Knight Worlds - Notable Knight Worlds: Adrastapol - Located in the isolated Majestis System, the Knight World of Adrastapol has a tumultuous history and harbours many secrets. Settled in the distant past of the Dark Age of Technology, Adrastapol once harboured many Knight Houses of which now only three remain: House Draconis, House Minotos and House Pegasson. In the wake of the Donatos Uprising, the Ordo Malleus of the Emperor's holy Inquisition has despatched one of its representatives to asses how and why no less than two Imperial Knight Houses could be turned to the service of Chaos. This investigation coincided with the arrival of WAAAGH! Killfist which was only defeated at great cost by the defenders of Adrastapol thanks to the intervention of the Freeblade known as the Knight of Ashes and his band of fellow exiles.Alaric Prime - Located in the Sanctus Reach on the edges of the Segmentum Obscurus lies Alaric Prime, an ancient and hidebound world of toiling peasants and haughty Nobles. Covered mostly in sulphurous seas, viscous chemical tides and currents devoid of all but the hardiest of lifeforms. Dotted across the burning acidic oceans, the planet is made up of islands strung together in hemisphere-spanning chains or standing along thousands of miles from the nearest foreign shore. Unlike many Knight Worlds, Alaric Prime boasts numerous Knight Houses, each masters of a different region of the planet. Technology is limited on Alaric Prime as the result of ancient law, and most souls live simple lives of hard labour, scratching at the ground with tools of wood and iron. At the centre of the biggest landmass is Sacred Mountain, a blessed peak that rises from the heart of Alaric Prime's largest island. Beneath the mountain there is rumoured to be a vault of archeotech and lost lore, over which the notable Freeblade known as Gerantius the Forgotten Knight stands guard. Ancient and mysterious, Gerantius has defended the vault, and the world of Alaric Prime, since time immemorial. Whenever the planet is threatened the Forgotten Knight will rise form his tomb, and march upon the enemies of Alaric.Argentor - There is little information on this Knight World of the Segmentum Obscurus in current official Imperial records.Atar-Planitia - Though technically a Forge World, the frigid planet of Atar-Planitia, located in the Segmentum Solar, is also an Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned Knight World of House Col'Khak, and is also the home of the Legio Atarus ("Firebrands") Titan Legion and Taghmata forces.Avalane VI - Avalane VI is the homeworld of House Khord. Because Avalane VI is heavily forested, House Khord makes use only of Knight Lancers as their speed and agility is necessary to efficiently traverse the rough terrain of the world.Avarris - Just beyond the far eastern reaches of the Ultima Segmentum lies the war-torn Vidar Sector. The barren Knight World of Avarris can be found within this sector, founded unwittingly by its first Human settlers on a planet once belonging to the Necron Sautekh Dynasty. Thus, it was a great surprise to the knightly houses established on Avarris when, in 975.M41, legions of reawakened xenos machines emerged from their stasis tomb complexes far beneath the planet's surface to assail them without warning. Fortunately, the Gauss Weapons of the Necrons, normally so mercilessly efficient at eliminating armoured targets, was somewhat confounded by the Ion Shields of the Knight suits. With no less than three knightly houses present on Avarris, Imperial forces were able to respond to the sudden Necron attack with immediate and brutal effect. War still rages on Avarris, but the Imperial Knights have already made several successful forays into the vast underground tomb fortresses of the Necrons. Indeed, the rulers of the three knightly houses are confident that the xenos threat on Avarris will soon be overcome, and they will be able to lend their aid to the other Imperial forces fighting throughout the sector as part of the defence against the undying warriors.Baroda - Baroda was an Imperial Knight World located in the Grail Abyss at the extreme border of the Segmentum Obscurus and the Imperium itself. Before the Age of Strife Baroda was a populous world, rich in minerals and home to dozens of knightly Households which would dramatically decay and go on to destroy themselves in internecine warfare. Baroda is perhaps best known for being the former home world of the infamous and ill-reputed House Makabius, which committed countless atrocities alongside the traitor Death Guard legion throughout the Cyclops Cluster. The planet was abandoned early on in the Age of Heresy, forcibly evacuated and stripped of its resources and manpower by the orders of the sinister Death Guard Primarch Mortarion in 007.M31.Chrysis - House Krast hails from the Mechanicus-aligned Knight World of Chrysis in the Sol Sector of the Segmentum Solar, and was the first of its kind to be rediscovered at the outset of the Great Crusade. The proximity of Chrysis to the Sol System saw it quickly fall under the jurisdiction of Mars. However, Krast was the only knightly house on Chrysis to survive the calamitous events of the Horus Heresy, forcing its ruler to rely heavily on the Forge World's support to recover his losses. Thankfully, Mars was happy to oblige, for it was desperate for resources and Chrysis still had them in abundance.Cypeus Ultima - Cypeus Ultima is a Knight World of the Imperium and is the homeworld of House Varlock.Damaetus III/II - Damaetus is an Imperial-aligned Knight World ruled by House Vyronii, located in the Segmentum Obscurus. Damaetus III/II was found in a star system at the junction of several minor but stable Warp routes, and is a world of deep, twisted forests and mist-shrouded swamps, above which towers the imposing Felweather Keep, a vast fortress edifice erected when the planet was settled from the corpse of their founding colony ark. During the Age of Strife, the world fell into disarray and was preyed upon by xenos, most notably the Mitu. Mitu invasions devastated the planet, which only survived thanks to the efforts of the Vyranoii Knights. Eventually the Mitu were wiped out by the Dark Angels Legion, and the Knight World joined the fledgling Imperium. During the ensuing Horus Heresy, Damaetus III/II stayed loyal to the Emperor and survived an attempted surprise attack by the traitorous Forge World of Cyclothrathe.Dark Haven - Dark Haven is an Imperial Knight World of House Orhlacc located in the Cyclops Cluster, within the Coronid Deeps, in the Segmentum Obscurus. The Orhlacc in their wisdom had known that Dark Haven, alone as it was, could not be defended against a full Traitor invasion fleet or a Space Marine Legion, and this made them a sitting target; a fate they declined. House Orhlacc reluctantly abandoned it's domains due to it's untenable strategic position, leaving behind an untraceable token force behind as caretakers and sentinels of their ancestral home. Leaving their homeworld behind, House Orhlacc would fight on valiantly throughout the Age of Heresy and even secure itself a secondary home world in the Agathean Domain -- the grim world of Wychval. From this point until the end of the terrible wars of the Heresy that were to follow, the House of Orhlacc would remain loyal to the Imperium, but they would fight their cause on their own terms as a nomadic Knight House -- even after gaining territories within the Agathon Domain -- with an eye to their own survival and an eventual return to their shadowed home.Dharrovar - Dharrovar is a Fallen Knight World that is ruled over by an ancient dynasty of Knights known as House Mandrakor that is currently led by High King Kaligius. After the formation of the Great Rift in the Era Indomitus the king grew paranoid and treated any seeking refuge or parlay with suspicion. He became so fiercely independent that he was declared Excommunicate Traitoris and House Mandrakor were designated Renegade Knights by the Adeptus Terra. Not all of the house's Knights followed Kaligius into treachery, however, and a civil war broke out within the house. Some Loyalist Knights also escaped Dharrovar and acted as Freeblades, battling with the Imperium on Vigilus in the War of Beasts. During the Nachmund Rift War, Imperial forces launched a major offensive aimed at recapturing Dharrovar. However with the arrival of the Black Legion Chaos Lord Haarken Worldclaimer's Chaos Space Marine armies the Imperials were forced to abandon the siege. Dharrovar is barren, cold, and mountainous. Much of its land mass is covered in lines of jagged ridges made of razor-shop rocks. Deep ravines run between these natural walls, with fast-flowing icy streams at their bottom that commonly feature treacherous rapids and currents. Close to the edge of the Great Rift, Dharrovar has been strongly touched by the energies of the Warp and the local flora and fauna is heavily mutated. The hardy people of the world are fanatically loyal to their Knight masters, even as they fell into treachery. Dharrovar is the primary world of the Nachmund System, and sits at the heart of the Nachmund Gauntlet, the only stable and safe route though the Great Rifty from the Imperium Sanctus to the worlds of the Imperium Nihilus. Needless to say, this crucial strategic position has turned Dharrovar into a prize that the Imperium is determined to claim once and for all.Dragon's End - The volcanic Knight World of Dragon's End in the Ultima Segmentum is named for the winged reptiloid dragons that, millennia ago, soared on the thermals and preyed on the vast megasaur herds that grazed in the valleys before they were hunted to extinction. It was the arrival of the planet's first Human settlers, and the foundation of House Griffith soon thereafter, that saw irrevocable changes made to the planet's primordial ecosystem. The colonists brought with them a huge number of Terran horses, and the Nobles that would eventually go on to found House Griffith became adept riders. But as their colony expanded, the Humans sought to claim dominance over the megasaur herds, leading to inevitable confrontation with the flying dragons that fed upon the giant creatures. Before the first Knight suits were completed, the Nobles took to fighting the dragons on horseback, clad in baroque armour crafted from locally-mined obsidian. Against such terrible creatures, the Nobles were forced to become great warriors in order to overcome them. The mightiest of their number was Nathaniel, who slew three dragons with his dragonbone lance before eventually becoming House Griffith's inaugural ruler. Even though the Knight suits enabled the Nobles to finally overcome the dragons, they never forgot the skills they had mastered. To this day, Griffith's Knights are amongst the very deadliest in battle.Dutonis - The Knight World of Dutonis is an acrid, volcanic world that sits in the galactic northeast of the Segmentum Obscurus. Ever tinged with the bitter taste of sulphur on the wind, it is a world of great material value to the Imperium, for it is ripe with mineral ore and rich veins of adamantium fork throughout the planet's mountainous crust. Despite being bitter rivals, two Knight Houses –- Navaros and Borgius –- have long protected Dutonis from those who would seek to claim this priceless metal for themselves. In this task, they have fought against both alien and Traitor alike, for it would be unthinkable should such quantities of this invaluable ore fall into the wrong hands.Highrock - The once verdant world of Highrock was the ancestral homeworld of House Vyridion. Sadly, during the Horus Heresy, the world was ravaged and laid to waste by the vengeful Heretic Astartes of the Emperor's Children, who descended on Highrock after House Vyridion's decision to abandon the cause of the Warmaster Horus and seek the forgiveness of the Emperor of Mankind for their unwitting betrayal of His cause.Kaldeia - Kaldeia is an Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned Knight World ruled by House Hermetika, located in the region of the Coronid Deeps in the Eastern Fringe of the Ultima Segmentum. Little else is known about the world in Imperial records.Kamador - When the Great Rift tore its way across the galaxy, the Knight world of Kamador lay directly in its path. Engulfed by the billowing madness of the maelstrom, the planet was beset by tides of mutants, Heretic Astartes and daemonic abominations. Led by the garishly grotesque warriors of the Emperor's Children, the Chaos hordes tore down the strongholds of one Noble house after another. Though the Knights of Kamador fought furiously to defend their world, in the end they could not prevail. A single Noble escaped the devastation -- Lady Kalena Maxus, "the Stormwalker", pilot of a Knight Castellan. Kalena did not willingly flee the death of Kamador. Rather, she was commanded by High King Arturo to spread the word of her world's fall, and to exact revenge unending upon the Forces of Chaos for their murderous deeds. This Lady Maxus has done with a burdened heart ever since. Having taken the oath of the Freeblade, she haunts the fringes of the Great Rift, rallying Imperial forces wherever she finds them and leading them to fight back against the heretical foe. The arrival of the Stormwalker has turned the tide of many battles, Lady Maxus dedicating each hard-won victory to the memory of her slain kinsmen.Kolossi (Korvosi) - The Fortress World of Kolossi is the homeworld of the Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned House Raven in the Segmentum Ultima. This world is ruled by the Iron Duke of Kolossi, Lord Grevan Raven, fourth of his name, where he sits upon the Adamantium Throne of the Keep Inviolate, greatest of the knightly fortresses and capital city of House Raven's homeworld. Thousands of standard years ago Kolossi was a virgin world of verdant plains and forested mountains. However, the settlers built legions of Knights, their industries strip-ming the Koliss continents for materials. In time, the society of Kolossi stratified and House Raven rose to prominence among the settlers. By the time House Raven made its enduring alliance with the Forge World of Metalica, Kolossi had been reduced to open pits, towering slag heaps and smog-wreathed manufactoria lit only by guttering Promethium flares from soot-stained chimneys. This degradation of Kolossi has only worsened through the millennia. In addition to House Raven's own mineral needs, Metalica has added their own demands upon Kolossi. Only a handful of cities remain on the planet, islands of steel and smoke amid the deep-core shafts and strip-mine canyons. During the Charadon Campaign of the Era Indomitus the Daemon Prince Be'lakor corrupted the garrison force of Knights that House Raven had left behind on their capital world and used them to aid his invasion of the planet with the armies of his Disciples of Be'lakor. When the corrupted Knights turned on their fellows, Be'lakor's invasion succeeded and he took control of Kolossi. Rather than lose his new prize to an approaching fleet of the Indomitus Crusade, Be'lakor used his immense power to unleash a sorcerous ritual that moved the entire world through the Warp to a new location somewhere in the Imperium Nihilus. Korvosi has since been reshaped into a Daemon World and a Fallen Knight World under the command of Be'lakor and his allies in the Disciples of Be'lakor, including Traitoris Militarum regiments, Heretic Astartes warbands, daemonic legions in service to the Dark Master, elements of the Dark Mechanicum and House Korvax, the Infernal house of Chaos Knights that are all that remains of the House Raven garrison the first Daemon Prince corrupted.Kragh - Kragh is a Knight World of the Imperium that was re-discovered in 112.M41, after the Warp Storm that cut off its star system from the rest of the galaxy for over twenty millennia finally abated.Krastellan - Located in the northern reaches of the Ultima Segmentum close to the Blood Angels Chapter's homeworld of Baal lies the Imperial-aligned Knight World of Krastellan. An eerie, haunted place, its desolate moors and black hills stretch in all directions under skies heavy with freezing rain. The Krastellian villages huddle from their perpetual miserable weather in windswept valleys and broken shorelines and their people eek out a life from herding docile heath-cattle or fishing the edges of the foaming, storm-tossed sea. On craggy rain-slick rocks ancient stone keeps are home to the Nobles of Krastellan, where their households and families live in drafty, dripping rooms by the sputtering light of open fires. While other Knight Worlds embrace a degree of advanced technology, the Nobles of Krastellan see anything more than is required for the continued operation of their Knights as an extravagance and the first step on the road to weakness. This bleak and harsh world is home to House Hawkshroud, a proud and Noble Knight House that has cultivated an impeccable reputation for honouring its debts and keeping its word regardless of the personal cost.Mancora - Mancora is the Knight World of House Trainor and also serves as the Space Marine Chapter Homeworld of the Howling Griffons Chapter. Located within the Ultima Segmentum, Imperial records clearly indicate that the Chapter has deliberately and artificially prevented the world from advancing beyond a pre-industrial technological base. Though an uncharacteristic degree of covert operations and manipulations, the Howling Griffons have also kept the world's feudal city-states on a near-constant war footing, which has led to a culture that has a poor record of its own origins. This enables the Howling Griffons to select from a pure gene-stock of hardened warriors who display the desired traits of ferociousness, stoicism and tenacity. Mancora's population is also known to have a higher than average incidence of psykers born amongst its population.Mars - The Red Planet of Mars in the Sol System of the Segmentum Solar is the cornerstone upon which the empire of the Adeptus Mechanicus was built. Officially a Forge World, it is also a Questor Mechanicus Knight World, the homeworld for House Taranis, House Zavora and formerly House Morbidia before it swore allegiance to Chaos.Molech - The former Knight World of Molech was home to the traitorous House Devine. When the golden age of the Great Crusade was cut short by the supreme act of betrayal known as the Horus Heresy, across the nascent Imperium Loyalists clashed with Traitor forces. In those dark days, nobody was to be trusted and treachery became all too commonplace. Dispossessed and unable to fight back, House Devine slowly succumbed to the temptations of Chaos. Over the following solar months, the insidious whisper of Slaanesh -- Dark Prince of Chaos and god of indulgence and excess -- spread through their depleted ranks. Their officers became lethargic, interested only in their sports, using their mighty Knight suits to hunt the towering reptilian beasts that stalked Molech's lush jungles. The seductive grip of Slaanesh grew stronger, as the Prince of Pleasure bent the force of his will to corrupting the noble Devines. Soon, they met in secret cabals, performing depraved rites and ceremonies within the heart of the Loyalist camp. No act was too shameful or disgusting; the sensations of the moment became their only desire. When Horus launched a massive offensive, the Knights of House Devine committed an act of brazen treachery and turned on the troops who remained loyal to the Emperor. The Imperial forces found themselves caught in a trap, with advancing enemy Titans to the front and renegade Knights attacking their ranks from behind. This treachery allowed the Chaos host to punch through the Imperial defences, leaving them with no line of retreat. They were totally defeated, so brutally that only one in a hundred of the Imperial army survived the campaign.Orestes - A Forge World, Questor Mechanicus Knight World and major supplier for Imperial forces during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade in the Segmentum Pacificus, Orestes was attacked by a grand horde of Chaos Titans in 779.M41. The Forge's own force of God-machines, the Legio Tempestus, was severely depleted through constant tithes to the Crusade, and stood no hope of holding off the hordes of Chaos. As luck would have it, the Legio Invicta was travelling past Orestes on their way to the Crusade's main front after crushing a force of Eldar in the Beltran Cluster, and Lord Gearhart of Invicta came to the Forge's aid. Orestes was liberated from Chaos within weeks, although the southernmost hives were destroyed in the fighting, and a great many God-engines and Astra Militarum troops were lost.Raisa - Far to the galactic south in the Segmentum Tempestus lies the heavily forested Knight World of Raisa. The native flora of this lush world grows with such virility that only the vast plateaus that pierce the evergreen canopy are free from their touch. From atop the largest of these highland plains rises the towering stronghold of House Cadmus, Golem Keep. This monolithic edifice was named after the mighty elementals that once haunted the planet's wildernesses, before they were hunted to extinction by the first Imperial Knights to settle on Raisa many thousands of Terran years ago. Now, the only sentient creatures to stalk the murky, overgrown trails beneath the forest boughs are an unstable strain of barbaric Abhumans. Though the Knights of House Cadmus could effortlessly slaughter the wild tribes descended from their ancient forebears, they choose not to. But it is by no means a misguided sense of loyalty to these pitiable creatures that stays their hand; it is in fact tradition. Instead, the Knights take part in an annual event known as "the Cull" to keep the mutants' numbers in check and provide an opportunity to hone their hunting skills.Rapture - The paradisiacal Questor Imperialis Knight World of Rapture was once the shining jewel of the Reductus Sector in the Segmentum Tempestus -- but the terrible aftermath of an attack by a tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan left the planet a near-lifeless husk. Rapture is now a Dead World, uninhabitable by Human life anywhere outside of the last surviving hab-dome. Though the fateful Tyranid assault on Rapture was ultimately defeated, the cost to the Imperium was dear. The stalwart survivors of House Aramos, however, refuse to abandon their ruined world, unwilling to sully the memory of their ancestors, who first settled Rapture some fifteen Terran millennia ago. From their stronghold of Auric Keep, the Knights of Aramos launch daily sorties beyond the walls of the hab-dome to hunt the persistent Tyranid broods that were able to endure the Imperium's vengeful purge in the wake of the Leviathan's defeat.Solitude - Little is known about this obscure Knight World of the Imperium's Ultima Segmentum, other than the unfortunate fate that befell it in 985.M41, when the Knight World was dragged into the Immaterium by a Warp anomaly. Solitude re-emerged into realspace a Terran year later, revealing its populace to be old and withered in appearance.Stryken II, IV and V - Situated far in the galactic northwest in the Segmentum Obscurus, the Stryken System's principal planet is the smoke-wreathed Forge World of Stryken Primus. The system's industrial heart is protected by a ring of three Questor Mechanicus Knight Worlds in close proximity -- Stryken II, IV and V -- and each is home to several Knight Houses. These verdant planets were once Maiden Worlds of the Aeldari. The ancient tribes of Exodites that dwelt there, herding the many different species of giant reptiles and bipedal carnivores, were ruthlessly driven from these worlds by the knightly houses that were established shortly after Mankind's arrival. With the combined might of no less than eleven knightly houses to call upon, including such luminaries as Houses Arokon and Dorath, the Forge World of Stryken Primus has no Titan Legion stationed upon its surface. The planet instead focuses on supplying munitions in enormous quantities for the Imperial forces defending the Cadian Gate. A standing guard of Knights -- the Order of Iron -- is always present on the surface of the Forge World to ensure its protection. Drawn from amongst the greatest and most capable Nobles from each House, competition to be accepted into the Order of Iron is fierce, and it is considered a great honour to join their ranks. The head of the Order is given the honorific title of "Forge Warden," and leads the Knights in battle as if he were a ruler of his own knightly house.Stygia - The last line of defence against a massive daemonic incursion, the Freeblade Knight known as Madrigal was unable to halt the murderous predations of the servants of Chaos, and so his homeworld of Stygia fell. As the lone survivor, Madrigal's guilt at his failure led inexorably to a self-imposed penance that has no end in sight; rejecting the heraldry of his House, Madrigal relentlessly patrols the benighted remains of Stygia, a dark figure outlined against a pale moon, striding through blackened forests and the empty shells of dead cities. As a result of the daemonic invasion, Stygia is a victim of fell sorcery and the dead rest uneasily beneath its surface. Madrigal haunts the dark places of his world to ensure the victims of his failure stay in their graves, and he watches warily for fresh Warp taint, ever vigilant for signs of the Daemon.Subinus - Subinus was an Imperial Knight World of the Coronid Deeps, located at the very edge of the dark of galactic space in the Eastern Fringe of the Ultima Segmentum during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras.Voltoris - Out in the Eastern Fringe of the Segmentum Ultima lies the tranquil world of Voltoris, home to the mighty Knights of House Terryn. Vast green oceans surround tropical islands the size of continents. Bat-winged monstrosities hunt beneath the jungle eaves, and the giant amphibious predators that are similarly commonplace offer the Knights ample opportunity to perfect their hunting skills. But despite the planet's solitary location having spared this idyllic paradise from many of the terrible events that have beset the Imperium over the millennia, the Knights that dwell there are nonetheless amongst the most warlike of their kind. These Knights commonly travel across the galaxy to defend the Imperium in far-flung campaigns, in a bid to find foes worthy of their skills. In more recent centuries, however, the Knights of House Terryn have been forced to fight ever closer to home. The dual threats posed by Hive Fleet Leviathan and the rapidly expanding T'au Empire ensure that Terryn's Knights remain on a constant war footing, lest Voltoris itself be threatened. Unfortunately for their enemies, these warriors relish any excuse for battle.Wychval - Located in the Cyclops Cluster within the Coronid Deeps of the Segmentum Obscurus, Wychval is the second Knight World to be ruled by House Orhlacc, one of the few known houses to have willingly abandoned their original homeworld of Dark Haven during the events of the Horus Heresy. They relocated themselves to the grim world of Wychval. From this tactically superior location, they continued to fight on throughout the remainder of the Heresy.