situation had much changed. Unknown to the Scions of House Vyridion, in retaliation for their change of heart the Emperor's Children had descended upon Highrock and destroyed it. Their venerable and precious suits of Knight-armour had likely all been destroyed and the Knight World's population slain. This news shook Baroness D'Arcus to her very core, for it meant that House Vyridion had failed in its task to protect their homeworld. Their glorious history that dated back to before the fall of Old Night had been erased. Their world and families were dead, and they were but the sorry remains of a dead House, soon to be forgotten, but Coros offered them a last chance at redemption: a formal Imperial Pardon in exchange for their continued service, and perhaps more importantly, a chance to avenge their fallen. Baroness D'Arcus accepted without hesitation.Reequipped with scavenged suits of Knight-armour Coros had secured from Zagreus Kane, the exiled Loyalist Fabricator-General of the Mechanicum, House Vyridion began an extensive training regime to give its Scions time to familiarise themselves with their new suits of armour. Thanks to the generous donations of House Krast, which supplied House Vyridion with ammunition, Baroness D'Arcus was able to muster fully two-thirds of her House in defence of the Imperial Webway Project. Many would die on the other side of the Eternity Gate, but House Vyridion survived the gruesome fighting within the Webway. The House's ultimate fate remains unknown.