vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Cyrene - Cyrene: CyreneCivilised WorldSub-sector AureliaKorianis SectorSegmentum UltimaBlood RavensChapterSpace MarinesTartarusDawn of WarExterminatusCompanyCaptainGabriel AngelosAngelos had been on Cyrene to conduct his Chapter's Blood Trials which were intended to identify and induct new Aspirants into the Blood Ravens. But in the course of the trials Angelos discovered evidence of wide-spread heresy and mutation amongst the populace of his homeworld. In truth, Cyrene was not afflicted by the usual forms of heresy seen across the Imperium but by an unexpected cultural change.Cyrene was ready to throw off the shackles of the Imperial Creed and embrace forbidden ideas such as planetary democracy, free trade with xenos species, and allowing psykers to practice their powers unrestricted while living among the population without stigma or being handed over to the Black Ships.Horrified at this turn of events, Angelos quickly sent a coded message to the Inquisition, who performed an Exterminatus action on the world. This was an extraordinarily difficult decision for Angelos, who had called Cyrene his own home before he was recruited by the Blood Ravens.During the Third Aurelian Crusade, the heretical Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens, Azariah Kyras, came to the blasted surface of Cyrene with his followers in order to conduct his apotheosis to Daemon Prince rank without interruption by the unsuspecting Imperials. His plan failed, and the factions fighting in the sub-sector followed him.Cyrene became the final battleground for the Third Aurelian Crusade, where Kyras met his end as a half-ascended Daemon Prince of Khorne. The planet is now an S-Class Dead World and all further travel to the world is forbidden by order of the Inquisition.
Cyrene Valantion - Cyrene Valantion: Cyrene Valantion, known as the "Blessed Lady," served as a Confessor to the Word Bearers Legion commanders, including their primarch Lorgar Aurelian himself, during the latter years of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia.Her formidable oratory skills were such that she could stir the emotions of even transhuman Legionaries, leading them to confess personal heresies, reveal their darkest secrets and betray their comrades as psykers or other untrustworthy deviants in the eyes of their primarch. She also heard their professions of faith in the Primordial Truth.
Cyrene Valantion - Origins: Though Cyrene Valantion would ultimately rise to a highly influential position within the XVIIth Legion for a mortal, she came from humble origins. She was born in Monarchia, the so-called "Perfect City," a city-shrine built by the people of Khur at the direction and exhortation of the XVIIth Legion to demonstrate their faith and devotion to the God-Emperor of Mankind, whose faith was brought to them by the Word Bearers' primarch Lorgar.While born into the faith, Cyrene confessed to never truly feeling a stirring of real faith in the burgeoning Imperial Cult. Six solar decades after being brought into Compliance and approximately 40 standard years before the start of the Horus Heresy, everything would change.The Emperor, for all His love for His gene-son, was deeply disturbed. He had initially tolerated the beliefs of his deeply religious son, but as the Great Crusade reached its height, the Emperor found Himself increasingly frustrated with the slow pace with which Lorgar conquered and then brought new worlds into Compliance for the Imperium. The Emperor finally ordered the Word Bearers to cease their religious activities, as their mission was to reunify the galaxy under the banner of the secular Imperial Truth, not preach the word of the Emperor's personal divinity.The Emperor had long opposed the spread of organised religion and was determined to use the creation of the new Imperium of Man to bring the light of the Imperial Truth -- to enshrine reason and science, not religion, as the true guiding light of a new interstellar Human civilisation. The Emperor was particularly troubled by any notion that He should be worshipped as a god and the actions of the Word Bearers Legion in slaughtering those who refused to accept the Emperor's divinity stank of the religious excesses that had so often poisoned Human history.
Cyrene Valantion - A Legion Rebuked: The Emperor ordered a task force composed of the entire Ultramarines Legion and led by their primarch Roboute Guilliman, accompanied by a force of His elite honour guards, the Legio Custodes, and the Imperial Regent, Malcador the Sigillite, to raze the capital city of Khur, a world dear to the Word Bearers, whom considered it the "Perfect City" due to the intense religious devotion of its citizens and the sheer number of cathedrals and monuments dedicated to the worship of the Emperor as the god of Mankind.After being given six solar days to evacuate the city of Monarchia, on the morning of the seventh day, the Ultramarines commenced an orbital bombardment of the Perfect City. In mute terror, Cyrene Valantion witnessed the destruction of her home. She stood close enough to the site that the light of the orbital lance strikes permanently blinded her after damaging her retinas. Following the capital's destruction by the XIIIth Legion, the entire Word Bearers Legion, 100,000 Space Marines strong, were ordered to assemble on the planet's surface, within sight of the smoldering ruins of Monarchia, where its Astartes were humiliated and rebuked by the Emperor Himself.The Master of Mankind psychically forced everyone, including Lorgar himself, to kneel before Him, and explained to them that they had failed both Him and Humanity. Lorgar was stunned by his father's reproach and refusal to accept his worship, and fell into a deep melancholy.
Cyrene Valantion - The Blessed Lady: In the aftermath of the stinging rebuke, Cyrene Valantion was rescued from the outskirts of the former city by Argel Tal, captain of the 7th Assault Company of the Chapter of the Serrated Sun. As the sole survivor of Monarchia's destruction, she was taken aboard Lorgar's flagship, the Fidelitas Lex, and eventually accompanied the XVIIth Legion during the Pilgrimage of Lorgar into the hellish realm that would later be known as the Eye of Terror, to seek the Primordial Truth.At first she was simply a passenger, blind and alone, aboard a Legiones Astartes crusading ship with no knowledge of what was happening. But she was often visited by Argel Tal and others of his chapter who took pity on her and spoke to her of what happened.As a blind, naive, mortal woman she was seen as the perfect vessel for the Legion to unburden themselves to, with no understanding of any of the things that she was privy to. Her unbelief in the Emperor as a god was believed to be a sign of prescience or insight and she became something akin to a saint to the Word Bearers, known throughout their fleet as the "Blessed Lady."Thereafter, she was appointed as Confessor by Lorgar himself. She would serve as the Legion's Confessor for many standard years, diligently listening to the "sins" of many of the XVIIth Legion's senior commanders as they began to worship the Ruinous Powers. She remained closest to Argel Tal, and was shocked when he became one of the Gal Vorbak -- the "Blessed Sons" of Colchis -- who shared their bodies with Daemons and would become Lorgar'a greatest weapons.
Cyrene Valantion - Resurrection: As the Horus Heresy began to take shape and the Word Bearers began to earnestly worship the Ruinous Powers, Cyrene Valantion was killed by a party of Legio Custodes, who had been left to accompany the Word Bearers Legion, and to observe and report to the Emperor should they once again start deviating from the Imperial Truth. Cyrene was, sadly, simply in the Custodians' way, as they fought to send word to the Emperor of the Word Bearer's heresy. As she lay dying, she expressed pity for her friend Argel Tal and how he was being used by the Word Bearers as a Possessed.Argel Tal swore vengeance on them and slew the Custodes on the sands of Isstvan V, taking a unique Power Sword and a Guardian Spear from their bodies, which would become his preferred weapons. Lorgar held the Confessor in such high esteem that he even named one of his three secretly-built Abyss-class Battleships Blessed Lady in her honour.As the XVIIth Legion became more fragmented as they fell further into the throes of the malign influence of the Ruinous Powers, the Legion's senior commanders began to scheme against one other. During this time a feud between Dark Apostle Erebus and Argel Tal had developed, and so, the scheming Chaplain sought to use Cyrene as a pawn in his plot to manipulate Argel Tal. He promised that he could return Cyrene to life, something that he hoped would push Argel Tal towards his eventual death.After Cyrene's death, the crew serfs of the Fidelitas Lex, which had become a large rabble of Chaos Cultists, broke into her coffin and took her bones as relics. They even formed a minor cult around her. Argel Tal went to the bowels of the Fidelitis Lex, slaughtering dozens of cultists to recover Cyrene's bones, and presented them to Erebus who, true to his word, performed the Chaos ritual to return her to life.
Cyrene Valantion - Shadow Crusade: Although brought back to life once again, Cyrene Valantion's time in the Warp had left her soul-scarred. She recovered slowly, but being plunged into the Warp and having her soul torn apart by Daemons would leave an indelible mark on her psyche. After her return to the material realm, she was seen as proof of the power of the Chaos Gods, and was hailed as a literal Living Saint, returned from the abyss to bless the Word Bearers' actions.She remained on board the Fidelitas Lex as the Word Bearers and World Eaters undertook the Shadow Crusade against the worlds of Ultramar, in retribution for the destruction of Monarchia solar decades earlier. Their combined fleet cut a swathe through the mostly undefended worlds of the Eastern Fringes, as Lorgar sought the right circumstances to allow Angron to ascend to Daemonhood, and thus save him from a slow death caused by his cybernetic implants, known as the Butcher's Nails.While this course was ultimately successful, the combined fleets' attack on Angron's former homeworld of Nuceria was extremely costly as an Ultramarines strike fleet arrived and attacked the Traitors. The Fidelitas Lex was slowly but surely destroyed by dozens of Loyalist attack runs, taking most of her crew along with her. But fate had another path in mind for Cyrene Valantion.In the days leading up to the battle of Nuceria, Cyrene was approached by Damon Prytanis, an immortal Perpetual and an agent of the Cabal, a secret organisation comprised of Humans and various alien species that were dedicated to the eradication of Chaos. He informed her that, unbeknownst to Erebus, her return from death had made her like him -- a Perpetual, a Human who could not die. While initially skeptical, Prytanis eventually won her trust, and rescued her from the Word Bearers flagship's destruction.
Cyrion - Cyrion: Cyrion was a Tactical Marine in the 1st Claw (squad) of the 10th Company of the Night Lords Traitor Legion. He was of Nostraman birth and took part in the Great Crusade, Horus Heresy, and the Long War that followed. By the time of the 41st Millennium he was serving under Talos Valcoran aboard the Covenant of Blood, captained by his former sergeant, the Possessed Chaos Space Marine known as "The Exalted".Talos was subject to the manipulations of his immediate superior, as well as those of the powerful Chaos Lord Abaddon the Despoiler, which placed him and his warriors like Cyrion in mortal danger time and again.
Cyrion - History: Cyrion was a veteran of the Heretic Astartes' Long War against the Imperium like the rest of 1st Claw, who took part in various campaigns during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, including the epic final battle during the Siege of Terra. Cyrion possessed a psychic gift which allowed him to taste and feed upon fear. Cyrion secretly preyed upon Legion serfs and other mortals to satiate this thirst, which marked him out as a growing devotee of Slaanesh.Talos considered him valuable, but Cyrion was hated by the rest of 1st Claw for his Chaos corruption. Cyrion gained an augmetic arm following the Crythe Campaign, an offensive where the Black Legion Chaos Lord Abaddon the Despoiler had requested the participation of The Exalted's warband.
Cyrion - Death: Despite surviving an almost fatal encounter with fellow 1st Claw squad member Uzas, largely due to Cyrion tricking Talos Valcoran into killing the berzerker, Cyrion was slain by the Void Stalker on Tsagualsa.
Cyrion - Personality: Despite his psychic mutation, a result of his taint by Slaanesh, Cyrion stood with his fellow Night Lords in the belief that Chaos and the corruption that it induced were assured, yet not needed for victory in the Long War. However, over time, as his corruption and selfish pursuit of pleasure grew with Slaanesh's hold over his soul, Cyrion's goals became far more self-serving and manipulative, often causing harm or trouble to his fellow squad members.
Cyrion - Wargear: Artificer Armour - Cyrion's Power Armour was an amalgamation of scavenged pieces won in battle or taken from the bodies of fallen brothers of the Night Lords Legion.BolterChainswordLegion Gladius
Cyrius - Cyrius: Cyrius was a Lord Commander of the Emperor's Children Traitor Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. He was known to have been the second opponent to defeat Lucius the Eternal in combat, only to have his victory cut short when his body was slowly and painfully transformed into a newborn copy of Lucius as the result of a gift provided to the Soulthief by Slaanesh, the Prince of Chaos.Slaanesh did not wish to see one of his favoured Champions and proteges removed so easily from the Materium. Cyrius slowly and painfully transformed into Lucius over a matter of weeks. The former Lord Commander now exists only as a screaming and writhing face upon Lucius' Armour of Shrieking Souls.
Cyrus - Cyrus: Cyrus is a Space Marine Scout Sergeant who served in the 10th Company of the Blood Ravens Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. He participated in the Kaurava Campaign and survived the three Aurelian Crusades fought in the Sub-sector Aurelia of the Korianis Sector. He has proven himself invaluable to his Chapter by successfully training a great number of its Neophytes and Scout Marines during their service in the 10th Company.Cyrus is a demanding sergeant, but he is also patient and fair-minded, and these traits inspire fanatical devotion from his Initiates. Among the Blood Ravens' Scouts, a simple nod of approval from Cyrus is said to mean more than a dozen commendations from the Chapter.
Cyrus - Deathwatch Service: Cyrus favors subtle and unconventional tactics of warfare which often receive negative criticism from his fellow Space Marines. Despite this, these tactics earned him the attention of the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos of the Inquisition -- the elite xenos-hunting Deathwatch. Cyrus has served at least one Vigil with them some time before the First Aurelian Crusade began. During his period in service to the Long Watch, he faced various xenos species hostile to the interests of Mankind, including the Tyranids. His experience in fighting these foul creatures proved invaluable when the Blood Ravens faced the swarms of a splinter of Hive Fleet Leviathan during the First Aurelian Crusade.
Cyrus - Kaurava Campaign: It is known that Cyrus served under Captain Indrick Boreale during the Kaurava Campaign, but Cyrus rarely spoke of it, stating only that the whole campaign had proven to be a terrible mistake for the Chapter when pressed. It is now known that the Blood Ravens lost the 5 full companies that participated in the campaign, which proved a terrible disaster. Long years would pass before the Blood Ravens were able to fully recover their losses in the Kaurava System.
Cyrus - First Aurelian Crusade: During the campaign in Sub-sector Aurelia named the First Aurelian Crusade by the Blood Ravens, Cyrus played a vital role in aiding his Chapter's Force Commander in defending the sub-sector during the onset of the invasion of the region by the splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan. He also assisted in slaying the Tyranids' Hive Tyrant on the world of Typhon Primaris after Captain Gabriel Angelos' timely arrival.
Cyrus - Second Aurelian Crusade: Cyrus served in the strike team of Force Commander Aramus during the Second Aurelian Crusade when the Blood Ravens in the region nearly strayed from the doctrines of the Codex Astartes and the Emperor's teachings to fall victim to the corruption of Chaos. Avitus, one of Cyrus' Battle-Brothers, betrayed the Chapter to the Black Legion, turned Renegade and was eventually slain by his brothers.
Cyrus - Third Aurelian Crusade: Ten standard years after the defeat of the Black Legion on Aurelia, Cyrus again battled the enemies of the Imperium in Sub-sector Aurelia, but this time faced the enemies of Mankind found within the Blood Ravens themselves, in the form of the corrupted Chapter Master Azariah Kyras. Cyrus served alongside Captain Apollo Diomedes and helped to banish the vile daemon of the Maledictum that Gabriel Angelos had unwittingly unleashed upon the world of Tartarus several decades earlier as well as to defeat Kyras and his plans to achieve apotheosis as a Daemon prince in return for the sacrifice of every living human being in the Sub-sector Aurelia at the hands of an Inquisition Exterminatus Fleet.
Cyrus - Wargear: As an experienced Battle-Brother of some renown within the Blood Ravens, Cyrus has access to some of the Chapter's most valuable and rare wargear, including master-crafted and relic weapons. This includes the following:Master-Crafted Astartes Scout ArmourMk IIS Sniper RifleMk IIIA Heretic Pattern FlamerAstartes Assault ShotgunGrenade LauncherVarious Specialty Bolter Ammunition
Cyrus - Trivia: In the series of Dawn of War PC Games, Cyrus is voiced by Steve Blum.
Cytheron Pattern Aegis - Cytheron Pattern Aegis: The Cytheron Pattern Aegis is a relic force field generator that was used by the Dark Angels Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. It was among the rarest and most esoteric technologies possessed by the Ist Legion.The Cytheon Pattern Aegis was a creation of the long-lost city of Cytheron on the world of Mercury in the Sol System during the Age of Technology, and the generator was based upon the same force field technology that had once been used by the people of Cytheron to hold at bay the ferocity of Sol itself so that they could live upon the scalding surface of Mercury.A Cytheron Pattern Aegis generator was available to the Astartes of the Deathwing Companions and once activated the resulting force field could be used protect the individual wearing one or those nearby from kinetic and directed energy attacks for as long as the shield generator did not overload.
Cythor Fiends - Cythor Fiends: The Cythor Fiends (Homindae crystallis) are a mysterious species of hostile humanoid xenos that previously inhabited the Ghoul Stars but have now been sighted elsewhere in the galaxy. They possess an unusual crystal-based technology and are capable of altering their forms to become some type of mobile, crystalline organism.Among the worlds of the Ghoul Stars, the Cythor Fiends' territory was centred on a gas giant dubbed 9836-18 Grave Core by the Imperium.
Cythor Fiends - History: The Cythor Fiends were believed to be vicious xenos by the Imperium, and every exploratory probe or scout team sent into their territory in the Ghoul Stars to conduct reconnaissance never returned. The Cythor Fiends often clashed with the Death Spectres Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes which was tasked with maintaining a sentinel watch over the Ghoul Stars and ensuring that these xenos or other hostile forces did not emerge from that region to plague Imperial space.At some point, the Death Spectres launched a major offensive campaign to destroy the Cythor Fiends once and for all, only to find their worlds strangely empty and devoid of the xenos' formerly teeming presence. As a result, the Death Spectres became aware of the fact that the Cythors possessed some type of technology which allowed them to ultimately evade any attempt to exterminate them.Eventually, the Cythors reemerged on their old planets and reclaimed them. From then on, however, the Death Spectres limited themselves to simply repelling any attempts by the species to break out of their containment in the Ghoul Stars.This changed in the 41st Millennium, when the species was largely exterminated according to the records of the historitors of the Adeptus Terra by the efforts of the Black Templars and Death Spectres Chapters during the Ghoul Stars Crusade led by the Black Templars' High Marshal Helbrecht, the first crusade led by Helbrecht after he attained that rank.In the wake of that crusade, only the Cythor Fiends' homeworlds in the Ghoul Stars remained outside Imperial control. However, the historitors did not record that when the Black Templars arrived at their homeworlds to complete the crusade, they, like the Death Spectres before them, found the Cythor homeworlds completely deserted by the xenos except for their crystalline fortress-cities. What happened to the species remains a mystery.In the Era Indomitus, Rogue Trader Janus Draik encountered what he later identified as a Cythor Fiend on the Seventh Blackstone Fortress located in the Western Reaches region of the Segmentum Pacificus. Draik stated in his own published report on xenos species that according to the information he gleaned from the Aeldari texts in his possession, the Cythor Fiends were technologically advanced enough of a species to have "evaded" Helbrecht's crusade through the use of these unknown technologies. Draik explained that this account could not be trusted, of course, since the Aeldari were well-known for their duplicity.Cythor Fiends have also been observed on the Daemon World of Sublime on the edge of the Eye of Terror, a planet slowly disintegrating within the temporal anomaly produced by a Warp storm, that serves as a black market of sorts for the various mortal forces of Chaos, Daemons, the Drukhari, Aeldari Corsairs, the Harlequins and various other intelligent xenos species.
Cythor Fiends - Anatomy and Physiology: Cythor Fiends are tall and slender humanoids who possess spindly, wire-thin limbs, and glassy skin that has a reflective quality. Cythor Fiends have elongated and inhuman faces that seemed to be almost an intended, grotesque mockery of the Human visage.Cythor Fiends have a strange light in the deep pits that serve as their eyes, and seem to possess the ability to in some way temporarily paralyse anyone who meets their gaze.According to the Space Marines of the Death Spectres Chapter who knew them best, the Cythor Fiends are not alive as Humans would understand the term.
Cythor Fiends - Technology: On their homeworlds in the Ghoul Stars, the Cythor Fiends live in great fortress-cities with sheer walls of glimmering crystal and they possessed some uncanny crystal-based weapon technologies.On the Seventh Blackstone Fortress, Rogue Trader Janus Draik observed a Cythor Fiend under assault by a pack of Ur-Ghuls. The Cythor held an object in its slender, claw-like hand that looked like a small, silver disc. As the Ur-Ghuls attacked, the alien turned the disc, causing it to flash, which then led the Cythor's body to collapse like a shattered glass.A shower of glittering shards fell to the floor, then reformed into what looked like a crystal. The crystal moved of its own accord and passed through the mob of Ur-Ghuls. In only solar seconds, the Ur-Ghuls lay dead, their throats expertly sliced. These mobile crystals can also change their size and become quite small, and seem to possess the essence of the Cythor Fiend's psyche.The Cythor Fiends are known to employ unique warships, one known class being what the Imperium has designated the Pinion-class Stealth Frigate.
Cythor Fiends - Homeworld: 9836-18 Grave Core is a gas giant located in a system of the Ghoul Stars. Before the Ghoul Stars Crusade, it served as the capital world of the Cythor Fiends' civilisation. It is unknown by what name the planet was called by the Cythor Fiends. 9836-18 Grave Core is the Imperial designation, with the number signifying it was the eighteenth world conquered during the Ghoul Stars Crusade.The planet was a mid-sized gas giant which appeared blue from high orbit. Its atmosphere was toxic and extremely cold, unfit for most intelligent species. High Marshal Helbrecht of the Black Templars noted that the world closely resembled Neptune in the Sol System. 9836-18 Grave Core was later determined to be highly resistant to damage from Imperial Exterminatus-class weaponry, to an unnatural degree.Grave Core was regarded by the Cythor Fiends as their primary homeworld in the region. The xenos had erected platforms in the world's atmosphere that supported their usual crystal fortress-cities.  The Astartes of the Death Spectres Chapter who accompanied the Black Templars in the crusade hinted that they had once also assaulted Grave Core, just as the Black Templars now did, but had also found it deserted by the xenos.The Black Templars had expected the Cythor Fiends to make their last stand of the Ghoul Stars Crusade there, but the entire species had already apparently fled the planet. Furious, the Black Templars attempted to destroy the world by unleashing an Exterminatus action, but failed even at that as the world seemed to be able to resist any form of damage.As an alternative, the Black Templars then destroyed the Cythor Fiends' orbital platforms and tried to ignite the world's atmosphere by bombarding it with their armada. This took an unnaturally long time, and the Death Spectres' Captain Naroosh remarked that whatever the Imperials did to the gas giant, it would not matter in the long run, as the Cythor Fiends always returned to reclaim the worlds of their realm.
D'Shas'Ka 4 - D'Shas'Ka 4: D'Shas'Ka 4, which means "Twin Suns" in the T'au Lexicon, is the name of both a world and its binary star system comprising six planets found within the Canis Salient of the Jericho Reach. Controlled by the T'au Empire, it is currently under assault by the forces of Chaos.The fourth world in the system, designated "D'Shas'Ka 4" or Seraph 131 in Imperial records, is officially regarded as a Xenos World, the system having been claimed by the T'au at some point before the launch of the Achilus Crusade.For unknown reasons, no prior Human colonisation attempts had been made, though it is speculated that Seraph 131 should be classified as a Death World.D'Shas'Ka 4 is ruled as a minor colony of the subordinate T'au political entity referred to as the Velk'Han Sept.Inquisitorial intelligence-gathering has determined that the world's government is called D'Shas'ka Shan'al, or the "Twin Suns Coalition", which is led by the highest-ranking T'au of the Fire, Water, Air and Earth Castes, presided over and advised on the true course of the Greater Good by a senior Ethereal.For the Imperium, the specific identities of these individuals are unknown, but it is believed that they are not actually on Seraph 131 at all, but rather upon an orbital station above it.T'au facilities on Seraph 131 are thinly scattered fortified compounds, defended by T'au warriors, supported by Kroot auxiliaries and drone-controlled auto-defences.The fortifications are somewhat uncharacteristic of T'au settlement, as the T'au are known to dislike defensive warfare, and are believed to exist primarily to fend off the intrusion of aggressive native flora and fauna.
D'Shas'Ka 4 - Climate: The D'Shas'Ka System consists of six worlds, one of which is presently habitable, orbiting a mid-sized yellow star akin to Terra's sun, while a small white dwarf companion star orbits the edge of the system from a considerable distance, making translation into the system from the Warp dangerous to the unwary due to shifting gravity wells.The habitable world, orbiting fourth from the primary star, has an irregular day-night cycle due to almost constantly bombardment with either direct or reflected light from one or both stars, with eclipses providing the few occasions of true darkness.This abundance of light and warmth, and the world's ideal distance from both stars, has resulted in a fecund and verdant world regarded by the T'au as being ideal for habitation, though somewhat cooler and wetter than their physiology may be used to.
D'Shas'Ka 4 - The Argent Revelations: Prognosticator Gallius, a Silver Skulls Librarian serving within the Deathwatch centuries ago, penned a massive tome of prophetic visions witnessed over his decades of service, which to this day resides within the Librarium of Watch Fortress Erioch, studied by Librarians and Inquisitors alike.Over the centuries, it has given a remarkable amount of insight into threats faced by the Deathwatch in the Jericho Reach, to those with the wit and will to decipher the cryptic words and sigils.One of these transcribed visions speaks of "An angel under twin suns, and the branded legions who strive to defile her," which seems to refer to Seraph 131 and the Stigmartus forces assailing it, in a remarkably clear and lucid fragment of prophecy amidst thousands of pages that have taken countless savants to decipher.
D'Shas'Ka 4 - Shas'ar'tol D'Shas'Ka: The command centre for all Fire Caste operations within the D'Shas'Ka System, the Shas'ar'tol D'Shas'Ka is a sprawling complex of scanning arrays, vox-relays and buildings filled with drone-assisted substrate stacks, collating immense amounts of strategic and tactical information from every Fire Warrior Team, battlesuit and vehicle on the planet in order to provide accurate minute-by-minute insight into the state of every skirmish and firefight currently ongoing.The T'au use of these technologies is commonplace in many warzones, allowing them to respond efficiently and coherently to enemy actions and take best advantage of the experience of veteran commanders.The Shas'ar'tol D'Shas'Ka is staffed by several hundred Earth Caste technicians, Water Caste adjutants, and a select staff of experienced Fire Caste officers (typically those who have suffered debilitating injuries in the field and who cannot currently serve on the front lines), led by Shas'O Tsua'Malor Aloh'shas Elan'nan, a young and promising T'au Commander born upon the Velk'Han Sept's capital world.
D'Shas'Ka 4 - Insertion Point Alpha: Unbeknownst to the T'au, the Inquisitorial missions to Seraph 131 have not purely served a diplomatic purpose.Viewing a T'au world under attack by a mutual foe as an unrivalled opportunity to reach orbit undetected, an operation was undertaken during an early diplomatic mission to insert a mixed detachment of Inquisitorial agents, ranging from seconded Death World veterans, to infiltration specialists, xenolinguists, Tech-priests and a trio of astropaths, to observe T'au movements and report back to their masters.Under strict orders to not engage the enemy, the observation detachment has established a central base of operations within a region largely unexplored by the T'au, while discrete teams move about the planetary forests and jungles for solar weeks at a time, working to intercept and decipher T'au vox transmissions, and awaiting covert supply drops from subsequent Inquisitorial missions.To date, no extraction plan has been formulated that will not result in the cessation of diplomatic operations with the T'au, but the placement of the insertion group has resulted in Inquisitorial savants devising a number of distinct hypothetical infiltration scenarios, should conflict be required.Many of these scenarios have been discussed at length with the Chamber of Vigilance of Watch Fortress Erioch, as one or more Deathwatch Kill-teams would be ideal for precision operations -- such as sabotage or assassination missions -- deep into enemy territory, or for spearheading a potential invasion.None outside of the Inquisition and the Deathwatch so far know about Insertion Point Alpha, and only a few within those organisations are aware of its existence. For the time being, an Imperial invasion of Seraph 131 is purely hypothetical, as are any further armed missions into the system.
D'Shas'Ka 4 - Fio'mont'yr: Literally translated as "the blooded earth," this region has been identified as a common place of conflict between T'au and Stigmartus forces, and much blood has been spilt there as a result. The frequent fighting is not why the place grows in infamy amongst the T'au, however.Fire Caste forces who have fought in the area are known to have a particular dread and loathing for the region, for a variety of unsettling reasons.The most worrying of these is an increased tendency for the T'au to be aggressive and short-tempered, even with bonded teammates, which has forced more than one cadre to be redeployed elsewhere on the planet, or even off-world, to gather their composure and reaffirm their loyalty to the Tau'va.However, it was not until agents of the Inquisition were made aware of the region's influence that an arguably greater threat became known.The indigenous flora and fauna within the region resemble in many ways those of surrounding regions, yet they have diverged physiologically and behaviourally in a quite drastic manner, becoming increasingly savage and predatory in ways that do not conform to evolutionary patterns known in the xenobiological lore of the Imperium.The fact that these divergent species seem most concentrated in regions that are frequently used by the Stigmartus as landing and encampment sites suggest that they may be the result of an insidious and startlingly swift-acting Warp-taint brought to D'Shas'Ka by the servants of Chaos.
D'vok - D'vok: D'vok, also called "D'vok the Unmaker," is a Heretic Astartes Warpsmith who commands the Black Legion warband known as the Forgeborn.
D'vok - History: The ambitious Warpsmith D'vok once flew the banner of the Iron Warriors, but his scheming kicked off a civil war that tore his original warband of Heretic Astartes apart. Abandoning their former comrades, D'vok and his most elite followers stole away with several packs of Daemon Engines to join Abaddon's Black Legion.Guided to the Exodite planet of Daethe near the Nachmund Gauntlet in the Nachmund Sector by an ancient star chart not long after Abaddon and the Black Legion retreated from Vigilus following the War of Beasts, the Warpsmith and his Forgeborn constructed a ring of Noctilith Crowns to harness the World Spirit energy of this Aeldari Maiden World. Now, he plans to weaponise the souls of slaughtered Exodites to supercharge his vile machines and curry favour with the Warmaster of Chaos.However, the Asuryani of Craftworld Saim-Hann heard the desperate plea for aid of the Exodites of Daethe. They despatched a military force commanded by the Autarch Ghaelyn. Ghaelyn led her forces to the Maiden World determined to stop the Forgeborn from desecrating yet another of her species' few remaining sanctuaries.
D-Cannon - D-Cannon: The Distortion Cannon, often more commonly called a "D-Cannon", and also known as a "Displacer Cannon," "Displacer," "Warp Cannon," or "Warper," is a heavy Vortex Weapon utilised by the Craftworld Aeldari and the most dangerous of all that ancient species' weapons.The D-Cannon is commonly mounted on heavy weapon platforms. This weapon uses a miniaturised Warp-Drive to create a point where the Immaterium is temporarily overlaid onto an area of realspace.If the target is not "swallowed" by the resultant Warp rift, the gravitational forces involved in opening and maintaining this overlay will literally rip the target apart. The weapon is effective against both infantry and vehicles.Although immensely powerful, the D-Cannon's primary drawback is that it possesses only a short range, and is highly inaccurate by Aeldari standards.
D-Cannon - Role: To produce its effect, the Distortion Cannon makes use of the same technology as Imperial starships do to enter the Warp, essentially creating a small gateway into the Immaterium from realspace that collapses in on itself, creating a small hole into the Warp in local space-time.A lucky target of this weapon is simply torn apart by the violent gravitational forces this process unleashes; an unlucky victim will actually be sucked bodily into the Warp, where a far worse fate awaits.The Distortion Cannon's attack can affect a wider area than the initial target, as the localised distortion of reality causes other people and objects to be spatially displaced, which can cause unintended damage. Like all Warp-based weaponry, this unpredictability is to be expected, since the technology at issue is essentially violating the physical laws of the material universe.The size of the Warp rift created depends on the size and power of the D-Cannon, with the larger variants of the weapon requiring more power and a larger platform or vehicle chassis to mount them. The largest D-Cannosn can be found mounted on Cobras and Aeldari Phantom Titans, and even Void Shields have proven ineffectual in defending against a D-Cannon strike made by these vehicles.An assault by these larger and more powerful versions of the weapon is capable of creating a Warp vortex that swallows multiple enemy battle tanks in a single strike, and the shockwave produced in realspace when the rift they create closes can knock over other armoured vehicles that have otherwise avoided being sucked into the Warp.All efforts by the Adeptus Mechanicus to study and replicate this technology have ended in gruesome failures. In 755.299.M40 unsanctioned experiments carried out by rogue Tech-priests resulted in the event remembered as the "Contagion of Eridanus" and the necessity of deploying a Grey Knights strike force to defeat the subsequent daemonic incursion.Since that incident, more draconian measures have been taken against the Mechanicus by other Imperial organs to prevent further attempts to explore this heretical xenos technology. Those who ignore such restrictions are likely to face the wrath of the Inquisition.
D-scythe - D-scythe: A D-scythe or Distortion Scythe, is a form of Aeldari Distortion Weapon. Considered to be a taboo weapon among the Craftworld Aeldari, a D-scythe can force the soul of its target from their physical body and banish it into the Warp, a truly frightful proposition for the Aeldari, who so fear the consumption of their souls by Slaanesh.When fired, a D-scythe emits no visible blast and leaves behind no damage, save the suddenly lifeless corpse of its target. The Aeldari call the act of separating the spirit from its body "Cutting of the Crone's Cord," for in Aeldari Mythology a strand ties the soul of a being to its material form in realspace.Ancient tradition has it that only the Aeldari Crone Goddess Morai-Heg herself has the right to sever this connection, for a mortal doing so would be taking on the rightful role of a god. However, due to the desperate situation of the Asuryani craftworlds, increasingly pragmatic Autarchs are calling for more regular deployment of these once-taboo weapons.D-scythes are considered so fiendish that no living Aeldari is expected to wield them; instead that is a role for the spirits of the Asuryani dead, such as the Wraithguard and the spirits who help to fly the Hemlock Wraithfighter.D-scythes are normally wielded by Wraithguards in place of the more standard Wraithcannon.
D-scythe - Heavy D-scythe: A Heavy D-scythe is simply a more potent version of the standard D-scythe commonly mounted under the wings of Hemlock Wraithfighters.Originally designed to sever the psychic link between Tyranids and the Hive Mind, these powerful weapons can even scramble the electronic engrams of purely mechanical beings such as the Necrons.
Daemon Behemoth - Daemon Behemoth: A Daemon Behemoth, also called a Ruinstorm Daemon Behemoth, is a gargantuan Daemon of Chaos who emerged during the Horus Heresy from the galaxy-spanning Warp Storm known as the Ruinstorm.Behemoths were often used by the daemonic legions as heavy support units similar to Imperial Titans to devastate enemy combat lines, assault Loyalist fortifications and other strong points, or take on Titan-grade combat walkers.
Daemon Behemoth - Role: Vast beyond the comprehension of mortal warriors, titans of flailing tentacles and grinding teeth, the largest monstrosities of the Daemon hordes to emerge from the Ruinstorm were death incarnate.The least blow from their talons could smash tanks and the tread of their feet crushed mere infantry like ants.They were animate, Warp-born war engines fired by hate and pain which they unleashed upon the cowering warriors of the enemy.The Daemon Behemoths were employed similar to Imperial Titans, and set against the strongest defences to force a breach for the daemonic horde that followed at their heels, serving as a focus for the heavy guns of the mortal armies that stood against them.Only a concentrated barrage of heavy cannon fire would bring down such monstrosities during the battles of the Horus Heresy where they were deployed by the forces of Chaos.Even then, the vile energies of the Warp stole any guarantee that their death would bring more than a temporary lull from the Behemoths' brutal wrath, for within the roiling tides of the Immaterium they would be reborn once more to bring ruin to the worlds of Mankind.
Daemon Behemoth - Unit Composition: 1 Daemon Behemoth
Daemon Behemoth - Wargear: Gargantuan close combat weapons (claws, daemonic swords, axes, warhammers, horns, etc.)
Daemon Brutes - Daemon Brutes: Daemon Brutes, also called  Ruinstorm Daemon Brutes, are the Daemons of Chaos who emerged during the Horus Heresy from the galaxy-spanning Warp Storm known as the Ruinstorm.They were often used as melee assault shock troops to soften up enemy lines for the Traitor Legion or daemonic forces coming after them.
Daemon Brutes - Role: Hulking creatures of twisted muscle and sharpened bone, Daemon Brutes were the vanguard of the horde, created to break the fragile ranks of mortal armies and serve as a bulwark for the smaller minions of Chaos that followed in their wake.Each of these brutish monsters towered over even the enhanced warriors of the Legiones Astartes and was capable of shrugging aside the mass reactive projectiles of bolters as through they were mere irritations.Thundering forth from the depths of the Warp in a charge that shakes the earth upon which they tread, a phalanx of these terrifying monsters could sunder any formation and break any line set against them.Worse yet, these beasts exhibit the same twisted cunning common to the rest of their ilk, ever devising new ways to torment their foes and confound the efforts of Mankind to stand against the Daemon and its fel masters.
Daemon Brutes - Unit Composition: 3 Ruinstorm Daemon Brutes
Daemon Brutes - Wargear: Close combat weapons (claws, daemonic swords, axes, warhammers, horns, etc.)
Daemon Engine - Daemon Engine: A Daemon Engine is a nightmarish artificial construct used by the forces of Chaos that is a fusion of a realspace vehicle or combat walker with a possessing Daemonic spirit of the Warp. Daemon Engines are gigantic war machines that prowl on mighty piston-driven limbs.Jutting from their armoured torsos are gargoyle-muzzled cannons and heavy weapon-arms that end in murderous tools of war. To compare a Daemon Engine to an ordinary vehicle is folly, for each of these beasts possesses its own malevolent sentience rather than a crew.Bound within the battle-scarred metal of each Daemon Engine is the essence of a raging Warp entity, imprisoned in a physically indomitable body in order to better serve the Chaos Space Marines in their Long War against the servants of the False Emperor.The Imperium has little concept of how these affronts to sanity came into being. Fragments of ancient texts and post-action pict-captures have allowed Imperial strategos to gather that they are creatures of daemonic nature, but little else. Even amongst the ranks of the Chaos Space Marines, there are few who understand how these immortal beasts are created.With the correct rituals, a devout Chaos Sorcerer or Word Bearers Dark Apostle can coax a Daemon to possess the body of a mortal man, but only the brotherhood of the Warpsmiths can bind an unwilling Daemon into a machine.Unlike the rituals of possession, the process of creating a Daemon Engine is not one of mutual assent. Using corrupt rituals and forbidden alchemy, Adepts of the Dark Arts can force immaterial spirits into a physical shell of the Materium. It is the Warpsmiths that bring hell-forged Daemon Engines into being, from Forgefiend gunbeasts to new Chaos Titans. Beyond the soul forges of the Immaterium, Warp entities are bound in nooses of rope woven from the hair of murderers or with chains fashioned of scrimshawed bone.These captive Daemons are dragged biting and screaming into the flame-hearted citadels of the Dark Mechanicum. In the molten heat of the dark forges, the Warpsmiths trap the screaming Daemons within the rune-bound hulls of the giant metallic beasts they have captured or created.The screaming and newly-created machine-fiends must then be bludgeoned into submission until the time of battle is at hand. Caging a hate-filled Daemon in a physical form that can smash through a fortress wall is a hazardous business. Dozens of machine-thralls (and many more Dark Adepts) are lost with the creation of each Daemon Engine, for they do not fear death or pain, but delight in bringing it to their enemies in as vicious a fashion as possible.
Daemon Engine - Creation of a Daemon Engine: Daemon Engines are beasts of living metal, towering engines of war driven not by technology, but diabolic machine-lore. They take many forms, from tracked behemoths to towering giants and they carry a fearsome array of weaponry, much of it unknown or forbidden to the machine canon of the Cult Mechanicus.Within the armoured shell of each Daemon Engine is entrapped a denizen of the Warp, a being dragged forth from the Immaterium against its will and nature, sealed within the machine by the unreasoning hatred for the material universe in which they find themselves; they seek only to shed the blood of its mortal inhabitants and to feast upon their unbound souls. They are as much a threat to their supposed masters as they are to the enemy, and must often be restrained with heavy, warded chains between battles, lest they fall upon those who summoned them in an orgy of bloodshed.Daemon Engines are the product of tripartite blasphemy, for to bring one into being a sorcerer, Dark Apostle and a Warpsmith or Dark Mechanicum magus must come together in fell co-alignment. The sorcerer must utilise the forbidden dark arts to weaken the thin skein of reality and create a portal through which a Daemon may be drawn forth. The Dark Apostle must entreat the Ruinous Powers and bind that denizen to his ferocious will, thus dragging it through the portal the sorcerer has created. The Warpsmith or magus' role is to provide the mechanical shell into which the Daemon is bound, and to set the warding-chains upon it so that the Daemon does not escape.Such a process is costly in the extreme, and each step involves much shedding of the blood of innocents and the invocation of unspeakable powers. The greatest danger is to the participants themselves, for any misstep, any weakness of resolve or any misspeaking of the ritual incantations can bring about the doom of all involved.At the least, the summoning will fail, bringing down the ire of the warlord in whose name it is being enacted. At worse, the Daemon will come forth unbound or possess one of the three, and violence unimaginable will be unleashed.In some cases, those who seek to create the Daemon Engine are dragged through the portal they have created and cast adrift upon the tides of the Warp, their bodies torn apart in seconds by the predators of that unreal dimension, their souls fed upon for all eternity.