vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Nimbosa Crusade - Second Phase: The Crusade: In the Nimbosa Crusade, the Black Templars fought alongside other Space Marine Chapters to reclaim the world of Nimbosa from the T'au after the completion of the T'au Empire's Third Sphere Expansion.The initial battles of the Crusade with the T'au took place in space; aboard the orbital space stations the aliens had placed in geo-stationary orbit around Nimbosa. The Black Templars' Strike Cruiser Dorn's Wrath used its speed to evade the incoming fire and closed to attack range. Using boarding torpedoes and Thunderhawk gunships it penetrated the hull of the target, designated Orbital Primus, and allowed the household guard of Castellan Folkert to be the first to fight the enemy.The T'au Fire Warriors stationed aboard Orbital Primus turned the corridors of the space station into killing grounds and a warren of deadly ambushes. The Black Templar force countered this by splitting up into small squads and attacked the defenders from multiple directions, using grenades and Chainswords to smash their way through the bulkheads. This enabled them to outflank the defending T'au forces, who were ineffective at close combat, and crush the aliens' resistance.After fighting their way through to the gunnery controls of the orbital, the Space Marines were able to turn the guns of the station on the other T'au orbitals. This, combined with the assaults of the Imperial Navy, was too much for the remaining orbitals to withstand.Finally Castellan Folkert destroyed the geo-stationary gravitic emitter anchors of Orbital Primus and let it fall through the atmosphere of the planet, destroying the space station in a rain of fire. Meanwhile, the Ultramarines' 1st Company smashed into the defending T'au garrison, eliminating the T'au's anti-air turrets and making short work of the T'au leaders. With the T'au's command-and-control eliminated, the Astartes forces were able to make nearly unopposed planetary landings and easily root out the remaining T'au ground forces on Nimbosa.
Nimbosa Crusade - Outcome: The campaign ended with the successful recapture of Nimbosa by the Imperium and the destruction of the entire T'au garrison.
Nimbosa Crusade - Date Inconsistencies: There is an inconsistency in the dating of the Nimbosa Crusade in published sources. Codex: Imperial Guard (5th Edition) makes clear that the Nimbosa Crusade occurred in 790.M41. But Cities of Death holds that the T'au assault of Nimbosa was only made possible because of the encroachment of Hive Fleet Kraken on the Eastern Fringes of the galaxy, a Hive Fleet which did not appear until circa 992.M41. Even further confusion is added by the fact that the Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition) claims that the Imperial counterattack came within only 4 months of the loss of the world and the short story Assault on Nimbosa actually places the Crusade in an ambiguous time period some time after 999.M41.
Njal Stormcaller - Njal Stormcaller: Njal Stormcaller, called the "Tempest that Walks," is the Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter's greatest Rune Priest (Librarian). He has proven to be of unparalleled ability both as an Astartes warrior and a formidable psyker without peer. The barbarian tribes of Fenris believe that the most powerful Sky Warriors can bend the savage elements themselves to their will. Njal Stormcaller is the living proof of that belief. The skies are his to command, and he takes fierce delight in summoning ice-toothed blizzards and howling gales with which to scatter and destroy those in his path. Njal has manifested a psychic talent to rival any in the Imperium. At the Battle of Goreswirl, Njal showed his true might by blasting apart the dread Bloodthirster that had slain so many of his brothers. He then scattered the Greater Daemon's minions with an ice storm so fierce that it drove them back into the Warp. From that day on, Njal has been known as the Stormcaller. He now holds the revered position of Lord of Runes, the Chapter's High Rune Priest.
Njal Stormcaller - History: As a tribesman of Fenris, Njal Stormsson was a vital and fierce warrior, flame-red of hair and forked of beard. He displayed unmatched courage in battle, wading through the blood and corpses of a rival tribe in close-quarter fighting aboard their enemy's longboats. His ferocity was such that he drew the gaze of the Space Wolves' Rune Priest Heimdall, who whisked away his battered and broken body away at the end of a terrible battle to begin his induction into the Space Wolves Chapter as a Neophyte once he was healed of his mortal injuries.Under Heimdall's tutelage, Njal learnt to harness the destructive power of nature itself. The old Rune Priest watched with pride as the young Astartes developed a formidable psychic talent that rivalled that of many Librarians within the ranks of other Space Marine Chapters. At the Battle of Goreswirl, Njal avenged the death of his mentor Heimdall, blasting apart a dread Bloodthirster Greater Daemon of Khorne with a mighty psychic attack, before summoning forth a terrible ice storm that drove the remainder of the daemons of Chaos from the field. From that day on, he has been referred to by the epithet of Stormcaller by his Battle-Brothers. This title has suited him well. In terms of raw psychic power Njal is one of the strongest human psykers in the galaxy. Njal is also a skilled warrior and master of both tactical and strategic combat, possibly surpassing even the skill of the Space Wolves' Great Wolf (Chapter Master) Logan Grimnar.
Njal Stormcaller - Abilities: When Njal's temper is roused, the elements themselves are summoned forth to wage war upon the foe. He can summon the winds, lightning and powerful ice storms that can flay the skin from the bodies of his foes.
Njal Stormcaller - Wargear: Runic Terminator Armour - Njal wears the blue-coloured Terminator Armour denoting his specialist position as a Rune Priest of the Chapter. Njal alone has the skill to ensorcel suits of Terminator Armour which are covered in glowing, protective Fenrisian Runes of Power that nullify the affects of enemy psychic powers upon him.Psychic Hood - An arcane device utilised by Space Marine Librarians to amplify the wearer's psychic powers and protect against an assault by enemy psykers. Most importantly, a Psychic Hood renders the wearer capable of nullifying the effects that other psykers have on the Warp nearby.Staff of the Stormcaller - Njal's staff is a formidable ancient staff adorned with potent symbols of might, and has absorbed so much power that it has developed a wyrd of its own, which is the ability to nullify enemy psychic powers.Nightwing - Always at Njal's side is his fierce animal companion Nightwing, a Psyber-Raven. At the Battle of Rust World, Njal saved the life of the Iron Priest Ulf Blackbrow from the jaws of Morkai with a deadly accurate axe throw. The great blacksmith, a fierce man who did not like to owe anything to anyone, repaid the debt by forging Njal a psyber-familiar that has saved Njal's life more than once, pecking out the eyes of those enemies that dare attack his master.Bolt PistolFrag Grenades Krak Grenades
Njal Stormcaller - Sources: Codex: Space Wolves (7th Edition), pp. 116-118Codex Space Wolves (5th Edition), pg. 53Codex: Space Wolves (2nd Edition), pp. 64-65Companies of Fenris - Space Wolves Painting Guide (6th Edition), pg. 52White Dwarf 227 (US), "Chapter Approved: Special Characters - Space Wolves, Njal Stormcaller," pp. 73-80Stormcaller (Novel) by Chris Wraight
Nob - Nob: A Nob (pl: Nobz) is a larger Ork Boy who is smaller than and subservient to an Ork Warboss but still possesses some authority amongst other Greenskins of his tribe or klan because of his greater-than-average size and strength. The term "Nob" is believed to be an Orkish bastardisation of the Imperial Low Gothic word for "noble."To rise through the ranks of the Orks requires cunning brutality, brutal cunning, and smashing the head of any challenger to Nob's throne. Ork Nobz often come to blows with rival mob leaders, and go out of their way to prove their competency to their Warboss. Nobz are thus both feared and revered. They can thrive as leaders provided they can survive a few knives in the back and dole out appropriate punishments.They are universally arrogant and headstrong, but through surviving numerous battles (with the enemy and their Boyz) they are cunning enough to make deals with some enemies.Serving as a crude Greenskin ruling class, the Nobz are never above reminding the Boyz who's in charge by making a few bloody examples. This could involve hacking up some suitably impressive foes, or knocking a few fractious Boyz's blocks off. The Nobz aren't too fussy, just so long as it gets the message across.Whether clustered in a menacing mob around their Warboss, or lording it over the Boyz, Nobz are a force to be reckoned with. Their armour is usually festooned with kill-trophies, their flesh criss-crossed with impressive scars, earned in pit-fights or while killing their way through strings of brutal wars.Some Nobz even take to the field astride monstrous Warbikes, roaring through the enemy ranks like blood-soaked battering rams covered in guns.Many Nobz also outfit themselves with a very visible token of their position, be it a large pair of horns, taken from a creature they hunted, or a massive Iron Jaw, to show they have the meanest bite around!
Nob - Specialist Nobz: Ork Nobz can be found in three general places on the battlefield: in command of their own band of Boyz, in command of their own "kustom" vehicle (be it a large Battlewagon or a nice looted tank won from the Imperial Guard) or gathered in a coterie around their Warboss, following the biggest and meanest of the Orks around into the thickest of the fray, "ta show da uvva' boyz 'ow smashin' an' stompin' is done!" There are three types of "specialist" Nobz:Biker Nobz - A common sight in Evil Sunz and Speed Freeks warbands, Biker Nobz are, as the name implies, a group of Nobz fighting as a unit where each member rides a heavily "kustomized" Warbike. Such a unit is a terrifying foe to face, as the speed and firepower of the Warbikes combined with their riders' prowess at close quarters combat allows the Biker Nobz to crush almost anything standing in their way. Meganobz - The richest and most battle-hardened Nobz can become Meganobz by paying a Mek to build them a suit of Mega Armour. Piston-driven and covered in enough protective plating to turn its wearer into a walking tank, this armour, known as Mega Armour, is incredibly expensive. Yet it serves as the ultimate Greenskin status symbol. Though other Orks mock the Meganobz for wearing so much armour, only the dullest would do so within earshot. Even a direct hit from a tank round is unlikely to do more than knock a Meganob over, worsening his already foul temper. For many, the only chance of surviving an encounter with an angry Meganob is to outrun him. To counteract this weakness, many Meganobz roar into battle aboard armoured Battlewagons. This saves time that would be wasted slogging across the battlefield, and helps the Meganobz get stuck straight into combat.WAAAGH! Banner Bearer - The banner bearer of a WAAAGH! is often the Warboss' Gak'ena (an Ork term meaning at the same time "best friend" and "worst foe"), and is the strongest, largest and meanest of the Nobz around the Boss. He is honoured by being placed in charge of keeping the WAAAGH! Banner aloft -- the thing that comes the closest to a sacred artefact amongst Orks. The WAAAGH! Banner serves to attract the attention of the Ork Gods Gork and Mork, ensuring their blessing is always with the Orks. It also doubles as a more mundane means to transmit the Warboss' "orders", which means that it is brandished in the general direction the Boss wants his troops to charge.
Nob - Nobz Tactics: Nobz are able to rule over most other Orks with their brute might. As such, a Nob outclasses an Imperial Guard trooper by a frightening margin in terms of raw strength and resilience, and any squad that wishes to kill even one of these hulking creatures must use their wits and skill to lay it low. Nobz in Meganob armour tend to plow into their foes, crushing the biggest foes underfoot or with hammering blows from their weapons. Depending on their clan affiliation, Nobz in 'ard armour are sometimes more careful (so much as that term can ever be applied in Ork warfare) in battle, choosing targets of opportunity and working together to fell the most deadly enemies. Once they sight battle, most Nobz rush forward, enthusiastically (if inaccurately) firing at their foes. This is largely true whether or not the Nobz were prepared to fight before the violence ensues. Nobz in Mega Armour are hard-pressed to ambush anyone, given their massive, clanking, smoke-spewing armour. Nobz in 'ard armour can be more stealthy in their attacks, though different clans have different opinions on what constitutes proper Orky behaviour.
Nob - Wargear: Nobz have no standardised wargear, as each Nob invests his spoils in the best way he sees fit. Some are traditionalists, going to war clad in leather armour, and equipped with a good Slugga and a better Choppa. Others want "moar dakka", and get the coolest Kustom Shoota they can find. Others prefer "betta stompin" and get a Power Klaw while some prefer investing in a buggy or other means of transport. A few prefer outfitting themselves with armour, either bulky Karapace Armour made from armor plates bolted to the Ork's body, or even a mighty suit of Greenskin Mega Armour.The following is a selection of the wargear Nobz can either carry or use:SluggaChoppa/Big ChoppaShoota/Kustom ShootaKombi-ShootaPower KlawStikkbombzKarapace ArmourMega ArmourIron JawBig HornsWarbike
Nob - Sources: Codex: Orks (7th Edition), pp. 21-22, 29, 31, 39-40, 55, 67-68, 71-73, 77, 85, 88, 92, 94, 100, 146-149Codex: Orks (4th Edition), pp. 33, 39, 91Dark Heresy: Creatures Anathema (RPG), pg. 99Gorkamorka (1st Edition) (Game)Only War: Enemies of the Imperium (RPG), pg. 52Wrath & Glory: Rulebook (RPG) (Cubicle 7 Revised Edition 2020), pg. 115Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook (4th Edition), pg. 153Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook (3rd Edition), pg. 248Warhammer 40,000: Wargear (2nd Edition)The Art of Clint Langley (Art Book), pp. 75-79
Noctan Strike Forces - Noctan Strike Forces: The Noctan Strike Forces are the elite regiments of the Imperial Guard that hail from the world of Noctan. These silent warriors are adept at stealth, cover and concealment, night raids and guerrilla tactics. The night vision of these warriors is exceptional, and their dark skin adds to the elaborate camouflage they don as they assault an enemy position. Skilled at infiltration, many of Noctan's Guardsmen range ahead of the main force, planting explosives and sowing confusion before hundreds of figures pour from the darkness into the foe's midst as part of a cunning ambush.
Noctan Strike Forces - Notable Noctan Strike Forces Regiments: 29th Noctan Strike Force - The 29th, 37th and 84th Noctan Strike Forces deployed in support of Imperial forces fighting against the Ork hordes on the Hive World of Armageddon in 998.M41 during the Third War for Armageddon. Stationed around the captured Acheron Hive, when it became apparent that the hive city was going to fall to the Ork forces, the 29th Noctan played an instrumental role in infiltrating the hive and leading a guerrilla war against the marauding greenskins. Setting up explosives at key positions throughout the undercity, at the designated time they ignited the explosives, causing massive damage. This provided a key distraction as the entire body of the 29th, 37th and 84th Noctan Strike Forces moved from hidden positions to begin a full blown assault upon Acheron. Confused and disoriented, the Ork warbands fled, unwilling to face the dark intruders that emerged from the huge explosion into their midst. Though they did not recapture the hive, the Noctan Strike Forces were instrumental in achieving a high kill ratio numbering into the thousands.37th Noctan Strike Force84th Noctan Strike Force
Noctan Strike Forces - Notable Noctan Strike Forces Personnel: Colonel Walde - Commanding officer of the 29th Noctan Strike Force, this audacious commander played a key role in the infiltration and subsequent guerrilla war conducted by his soldiers in the captured Acheron Hive against the occupying Ork forces. Acting in concert with the Noctan companies inside the hive with the bulk of the regimet outside, the 29th Noctan was able to cause massive damage through a series of carefully placed explosives throughout the undercity. This caused a key distraction, enabling the the entire 29th, 37th and 84th Noctan Strike Forces to launch a successful assault on Acheron. Though they did not recapture the hive, they achieved high kill ratio, which conservative estimate place into the thousands. This most successful action against Acheron has since become a text book operation for other Noctan officers.
Noctilith Crown - Noctilith Crown: A Noctilith Crown is a blackstone device polarised to attract the psychic energies of the Warp and utilised by the forces of Chaos to enhance the power of Chaos psykers and to overwhelm other users of the Immaterium's energies.Its potent Warp energies can even affect non-psykers once they get within range, assaulting them with nightmarish visions.The presence of these devices on a world can lead a population within close range to have dreams and nightmares that begin to materialise into reality as Warp-gheists.
Noctilith Crown - Origins: The ring-like structures of blackstone known as Noctilith Crowns brought a loathsome new energy to the war effort on Vigilus during the War of Beasts early in the Era Indomitus.The crowns had been constructed on Nemendghast, perfected en route to Vigilus in the guts of Abaddon the Despoiler's forge ships, and raised on the Sentinel World by work gangs of indentured Chaos slaves.Where the Black Legion's Masters of Possession determined there was a site of geomantic significance, the crowns were aligned to the exacting specifications of Abaddon's ritualists, and driven into the surface of the planet with long steel spikes.Wherever the Noctilith Crowns were planted, the minds of Chaos psykers flared with a frisson of forbidden power. Those who had any form of psychic sensitivity found strange new phenomena manifesting around them when they approached these sites. Even slaves and Chaos Cultists without a flicker of psychic potential were assailed by searing visions.The Noctilith Crowns were designed to bring the raw forces of the Warp to Vigilus. They had been created from deposits of noctilith stone harnessed by the Black Legion over the course of their Black Crusades from the Eye of Terror, imbued with Chaos energy, and distributed across the galaxy. This too was part of the Despoiler's greater plan to win the Long War.Over the course of the Gothic War in the early 41st Millennium, the Warmaster of Chaos had learned that blackstone could be polarised either to attract the energies of Chaos, or to repel it. That knowledge had informed his grand strategy ever since.Where there were deposits of blackstone polarised to repel Chaos energy, Abaddon would do everything in his power to destroy them. Where there was blackstone that could be polarised to attract Chaos energy, he would seize it and turn it to his advantage.By chiselling into the stone blasphemous phrases and runes in the dark tongue, a sorcerer could align its aura with the dimensional bleed of the Immaterium.Channelling these unpredictable energies using a Noctilith Crown could lead to a tremendous psychic backlash. In places upon Vigilus, more power thanany mortal could possibly use flooded into the minds of those supplicants that sought to harness the crown's supernatural aura.This too served the greater cause, for whereever a psychic disaster struck, the raw stuff of Chaos was soon to follow.
Noctilith Crown - War of Beasts: The Noctilith Crowns were perfected by Abaddon and his original master of summoning, the Darkling Liege Narcus Tharanda.Though single Noctilith Crowns had been used to blight a dozen worlds before Abaddon's alliance of Heretic Astartes reached Vigilus during the phase of the War of Beasts remembered as the War of Nightmares, the crowns were first deployed en masse when Abaddon set foot upon Vigilus and deemed it the right time to make use of his hard-won resource.Each was painstakingly carved with runes in the Dark Tongue of Chaos, bathed in the blood of hundreds of sacrificial victims, anointed with the oily residue of scores of rendered down psykers and installed in great iron housings before being bulk-lifted down to the planet's surface and sunk deep into Vigilus' crust.The Noctilith Crowns, aligned so as to channel the empyric force of the Great Rift as the planet turned, established a continent-spanning network of psychic amplifiers that thrummed with Chaos energy. Wherever they resonated the strongest, the visions and nightmares that had troubled the people of Vigilusbegan to manifest in reality as Warp-gheists, ethereal horrors that plagued the citizenry for a hundred kilometres around each site.The anarchy that resulted only added fuel to the fires that looked set to consume the planet entirely before the Imperium managed to drive the Chaos forces off-world, though at great cost.
Noctis Aeterna - Noctis Aeterna: The Noctis Aeterna, also known as "The Blackness" and the "Days of Blinding" in Low Gothic, was a catastrophic event which consumed the Milky Way Galaxy and the Imperium of Man beginning in 999.M41 and lasted well into the 42nd Millennium and the Era Indomitus in some regions.The Blackness began following the fall of Cadia at the climax of the 13th Black Crusade and the eruption of the Great Rift that cut the Imperium in half. It was marked by the loss of access to the Astronomican for FTL navigation and a disruption in all astrotelepathic communications.These disruptions endured for variable times across the galaxy, lasting for only thirty-three solar days on Terra itself, but for solar decades or even standard centuries elsewhere. This period saw more devastating events consume the increasingly isolated worlds of the Human-settled galaxy than at any time since the Age of Strife.Such was the turmoil during the creation of the Great Rift and the period following it that there could be no reliable accounts. As limited communications returned, Imperial historitors and chronotechs struggled to understand incoming reports.With the influx of Warp energies into such vast regions of realspace, time passed strangely, speeding up in some sectors, slowing in others compared to the sidereal time experienced on Terra, at the heart of the Imperium.These effects on the Warp from the birth of the Great Rift faded with the passage of time, allowing for the reestablishing of interstellar communications with some regions and somewhat more reliable Warp travel. This restoration of stability, combined with the onset of the Imperial counteroffensive known as the Indomitus Crusade, restored the grip of the Emperor over the Imperium Sanctus once more, though the Imperium Nihilus remained largely isolated and still cut off from the Emperor's Light.However, the price paid proved steep. Slightly less than half of the one thousand Space Marine Chapters known to operate across the galaxy remained unaccounted for, and no less than twelve Space Marine Chapter homeworlds were reported as destroyed during the Noctis Aeterna and the equally bitter campaigns that followed.
Noctis Aeterna - History: As the chain reaction of the Great Rift cracked open the galaxy, tidal waves of unnatural psychic energies spilled outwards in sporadic fashion. Warp Storms swept across everything -- not even the furthest reaches of the galaxy were spared their corrupting touch. With a great surge, over a million planets of the Imperium were cut off from the Light of the Emperor as the Astronomican went out.During that time, the Imperium of Man essentially ceased to be -- each planet was isolated, a speck of sanity buffeted by a raging tempest. It was a Warp Storm beyond the ability of any technology in the Imperium to record -- indeed, it was greater in size and power than anything that had ever been recorded, the most powerful of its kind since perhaps the lost era of the Age of Strife.During the Blackness, as many came to know it, all long-ranged astrotelepathic communications proved impossible. The Warp was in far too much upheaval to permit FTL travel, and those starships in transit at the time were destroyed in horrific fashion or subjected to the worst battering their crews had ever experienced. It is impossible to count all those who lost their lives in the turmoil. Those who survived found themselves carried far off-course by the insane tides of unnatural energies.Riding the crest of the Warp Storms' shock waves, or following swiftly in their wake, came the forces of Chaos. The Daemon legions were the vanguard, followed hard by the fleets of the Traitor Legions and the ragged masses of the Renegades and their associated Chaos Cults.
Noctis Aeterna - Defence of Terra: As the first Warp Storms broke over Holy Terra, its pollution-filled skies turned a roiling crimson. Khorne, heedless of the plans of his brother gods and hungry to prove his superiority in the Great Game, sent forth eighty-eight cohorts of his Daemon legions to assault the Imperial Palace.The Blood God wanted the glory of tearing down the Golden Throne for himself, and so the skies of Terra congealed into bloodclouds that deployed the Red Host directly before the Lion's Gate.The gun batteries of the Imperial Palace are second to none, yet they alone could not halt this red tide. Led by Roboute Guilliman, the newly reappointed Lord Commander of the Imperium, the Primaris Space Marines, Adeptus Custodes and Sisters of Silence fought side by side. Although the rash Chaos assault was turned back and broken long before it could reach the Eternity Gate to the Inner Palace, the High Lords of Terra were shakenat the boldness of the foe.Without the beam of the Astronomican, their arcane machinery and protective devices were not enough to halt the fell powers from materialising even on Holy Terra. Khorne, upon receiving the returning forms of his slain, grew so apoplectic in his rage that his fortress in the Realm of Chaos trembled. So great was the heat from his outburst that the essences of the eight Bloodthirsters that led the failed attack were wholly obliterated.
Noctis Aeterna - Cadian Gate is Broken: Cadia had stood so long, and so proudly. The gate through which the enemy could not pass. For the whole Age of the Imperium, that bastion planet bore the brunt of countless Chaos assaults as the daemonic forces attempted to reach Terra.Cadia, and the fortified worlds of its system, were for long centuries a redoubt that withstood every horror that issued from the Eye of Terror. In the Era Indomitus there was no longer any assurance, however, from which direction the Chaos forces would attack; the only assurance was that they would.Although Cadia itself was ultimately reduced to a burning wasteland by Abaddon the Despoiler's endless assaults during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, the worlds in the wider Cadian System fought hard to destroy the spearhead the Despoiler had plunged into their midst. The Great Exodus of Cadia had seen swathes of the Imperial defence redeployed to the sister planets of the lost Fortress World, and not before time.Every realm touched by the Cicatrix Maledictum was blighted by intense "Daemon Storms," howling Warp tempests that carried a thousand types of death upon their fell winds. Where those baleful hurricanes blew strongest, the scions of the Dark Gods would stride from the aether and bring battle anew to the defenders of Mankind's realm. Hundreds of battles ensued marked by uncounted billions of casualties.The skies of Belis Corona were lit with fire as the conquering fleets of Abaddon's endless armadas clashed with the Imperial Navy battlefleets of the Segmentum Obscurus. The Forge World of Agripinaa, its legions bold enough to have raided the Eye of Terror in the past, was assailed by covetous Warpsmiths and the menageries of Daemon Engines that stormed forth at their behest. Again and again the stakes were raised as the forces of Chaos rode upon the winds of the Great Rift.
Noctis Aeterna - Hour of the Legion of the Damned: Although all communications were cut, they received the distress calls. When travel was impossible, they arrived unlooked for. When all hope was lost, they strode forth out of the Blackness, a legion of vengeance, a brotherhood of flame.The spectral Legion of the Damned appeared on Baal, Armageddon, Antagonis and hundreds more planets besides. They spoke only with bolter and chainsword, meting out terrible punishments upon the enemies of the Imperium before themselves vanishing without a trace. Truly the hour of the damned had come at last...
Noctis Aeterna - A Light in the Darkness: From blackness there came a light. A brief flash, then distant blinks. Intermittently, the rays of the Astronomican lanced outwards from Holy Terra. Deeply the psychic beam pierced the maelstrom that smothered the galaxy, but it could not pierce the Great Rift.In the northeastern half of the galaxy, they could see little or none of the Emperor's guiding light -- the Cicatrix Maledictum simply swallowed its illumination. Now that messages could once again be sent through the Warp, Terra received such a backlog of terror-filled psychic shrieks that half of the already-depleted Astropath core were instantly driven insane. The survivors were appalled to discover how many planets, even on the accessible Terran side of the Great Rift -- the Imperium Sanctus -- did not respond.Slightly less than half of the one thousand Space Marine Chapters remained unaccounted for, and no less than twelve Chapter Planets were reported as destroyed during the Noctis Aeterna and the bitter campaigns that followed. Some Space Marines, like the White Consuls, escaped the destructions of their fortress worlds. Others died to a man, as did the Sky Sentinels, when their homeworld of Pranagar was overrun by none other than Magnus the Red, Daemon Primarch of the Thousand Sons.Should the isolated Imperium Nihilus regain contact with Terra, the number of known losses will only grow, as the High Lords of Terra learn the grim truth.
Noctis Aeterna - The Indomitus Crusade: After his defence of Holy Terra, Roboute Guilliman gathered a new armada that he named the Indomitus Crusade, the largest concentration of Imperial military forces seen since the original Great Crusade over ten thousand standard years before. Along with elements of the Adeptus Custodes, a small contingent of the Silent Sisterhood, and a vast war host of Primaris Space Marines from many newly founded Chapters and the Legions of the Unnumbered Sons, the Primarch set a winding course.Strike forces from over a dozen pre-existing Chapters of Space Marines, led by the Imperial Fists, joined the fleet. Thus began many new legends as Guilliman travelled to aid beleaguered planets, breaking sieges and sweeping away Chaos and xenos invaders alike to bring hope back to the desperate defenders. It was not long before word began to spread, as all those planets that could still receive astropathic messages hailed the return of a hero out of myth.Once more, one of the demigods of the past fought for the Imperium of Mankind. The Indomitus Crusade would reach its end over a century into the 42nd Millennium at the Battle of Raukos. Afterwards, Guilliman would turn his attention to helping his Realm of Ultramar defeat the forces of the Death Guard Traitor Legion and the servants of Nurgle in the Plague Wars.
Noctis Aeterna - A New Breed: In a hundred war zones, untested strike forces of Primaris Astartes are unleashed into battle against the forces of the Ruinous Powers. They acquit themselves well, and by the artifice of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl and the strategic genius of Guilliman they prove themselves worthy inheritors of the title Adeptus Astartes.
Noctis Aeterna - Stand at Armageddon: For much of the 41st Millennium the planet of Armageddon had been a battleground. First invaded by Chaos, it was later the site for a massive war between the Ork hordes of Ghazghkull Thraka and the forces of the Imperium. Although the infamous Greenskin leader left to establish new stomping grounds in the wake of the Third War for Armageddon, the onslaught continued. Not even the hellstorms unleashed by the Great Rift could halt the fighting, but they did change its nature.During the Noctis Aeterna, reinforcements were cut off for both sides, and those en route to the system were swept into oblivion. Those that remained on Armageddon were forced to fight off not just each other, but the oncoming waves of Daemons. At times, so desperate were the defenders that Orks and Humans fought alongside each other against the greater threat. Such temporary ceasefires never lasted long.By the time the Astronomican returned and travel through the storm-ridden Immaterium was once again possible near Armageddon, the Imperial relief force arrived to find the landscape greatly changed. At the height of the Warp Storms, the forces of Tzeentch and Khorne had battled each other on Armageddon's blasted surface. The Orks and Imperial forces sought cover as titanic Greater Daemons duelled for supremacy.Fully half the planet had warped into what looked like a true Daemon World -- a hellish landscape merged over the top of what had once been a war-torn Hive World.The Imperial forces, with elements of nine Space Marine Chapters led by the Salamanders, succeeded in halting the ritual that would have brought Angron, the Daemon Primarch of the World Eaters, back to the planet that had defied him centuries before during the First War for Armageddon.
Noctis Aeterna - Terra's Vengeance: In an effort to seize the initiative, a strike force was mustered on Terra, supported by an entire army of Adeptus Custodes. The Custodes, for long millennia the bodyguard of the Emperor who had refused to leave His side or the Imperial Palace no matter the danger to His Imperium, were now charged with the once-unthinkable -- to leave his side and strike against those who would see the Master of Mankind dead.
Noctis Aeterna - The Plague Wars: Something terrible came out of the Warp Storms as they roiled through the southern reaches of the Ultima Segmentum. Where the seeds of corruption had been planted by Nurgle, a new and terrible contamination spread. The diseased dead rose to claim the living.Previously, the walking corpses could be destroyed, but now doing so only released hordes of Nurglings that writhed impossibly out of the withered flesh of the fallen. Hive Worlds were toppled, and as the Blackness descended, there was no escape. In the horrific ruins, Cults of Corruption slithered out of hiding, summoning forth further aid from the Realm of Chaos itself.So did star systems fall, creating the Scourge Stars -- a trio of sickly systems that had fallen to the Plague Lord. From that power base, the Death Guard and legions of plague Daemons issued, systematically reaping planet after planet. On they spread.It was none other than the Daemon Primarch Mortarion that brought the fabled Realm of Ultramar, gem of the whole segmentum, under siege. Plague bombardments rained down, so severe that once gloried hive cities became pits and Agri-worlds became slime-ridden ruins. Chaos was encroaching on many fronts when Roboute Guilliman returned from Terra after the end of his Indomitus Crusade at the Battle of Raukos over a century into the 42nd Millennium.It was his tactical acumen that first stabilised the many war fronts, and his Spear of Espandor counterattack successfully bought the forces of the Imperium still more time. At the Gates of Parmenio, Roboute Guilliman defeated the Greater Daemon Septicus and his Plague Guard. At Iax, once a glorious Garden World, Primarch met Primarch as Guilliman confronted Mortarion, the two brothers fighting to a deadlock before the Chaos forces mysteriously withdrew under cover of a virus bomb.
Noctis Aeterna - To Shield the Shrine Worlds: The Shrine Worlds of the Imperial Cult are targeted with especial malice by Daemons and the Traitor Legions, most prominent amongst them the Word Bearers.In an attempt to break the sieges that hold dozens of Shrine Worlds hostage across Segmentums Solar and Pacificus, the Black Templars launch Crusade after Crusade. In their bloody endeavours they are assisted by the Iron Hands and a score of other Space Marine Chapters, along with all the forces the Adeptus Ministorum can muster.
Noctis Aeterna - The Nachmund Gauntlet: An intermittent passage through the Great Rift was discovered, yet it brought little hope to the Imperium. The Cicatrix Maledictum had at least one gap, although others were reported but not confirmed. The passage was near the Eye of Terror, which had been avoided by Navigators since the Great Crusade, for Warp Storms and strangeanomalies had always made the region too dangerous to travel. There, when the swirling nebula lulled, was revealed the Nachmund System, near to Agripinaa on the near side of the rift.Its Tyrant King, Kaligius, ruled over a house of Chaos Knights that had not been seen since the Horus Heresy. Claiming Old Night had returned to plague the galaxy once more, Kaligius rejected communications from the Imperium, instead making pacts with Renegades and pirate fleets.Some starships have run the Nachmund Gauntlet successfully, but many more have been destroyed attempting the journey -- the ruined hulks of innumerable craft hang suspended in space as a voidship graveyard.
Noctis Aeterna - Only War: As the Imperium gradually realised the extent of the nightmare conditions created by the Great Rift, its people tried to adapt to the horrifying new dynamic. There were no more shield worlds, no more bastion systems.Every planet of the Emperor's realm -- even Holy Terra itself -- was now on the front line of the war for Humanity's survival in the face of predatory Daemons and aliens.Thus did a dark age grow ever more bleak -- and the fight had only begun.
Noctis Labyrinth - Noctis Labyrinth: The Noctis Labyrinth, or Noctis Labyrinthus as it is known in High Gothic, is a region of the Forge World of Mars that lies between the Valles Marineris and the Tharsis Uplands. In Low Gothic, the name translates as "Labyrinth of the Night."This name is well-earned, for this region of the Red Planet is characterised by a system of steep-walled canyons and valleys that give it the aspect of a naturally-formed maze or labyrinth. The valleys and canyons of the Noctis Labyrinthus were formed by faulting and many show the classic features of grabens, with the upland plain surface preserved on the valley floor. In some places, the valley floors are composed of rough terrain that has been disturbed by rockfalls created by landslides, and there are areas where the land appears to have sunk down to create deep crevasses and sinkholes.It is thought that this faulting was triggered by ancient volcanic activity in the Tharsis region in the ancient time before Mankind first settled Mars in the 3rd Millennium. The large complex of mines that were tunnelled deep beneath the Noctis Labyrinthus during the Age of Technology was said to be contaminated by deadly radiation and biological and chemical agents during the terrible wars known as the "Great Purge" between the ancient Mechanicum and its opponents for control of the surface of Mars in the early days of the Age of Strife.This contamination is supposedly lethal to flesh and mechanical components alike. This claim is not true and is in fact a fabrication created by the ruling magi of the Mechanicus to keep curious Tech-priests from venturing within the tunnels and disturbing the entity known to dwell there that is called the "Dragon of Mars."The Noctis Labyrinthus is an essentially unpopulated region of the Red Planet as all of the Tech-adepts of the Adeptus Mechanicus who sought to found forge cities there suffered from severe technical problems that ultimately led them to abandon their attempts at settlement.Deep beneath the Noctis Labyrinthus sleeps the fearful entity known only as the "Dragon of Mars" in Mechanicus legend. This being may be the C'tan known as Mag'ladroth the Void Dragon, who was supposedly imprisoned there by the Emperor millennia prior to the start of the Age of Strife.The Dragon of Mars is watched over by a single so-called "Guardian of the Dragon" and her cybernetic companion, a Terran girl named Dalia Cythera and an ancient Mechanicum Protector named Ro-Mu 31, who together have kept watch over the Dragon since the Schism of Mars as the chosen of the Emperor, granted unnaturally long lifespans as Perpetuals by His will.
Nocturne - Nocturne: Nocturne is the homeworld of the Salamanders Space Marine Chapter located in the Segmentum Ultima of the galaxy. It is usually classified by the Imperial Administratum as both a Feudal World and a Death World.As a result of the tectonic stresses produced by the gravitational pull of its overlarge satellite Prometheus, there are vast chains of volcanoes scattered across the planet's surface and frequent earthquakes, destroying what little the Nocturnean people have built above ground and forcing them to build their habitations in vast subterranean holds. The constant volcanic eruptions have swaddled the world in an ever-present cloak of dust and ash that obscures most sunlight at the surface.The Salamanders have built their fortress-monastery on Prometheus, Nocturne's massive moon. The Salamanders have a much closer relationship with their homeworld's people than is common among the Adeptus Astartes, and they continue to interact quite closely with their own families and clans throughout their lives. As a result, the Salamanders have also developed a remarkable concern for protecting the lives of the Emperor's subjects and will make strenuous efforts to prevent civilian casualties on the battlefield.
Nocturne - Notable Events: First Assault on Nocturne (761.M41) - The Daemon Engines of the notorious Warpsmith known as the Soulsmelter led an assault on Nocturne and its Great Crucible. As a result, Chapter Master Tu'Shan of the Salamanders Chapter sanctioned the opening of his master reliquaries, and the Salamanders utilised the master-crafted weapons within to destroy Soulsmelter and his Daemonic army. In the battle's aftermath, the Warpsmith's body and the wreckage of his Daemon Engines were placed within a bulk lander and launched into Nocturne's sun.Second Assault on Nocturne (975.M41) - After the death of his old foe Captain Kadai, Nihilan (a former Librarian of the Salamanders) enlisted a warband of Iron Warriors to mine a special ore known as fyron from the world of Scoria. It was during this time that the Chaos Sorcerer entered into a Daemonic pact with the Daemon Engel'saak in order to enhance his already formidable psychic powers. The Daemon told Nihilan of a forbidden tome that possessed the fell knowledge of the the ancient Nocturnean Corpsemasters who had the ability to resurrect the dead. With this forbidden knowledge, Nihilan hoped to resurrect his own former master, the charismatic former Dragon Warriors Renegade Chaplain Vai'tan Ushorak. In return for the Daemon's knowledge and the enhancement of his powers, the Chaos Sorcerer provided Engel'saak a host body, enabling the Daemon to enter the Materium as a Daemonhost and wreak havoc on the Salamanders Chapter. It was during this conflict that Nihilan finally revealed his nefarious plan: utilising a Seismic Cannon that was emplaced on his flagship, the Chaos cruiser Hell-Stalker. The sorcerer created a shaft that delved deep into Mount Deathfire, the sacred mountain of the Salamanders on Nocturne. Within the mountain, Nihilan was able to breach the hidden sacred shrine that contained one of the lost books of the primarch Vulkan, known as the Tome of Fire. The Chaos Sorcerer was confronted by the Salamanders Epistolary Pyriel, his fellow former neophyte-in-training, whom he defeated in a psychic battle that resulted in the Salamander psyker's death. Though it was a pyrrhic victory, Pyriel's sacrifice was not in vain, as the Salamanders' Chief Librarian Vel'cona arrived to face his former pupil before Nihilan could make good his escape. The Chief Librarian and the Chaos Sorcerer battled within Mount Deathfire, but unfortunately Nihilan made good his escape due to the timely intervention of his personal bodyguard, Ramlek. Vel'cona was able to destroy Ramlek upon an anvil that mysteriously materialised out of nothing. The Chaos Sorcerer managed to escape, still intent on resurrecting his former master Ushorak and taking revenge against the Salamanders. Nihilan's current whereabouts are unknown.
Nocturne - Prometheus: Nocturne is part of what is actually a binary planetary system, with its oversized moon Prometheus circling it in an erratic orbit whose shifting gravity causes massive tectonic stress due to the potent tidal forces at play. As mentioned above, the Salamanders' fortress-monastery is based on the moon of Prometheus and is known by the same name. It is little more than a spaceport at which the Chapter's starships may dock and refuel.The fortress-monastery is the only construction built there and has a great orbital dock where the Chapter's strike cruisers and battle barges can be maintained, refit and repaired. However, many of the Salamanders live on this moon rather than on Nocturne itself when their duties require them to be away from their home clans and the planet's Sanctuary Cities.
Nocturne - Chapter Fortress-Monastery: The Salamanders have built their fortress-monastery on Prometheus, Nocturne's oversized moon. Nocturne itself is too geologically and volcanically unstable a world to build a large, defensible structure upon. Its high gravity and other environmental issues like the constant volcanic eruptions could also make training more problematic and dangerous than even Space Marines would be able to handle.When not at war, the Salamanders prefer to live among the common people of Nocturne and Prometheus, and are the leaders of each Nocturnean settlement. This is a unique trait of the Chapter, and makes these Astartes akin to living gods among the fierce peoples of their feudal homeworld.