vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Hethgard - Bastion Primaris: The single largest and oldest of Hethgard's fortresses, Bastion Primaris is built within the hollowed-out shells of three of Hethgard's tallest mountains, with the billions of tonnes of rock excavated from within turned into outlying firebases and picket-forts. The very peak of the bastion, 13 kilometres high, is capped with a colossal Defence Laser battery, greater in magnitude than the weaponry found aboard ancient battleships and powered by a geothermal power plant many kilometres below the planet's surface.The entire complex is wreathed in many layers of protective void shields and clad in sixty-metre-thick plasteel-ceramite composite armour plate, rendering the entire fortress nigh-impervious to assault by land or from orbit.Within the bastion's immense walls are thousands of barracks sufficient to house over a million Astra Militarum troops, armouries, manufactoria and generatoria to keep them supplied with weapons, power and ammunition for generations, and immense storage depots and supply vaults containing potable water, preserved food and raw materials to supply not only Hethgard but the conquering armies of the Orpheus Salient as well. Deeper within are archive crypts, shrines, the chambers of the astropathic choir, and the strategium-maximus, designed to serve as the command centre for both Hethgard and the entire Orpheus Salient beyond it.The strategium-maximus in particular is a monumental chamber, fitted with unending rows of cogitators arranged in precise accordance with ancient numerological and technomantic rites, and equipped with some of the most sophisticated hololithic projectors and vox-simulacra available. It grants a commander intricate and precise simulations of any conceivable strategic scenario, rendered in light and sound a hundred metres across.Since its creation, the Bastion Primaris has never fallen, and only recently have its defences been truly tested, by the unrelenting tide of Tyranid monstrosities that now roam across Hethgard's surface and scuttle within its tunnels. In the last few years, the lower depths of the bastion have been infiltrated by subtle and cunning beasts, and though they have been driven back each time, they press deeper with every new attack.
Hethgard - Hethgard Anchorage: Ringing the nearest of Hethgard's three moons, the anchorage is a massive network of docks, hangars and cargo yards, originally constructed to ease export of unrefined ores and the import of necessary supplies.Shortly after the Imperial conquest of Hethgard, a massive effort was made to reconsecrate and expand upon the anchorage to allow it to support the great battlegroups and flotillas of transport ships that would soon be a near-constant presence in the world's orbital space. Since that time, the Hethgard Anchorage has been a hive of activity, operating at all hours to keep hundreds of starships of all kinds active and well supplied.Omce the Tyranid assault began, the anchorage became a battleground, fending off Tyranid bio-ships while attempting to repair and rearm the system defence ships. Heavily armed and armoured Navis Imperialis armsmen and Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii troopers patrol the docks and hangers, fending off the Tyranids as best they can with flamer, shot-cannon and melta-cutter.
Hethgard - Depth 1281: Sector 903/Cell 11/Depth 1281, to give its full designation, is so named because it exists 1,281 metres below Hethgard's surface. The deepest extent of the tunnel network, Depth 1281 exists as a demesne of the Adeptus Mechanicus, claimed while the world's fortifications were still being designed.Officially, Depth 1281 is a temple-forge, established by the Achilus Crusade's Adeptus Mechanicus contingent to minister to the spiritual needs of the Martian Priesthood and their vassals. Unofficially, it serves as containment for archeotech devices of unknown provenance, as well as technology of xenos and heretical origins requiring careful study. Heavily warded and sealed, not even air can pass into or out of Depth 1281 without being subject to intensive augury by cautious and meticulous Machine Spirits (artificial intelligences).Certain members of the Inquisition have suspicions about the temple-forge at Depths 1281, but their investigations are hindered both by the secretive nature of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and possibly elements within the Inquisition seeking to gain access to the temple's contents.Artisan Thol Xannaster is regarded as Hethgard's seniormost member of the Cult Mechanicus, and master of the temple-forge within Depth 1281, maintaining its outward appearance by overseeing the manufacture of limited quantities of high-technology equipment for crusade personnel. This consists of items too difficult to produce in conventional field manufactoria, but within the means of a significant Mechanicus congregation, such as plasma weaponry, power weapons and similar items.In truth, Xannaster is merely the public face of the temple, serving at the pleasure of Magos Zoloman Raetzel, a high-ranking member of the Mecanicus sect known as the Crucible Resolviate, with a reputation for gleaning even the most obscure secrets from technology that many regard to be irredeemable in the optics of the Machine God.Since the start of the Tyranid invasion, little has been heard from Depth 1281, but from time to time phalanxes of Skitarii have been observed moving from the region armed with powerful and startlingly effective weaponry, vanishing back from whence they came without a single word after obliterating a Tyranid infestation. Whatever secrets lay within Depth 1281, they are clearly ones which could help turn back the Tyranid menace from Hethgard, yet the Adeptus Mechanicus maintain their silence about the matter.
Hethgard - An'karrah, the Cursed City: The last stronghold of the original resistant Human population on Hethgard, An'karrah has lain abandoned for solar decades, having been quarantined by order of the Inquisition following the successful elimination of its inhabitants in the early years of the crusade.Much of the surface city was obliterated by orbital bombardment during the campaign to claim Hethgard, leaving little more than ash, rubble and radioactive glass as a testament to the deadly wrath of the Navis Imperialis. However, extending below the ruins for almost six hundred metres are the mines and catacombs that the Heretic armies used to defy the Imperium for so long.The disused tunnels and mines are still marked with the dried blood of sacrificial victims and the blasphemous runes of unholy rites performed by those who had fallen from the Emperor's light, in spite of the cleansing by melta and flamer that accompanied the final assaults upon this last benighted stronghold.Rumours persist, passed around mainly amongst the rank-and-file during quiet moments, that some force still lurks in the ruins of An'karrah, or that something still worships in the vile fanes and at the dark altars that the Inquisition found there. Such rumours are, of course, punishable by a variety of means, depending on the mood of the commissar or preacher who overhears such impiety.Alas, there seems to be some nugget of truth to those rumours -- cloaked figures have been witnessed passing the sentries and checkpoints leading to An'karrah, unhindered by the Storm Troopers and sanctified weapon servitors who guard the few remaining passages into the cursed city. While rumours of such things cannot be tolerated amongst the lower ranks, those of higher station contemplate such things more carefully and more solemnly, speculating that some element within the Inquisition could be delving into forbidden matters.As the Tyranid assault on Hethgard has intensified, the ruins of An'karrah have proven to be a weakness in the Fortress World's defences, a gap in the network of fortresses and tunnels that the Tyranids have exploited in great numbers. In response, greater concentrations of Imperial troops have been stationed at the entrance passages, seeking to fend off the vile creatures. Thus far, these soldiers have been successful in their efforts, driving the Tyranids back deeper into An'karrah.However, few who have served as part of the An'karrah Watch, as this section of the garrison is known, are willing to speak of their time there, and a minority of them return changed, harder and crueller than they were before.The Inquisition and the Officio Prefectus alike seek these individuals, fearing that they have become tainted by Chaos, but the Tyranid onslaught makes this difficult, and cruel, war-hardened soldiers is exactly what Hethgard needs to defend against the beasts of Hive Fleet Dagon.
Hexagrammaton - Hexagrammaton: The Hexagrammaton, colloquially known as the "Six Wings," were specialised formations that existed outside the regular chain-of-command and organisation of the Dark Angels Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras of the late 30th and early 31st Millennia.These formations owed their existence to the old Space Marine Legion formations of Terra, the amalgamation of the Terran pre-Principia Belicosa approach, the organisation of the later proscribed formations of the early Legiones Astartes and the "brotherhoods" of The Order from lost Caliban's knightly fellowships.The Hexagarammaton, a phrase in ancient Terran that loosely translates as the "The Six Divine Ways," is the title given to the Dark Angels' former great hosts during the early days of the Great Crusade. It came into use throughout the Legion at some point around 830.M30, when the Legion first reached a nominal strength of 100,000 warriors and had excised many of the early hosts by means of attrition in battle and the failure of their doctrines.Those hosts that remained were regarded as the purest and most efficacious expression of the tactics and strategies forged by the Ist Legion over its long history, worthy of a permanent place within their order of battle. So successful were they that, when he took command of the Legion, Lion El'Jonson retained the Hexagrammaton virtually unchanged. The primarch took steps only to re-organise their hierarchies and to more closely echo the Calibanite knightly cohorts with which he had conquered the dark forests of his adopted homeworld, symbolically changing the title of those forces to "wings" to mark his ascension to the position of grandmaster of the Legion.These six sub-strata of organisation within the Legion, the six wings of the Hexagrammaton, would remain unchanged until the end of the wars ushered in by the Horus Heresy; the widespread destruction wrought by that era would see the near-annihilation of four of these bodies. Only the Deathwing and the Ravenwing would survive the reorganisation of the Second Founding to continue to exist in the 41st Millennium.
Hexagrammaton - Deathwing Protocol: The Deathwing originated as the Veteran Cataphractii Terminators of the Dark Angels who often served as lifeguards to the Legion's officers, including its primarch.The Deathwing is unique among the Space Marines Chapters in that the entire Dark Angels 1st Company fights exclusively in Terminator Armour. The Deathwing are notoriously stubborn and resistant, refusing to buckle under extreme pressure from enemy advances even when it would be more advantageous to retreat.Yet the Deathwing is not solely a tactical formation. Promotion to the Deathwing also means that an individual is made privy to many of the Chapter's dark secrets. The most closely guarded of these secrets is that of the betrayal of Luther and the Fallen, and the subsequent loss of their primarch, Lion El'Jonson.
Hexagrammaton - Ravenwing Protocol: The Ravenwing protocol, which focused on the use of anti-gravitic skimmer units and all-terrain bikes, had its origins in early Legiones Astartes tactics for rapid-moving search and destroy formations, some of which dated back to the nomadic war clans of pre-Unification Terra.After Caliban's discovery during the Great Crusade, these formations were revived and expanded as they offered a form of rapid strike warfare the knights of Caliban both understood and had perfected over many generations, though now their steeds were ones of unyielding metal, rather than flesh.
Hexagrammaton - Dreadwing Protocol: The speciality of the Dreadwing was total warfare using the most sinister of weapons. The elected voted-lieutenant of this wing, bearing the title of "Dreadbringer," commanded Destroyer Squads supported by other types of units to bring total annihilation of a foe on a specific battlefield.The Dreadwing also utilised mass armoured assaults of Land Raiders, Spartan Assault Tanks, Mastodons, and Fellblades with advanced weaponry. Their hallmark was the use of dark, sinister, and shunned munitions such as Phosphex, Rad and Vortex Weapons.
Hexagrammaton - Firewing Protocol: The Firewing was one of the six wings of the Hexagrammaton that existed during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. The smallest of the wings, the Firewing was dedicated to the hidden subtleties of warfare and within its ranks were found an eclectic mix of stalkers, champions and Moritat killers, all bound by their shared expertise in the arts of blade and knife, duellists and assassins without peer.The Firewing sought the destruction of the enemy through the violent depletion of their command structure, whether in honourable duels at the heart of a battle or at the hands of subtle killers far from the battlefield. When given free reign upon the field of battle, the initiates of the Firewing choose to wage a war of wills against the enemy, seeking to break their resolve rather than slaughter their ranks.The Firewing was disbanded in the wake of the Horus Heresy. There are, however, intriguing heraldic links between the Firewing and the sigil of the Consecrators, a Second Founding Successor Chapter of the Dark Angels.
Hexagrammaton - Ironwing Protocol: The Ironwing Protocol was developed before the Great Crusade was fully born, when the first Space Marines were used by the Emperor to exterminate threats to Mankind too dire to be allowed to endanger the glorious future.He had designed later variants of this protocol, which sought to wed the superhuman power of the Legiones Astartes and amplify that killing strength with newly-designed, bespoke armoured units -- such as the Land Raider -- as well as mighty Dreadnoughts in close support, for the Ironwing's mission required the shock application of brute force.Those were entered into the Principia Belicosa for use and development by the Legions that would follow, notably the Xth and IVth Legions, but the Dark Angels would continue to develop the tactical pattern to serve their own ends. The Ironwing comprised the majority of that Legion's armoured vehicles, heavy Dreadnoughts of all patterns and field artillery batteries, a force ill-equipped for operations reliant on stealth or subterfuge.
Hexagrammaton - Stormwing Protocol: As the largest of all the wings of the Hexagrammaton, the Stormwing incorporated the majority of the Dark Angels' line infantry, training battalions and mobile ordnance batteries within its ranks. The members of this wing were drilled in the disciplined and stalwart arts of close order warfare and set-piece battles, unshakable on defence and resolute on attack. Its Veteran warriors were the core of the Legion's infantry companies, capable of executing complex manoeuvres and formations under the heaviest enemy fire.The Stormwing was also the name of a tactical formation used in the Great Crusade by the Dark Angels, consisting exclusively of Breacher Squads and Assault Squads armed with Boarding Shields. This Stormwing specialised in spaceborne boarding operations.
Hexrifle - Hexrifle: A Hexrifle is a Drukhari ranged weapon used primarily by the Haemonculi and their Wrack servants which are outfitted with crystal cylinders that contain a tiny amount of the genetically-engineered Glass Plague virus. The virus spreads incredibly fast on contact with flesh, transmuting the victim into a black statue made of glass-like crystal.
Heyd Calder - Heyd Calder: Heyd Calder was an Imperial Fists Primaris Lieutenant and one of the members of the new incarnation of the Huscarls raised on the order of Roboute Guilliman in the Era Indomitus after the birth of the Great Rift. His mastery of the arts of war was said to be matched only by his skill at diplomacy.He led the defence of the Cardinal World of Almace in the Odoacer System alongside an Indomitus Crusade strike force composed of White Scars and Raven Guard Primaris Space Marines from an assault by the Chaos forces of the Word Bearers led by the Chaos Lord Amatnim Ur-Nabas Lash.
Hezika Carmillus - Hezika Carmillus: Hezika Carmillus is a Puritan Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos, and the current Inquisitor of the Chamber on the Deathwatch's Watch Fortress Erioch, serving as the Inquisition's official representative in the Jericho Reach. Though known for her violent and martial nature, the Inquisitor is also subtle and cunning.She is tall and blade-thin, wearing exoskeletal enhanced Power Armour sized for a normal Human at all times. She keeps a court of diverse and deadly warriors, collected from dozens of worlds, as Acolytes at her beck and call. Her voice is silken honey at one moment and unyielding steel the next.
Hezika Carmillus - History: Inquisitor Hezika Carmillus of the Ordo Xenos has served the Holy Ordos for over three standard centuries. In that time, she has led pogroms that have scoured xenos infestations from a dozen worlds, condemned and executed Lord Commanders and Admirals alike, broken influential and traitorous Rogue Traders, and denounced Radicalism amongst her own kind.Carmillus will not, under any circumstances, allow herself to be perceived as anything other than what she is: a warrior savant in the service of the God-Emperor of Mankind.She is undaunted by the transhuman killers of the Deathwatch, whose company her duty now bids her keep, and she will brook no challenges to her authority, in particular by other Inquisitors, although she is ever-conscious of its limitations.Carmillus has been the Inquisitor of the Chamber and mistress of Watch Fortress Erioch's central Tower of Brass for sixteen Terran years. She has executed her sworn tasks with precise dedication and utter ruthlessness. While possessing a warlike temperament, she is also highly intelligent and subtle.These traits make her an ideal emissary to the domain of the Deathwatch and well-equipped to deal with its Adeptus Astartes masters.She has voiced the opinion in the watch fortress' governing Chamber of Vigilance that, although she is in favour of the Achilus Crusade, a contingency plan should be drawn up to destroy the Jericho-Maw Warp Gate should the crusade suffer a catastrophic failure.She believes that the Warp Gate represents a vast threat to the wider Imperium if it is no longer under direct Imperial control. Her other intentions, however, remain tightly-held secrets.
Hierodule - Hierodule: The Hierodule is a type of Tyranid Bio-Titan, but stands smaller than its more massive cousin the Hierophant. This class of bioform is brought into action only against the most determined defences. Hierodules are immense creatures, towering over the battlefield and bristling with spines, claws, tendrils and apocalyptic bio-weapons.Though classified as Bio-Titans by the starfaring races of the galaxy, these monsters bear little resemblance to the noble Titan god-engines of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the graceful wraithbone constructs of the Aeldari, or even the idol-like Gargants of the Orks, except in terms of size and lethality. The two most common variants of Hierodule encountered thus far are the Scythed and Barbed Hierodule bioforms.
Hierodule - Scythed Hierodule: The Scythed Hierodule (Sica hierodule domitor) was first recorded during the invasion of Hamman's World, a small Imperial colony close to one of the tendrils of Hive Fleet Kraken. Hamman's World was attacked soon after the Kraken's defeat on Ichar IV, as the hive fleet began to splinter. Nothing like the Hierodule had ever been reported before.It is armed with four huge razor-sharp claws, each capable of slicing clean through a battle tank, and heavily protected by chitin plates, in places up to 30 centimetres thick. A Hierodule is far larger than a Carnifex, a monstrous-killing machine even by Tyranid standards. The garrison of Hamman's World put up a brave defence. During the bloody battles for the colony, the Scythed Hierodule played a major role in the vanguard of Tyranid attacks, leading swarms of lesser Gaunts into battle, particularly against the strong points and prepared ferrocrete defences occupied by the world's Planetary Defence Forces.After the battles and subsequent evacuation of Hamman's World, a detailed study of the campaign was carried out by newly-arrived Magos Biologis teams. Although their findings were kept secret, they did not believe that the Hierodule creature acted as a focus for Hive Mind activity, or that it is a synapse creature -- all the attacks were still accompanied by the usual Tyranid Warriors and Hive Tyrants who seemed to control the actions of the lesser Tyranid creatures.As well as its claws, the Scythed Hierodule also bears a symbiote creature, which appears to live on the Hierodule's back, growing out between the armour plates. This toxic creature helps defend its host from attack, squirting a jet of potent mutagenic acid against any enemy that gets too close. No samples of a Scythed Hierodule have been recovered for research. Those creatures that have been killed have all been destroyed by large Imperial weapons, leaving few remains for Adeptus Mechanicus laboratory investigation.As yet, the Scythed Hierodule has only been reported active within a single tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken, and even then only encountered on a handful of worlds, but slowly its presence on the battlefield is growing. The advance of Hive Fleet Leviathan has seen Hierodules leading assaults. Capture of a live sample has become a high priority for Xeno-biologists if an effective countermeasure to this threat is to be found quickly. To date none of the Xenos-Hunter teams that have been sent to capture a Scythed Hierodule have ever returned.
Hierodule - Barbed Hierodule: Following the loss of Hamman's World to the swarms of Hive Fleet Kraken, the Imperial forces were evacuated and moved to the neighbouring Moran System. Reinforcements, originally intended for Hamman's World, were redirected to the main planets of the Moran System. A strong defence was rapidly established in anticipation of a new Tyranid invasion. Moran did not have long to wait before the onslaught began. Hive Ships moved in-system and soon the clouds darkened and the skies were filled with the tell-tale fire-trails of Mycetic Spores. The veteran Imperial Guardsmen who formed the backbone of the new defenders thought they had seen everything the Tyranids could throw at them on Hamman's World, but it soon became evident that, as the defenders had been busy, the Hive Mind had not been idle. Now a new threat emerged, the Scythed Hierodule had evolved into a new, deadlier species.Several Scythed Hierodules had been killed during the final days of battle on Hamman's World as the Imperial defenders learned to bring their heaviest ordnance to bear at maximum range. The Hive Mind had recognised its weakness, and with dazzling speed had responded with a newly evolved response. The Barbed Hierodule (Uncus hierodule domitor), as the troops on Moran soon came to know it, had replaced two of its four huge scythe-like claws with massive Bio-cannons. The acidic symbiote creature was gone, and the Hierodule's frontal chitinous armour plates had grown and thickened for extra protection. Given the creature's new battlefield role, it all made a chillingly logical sense to the soldiers on the ground. Was the alien Hive Mind learning and adapting faster than anybody thought possible?Like the Scythed Hierodule, the Barbed Hierodule has spread throughout the hive fleets. During the hellish fighting on the world of Dantris, 26 Hierodules were recorded as destroyed. On Beta Anphelion IV, Inquisitor Solomon Lok forces encountered at least four Hierodules of both types. Inquisitor Lok himself was responsible for killing one, and another was destroyed by concentrated heavy weapons fire from Cadian troops defending Laboratory Complex Theta, before they were eventually overrun by a swarm of Tyranid creatures led by a second Hierodule.Where these creatures came from, and how it came to pass that a few rogue samples should be able to spawn the largest of Tyranid assault creatures, is not known. Given the time span involved, it seems that Tyranid genetic material is capable of rapidly reproducing itself. Even a small Tyranid raid might be able to develop into a far larger invasion in a relatively short time.
Hierodule - Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Data: DesignationScythed HieroduleMain Weaponry4 Scything ClawsCommon TitleScythed SlaughtererSpecies NameSica hierodule domitorSecondary WeaponryAcid SprayAverage Height4.9 metresAverage Weight14 tonnesTertiary WeaponryMultiple Claws and FangsFirst EncounteredHamman's WorldRoleHeavy AssaultKnown Genus MutationsNone KnownThreat EvaluationExtremeDesignationBarbed HieroduleMain Weaponry2 Bio-CannonsCommon TitleBarbed SlaughtererSpecies NameUncus hierodule domitorSecondary WeaponryScything ClawsAverage Height4.9 metresAverage Weight17 tonnesTertiary WeaponryMultiple Claws and FangsFirst EncounteredMoran PrimeRoleHeavy Assault / SupportKnown Genus MutationsGenus mutation of the Scythed Hierodule to include new bio-weapon symbiotes.Threat EvaluationExtreme
Hierophant - Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Data: DesignationHierophantMain Weaponry2 Bio-CannonsCommon TitleBio-TitanSpecies NameTyranicus giganticusSecondary WeaponryScything ClawsAverage Height13.45 metresAverage Weight51 tonnesTertiary WeaponryToxic SporesFirst EncounteredMiral PrimeRoleHeavy Shock TrooperThreat EvaluationExtremeKnown Genus Mutations: Other genus of Hierophants include symbiote weapon variations such as Scything Claws and Cluster Spines.Notes: The Hierophant is among the largest Tyranid bioforms ever encountered by the forces of the Imperium. It exudes a toxic spore cloud that makes it difficult for Imperial units to engage with the creature in close combat. Appropriate measures should be taken.
Hierophant - Sources: Codex: Tyranids (8th Edition), pg. 67Deathwatch: The Jericho Reach (RPG), pg. 198Imperial Armour Volume Four - The Anphelion Project, pp. 80-81White Dwarf 189 (UK), pg. 78
High-yield Missile Pod - High-yield Missile Pod: A High-yield Missile Pod is a relatively simple T'au multiple missile delivery system able to engage targets at long range that is used exclusively by XV88 Broadside Battlesuits.Similar in power and role to an Imperial Autocannon, a High-yield Missile Pod is essentially a larger and more rapidly-firing Missile Pod that consists of a silo of semi-intelligent missiles.These missiles are extremely effective against both heavy infantry and light vehicles. XV88 Broadside Battlesuits wield twin-linked High-yield Missile Pods as alternative primary weapon systems to Heavy Rail Rifles.High-yield Missile Pods were developed during the T'au Empire's Great War of Confederation after initial setbacks were encountered fighting the Ork menace, where the sheer mass of attacking greenskin waves and the light nature of their vehicles meant that the Heavy Rail Rifle, although deadly, could not stem the overwhelming tide of attackers.By arming XV88s with High-yield Missile Pods, the Battlesuits sacrificed range and damage for the ability to lay down faster barrages that proved more than adequate in destroying the crude scrap-armoured Ork vehicles.
High Gothic - High Gothic: High Gothic, also called Imperial Gothic, Imperial Terran and Tech by the adepts of the Adeptus Mechanicus, is the hieratic tongue of the Imperium of Man, often used in the formal titles of ancient Imperial institutions and organisations (such as the Adeptus Terra, Adeptus Astartes, Astra Militarum, etc.).It represents an older language than the commonly used Imperial vernacular tongue and is regarded as a sacred tongue since it was the language spoken by the Emperor of Mankind during the era of the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium. At that time, the language was simply called "Imperial Terran" or "Imperial Gothic." In the current Age of the Imperium, High Gothic is the equivalent of the Church Latin used during the mediaeval age of ancient Europe.High Gothic is also known as "Tech" because it is a version of the language in which the technical rituals of the Adeptus Mechanicus and other ancient works are recorded.High Gothic first developed during the Dark Age of Technology on Old Earth before the spread of Mankind to its interstellar colonies. It derives from the common tongue of that time, an assimilation of English, European and Asian-Pacific languages which developed over many centuries in the North American, European and Asian-Pacific regions of Terra.High Gothic was the universal medium of Humanity's written record in the late Age of Terra and the Age of Technology until the advent of the Age of Strife, and was spoken as a first language by many and as a second language by almost everyone.Its idioms and vocabulary now appear archaic and mystic to the peoples of the present-day Imperium and many of its words have acquired religious significance over the years. It is the liturgical language of the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus and of forbidden books of heretical and Daemonic lore.High Gothic (represented in-universe by pseudo-Latin) is unintelligible to most Imperial citizens. It is only the language of important adepts and members of the Inquisition, and even among those who can speak it, it is only a second language. It is used principally in formal situations (such as during pious benedictions by a priest of the Ecclesiarchy), rather than as a casual language of conversation.Low Gothic, a bastardised, present-day version of High Gothic (represented in-universe by British English), is the current common tongue of the Imperium in the 41st Millennium.
High Host - High Host: The High Host, sometimes known as the Archae or the Principatii, was a fraternity of the Blood Angels Legion, one of the lesser Orders of the First Sphere of the Legion, during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. The High Host was made up of those warriors who bore the sorrowful duty of delivering Primarch Sanguinius' ultimate sanction to his enemies.Unlike their brothers in the Angel's Tears, the High Host did not shrink away from showing their true faces to an uncaring galaxy as they deployed weapons born of Humanity's darkest nightmares that left a trail of murdered worlds in their wake.
High Host - Notable Members: Dominion ZephonAnzarael - Known as "The Bringer of Wrath," Anzarael assumed the role of Exarch of the High Host following the grievous wounding of his predecessor Zephon during the Siege of Terra.
High Lords of Terra - High Lords of Terra: The High Lords of Terra, also called the "High Twelve," collectively form the Council of the High Lords of Terra, also known as the Senatorum Imperialis.The Senatorum is an Imperial governing body comprised of the twelve highest-ranked officials of the most powerful adepta of the Imperium of Man. During much of Imperial history they have ruled the Imperium as a collective oligarchy in the name of the Emperor.This body carries out the day-to-day decisions required to govern the Imperium according to what they believe to be the divine will of the Emperor of Mankind. The primary task of the High Lords is thus to interpret and enact the will of the Emperor. Accordingly, the rank of High Lord is among the most politically powerful in the Imperium.Since the Emperor can no longer govern His empire directly, it is the claim of the High Lords that His immortal will is known to them and the Emperor thus rules through the High Lords of Terra. Though the Imperium is far too vast to be centrally governed in any effective manner, the High Lords ultimately make decisions affecting the lives of trillions of Imperial subjects across the galaxy.At different times in the Age of the Imperium, the Senatorum Imperialis has been led by a chair who serves as first-among-equals with the titles of "Lord Commander of the Imperium" and "Imperial Regent." The current holder of these titles and thus the de facto ruler of the Imperium is Primarch Roboute Guilliman.
High Lords of Terra - Great Crusade: The High Lords of Terra are the governing body of the Imperium of Man. They are tasked with interpreting the Emperor's will and enacting His rule across the largest empire in the galaxy.On their command, the fleets and armies of the Imperium move, only their edict can approve a Space Marine Founding, and on their orders, the Adeptus Astra Telepathica's Black Fleet sails and their grim tithes are collected.The Senatorum Imperialis has, at its roots, many echoes from human ruling bodies formed before the birth of the Imperium. In the beginning of the Age of the Imperium, the Emperor Himself ruled, although He formed about Him a council of advisors, called the War Council, that was comprised of key individuals.This top circle contained the Fabricator-General of Mars, the Paternova of the Navigator Houses and Malcador the Sigillite, perhaps the Emperor's greatest ally during the Unification Wars of Terra. As the Emperor left the homeworld of Mankind to lead the Great Crusade, He left in His stead the legendary Malcador, more or less to act as Regent of Terra and head of the Council of Terra in His absence.Over the course of the Great Crusade which reclaimed the galaxy and freed Humanity from enslavement, the Emperor discovered the lost primarchs and brought them into the fold. As the Great Crusade began to branch off in many new directions, the Emperor grew to rely on His War Council.After the decisive victory during the Ullanor Crusade, when Mankind's re-ascension was no longer in doubt, the Emperor decided to leave the Imperial war effort in the hands of His primarchs under the command of the newly-proclaimed Warmaster Horus and return to Terra to carry out the next phase in the creation of the Imperium of Man -- shaping a human version of the Aeldari's Webway.At the same time, the Emperor decided that the Imperium could no longer be ruled directly by Him and a council comprised of the primarchs, instead, the ordinary mortals of the Imperium must also be allowed some say in its management.To this end, the Emperor created the Council of Terra to carry out His decisions and to handle many of the lesser administrative and bureaucratic tasks that did not require the Emperor's immediate attention.The primarchs were left in control of the War Council of the Imperium, which was led by Horus and now had true power only over the military direction of the Great Crusade rather than over the Imperium as a whole.The decision to create the Council of Terra to oversee civil affairs proved to be exceedingly unpopular with the primarchs, who disliked relinquishing their say over the direction of the Imperium to the control of men and women whom they viewed as far less capable than themselves.This issue would be one of the festering resentments that allowed Chaos to corrupt the Space Marines of the Traitor Legions and turn them against the Emperor.
High Lords of Terra - Horus Heresy: Following the calamities of the Horus Heresy, the Emperor was interred upon the Golden Throne and could no longer rule His realm directly. Several legends tell of the Emperor's last words, spoken as He was attached into the vast machinery that would allow His mind to live on. Full of foresight beyond mortals, the Emperor's final instructions were for the rule of Mankind's galaxy-wide kingdom.In that time of great change, Malcador too was now gone, and it had been he who had proven best able to enact the Emperor's vision. Now that role, and the leadership for the coming reformation, fell upon Roboute Guilliman, the great primarch of the Ultramarines.It was he who set up the new ruling body, the Senatorum Imperialis, or as it is more commonly known now, the High Lords of Terra. It was their duty to interpret the will of the Emperor and, in His stead, to command the Imperium.The number of this ruling council was set at 12, with Roboute Guilliman himself taking a seat under the title of lord commander of the Imperium as the supreme commander of the Imperial armed forces and chairman of the Senatorum Imperialis, the old term Warmaster having fallen out of favour for obvious reasons.The lord commander title had previously been borne during the Horus Heresy by the Primarch Rogal Dorn, the Praetorian of Terra, who surrendered it to Guilliman after the Heresy ended so that his brother could begin the political stabilisation and reform of the Imperium of Man during the Time of Rebirth.
High Lords of Terra - Reformation: Following the Horus Heresy, the Senatorum Imperialis of the High Lords of Terra succeeded the Council of Terra as the main executive body of the Imperium as part of the reformations initiated by Lord Commander Roboute Guilliman, who joined the Senatorum Imperialis and commanded the entirety of the Imperial armed forces.In the early 32nd Millennium, the rise of the Imperial Creed and the Cult of the Saviour Emperor to become the state religion of the Imperium meant that the Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum was granted a seat, which soon became permanent.In the 36th Millennium, High Lord Goge Vandire, Master of the Administratum, led a coup d'état and also became the Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum, holding dual leadership over the two most powerful adepta of the Imperium.During his Reign of Blood in the Age of Apostasy, the High Lords were powerless to act. When Fabricator-General Gastaph Hediatrix demanded that the High Lords finally account for themselves and execute Vandire, Goge dissolved the Senatorum Imperialis and declared the Space Marines and Adeptus Mechanicus to be Traitors to the Imperium.Before long, Goge was slain by his own bodyguards, the Brides of the Emperor (who would become the Adepta Sororitas), after Loyalist forces led by the reforming Ecclesiarchy Priest Sebastian Thor launched an invasion of Terra to bring Vandire down.The High Lords of Terra returned to power after the Senatorum Imperialis was restored, though major reformations, including the creation of the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition, were carried out to prevent any one man from ever again seeking to replace the Emperor as the true ruler of Mankind.
High Lords of Terra - At Present: In the wake of the resurrection of Roboute Guilliman during the Ultramar Campaign of the 13th Black Crusade in ca. 999.M41 and the primarch's return to Terra during the Terran Crusade, Guilliman has reestablished himself as the ruling lord commander of the Imperium and Imperial Regent for the second time since the end of the Horus Heresy. Upon his resurrection, Guilliman had replaced five of the High Twelve of the Senatorum Imperialis upon his reassumption of the regency of the Imperium, and hundreds of the lesser high lords that comprised the Terran nobility.The High Lords of Terra now serve as a council for Guilliman and the chief administrators of their organs of Imperial power, but for the first time in many millennia the Imperium is once more functionally controlled by one individual on a day-to-day basis rather than an oligarchy of competing interests.The Imperium entered the Era Indomitus and unleashed the Indomitus Crusade more politically united than it had been in many standard centuries.This was a necessity; only the organisational skills of a primarch serving as the Imperium's de facto ruler offered Humanity any hope of survival in the wake of the birth of the Great Rift and the fall of the Noctis Aeterna.Yet even a primarch's return did not completely silence the political tensions that always rippled through the Imperium's upper echelons. Guilliman discovered that there was some resistance among various planetary governors to his dictate that the Realm of Ultramar was to be reconstituted to its original size of five hundred worlds. These governors often outright refused to honour the ancient treaties that had originally bound their worlds to Ultramar or even declared that their worlds had never been a part of that realm. By the time of the Battle of Raukos that ended the first phase of the Indomitus Crusade some twelve standard years after its inception, only three-quarters of the worlds that had originally been part of Ultramar before the Horus Heresy had been restored to the Lord of Macragge's rule.Additionally, Guilliman allowed the Adeptus Mechanicus to maintain the autonomy it had long practiced under the terms of the ancient Treaty of Mars the original Mechanicum had made with the Emperor, and recognised that he could not run roughshod over the Tech-priests' beliefs without unleashing a potentially diastrous schism in their ranks.The primarch repeatedly refused Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl's request to be named fabricator-general of Mars, explaining that he did not have the power to do so, but if he attempted it, it would unleash a second Martian civil war as many of the more orthodox believers in the Cult Mechanicus viewed Cawl and his faction, so dedicated to technological innovation, as Hereteks.
High Lords of Terra - Videos: High Lords of Terra (Senatorum Imperialis)Permanent MembersMaster of the Administratum • Inquisitorial Representative • Ecclesiarch • Fabricator-General • Grand Provost Marshal • Paternoval Envoy • Master of the Astronomican • Grand Master of Assassins • Master of the Adeptus Astra TelepathicaRotating MembersLord Commander of the Segmentum Solar • Lord Commander Militant  • Lord High Admiral • Cardinal(s) of the Holy Synod of Terra • Abbess Sanctorum • Captain-General • Chancellor of the Estate Imperium • Speaker for the Chartist Captains • Lord ConstableRuling MemberLord Commander of the Imperium • Imperial Regent
High Marshal - High Marshal: A High Marshal is the senior ranking Astartes of the Black Templars Space Marine Chapter, and is equivalent to the Chapter Master of other Codex Astartes-compliant Chapters. The fighting skills of a High Marshal are unsurpassed within the Chapter, with all weapons available within the Chapter's Armouries.The High Marshal is the supreme commander of the Black Templars' multiple, ongoing Imperial Crusades, and it is his duty to keep track of their overall progress and make tactical decisions in regards to the deployment of the Chapter's forces. Occasionally he will bless certain Crusades of particular import with his inspirational presence.The High Marshal is one of the most autonomous military commanders in the Imperium of Man, decreeing by his own designs where his warriors will fight without recourse to the dictates of the High Lords of Terra.
High Marshal - Wargear: Artificer Power Armour- Artificer Armour is forged by master craftsmen and is even more ancient and ornate than a standard suit of Astartes Power Armour. It offers greater protection for a warrior than the standard marks of Space Marine battle-plate.Terminator Armour (Optional)Combi-WeaponBolter (Optional)Iron Halo - This device is a symbol of achievement in the shape of a halo that is given to a Space Marine who shows exceptional initiative or bravery in battle. The Iron Halo emits a very strong gravitic Conversion Field around its wearer, which makes his armour even harder to pierce with enemy weapons. In addition, it provides its wearer with immense resilience to even the most potent weapons on the battlefield such as Lascannons and missiles of all varieties. The shield stands a good chance of deflecting many deadly projectiles that would otherwise slay even an Astartes with ease.Crusader Seals - Crusader seals are waxen or metallic tokens with vows of piety and Chapter blessings inscribed on hanging strips of parchment that are bestowed upon Space Marines of proven zeal and courage.Terminator Honours - Terminator Honours (commonly known as the Crux Terminatus) shows that a warrior has proven himself a superior combatant and has earned the right to wear Terminator Armour in battle.Frag Grenades and Krak GrenadesSword of the High Marshals - As a sign of his office, the current High Marshal wields the Sword of the High Marshals, which was forged from the remnants of the sword of the Primarch Rogal Dorn of theImperial Fists Legion from which the Black Templars were spawned. According to legend, Dorn broke the sword across his knee after the Horus Heresy for failing to defend the Emperor of Mankind from Horus.
Highborn - Noble Houses and the Adeptus Ministorum: On many worlds in the Calixis Sector, the power and influence of the noble houses are tied directly into that of the Imperial state church. This relationship is one that dates back to the founding of most worlds where the families that would one day rise up to be called nobles brought with them the Imperial Creed.In fact it is a tradition on many worlds that the second-born son of a noble family be given up to the Adeptus Ministorum for training as a Ministorum Priest or Confessor as part of an ancient pact that ensures good relations between the nobles and the Ecclesiarchy.A variation on this practise is known as the "Chance of Faith," which waits for children to reach their naming age before setting them a religious task such as finding the image of Saint Drusus in a stone wall or spending a night in an ancestral tomb to see if they dream about the Emperor. If they pass, then the Emperor has called them and they are sent off to be trained by the church. Of course, should the child get wind of the purpose of the test, most conspire to "fail" in favour of a life of noble decadence rather than one of ascetic religion.On some worlds, such as Tephaine, the links between Ministorum and the nobility are almost indistinguishable, with siblings sharing the power of both church and state between them. On others, such as Malfi, the roles of noble and priest are kept strictly separate.Regardless of local politics and the feelings of individual nobles, the fact remains that many noble houses rely on the Ministorum, as much as they chafe against its strictures, as an inviolate part of their society.
Highcastle - Highcastle: Highcastle is the fortress-monastery of the Storm Wardens Chapter located on the moon of the same name that orbits their Chapter planet of Sacris in the Calixis Sector of the Segmentum Obscurus.The Storm Wardens maintain their fortress-monastery on Highcastle, the single ivory-coloured moon that orbits above Sacris. Crenellated Gothic towers surmounted by gargoyle-shaped servitors define this great stronghold. Inhabited by all the Storm Wardens, it holds massive chambers where the Chapter's many vehicles and wargear are maintained. The fortress-monastery's halls bear a multitude of blank banners and deep scars left behind by the Nemesis Incident.Highcastle's lower halls (the term refers to the fortress-monastery as well as the moon of Sacris) extend deep below the moon's surface and contain the automated nanofurnaces that provide the raw materials and physical conditions necessary to craft new weapons and vehicles for the Chapter, overseen by the Master of the Forge. Deeper still are the stasis chambers, though none but the Storm Wardens' Dreadnoughts know their true location.Highcastle is a seemingly impregnable citadel, although much of the fortress remains inaccessible and unknown, even to the Storm Wardens. The age of Highcastle is difficult to determine accurately, but the fragmentary records remaining to the Chapter from before the Nemesis Incident reveal that Highcastle was present in this part of the galaxy even before the Angevin Crusade and the resulting formal incorporation of the Calixis Sector into the Imperium of Man.