House Cenwulf History v5.5

House Cenwulf History v5.5

Homeworld: Andlang

Military Patent: Pre-Imperial

Military Grade: Tertius

From the earliest days of the Imperium the nobles of House Cenwulf have upheld their vows of loyalty to the Emperor with blood and iron. Grim and dour of spirit, merciless and unflinching in battle, the nobles of Andlang are fearsome warriors who stride to war within the armored shells of mighty Imperial Knight Titans, dealing death to the enemies of mankind with blazing cannon and roaring blades.

Origins

"Andlang was dead to begin with,"

-Opening statement by High King Halfdan to the Remembrancer Kujiro when asked to recount the history of House Cenwulf.

 

Like all Imperial Knight Households the nobles of House Cenwulf and their mighty Knight Titans are descended from the first human colonists who landed on inhospitable worlds during the golden age of mankind. In the lost era of mankind's first great expansion across the stars a colony ship of settlers stumbled upon an unusual planet that would come to be known as the Knight World of Andlang.

Situated in the Segmentum Obscurus, roughly between Armageddon and Fenris lays the Vanyr system. The colony ship that first entered the star-system discovered a number of worlds that must have once teemed with life that had been rendered dead and barren in some ancient catastrophe. Only a handful of hardy plant and animal specimens remained on otherwise uninhabitable rocks blasted with radiation, polluted with toxic chemical storms and seas of caustic sludge. Only the foolish or truly desperate would have chosen the Vanyr system as a home, indeed the human colonists nearly passed the system by to seek better prospects elsewhere. Only the discovery of rich mineral deposits by long-range probes motivated the colonists to investigate further. The colonists found the second world of the system to be particularly intriguing for the world was littered with expansive ruins half-buried beneath irradiated sand, sprawling battlefields of broken war-machines and the empty shells of mountain fortresses jutting like grasping skeletal hands above toxic clouds. Whatever alien race had once called the Vanyr system home it had been wiped out in a devastating conflict that left behind little but wasteland and ruin. Despite the terrible conditions of this devastated world the xeno-archaeotech salvage could not be passed up. Determined to make this world their new home the colonists set down their ship in the mountains, as far from the radiation and poisoned air of the lowlands as possible. Engines burnt out in the effort and keel broken against the rocks the ship would never fly again, but it would never need to, the human settlers had made their choice. They named their new home after the vessel that had borne them there: Andlang. 

Those early colonists struggled to survive against the hostile environment of their new home. Vicious predators hardened to the extreme conditions preyed upon the settlers even as radiation sickness, chemical burns and viral contagions ravaged the population. Only the precious salvage of the ruins offered the wealth necessary to import food and medicines sufficient to survive. To recover that vital resource the colonists forged their first Knight Titans. These early industrial walkers were the only things capable of mounting the heavy weapons and powerful tools necessary to fight off the predatory beasts, survive the terrible storms and bring back the metal harvest which the people of Andlang would rely on to survive for thousands of years. Over time the warrior-heroes who piloted the knight suits became a ruling class who marched out from mountaintop citadels to scour the lowlands for salvage, cull dangerous beasts and fight off xenos invaders. Alongside the emergence of the noble class the rest of Andlang's society stratified into a feudal, ritualistic existence inspired by the Trans-Nordyc cultures of Terra from which the colonists hailed.

Considered barbaric by the standards of the Golden-age of Mankind the lords of Andlang rejected many of the technological innovations of the age; advanced genetic manipulation, artificial intelligence, warp-powered weapons, the nobles of House Cenwulf would have none of it. So it was that when the Iron Men turned on their masters and waged war against the domains of man House Cenwulf survived for Andlang had no Iron Men. When genetic manipulation ran rampant and hordes of bloodthirsty mutants ravaged whole worlds Andlang endured. When the psykers emerged among the ranks of mankind, devastating worlds with eruptions of uncontrollable powers or drowning systems in nightmare the Vanyr system remained intact. With each disaster contact and trade with the wider galaxy dwindled until Andlang found itself almost completely alone.

Cut-off from the wider galaxy the people of Andlang were forced to fend for themselves. Food and medicine became strictly rationed, weapons and munitions were stockpiled, and soldiers manned the walls day and night, ever watching for any sign of attack. In time enemies did come, pirates and marauders, xenos and degenerate humans threw themselves against the fortress walls and crossed blades with the warriors of the house. Time and again enemies were thrown back but each time House Cenwulf's capacity to endure the next assault decreased. Unable to sufficiently feed or supply its subjects and warriors House Cenwulf had to make a difficult decision, to hold out and hope to survive long enough for the storm to break, or risk everything by going on the offensive. After much debate the nobles of the house almost unanimously decided to attack. What few void-worthy craft remained to the house were mobilized and the bulk of the knights took to the stars, undertaking nearly suicidal blind jumps into the warp to attack their enemies in neighboring systems. Though these raiding operations were costly they ultimately proved immensely successful. Outposts of pirates, mutants and xenos were exterminated, ships were recovered and towed back to Andlang, holds full of captured food, weapons and technology. Besieged enclaves of human survivors were liberated and protected and the domains of House Cenwulf grew to encompass around a dozen inhabited worlds in eight systems. In exchange for military protection these worlds provided a tithe of resources to House Cenwulf, filling the larders and storehouses of Andlang with the wealth of their newly acquired protectorate domain. Though many knights fell during this time the limited industrial and manufacturing capacity of Andlang was enough to forge small numbers of new suits and the ranks of the house remained relatively stable.

The security and stability provided by House Cenwulf drew survivors and refugees to the Vanyr system in shocking numbers. Hundreds of junker ships barely void-worthy struggled into the system, cast out from the brutal tides of the warp. Some of these ships died before making it into the system, others had to be purged for their crews had gone mad, become possessed or carried dire illnesses. Many others however made it into the system largely intact and suddenly House Cenwulf found itself with many thousands of new mouths to feed. At first these arrivals put a dire strain on resources but in time the Sacristans of the house marshaled the arrivals and began to set up settlements and colony outposts elsewhere in the system for them. Most of these settlements were focused on resource extraction, mining precious metals and rare minerals from the asteroids and dead rocks of the system. In exchange for these resources House Cenwulf provided food and security. One colony was established on the fourth planet, a largely barren rock with a barely breathable atmosphere. With the assistance of the Sacristans of the house efforts were made to Terraform the planet and establish agri-complexes there. At first this settlement proved barely worth the effort but in time the crude attempts to stabilize the environment and work the ashen soil began to bear greater fruit. In time the world earned the name Folkvangr and grew into a functioning and productive Agri-World, supplying much of the food for the Vanyr system and other worlds within House Cenwulf's protectorate domain. 

Increased trade and traffic through the system grew the orbital infrastructure of Andlang considerably. Accreted over centuries from the welded-together hulks of dead ships a network of void-docks, warehouses and shipyards gathered in orbit to service the needs of trade through the region. The system defense fleet also grew considerably, ultimately numbering dozens of monitor and escort craft and a handful of larger cruisers capable of carrying the strike-forces of the house. Though losses to the tides of the warp were regular the short blind-jumps to reach neighboring systems became relatively reliable and safe, though time-consuming. Often ships would have to sail for weeks to reach the boundaries of their destination system after having translated from the warp thousands of kilometers off-target. Such difficulties were ultimately a small price to pay to maintain the burgeoning fiefdom of House Cenwulf.

Despite the best efforts of House Cenwulf's nobles xenos invasions and pirate raids against their domains remained a constant threat. During this time the most devastating and frequent attacks to the Vanyr system came from Ork pirates whose ramshackle fleets would regularly be washed up in the system by the erratic tides of the warp. The rich material resources of the system and the presence of a formidable enemy to fight made Andlang a promising target for the orks to attack and attack they did regularly and with great enthusiasm. At first the lethal radiation, toxic and corrosive nature of the lowlands of Andlang all but wiped out the greenskin invasions before they could gain much ground. In time however the orks demonstrated their race's considerable capability for adaptation and became increasingly able to overcome the natural hazards of Andlang in their quest to meet the knights of House Cenwulf in battle. Over the centuries of warfare between the nobles of Andlang and the frequent ork invasions the xenos became increasingly wont to deploy heavily cybernetically augmented foot-soldiers supported by vast cadres of walkers of all shapes and sizes from the small clunking forms of Killa Kan's to the mighty Stompas and occasional Gargant. To the horror of House Cenwulf's scions and sacristans the orks began to exhibit a perverse mockery of the culture and traditions of the Imperial Knights themselves. The pilots of the xenos walkers and the mek's who made them began to enjoy an elevated status over their peers and started to display crude personalized heraldry and to deploy and fight in the imitation of the knightly banners and lances of the house. No matter how thoroughly House Cenwulf tried to eradicate this affront to their honor inevitably some small number of greenskins would escape the system to spread their perversion further among their kind. To this day attacks from the orks and their twisted mockery of the knights remains a regular threat to the system.

For many long centuries House Cenwulf continued to grow and prosper even in a time of general chaos and bloodshed throughout the galaxy. The number of knight armors and nobles to pilot them grew slowly while the resources and defenses of the Vanyr system and her neighboring domains swelled. In 873.M30 the sudden arrival of a small fleet of ships at the boundary of the Vanyr system brought pickets and patrols scrambling to intercept. Even as the first elements of the 113^th Expeditionary Fleet entered the system they were faced with a small but heavily armed defense fleet demanding they stand down or turn back. Unknown to the nobles of House Cenwulf the Imperium had arrived and things would never be the same again.

The Great Crusade

After a few tense moments of standoff the small fleet of ships that entered the Vanyr system in 873.M30 announced over the vox that they were the vanguard of the 113^th Expeditionary Fleet of the Emperor of Mankind's Great Crusade to unit the scattered worlds of humanity under a single unified empire. The officers of the defense fleet were shocked at this news and passed word swiftly to their lords back on Andlang. After several days of long-delayed messaging back and forth the picket was ordered to wait for the arrival of the rest of the 113^th Expeditionary Fleet before escorting the representatives of the Emperor to Andlang for a formal welcome. Within the week much of the rest of the fleet had arrived and was taken in system with great formality and fanfare. The city of Jotunheim turned out in mass to greet the new arrivals, watching in awe as massive and powerful gunships in gold, gray and red dropped down from orbit and landed at the sky-docks. A parade conveyed the visitors from the docks through the inner-district to the household keep itself. When the doors of the great hall of Jotunheim's household spire were thrown open and Leman Russ, Primarch of the VI Legiones Astartes strode through the nobles of Andlang were struck with awe. Massive, powerful and charismatic Leman Russ quickly won the nobles to the Emperor's cause and with much feasting and spirited competition Andlang, the Vanyr system and the whole of House Cenwulf's protectorate domains were brought into formal compliance. The similarities in the cultures of the Fenrisians and the people of Andlang were striking and obvious, even their respective languages clearly shared a common root. Various representatives from different factions of the Martian Mechanicum made a number impressive bids attempting to purchase the fealty of House Cenwulf, however the material strength and stability of the house meant that Jarl Halfdan Cenwulf was well positioned to reject these offers and chose to swear fealty to the Emperor of Mankind, not the priesthood of Mars. From that day onwards the armor and hulls of House Cenwulf's knights would bear the Aquila of the Imperium.

Despite rejecting the Sidon Protocols of the Mechanicum the High King did strike several pacts of trade and technological exchange with the Mechanicum, and in particular with the Forge World of Lokabrenna whose own cultural roots also shared similarities with those of House Cenwulf. In exchange for new knight armors, advanced training for the Sacristans of the house and access to various technologies the Magos of Lokabrenna were granted the rights to establish a Mechanicum outpost and forge complex on the barren but mineral rich fifth planet of the system. In time this world, dubbed Ydalir, would grow into a proper Forge World Minoris under the aegis of Lokabrenna and would even become home to a garrison of God-Machines of the Legio Sirius. Of particular interest to Jarl Halfdan during the negotiation of this arrangement was the technology of the Mechanicum Skitarii. For many centuries the Huscarls of the house had been necessarily few in number, forced to wear bulky and cumbersome environment suits and suffer radiation sickness and other illnesses whenever called upon to fight alongside their knight lieges on the surface of Andlang. With the assistance of the Mechanicum the house could transform their professional troops into cybernetic warriors like the Skitarii, protected and hardened against the hazardous environment of their homeworld and better equipped to fight alongside and assist their knight lords in battle. Though the adepts of the Mechanicum were loath to share their secrets the significant material wealth of the Vanyr system and the archaeotech lore held in the archives of House Cenwulf were sufficient to close the bargain. To this day the Huscarls of House Cenwulf bear many similarities to the Skitarii of the Mechanicus, often replacing upwards of fifty-percent of their bodies with cybernetics, shrouded in rad-resistant storm-coats and armed with esoteric weaponry the professional troops of House Cenwulf prowl the polluted wastes of Andlang, ever-ready to defend their homeworld and their lieges against all threats.

The coming of the Imperium also transformed the wider domains of House Cenwulf. Folkvangr and the other worlds under the aegis of the house gained their own Imperial governors and established offices of various Imperial agencies and bureaucracies including the Arbites, Administratum and Telepathica, they began to provide tithes to the Imperium and raise regiments for the Imperial Army. Millions of soldiers newly raised from the worlds of the Vanyr sector scattered to the stars, joining distant expeditionary fleets and earning glory in battle. House Cenwulf itself committed over seventy knights, the bulk of the existing strength of the house to the 113^th Expeditionary Fleet alone. As new knight armors arrived from the Mechanicum of Lokabrenna yet more nobles would take ship and join the Great Crusade, serving with more than two dozen Expeditionary Fleets, fighting alongside seven different space marine legions and several different Titan Legios and Imperial Knigth households. For the next century House Cenwulf's nobles would earn great glory and renown across scores of battlefields.

Many of those who fought alongside House Cenwulf prized the nobles of Andlang for their discipline and coordination, much appreciating their willingness to forego personal glory to achieve wider battlefield objectives and follow orders thoroughly and precisely. In particular the Iron Warriors and Iron Hands legions both approved of and sought the continued support of House Cenwulf after serving alongside its nobles, however the scions of Andlang did not share this sentiment, viewing the cold and ruthless calculus of both legions with great disapproval. After one particularly disastrous campaign House Cenwulf nearly came into direct conflict with several companies of World Eaters. Only the intervention of the Expeditionary Fleet command and the immediate reassignment of House Cenwulf's forces prevented a brutal civil conflict from occurring. Jarl Halfdan Cenwulf would eventually take to the stars himself and led his warriors in glorious campaigns for several decades before receiving unexpected orders from the Warmaster Horus in early 005.M41, ordering the house to return to Andlang and muster in strength for a deployment to another campaign. Though the orders were strange the High King of House Cenwulf had little reason to doubt or suspect the word of the Emperor's favored son and so the orders were followed. Within a matter of months much of House Cenwulf's strength had returned to Andlang, mustering at Jotunheim in preparation for receiving their new orders.

The Horus Heresy

As the unofficial capitol of the Vanyr sector the world of Andlang was used to musters of forces. Jotunheim in particular was one of the few places on the planet where large forces could be gathered without exposure to the toxic lowlands. The convergence of the spur on which Jotunheim was built with the northern and southern expanses of the eastern mountain range provided a stretch of relatively flat plateau several kilometers across. This area had only grown over the years as House Cenwulf expanded and flattened the surrounding area to create an open field for tournaments, musters and demonstrations. Following Warmaster Horus' orders the bulk of House Cenwulf gathered for review before Jotunheim. Nearly two hundred knights, four hundred and sixty armigers, sixty-thousand Huscarls, forty-thousand Thrall militia and hundreds of Ironstrider, Onager and Sentinel walkers made up the forces of House Cenwulf. In addition to these forces five thousand Skitarii, battle-servitors and Cybernetica automata had been committed to the muster by the Mechanicum of Ydalir and a further thirty-thousand freshly raised Imperial Army soldiers from Folkvangr, as well as some eight-thousand from other worlds in the protectorate. In total the better part of a hundred and fifty-thousand soldiers and war-machines gathered in and around Jotunheim in preparation to embark on this new campaign Horus had promised.

Even as the muster was making final preparations for departure a new fleet entered the Vanyr system and began to approach Andlang. The fleet was from the Mechanicum of Sarum and claimed to have been ordered to join the muster by the Warmaster Horus. Sarum promised to commit several maniples of Titans of the Legio Audax plus banners of vassal knights, as well as fifty-thousand Skitarii, Secutarii, Cybernetica and battle-servitors to the muster. High King Halfdan, though grown old and tired, nevertheless remained every bit as cunning and cautious as he always had been. Something about the approach vectors of the Sarum fleet and the tone of the Mechanicum communications put the High King on guard, like a wolf sensing the approach of a more dangerous predator Halfdan felt that something was amiss. The great gathering of the house was a stirring sight of strength but also an enormous target, gathered for parade outside the fortress of Jotunheim the great bulk of the house could be wiped out by orbital bombardment in moments. Tacitly giving the Sarum fleet permission to approach Halfdan began to order lances back into the fortress while putting the hearth-fleet on high alert. The priests of Sarum must have detected the lighting of the hearth-fleet's shields for moments later all pretense was dropped and the Mechanicum fleet opened fire on their erstwhile allies. Had the traitor fleet been in close formation with the unshielded loyalists and had the household forces remained gathered in the open the ensuing destruction would likely have been total, the scions of Andlang and their fleet wiped out in a single brutal strike. Out of position and facing prepared opponents the Sarum fleet failed to achieve the devastating alpha-strike they needed and battle was joined in earnest. Outnumbered and outgunned the hearth fleet kept close formation and retreated to the far side of the planet, covered by anti-orbital weapons from the surface.

Denied a swift victory the traitors were forced to engage in a grueling and lengthy campaign of conquest and suppression that would drag on for four long years. At first, aided by maniples of Battle-Titans of the Legio Audax and several companies of World Eaters the armies of the traitors proved brutally effective, tearing down several fortresses, scattering the warriors of House Cenwulf and savaging the loyalist domains. Folkvangr burned, Ydalir was besieged and many outposts and settlements throughout the system were slaughtered and destroyed. In time though, reinforcements to the enemy dried up, whatever wider campaigns were going on denied the enemy fresh troops. The hundreds of thousands of conscripted cultists died at a brutally swift pace, many succumbing to the harsh environments or native predators of the worlds of the Vanyr system, even without the help of the guns and blades of House Cenwulf. The Titans and Knights of the Legio Audax were outnumbered by the banners of House Cenwulf and unfamiliar with the local terrain or conditions. The corrosive rains and toxic fogs of the lowlands played havoc on the systems and senses of the traitors while the warriors of Andlang were in their element. Eventually, and at great cost, the traitors were driven from Andlang, then Folkvangr and finally Ydalir, the last few enemy ships escaping into the warp, hounded all the way by the vengeful survivors of the household Hearth fleet. Though victorious the forces of House Cenwulf were battered and much depleted. Around seventy-five knight armors and a little over a hundred armigers still functioned. Tens of thousands of Huscarls had died in addition to several hundred thousand Thrall militia and millions of civilians. The forces of Folkvangr and Ydalir had fared even worse, both worlds savaged almost to ruin by the traitors. The World Eaters in particular had taken great delight carving their way through the agri-communities of Folkvangr, leaving nothing larger than a worm living. Millions had perished and with much of the crops of Folkvangr burned, food supplies were dwindling quickly. It would take years for House Cenwulf and its domains to regain their strength. For the time being House Cenwulf would bar the gates and nurse its wounds, preparing for the next enemy to arrive.

For the next five years though nothing of consequence happened. No further enemies arrived, only the occasional refugee ship fleeing distant massacres. As before House Cenwulf took in those they could and continued to rebuild and repair, watching the stars for signs of danger. Eventually, in 014.M31 ships of the Ultramarines Legion translated into the system, prepared to reconquer the worlds of the sector in the name of the Emperor. Instead they found themselves confronted by the ramshackle fleet of House Cenwulf demanding to know their allegiance and intentions. The Ultramarines quickly realized the enemy was long gone but that House Cenwulf had not learned of what had happened to the Emperor. It was with heavy heart that the envoys of the thirteenth legion relayed the news that Horus had fallen but that the Emperor had been grievously wounded and interned permanently into the life-sustaining mechanisms of the Golden Throne. Horrified the nobles of House Cenwulf, already possessed of a dour and grim demeanor, grew even more horribly withdrawn and fatalistic. To the shock of the Ultramarines the nobles struck the proud aquila's from their armor and repainted them as skeletal birds of death. Though the sons of Guilliman thought this act distasteful they were wise enough not to make a point of it. Instead they welcomed the aid of Andlang's grim warriors and departed the Vanyr system with ships of House Cenwulf in tow, packed with lances of knights and regiments of vengeful soldiers. 

Jarl Halfdan Cenwulf had died early in the campaign against the Dark Mechanicum invaders but his son Beirand had risen to take command and led the warriors of House Cenwulf in the campaigns of the Scouring for over a century before he finally fell fighting the traitors of the Iron Warriors on a barren and unnamed rock not far from the Cadian Gate. His younger brother Baldur succeeded him as Jarl and led the surviving knights of House Cenwulf back to their home and focused instead on rebuilding, leaving the remaining campaigns of the scouring to others. Even with fresh knight armors coming out of the forges as quickly as possible the numbers of House Cenwulf's knights has rarely significantly surpassed one hundred in the last ten thousand years, never again has the house achieved the strength it possessed at the height of the Great Crusade.

Organization

House Cenwulf stands out among the ranks of the Imperial aligned knightly houses in the size and organization of it's combat support element. Mechanicus aligned houses commonly deploy alongside integrated support elements of the Adeptus Mechanicus and Skitarii, and even the Adeptus Titanicus. Imperial aligned houses however rarely serve with other military forces ordered into a single integrated chain-of-command. Thus House Cenwulf is unusual in that the house raises and deploys its own support troops and auxiliaries under the sole aegis of the house without recourse to external allied Imperial military divisions. Like all households the core strength of the house are the Knight Titans themselves, some ninety-four functioning armors and nearly two hundred armigers as of 997.M41. In addition to this strength are the ranks of the Huscarls, elite, heavily armed and highly augmented troops similar in form and function to the Skitarii of the Mechanicus, or the Secutarii of the Titanicus, and sharing many technologies with their martian counterparts.

The military strength of House Cenwulf mirrors some of the ancient militant orders of Terra that served as the basis of the culture of many Imperial Knight Houses, though modified through the particular Nordyc influences of Andlang's own warrior society. The Knight Titans of the house are the mounted and armored knight lords, the smaller Armigers serve as the squires to the knights. The ranks of the Thralls are bonded militia, the Huscarls serve as semi-professional men-at-arms, and the Huscarl Lancers act as mounted sergeants or yeomen. In this way the military strength of House Cenwulf incorporates a variety of supporting elements capable of backing up the mobile knights with infantry, outriders and rapid-reaction forces all equipped and deployed to complement the fighting style and capabilities of the nobility.

The Nobility

The greatest military strength of the house are of course it's precious knight suits. Numbering ninety-four functional Knight Titans and twice as many Armigers as of this writing. The strength of House Cenwulf stands around the average for an individual Knight House of the Tertius grade but on the low end for the strength of a Knight World, many of which feature several houses of similar size. This relatively limited number of Knight suits compared to some houses is one of the reasons for House Cenwulf's tradition of employing supplementary household forces that augment and enhance it's fighting strength to something capable of matching the strength-at-arms of of a much larger knight house. While the barbaric appearance and culture of House Cenwulf would suggest an obsession with close combat similar to their allies in the Space Wolves Chapter this could not be further from the truth. In reality the nobles of House Cenwulf favor victory through superior firepower. It is little surprise then that the house deploys a considerable number of Crusader-pattern Questoris Knights supplementing the standard core of Paladin and Errant pattern machines. Likewise relatively few Gallant-pattern knight armors serve the house, a mere five at last count. The rest of the Knight armors of the house are an eclectic mix of patterns and chassis including a single example each of the Atropos, Styrix and Mageara patterns, relics of the Great Crusade one and all, as well as a handful of rare Cerastus and one precious Acastus pattern Knight Titan. The nobles of House Cenwulf pride themselves on the variety and rarity of the house's knight armors and go to great lengths to secure and protect their steeds, even when all-but-destroyed in battle. Several bitter conflicts have emerged as a result of the house salvaging ruined Knights from various battlefields, the former owners, or puritanical Mechanicus elements, objecting to the house's claims of war-geld. Yet if conflict is the price for securing and maintaining the knight armors necessary for the preservation of the house then it is a price the lords of Andlang are happy to pay.

The nobles themselves are organized into four broad ranks. The lowest are the Hirdmen, the non-combat nobles of the house and the lesser nobles who serve in the ranks of the Armigers. Technically this term is a more ancient variant of the Huscarl title used to denote the household troops and has a similar meaning but the more ancient term serves as an honorific for members of the house of noble birth. The primary ranks of the nobles who have survived the Becoming and pilot the Knight Titans of the house are known as Hersir, an honorific similar to Sar, or Sir used in other Imperial Knight Houses. Above the Hersir are the Thanes, the chieftains and commanders of the house who serve in the Exalted Court, or Alpha Lance as it is known in the house. The Thanes serve directly under the Jarl, otherwise known as the High King or Seneschal to the wider Imperium. The number of Hersir in the house is directly linked to the number of combat-worthy Knight armors the house can field and shifts significantly over time. However the number of Thanes is fixed at twelve, one for each of the lesser mountain fortresses of Andlang with the Jarl commanding Jotunheim itself and serving as the thirteenth member of the Alpha Lance.

The ranks of the nobility are largely distributed among the thirteen major fortresses of Andlang though the size of each contingent varies, typically Jotunheim boasts the largest population while Vanaheim maintains a skeleton garrison. As a matter of tradition and ritual the primary Vault Transcendent of House Cenwulf is housed in the central keep of Jotunheim and is large enough to accommodate more than two hundred Knight armors at a time. Each of the twelve lesser fortresses generally houses some three to five scions martial at a time, each of which is expected to maintain a pair of Armiger squires, six to twelve Huscarl Lancers and one to two hundred Huscarl Rangers each, with the Thanes and Jarl usually fielding twice that minimum number of retainers. In situations of extreme threat the lesser fortresses can be abandoned and the strength of the house consolidated in the primary fortress of Jotunheim, making that indomitable mountain keep one of the most formidable defensive installations in the segmentum. 

 

Although the primary responsibility of the nobility is to defend their domain and answer their allies calls to arms the original purpose of the knights was to aid in the salvage of archaeotech from the expansive ruins across the surface of Andlang. Some nobles, particularly the younger ones, will still ride out from their keeps and embark on expeditions into the ruins. Every year tectonic shifts and massive storms tear up the lowlands, burying what was previously visible and uncovering other ruination from the planet's past. Under the surface the ruins stretch into a dense maze of semi-collapsed caverns and tunnels, intersecting with the burrows and nests of predators and natural cave systems that run through the crust of the world. Though each season new material is exposed on the surface the best salvage is often underground, hidden away in the collapsed sub-basements and under-levels of whatever cities and installations once stood on that ground. Knight suits are quite useful in salvaging the ruins but are limited in how deep they can go. Expeditions by Thralls and Karls regularly scour the lowlands for salvage but the deepest and most valuable artifacts are left to expeditions by lesser nobles to uncover. Those Hirdmenn not fortunate enough to pilot Armiger warsuits will sometimes embark on salvage expeditions of their own using other technology from the vaults of the house. Servo-rigs, power armor, grav-sleds, cyber-mastifs and other rare and valuable technology aids the nobles in their search and allows them to delve deeper into more dangerous regions of the ruins in search of the most valuable salvage. Often these expeditions will be launched to exploit information gathered by Thrall search teams who are richly rewarded if their intelligence proves valuable, enticing the Thralls to leave the riskiest and most valuable finds for the nobles to recover. Should a Hirdmenn expedition prove enormously successful and recover artifacts or technology of significant value they may be rewarded with the right to pilot an Armiger or even a Knight suit, or at times, become wealthy enough from their finds to purchase new suits from the Adeptus Mechanicus directly, helping to grow the military strength of the house.  

In addition to salvage the nobles of the house are also regularly required to embark on beast hunts. What little fauna survives on Andlang is almost universally hostile and dangerous. Should the native predators be allowed to reproduce without culling they would quickly become a significant hazard to the salvage teams and could even threaten the safety of the fortresses themselves. To prevent this the nobles of the house work tirelessly to keep the predator populations down, closely monitoring a network of orbital, aerial and ground-based sensors and the observations of the salvage teams to track the movement and numbers of different predatory species. When such creatures become a threat the Knights will ride out from their fortresses on a hunt to track down and slay particular beasts or eradicate an entire nest of pests. It is during these hunts that young nobles can seek to prove themselves and earn some glory and renown in the eyes of their peers and seniors, though far less than they would in battle against proper enemies. 

The Ritual of Becoming 

Regarldess of what family clan or bloodline a young noble hails from every prospective knight pilot in House Cenwulf undergoes their Ritual of Becoming at the principal fortress of Jotunheim. It is in the Vault Transcendent of that fortress that those functional knight armors without pilots are kept and in the chamber of echoes situated above the vault that prospects will make the attempt to bond with one of the available Thrones Mechanicum. Technically any young noble can choose to attempt the Ritual of Becoming by dint of their bloodline, however typically only those nobles who have been hand picked by the High King and his Exalted Court personally will undertake the ritual. These selections are made after a painstaking review of prospects capabilities and performance during their training and education as well as extremely strict psychological and physical examinations. Any physical deviance or undesirable psychological trait may see a candidate rejected, only the best, the purest, the most steadfast and dependable are permitted to mount the Thrones Mechanicum and command the might of the knight armors of the house. However any noble may make the attempt to bond with a throne, success does not necessarily guarantee the right to pilot the knight should the High King reject the prospect, yet even in such cases a young noble who successfully bonds with a throne receives a considerable boost to their personal honor and their position in the house even if they are not selected to pilot the knight armor itself and it is instead bonded to and piloted by someone else. Although this is a possibility and does happen a young noble who dares to risk such a thing and succeeds does often receive the blessing of the High King, for although the tests and standards of the house are exacting, the nobles of House Cenwulf are wise enough to accept the value in embracing the exceptional and the unusual, fortune favors the bold and sometimes that is enough to earn the favor of the Exalted Court and the Jarl.

At the age of sixteen young prospective pilots will embark on a pilgrimage to Jotunheim where they will undergo days of extensive and exhausting rituals, fasting, combat exercises, recitations of the house and their bloodline's history and combat record, and a battery of further tests and examinations. These trials culminate in the Ritual of Becoming itself where the aspirant is strapped into the empty and dormant Throne Mechanicum and spends a full night plugged into the throne, wrestling with and attempting to gain the favor of the machine spirit and the ghosts of past pilots that inhabit the throne. Failure often results in death or crippling physical and mental trauma, those worst affected are typically given the Emperor's Mercy and recorded in the honor rolls of the house as warriors fallen in honorable combat, unless the data from the thrones indicates corruption or treachery as the cause for failure. 

 

It should be noted that although any noble can be chosen to undertake the Ritual of Becoming, or demand the right to attempt the ritual regardless, the significant majority of the knight pilots in the house are male. House Cenwulf has never had an over-abundance of knight armors, the demand is high and the supply low so typically only the most exceptional candidates are chosen to undertake the ritual and the traits that the Exalted Court select for bias towards the young men of the house. However should a young lady of the house prove themselves the equal or superior of their male counterparts during the selection process they will be given the opportunity to attempt the ritual. Many that are chosen do make the attempt and succeed at a comparable rate to their male relatives. Most recently one particular exceptional example occurred when the young Lady Aska was rejected as a prospect due to her particularly violent and aggressive temperament but demanded the right to attempt the Ritual of Becoming anyway. Aska was permitted to attempt the ritual and selected the throne of one of the few Questoris Knight Gallant armors in the armory of the house. Although electrical feedback from a highly fraught becoming left Aska's face muscles partially paralyzed and gave her severe burns to her head and face that took many months to heal the young noblewoman was successful and mastered the machine-spirit of the Gallant. After a full review of her becoming and her connection to the knight the Exalted Court chose to grant Aska the right to pilot the machine. In the years that followed Aska's renown in the house grew rapidly, her extreme outbursts of violence on the battlefield serving as a notable exception to the typically reserved and clinical combat doctrines of the house but her success could not be denied, everything that dared stand in Aska's way was demolished with an exacting and exceptionally skilled brutality. Earning herself the monikor the "Ice Banshee" the young noblewoman has become one of the most widely talked about knight pilots in the house and gained the loyalty of a small faction of devotees among the armiger pilots of the house. Aska is often accompanied now by a pack of devoted Warglaives on the battlefield who follow her eveywhere and mimick everything she does, half of these Armiger Warglaives are piloted by young noblewomen. As the number of knight armors available to the house has risen in recent years the number of female pilots has also grown noticeably, though perhaps thankfully none are anything like as aggressive or hot-tempered as Aska herself.

Genealogy, Succession and Family Clans

 

Every noble of Andlang can trace their family history all the way back to the earliest colonists of the world, namely the crews of the long-march colony ships that first arrived on the hostile world thousands of years before the Emperor would launch his Great Crusade to reclaim the stars. There are some gaps, some details that have been lost, for even the expansive archives of House Cenwulf have not come through the last ten thousand years completely unscathed. Where possible the archivists of the house endeavor to fill in these gaps and are constantly searching the holds and deep vaults of the house for scraps of knowledge. In other cases these gaps are filled by conjecture, theoretical lines drawn between certain ancestors where exact knowledge has been lost. Despite these few flaws that history of House Cenwulf is, like many Imperial Knight houses, far more complete and accurate than can be found almost anywhere else in the Imperium for the nobles have long memories and jealously guard their histories for these record the glory and renown of the house and serve as a living link between the nobles of today and their ancient ancestors who bonded with the first Imperial Knight armors and took up arms in defense of their world and their people.

While the house takes it's history and legacy extremely seriously, particularly when it comes to tracing family lines, that does not mean that inbreeding is normal or tolerated. Any family line that becomes too stagnant risks being rejected by the Thrones Mechanicum and so genetic diversity in the bloodlines is critically important. So much so that occasionally a lowborn or lesser noble will be strategically elevated by marriage into the house to introduce some fresh blood. In rarer instances partners may be found further afield and it has not been unknown for Imperial Guard or Imperial Navy officers, Rogue Traders, planetary nobles or other such individuals of great talent and superb breeding to be courted by select members of the house and their genetics welcomed in through carefully negotiated marriage contracts.

To formally prevent stagnation within the house the greater body of House Cenwulf's nobles is split into dozens of distinct family clans, the Halsteins, the Olsens, the Thorsens, the Eerikki and the Calders are just a handful of these ancient family lines. Stretched far enough back all of them are related, cousins, nephews, aunts, once, twice, thrice removed or more but still the complex web of family lines are extremely important and one of the most constantly debated topics of Andlang's courtly politics. The high-clan as it is known is the Cenwulf family itself, and direct marriage to one of the sons or daughters of the clan is the most sought after prize among all the other clans on Andlang. Only members tied directly to the eldest child of each generation of the Cenwulf clan are permitted to take the throne of House Cenwulf and rule Andlang. Procedures do exist to handle succession in the event that a direct successor does not exist, however such cases are extremely rare and in the recorded history of the house there has never been a contended succession between multiple claimants to the throne. Those few High Kings who have failed to produce offspring are required by tradition to nominate one of their siblings as their successor until such time as a suitable heir is produced. In the last ten thousand years of the house history this has only been necessary once. The extended age that many members of the house reach and the relatively low cassualty rates of the house's campaigns means that there have been relatively few High Kings over the last ten thousand years and they often have centuries to produce an heir, and many siblings to that heir as well. 

 

Despite thes sub-divisions assassination, sabotage and subterfuge are all extremely rare on the homeworld of House Cenwulf, unlike man other Imperial Knight worlds. This is for several reasons, firstly the extreme hostility of Andlang's native environment breeds a collective unity geared towards survival that heavily suppresses any potential resentment or desire for political upheaval. Secondly the hard-boiled pragmatism of the house means that most nobles of Andlang are loath to place personal glory or advancement over the collective good of the house. Where other Imperial Knight pilots might forsake strategy to seek out high-value targets to destroy for their own political advancement the nobles of House Cenwulf are content to erase threats with artillery bombardments if necessary, so long as victory is achieved and losses are minimized. Victory must be absolute, if personal glory is obtained at the same time then that is a plus, but never allowed to detract from the clean and efficient prosecution of a campaign. This military doctrine is not an aberration but rather indicative of the personal attitudes and culture of House Cenwulf as a whole.

When severe disagreements do arise among members of the house they are dealt with in the same pragmatic and efficient manner that the house is known for. Minor contentions, personal disagreements or slights that cannot be ignored, are handled with honor duels, either on foot with swords or mounted within the thrones of knight armors and settled in a ritual and typically non-lethal combat arena. More serious disbutes may be arbitrated by senior Sacristans or Huscarls, the most ancient and renowned of both orders carrying enough political influence to sway even the most hot-tempered member of the house to listen, for age and experience are highly prized and even lesser servants of the house can carry significant sway by dint of their age and combat record. Nobles who cause trouble may be disciplined, often by assignment to garrison duties to Vanaheim or Folkvangr, the former a forbidding and dour responsibility that weighs heavily on the soul while the second is seen as astoundingly boring and bereft of any opportunity for honest combat. Such rotations are never over-long but a few years serving in a less-desirable post is often enough to curb the tempers of even the most ill-mannered of young nobles and see them take greater care in their behavior lest they sit out more campaigns in some remote outpost in the middle of nowhere again.

The Huscarls

The core strength of House Cenwulf's body of household troops are the heavily augmented Huscarl Ranger battalions. Numbering in their thousands these highly-trained soldiers are drawn from the most able and skilled natives of Andlang and are outfitted with the highest quality weapons, armor and bionics the house can afford. The replacement of limbs is practically standard and many Huscarls in time end up replacing fifty percent or more of their body-mass with artificial components, sacrifices deemed necessary to better serve the house. The standard armament of the Huscarl Rangers is the Galvanic Rifle, the considerable range and precision of these deadly weapons considered the most effective armament to supplement and support the capabilities of the Knight Titans of the House. In addition to the Galvanic Rifles the Huscarls have access to most of the weaponry standard to the tech-guard of the Mechanicus acquired through exchanges of material with the Forge World of Lokabrenna. While the Huscarls serve as a professional standing army the culture of Andlang allows for precious little weakness or cowardice and it is expected that every able-bodied native of the system be able and willing to take up arms in the defense of their home. When necessary the house can call upon several million armed Thralls, raised from the ranks of the bonded servant classes, equipped with their standard armored environment suits and armed with a mixture of las and auto weaponry the citizen levies of Andlang and her sister planets number in the tens of millions, a formidable fighting force that has repelled more than a few attacks on the system over the last ten thousand years. Squad command within the ranks of the Huscarls falls to Alphas, a title derived from a rare similarity in the naming conventions of the Mechanicum and the traditions of House Cenwulf which, throughout it's history, granted battlefield leaders the title of Alpha. The designation of Alpha also applies to the commanders of walker squadrons, Knight Lances and Thrall militia formations and the Exalted Court of House Cenwulf even bears the title of Alpha Lance.

In addition to the ranks of the Huscarl Rangers are specialists known as Lancers, Dragoons and Ancients, experts in mechanized warfare drawn from the wider ranks of the household troops. The largest of the Huscarls sub-formations are the Lancers, numbering in their hundreds these are semi-professional soldiers drawn from the ranks of the Thralls and equipped with Armored Sentinel walkers. Each noble of House Cenwulf is required to maintain at least a single company of Lancers as part of the greater military strength of the house, which in terms of vehicle squadrons usually number anywhere from nine to fifteen sentinels strong. Unlike many of the Sentinels used by the Astra Militarum the Sentinels of House Cenwulf always equip a chainblade secondary weapon. Normally such implements are rare outside of the jungle-fighters of Catachan who use them to cut their way through dense jungle. Why the natives of Andlang are so keen to add a chainblade to their machines is unknown though many speculate it is an attempt to imitate the heavy-weapon and reaper chainsword equipment loadout of most questoris class knight armors, the Huscarl Lancers essentially seeking to imitate the fighting styles and equipment of their lieges.

The Dragoons are recruited from the ranks of the augmented Huscarl formations and have the distinction of taking to the field of battle astride priceless and all but irreplaceable Ironstrider war machines. Extremely fleet and agile the Ironstriders allow the house Dragoons to race across even the most broken and treacherous of terrain to close with the enemy and deliver punishing blasts of concentrated electricity from their overcharged tesla lances, or provide deadly-accurate fire support from twin-cognis lascannons or autocannons. While the Sentinels used by the lancers act as escorts and bodyguards for their knight lords the Ironstriders act as swift outriders and counter-attack formations. In total only a few hundred of these ancient, and largely irreplaceable, warmachines reside in the armories of the house, only a handful of which are likely to be deployed with the forces of the house at any given time.

The last major sub-division of the Huscarls are the Ancients. Recruited from Dragoons who have attained at least a century of distinguished service to the house the Ancients are permitted to command the fearsome power of Onager-pattern Dunecrawlers, rare and valuable machines bartered at great expense from the Adeptus Mechanicus in small numbers. On the battlefield squadrons of Onagers serve as deadly fire-support for the knight suits of their lords, the veteran crews providing pin-point heavy weapons fire against high-priority targets that might threaten their lieges. Armed primarily with the incredibly powerful Neutron Laser weapons systems the Onagers of the house are able to lay down barrages of high-intensity laser fire powerful enough to obliterate battle-tanks, or even cripple Titans with enough focused volleys. Fielded almost exclusively in squadrons of two to three machines to maximize the protective effects of the dunecrawler's overlapping emanatus force-fields the Onagers of the house are fearsome and deadly threats on the battlefield that often rival the performance and kill-tallies of the knight lords of the house. In rarer circumstances the Onagers may be equipped for other battlefield roles such as the close-ranged destruction of enemy fortifications using Eradication Beamers or anti-air fire through the deployment of specialized Icarus weapons arrays.

Those lancers who prove themselves particularly talented and those lesser nobles of the house not afforded the right to pilot one of the limited number of knight suits, are given the opportunity to serve in the ranks of the Armigers. Every noble of the house is expected to maintain at least two Armiger piloting apprentices at all times, with the Thanes and Jarl sometimes fielding twice that number. At around two hundred strong the Armigers serve both as a proving ground for promising young nobles and warriors of humble birth who may one day earn the right to marry into the house. This practice provides the house with an influx of fresh genetic material to prevent the bloodlines from becoming too inbred. A mixture of battlefield escorts and apprentices the Armigers fight alongside their liege in battle, protecting the flanks of their Knight lord and responding rapidly to any shift in the lines of battle. Sometimes Armigers may spearhead an attack, their smaller, faster frames allowing them to surge ahead to strike the enemy a crippling blow before withdrawing rapidly to strike again elsewhere, while other times they will be held in reserve, ready to surge forth to plug gaps in the battle-line or respond to emergent threats.

Sacristans

The most significant non-combat assets of the house are the Sacristans, Mechanicus trained tech-priests and engineseers who maintain the various weapons and warmachines of the house, oversee the mining and processing of Vanyr's material wealth as well as all local manufacturing outside of Ydalir. Sacristans maintain the Hearth Ships, repair the Knight suits, restore damaged weapons, manage the agri-complexes of Folkvangr, sort and evaluate all salvage through the system and negotiate all trade deals with Rogue Traders, the Adeptus Mechanicus and even material exchanges with the Space Wolves. The importance of the Sacristans to the survival and military capability of House Cenwulf cannot be overstated, without the Sacristans the Knights would not walk, the ships would not fly, the nobles would not even have anything to eat. Next to the nobles themselves none of the house's servants are held in higher regard or have more privileges than the priests of the Sacristans. For the most part the Sacristans do not take an active role in combat, however their considerable level of cybernetic augmentation and formidable personal arms and armor allow some of the more martial-minded Sacristans to take to the field of battle to conduct emergency repairs, salvage damaged mounts, or provide leadership to the Huscarl forces.

The Thralls

The vast majority of the population of Andlang live as bonded Thralls. Oathed to a life of servitude to the scions of the house the Thralls live lives that are often brutally difficult, dangerous and short. Nevertheless the stoic tenacity of the people of Andlang can perhaps be seen most clearly in the Thralls of House Cenwulf for they are to a fault stubborn, tenacious, proud and heavily armed. It is common practice for nearly every man, woman and child on Andlang to bear a weapon of some kind, be it a knife or an autogun personal armament is a high priority for even the lowly Thralls. House Cenwulf is perfectly happy to take advantage of the warlike an combative nature of the Thralls and deploy hundreds strong formations of Thrall levies as a strategic reserve during campaigns. Thousands of Thralls serve aboard the Hearth Ships or serve in the retainers of their noble lords and when necessary these forces can be put into the field with little additional preparation. The standard work uniform of the Thrall being an armored environment suit and an automatic small arm means that Thralls may be mobilized for combat without great difficulty or logistical complication. For the most part the nobles of House Cenwulf do not rely on the Thralls to undertake any serious fighting but use them as a security force and reserve, digging in and fortifying taken ground to prevent an enemy from flanking and isolating the knightly lances in the field. The Thrall militia is well suited to such tasks, especially when supported by elements from the professional Huscarl soldiery or nobles of the house Thrall forces can be relied on to hold their ground even in intense combat situations and perform roughly equivalent to Astra Militarum light infantry formations.

Often Thrall units will be formed around a senior member who will serve the role of a Sergeant and at least one member of each ten man section will be equipped with some kind of support weapon, most often a grenade launcher. These squads are then commanded by an experienced and combat hardened company officer, who usually holds the social rank of Karl and as such can afford superior personal armaments and protective devices. Sometimes, when the situation is dire and the Thralls must hold the line, or sometimes as a punishment, a scion of the house will debark their armor and take to the field as a foot knight. Armored in heavy carapace plate, protected by a potent conversion field generator and armed with deadly masterwork swords and pistols a House Cenwulf foot knight makes for an inspiring figure on the battlefield as well as an effective and deadly field commander. No proud son or daughter of Andlang would dare turn their backs on the foe in the presence of such a figure.

For the most part light infantry formations are the standard deployment model for Thrall forces fighting alongside House Cenwulf on campaign, however the garrison of Andlang itself does possess a variety of additional weapons and warmachines. Industrial vehicles may be re-purposed into effective armored personnel transports and the up-gunned walkers used by the Thralls in their salvage and mining operations across the surface can easily be put to use on the battlefield. In addition to Goliath trucks and Sentinels the Thrall forces on Andlang are equipped with dedicated battle-tanks and artillery, most of which are of local manufacture and possess legs instead of tracks. The forges of Andlang produce many walker-based systems and the tech-adepts of Ydalir are particularly famed for the production of advanced combat-walkers. Ydalir-pattern Leman Russ and Baneblade tanks all utilize six multi-jointed legs for mobility. Though this typically makes them slightly slower than typical vehicles of their class Ydalir-pattern battle-tanks are better able to negotiate urban terrain and hazardous environments and do not need to rely on dozer blades to clear obstacles. On Andlang such technologies are particularly useful given the rough ground upon which they will likely need to fight and thus the Thrall militia possesses dozens of such tanks housed in militia forts across the major fortresses of Andlang. Though rare it has been known for House Cenwulf to field a small number of such armored units with supporting Thrall elements on campaigns, particularly extended deployments far from wider Imperial support. In such cases squadrons of Ydalir-pattern Leman Russ tanks have proven highly effective weapons, capable of laying down punishing light-artillery barrages in support of the household's primary fighting forces.

On Andlang the vast majority of defensive works and installations are garrisoned by Thralls. Though highly trained and heavily armed the professional troops of the house, the Huscarls, are relatively few in number compared to the wider population. Even the Karl's are significantly outnumbered by the ranks of the Thralls and their relatively higher economic and technical importance relieves the Karls from most military responsibilities though they, like all the natives of Andlang, remain heavily armed and willing to fight in defense of their home. Every year a portion of the Thrall population is called up by lottery to serve in the active militia levies and will spend their term of service assigned to a posting somewhere on the surface or aboard one of the house vessels. This posting may be to a remote communications-outpost atop a distant mountain peak with a garrison of no more than a dozen souls or to the defense stations of Jotunheim's curtain wall where levy barracks houses are home to several thousand Thralls at any given time. In times of war a sizable portion of the population may also be called up to service, giving the house an armed planetary defense force numbering in the millions.

The Fleet

The next most significant support element of the house is it's fleet. The Hearth Fleet stands today as a powerful void fleet in it's own right, comprising five powerful capital ships and a modest number of support and escort craft. What the Hearth Fleet once was before the acquisition of these vessels is little remembered even among the nobles of House Cenwulf, the house possessed void ships dating back to before the coming of the Emperor but what kind and how many has been largely forgotten, or simply considered irrelevant. Likely the nobles of House Cenwulf have at times relied on whatever ships they could get from wherever they could get them, bulk haulers, light cruisers, armed mechantment or whatever else was to hand. Today the bulk of the great Hearth Ships of House Cenwulf are converted Grand Cruisers, mostly of the Exorcist class. The Imperial Navy has long since moved away from the archaic grand cruiser platform in favor of more versatile cruisers, battle cruisers and dedicated battleships. Most of the grand cruisers still in service have been rotated out of main-line battlefleets and consigned to secondary duties, system garrison, long-range patrols or reserve fleet deployments. House Cenwulf has taken advantage of this circumstance and has over time managed to acquiree five such reserve ships from the Segmentum Obscurus battlefleet at considerable cost, modifying them to serve as the principal transport vessels for household detachments. The considerable short-ranged armaments and shields of the Grand Cruiser allow the Hearth Ships to smash their way through enemy battle-lines to the high-orbit anchorages necessary for deploying the house's forces. Similarly the sizable launch bays are well-suited to the massive drop-ships needed to deploy the super-heavy Imperial Knight walkers. Even the vast ventral cargo bays of the grand cruiser platform made it relatively easy for the Sacristans of the house to modify the lower decks of the ship to house and launch the massive drop keeps used for rapid insertion. Household Thralls and Huscarls serve as the crews of the Hearth ships as well as bonded Astropaths and ten Navigators, one primary and one secondary for each of the capitol ships. Few escort craft are maintained by the house, which prefers to rely on the Imperial Navy or other branches of the Imperium's forces to provide support for the slow but powerful Hearth ships. This is because the house fleet is not designed or intended to engage in and win void battles, it's sole purpose is to deliver the ground-forces of the house into an active warzone and withdraw to a safe distance until required for extraction. In the absence of the Hearth Ships defense of the Vanyr system falls to a moderate fleet of defense monitors that relentlessly patrol the system.

The Telepathica

Two dozen soul-bound psykers of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica are kept housed within the forbidding black citadel of the southernmost mountain fortress of Vanaheim. From the earliest days of House Cenwulf the fotress of Vanaheim held the wyrd-tainted, those addled or mystical individuals culled from the population who during Old Night manifested psychic powers. During Old Night the superstitious nobles of House Cenwulf routinely purged the wyrd-touched of the population, removing them to Vanaheim to be contained, purified and executed before they could present a risk to the wider population. Following the coming of the Imperium the dark cells and blood-stained halls of Vanaheim became the dark abode of the bonded psykers seconded to House Cenwulf to ensure it could remain in contact with the wider Imperium. One of the few locations on Andlang given over for the use of another Imperial adeptus the fortress of Vanaheim is forbidden to all but the highest-ranked nobles and sacristans of the house, guarded exclusively by the black-clad vigilators of the Astra Telepathica, replete with it's own imported servants, servitors, scribes, tech-priests and everything else necessary for the provision, protection and potential extermination of the dangerous psykers housed within.

Colors and Iconography

Many Imperial Knight houses choose heraldry that is bold and colorful. The panoply of a knight house proudly and clearly displays the history and identity of the house, the noble pilot and the knight armor itself. Rarely, if ever, are you likely to find an Imperial Knight whose armor has been camouflaged and it's heraldry shrouded. House Cenwulf is certainly very proud in its heraldry and history but the traditional armor colors and markings used by the house are considerably more subdued than would normally be expected. Granite-gray and black are the standard armor colors of House Cenwulf. Typically the edging of armor plates is made of darkened brass. White, red and yellow are used to depict runes and the heraldry of each individual knight on the front-right shoulder-plate of each Knight and Armiger. Apart from a generally subdued pallet of colors House Cenwulf stands out as unusual in a few minor ways, the first is that the Imperial eagle depicted on shin and shoulder plates is styled as a skeleton, not a proud angular eagle. House historians believe this heraldry was first utilized after the Horus Heresy when news of the Emperor's fall had reached the Segmentum Obscurus and that it stylistically represents the death of the Emperor's dreams for mankind. The second is that House Cenwulf Knights typically avoid the use of banners outside of all but the most ceremonial of circumstances, the surface of Andlang is hostile to most fabrics and the regular use of banners would require their replacement after nearly every deployment, something generally considered wasteful and conceited to the nobles of House Cenwulf.

The third and most significant difference is that House Cenwulf utilizes unique wolf-headed Knight Helms across all chassis and platforms instead of the usual bare mechanical skull or the typical plate-armor helms. It is believed that these wolf helmets were gifts from the Space Wolves to honor the alliance between House Cenwulf and the VI Legion. Apart from giving the knights of the house a sinister and lupine appearance the house claims the helms incorporate advanced sensor technology and networked auspex systems. Some houses on less than friendly terms with the scions of Andlang believe these claims are false posturing but such technology would explain House Cenwulf's notably superior accuracy ratings and target-detection speeds in recorded deployments alongside forces from other knight households.

Combat Doctrines

“Victory through superior firepower.”

-House motto.

The predominant combat strategy of House Cenwulf can be defined as victory through superior firepower, an ancient dogma common to a number of the Imperium's military organizations. It should not therefore be a surprise that House Cenwulf heavily favors the firepower of the Crusader and Castellan patterns of Knights and the Armiger Helverin and possesses a disproportionately higher number of these patterns among its arsenal. In battle the lances of House Cenwulf will be flanked by squadrons of Sentinel outriders, a scouting vanguard of Sentinels and Sydonian Dragoons, and reserve fire-support in the form of Ballistarii, Onagers and Huscarl Ranger squads. Compared to the usual blunt hammer of Knight Lances from houses like Taranis or Cadmus the larger and better supported formations of House Cenwulf do not need to rely on other Imperial formations to provide support nearly as much and are better able to react and respond to changing battlefield conditions. It is not uncommon for House Cenwulf Knight Lances to take point and soak-up the majority of the enemy fire while their Huscarl support is almost entirely ignored. Alternately the lighter formations may be used as an expendable vanguard to entangle enemy forces and lure out larger prey for the Knights of the house to engage.

Even in honor duels nobles of House Cenwulf are more likely to bring down their foe with precision firepower than try to engage in close quarters. Many indignant nobles of other houses have requested duels only to find their opponents unwilling to engage in the cut and thrust of reaper chainblades and instead choosing to simply shoot the legs out from under them with highly-accurate barrages of bolts, shells or thermal energy. Any noble who continues to be affronted however is given a simple choice, yield or be destroyed, it is difficult even for Imperial Knight nobles to remain defiant when staring down the barrel of a Thermal Cannon through the armorcrys window of their cockpit hatch. It has long been a tradition for the Knights of House Cenwulf to hang the faceplates of their defeated enemies as trophies from the armor of their own knight suits. Most veteran Scions of the house bear several faceplates hanging from the waist of their knight armor while more veteran nobles may possess half a dozen or more trophies bolted to their chassis. 

In addition to its Huscarls it is not uncommon for House Cenwulf to deploy thousands of Thrall militia. Equipped with armored hazardous environment suits, autoguns and grenade launchers these formations act as additional light infantry support, holding ground taken by House Cenwulf and scouring ruins for enemy snipers, sappers or ambushers in the wake of the knights advance. From time to time these elements may even be supplemented by regiments of Imperial Guard conscripted from Folkvangr or one of the other worlds of House Cenwulf's protectorate or elements of Skitarii, Cybernetica or Battle-Servitors from Ydalir. In times of dire need House Cenwulf may even call on the support of God-Machines of the Legio Sirius from their fortress garrison on Ydalir or call on the aid of the Space Wolves Chapter itself. On more than a few occasions battle-forces of House Cenwulf have been accompanied by a Strike Cruiser in the storm-gray of the Sons of Russ. This predilection for deploying auxiliary forces and calling on the aid of allied military factions means that any given deployment of House Cenwulf can vary greatly in size even if the number of knight armors themselves remains constant.

During the recent deployment to Vigilus following the opening of the Great Rift the forces of House Cenwulf and their allies numbered thirty-one knights, sixty-three Armigers, three-thousand five hundred Huscarls, twenty-thousand Thrall militia, four thousand Folkvangr Light Infantry, two thousand Skitarii, Cybernetica and Battle-Servitors, three Warhound-Class Scout Titans and an entire Great Company of Space Wolves. Two Grand Cruisers of the Hearth Fleet, a Mechanicus Cruiser, and an Astartes Battle Cruiser along with over a dozen escort craft made up the fleet elements transporting these forces. While far from the largest forces drawn to Vigilus the armies rallied under the banner of House Cenwulf proved highly effective and highly coordinated throughout the chaotic and brutal campaign.

The Search for Ancient Knowledge

Although House Cenwulf has never entered into the Sidon Protocols or sworn allegiance to the Adeptus Mechanicus the scions of Andlang and their Sacristan servants possess a rapacious desire to acquire and safeguard knowledge and technological artifacts wherever possible, especially and particularly technologies related to weapons, power systems, protective energy barriers, and any walker-based technology whether it be military, civilian or industrial in nature. A handful of the Sacristans of the house specialize as tech-acquisitors, focused solely on tracking down, securing and archiving new technologies for their knightly lords. More than a few of House Cenwulf's campaigns have been fought to obtain artifacts or tech-lore and the house is particularly keen to engage renegade elements of the Mechanicus or other Imperial Knight houses.

The scions of House Cenwulf and their servants display zero hesitation in looting artifacts and equipment from the battlefield, claiming all such finds as justly claimed war-geld. Some acquisitions are obtained through non-military means, the resources of the Vanyr system and the wealth of House Cenwulf enables the scions of Andlang to purchase artifacts from Rogue Traders, barter for technology and material from the Adeptus Mechanicus and even negotiate payment in exchange for military services or access to the archives of Jotunheim. Several haughty Mechanicus adepts have arrived on Andlang seeking knowledge and artifacts only to end up parting with far more than they had expected in exchange for much less than they wanted. 

Much of what House Cenwulf obtains is eventually shared with their allies on Ydalir and further abroad but almost always as part of a reciprocal exchange of some kind. Many outsiders believe the scions of Andlang must have acquired access to Skitarii-grade augmentations and weaponry as part of one such data or material exchange, though what House Cenwulf parted with to obtain such rare and closely-guarded Mechanicus technology remains unknown, though it must have been significant.

Most recently the nobles of House Cenwulf have become obsessed with acquiring the source-technology for the recently emerged Questoris Traitoris Abhorrent-class knights. While many Inquisitors and Tech-Priests believe the Abhorrent-class to be the result of warp-taint twisting a standard Questoris-class knight into a new and abominable form the lords of House Cenwulf believe these knights are too consistent and uniform to be the product of simple degeneration and believe a long-lost Imperial Knight STC schematic must be behind these new warmachines. So certain are the lords of Andlang in this belief that the house has taken on the discovery and capture of this technology as its primary mission in recent years. Many of the campaigns and engagements fought by House Cenwulf since the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum have revolved around this quest. Fallen knights, Dark Mechanicus adepts, renegade forges and corrupt Rogue Traders have all fallen beneath the guns and blades of House Cenwulf, each battle taking the house one step closer to discovering and claiming this elusive technology. Already several Abhorrent-class Knight chassis scavenged from the battlefield have been restored and returned to service in the arsenal of House Cenwulf, though only after extensive purification and reconsecration. So far these new Knights, provisionally dubbed Adamant-class, have proven highly effective in battle and the house is ever eager to obtain more. Thus far all of the Adamant-class Knights in service have been outfitted as Knights Preceptor and are piloted by only the most experienced and strong-willed scions of the house as further protection against any possible corruption.

Technology and Production

Like a number of the more fortunate Imperial Knight worlds discovered by the Imperium the world of Andlang came through Old Night with a considerable amount of the ancient technological lore and secrets of the house intact and under careful guard. Archives housed in heavily armored vaults deep beneath the foundations of the principal house fortress of Jotunheim contain tech lore, history and knowledge found in few, or no other places in the galaxy. Such knowledge is incalculably valuable and the source of the long-standing relationship between House Cenwulf and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Unlike houses in more precarious positions House Cenwulf never had to bend the knee to the Mechanicus and enter into the Sidon Protocols but also has not outright refused all contact or commerce with the adepts of Mars either. Select knowledge and tech lore has been shared by the house with its Mechanicus allies, primarily the lords of Lokabrenna, over the centuries in exchange for fresh Knight armors, ships, weapons and other technology that the house cannot produce itself or can produce in only limited quantities. Like other technologically adept houses it is believed by the Mechanicus that it is highly likely that House Cenwulf maintains a number of STC blueprints, perhaps even a partially functioning STC machine itself, the very same equipment and schematics used by the first settlers of Andlang to produce the original Imperial Knight armors and defend themselves against the hostile fauna of the world. If so such artifacts would be of truly monumental value to the Mechanicus and thus it is little surprise that the occasional political tresspass by the nobles of Andlang are ignored for the last thing the priests of the Martian cult would want is to lose even their current limited access to the lore of Andlang and trying to take such lore by force would only risk damaging or destroying the priceless and fragile archaeotech. So the Mechanicus must play politics and bribe the nobles of Andlang for every last sliver of information. 

 

The exact manufacturing capacity of the house forges overseen by the Sacristans is a closely guarded secret but it is known that the house is capable of manufacturing small numbers of new Knight armors of a variety of the more common classes. Rarer patterns of armor are outside the skill and knowledge of the house to create but the Sacristans of House Cenwulf are well versed in salvaging and restoring captured and recovered Knight armors and it is likely that dozens of incomplete armors in various states of restoration could be found in the house forges at any given time.

In addition to the knight suits themselves the nobles of Andlang possess substantial technological assets including power armor, archaeotech firearms, powered weapons, personal refractor field generators, gravitic aircraft and all manner of other rare and valuable artifacts normally found only in the possession of powerful planetary lords and senior officials of the various Imperial institutions. Outside of their knight armors a noble of House Cenwulf is protected by master-crafted carapace armored suits, personal energy shield generators, archaeotech pistols and powered blades and are typically more than the equal of many elite soldiers of the Imperium in personal combat.

In addition to the weapons and equipment used by the nobles of the house the forges of Andlang produce a wide variety of equipment, weapons and vehicles. Most of the items manufactured on Andlang are shipped off world to supply nearby worlds and arm regiments of the Astra Militarum across the Segmentum. However a sizable portion of Andlang's capacity goes towards arming and protecting the knight world itself. Because of the local conditions on Andlang the forges of the planet specialize in walker-based armored vehicles and explosive projectile weapons. Sentinels, Mortian/Andlang pattern Leman Russ variants, bolters, autocannons and battle-cannons are among the most common weapons and armor produced on Andlang. Most of the hostile predators native to the world are resistant to energy weapons leading the domestic forces of Andlang to heavily favor armor-piercing projectile weapons over las and plasma technology. Autoguns, stub guns and shotguns make up the majority of the small arms produced to arm the Thralls and even the elite Huscarls of the house prefer servitor-bullet firing galvanic rifles over energy weapons. Although the Mechanicus adepts of the forge-world minoris of Ydalir obviously produce a wider range of technology the forges of Ydalir also produce a disproportionate number of armored walkers and projectile weapons, the priests of that world taking advantage of the knowledge and experience of House Andlang to produce higher-quality versions of these weapons than the forges of many other worlds in the Segmentum. The adepts of Ydalir have even specialized in the production of the Mortian/Ydalir walker variant of Leman Russ, a vehicle similar to those produced on Andlang but featuring a rotating central chassis mounted above the leg assembly and its main weapon system fitted higher in the chassis for greater visibility. Hundreds of walking medium, heavy and super-heavy armored vehicles can be found in the arsenal of the House Cenwulf Thralls and thousands more can be found in the armories of planetary armies across the Vanyr sub-sector and beyond.

Political Relations

Like all Imperial Knight Houses the nobles of Andlang are fiercely independent, and stubborn to a fault. That does not mean that House Cenwulf has not formed alliances with other military orders within the wider Imperium over the centuries. The first and foremost ally of the house are the Space Wolves, who first formalized pacts of mutual support and fellowship with the house during the Great Crusade. The similar cultures of Fenris and Andlang led to a fast friendship between the two military orders, a friendship that has endured for thousands of years. It is believed by some that one of the reasons the Space Wolves are still able to field so many Dreadnoughts, far more than even other first founding chapters, is in some part thanks to the technical expertise and archaeotech lore of House Cenwulf.

Only slightly less formidable allies than the Space Wolves are Mechanicus of Lokabrenna and the God-Engines of the Legio Sirius, who formed a close fellowship with House Cenwulf around the same time as the VI Legion. Much like the Space Wolves the nobles of House Cenwulf and the Princeps and Moderati of the Legio Sirius shared markedly similar cultures, languages and traditions. It wasn't long before lances of House Cenwulf Knight Titans saw extended secondment to Legio Sirius Titan Maniples. Before the end of the Great Crusade the vassal Forge World Minoris of Ydalir was granted a garrison of Titans from the Legio Sirius. The Legio established a fortress keep on Ydalir known as the Ironwolf Bastion and has maintained one to two maniples of Titans there ever since. In M36 Ydalir was granted the rights to possess a copy of the Mars-Pattern Warhound Titan construction schematics and begin production of God-Engines for the Legio Titanicus. Since then most of the engines created have gone to the Legio Sirius and many now serve in the Ironwolf Bastion's garrison. It is not uncommon for the Legio Sirius to dispatch a single Warhound Titan squadron with battle-forces of House Cenwulf to support their allies and earn their new Titans and their crews experience in combat alongside reliable and trustworthy allies who will gladly ensure the safety and success of the new Titans.

Less formal friendships exist between House Cenwulf and other Imperial agencies and military orders but the informal nature of these relationships prevents easy categorization or confirmation. It is believed the house has formed bonds with the nobles of House Skandos, Red Wolves and the newly formed Wolfspear chapters, as well as close ties to a number of Astra Militarum regiments from the worlds of Armageddon and Valhalla, friendships which seems to be based on a mutual hatred of the ork xenos. A few ancient records suggest House Cenwulf made overtures of friendship with House Ærthegn during the later days of the Great Crusade but quickly abandoned the attempt after discovering the general lack of honor and piratical practices of the house. It is also known that several members of House Hawkshroud maintain friendships with nobles of House Cenwulf and both forces have fought alongside the Space Wolves in several recent campaigns.

Household Domains

Andlang – Homeworld of House Cenwulf

To call the homeworld of House Cenwulf inhospitable is a gross understatement. Whatever ancient conflict wiped out the former xenos inhabitants left the second planet of the Vanyr system scarred by radioactive blast craters, it's few lakes and oceans transformed into a toxic sludge. Poisonous gasses drift across the lowlands gathering in clouds that pour acid rain on the slopes or gathering in corrosive fogs that can blanket the plains and valleys for weeks at a time. If simply breathing the air does not kill you there are plenty of native predators up to the challenge of finishing the job. The most common beasts hunted and culled by the house are the Rust-Wyrms, vicious pack-hunters that can grow to be some five-feet wide and up to thirty-feet long with diamond-hard fangs and mandibles able to chew through ceramite and enable the creatures to dig vast networks of burrows through the dense rock of the mountains. Crag-spiders infest the countless caves that worm through the high cliffs, with legs up to three-meters long and a venomous bite capable of killing a full-grown grox in moments these arachnids are solitary ambush hunters that prey on small salvage parties as they return from their work laden with recovered salvage. More than a few work crews have dumped their precious loads and fled at the first sign of a spider attack, valuing their lives more than their pay. Those who choose to fight must work to hem the creatures in with volleys of shot and las, driving the spiders into a spot where a good las or plasma cannon shot to the head or torso can put them down. Such kills are celebrated but rare for many who choose to stand and fight never return. 

Like countless worlds across the Imperium the deadly ambull has also become a well-entrenched threat to the inhabitants. When or how these creatures made it to Andlang is unknown, however their numbers have never risen to become a serious threat. With fearsome competition against the other native predators the population of ambulls has long remained low and it is rare indeed that the nobles are given cause to track down and burn out a troublesome nest of the creatures.

Perhaps the deadliest and mightiest of the native predators of Andlang are the rock-drakes. The name fails to convey the savage majesty or sheer lethality of these monsters. Easily growing to a size comparable to a Questoris-class knight in size with a wing-span many times wider, equipped with fangs two-feet long and hard enough to crush steel the creatures are formidable opponents even for the knight-scions of House Cenwulf and are a prime target for beast hunts. The rock-drakes take their name from their chameleon-like outer-scales that can shift in color subtly to match the dark browns, grays and reds of the cliffs and mountain-spurs from which they lay in wait for prey to pass by. Should a rock-drake choose to take to the sky in search of food it's underbelly is similarly adapted to the colors of the sky, the lighter-tans and sickly yellows of Andlang's poisoned clouds matched perfectly by the softer leathery underbellies of the drakes. Many hunters falsely believe the rock-drake's claws and fangs to be its deadliest weapons but these pale in comparison to the potency of the creature's spit. The stomach of the rock-drakes is adapted to filter out the poisons of Andlang's water and the spoiled meat of its prey, siphoning these chemicals and contaminants off into a secondary stomach which can then expel its contents as a ball of deadly vomit. Such ejections of bile have been known to eat through the armor of a knight and can render an armored human down into soup in moments.

Legends tell of one particular beast-hunt undertaken centuries before the coming of the Imperium where a lance of young knights chanced upon a feeding rock-drake that was easily twice the size of a Knight. The foolhardy young warriors rushed to engage the beast only to be taken aback when it launched into onto one of the knights, bearing it to the ground in its talons before rising into the air with furious beats of its massive wings. To the shock of the young knights the stricken warrior was lifted into the air and carried off. Hours later the knights found their comrade wedged between the spurs of a cliff some leagues away, his reaper chainsword wet with the creature's blood. The young hunter had survived the fall, if only just, and claimed he managed to strike and wound the legs of the beast enough for it to drop him after which it flew away never to be seen again. To this day there are those who doubt the story but the Vault Transcendent of House Cenwulf still houses an ancient Questoris knight armor damaged beyond repair, bearing exceptionally large claw wounds across it's armor and whose limbs and chassis were crushed after falling from a great height. 

Despite the native hazards and deadly predators Andlang is home to a population of around one hundred and seventy million, relatively large for an Imperial Knight world but precious few for a major industrialized world of the Imperium. Some of that number is scattered across dozens of outposts, factorums, depots, refineries and air-docks scattered across the mountain ranges but the majority of the population is concentrated in the thirteen mountaintop fortresses. Located across the eastern and western mountain chains known as the Sköll and the Hati ranges the fortresses are all built on and around the colossal adamantium carcasses of ancient starships, the first and greatest of which was the great colony-ark that bore the name Andlang and that became the foundation of the capitol fortress of Jotunheim. From orbit the original profiles of some of the ships can still be seen in the outline of the defense walls of the inner baileys of each fortress and it is even believed that some of the defense turrets of those fortresses may have been the original weapons of those vessels, still visible despite centuries of later construction. Unlike the haphazard agglomerations of most Imperial cities the fortresses of Andlang were built purely for defense, sight-lines, gun towers, landing pads and transit-ways take precedence over all other concerns. All construction has to be approved of by the senior Sacristans and Huscarl Alphas to ensure nothing impedes the functionality and strength of the defenses. The heart of each fortress is the house spire, the great bastion towers at the heart of the cities that house the warriors and servants of House Cenwulf. At least one lance of Knight Titans, scores of lesser warmachines and several hundred Huscarl infantry garrison each of the thirteen house spires, in addition to the semi-regular formations of Thrall militia who man the bulk of the outermost defenses. Adjacent or nearby each tower are the great sky-docks where the drakkars and void-craft of the house are stored, maintained and launched. Hundreds of vessels of all sizes can be found in these docks with the largest capable of transporting whole lances of Knight Titans and the smallest barely large enough for a single human adult.

While permanent settlements in the lowlands are impossible due to the extreme hazards they do play host to scores of mobile industrial crawlers at any given time. These ramshackle vehicles stalk across the surface of the planet on multiple insectile limbs that allow them to traverse the broken and treacherous terrain. Each crawler houses anywhere from a few dozen to upwards of a thousand workers, crew, engineers, cooks, medicae, vox operators and militia. In claustrophobic hangars built within each crawler are the work vehicles necessary for digging out and recovering the precious salvage each crew desperately seeks. Fully enclosed sentinel-loaders with manipulator claws and lascutters make up the bulk of these industrial machines but they are often backed up by tracked digger and tunneling machines, magnetic cranes and cargo haulers. The work is difficult and dangerous with thousands of salvagers and crewmen injured or killed every year. The dangers do little to curb the enthusiasm of the salvagers with countless new recruits competing for spots on the work-crews every year. The scrap and salvage recovered from the surface of the planet has sustained House Cenwulf and the people of Andlang for thousands of years and will doubtless continue to do so for thousands more. The great ruins and fields of battlefield wreckage seem inexhaustible, each storm season seeming to reveal yet another layer of endless war remains ripe for the picking.

Jotunheim – The Throne of Giants

The largest of the thirteen fortress cities of Andlang the stronghold of Jotunheim lays atop a spur of the eastern Sköll mountain range. This spur, situated roughly in the middle of the range which runs from the northwest to the south-east, projects west out into the broken plains of the equatorial region of the planet. This central location makes Jotunheim the natural capital and primary stronghold of House Cenwulf. The house spire of Jotunheim is home to the High King, or Jarl, and his personal retainers. The largest sky-dock of Andlang is also located within the walls of Jotunheim and serves as the planet's principal starport.

Like all of the thirteen great fortresses of Andlang the original walls of the fortress were formed from the armored hull of an ancient starship deliberately scuttled on the surface. Jotunheim was the first city created in this manner and formed from the wreckage of the colony-ark Andlang, after which the planet itself was named. Over time that original outline has become almost completely obscured by thousands of years of constantly growing fortifications and expansion to accommodate a growing population. Now those original walls form the innermost ring of fortifications around the house spire at the heart of the fortress city. Two further walls encircle the fortress, crowding out across the surrounding ridges and sub-peaks, connected by great spars, bridges and enormous permacrete foundations built into and on-top of the bare rock-face foundations and looking out over man-made plateaus cut from the weathered stone of the mountains that themselves lead into the wide and winding roads that descend into the distant plains and valleys. A notable distinction between the fortifications of Andlang and those typical to most fortresses across the Imperium is that House Cenwulf's fortresses are built to accommodate the Knight Titans of the house. The battlements are wide enough for two knights to pass easily and feature shielded firing platforms that project slightly from the wall and allow a knight to fire on an attacking enemy while remaining largely sheltered from incoming fire. The stretches of wall between each of the gun towers dotting the walls are large enough and include enough firing positions for an entire lance of knights.

Inside the walls of Jotunheim the entire city-fortress is laid out to accommodate the Knights of the house. Every causeway and transit bridge, every stair and walkway is scaled to the great tread of the Knights with smaller sub-stairs and pathways reserved for lighter vehicles and pedestrians. The structures of the city are built to last, shielded from radiation, armored from attack and fitted with environmental seals to protect against the occasional toxic storm that sweeps up the mountain from the lowlands. A second curtain-wall splits the city into two and separates the outer-industrial district from the wealthier commercial inner-district. The outer district is home to the Thralls, the bonded laborer class that makes up the bulk of Andlang's population. Most Thralls live in single room habs and their food and water use are strictly rationed. The majority of Thralls live hard and brutal lives of endless toil that almost invariably result in an early death. Even so the hardy inhabitants of Andlang meet this fate with boundless stoicism and tenacity. High achievement or acts of noteworthy valor can earn a Thrall elevation to the ranks of the Karls, the wealthier artisan and scribe class that occupies the inner-district of the city. The Karl's are granted better habs, larger ration portions, better educations and much better access to medical care and augmentation. The Karl's are permitted to own property, operate businesses, serve as artisans, sculptors, scribes, artists, medicae, overseers and administrators. House Cenwulf typically leaves the governance of the Karls and the Thralls to an elected body of elders who are trusted to oversee the affairs of the common people of Andlang and free the nobles from the burden of administration. These governors maintain a professional body of law enforcers and conduct much of the business and trade with the wider galaxy under the supervision of the Sacristans of House Cenwulf. It is from the Karls that most Sacristans and Huscarls are recruited and it is through such recruitment that Karl's have an opportunity to rise into the ranks of the nobility. Senior Sacristans may earn the right to marry a lesser noble of the house, as may accomplished Armiger pilots recruited from the ranks of the Huscarls. Through merit a Thrall may become a Karl and a Karl may become a Huscarl and a Huscarl may become a Hersir.

The southern edge of the inner-district is home to the principle sky-docks of Jotunheim. Projecting out from the curtain-wall into the open-air the docking spurs and platforms project out over a massive drop of nearly a thousand feet before reaching the descending slopes of the mountains which continue down for several thousand more feet before reaching the valleys. The flanks of the docks feature massive defense batteries and shield generators that remain ever vigilant for any sign of aerial attack, the massive guns capable of tearing the largest attack craft from the sky. Beneath the vigilant gaze of defense batteries hundreds of vessels arrive and depart each day. Some coming from or going to other locations across Andlang and many more coming down from or returning to orbit.

The innermost district of Jotunheim is the household keep, the outer shell of the original colony ark encloses the principal bailey which is itself overlooked by the great spire of the house. Smaller docking facilities accommodate light transport of individual nobles and their armor while armories, workshops, barracks, kitchens and apothecary facilities house the nobles, their servants and their wargear. The central keep itself sits above the principal Vault Transcendent of the house, a massive cavern carved into the rock of the peak that possesses enough storage and maintenance bays for two hundred knights. Many of these bays house the wreckage of ancient knights, returned from distant battlefields and interred with honor. These silent and forbidding sentinels stand watch whenever the knights of the house stride to war, passing judgment on their successors as they marshal for battle.

Even though House Cenwulf effectively rules over a small stellar empire within the greater body of the Imperium, receiving tithes in exchange for military support over a dozen inhabited worlds collectively referred to in Administratum records as the Vanyr sector the world of Andlang has never officially been sanctioned as the sector capitol given that it remains an independently ruled Imperial Knight World, exempt from most bureaucratic oversight or interference. Nevertheless Andlang remains the effective administrative hub of the sector and frequently plays host to off world visitors from the worlds under House Cenwulf's protection and beyond, all coming to pay homage to their protectors, bring missives, request assistance, offer trade or attempt to curry favor. Off worlders are usually housed in the inner-district of the Karls until their business is concluded.

Vanaheim – The Ominous Peak

Situated atop the southernmost peak of the western Hati range the fortress of Vanaheim sits near the southern pole of the planet. Remote and inhospitable, even by Andlang's harsh standards, the freezing temperatures, low-oxygen and isolation of Vanaheim leave the city with the smallest population of the thirteen fortress-cities. Yet this is not what makes Vanaheim uniquely and notably inhospitable, rather that dubious honor belongs to the ominous obsidian spire of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica choir that dominates the center of the fortress. The Vanaheim choir is the Vanyr system's principle means of communication with the wider Imperium and a significant telepathic relay in the sector. The relatively few inhabitants of the city and it's dour household garrison are there purely to protect the telepathica spire and the critical resource and strategic asset the astropathic choir represents. Precious few Thralls call Vanaheim home, most service labor is provided by mind-wiped servitor automata and servo-skulls. Those mortal servants of the house who do reside in Vanaheim are mostly battle-hardened Huscarls there to garrison the outer fortress defenses. Assignment to the Vanaheim garrison is often considered a punishment within House Cenwulf and may be used to censure a noble for a particular failing or act of insubordination. Fortunately assignment to the Vanaheim garrison is only temporary, the entire complement of mortal soldiery rotated out every few years. Even the stern constitution and firm loyalty of House Cenwulf's nobles and soldiers cannot long stand such close proximity with the terrible haunt of the astropaths.

Muspelheim – The Forge Mountain

Situated in the Hati mountain range roughly opposite Jotunheim the city of Muspelheim serves as the largest concentration of forges and foundries on Andlang. Most of the war material produced on the homeworld of House Cenwulf is forged in the mills and workshops of Muspelheim whose fires are never doused. Bonded workers labor in shifts to keep the forges working twenty four hours a day, every day, endlessly. Munitions, weapons, armor plates, refined fuel, vehicle chassis and electronic components all spill from the conveyor belts of Muspelheim in a never-ending tide to feed the hungry armories of House Cenwulf. Some civilian goods are produced as well but even then most of these are destined for the industrial-crawlers working salvage runs on the lower surfaces of Andlang. Components for the crawlers themselves, munitions for their defense weaponry, replacement vehicles, tools and equipment are all shipped by drakkar grav-ships to the distant salvage engines. Muspelheim also serves as home to the largest concentration of Sacristans on Andlang, including the Sacristan Primus Eorlund Ironblood. Unsurprisingly the rarest and most esoteric of the knight armors possessed by House Cenwulf are also stationed in Muspelheim where they can be most effectively repaired and maintained. The nobles who pilot these machines are usually drawn from nobles of the house who have been partially inducted into the rites and lore of the Sacristans before attempting the Ritual of Becoming. The greatest source of pride of Muspelheim is the forging of new knight armors for the house. Limited numbers of new Imperial Knights are forged in the foundries of Muslpelheim by the most senior and experienced of the Sacristans under the direct and exacting supervision of the Sacristan Primus himself. The capability to forge their own knight armors is not unique to House Cenwulf, a number of other houses possess that capability but it is relatively rare, most houses rely entirely on the Mechanicus for new armors. Thus the forges of Muspelheim are a critically important asset to House Cenwulf and one of its greatest resources that the house will go to any length to protect.

Fensalir – Warden of the North

Located near the northern tip of the western Hati mountain range the Fortress of Fensalir is home to some of the fiercest hunters on Andlang. The northern reaches of Andlang are even less hospitable to mankind than the rest of the brutal planet. Frozen snows the color of rust and oil stretch as far as the eye can see across desolate wastes broken by a few lonely hills and mountains. The deadly beasts that roam this region are larger and more numerous than those found elsewhere. Few beast hunts reach this far north and so the savage native fauna has time to grow large and fearsome in relative safety, preying on lone travelers and any creature weaker than themselves. Relatively few ruins lay in the north, the closest ruins are either the salvage domains of Roskilde or Valland and so the inhabitants of Fensalir make a living prospecting for rich veins of precious metals as yet unexploited and hunting the native beasts for skin, fur, chitin and bone that can be sold or traded to other fortress cities or exported off-world. Most of the knight scions who call Fensalir home favor the Errant pattern of Knight armor, the potent Thermal Cannon having proven highly effective against the thick hides and durable armor of Andlang's native predators. More recently a handful of Knights Valiant have been added to Fensalir's arsenal and gained rapid popularity, the Thundercoil Harpoon is a particular favorite. To the north and east of Fensalir lays a lonely stretch of mountains off-limit to the natives of Andlang by ancient decree. Who holds domain over these crags or why is a mystery to the common Thrall, they only know that to venture there is to invite a swift death at the hands of the Huscarls or to the native predators that stalk those peaks in astonishing numbers. Regular patrols by the nobles of Roskilde prevent the beasts of the north from migrating further south, using the broken ruins on the doorstep of the fortress as a natural breaker against any incursion.

Odense – The City of Craftsmen

The inhabitants of Odense include some of the finest artists and craftsmen. Most of the deadly northern beasts are kept at bay by the tireless efforts of the nobles and warriors of Fensalir and Roskilde, the mountains of the northern Sköll range add a further barrier against danger. The nobles of Odense range out to the southwest to add to the defense against incursions from the north but for the most part the Thralls and Karls of Odense are free to work in relative peace and quiet, isolated from most of the dangers and with rich salvage near to hand the Karls of Odense are able to take the time to learn and master many fine crafts. Bone carving, stained-glass, manuscript illumination, murals and mosaics are the common trades of Odense.

Glitnir – The Prison Mine of the North

Home to the Master of Judgement of the house and the only major criminal detention facility on the planet the fortress city of Glitnir is effectively a cit-sized labor-prison. For the most part the harsh life of Andlang and the strict rule of House Cenwulf keeps crime rates low but those criminals who are discovered and convicted need somewhere to go and that somewhere is Glitnir. Beneath the walls of Glitnir stretch an enormous network of mines that weave deep into the earth and spider out beneath the Hvalsey Sea. The prisoners cannot dig their way to safety for leagues in all direction are planketed in the deadly black waters of the great inland sea. Few guards are needed for there is nowhere to go and prisoners receive no food or water if they do not produce mined ore. This practice keeps the relatively small prisoner population highly productive and helps feed the forges of Muspelheim and even produces surplus for off-world export. Isolated by the sea the native predators of Andlang and outside threat are rare and the modest noble and Huscarl garrison is mostly charged with controlling the prisoners and ensuring steady production. In the main most of the guards are combat-capable servitors, their weapons hard-wired into their flesh and nearly impossible for prisoners to steal, disarm or appropriate for themselves. The heaviest labor is also conducted by servitors. Those prisoners too heinous to be reformed are used as the source stock for most of the servitors in service to the house and most of those serve in the mines of Glitnir. Despite the harsh conditions sentences in Glitnir are not, or at least not always, a death sentence and once they have served their sentence prisoners are released back into the population, though regardless of previous station they return to service as Thralls.

Brimir – Keeper of the Labyrinth

Situated near the far north-eastern edge of the Sköll range the city of Brimir is famed for the reckless exploits of it's miners and prospectors. To the south of Brimir lies an extensive stretch of pre-human ruins. Unlike the half-buried stretches of broken buildings and collapsed transit-ways common to the ruins elsewhere on Andlang whatever catastrophe befell the ancient inhabitants it broke open the earth and split the valleys into a series of labyrinthine canyons and crevasses. The ruins sit atop the solid earth between the canyons, they jut from the sides of the canyon walls and carpet the twisting depths. Rivers and streams of toxic sludge meander through the bottom of many canyons while others are too narrow for a grown human man to squeeze through. This terrain is dangerous even for the mighty Knight armors of the house to navigate and culling the beasts that inhabit the cliffs is difficult and dangerous work. As such the work of gathering salvage from the labyrinth is far more difficult and hazardous than elsewhere on Andlang but the salvage itself is far more valuable for it has not been picked nearly as clean as the other ruins on the surface. This rich resource brings daredevils and treasure seekers from across the system looking to strike it rich where countless others have failed or fallen. Most of the Cerastus-pattern knights in the arsenal of House Cenwulf are stationed in Brimir, the longer stride and greater agility of the Cerastus proving highly effective at navigating the treacherous terrain and these knights are supported by a larger number of Armigers than most other fortresses.

Valland – Master of the Skies

Outside of Jotunheim the fortress of Valland is home to the most expansive sky-docks and the largest Drakkar fleet on Andlang. The Drakkar are aerial transports common to the homeworld of House Cenwulf, inspired by the ancient sailing vessels of the cultures from which the ancient settlers of Andlang hailed. Drakkar's can vary in size from single-person craft to ships large enough to transport entire lances of Knights. In the main these ships are a combination of anti-gravitic and jet-turbine powered aircraft, long and narrow the command deck is sited at the back of the craft and the prows feature sculpted animal heads. Most Drakkar do not feature completely sealed compartments, often only the piloting deck at the back of the vessel will be a sealed and pressurized environment. The rest of the decks are open to the high-altitude air of Andlang which is not comfortable to breath but is not nearly as toxic or hazardous as the polluted air of the lowlands. Drakkar intended to transport passengers may feature a covered and sealed hull but some do not and passengers may resort to their own oxygen, filtration masks or other equipment to make the passage more comfortable.

Situated to the far west of the Hati range on a lone mountain barely connected to the rest of the range the fortress of Valland commands the skies for leagues all around and is home to the greatest Drakkar pilots and navigators on the planet. Almost every Drakkar on Andlang is forged in Valland and most of the pilots and crews hail from that fortress as well. Despite the import of many other patterns of aircraft and transport the Drakkar remains the most popular aerial vessels on Andlang for the underlying design is robust, reliable and easy to manufacture. The sky-docks of every fortress will feature bays full of Valkyrie's and Thunderbolts, fat-bellied void transports and Arvus-lighters, the vast majority of aircraft will be Drakkar of all shapes and sizes. Most Drakkar are not heavily armed, they may feature small defensive weapons to see of the occasional aerial threat but are not dedicated combat vessels. In a pinch however Thralls and Huscarls may crowd the decks with guns or mount artillery and heavy weapons to the hulls with great ease, making the Drakkar an easily up-gunned platform that can be mobilized into the defense of the planet quickly and to surprising significant effect.

Hvergelmir – Lifespring of Andlang

The only drinkable fresh-water source on Andlang is found beneath the foundations of the fortress of Hvergelmir. Over time the nobles of House Cenwulf have carved great reservoirs under the fortress that house the vast majority of the potable water on the planet. Underground tunnels and pipes carry this water to the fortresses across the Sköll range but those further abroad require regular shipments of water via Drakkar if they do not wish to rely entirely on extensive water-filtration systems. Within many of these cultivated reservoirs House Cenwulf farms a variety of imported fish-stocks to supplement the diet of the nobles and their servants. Such resources make Hvergelmir one of the most strategically vital strongholds on the planet. Increasingly the nobles of Hvergelmir are attempting to carve out even more room underground and install hydroponics facilities, further granting Andlang some moderate self-sufficiency in the event of a major catastrophe. In the wake of the Great Rift splitting the galaxy the importance of such efforts has only increased and now significant resources are being dedicated to this endeavor.

Situated close to Jotunheim the fortress of Hvergelmir benefits from the protection afforded by the principal fortress capitol of the planet but has also found itself caught in some of the heaviest fighting the planet has seen in the last ten thousand years. Any major invasion must target Jotunheim and many battles have been fought on the great Jotunheim plateau that stretches east through the mountains from the capitol most of the way to Hvergelmir in the east. So important is the fortress and the well-spring it guards that Hvergelmir maintains a sizable garrison and is largely exempt from musters of the household, the defense of the vital fresh-water source too critical to risk weakening the garrison under any but the most extreme of circumstances. Proximity to the capitol and a monopoly on a vital resource have made Hvergelmir a relatively safe and prosperous city with a far greater proportion of Karl's in its population than most of the other fortress cities.

Skálholt – The Fang of the South

Located towards the southern tip of the Sköll range Skálholt has suffered more damage and loss of life than any other fortress on Andlang. The ragged plains to the east of Skálholt are largely clear of canyons, toxic waterways or expansive ruins. This makes the area a prime target for any large military force that wishes to make planetfall. The great plains to the west, south and north of Jotunheim are broken, rough terrain with many broken ruins that make landing large forces difficult and dangerous. Thus to attack the seat of House Cenwulf most invaders have chosen to land to the east of the Sköll range and approach the capitol over the mountains. This means fighting past the reaches of Skálholt and Hvergelmir before reaching the Jotunheim plateau and gaining the ground to lay siege.

At least three times in the history of the house Skálholt has been sacked. In most cases a significant portion of the inhabitants have been able to escape via Drakkar or tunnels to reach the safety of other fortresses but the loss of life has nevertheless been far greater in Skálholt than elsewhere on Andlang. This has made the inhabitants of Skálholt even more militaristic of temperament than the other natives of the planet, which is saying something. The Karl's and Thralls of Skálholt are the most heavily armed of any fortress and the Huscarl garrison larger than any other keep save Jotunheim. More tanks, artillery, and military aircraft fill Skálholt armories than even Jotunheim possesses and the scion garrison is the largest outside of the capitol. Invaders face tens of thousands of armed soldiers, thousands of war-machines and scores of artillery pieces if they wish to attack the fortress and, even so, it has fallen in the past. Typically Skálholt is the home of the Gatekeeper, the Thane of the Exalted Court charged with protecting the domains of the House at all costs. The Gatekeeper not only commands the extensive garrison and arsenal of Skálholt but also commands the only Acastus-class Knight in the household armory, an ancient relic from the Horus Heresy that has never fallen in battle this single Knight Porphyrion is a legendary and supremely deadly foe whose Magna-Lascannon's have felled many gross-displacement engines in its long history.

Kinsarvik – House of Blades

Sited atop one of the central peaks of the southernmost mountains of Andlang the fortress of Kinsarvik stands nearly as alone and isolated as Glitnir in the far north. To the west of Kinsarvik lays the forbidding peak of Vanaheim and the Astropathic Choir housed there and to the east is the peninsula upon which sits the dour fishing obsessed fortress of Hindarfjall. Despite it's relative isolation the people of Kinsarvik are among the most prolific salvagers of any of the holds, with relatively close proximity to the largest concentration of ruins on the planet the people of Hindarfjall make a good living scraping relics from the bones of the dead. Many of the great industrial walkers that pick over the plains for relics launch from the gates of Kinsarvik, the fortress being an easier destination to reach than the heights upon which Jotunheim sits, though most of the recovered material is shipped via Drakkar to the capitol for export off-world. Most of the invasions that have ravaged Andlang have overlooked Kinsarvik, which has allowed the garrison to serve as a mobile reserve, striking at the rear of invading forces and fighting to break sieges and relieve the garrisons of other fortresses whenever they come under attack.

Apart from its salvage operations Kinsarvik has one other claim to fame, it's combat arenas. Among the Huscarls, Karls and Thralls duels of honor are theoretically permitted but considered a dereliction of duty under most circumstances. Only in Kinsarvik is dueling among the lower orders permitted largely without restriction. This policy has led to the establishment of formal arenas for the fighting of duels and an economy of betting and bribery that flows around such business. The nobles of House Cenwulf permit such behavior as it provides ample opportunity to observe the engagements and hand-pick the best fighters for service to the house. Many of the personal bodyguards and proxy-duelists serving the nobles of the House got their start in the dueling cages of Kinsarvik. Many industries have developed around the practices of dueling. Some of the best blade-smiths on the planet keep workshops in Kinsarvik, not Muspelheim, and the number of apothecaries offering bionic augmentation operating in Kinsarvik is far larger than the other fortresses. Little surprise then that Kinsarvik is known as the House of Blades. 

 

Hindarfjall - Scavenger of the Sea

 

Found atop a lone mountain near the edge of the Bergen Ocean the fortress of Hindarfjall is largely focused around the exploitation of the ocean and what lays beneath it. Save the Spring of Hvergelmir the bodies of water on Andlang are toxic pools of sludge, polluted to the point that next to nothing is able to live in them. What few native aquatic life remains is without exception hardy, almost impossible to eat and dangerous. Even so some of these creatures can be harvested and exploited, for fat, oil, teeth and bone. Not only that but the depths of the Bergen Ocean and the more distant Hvalsey Sea both possess ancient xenos ruins sunken below the dark waters. Sealed within armored submersibles and walking mining rigs the denizens of Hindarfjall haul up precious salvage from below the frothing toxic black waves in significant quantities.

 

For a few days each year when the seasonal tides are at their lowest leagues of formerly sunken land returns temporarily to the surface. When this happens many creatures become trapped in shallow pools scattered across the short-lived plains. For these few days each year the nobles of Hindarfjall and their retainers ride out to hunt, culling hundreds of dangerous beasts and hauling their carcasses back to the fortress for processing. In these few days of slaughter more beasts are slain and skinned than most of the rest of the year combined. Following the conclusion of each hunt the lords of Hindarfjall throw a great feast day, during which almost all normal labors are suspended and the people of the city are allowed to celebrate the glorious victories of their lords and forget their hardships for a time. Wealthy Karls and nobles of House Cenwulf travel from far abroad to join the feast and sometimes even to participate in the hunt itself. Whenever this happens the beasts culled by the visiting nobles are not kept as trophies for the nobles themselves but donated to the common peoples of Hindarfjall as a gift for only the nobles of Hindarfjall itself are permitted to keep and profit from the harvest of the Bergen Ocean.

 

 

Industrial Crawler-Rigs

One of the most dangerous but lucrative jobs a Karl or Thrall can take is to serve on the crew of one of the Industrial Crawler-Rigs. Ever since the nobles of House Cenwulf became a largely military force the Knight Suits of the house rarely venture into the lowlands to put their super-heavy weapons to work mining raw minerals or scavenging archaeotech salvage. Instead that job has fallen to specially outfitted industrial crawler-rigs acquired from the Adeptus Mechanicus. The smallest of these rigs, the Ardent-Class, is twice the size of a Baneblade while the largest, the Maximus-Class, is three time the size of a Capitol Imperialis, literally three mobile chassis linked together into a strange, crawling train of sorts. On the small end the crawlers are fitted with a wide variety of lascutter and melta turrets, rock-grinders, saws and servo-claws of varying sizes and positions. These tools are used to mine ore and extract precious salvage from the vast ruins and mineral seems that are abundant on the surface of the Knight World. When threatened these tools also serve as effective defense weapons to protect the rigs from hostile native fauna and even invading enemy forces. The larger rigs rarely use their hull-mounted equipment to retrieve material directly but instead serve as mobile command centers to deploy a variety of crew equipped with sealed walker suits or servo-rigs who perform the work themselves and return the material aboard grav-sleds, hauler rigs or sometimes common transport vehicles like Cargo-8 land trains. 

 

Despite meters thick armor and environmental shielding cassualties among crawler-rig crews are always high and even those crew who survive a tour on the rigs often return to the fortress-cities with a variety of ailments and infections that severely shorten their life-span. Nevertheless the rewards can be considerable, a single year of service on a crawler-rig nets a Thrall more income than a decade of other work, and if the crawler-rig makes a significant and valuable discovery the crew may be handsomely rewarded by the house. Stories abound of debt-laden Karls and Thralls undertaking risky journeys into seldom travelled reaches and facing terrible dangers only to return with holds full of ancient and priceless technology, earning riches enough to set them and their families up for life. Such rewards insure that every time a crawler-rig is ready to depart on another journey into the lowlands there is no shortage of willing volunteers fighting for the chance to join the crew.

Scrap-Clan Holds

Rarely mentioned in official documentation or correspondence it is a little known fact that there is a class of citizen on Andlang that falls below even the indentured Thralls of House Cenwulf. These beings are known as the Draugr, literally the living-dead, those whose very existence denies the harsh reality of the toxic and radioactive hellscape of the lowlands of the Knight World. Whether this population is made up of Karls and Thralls who could not stand the structured life of service to the house and fled into the wastes or are inhabitants who have carved a living from the polluted ruins in the valleys for thousands of years is unknown. What is known is that the scrap-clans have founded a number of "Holds" throughout the inhospitable lowlands of Andlang. Typically carved into the extensive maze of caverns and tunnels that run across much of the planet the scrap-clans will occasionally set up temporary fortified camps on the surface, typically to stake a claim on some valuable salvage or mineral deposit. Despite the unauthorized and ramshackle nature of the scrap-clans the nobles of House Cenwulf permit their existence for the simple reason that they are hardy survivors, loyal servants of the Imperium, and provide valuable information to the nobles of native threats and valuable materials. 

 

Anything threat the scrap-clans discover that they cannot overcome is fed through informants up to the house while any salvage too large or deeply imbedded for the clans to recover and trade themselves is also fed through a network of informants and traders until it reaches the ears of Andlang's nobility. Valuable information is rewarded through dead-drops of food, medicine, weapons and technology that help keep the clans functioning despite the horrific conditions they face on a daily basis. Although the clans have rejected the normal life of a citizen of Andlang they are not traitors or chaos worshippers, quite the opposite, in times of war when House Cenwulf sounds the call to arms the clans typically turn out in force, their numbers far greater than most on the planet realize. During the last greenskin attack on the planet tens of thousands of scrap-clan warriors engaged in running battles with the orks across much of the surface and several scrap-clan holds came under direct seige.

Folkvangr – The Breadbasket of Kings

The fourth planet in the Vanyr system, Folkvangr is classified as an agri-world by the Administratum. A relatively green and fertile paradise by the standards of the Vanyr system Folkvangr features extensive oceans and a single massive land-mass that is home to hardy forests, fields of grain as far as the eye can see and huge herds of belligerent Grox beasts. The people of Folkvangr are a hardy and proud bunch, largely content in their role as the breadbasket of the Vanyr system. The farmers and ranchers of Folkvangr take great pride in knowing their labor puts food on the tables of Andlang's nobles and their world is watched over and protected by the iron might of a household of Imperial Knights.

Technically Folkvangr is considered by the Imperium to possess limited sovereignty, ruled over by a planetary Governor, possessing its own local Administratum bureau, Ecclesiarchy cathedral, and minor Arbites precinct and would normally be subject to the Imperial tithe. What sets Folkvangr apart from any normal agri-world is that by ancient right the world is claimed by House Cenwulf as a protectorate domain. Given that Imperial Knight worlds, like the homeworlds of Space Marine Chapters, are not subject to the Imperial Tithe, ancient decree dictates that the tithes due from Folkvangr, and the other worlds of House Cenwulf's protectorate, to the Imperium are the rightful claim of House Cenwulf. However the production of the worlds under House Cenwulf's protection far exceed the needs of the house, therefore while House Cenwulf takes a portion of the Imperial tithe the majority is contributed to the good of the wider Imperium. Folkvangr's tithe is primarily composed of a variety of foodstuffs harvested from the fertile and productive world. The wide oceans of Folkvangr produce vast quantities of fish and food-grade algae while the expansive fields grow a variety of grains and a significant portion of the southern region of Folkvangr's principal land-mass is reserved for the Grox pastures. These precious nutritious resources are then exported off-world to supply the ravenous worlds of the Vanyr system and the wider Segmentum. In addition to grains and protein Folkvangr exports hides, bonemeal, and lumber as well as raising regiments of Astra Militarum and supplying conscripts to serve aboard the warships of the Imperial Navy. 

The planetary Governor ultimately rules as a proxy of House Cenwulf, usually overseen by a senior adviser appointed from the ranks of House Cenwulf's nobility. Usually this adviser is a noble who has passed the Becoming and possesses their own armor as well as Armiger-equipped Hirdmenn squires and a retainer of Huscarls and Thralls. This adviser effectively serves as a garrison of the planet, serving to cull the troublesome native fauna that remains and protect the world from foreign attack. The household maintains a small keep known as Steinvikholm located in the outskirts the planetary capitol known as Holmestrand Hive. Even though House Cenwulf typically maintains a modest garrison over their principal off world fiefdom in the Vanyr system Folkvangr also maintains a sizable planetary defense force that is notable in the number of sentinels it can field thanks to a steady supply of such war-machines from the forges of Andlang and Ydalir.

The planetary Capitol Holmestrand is the largest population center on the planet and the only settlement classified as a Hive City. The remaining settlements are mostly farmsteads and modest farming communities featuring a few thousand residents each. A handful of these settlements, including Leirvik, Brekstad, Sandvika, Rjukan and Leif's Landing, number in the tens of thousands but these pale in comparison to the dense millions crammed into Holmestrand. The majority of Holmestrad's population work in the agri-processing mills that process Grox and grain into the finished materials ready to be shipped off-world in the bellies of vast cargo ships. Other inhabitants are required to work in the minor manufactoria that produce the day-to-day goods that keep the mills running and the local vendors stocked while others labor away in the huge underground geo-thermal generatoria plants or haul cargo in the starports. To keep this population in check the planetary Governor maintains a sizable PDF presence in the hive as well as a significant force of Lex Imperialis Enforcers. Not technically members of the Adeptus Arbites the Enforcers serve the Lex under the supervision of an Arbitrator Marshal who serves as the representative of the Arbites in the Vanyr system. Like in most large hives much of the industry in the hive is controlled by entrenched organizations loosely referred to as houses and guilds, each of which maintains an iron-grip on their particular niche role. So long as these organizations maintain acceptable levels of productivity such individual enterprise and monopoly is permitted by the Governor and by extension the nobles of House Cenwulf. Only when productivity falls do the governing forces of Holmestrand come down hard on the hive-dwellers to restore order and maintain production.

Falkenberg Lifeguard

The elite security forces of House Falkenberg, the ruling family of Folkvangr, the Falkenberg Lifeguard are some of the best equipped and most battle-hardened soldiers on the planet. Recruited from the Folkvangr Defense Auxilia the Lifeguard skims the cream of the veteran soldiers serving in Folkvangr's planetary defense force to provide hardened veterans capable of protecting the nobles of the Falkenberg dynasty from their countless political enemies. The Lifeguard rarely deploys on its own and is in reality sub-divided into dozens of individual garrisons armed and armored to the tastes of the individual noble or nobles they are assigned to protect. Many of these garrisons number a few dozen veterans total but taken together the total number of Lifeguard spread across the upper-spires of Holmestrad number in the hundreds. House Falkenberg essentially has an elite private army at it's disposal well suited to locking down and defending the upper-hive should such extreme measures ever be necessary.

Holmestrand Civil Enforcement Division

The Holmestrand Civil Envorcement Division, often shortened to CED or simply as the Enforcers, are Folkvangr's local Adeptus Arbites subordinate enforcement agency. Most of the time only a single member of the Adeptus Arbites lives on Folkvangr and oversees the enforcement of the Lex Imperialis through the locally recruited, trained and equipped enforcers whose authority is directly derived from and subordinate to the Adeptus Arbites. Currently however no actual member of the Arbites serves on Folkvangr, the last incumbent to the position having fallen in combat with cultists in the early years after the opening of the Great Rift and no replacement has ever arrived. In many respects the CED is beholden to and serves the interests of House Falkenberg, the ruling dynasty of Folkvangr, however the extent to which the Civil Enforcement Division is willing to act as the thugs and strong-arms for the Falkenberg's varies from precinct to precinct. Dozens of precincts are scattered throughout Holmestrand Hive, and several existing among the smaller outlying settlements. Each precinct can number from a few dozen to a few hundred Enforcers and is commanded by a Marshall. Marshalls have broad authority to enforce the Lex Imperialis as they see fit within their area of responsibility and may requisition a variety of resources to serve their purpose from construction materials and manual labor to weapons, vehicles, supplies and munitions. Since the opening of the Great Rift the entirety of the Vanyr system has existed on a war footing, a situation that has lasted for decades and seen daily life radically change across the system. Within Holmestrand Hive the Precinct Marshalls often have seniority of command over all local defense forces, the Folkvangr Defense Auxilia officers usually deferring to the authority, experience and local knowledge of their area precinct officers and Marshall in the mustering of supplies, the staging of choke points and perimeters and the deployment of personnel. Although stretched thin by countless minor chaos cults and insurrectionist movements spawned over the last few decades the Enforcers and their PDF allies have largely managed to keep these threats contained and preserve the efficiency and production of Folkvangr and Holmestrand Hive despite the daunting situation.

Folkvangr Defense Auxilia

The largest standing military force on Folkvangr is the Folkvangr Defense Auxilia, otherwise known as the Planetary Defense Force. Equipped with green fatigues and olive-drab weapons and armor the Folkvangr Defense Auxilia are largely formed as a light infantry militia, having only received a relatively minimal amount of training and largely lacking active military experience Folkvangr's PDF is, like most such forces, largely good for holding ground and enforcing martial law over a civilian population and not a great deal more. Some Defense Auxilia units have obtained a decent amount of combat experience in recent decades from deployments against chaos cults, anti-Imperial insurrectionist movements and xenos raids. Many experienced veterans from such units have been recruited by the Falkenberg Lifeguard to provide protection details to the ruling house of Folkvangr while others still have gone on to form the backbone of newly raised Astra Militarum regiments or even been transferred to the Holmestrand Civil Enforcement Division.

The Penitent Legion

In recent years Cardinal Sebastian Wellington has inspired dozens of minor redemptionist cults throughout the mid and lower hive sprawl of Holmestrand. The largest and most powerful of these cults is known as the Penitent Legion. Numbering in their thousands the Penitent Legion are a mixture of the desperate, the zealous and the insane. Armed with junk weapons, wearing little in the way of functional clothing or footwear these religious warriors form the backbone of Cardinal Wellington's legions of faith and frequently undertake crusades to spread the faith of the God-Emperor throughout the hive, calling the sinful and the unfaithful to repent. Most of the Penitent Legion view the Great Rift as a sign of the God-Emperor's displeasure and a sign of Folkvangr's lack of faith. While the ruling elite of Holmestrand typically view the Penitent Legion as a bunch of lunatics who pose little real threat there are indications that House Falkenberg takes the redemptionists much more seriously and has invested considerable resources to observe, contain and direct the cults from a distance and ensure they do not come to cause the Falkenberg dynasty undue difficulties.

The Brotherhood of Shadows

Self-styled information brokers and assassins operating mostly in the mid-hive ranges of Holmestrand the Brotherhood of Shadows is really a lot less significant of an organization as their dramatic name would suggest. For the most part the cloak-and-daggers mask is just pageantry to amuse the minor nobles who like to engage the brotherhood's services but in reality the organization spends most of it's time and energy smuggling weapons and narcotics throughout the hive. There are many rumors whispered throughout the hive that the brotherhood has only managed to maintain it's existence in these trying times because of the patronage of General Hohlt Van Der Graaf. So long as a portion of every weapons shipment finds it's way into the armories of the Folkvangr Defense Auxilia the general seems willing to turn a blind eye to the operations of the brotherhood and protect the organization from the prying eyes of other gangs and the Enforcers as well.

The Ironblood Clans

Many centuries ago the Falkenberg's imported feral worlders to augment the work-servitor crews charged with loading and unloading the industrial dockyards that ship the produce of Folkvangr off-world and import the many goods and materials needed to keep the planet running. This back-breaking labor had long proven too punishing for most local-stock to handle and so the Falkenberg's decided to bring in hardier workers from nearby systems to do the dirty work of moving and handling the massive shipping containers and their contents instead of having to rely mostly on expensive and maintenance intensive industrial servitors. Though this plan has proven overall quite successful the result has been the forma

tion of the Ironblood Clans. Raised from an early age in the rusted sprawls of worn-out containers, maintenance yards and mass-storage warehouses the former feral-worlders have become increasingly violent and territorial, clashing with other criminal and civil organizations throughout the hive for control of the docks and the goods that pass through them. Armed mostly with repurposed tools and crude scrap-metal weapons the Ironblood Clans are brutal and unsophisticated but dangerous nevertheless. Fortunately for everyone else the clans seem content to spend most of their time fighting each-other. However calls for a concerted action against the clans have only increased in recent years and it may soon become necessary for the PDF and the Enforcers to clean house.

The Agricultural Cooperative

The bulk of the agricultural settlements scattered across Folkvangr are members of one or another of the various Agricultural Cooperatives. These organizations serve to provide protection and material support to the farmsteads and family groups that make up the rural population of the planet. Although these cooperatives are ostensibly upright and legal organizations the reality is that much of their activities are fairly criminal in nature. Most farmsteads pay protection fees to their local cooperative and many are forced to contribute juve fighters to the ranks of the cooperatives. The armed members of the cooperatives often fight to protect their stranglehold on the agri-trains, granaries and territory under their control against the hostile intentions of either other cooperatives or any of the various other criminal organizations on the planet or the civil authorities. Although not as numerous as some of the other criminal gangs across Folkvangr the Agricultural Cooperatives somewhat legal nature allows them to obtain better weapons and training than many of their competitors and their fighters tend to be capable and heavily armed. Since the appearance of the Great Rift the Agricultural Cooperatives have become much more militant in their attitude. Although the presence of the rift is felt by nearly everyone on the planet most of the hivers have kilometers of structure between them and the open sky and are somewhat insulated from it's oppressive presence. Out among the farmsteads and smaller settlements across the planet that is not the case and the ever visible rift has had a significantly deleterious effect on the population. Together with the Folkvangr Defense Auxilia formations of armed cooperative gangers have taken to enforcing strict curfews, performing regular searches and medical checks at chokepoints around settlements and transitways and undertaken frequent patrols all to combat the spread of radical cults and insurgent cells.

The Rad Devils

The collection of smugglers, merchants, mercenaries and arms dealers known as the Rad Devils to the hivers are officially recognized as the Ydalirian Free Merchants. Although much of the manual labor performed on the Forge World Minoris of Ydalir is performed by mind-wiped servitors some jobs still require a conscious mind to effectively perform, or are simply tasks to menial to assign a valuable servitor. In both situations the Ydalirian priesthood turns to a body of indentured workers culled primarily from the population of Folkvangr. Inevitably the regular trade between the worlds of the Vanyr system and the accumulation of experience, and thus value, among some workers has enabled the formation of a semi-independent merchant caste among the indentured population of Ydalir. This cast has managed to assemble a modest fleet of merchant transports and over time took over most of the inter-planetary trade between the three inhabited worlds of the Vanyr system. Because of their long-term exposure to the harsh environments of Ydalir without the augmentation and protection of the priesthood or their Skitarii servants these merchant clans typically bear an unhealthy, radiation sick appearance and unnaturally short life-spans leading to their common hiver-given cognomen the Rad Devils. Such proximity to the realm of the Mechanicus is not entirely without it's benefits however. With such close access to the forges of the Martian priests the Ydalirian Free Merchants are able to skim some potent and esoteric weapons and equipment, for either their own personal use or blackmarket sale across the Vanyr system. Of all the criminal organizations in the Vanyr system the Rad Devils are easily the best armed and armored. However the short life-spans and general poor health of the Rad Devils gangers means that they are not the hardiest or best trained fighters, often relying on firepower and the intimidating effect of their strange and terrifying weapons to make up for their lack of grit or experience. Increasingly some of the other gangs, like the Cooperatives and the Ironblood Clans, have come to realize that if they can weather the initial salvoes of fire from the Rad Devils gangers a stern charge and determined melee will usually carry the day against the pale Ydalirian natives.

The Savage Valkyries

Often referred to as the Death Maidens by their enemies the self-styled Savage Valkyries are one of the smallest but easily the best known of the gangs operating within Holmestrand Hive. Composed exclusively of female gangers recruited from the ranks of street walkers and exotic dancers the Savage Valkyries delight in explosive and brutal displays of firepower and dazzling blade work to exact bitter vengeance against those they believe have wronged them. Unlike most of the other gangs the Death Maidens have little in the way of a greater purpose, delusions of grandeur or designs on power. The Death Maidens do not even maintain much in the way of an established territory, but shift randomly from safe-house to safe-house, shifting across districts, precincts and levels freely, never tending to stay in one place for too long lest they draw the ire and hostile intentions of another gang. In head-on confrontations with most other gangs the Valkyries fare poorly, relying instead of numerical superiority, ambush, assassination and sabotage to accomplish their goals, whatever those happen to be at the time. The only gang that does not seem to draw much attention from the Valkyries are the Rad Devils, who the Valkyries seem to treat with equal parts aversion and pity and the two gangs consequently rarely cross paths. However more than a few cooperative, ironblood, brotherhood and legion gangers have found themselves crossing the wrong working girl and paying for it.

The Children of Ruin

One of the most pervasive and difficult to stamp out threats to the security of Holmestrand Hive since the opening of the Great Rift have been a succession of chaos cults collectively known as the Children of Ruin. The oppressive presence of the Great Rift has a warping effect on the minds of even the hardiest of individuals, down in the depths of the hive this effect is even more pronounced on the malnourished and ill denizens. With increasing frequency bands of cultists have caused problems as far as the mid-hive and ever greater numbers of Folkvangr Defense Auxilia troopers and Enforcers have had to be called upon to clear out the cultists and prevent further disruption to the hive. Yet after each cleanse yet more cultists emerge within short order and the process must be repeated once again. As the years have progressed these cults have become ever more numerous, better organized and better armed leading many among the upper-echelons of the hive to fear infiltration by elements of the traitor legions. Several members of House Cenwulf and their armor have been recently deployed to the hive to aid in rooting out the cults and take action should heretic infiltration be confirmed.

The Eaters of the Dead

The Bloody Butchers, the Skinning Blades, the Skull Harvesters, the Brotherhood of Bone, there are many names to describe these savage murderers but all pale in the face of reality. Recruited from the savage feral-worlder Ironblood Clans these deadly killers are a brutal off-shoot of the chaos cults that have begun to cause such problems in the under-hive of Holmestrand in recent years. Only the youngest and least experienced members of the Eaters of the Dead even bother to carry projectile weapons, the greater bulk of the cultists exclusively bear deadly melee weapons, skinning blades, executioners axes and a variety of deadly chain axes. The Ironblood Clans are already savage and deadly warriors, huge, heavily muscled and prone to excessive violence. Warped by the corrupting influence of the Blood God these fighters become truly terrifying opponents that have caused no end of difficulty for the defenders of Holmestrand. Countless patrols of Enforcers and Defense Auxilia troopers have gone missing only for their empty skins, severed heads, or dismembered corpses to be discovered later arranged into grisly and gruesome displays. Members of House Falkenberg and the elite Lifeguard have made it their personal responsibility to track down and eradicate bands of Khornate cannibals. No matter how many have been destroyed however yet more seem to appear seemingly from the very walls of the hive itself. Calls for the complete extermination of the feral-world clans have only increased as the bloody rampages of the cannibal cults have continued unabated.

Ydalir – Forge World Minoris

First established shortly after the rediscovery of the Vanyr system by the Imperium the world of Ydalir was settled by the priests of the Forge World Lokabrenna and remains a sub-domain of that greater Forge World to this day. Thanks in part to the ancient archaeotech archives of House Cenwulf the small Forge World quickly became famed for the quality and quantity of walker-based weapons systems produced in its forges.

Ydalir is a world of mountains and craggy volcanic plains formed in millennia past for those ancient volcanoes fell dormant long ago. What remains is a harsh and hostile world with a thin, only barely breathable atmosphere. Life clings to Ydalir only thanks to the technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus and a constant supply of fresh workers and vast quantities of foodstuffs from Folkvangr and beyond. The only major body of liquid on the surface is the Sogndal Promethium Sea, otherwise the surface is entirely dry and barren. Few hardy planets persist on the surface and what little fauna they support is almost universally hostile and dangerous. Nevertheless the solid, stable ground, rich mineral resources and modest atmosphere make Ydalir a prime location for exploitation by the Adeptus Mechanicus and so it's surface now teems with massive forge-sprawls, vast wastelands of junk and slag and clouds of toxic fumes belched from chimneys that have not gone cold since the day they were built thousands of years ago. 

Sentinels march from the factories in their many thousands every year, helping supply the Astra Militarum and planetary defense forces across the Segmentum. The forges of Ydalir are also one of the relatively few sources of newly manufactured Adeptus Astartes Dreadnoughts in the region. Unlike the countless Leman Russ, Chimera or Sentinel platforms that roll from the factory floors of forges and manufactorum across the Imperium the Dreadnoughts of the Space Marines rely on ancient and complex technologies that are difficult to maintain, let alone newly manufacture. To produce new Dreadnoughts requires rare and precious materials, as well as extensive knowledge. Thanks to Ydalir's long-standing alliance with House Cenwulf, and thus access to the extensive tech-lore and experience of the house Sacristans, the Forge World Minoris is able to produce a modest but steady number of advanced walker technologies including Dreadnoughts, Penitent Engines and Imperial Knights. The Dreadnoughts produced on Ydalir supply several chapters operating in the Segmentum including the Space Wolves. In the thirty-seventh millennium the priesthood of Ydalir acquired the rights and STC-data to produce Mars-Pattern Warhound Titans. The production of new Scout-class God-Engines has significantly increased the native garrison of the Legio Sirius, which has maintained a modest presence on Ydalir since relatively early in the Forge World's existence. The Legio Sirius maintains a force of three maniples of God-machines quartered in the Ironwolf Bastion, the Legio fortress headquarters on Ydalir.

 

The Capitol of Ydalir is the Stravanger Forge Temple, a hive-city in it's own right located at the heart of the Namsos Forge Sprawl, Stravanger is the seat of the ruling Magi Administrators from the principal Forge World of Lokabrenna and the highest ranking priests of Ydalir itself. The Namsos Forge Sprawl itself contains ten further major forge-complexes as well as the critical Titan Forge and two large space-ports and thirteen hab-complexes that serve to house the millions of worker-thralls necessary to keep the forges running and are each themselves essentially minor hive-cities. Ydalir also features three further forge sprawls dubbed Narvik, Drammen and Grimstad as well as the Promethium refiner island known as Hvitsen. Trondheim Mountain is another notable feature of the planet, the tallest peak on a world dotted with large mountains, which features it's own dedicated communications fortress-station high atop it's crags and helps ensure that the various forge complexes remain in constant and reliable communication as well as managing a continual and massive stream of transmissions to and from the planet and the rest of the system. Between the Namsos and Grimstad Forge Sprawls lies a massive plain carpeted in the defective, obsolete or discarded castoff of the various forge facilities across the planet, known as the Junkyard Plains this region is a frequent haunt of scavengers and renegades who make a living trawling through the scrap for valuable pieces of technology or material. Three relatively independent settlements known as Mandal, Horten and Sarpsborg also dot the surface of the planet. Mandal and Horten serve to maintain and service the vast road networks and railway lines that criss-cross the surface of Ydalir and permit the mass movement of goods and raw materials from one hive sprawl to another. Sarpsborg, a comparatively minor settlement, is located at the foot of Trondheim Mountain and serves to maintain and garrison the Varde Comm station atop the mountain. 

 

The Ironwolf Bastion, home of the Legio Sirius garrison, was carved into the depths of a dormant volcano located to the far north of the planet. Much of the surrounding terrain is dominated by a treacherous region of unstable chasms and fissures formed from volcanic glass. In a singular failure of imagination this region was dubbed the Labyrinth of Glass and serves as the first and most treacherous line of defense for the Ironwolf Bastion. Only a single major road bisects the labyrinth, known as the Giant's Causeway this huge bridge network bored into the bedrock beneath the obsidian plains can be collapsed at a moment's notice, sealing the Ironwolf bastion away from the rest of the planet and preventing any invading army from easily assailing the fortress. As such it should be no surprise that the Ironwolf Bastion serves as the fortification of last-resort and a safe-haven for the Adeptus Mechanicus of Ydalir in the event of a catastrophic and overwhelming invasion. Much of the most precious data and technological secrets of Ydalir have backup copies stored in stasis-shielded crypts beneath the bastion, allowing the Mechanicus the option of destroying the principal archives to deny them to any attacker and withdrawing to the north at speed without risking the permanent loss of Ydalir's most precious resource; it's knowledge.

Planetary Defense Maniples

The Forge World Minoris of Ydalir, while continually growing and expanding it's production and consumption possesses a relatively small population of non-augmented human workers. Much of Ydalir's work-force is made up of augmented and mind-wiped servitors of various grades. Raw material for these servitors is sourced from the prisons of Folkvangr and Andlang as well as from worlds in nearby systems, most notably from worlds that fall within the protection of House Cenwulf. Other bodies used in the manufacture of servitors on Ydalir are purpose grown, sculpted to perform specific tasks or functions. With a steady and reliable supply of raw material and with the native conditions on Ydalir remaining quite harsh to unaugmented humans despite the centuries of terraforming the Ydalirian Mechanicus have little demand for baseline human workers and so the human population of Ydalir has remained largely the same for decades. This emphasis on servitors also translates into the defensive forces available to the Ydalirian Mechanicus. Some Skitarii patrol the forges and crew defenses across the planet but the bulk of the non-Titanicus military forces garrisoning the planet are made up of combat grade servitors and battle automata. Company strength maniples of Kataphron battle-servitors and Kastellan robots patrol the battlements of the forge temples, guard the portals and serve as bodyguards to the priests themselves. In times of need thousands of menial servitors can be armed and deployed as expendable Tech-Thralls or baseline combat servitors and it has even been known for the Ydalir priesthood to arm and deploy the modest baseline human population as canon fodder, much to the dismay of the workers. Any loss of life is deemed acceptable in the service of preserving the machines and the forges. It is not uncommon for joint deployment of Ydalirian Planetary Defense Maniples and House Cenwulf forces to result in the Huscarls of House Cenwulf making up the bulk of the Tech-Guard equivalent soldiery while the majority of the Ydalir forces are comprised of combat-grade servitors and automata.

The Legio Sirius - The Void Wolves 

The principal domain of the Legio Sirius is the Forge World of Lokabrenna, home to the Legio fortress, the Black and Silver Mountain. Like many legio of the Collegia Titanica however the Legio Sirius maintains outposts and garrisons on a number of worlds, including the growing Forge World Minoris of Ydalir in the Vanyr system. From their garrison fortress the Ironwolf Bastion the Legio Sirius maintains regular patrols across the surface of Ydalir and dispatches maniples to join the campaigns of the Ydalirian Mechanicus forces or commit Titans to the campaigns of House Cenwulf, or sector Crusades. In total the Legio Sirius garrison housed on Ydalir numbers three maniples, one battle-line maniple composed of a Warlord Titan, two Reaver Titans and three Warhound Titans, and two scout maniples composed of five Warhound Titans each. This is a relatively small garrison for a Titan Legio but a sizable concentration of force should it be committed to any single warzone in the region. Most times the Legio Sirius will deploy one of the scout maniples or even a single Warhound to join a campaign, crusade or expedition, most often keeping the battle-line maniple on Ydalir to secure the legio fortress with the strongest engines available. As the forges on Ydalir continue to grow and production expands however it is likely that the legio garrison will be expanded as well, with more maniples added in direct relation to the growing power of the Forge World Minoris. For their part the princeps of the Legio Sirius have found considerable commonality in their favored strategies and combat doctrine with the nobles of House Cenwulf. When they take to the field together it is not uncommon for the roaming lances of House Cenwulf knights to lure enemies into careful ambushes prepared by the Warhound Titans of the Legio Sirius, who are adept ambush and pack hunters adept at taking on larger prey.

Mining Clan Zirak - The Dispossessed

Centuries ago many of the homeworlds of the Squat race of sanctioned abhumans were wiped out by the coming of the Tyranids. Since then most contact between the surviving squats, most of whom are known as the Leagues of Votann, has been minimal at best. However some clans fled to other worlds in the Imperium such as Necromunda and established themselves as craftsmen, traders, miners and salvagers of considerable skill. One such group was Clan Zirak, who found refuge among the forge-halls of Lokabrenna. Over time small numbers of the Ziraki have filtered through the wider trade networks of Lokabrenna and taken up residence on other worlds, particularly the Forge World Minoris Ydalir. The numbers of the Ziraki on Ydalir are largely unknown, the Squats tending to be insular and secretive, keeping to themselves unless absolutely necessary. However their presence has not gone unnoticed and in recent decades the Ziraki have gained a reputation as trustworthy and accomplished warriors and craftsmen and found themselves fairly warmly welcomed among the vassal domains of House Cenwulf. The existence of a clan of abhumans in the Vanyr system has caused some within the more conservative branches of the house to raise some concern but given the desperate times most criticisms are laid aside in recognition of the desperate need for every capable sword arm. At least one of the Ziraki has found a place among the Tech Priests of Ydalir and even been granted the privilege of serving aboard one of the Warhound Titans of the Legio Sirius, a great honor and an unusual one for a squat to obtain. As yet none of the Ziraki have gained access to the archaeotech rich wastelands of Andlang itself though doubtless the squat clan would relish the opportunity to delve into such rich fields of salvage, regardless of the inherent hazards and dangers.

The House Cenwulf Protectorate Domains

Although Andlang is not the officially recognized administrative capitol of the Vanyr sub-sector, the nobles of House Cenwulf are clearly the dominant power in the region and nearly every inhabited system in the sub-sector is sworn to the stewardship of the Imperial Knight house. Official records vary in regards to the actual administrative seat of the sub-sector with some records indicating Folkvangr is the capitol while others list no single world as the seat of recognized governance. Few would be foolish enough however not to realize that nearly everything that happens in the region does so at the pleasure of House Cenwulf. The presence of the Imperial Knight House is indeed the reason the sub-sector is named after the Vanyr system, though that was only done in the mid thirty-eighth millennium. Prior to that the region was known as the Austerlitz Reach, dubbed as such by the famous Rogue Trader explorator Albrecht von Austerlitz and marked the furthest extent of his explorations from Terra before his death in the mid-years of the Great Crusade. The sub-sector contains dozens of systems but only a small number are inhabited. Situated roughly at the center of the sub-sector is the Vanyr system itself, home to the Forge World Minoris Ydalir, the Agri-World Folkvangr and of course the Imperial Knight world Andlang. Four other systems in the sub-sector feature notable habitation and a few others feature minor outposts and backwater worlds though possess few resources or forces of any strategic significance.

The Krastenwald System

-The closest neighbor to the Vanyr system the Krastenwald system is home to four inhabited planets. The system capitol is the Hive World of Nevsky, a populous and relatively prosperous world that is largely known for raising numerous Astra Militarum regiments. Two agri-worlds, Falkner's Reach and Halvard's Hope drift through a lazy and slow orbit with long growing seasons and mild winters. Praxis IV is the final inhabited planetoid in the system and is actually the fourth of eleven moons orbiting the Gas Giant known as Praxis. The gas giant has been used as a refueling stop for Imperial Navy patrols and merchant vessels traveling through the region since the late thirty-fourth millennium and is really the most vital economic asset of the Krastenwald system. Possessed of only a relatively weak gravity Praxis IV made an excellent anchor for a sizable dockyard facility that extends some kilometers from the surface and enables even capitol-class vessels to dock for minor refit-repairs and refueling. Dozens of orbital refineries and gas processing stations orbit the planet and a fleet of bulk-cargo haulers make ceaseless round-trips to bring the product of those stations to the fourth moon. A small enclave of Ydalirian Mechanicus personnel is located on Praxis IV and oversees the maintenance of the dockyards and ensures the continued supply of vital fuel and resources to the vessels that dock there. 

The Krastenwald Defense Forces

-The worlds of the Krastenwald system maintain sizable standing armies of volunteer soldiers known collectively as the Krastenwald Defense Forces. The rulers of Krastenwald's planets are largely benevolent monarchs who allow their people a standard of living and social freedoms notably greater than those on many populous Imperial worlds and in return the native inhabitants are fiercely loyal to their rulers and proud defenders of their homeworlds and their traditions. Most natives of Nevsky, Falkner's Reach and Halvard's Hope voluntarily serve in one of the defense regiments for at least a minimum term of service following their graduation from the local scholas. Upon discharge from their regiments the citizens are permitted to keep their service-issue weapons. Competition between the PDF regiments of the Krastenwald Defense Forces is fierce and each world maintains its own particular traditions, standards of armament and favored strategies. Regiments of Astra Militarum are regularly raised from all three of the major planets of the system and generally these regiments will conform closely to the traditions of their homeworld. The Nevskian Grenadiers raised from the Hive World of Nevsky are heavily armed and highly trained shock troops who thrive in dense urban combat environments and siege assault and are equipped with large numbers of grenade launchers, mortars, Basilisk and Wyvern artillery tanks. The Falkner's Rifles light infantry regiments raised from Falkner's Reach are famed marksmen, recruited from the hunters and trappers living in remote settlements across the agri-world. These regiments typically include large numbers of snipers and heavy weapon teams armed with lascannons and autocannons. Few are the foes that can withstand the withering and deadly accurate volleys of las-fire from Falkner's Rifles regiments and their heavy weapons in particular are renowned for their lethal accuracy and ability to bring down anything from enemy heavy armor to deadly Tyranid Carnifex. The last and perhaps most unusual formations are the Raptoryx Lancers Cavalry Regiments raised from Halvard's Hope. The agri-world is home to many native reptilian fauna, some of which the natives have domesticated over the millennia. The most fearsome of these domesticated beasts are the Raptoryx, large carnivorous hunters that can carry an armored lancer into battle at high speed. Even the most blood-crazed orks mobs tend to crumble under the charge of a hundred Raptoryx Lancers driving into their formation with hunting lances lowered. The explosive tips of the hunting lances can punch through the armor of battle-tanks or blast an armored soldier into pieces. The dockyards of Praxis IV also raise the occasional regiments and maintain their own Krastenwald Defense Force known as the Praxis Merchant Guard. Outfitted in a manner akin to the Naval Armsmen or the Imperial Navy the Praxis Merchant Guard are universally equipped with hardened void armor and las-carbines supplied by the Merchant Guilds that raise and maintain their formations. Praxis regiments are capable of operating for limited durations in the hard vacuum of space or in the halls and decks of starships whose life-support has failed or whose hulls have been breached.

The Mazzanti System

-What sick and decrepit survivors of Old Night remained in the Mazzanti system did not survive the Imperium's purges during the later years of the Great Crusade. Cleansed of aberrant life and deviant mutation by the forces of the Expeditionary Fleets the system was marked for resettlement and fleets of colonists were prepared, and then the Horus Heresy broke out. All plans to settle the system collapsed and for centuries the remote backwater was left empty and abandoned. Bar one minor clash between Legiones Astartes forces belonging to the VI and XII Legions during the Scouring the system remained empty and uninhabited until the early thirty-third millennium when the Mazzanti Rogue Trader Dynasty was awarded the system in exchange for their service during the Bellicosa Crusade. The capitol of the system is the hive world of Mazzanti Prime. Mazanti Tertius, Quintus and Septimus are all mining worlds and the outermost Mazzanti Novem is a penal world. Of all the systems in the protectorate of House Cenwulf the Mazzanti system is the most reluctant vassal and the most rebellious. Even though the ruling Mazzanti dynasty lost it's writ of trade millennia ago the nobles of the clan continuously attempt to deny House Cenwulf it's due tithe and are ever making demands for aid or providing pitiful excuses for tribute shortfalls. Twice in the last thousand years detachments from House Cenwulf have been forced to deploy to the system to put the Mazzanti's back in their place and remind them of where the power in the sub-sector truly lays. While troublesome the system does provide a considerable wealth of raw material and processed goods that help ensure House Cenwulf remains wealthy and powerful and so the house is ever quick to ensure that the system does not slip the yoke of control or get delusions of independence.

The Mazzanti Dragoons

-The Planetary Defense forces of the worlds of the Mazzanti System are all known as the Mazzanti Dragoons. Well supplied by the manufactoria of Mazzanti Prime the regiments of PDF and the Astra Militarum forces raised from the system are all outfitted as Mechanized Infantry Regiments. Equipped with Chimera armored transports and supported by companies of Leman Russ Battle Tanks these regiments are some of the best to be found in the Vanyr sector. Despite their high standards of training and equipment the Mazzanti Dragoons are generally disliked by Imperial forces that have fought alongside them. Regiments raised from the Mazzanti system have a reputation for arrogance and insubordination, often taking charitable interpretations of their orders or flaunting authority entirely on the battlefield, following their own discretion and pursuing personal glory in favor of assigned battlefield objectives. Brash bullies the Mazzanti Dragoons know they are better equipped than many of the Astra Militarum regiments they will be deployed alongside and often use their status to demand the best accommodations and rations and secure for themselves the most cushy assignments they can. Given the origin of these regiments as the brutal enforces of the Mazzanti dynasty this attitude is far from surprising. Within the Mazzanti system the Dragoon PDF regiments are feared and respected as ruthless and implacable fist of the Mazzanti clan and will mercilessly suppress any and all resistance to their benefactor's will.

The Novem Deathsworn

-Most of the penal inhabitants of Mazzanti Novem are debtors, former mine or manufactorum workers who failed to meet their quotas and fell into debt to the Mazzanti clan. Ruthless collectors the Mazzanti nobles never forget a debt and falling behind on tithes ensures not only the bondage of the worker but their entire family will be forced into indentured servitude until the debt is paid off, a veritable death sentence given that such a task is almost invariably impossible. Only service with the Penal Legions raised from Mazzanti Novem offers liberation for the debtor's family, joining the Imperial tithe serving to pay-off any and all outstanding debts to House Mazzanti. Thus it is little surprise then that countless thousands of prisoners on Mazzanti Novem crowd the recruitment stations anytime the raising of a Penal Legion is ordered. Fitted with bomb-collars to ensure loyalty and chem-injectors to remove fear and drive the conscript soldiers into killing fury the Novem Deathsworn are brutal forlorn hope forces intended to be used as canon fodder and close assault forces, fighting to the last to fulfill their service and free their families from bondage.

The Caspian System

-The most remote of the inhabited systems of the Vanyr Sub-Sector the Caspain system is home to three inhabited worlds, the Feudal World of Caspian Sigma, the Feral World of Caspian Delta and the Death World of Caspian Beta. Although almost entirely unproductive these worlds are well liked by the nobles of House Cenwulf who will at times undertake beast hunts across them and maintain the system as something of a game preserve. Younger nobles of the House will often be brought to one or more of the planets of the Caspian system to undertake training regimens. Caspian Beta in particular offers a wide variety of deadly megafauna that are entirely capable of damaging or even destroying an Imperial Knight and so young nobles must be careful and exercise caution and work together if they wish to prove successful on beast hunts through the planet's fetid swamps and jungles. Caspian Sigma is also home to House Cenwulf's principal tournament grounds. The remote eastern mountain range of the planet features an expansive hidden valley accessible only by a handful of narrow and treacherous passes that are all but impassible in winter. This remote valley makes for a picturesque setting for noble contests of arms as it possesses lush woodlands, flowing streams and still ponds, ivy-choked ruins and moss covered wreckage from past battles and tournaments. Whenever possible the nobles of House Cenwulf prefer to invite guests from other houses to Caspian Sigma instead of to Andlang for political negotiations, contests of arms and to settle disputes of honor. Few outsiders wish to set foot on the toxic soil of Andlang and it makes for a poor setting for an honorable contest of arms between knights. Caspian Sigma maintains its own Imperial Governor and limited offices from various adeptus of the Imperium but the local level of technology is generally kept quite low. Caspian Sigma tithes a modest amount of foodstuffs and raw minerals to the Imperium as well as the occasional regiment of light infantry to the armies of the Astra Militarum raised from among the local Preceptoral Guard defense forces. 

The Preceptoral Guard

-The predominant military force on Caspian Sigma the Preceptoral Guard are a cross between a native Planetary Defense Force and local arbitrators. Their duties mostly revolve around enforcing civil order and basic law enforcement however in times of crisis the various formations may be called upon to serve in the military defense of Caspian Sigma, especially when the threat is relatively minor or the nobles of House Cenwulf are not present to defend the planet and its fortresses. Each company or regiment of the Preceptoral Guard is garrisoned in one of the noble-owned chateaus, or castles, that dominate the fertile countryside of Caspian Sigma. The primary armament of the Preceptoral Guard, or Gendarmes, is the las-lock, a crude but functional lasgun of ancient pattern with a slower rate of fire than a typical Kantrael pattern weapon but a longer range and requiring less training to use effectively. The elite of the Preceptoral Guard are the Gardes-du-Corps, the bodyguards of the local nobility who wear armored chestplates and helmets and typically carry modern lasguns supplied from the forges of Ydalir. Few in number the Gardes-du-Corps are trained to a higher degree than most of the rest of the soldiers and civilians on Caspian Sigma and are among the few locals capable of operating basic vox casters and manning the moderate defensive weapons and shield systems of the chateau fortresses.

The Kagrian Knives

-Regiments of Astra Militarum are occasionally raised from among the feral inhabitants of Caspian Delta, virtually the only tithe the world contributes to the Imperium. Recruited from the native headhunter Knife Clans who refer to their world as Kagria the so-called Kagrian Knives Regiments are brutal close-quarters jungle fighters who favor the thrill of slitting an Ork's throat in silent ambush above anything else. Largely undisciplined and barbaric the Kagrian Knives are rarely deployed in large numbers alongside other regiments and are often tasked with scouting, ambush and interference operations where their individual cunning and violence can be put to best use without adversely affecting other Imperial forces. A young Kagrian tribesman must claim a tooth from one of the sabretusk alphas that stalk the jungles of Caspian Delta to earn the right to call himself a hunter. Possessing not even bronze-age technology most of the tools and adornments of the Kagrian tribes are made from animal hides and bones and their primary weapons are made from the large canine fangs of the sabretusks that are the alpha predators of the planet. As long as a human forearm and razor sharp these blades make for deadly weapons and are symbols of status among the clans. Regiments raised from Caspian Delta are forced to abandon their canine knives but are instead often issued with long adamantium blades based on the Catachan Fangs of the famed jungle-fighter regiments. Notably the demeanor of the Kagrian Knives changes dramatically in the presence of the Knight Titans of House Cenwulf who the Kagrians view as war-angels of destruction, the iron children of the Emperor. Orders issued by a scion of House Cenwulf are obeyed without question. As such occasionally war hosts of House Cenwulf will choose to travel with one or more Regiments of Kagrians to make use of their unquestioning loyalty.

The Triton System

-Before the opening of the Great Rift the Triton system was a moderately prosperous and peaceful system on the edge of the Vanyr Sub-Sector. Composed of four inhabited planets, the Industrial World and system capitol Uriah's Hope and the agri-world's Saint Sebastian's Will, Ovid's Folly, and Marna's Rest the system produced a steady stream of goods and foodstuffs as tithe to both the Imperium and House Cenwulf, raised regiments for the Astra Militarum, contributed conscripts to the Imperial Navy and was otherwise a relatively quiet and remote place. The Great Rift changed all of that. Raiders coming from the rift towards the more strategically important systems in the sub-sector must pass through the Triton System before reaching the Krastenwald or Vanyr systems and as such Triton was the first to come under attack by pirates, traitors and renegades. The system was left in utter ruins by the attack and, though a fleet led by House Cenwulf drove the enemy from the system, Triton was forever changed. The capitol, Uriah's Hope, had been virus bombed and Saint Sebastian's Will was a complete ruin, its people dead, its cities ruined and its surface dotted with the carcasses of scores of ships fallen to the surface during the void battle against the traitors. Now only Marna's Rest still produces any agricultural goods and these are reserved almost exclusively to supply the growing number of defenders packed into the system. Ovid's Folly has been heavily rebuilt as a Fortress World, it's defenses vastly expanded and hardened by the efforts of the Mechanicus and House Cenwulf. Huge fortified garrison cities rise from the ruins of the previous agricultural communities while the vast farmlands are now criss-crossed with razorwire, minefields and trenches. Turrets jut towards the sky and void-shields flicker over the walls. Nearly twenty Imperial Knights of House Cenwulf garrison the planet, the largest detachment stationed anywhere beyond Andlang itself. Hundreds of thousands of men and women at arms fill the fortresses and millions more are destined to join them.
 

 

Since the initial chaos invasion Ovid's Folly has become more commonly known as the Tritonhold. Three star fortresses fill the orbit over the planet supported by dozens of orbital defense guns. On the surface most of the original settlements have been left as the scorched ruins they were left after the first invasion was repulsed. Once tranquil and beautiful cities such as Krefeld, Rostock and Dortmund are now deserted graveyards, the broken ruins rapidly reclaimed by the aggressive ironbark forrests native to the planet that have stubbornly resisted the efforts of constant warfare to completely burn out. The former capitol of Regensburg remains and has been heavily rebuilt and fortified and surrounded by a massive starport that serves as the primary receiving facility for off-world resources and personnel for the planet. To the east the fortress hive of Jena has only recently been completed, while to the west Chemnitz and Erlangen form a ring of fortresses around the new capitol: Wolfsburg. Named in honor of the warriors of House Cenwulf who fell in the defense of the world the new capitol was built in just a few years, the result of incredible macro-engineering by the Magi of Ydalir and Lokabrenna. The central fortress tower is the home of the House Cenwulf garrison, numbering twenty Knights and almost two score Armigers, plus thousands of Huscarls and Thralls. Wolfsburg forms the lynchpin of an unbroken line of fortifications that stretch from the Tegernsee Ocean to the west to the Mummelsee Ocean to the east. Three lines of heavily fortified defense lines, each composed of trenches, ferrocrete walls that stretch for kilometers, thousands of miles of razorwire, millions of mines and hundreds of defense weapon batteries, bunkers and bastion towers. Behind these lines are the great artillery yards, dozens of them, each housing anything from a handful to a score of super-heavy howizer guns, each capable of firing shells the size of a tank miles into the distance. These great guns are supported by hundreds of lesser artillery pieces of all shapes and sizes, from man-portable mortars to massive earthshaker guns. After years of near constant warfare against the hordes of chaos spewing forth from the Great Rift the once verdant fields and plains between the defense lines and around the artillery yards have become known as the Warfields, dumping grounds for tens of millions of spent shell casings, broken weapons, ration tins, energy cells and whatever other detritus is produced by armies chewing through supplies and equipment. These fields themselves have on occasion proven an effective barrier, their shifting mass of refuse, itself full of caustic, toxic, flammable and explosive compounds and contaminants proves inhospitable ground for any conventional army to attempt to traverse.

All of the remaining cities south of Wolfsburg before the Westreach penninsula have been left abandoned. Bielefeld, Karlsruhe, Koblenz, Moers, and Aachen remain as nothing more than broken corpses. Westreach penninsula however was heavily fortified for the hive-fortress of Neuss serves as the guardian of the Primus continent's only major port-facilities. Kiel to the north and Herne on the western tip of the penninsula further shield the port and are supported by fortified defense lines that ring the coast line and port. Most of the macro-habs that house the civilian and worker population of Tritonhold are located in the interior of the penninsula, protected from attack by the massive fortifications to the east and west. 

The southern island is home to the ruins of Krefeld and Rostock while to the north-west of Herne are the ruins of Dortmund. A fortified ring of bastions stand on the opposite side of Dortmund's island, built to contain and engage the heretic forces still bunkered down in the ruins of the former agri-hive. A small chain of uninhabited islands separate Dortmund from the fortress of Heilbronn to the north-east and further north, to the west of the Primus continent are the fortresses of Ulm and Darmstadt. Darmstadt itself stands watch over the great ironbark forrests of the secundus continent. So dense and hostile to cultivation are these forrests that, short of overwhelming orbital bombardment, the region has been considered impractical to clear and settle and so the native fauna is kept in check by Darmstadt. A series of islands around Ulm and off the eastern coast of the Primus continent house orbital defense weaponry protected by manned defense bastions, these facilities are formidable but ultimately expendable, built to harass any enemy attempting to achieve landings on the Primus continent and divert forces to silence them that would otherwise be used to press the assaults on the principal defenses around Wolfsburg and Neuss.

In a few short years, and under constant attack, the world of Ovid's Folly has been transformed into a formidable bullwark against the threats spilling from the Great Rift. Millions of soldiers have fought and died across the battered landscape and many millions more will likely be hurled into the cauldron of war before the tide is stemmed.

The Triton Defense Corps

-Like the other systems of the Vanyr sector the worlds of the Triton system once maintained their own distinct planetary defense forces that maintained their own heraldry, equipment and traditions and possessed proud histories dating back millennia. The opening of the rift and the chaos invasions that followed burned away that history and left behind little but battle-weary survivors. Those defense forces that remained, pitifully few in number and no longer combat viable as their old formations, were universally disbanded and reorganized into the newly founded Triton Defense Corps. Outfitted and trained as hardened siege-fighters the Triton Defense Corps wear segmented carapace armor over heavy chem and rad-resistant trench-coats. Heavy helmets sit above bulky rebreather aparatus and hands clutch compact lascarbines, flamers and meltaguns. Most of the warriors now serving in the defense corps did not live through the invasion and many are not even native inhabitants of the system. Those still serving who did survive through the chaos invasion are hardened and morbid warriors capable of facing down the horrors of chaos without flinching. Under the guidance of their seasoned core of veterans the regiments of the Triton Defense Corps have become notable for their ability to stand in the face of the enemy no matter the odds without giving so much as a step backwards, fighting to the bitter end to avenge their savaged homeworlds. Imperial strategos have taken to assigning regiments of defense corps soldiers to the center-line of battle, relying on the tenacity and bitter fury of these formations to hold the line and follow orders when many other regiments would break and retreat.

The Galene System

-Unusually for a star system the Galene system contains no intact planets or moons and is instead filled with several dozen vast asteroid fields that orbit the system in dense rings around a bright blue sun. Large, moon-sized fragments of rock and ice stand as evidence that the system must once have possessed a number of planets of varying sizes but some ancient war or catastrophe resulted in the near complete destruction of every habitable body in the system. What fragments remain are rich in various minerals and raw materials suitable as fuel for the forges of the Adeptus Mechanicus however extracting those resources is a time-consuming and difficult process. The various asteroid fields are so dense and thick with intense radiation and electromagnetic interference that navigating them is a dangerous and unreliable endeavor. Even once inside the system the act of actually establishing safe mining installations within the rings is an extremely difficult and resource intensive prospect. As a result those few mining installations that have been constructed throughout the various fields of the system are almost entirely operated by indentured penal crews who are overseen by the dour, pain-worshiping sisters of the Order of the Iron Maiden, themselves consigned to such duty as penance for past sins. Though the population of the system is extremely small relative to most Imperial systems it is well safeguarded from attack as any potential invaders face the same dangers navigating the asteroid fields as the workers and transport crews and lack the hard-won experience of the native inhabitants. Those enemies who have dared to invade have generally found themselves shocked at the suicidal and reckless tactics of the defenders who are wont to transform rusted cargo hulks into promethium filled fire-ships and use salvaged ship-engines bolted to smaller asteroids as semi-autonomous mass projectiles. Even should an enemy manage to board one of the mining stations they face thousands of chem-fueled penal legionaries willing to hurl themselves savagely at any foe armed with little more than stub pistols and steel pickaxes. Whatever the prisoners do not manage to kill or destroy the Battle Sisters of the Order of the Iron Maiden are perfectly capable of tackling, though few in number the order possesses larger than average numbers of Penitent Engines and Mortifiers and a cadre of Anchorites that the order view as blessed engines of destruction. In the close-quarters of the mining installations such battle-engines are nearly unstoppable.

The Order of the Iron Maiden

-One of the youngest and smallest of the Orders Militant of the Adeptus Sororitas the Order of the Iron Maiden was established from among the ranks of the Order of the Valorous Heart. A large priory had been stationed to defend the Cathedral of Saint Sebastian on the agri-world of Saint Sebastian's Will. The Cathedral was a place of pilgrimage for the faithful, with millions of pilgrims traveling across the sector and beyond to visit the holy site every year. Five centuries before the opening of the Great Rift a commandery of the Valorous Heart on Saint Sebastian's Will was censured for failure to prevent a riot from forming among the pilgrim ques, a riot that damaged the Cathedral and cost the lives of a number of priests. As punishment the commandery was sent to garrison the mining outposts in the Galene System and provide security for the penal workers there, freeing up the elements of the Astra Militarum that had previously provided security there to be deployed elsewhere. After three centuries of distinguished service in seeing off several notable incursions into the system the penitent sisters were granted the honor of being designated as their own minoris Order Militant. Though presented as an honor few were under the illusion that the title was anything other than a means of permanently distancing the Priory on Saint Sebastian's Will from the penitent commandery in the Galene System. As fate would have it though the opening of the rift and the vast chaos invasion of the Triton System that followed would see the Priory from which the Order of the Iron Maiden split all but wiped out in a brutal and bloodthirsty assault that saw the Cathedral and all its holy relics destroyed and the absolute slaughter of every priest and pilgrim on the planet. Those few sisters who survived the fall of Saint Sebastian's Will, awash with the shame of bitter failure and defeat, were offered a chance of redemption and service within the ranks of the Order of the Iron Maiden. Whatever salvation the Valorous Heart survivors had expected however their real fate was far more terrible, every last one was implanted within the command cradle of a Mortifier Engine, doomed to a life of endless pain and suffering until they earned death and the final absolution of the Emperor's Mercy in battle.

Though the Priory of the Order of the Iron Maiden now numbers several hundred sisters it is still very small for an Order of the Adeptus Sororitas, however despite its limited size the order does maintain a surprisingly large number of Penitent Engines, Arco-Flagellants, Mortifiers and even Anchorite engines. The prisoner population is an endless source of recruits for the engines and arco-flagellation. As descendants of the Order of the Valorous Heart it is little surprise that the sisters of the Iron Maiden worship and take solace in pain and suffering, viewing their own agony as holy prayer to the Emperor and their patron saint. However the sisters of the Iron Maiden take this worship to extremes that even members of the Valorous Heart would almost certainly view as distasteful. Of particular note is that the order does not view internment within Mortifier engines to be a punishment, rather they view it as the holy apotheosis of their creed, the ultimate expression of suffering as worship and service both. Only those sisters who have achieved some notable deed in battle or been marked by some sign are awarded the chance to be interred in a Mortifier. Should a sister survive one or more engagements as a Mortifier they will be given the chance to be interred in the armored Iron Maiden pain engine of an Anchorite. Unlike the Mortifiers within most orders the Iron Maiden do not strip the pilots of the order's machines of their personality but permit the pilot to remain utterly conscious of their own suffering. It is rumored, though remains unconfirmed, that the first Prioress of the Order of the Iron Maiden still lives and serves the order as an Anchorite pilot and even more strangely that she is treated as a prophet, her engine kept chained before the high-alter of the priory-fortress where the former Prioress emits an endless stream of raving prayer and prediction, her visions apparently forewarning the order of attack or predicting the coming of great battle.

Despite the habit of the sisters of the Iron Maiden to appear as reinforcement to Imperial forces in the sector on the eve of significant battles the Order's arrival is rarely greeted warmly and their presence is often taken as a barely tolerated burden. The terrible scars and savage demeanor of the order often have a deleterious effect on the morale of Imperial forces fighting alongside them and the horrid screaming prayers of the Mortifiers and Anchorites that march with the order's ranks are a disturbing and terrifying sound to friend and foe alike that often carries for miles across the battlefield. The Order of the Iron Maiden bears as its heraldry a white-painted death-mask on a black field, their robes are black over armor of burnished steel. Given that the order almost exclusively fights aboard the close-confines of space stations or within starships and the risk of exposure to the vacuum is high the order is unusual in that its sisters almost always march into battle wearing their full helms and are rarely seen even outside of battle without their headgear. This is perhaps a mercy as the visages of the orders members, when seen, are often badly scarred from terrible wounds inflicted and often left without restorative treatment. 

 

 The Palatine Mission of Folkvangr

-The large number of mechanized walkers serving the Order of the Iron Maiden is in part because of the particular predisposition and beliefs of the sisters of the order but is also possible thanks to the technological assistance and manufacturing capability of the Sacristans of House Cenwulf and their allies the Tech Priests of Ydalir. The Vanyr system is one of the pre-eminent sources of Imperial walker technology in the galaxy, being positioned close by and falling under the military aegis of House Cenwulf made the acquisition of Penitent Engines, Anchorites and Palatine Warsuits in large quantities a simple proposition. To better ensure a steady supply of warmachines and material the sisters of the Order of the Iron Maiden built an outpost of the Order on Folkvangr, the closest Imperial world to Andlang that would allow the order to establish a permanent garrison. From Folkvangr the sisters have easy access to Andlang and Ydalir and are able to request a fresh consignment of war machines whenever they have need of them. To bolster the fighting strength of the small number of sisters stationed at the garrison the Folkvangr Mission was assigned a large number of Palatine Warsuits. These machines quickly proved well-suited to the terrain and to operations alongside the walker-heavy formations of Andlang, Ydalir and Folkvangr.

 

The Celestia System

-Although uninhabited for thousands of years the Celestia system was once a fairly frequently trafficked system for merchant and navy ships. Featuring a number of gas giants with easy to extract gasses the system made for a convenient place for a wide variety of ships to dump waste and take on various gaseous material fuel for plasma engines and atmosphere recyclers. Over the long centuries of such activity the system gained several sizable debris fields, mostly made up of waste material and scrap ejected from ships passing through thet system but also a number of dead ships abandoned or scuttled in the system for various reasons. Destroyed pirate vessels, ancient ore haulers that simply broke down and weren't worth fixing and even some ghost ships spat out from the warp. Since the opening of the Great Rift travel through the system has ceased completely and the ship graveyards and junk fields have expanded enormously. Located at the very edge of the Vanyr Sub-Sector even closer to the Great Rift than the Caspian system the Celestia system has become something akin to the rocky shore against which ships wreckage has washed ashore from the terrible storms raging further out to sea. Scores of vessels of all shapes and sizes have washed up in the system, their crews dead or twisted beyond recognition, hulls torn, engines burned out and plasma drives dead. The system has become an ever growing ship graveyard, a field of corpses and ruin that no sane soul would wish to traverse if they could avoid it. Clouds of ejected plasma, radiation and electromagnetic distortions as well as drifting unexploded ordnance add to the hazards of the system. What few ships have dared the system in the hopes of salvage have almost universally failed to return and those handful that have escaped the system alive report a deadly labyrinth where dead ships can come alive and unleash their weapons in a last vengeful barrage from beyond the grave, crewed by ghosts, daemons or other unspeakable horrors. Curiously strange rumors have started to circulate among the ship crews operating in the Vanyr Sub-Sector that the Celestia System has become the haunt of a chapter of space marine reavers. Imperial authorities have been quick to stamp down on any such hearsay and the Celestia system remains a prohibited region by Imperial edict.  

 

Hostile Vanyr Sub-Sector Systems

LGX-5147/17 System

-Officially known only by its Imperial cartography designation this remote system is recorded as possessing no habitable worlds or resources of any particular value and is designated as a "value-null" system. In truth the system is home to a wealth of resources and several habitable worlds but after early exploratory expeditions were met with extreme hostility from strike forces of the Eldar it was deemed that the remote system was not worth the military effort of conquest and records were quietly scrubbed. The nobles of House Cenwulf however are aware of the value and significance of this system and have made occasional forays into the region to expel the Eldar inhabitants and each time have been met by fearsome opposition and been forced to withdraw. However each clash with the system's defenders has curiously seen a higher and higher proportion of the xenos forces made up of Wraith constructs. House Cenwulf strategos believe the defenders incapable of replacing the casualties inflicted in each attack. Thus continued raids have been authorized to further deplete the defending forces under the assumption that gradual attrition will eventually eliminate the Eldar presence entirely so long as the nobles of House Cenwulf can minimize their own casualties in each attack. One of the upsides to regular strikes against the Exodite defenders is that the nobles of the house have gained much experience fighting the wraith constructs of the Eldar, especially their larger Wraithknight warriors who are the closest analogue among the Eldar warhosts to the Imperial Knights themselves. This experience is seen by the nobles of the house as almost as valuable as claiming the resources and territory of the system.

Exodite World - Illyasorath

-The primary inhabited world of the LGX-5147/17 system, Illyasorath is home to thousands of Exodites and a world spirit that has existed for tens of thousands of years. Nevertheless its defenders from Craftworld Altansar have struggled to protect the world from the attacks of House Cenwulf's probing forces and soon the exodites may have to take up arms to defend themselves against the Imperials, a battle that they are almost guaranteed to lose. The prize being fought over is an idyllic world of gentle pastures, dense woodlands and rich ecosystems of exotic plants and animals. Clear rivers run into wide oceans teeming with fish and the snow-capped mountains are rich in veins of precious ores. It is no surprise to the exodites that their world is desired by outsiders but they have held on to it this long and are determined not to surrender their home while they still live.

Hellespont System

-Once a thriving industrial hub on the edges of the Vanyr Sub-Sector and a major trading partner with the Hive World of Armageddon the Helespont System fell to the Beast of Armageddon during the opening stages of the Second War. Since then it has been ruled by the greenskins and repelled multiple efforts by the Imperium to reclaim the system. The former industrial world of Hellespont IV has been renamed by the Orks as Mekzworld and serves as a major manufacturing center for ork weapons, armor and warships. In particular the Ork mek's of Helespont have taken to mimicking the form and traditions of the Imperial Knights of House Cenwulf. Gorkonauts and Morkonauts, Stompas, Deff Dreads and Killa Kans emerge from the workshops of Mekzworld in greater numbers than any other type of orkoid war machine and are supported by heavily cybernetically modified cyborks who not only ape the appearance and function of the Skitarii but their robust and augmented forms are better able to withstand the hostile natural environment of Andlang. Every few decades a raiding force from Mekzworld will assail the homeworld of House Cenwulf, eager to pit their latest and greatest warmachines against the knight scions. 

 

Ork Stronghold World - Mekzworld

-Once a thriving industrial world sited along a major warp route in the vicinity of Armageddon the world of Hellespont IV fell to Ghazghkull during the third war for Armageddon. Since then several attempts have been made by the Imperium to retake the world but none have thus far proven successful leaving the considerable industrial capacity of the planet firmly in the hands of a number of rival greenskin armies, all of them led by cunning and inventive Big Meks, who turn their instinctive urge to tinker and create monstrous warmachines on the vast stockpiles of raw materials and salvage on the planet to churn out an almost endless supply of incomprehensible yet highly effective killing machines. At least one of the Big Mek's of Mekzworld has taken a keen interest in the nearby Imperial Knight world of Andlang and its noble denizens, launching a number of raids, each one fielding greenskin forces that more and more closely resemble the armies of House Cenwulf. The last few raids were conducted almost entirely by squadrons of large walkers, Morkanauts, Gorkanauts and Stompas, supported by masses of Deff Dreads and Killa Kans and detachments of heavily cybernetically augmented cybork troops. The similarity to the lances of House Cenwulf and their support troops was too obvious to miss. Such aping of the noble traditions of the Imperial Knights has only further incensed the nobles of Andlang and it is only a matter of time before the house launches an all out invasion of Mekzworld to put a stop to this affront to their honor.

 

Notable Members of House Cenwulf

Jarl Halfdan Cenwulf, the Bloodied Fist

Few records remain of the High Kings of House Cenwulf before the reign of Halfdan, in fact relatively little is known of Halfdan himself, his rise to power or early deeds are long-lost to history. What accounts do survive depict Halfdan, the Bloodied Fist, as a wise, diplomatic and visionary leader who married fearsome brutality in war with artful statesmanship. Certainly Halfdan's role in steering House Cenwulf through the most war-torn and dangerous period in the Impeirum's history is testament to his qualities as a leader and an enduring legacy of his deeds. Halfdan's death would mark the end of an era for House Cenwulf.

Jarl Beirand Cenwulf, the Vengeful Claw

Eldest son of Jarl Halfdan Cenwulf the warrior known as the Vengeful Claw rose to rule the house in the brutal years of the Dark Mechanicum's invasion. The loss of his father and countless other warriors of the house drove Beirand to the brink of madness. Unquenchable anger drove Beirand to reject the Knight Crusader he had previously piloted and adopt a brutal Knight Gallant instead that he customized to feature a pair of Thunderstrike claws instead of the typical gauntlet and chainsword. Brutal and merciless in battle Beirand led countless devastating ambushes and suicidal counter-attacks against the enemy, his sheer savagery and recklessness taking the enemy aback and scattering them before his rage. After the defeat of the Dark Mechanicum the High King withdrew into a deep melancholy and was little seen for the next five years. Only the return of the Imperium and news of the campaigns of the Scouring roused Beirand from his depression and set him once more on the path of rage and bloodshed. Despite his own personal disregard for danger the rest of House Cenwulf's lords and Thanes managed to maintain some semblance of military discipline and prevent their lances from undertaking endless suicidal charges. Ultimately Beirand would fight for over a century in defiance of all expectation before finally falling not far from the Cadian Gate in battle against the traitors of the Iron Warriors. Beirand and his ruined armor were returned to Andlang and interred alongside the remains of his father. To this day no other noble of the house has achieved the number of gross displacement kills Jarl Beirand Cenwulf achieved, but nor have the casualty rates of House Cenwulf's lances ever been as high as they were under his rule either.

Jarl Baldur Cenwulf, the Raven's Eye

Famed for his wisdom and patience Jarl Baldur Cenwulf was the younger brother of Beirand the Vengeful Claw. For decades Baldur watched his brother descend into the madness of vengeance until his ultimate demise. Determined to avoid Beirand's fate Baldur set about restoring House Cenwulf and its domains to something approaching their former stability and prosperity. Though Baldur's record of combat is one of the shortest of any ruler of the house following his withdrawal from the Scouring his achievements are widely recognized as having been critical to the long-term survival of the house.

Jarl Sigurd Cenwulf, the Iron Tempest, High King of House Cenwulf

The current High King of House Cenwulf and Jarl of Andlang. Sigurd is the master of the ancient and storied Knight Crusader Lupus Rex, one of the oldest and most renowned knight armors in the entire household, legends hold that it predates the coming of the Imperium. The venerable Sigurd Cenwulf is respected and feared in equal measure as the Iron Tempest of Andlang, though in physical form Sigurd is a wizened ancient of over five hundred years Terran standard. The aged High King is kept alive only thanks to advanced life-support technologies, frequent juvenant treatments and aggressive bionic augmentation. The wealth and technological sophistication of the house grants its members access to life-sustaining technologies superior to most other warriors of the Imperium, it is not uncommon for the most accomplished, or fortunate, members of the house to live into their third or fourth centuries, though High King Sigurd is among the longest lived in the history of the house. Only a handful of nobles in the history of the house have reached more venerable ages before finally succumbing to illness, combat injury, extreme infirmity or assassination. 

Thane Borvir, Thunderblade, Ancient Kingsward of House Cenwulf

One of High King Halfdan's ancient companions and a member of the Alpha Lance. Master of the Dominus Tempestas, a rare and powerful Questoris Knight Mageara suit still in use by the house to this day. Unfortunately the deeds of Borvir have mostly been lost to time, like many of the deeds and fates of nobles from that era, but the earliest kill markings and battlefield honors of the Dominus Tempestas indicate a highly accomplished warrior who achieved a sizable number of gross-displacement engine kills, a considerable feat even for a Knight Titan.

Thane Brynjolf, the Savage Rain, Kingsward of House Cenwulf

At over three centuries old Thane Brynjolf is far from the youngest member of the house but a veritable child compared to some of his fellow Thanes and the Jarl himself. Both Brynjolf's father and grand-father served as Kingsward before him. From his youth Brynjolf was raised to serve the same role as his forebears, charged to fight alongside and protect his Jarl even at the cost of his own life. From the Throne Mechanicum of his Knight Warden the Omnes Videntes Thane Brynjolf punishes any foe foolish enough to strike at his lord with thunderous barrages of fire from his gatling cannon, rockets and flamer.

Thane Ulfric, the Crimson Wrath, Master of Judgement of House Cenwulf

Of all the dour and humorless members of House Cenwulf the infamous Thane Ulfric is easily the greatest exemplar of these traits. It came as little surprise when Ulfric was chosen to become the Master of Judgement, charged with punishing treachery, disobedience, cowardice and failure both on and off the battlefield. Ulfric's feared Knight Errant, the Vermiculus Ruinam, is a terrifyingly effective destroyer of machines and fortifications. No defense, no matter how formidable, is proof against Ulfric's deadly melta weaponry, armor piercing rockets and thunderstrike gauntlet. Even Knight Titans walk warily when in Thane Ulfric's company, careful never to draw the attention of his ruinous weaponry and fearsome skill.

Thane Einar Haldorsson Cenwulf, Gatekeeper of House Cenwulf

Technically the warrior Einar Haldorsson Cenwulf is the uncle to the current High King, Jarl Sigurd, even though he is almost two centuries younger than his nephew. The complicated marital structures of an Imperial Knight house can often result in strangely varied and overlapping generations, particularly should the house employ artificial reproductive technologies and extensive juvenant treatments that can see individuals remain capable of bearing children late into multi-century long life spans. Despite being relatively closely related to the Jarl, Thane Einar is not in the line of succession but is a respected member of the Cenwulf clan itself, the oldest and most noble family of the greater House Cenwulf, which itself incorporates dozens of lesser family clans and groupings, many dating back millennia, others barely a few decades old. For over a century Thane Einar has served as the Gatekeeper of House Cenwulf, the warrior chosen to stand fast as Castellan of Andlang in the absence of the rest of the house. It is rare in the extreme for Thane Einar to depart Andlang on campaign, his sacred duty is the preservation of the house and its domains, only a situation of dire import may cause the Gatekeeper to set aside his usual duties and take ship to a battlefield away from the Vanyr system. To perform this duty Einar is equipped with the only functioning Acastus-class Knight in the arsenal of the house, the ancient and mighty Acastus Knight Porphyrion "Ferrum Irae," or the Iron Wrath. The "Ferrum Irae" is one of the oldest knight armors in the possession of House Cenwulf and easily the most precious and irreplaceable.

Even at the height of the Great Crusade when technological rediscovery and expansion was at it's apex the Acastus class knights were rare and extremely valuable, with so much knowledge lost in the fires of heresy and the ten thousand years of stagnation that followed the Acastus-class is all but extinct, only a handful of houses can claim to possess one of these ancient relics and even those that remain are rarely seen on the battlefield for their use comes at a considerable cost. Nearly the size and mass of a Warhound Titan the Acastus is the single largest war-machine known to man that can be operated by a single pilot and the strain of controlling such a powerful machine spirit and such a massive engine of destruction is rumored to lead to madness or an untimely death for many pilots of the Acastus-class. To better withstand the physical and psychological toll of piloting the "Ferrum Irae" the Gatekeeper has been heavily cybernetically augmented, far beyond what is typical even for the technologically inclined house or necessary to extend his life. These augments help Einar better merge with the machine spirit of the knight armor and offer him some measure of protection from the cognitive overload of piloting the machine. In addition to these precautions Einar simply does not mount the throne of his knight very often, his role typically a more non-combat supervisory and command position, when he takes to the field it is only when a direct threat has been identified that his potent weapons are necessary to defeat and such threats are rare indeed. 

 

Hersir Torsten, The Storm Claw, Master of Blades

Though Torsten the Storm Claw does not possess an exalted rank his position as a Master of Blades, House Cenwulf's title for a Knight Preceptor, is one of significant honor and responsibility. Charged with overseeing the instruction of all young nobles of House Cenwulf in the ways of the gun, the blade and the Throne Mechanicum the Masters of Blades of the House are relatively few in number but their power is significant. Few nobles of the house, no matter how senior or ranking, would easily gainsay the advice or wishes of a Master of Blades for each warrior learned the arts of war under the tutelage of such individuals and some of that respect and deference remains instilled in the nobles of the house from Jarl down to Hirdman. Hersir Torsten himself is the oldest and most renowned of the current Masters of Blades and was the first to be awarded the right to pilot one of the newly reconsecrated Adamant-class Knight armors. Despite the thoroughness with which the armor was purified, sanctified, blessed and restored the High King decided that the first examples would be trusted only to the most senior and experienced of nobles whose tempered wills should prove effective at resisting any residual corruption far better than a younger warrior.

Hersir Baldur, the Storm Bringer

One of the youngest warriors in the lances deployed to Vigiulus the young Baldur is a mere thirty years old, a bare child compared to the venerable veterans around him. Nevertheless Baldur has quickly proven a competent and deadly warrior in the throne of his Knight Crusader the Geminae Tempestas, or Twin Tempest. Armed with a Thermal Cannon and Avenger Gatling Cannon the young Baldur possesses the firepower of an entire squadron of battle-tanks and has reaped a fearsome toll from the enemy in every engagement.

Hersir Gulbrand, the Adamant Blade

A stolid veteran of the house the reliable and disciplined Gulbrand pilots the Knight Paladin Ardens Gladius or Ardent Sword. The paladin remains one of the most prolific mainstays of the knightly houses for it's armament is effective against infantry and armor alike, able to fight to great effect at range or in close quarters making the paladin a versatile and reliable platform that makes up the bulk of many knight lances across the galaxy. Hersir Gulbrand is a firm proponent of precision bombardment tactics and relishes in reducing the most hardened enemies to scrap with volleys of accurate battle-cannon shells before moping up any survivors with sweeps of his reaper chainsword.

Hersir Torvald Cenwulf, the Lightning Blade, Heir Apparent of House Cenwulf

The heir to the throne of Jotunheim is no stripling but an ancient and battle-hardened warrior of over two hundred years of age. Raised and groomed for power and command from an early age Torvald is a respected and well liked warrior within the house. For many decades Torvald piloted an ancient and reliable Knight Paladin, however recently the acquisition of a number of newly forged Dominus-class Knights has given the Heir Apparent the opportunity to become with the throne of a mighty Knight Castellan, a weapon of considerable, if temperamental, power. 

Hersir Aska, the Ice Banshee

The ranks of House Cenwulf generally hold relatively few lady-knights. Most of the young noblewomen of the house who choose to undertake the Becoming are either among the most naturally skilled or psychotically violent of their number, the Lady Aska is the rare example of a young noblewoman who is both. To the surprise of absolutely no-one who knew her Aska chose to attempt the Ritual of Becoming by bonding with the Throne Mechanicum of one of the few Knights Gallant in the arsenal of the house. Also to the surprise of no-one she succeeded and has since carved out a reputation for brutal and savage violence across many bloody battlefields. Despite her general trend towards recklessness and insubordination Aska is still a daughter of a noble house and follows her orders for the most part, though she does tend to interpret her orders in ways that favor her own methods over more conventional household combat doctrine. Though some elders of the house look on Aska with disapproval her record is exemplary and many believe Aska may be a sign of changing times. With the Great Rift splitting the galaxy in twain the need for more warriors has never been greater and perhaps it is time for House Cenwulf to tap it's largely under-exploited female population to swell the ranks. Only time will tell.

Hersir Leif Direblade

Leif, known as the Direblade, is one of the best swordsmen in the ranks of House Cenwulf. All scions of the house train in the use of a variety of blades and guns, primarily to engage in duels of honor but also in case a noble loses their armor in battle and must fight their way back to friendly lines on foot. Leif has always excelled in such training and takes great pride in his ability, perhaps too much pride. Of all the nobles of House Cenwulf the young Leif causes the most trouble on deployment, getting into duels with fellow Knightly scions from other houses, officers from the Imperial Navy and Imperial Guard and even the occasional Rogue Trader. So problematic has his dueling become that the High King has increasingly been forced to punish Leif by making him serve on foot. For the last several campaigns Leif's Knight Paladin has largely remained in storage, locked down until its young pilot redeems himself enough to reclaim the armor. Though separation from his Throne Mechanicum is difficult Leif does seem to relish fighting on foot, leading formations of Thralls and Huscarls into battle with his arcane plasma pistol and master-crafted power sword at the ready, protected by a full suit of heavy carapace armor and a conversion field generator the foot-knight is a formidable adversary and has cut down all manner of foes from Ork Warbosses to Chaos Space Marine Lords.

Hirdman Braig Bloodfang

The young but talented Armiger pilot named Braig serves as an apprentice to Thane Ulfric of the Alpha Lance. Braig is believed to be the eldest grandson of Huscarl Alpha Argis, one of the most renowned and accomplished infantry commanders of the house. This is difficult to verify given that personal records on Huscarls and their families are relatively minimal and any children Argis may have had wold have to have been conceived several centuries earlier, before his level of augmentation reached the point where reproduction was no longer possible. For his part Argis refuses to confirm or deny these rumors, or even comment on them or Braig himself in any way. Whatever his family ties Braig has shown himself to be a talented Armiger pilot who may well earn his way into the nobility if he survives a few more decades of service.

Hirdman Grisvar Stormclaw

Unlike most Armiger pilots Grisvar is neither young nor aspiring to any greater station in life. For his entire life Grisvar has served Thane Ulfric and the personality of the dour and violently destructive Thane appears to have rubbed off on his squire. Grisvar lives for nothing more than to cripple the greatest enemy warmachines with the deadly anti-armor weaponry of his Armiger Warglaive. The speed, power and relatively smaller size of the Armiger suits Grisvar perfectly, his record of armor kills rivaling many young Knight Errant pilots.

Hirdman Vorstag Grimskull

One of the youngest sons of a lesser Hersir of the house Hirdmenn Vorstag is desperate to prove himself in the ranks of the Armigers. While Vorstag has several brothers and even a sister serving with the Armigers as well, none of them have performed as well as Vorstag, the reputation and future of his immediate family in the ranks of the house likely depends on his success.

Hirdman Ogmund Sunblade

Ogmund is a promising young Sacristan apprentice plucked from the initiate ranks of the Sacristans. Though a promising acolyte of the forge Ogmund's aptitude tests and neurological examinations indicated his optimal candidacy for the ranks of the Armigers. Should he prove himself as an Armiger pilot Ogmund may one day earn a place in the Throne Mechanicum of one of the precious Muspelheim Knight suits, or may choose to retire from combat and make the journey to Mars for training as Sacristan. Either future will likely see Ogmund not only outlive his brothers and sisters but likely their children, and their children's children as well.

Hirdman Eirikur Firelance

A lesser noble of the house Eirikur is the blood brother of Ingmar and a hardened veteran. The brothers have both served as squires to the High King for many decades. Eventually they both hope to earn their own thrones mechanicum but for the time being are content to serve as escorts and bodyguards to the great Jarl himself and take great pride in their duty. 

 

Hirdman Ingmar Razorhail

Brother to Hirdmenn Eirikur and squire to the High King himself the battle-hardened Ingmar is a tenacious and stubborn soul. Though he one day hopes to pilot a knight armor of his own Ingmar takes pride in his current position serving so close to the legendary Jarl of the house. Such a position affords many benefits that promotion and a distant and less glorious deployment would forfeit despite the added power of command of an actual Knight Titan instead of the lighter Armiger machine Ingmar currently pilots.

Sacristan Primus Eorlund Ironblood

Easily the oldest member of the house the exact age of Sacristan Primus Eorlund Ironblood is a mystery even to the lords of his own house. Normally quite fastidious in their lore-keeping the Forgemaster Eorlund has gone through so many transformations over more than thirteen hundred years of service to the house that identifying his exact date of birth or even his original identity before he joined the ranks of the house Sacristans is challenge that none of his house brethren have been able to decisively overcome. Even as Eorlund's origins are lost to the mists of time the mighty cyborg master of machines continues to evolve his physical form, constantly replacing and upgrading his biological and mechanical components. Currently Eorlund takes the form of a monstrous war-construct carried along on numerous reverse joined legs from an extended lower body. From under his voluminous robes dozens of mechadendrites snake about while his hunch-baked upper torso bears no less than eight arms bearing a variety of tools and weaponry including a mighty ceremonial power axe, an archaeotech molecular atomiser and a deadly arc scourge. As impressive as his physical form is Eorlund's reputation as a master of the forge is greater still. There is scarcely a weapon or machine in the entire arsenal of House Cenwulf that has not benefited from the attentions of the Sacristan Primus at one time or another, many having been restored to functionality thanks only to the peerless artifice of Eorlund. It is not uncommon to see Eorlund on the field of battle, the venerable Sacristan Primus determined to attend to his charges regardless of the danger. In truth there are few foes capable of threatening the mighty physical war-form of Eorlund's heavily augmented body which is in some ways even more formidable than the knight suits of the house.

Sacristan Dominus Lokyar Blackfist

Senior apprentice to the Sacristan Primus the veteran field mechanic Sacristan Dominus Lokyar Blackfist is a common sight on the battlefield where he faces down the most dire of threats to attend to his mechanical charges. Over the long centuries of his service Lokyar has lost most of his original physical flesh to injury and augmentation and now resembles a stoop-backed wraith more than a man, his entire lower body given over to multi-jointed metal limbs and mechadendrites while his back is hunched beneath the incredible weight of augmentations, power generators and transformers. One of Lokyar's supplementary bionic arms ends in a fearsome eradication beamer, highly useful for defending himself against nearly any foe, cutting through debris or severing damaged components for ease of replacement during battlefield repairs. Of all the Sacristans of House Cenwulf including the Primus it is Lokyar Blackfist who has the greatest mastery over shielding technology. From the Emanatus Force Fields and Ion Shields to Refractor and Conversion fields there are precious few defensive energy barrier technologies within the Imperium that Lokyar has not mastered. Lokyar's greatest work is his own custom Enhanced Conversion Field Generator, an energy screen projected from within Lokyar's own heavily augmented body that provides defensive protection equivalent to the powerful defensive fields of the astartes Storm Shields.

Sacristan Engineseer Ulfberth the Bear

Personal Sacristan artificer of Jarl Sigurd Cenwulf charged with serving the Lupus Rex. Physically Ulfberth is a large individual sheathed in segmented plates of power armor only partially concealed beneath his storm-grey robes of office. A single chunky servo-arm and relatively plain power axe serve as Ulfberth's tools of the trade and symbols of authority.

Sacristan Engineseer Arnskar Ashenbeard

Arnskar, ironically named Ashenbeard after the black rubber filtration hose that hangs down from his lower jaw, is the personal artificer to Thane Brynjolf. Arnskar's sworn duty is to maintain and serve the Vermiculus Ruinam and ensure it is every-ready to stride to war at a moments notice. Hunched of appearance and sporting a trio of slender servo-arms the venerable Arnskar is nevertheless a rather insectile and strange looking creature who seems to disturb allies of the house with his very presence. Perhaps because of his effect on outsiders Arnskar is rarely seen outside the secure armories of the house and even on the battlefield prefers to shroud himself from the view of others behind his own small army of augmented servo-automata.

Sacristan Engineseer Gunmar Steelcrow

Rigid of both bearing and personality the tall and proud Sacristan Engineseer known as Gunmar Steelcrow is the personal artificer to Thane Ulfric. It is a point of great pride for Gunmar that he serves the Kingsward and his work is at least partly responsible for the protection of the High King. Unusually among the senior field sacristans of the house Gunmar bears a more ornate axe of office and shrouds himself in meticulously clean and well-kept robes from which emerge a number of slender servo-arms and augmentations that do little to take away from Gunmar's regal bearing. When the sacristans of the house are called upon to interact with outsiders the responsibility usually falls to Gunmar who seems to revel in such opportunities to represent the forge-adepts of his house.

Lancer Alpha Brandr the Grim

One of the most senior Huscarls of the house the warrior known as Brandr the Grim is the commander of Jarl Ulfric's personal Talon lances. Expected to stride into the most desperate of battles alongside his knight lord Brandr and his warriors are the most highly trained and experienced Lancers of the house, armed with a mixture of weaponry and expected to fight just as hard as their liege. Alpha Squadron itself typically bears the awesome might of the plasma cannon, the most powerful and dangerous heavy weapon the sentinel is capable of mounting. Despite the risks Brandr views the plasma cannon as the ultimate tool of death available to his Lancers and the only weapon capable of matching the incredible destructive firepower of the house knights.

Lancer Frothar

Lancer Arnskar

Lancer Sub-Alpha Galmar

Sub-Alpha Galmar is the leader of Beta Squadron of the Jarl's personal Talon Company. Though the house has access to a wide variety of weaponry with which to arm it's sentinels Galmar favors the ubiquitous multi-laser for his squadron, preferring the high rate-of-fire over slower firing but more powerful weaponry.

Lancer Kraldar

Lancer Bolund

Lancer Sub-Alpha Fultheim

Commander of Ceti Squadron of the Jarl's own Talon Company the young firebrand Fultheim prefers to arm his squadron with autocannons, the powerful recoil and roaring shells of these weapons set Fultheim's blood running hot and fill his heart with battle-fury.

Lancer Kjeld

Lancer Hjorunn

Lancer Sub-Alpha Erikur

One of the oldest members of the Jarl's personal Talon Company the experienced Sub-Alpha Erikur favors the versatility of missile launchers, giving his squadron the option to engage a variety of targets efficiently with a single loadout. 

Lancer Skuli

Lancer Helvard

Lancer Ancient Fultheim

Like all pilots of the venerable Onager Dunecrawlers in service to the house the Lancer Fultheim is an aged veteran of over two centuries of service to the house. Kept alive through suspension in a life-support amniotic tank hard-wired into the hull of the Onager the former mortal is now more akin to a hybrid of flesh and iron forged in hardship and tempered in the hell of eternal war.

Lancer Gunner Sulvar

Lancer Ancient Haeming

Pilot of the second Onager Dunecralwer in Ancient Fultheim's Squadron. Several decades younger than his commander Haeming nevertheless has nearly two centuries of service to his name and is credited with enough armor kills to make him a tank ace many times over.

Lancer Gunner Olvir

Huscarl Ancient Jorund Tyr Valbrand, the Iron Crow

The oldest and most accomplished warrior in the ranks of House Cenwulf's elite Huscarl infantry formations the Huscarl Ancient Jorund Tyr Valbrand, known as the Iron Crow, is a walking legend. It was centuries ago that Jorund underwent his initial cybernetic augmentation at the hands of the Tech-Adepts of Ydalir to become one of the enhanced Huscarl warriors of the house. With each campaign more of Jorund's old flesh is cut away and replaced with unyielding metal, it has been many years since the Huscarl Ancient passed the point of the Crux Mechanicus, becoming more machine than human and has only been further enhanced since. Outside the ranks of the nobility and the war-adepts of the Sacristans the Iron Crow is one of the few warriors trusted to lead the cohorts of the Huscarls and Thralls into battle unsupervised. Jorund has seen more campaigns than many nobles of the house and can be relied on unquestionably to command his brethren with unparalleled efficiency and competence. Many of Jorund's augmentations focus on command and control, complex suites of auxpex and data-tethers link him to his warriors and allow the immediate transfer of battlefield data and transmission of orders. When personally threatened Jorund relies on the deadly power-talons that make up his right hand and a heavy storm bolter that was gifted to him by a veteran warrior of the Space Wolves. Any foe who manages to weather his storm of shot or swipes from his claws must get past Jorund's heavy carapace armor and powerful conversion field generator to strike a wounding blow and even then the chances of hitting anything vital in Jorund's mostly mechanical frame are slim.

Huscarl Alpha Argis

One of the most senior Huscarls in the house, Argis commands over a hundred of his heavily augmented warrior brothers into battle alongside the mighty warmachines of the house.

Huscarl Sub-Alpha Drennen

Second-in-command to Alpha Argis the veteran officer Drennen is a reliable field commander and veteran of dozens of campaigns across three segmentums of the Imperium.

Huscarl Sub-Alpha Odinkar

Squad leader of one of the Huscarl units under the command of Alpha Argis, Sub-Alpha Odinkar specializes in the deployment of dangerous plasma calivers against the most heavily armored of enemy units. 

 

Huscarl Sub-Alpha Ingjald

Squad leader of one of the Huscarl units under the command of Alpha Argis, Sub-alpha Ingjald and his squad bear a number of devastating Arc weapons to disable or destroy heavy armor units that might threaten the Knight Lords of the house but are not dangerous enough to demand the attention of the knight's own weapons.

House Cenwulf Void Assets

 

Aggregate Void Dockyard Romhavn

-The principal void facilities of House Cenwulf the Romhavn space port is kept in geosyncronous orbit over Jotunheim, the capitol fortress of Andlang. Originally a relatively small facility large enough to perform maintenance and repairs on a handful of the household ships and handle what little trade and traffic the system once saw the facility has grown many times it's original size over the millennia and even more so in recent centuries. Now the dockyards are able to house whole squadrons of escort craft and have docking facilities for several dozen capital and merchant-class vessels. Most of the vessels moving cargo through the system dock at Romhavn at least once while in system. Although a major domain of the household the nobles of House Cenwulf maintain a minimal presence on the station. Part of the oldest and most central structure of the station is a series of chambers and facilities reserved for the exclusive use of House Cenwulf's nobles and servants, additionally several of the largest docking points and their attendant storage yards and repair facilities are reserved for the vessels of the Hearth Fleet, otherwise the station is largely maintained by the freeholder Karl's native to Andlang. Unique among the holdings of House Cenwulf however the Romhavn is home to a large number of non-native personnel. Barred from maintaining permanent residence on Andlang itself the station serves as the closest possible outpost for large numbers of representatives from various Imperial adepta and organizations as well as many merchant outfits who wish to stay close to the largest power block in the region. 

Ramilies-Class Star Fortress Svalbardi

-The most recent major material acquisition by the nobles of House Cenwulf the Svalbardi was taken as wargeld in the reconquest campaigns that followed the Gothic War. Once known as the Stalwart Sentinel the star fort was broken open and captured by elements of the traitor legions during the Gothic War and then subsequently retaken by crusading elements of House Cenwulf. Although originally the property of the Imperial Navy of the Gothic Sector, the nobles of House Cenwulf claimed the fortress as war salvage, enacting minimal repairs before towing the fort back to the Vanyr system for a full refit. Much of the station was carved out and replaced before the Sacristans of the house were happy and the resulting fortress has become one of the most powerful assets in the arsenal of the house, mounting enough firepower to destroy fleets and cavernous cargo-holds capable of transporting the entire house's military assets with space to spare. Part of the collossal dorsal spaces of the station were opened up by the Sacristans of the house to store eight massive drop-keeps and the skin of the fort was modified with Knight-sized air-locks and battlements to allow the suits of the house to fight on the outer surface of the station in its defense. Since it's acquisition the Svalbardi has only left the Vanyr system twice, at all other times it follows a variety of randomized orbital patrol routes through the system, a constant sentinal against attack. Those few times the nobles of the house have towed the Svalbardi to a warzone it's firepower has proved overwhelming against even the most intractable of foes. 

Avenger-Class Grand Cruiser Naglfar

-Flagship of the Hearth Fleet and personal chariot of the High King the Naglfar is a vessel of dark aspect and vicious purpose. Named after a vessel from the myths and legends of ancient Terra the Naglfar is technically an Avenger-class Grand Cruiser, though the ship has been so heavily refit and modified from it's original template that it is barely recognizable. The artisans of House Cenwulf and the tech-priests of Ydalir worked together to modify the flagship of the Hearth Fleet, ancient and irreplaceable systems of uncertain provenance were installed including a smaller, more efficient primary reactor, improved void shields and more powerful engines. Furthermore a pair of launch bays have been retrofitted towards the rear of the vessel behind it's broadside macro cannon batteries and a pair of heavy lance turrets have been installed along the spine of the ship, finally six heavy torpedo tubes were worked into the wedge-shaped prow of the ship. Significant internal modifications had to be made to allow for the installation of so many additional weapons and systems and very little of the original interior layout of the ship remains intact. The Naglfar now possesses firepower nearly the equivalent of a battleship and is far faster and more agile than a ship of it's size and class should be.

Exorcist-Class Grand Cruiser Ognabrandur

-The oldest of the Hearth Fleet vessels still in service the Ognabrandur was acquired to replace the aging refitted merchant vessels the house had used before the coming of the Emperor, acquired from the second-rate vessels of the Expeditionary Fleets the aging Grand Cruiser was nevertheless considerably larger and more powerful than anything the house had used before. Over time the house would acquire another six such vessels though only five Hearth Ships serve the fleet today, several have been lost or scuttled over centuries of almost constant campaigning. Although the oldest, the Ognabrandur is not the flagship of the Hearth Fleet, that honor goes to the Naglfar, the swiftest and most heavily modified of the vessels of the fleet. 

 

Exorcist-Class Grand Cruiser Saebroda

-One of the most storied vessels of the Hearth Fleet the Saebroda is the only vessel of the house to have ever entered the Eye of Terror and returned. The vessel took part in a doomed and disastrous attempt to chase fleeing chaos reavers back into the Eye of Terror following the Gothic War. The battles that followed were grossly one-sided and the Imperial forces were forced to rapidly retreat, most failing to escape the clutches of the galaxy's most formidable warp storm. Of the small household fleet that entered the great eye only the Saebroda escaped the storm and has since then carried something of a dread aura, even the forces of the arch-enemy are wary of engaging this fearsome old warhorse of a ship.

 

Exorocist-Class Grand Cruiser Ormen

-The Ormen is easily the least liked of the Hearth Fleet's ships. For centuries the vessel has been considered an ill-omen and assignment to it is often seen as a punishment. Many campaigns the ship has participated in have seen unusually heavy cassualties. Though the Ormen always survives to return home it usually does so with far fewer passengers and crew aboard than it should have. As a result the Ormen is often assigned to patrol the Vanyr system and is rarely taken on campaign. Only if the house must deploy and other vessels of the Hearth Fleet are too damaged or in need of refit will the Ormen be ordered to depart the system.

Exorcist-Class Grand Cruiser Baruvalr

-Although not as fleet as the Naglfar the Baruvalr is considered by many in the household to be the most reliable and lucky vessel in the fleet. Many times has the Baruvalr escaped deadly warp storms and ridden through turbulent tides to reach it's destination intact. The Saebroda is typically believed to be simply tough and stubborn but the Baruvalr is considered agile and cunning by the Thralls and Huscarls of the Hearth Fleet, a vessel too slippery to be caught by a storm tide.

Defiant-Class Light Cruiser Hrafn

-The least well known vessel of the Hearth Fleet and one that is not officially recognized by the House in most circumstances is the ship only known as the Hrafn or the Raven. This salvaged and refit Light Cruiser of the Adeptus Mechanicus was acquired by the House some time ago and serves as it's most fleet and capable exploration and recovery ship. The crew of the Hrafn is largely made up of Sacristans and Servitors with a small but heavily armed cadre of Huscarls as protection and a single lance of Imperial Knights. No Thralls or Karls serve aboard the Hrafn and the vessel is only sent on missions to recover or salvage lost technology or artifacts of interest to the house, especially knight armors. In the household's search for the STC templates for the Adamant-Class Imperial Knight armors the Hrafn served at the forefront of the campaign and has covered considerable ground in recent years. Typically the lance assigned to the Hrafn will be made up of the most rare and advanced Knights of the house, the handful of Styrix, Mageara, Atropos and Moirax-class Knights and Armigers in possession by the house, themselves entirely the product of salvage for such rare and precious technology is rarely given by the Mechanicus to houses not sworn into the direct service of the Adeptus itself. Though House Cenwulf has never officially aknowledged the possession of this ship to it's Mechanicus allies the adepts of Ydalir and Lokabrenna are well aware that the nobles of Andlang have essentially absconded with one of their vessels and are not pleased however they are also unwilling to directly confront the nobles of Andlang about it lest they threaten their relationship and their access to the technological artifacts and ancient lore the house still so closely guards. 

Additional Assets:

In addition to the capitol-ships the Hearth Fleet includes a number of additional military vessels. Seven sword-class frigates and eight cobra-class destroyers serve as escorts to the Grand Cruisers of the fleet on campaign. Few in number though they may be the escort craft are not meant to properly engage the enemy but are typically asigned to escort and patrol duties, spreading a wide sensor net and ensuring that foes cannot sneak up on the slower and more vulnerable grand cruisers, particularly when they are at their greatest risk while holding geosynchronous orbit over a target planet and deploying their cargo of drop keeps and transports. The Vanyr system itself is patrolled by almost two-score system defense monitors, these vessels are not warp-capable, lacking both warp drives, gellar fields and navigator towers they are entirely incapable of extra-system travel. Because they do not possess warp engines or gellar field arrays such ships are quite fast and well armed for their size and can punch decently above their weight. When invasion forces or pirates enter the Vanyr system the defense monitors may be ordered to swarm the attackers, using superior numbers and hard-hitting firepower to cripple even capitol-class ships so those more capable vessels in the system can destroy the enemy at will or they may be ordered to stay out of range and harass or monitor enemy targets, particularly if their chances of successfully engaging are low. To aid the monitors a handful of cargo ships have been outfitted by the House Sacristans as Q-Ships. Cosmetically they are identical to other cargo-transports but when engaged can explosively eject sections of their hull to reveal the firepower of a small cruiser, a nasty shock for an enemy expecting a lightly-defended transport convoy.

 

Notable Figures of the Vanyr System

Archmagos Quillian-V-Zandatos

The senior representative of the Forge World of Lokabrenna the Archmagos Quillian-V-Zandatos is the unofficial ruler and administrator of the Forge World Minoris Ydalir. Though the minor forge world has it's own highly-skilled and experienced Magos and is officially controlled by a local Archmagos the representative of the principal Forge World Lokabrenna holds the real power on Ydalir, ultimately all major decisions and ultimate authority over the forge world's military and technology falls to the current representative of Lokabrenna. Though Quillian maintains an office in the Stavanger Forge Temple he spends most of his time in the Titan Forge located on the northern edge of the Namsos Forge Sprawl region. A massive nightmare of flesh and metal in chaotic fusion Quillian is essentially an enormous centipede creature, fifty-feet long, carried around on dozens of individual insectile limbs and sprouting scores of manipulator claws and mechadendrites the Archmagos oversees the construction and maintenance of all God-Machines on Ydalir, often personally undertaking the task of installing major components and systems, his massive form easily able to manipulate the huge components of the Titan warmachines. The few times Quillian has ever been called on to fight his physical form reveals a skitarii maniple's worth of firepower emerging from the folds of his voluminous robes. Volkite chargers, conversion beamers, plasma calivers, phosphor blasters, meltaguns and macrostubbers sprouting from all along his enormous and terrifying form. Needless to say few enemies withstand the awesome barrage of Quillian's weapons, enabling the Archmagos to dispense with the tedious chore of combat and return to his duties in the Titan forge.

Archmagos Lima-XIV

Officially the designated senior administrator of the Forge World Minoris Ydalir the Archmagos Lima-XIV is a strange and inhuman figure. While the Archmagos-Administrator Quillian-V-Zandatos from Lokabrenna is the real power on Ydalir much of the day-to-day operations of the forges are processed through the towering intellect of Lima-XIV. Many who have witnessed the Archmagos Quillian describe his form as utterly terrifying but the physical appearance of Archmagos Lima-XIV is stranger yet. Lima-XIV is essentially a massive sphere of floating brains, each sprouting significant cybernetic augmentation and linked into an enormous network of cogitators and networked Calculus-Logi adepts. The entire construct of Lima-XIV systems takes up a sizable shaft of space at the heart of the Stavanger Forge Temple that runs hundreds of feet high and is exactly one-hundred yards in diameter. Lima-XIV's exact age or even original gender are completely unknown, even the vast data-stacks of the Stavanger Forge Temple do not offer a single or reliable answer to these questions as in reality Lima-XIV grew into it's current form over many centuries. Starting with the brain of a single calculus-logi adept permanently installed into one of the core mainframes of the forge temple the construct slowly took form over a very long time. As the original brain was worn out and filled to capacity further gray matter was cloned from the original tissue and installed to keep the adept functioning, the entire system and fractured personality of Lima-XIV growing ever stranger and more powerful with each addition. Despite the incredible strangeness Lima-XIV is an invaluable component of the Stavanger Forge Temple, alone responsible for processing over seventy-percent of the data transmitted throughout the Namsos Forge Sprawl. Physical movement is entirely out of the question for Lima-XIV, any time communication is required with other ruling elements of the Vanyr system the Archmagos chooses to appear as a hololithic avatar or to communicate through a junior adept as a proxy. The lords of Andlang tend to find Lima-XIV an even more unsettling individual than Archmagos Quillian-V-Zandatos and so tend to avoid it whenever possible in dealings with the forge world, a situation that perfectly suits the reclusive and immobile senior adept of the Mechanicus.

Princeps Senioris Olaf Hjelmstad the “Stormstrider”

Commander of the Legio Sirius garrison of Ydalir and lord of the Ironwolf Bastion the Princeps Senioris Olaf Hjelmstad is known as the Stormstrider, a title earned for his ability to pilot his God-Machine through the most intense of enemy fire and live, even where other Titans have perished. Princeps Senioris Olaf brings that same ability to walk the knife's edge through danger to his command, leading the Maniples of the Legio Sirius against countless enemies while minimizing losses in the face of the incredible threat of the Great Rift and the countless foes spilling into the Emperor's realm from the hell-light of the warp. One of Olaf's most critical goals since the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum has been to preserve the strength of the Legio Sirius. Without contact with the wider Legio command Olaf has to operate as though his command are the sole survivors of the Legio and thus must be preserved lest the Legio and it's proud history be lost entirely. Not to mention as the heaviest military assets in the Vanyr system the God-Engines under Olaf's command are a critical asset in and of themselves and not to be wasted in vain and foolhardy quests for glory and renown. On campaign Princeps Olaf is content to let his allies, whether they be the Adeptus Astartes warriors of the Space Wolves, the regiments of Folkvangr Imperial Guard, the maniples of Ydalir Skitarii or the hunting Lances of House Cenwulf, to do the bulk of the fighting while the maniples of the Legio Sirius content themselves with providing reinforcement and fire-support. For their part the other forces fighting alongside the nobles of House Cenwulf also recognize the extreme value of Olaf's maniples and are nearly as keen to protect and preserve them as the Princeps Senioris himself. Though ostensibly sworn and beholden to the Adeptus Mechanicus of Lokabrenna the Legio Titanicus is an independent organization and not directly under the command of the Magos of the Mechanicus. In the absence of a more senior Legio commander Olaf cannot be directly countermanded even by Archmagos Quillian-V-Zandatos, a fact Olaf has been quick to point out whenever the issue of the chain-of-command is raised while on campaign. Nevertheless Olaf is generally willing to follow the commands of the High King of House Cenwulf so long as the nobles of the house are also willing to provide escort and screening support to his maniples. This mutual support has proven highly effective in battle and though the cost to House Cenwulf has been high the preservation of the God-Engines of the Legio Sirius is more important even than the lives of the scions of the Imperial Knight household.

Princeps Skarin the “Soul-shriven”

Commander of the Warhound Titan Seryi Volk the warrior known as the Soul-shriven is a grim, bitter and savage warrior with little care or regard for his own life and a burning desire to obliterate the enemies of the God-Emperor with bolt and plasma. Whenever the maniples of the Legio Sirius march to war alongside the nobles of House Cenwulf the Seryi Volk is the first to enter the battle and the last to leave. Countless battles have been turned in the Imperium's favor by the unrelenting brutal destruction meted out by the venerable Warhound and it's brutal and unrelenting crew. Though Princeps Senioris Olaf Hjelmstad is primarily concerned with preserving the fighting strength of his maniples a commander must ultimately fight with the forces under his command. Though Princeps Senioris Olaf may have preferred to replace Skarin with a more level-headed Princeps in such a dire time there are no crews to replace the reckless Skarin and so Olaf must make do with trying to support the younger Princeps and prevent the Seryi Volk from being lost to the recklessness of it's commander. For their part the nobles of House Cenwulf believe the Skarin is simply a driven and zealous warrior and are always heartened to see the Seryi Volk stride out to join them in battle, knowing that whatever the enemy throws at them the Seryi Volk will meet and crush with remarkable efficiency and lethality.

Moderati Drakan

The weapons moderati of the Warhound Titan Seryi Volk. Moderati Drakan oversees the loading, targeting and cooling of the primary weapons systems of the Seryi Volk, which in most cases are a Vulcan Mega-Bolter and a Plasma Blastgun. Both weapons are extremely powerful and dangerous weapons that require considerable care and finesse to deploy properly from the platform of a God-Engine. Fortunately Moderati Drakan is a master in their use, his skills hard-won in countless battlefield encounters over the last few decades. No other Titan crew in the Legio Sirius detachment assigned to Ydalir has the kill-tally or engagement numbers of the Seryi Volk and this record shows in the skill and experience of the crew. Drakan is aided in his task by a pair of servitors, one hard-wired into the control systems of each primary weapon. These servitors help Drakan process targeting information and calculate trajectories on the fly in the heat of battle.

Moderati Torstein

The moderati steersman of the Warhound Titan Seryi Volk. Torstein is charged with overseeing the navigation and steering the Warhound Titan across even the most broken and treacherous battlefields. Given the aggressive and violent nature of Princeps Skarin's command the young Torstein is under immense pressure to keep the Titan moving with speed and agility regardless of the conditions, navigating the most hostile battlefields to find the enemy and bring them to battle swiftly and reliably. In this role Torstein has excelled and proving himself to be one of the most capable steersman in the Legio.

Tech-Priest Svein

Svein serves as the Titan Tech-Priest of the Seryi Volk, charged with managing and maintaining the volatile plasma generators of the Titan in the heat of battle. Even at the best of times the plasma-cores of a God-Engine are volatile and temperamental beasts that require a deft hand to maintain properly. In battle they are raging infernoes that could run out of control at a moment's notice and swing wildly from drained nearly to death to overloading close to detonation as the God-Engines either draw power dramatically or build it to discharge their weapons and fuel their void shields. With Skarin at the helm of the Seryi Volk the Warhound Titan is under even more intense demands than would normally be the case. As a result Svein often appears to be a haunted and drawn individual, unhealthily thin from the constant demands of his role. Nevertheless Svein will not abandon his crew or his God-Engine charge, protective of his role with a fearsome determination that has clearly earned the appreciation and respect of the volatile Skarin and his battle-hardened Moderati and cemented Svein's position on the close-knit crew of the Seryi Volk.

Governess Cosima Nicolina Vidalia Falkenberg the XXIII

For over nine-thousand years members of the Falkenberg family have served as the Imperium sanctioned governors of the agri-world of Folkvangr. Proud, aristocratic and nearly as wealthy as the nobles of House Cenwulf the Falkenberg dynasty holds a significant amount of power in the system, even if their authority exists ultimately at the indulgence of the lords of Andlang. For millennia the Falkenberg's have slowly carved out their own niche in the wider power structures of the Vanyr system, ensuring to never overstep their bounds or offend the nobles of House Cenwulf while also working to ensure that their role in the governance of Folkvangr becomes ever more invaluable and irreplaceable. Like her forebears before her Governor Cosima Nicolina Vidalia Falkenberg the XXIII works tirelessly to make sure that her family's is so firmly rooted into every aspect of Folkvangr's infrastructure, bureaucracy and administration that any attempt to usurp or replace the Falkenberg's would be disastrous to the smooth-functioning of the agri-world. As such it serves her interests and those of her clan to ensure that the agri-world never falters in the quality and quantity of goods it produces and exports, especially where the tithe to House Cenwulf itself is concerned. Many of the Falkenberg's also serve as officers in the PDF and take command of regiments raised for the Astra Militarum, earning fame and glory for their family fighting across distant battlefields in the name of the Emperor and House Cenwulf. In addition to a sizable standing planetary defense force the Falkenberg's also maintain a considerable number of heavily-armed Enforcers. Grim and merciless enforcers of the Lex Imperialis these carapace armored, shock-baton wielding brutes patrol the depths of Holmestrand Hive, ensuring that the various junior houses and guilds never let their ambition or greed interfer in the continued efficient production of Folkvangr. Though the majority of the Enforcers garrison and patrol the capitol others can be found ranging all across the surface of Folkvangr, ensuring that the great transit-ways remain functional and safe and that the various scattered agri-communities and farmsteads remain loyal and reliable servants of Governor Falkenberg.

Cosima Nicolina Vidalia Falkenberg rules her modest kingdom with cunning and ruthlessness. Even the nobles of Andlang have a healthy respect for Cosima and are wary of directly interfering in the affairs of the Falkenbergs. The current commander of House Cenwulf's garrison on Folkvangr, Leif Direblade, tends to give the ancient Governess a wide berth, preferring to hunt the sparse native beasts remaining on the agri-world through the dense forests and leave the administration of the planet in Cosima's capable hands.

Lady Natalia Federova Falkenberg the XVII

The eldest daughter of Governess Cosima Nicolina Vidalia Falkenberg the XXIII, the young Lady Natalia Federova Falkenberg the XVII is the heir apparent of the Falkenberg dynasty and one of the most powerful individuals on Folkvangr. Although she has been groomed for leadership from infancy the young Natalia prefers the dueling rings of the mid-hive over the courtrooms and council meetings of the upper hive. An accomplished markswoman Natalia uses her privileged status to acquire the finest pistols and targeting augmetics she can acquire and revels in using them to gun down gangers, mercenaries, cultists and whatever else wanders before her sights during frequent trips into the downhive slums. Accompanied by a retinue of bodyguards seconded from the elite Falkenberg Lifeguard at all times Natalia and her retainers possess more firepower than a PDF platoon and are quite happy to put it to use. In the high circles of Folkvangr the young Natalia is something of an embarrassment for the Falkenberg house and there are many who clamor for a more mature and less violently unstable heir to be appointed.

Lord Nicholas Augustus Falkenberg the XIV

A distant cousin to Lady Natalia Federova Falkenberg the young Lord Nicholas has covertly been appointed by Governess Cosima to keep an eye on her young heiress and protect her should her tendency towards low-hive violence get her into trouble that her pistols and Lifeguard wardens cannot get her out of. An accomplished duelist and marksman Nicholas has little trouble keeping up with Natalia and serves as a constant but unnoticed shadow to the young noblewoman. Wherever Nicholas goes he always ensures to bring a powerful archaeotech grenade, sourced from the vast private armories of the Falkenbergs this incendiary device is quite capable of leveling a small building and obliterating a company of enemies at once. The grenade serves as an emergency fallback should Nicholas or the reckless Natalia ever get into a problematic situation that powered blades and high powered firearms alone cannot rectify.

Captain Heinrich Wagner

Commander of the elite Falkenberg Lifeguard the venerable Captain Heinrich Wagner is a seasoned professional soldier and one of the most experienced military men on Folkvangr. Born of humble origins Heinrich clawed his way up the ranks of the Folkvangr PDF, before finally earning promotion to the Lifeguard. While serving in the bodyguard of house Falkenberg the veteran soldier proved his worth time and again, protecting multiple members of the house from assassination and kidnapping attempts and eventually drew the notice of Governess Cosima herself who personally promoted him to command of the Lifeguard after the previous Captain was killed protecting Cosima's daughter Natalia from a gang ambush in the lower hive. Much of Heinrich's duties revolve around protecting Natalia and preserving the chain of succession of the house. Despite Heinrich's frequent lectures and attempts to convince Natalia to behave as a proper noble should and abandon her frequent sojourns into the lower hive slums the young Natalia will not be swayed and so Heinrich has seen more fighting as Captain of the Lifeguard than in his several decades of prior service combined.

General Hohlt Van Der Graaf

Senior commander of the Folkvangr Planetary Defense Force the redoubt General Hohlt Van Der Graaf is a capable veteran of around seventy-years Terran standard who attained his rank through a carefully negotiated marriage to a great-great grand-niece of Governess Cosima Nicolina Vidalia Falkenberg the XXIII. Since then Hohlt has worked tirelessly to skim resources from Folkvangr's tithe to the Imperium, running the risk of offending both the Falkenbergs and House Cenwulf, however the goal of this embezzlement for Hohlt has been the largest expansion in the PDF's forces and arsenal in over three thousand years. Tanks, Sentinels, artillery, heavy weapons and munitions have been requisitioned, stolen, lost and appropriated, and even (somewhat) honestly purchased all to ensure that the garrison of Folkvangr stands stronger then at nearly any point in its entire history. Some of those close to General Hohlt believed he was simply being paranoid, following the opening of the Great Rift however some whisper the General may have been dangerously prescient. Whether Hohlt somehow managed to predict the looming disaster or simply has a well honed instinct for danger is unknown and since the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum few have bothered to pay the subject any attention. Thanks to General Hohlt's preparations, paranoid or otherwise, the military strength of Folkvangr has never been better prepared to meet the challenges of defending the planet and the system. Many thousands of conscripts have been raised and armed, thousands more PDF marshaled as levies for the Imperial Guard and dispatched into the stars to aide in the effort to push back against the countless invaders besieging the beleaguered Imperium. General Hohlt himself has worked tirelessly to raise and train still more soldiers, emptying the prisons and slums of Folkvangr and even drawing fresh recruits from the worker habs of Ydalir to gather more soldiers for the Imperium. So long as his efforts do not detrimentally effect the production of material from Folkvangr or Ydalir his efforts have been not only permitted but encouraged for everyone understands the unprecedented threat facing the Imperium and that the need for men and women under arms has never been greater.

Admiral Constantin Fredrikson

Commander of the Vanyr System Defense Fleet the young Admiral Constantin Fredrikson is a capable but unimaginative Imperial Navy officer who likely obtained his rank through dint of his family connections rather than his own individual merit. However posting to the Vanyr system is hardly a particularly noteworthy or demanding position. Admiral Constantin Fredrikson commands three dozen System Defense Monitors and a small warp-capable fleet numbering a single squadron of destroyers, two small squadrons of frigates, two light cruisers and a single ancient and battered cruiser, all seconded from the Battlefleet Obscurus to protect the modest dry-docks orbiting Ydalir. Capable of constructing small numbers of escort craft if necessary the dockyards of the forge world minoris are primarily designed to service the vessels of House Cenwulf and the transportation vessels of the Chartered Captains and the Adeptus Mechanicus. In exchange for the modest reinforcement of the system defense fleet the Battlefleet Obscurus was granted recruitment, refit and resupply rights at the dockyards making the facility orbiting Ydalir a minor supply point for the Imperial Navy operating in the Segmentum.

Admiral Constantin's primary duty is to protect the docks and the interests of the Imperial Navy but he is also sworn to the authority of the Imperial Governor of Folkvangr, putting him under the authority of the Lady Cosima, and by extension the nobles of House Cenwulf who hold Folkvangr as a protectorate of the house. Though this complicated chain-of-command would probably be frustrating to many Imperial Navy officers the relatively young and inexperienced Constantin seems to have adapted to his assignment well, happy to allow the extended bureaucracy of the system to keep him out of the way of the grim and dour nobles of House Cenwulf. Admiral Fredrikson has instead preferred to remain aboard his flagship patrolling the outskirts of the system to the political intrigue of Holmestrand where he could have maintained an office and left the acting command of the fleet to his subordinates like many past Admirals have chosen to do. Ironically this isolationism has given Constantin valuable experience learning the various routes in and around the system and allowed him to defend against xenos and traitor incursions into the system far better than if he had chosen to remain in the comfort and safety of Holmestrand's upper hive spires.

Primaris Psyker Ichika Watanabe

A bright young prodigy from the training halls of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica the powerful psyker Ichika Watanabe serves as an adviser and battlefield weapon in the service of the Falkenberg house of Folkvangr. Ichika's services were awarded to the Falkenberg's following an obscene donation to the Vanaheim Choir and the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Why Governess Cosima was so determined to acquire the services of a powerful telepathica psyker is a subject of much debate but few can argue that following the opening of the Great Rift the talents of Ichika Watanabe have proven invaluable in protecting the world of Folkvangr from the claws of daemons and the blades of raiders and traitors alike. For her part Ichika does not seem to care overmuch where she serves so long as she has enemies to fight and Folkvangr has certainly provided ample opponents for the young psyker to ply her talents against. Insurrectionist factions, troublesome low-hive gangs, chaos cultists, xenos invaders and summoned warp spawn have all tasted Ichika's devastating powers. Most of Ichika's time is spent aiding the efforts of Holmestrand's Civil Enforcement Division, the armored enforcers of the Lex charged with rooting out all traces of heresy, rebellion or corruption within the capitol hive-city of Folkvangr. Since the appearance of the Cicatrix Maledictum incidents of rebellion and chaos taint have risen dramatically and the Enforcers have been stretched to the breaking point putting down these constant threats, even with Lady Ichika's considerable assistance.

Choirmaster Chidiadi Akande

One of the very few outsiders permitted to live on Andlang the master of the Astropaths known as Chidiadi Akande is the Choirmaster of the Vanaheim Astropathic Choir. One of the largest and strongest Astropathic relays in the sector the Vanaheim Choir numbers anywhere from one to five hundred Astropaths at any given time. The Vanaheim choir is essentially a realm within a realm. Within the choir tower ever single soul is bound to the service of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Grim, black armored wardens patrol the darkened hallways, ever vigilant for signs of possession or corruption while blind servitors ceaselessly record every sound uttered by the Astropaths going about their duties. Other mind-dulled cyborgs see to the daily needs of the Astropaths, cleaning and repairing the facilities, preparing food and water and sometimes even carrying the more aged or infirm members of the choir to and from their projection cradles. The undisputed master of this realm is Chidiadi Akande, an aged but extremely powerful member of his order recruited and trained on the Throneworld itself. Such a bright and experienced mind likely could have requested a posting nearly anywhere, why Chidiadi chose Andlang remains a mystery but it may be a relatively simple thing. Perhaps Chidiadi, like countless billions of the Imperium's citizens, looks on the Imperial Knights as noble and powerful warrior-heroes and the chance to serve on the homeworld of one such household of esteemed heroes may have been exactly the kind of posting he desired. Certainly it is not the norm for an Astropathic choir to share a home with a household of Imperial Knights. Whatever his reasons Chidiadi and his choir are an invaluable asset to the Vanyr system. The opening of the Great Rift killed many of the Astropaths of the choir and caused immense damage within its halls. Nevertheless, in large part to the leadership and skills of Choirmaster Akande, the choir survived and continued to function despite the upset. As such the choir continues to keep House Cenwulf in contact with the nearby systems and other Imperial forces operating in the Segmentum. At a time when many worlds and whole systems in the Imperium have found themselves unexpectedly deaf and blind the nobles of House Cenwulf still hear the cries of friend and foe across the tides of the warp, this critical information is a key component in keeping the nobles of Andlang in the fight against the enemies of the Imperium.

Cardinal Sebastian Wellington of Gathalamor

The senior representative of the Ecclesiarchy on Folkvangr and, by extension, the whole of the Vanyr system, the Cardinal Sebastian Wellington is a relatively humble and proactive representative of his order. Many priests of Sebastian's rank use their privilege to surround themselves with wealth and power, living in vast mansions serviced by armies of attendants, consuming the finest of imported food and drink and growing fat and slovenly in their decadence. While Sebastian possesses a fondness for food, drink and cheer and carries the belly to prove it his domicile in the upper-spires of Holmestrand Hive is surprisingly modest and most of his servants are warriors or blessed servitors. Sebastian can more often be seen journeying through the slums of the mid and low hive, bombastically preaching the divine word of the God-Emperor than delivering wise council to the courtly lords and ladies of the upper-hive. The bulk of Cardinal Sebastian's attendants are hardened warrior-zealots who protect their holy charge during his frequent missions into the downhive and even accompany him to battle when the forces of Folkvangr take to the field in defense of the system. Numbering Crusaders, warrior-priests, fanatic militia, death cult assassins and redemptionist cultists these attendants form a small army in their own right and are a force to be reckoned with. Many in the upper-hive keep a wary eye on Sebastian, concerned that his puritanical streak could cause trouble in the future and it is rumored even Governess Cosima has plans in place should the Cardinal ever seek to bring his firebrand form of preaching into the upper-hive itself.

Sir Richter Von Maur

A noble of one of the ancient Crusader noble houses of Terra the veteran warrior Richter Von Maur is a knight in service to the Ecclesiarchy, assigned to Folkvangr to serve as the commander of Cardinal Sebastian Wellington's personal bodyguard. Although raised in privilege and wealth Sir Richter Von Maur is a practical, efficient and deeply pious individual. His personal quarters are nearly indistinguishable from those of a lowly servants and his personal possessions almost non-existent apart from his magnificent weapons and armor. Sir Richter takes his responsibilities very seriously, he never permits Cardinal Sebastian out of his sight outside the grounds of the Cardinal's own estate, he even personally tastes everything Sebastian eats or drinks before it reaches the Cardinal. Richter has gone to such lengths to ensure Sebastian's personal safety that he has even ensured that a number of the Cardinal's small coterie of servants are a genetic and blood-type match for Sebastian, ensuring that a ready supply of donor blood and organs are available should the Cardinal become ill or injured. One of the few hobbies Richter allows himself to engage in during the few moments of free time is to scrimshaw Cardinal Sebastian's sermons onto the skulls of fallen servants and defeated enemies, creating a macabre library of the Cardinal's holy words that now fills much of the interior of the Cardinal's modest estates in the spires of Holmestrand's upper-hive.

Sister Amelia the Blessed

Formerly of the Order of Our Martyred Lady the young Battle Sister now serves as one of the personal retainers of Cardinal Sebastian Wellington. During one of Cardinal Sebastian's earlier assignments as a warrior-priest serving alongside the Sororitas the Sisters of the Order of Our Martyred Lady were fighting against the forces of the Heretic Astartes Word Bearers, that most blasphemous and reviled of all the traitor legions to the warriors of the Ecclesiarchy. During that battle the young Sister Amelia was struck down by a monstrous Helldrake daemon engine which towered over her and prepared to engulf her in baleful warp flames from it's throat mounted flamethrower when Father Sebastian stepped over her and warded away the flames with the power of his faith and his personal Rosarius power field emitter. Caught on the edges of the field's protection Amelia was spared the worst of the warpflame but was still badly burned and scarred by the encounter. Nevertheless Father Sebastian's intervention saved her life and the Helldrake fell to the zealous priest when he stove in the nozzle of it's flamer with the head of his power maul and caused the machine to explode from within. Ever since that day Amelia has sworn herself to the service of Father Sebastian, seeing him as a living avatar of the God-Emperor's divine will. Now she wears heavy plate armor and carries a flamer with an under-mounted eviscerator chainsword. Next to Sir Richter she is Sebastian's most trusted and capable servant and ever at his side when the Cardinal sets out to bring the Emperor's light into the squalid darkness of the hive-city.

Navigator Primus Xander Argento Bellisarius

Lord Xander Argento Bellisarius serves as the Navigator Primus, the most senior Navigator of House Cenwulf's hearth fleet. Somewhat past his prime Xander was formerly attached to the Space Wolves Chapter for some thirty years, and served aboard a number of Rogue Trader vessels for forty years before that. Assignment to the Hearth Fleet of House Cenwulf is something of a retirement for Xander Argento Bellisarius where he will likely serve for several more decades before finally returning to Terra to live out the rest of his days in the secluded enclaves of House Bellisarius. Despite his age Xander is still a talented and highly capable Navigator who has faithfully and reliably transported task forces of House Cenwulf Knights and soldiers to dozens of embattled warzones across the Segmentum and beyond for some years now. Though an outsider the venerable Navigator is held in high esteem by many factions in the Vanyr system including House Cenwulf itself. Although his position is one that is typically aloof from the strategic and political concerns of his employers Xanders past association with the Space Wolves and his connections through the influence and wealth of the powerful Navigator House Bellisarius have made Xander a potent asset to the nobles of House Cenwulf even beyond his ability to safely navigate the troubled tides of the warp. 

Notable Figures of the Protectorate Domains

Governor-Militant Alesandro Constantinides

Formerly the Lord-General of the planetary defense force of the Agri-World Ovid's Folly and a distant relation to the Governor Estevan Castellanos-Drakos XIII. The ruling family of House Drakos, based on the system capitol of Uriah's Hope, had dominated the political structure of the entire system for thousands of years but was wiped from existence in a matter of hours when the forces of chaos stormed the system. House Castellanos, the ruling dynasty of Saint Sebastian's Will fared no better. Even House Galatas, rulers of the agri-world Marna's Rest were all but extinguished, only a handful of the great house scions still live. Only the Constantinides dynasty of Ovid's Folly survived in any number, and even then much reduced. Alesandro commanded the stubborn defense of Ovid's Folly and it was entirely thanks to his strategic insight that anything of the world was left to salvage and rebuild. Following the reclamation of the system by the forces of House Cenwulf and the reorganization of its defenders into the Triton Defense Corps the overall command of the system has fallen to Alesandro who has taken on the dual role of Imperial Governor of the remaining populations of Ovid's Folly and Marna's Rest as well as Lord-General of the system defense forces. In honor of the late Imperial Governor Estevan the Governor-Militant has taken the former crest of House Drakos, the coiled dragon, as his personal crest and many among the defense corps have taken to calling him the Dragon of Triton.

Governess Elena Galatos

One of the few remaining nobles of House Galatos, the ruling family of the agri-world Marna's Rest the Governess Elena Galatos has watched the power of her family wane nearly to nothing as the remaining inhabitants of the system have been forced to adopt a militaristic reform under the authority of Governor-Militant Alesandro Constantinides. Despite her best efforts Elena Galatos has watched the agricultural export of her planet fall dramatically as settlements have been fortified with walls and bastions and fields dug up with trenches, filled with mines and razorwire and prepared for war. Not all of Marna's Rest has been repurposed for war and the food-stuffs grown in the kilometers of golden fields remain of significant import to the security of the system, needed now more than ever to feed the growing number of soldiers filling the system. Nevertheless Governess Elena fears the complete collapse of her world's agricultural production in the name of further fortification and defense as her system has now become the bulwark between the Great Rift and the rest of the inhabited systems of the Vanyr sector.

Governor Giovanni Francesco Mazzanti

The current ruler of Mazzanti Prime and overall Imperial Governor of the Mazzanti system, Lord-Governor Giovanni Francesco Mazzanti is a shrewd merchant, ruthless tyrant, and cunning tactician who has managed to hoard a vast fortune, raise a massive personal army and cobble together an enormous and heavily-armed merchant flotilla. Few rulers in the history of the Mazzanti system have commanded the material wealth or military strength of Giovanni, what the governor intends to do with such strength is as yet unclear but he may be preparing to make yet another attempt to wriggle the system free from the dominance of House Cenwulf.

Governor Francois De Leon

In the millennia since the nobles of House Cenwulf crushed the tyrannical Iron Lords and freed the people of Caspian Sigma from their control the noble house of De Leon has risen to a role of preeminence on the feudal world, vanquishing all contenders for the role of planetary Governor. Many other noble houses exist on Caspian Sigma but none possess the wealth or military strength of the De Leon family. Governor Francois has long petitioned House Cenwulf to grant the feudal world additional technology and develop the world into an industrial planet. Thus far Francois' efforts have come largely to naught however House Cenwulf has seen fit to increase the defensive capability of Caspian Sigma significantly in the last century, much to the satisfaction of house De Leon. The professional bodyguards of the nobles have been issued Astra Militarum grade lasguns, their castles have been fitted with heavy bolters and icarus autocannons as well as void-shields powered by geothermal power plants built into the fortress foundations, and each keep has been further outfitted with vox relays capable of coordinating their efforts with nearby fortresses. Such measures have significantly improved the defenses of the feudal world and allowed Caspian Sigma to see off several minor ork and human pirate incurions on its own in recent decades, victories that have only further grown the reputation and power of the De Leon family.

Governor Mikhail Gagarin-Nevsky

The current Imperial Governor of the hive world Nevsky in the Krastenwald system. The world was originally named after the ruling dynasty that settled the planet during the Great Crusade but in truth the Nevsky family was wiped out in internecine conflict several thousand years ago. Nevertheless every Imperial Governor of the planet takes the last name Nevsky in honor of the founding family. The current governor hails from the powerful House Gagarin, merchants and traders who rose through the ranks of the planetary nobility thanks to a near monopoly on weapons imports from Ydalir. The Gagarins have ruled Nevsky for several centuries now through their power is not so absolute that the house is immune from the possibility of a coup and thus the Gagarin's must be ever wary of threats from the other noble houses of Nevsky lest they suffer a fate similar to the original ruling house. Such paranoia is in part why the Nevskian Grenadier defense regiments are so well trained and equipped, the expensive armored personnel carriers and carapace armor of the regiments attesting to the vast treasuries and abundant resources of the Gagarin family.

Governor-Elect Richard Osborne

Falkner's Reach is one of the few worlds in the Vanyr sector that elects its governor from among the ruling families of the planet. In times past the planet has been ruled by members of the Byron, Grenville, Pelham, Russell, Astor, Holland, and Stanhope families and others besides. No one house is generally allowed to amass too much power for too long before leadership is passed to a scion of another house, ensuring that power remains distributed. On those few occasions when a ruler refuses to easily relinquish authority the matter has usually been settled by a well placed sniper's bullet. The standards of marksmanship and sheer number of sharpshooters on Falkner's Reach has meant that few political issues become too strained as everyone understands that none of them are immune from the reach of the others. Though designated an agri-world relatively little of the planet's surface has been converted into farmland and instead serves as pastures for large herds of domesticated herbivores of several different varieties including the common grox. Predators fill the hills, valleys and forests of the planet and so the natives must remain ever vigilant for threats to their herds and ready to put down said threats with a well placed shot from a high-powered long las.

Governor Marius Godwin Tornberg

Lord-Governor Marius Godwin Tornberg is one of the youngest individuals to bear the title of Imperial Governor within the Vanyr sector. Nevertheless he has established himself as a fierce and proud ruler willing and able to marshal his people in the fight against the encroaching forces of chaos. Regiments of Raptoryx Lancers have joined dozens of musters and set out on crusade in their tens of thousands over the last few decades. Many of these regiments have been led by members of the ruling house of Tornberg and Marius himself has led several campaigns against raiding forces that have threatened Halvard's Hope in recent years. Godwin's elite Golden Lances regiment have taken to the field several times and spearheaded assaults against chaos cultists and xenos raiders alike.

High-Administrator Qing Lao-Tzu

Unlike most of the rest of the worlds of the Vanyr sector the inhabitants of Praxis IV are largely transitory in nature and hail from a wide array of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The most dominant single faction currently are descendants of the crews of the Rogue Trader House Qing that arrived in the system some four centuries previously, themselves claiming descent from an ancient Terran noble clan of the same name. Sailing under the flag of a serpentine dragon, the Qing merchant-clan of Praxis IV controls most of the shipping and dockyard facilities of the moon and currently dominates inter-system trade. Praxis IV is not considered an independent world and thus possesses no Imperial Governor, instead the settlements and facilities of Praxis are controlled by a senior Administrator who reports directly to the Imperial Navy and the Administratum representatives operating from the moon. The High-Administrator is usually appointed from among the most powerful merchant-clans by the Adeptus Administratum and for the last century and a half that post has been held by Qing Lao-Tzu. Despite his powerful position Lao-Tzu faces constant pressure from the leaders of several other powerful merchant-clans including Hameed Bin Khalid and Katarina Zaitsev.

Canoness Superior Anastasia of Galene

The current commander of the sole Priory of the Order of the Iron Maiden, an order minoris of the Adeptus Sororitas stationed in the Galene System. Originally named Valentina Octavia, a lesser daughter from one of the noble houses of the Krastenwald system raised in the Schola Progenium and recruited to the Adeptus Sororitas for her faith and strength Anastasia forswore her family names and took a new one taken from the writings of the Imperial Church after joining the order. Anastasia is a brutal and merciless commander and gifted tactician who has led her sisters to victory after victory following the opening of the Great Rift. Always her formations are spearheaded by the forbidding sight of heavily armored Anchorites, striding into battle screaming prayers through teeth clenched in agony within their pain-inducing sarcophagi. How the order always seems to appear in the right place and at the right time to participate in nearly every major conflict in the sector for decades straight is unknown through some believe the sisters of the order use pain-induced visions of the Emperor to dictate where and when they will deploy, launching surgical strikes across the sector aboard sleek Ecclesiarchal cutters from the safety of their asteroid-fortress deep in the Galene system.

Following the opening of the Great Rift the Order of the Iron Maiden committed the bulk of it's strength to the crusade force called together by the nobles of House Cenwulf. In recognition of the Adepta Sororitas' committment to the joint force the artisans of House Cenwulf and the Magi of Ydalir combined their efforts to produce a master-crafted Paragon Warsuit for the Canoness Anastasia. Known as the Armor of Faith Eternal this heavily customized warsuit features priceless irreplaceable technology whose secrets of manufacture have long been lost to the Imperium but of which some examples remain in the deep vaults of House Cenwulf's armories. This powerful symbol of authority and strength was gifted to the order along with fifty newly manufactured Paragon Warsuits, giving the order's line of battle access to a shocking number of heavy assault units given the relatively small size of the contingent, a force numbering a bit over a thousand strong.

Notable Battles

The Invasion of Waaaagh Ironklaw – 538-612.M29

One of the few well known battles from before the coming of the Imperium is the Invasion of Waaagh Ironklaw. The invasion was a conflict that would last nearly a century and saw House Cenwulf come close to annihilation. Thousands of ramshackle ork ships stumbled upon the system, smashed through what little remained of the void-born system defenses and landed millions of greenskins supported by thousands of warmachines. Initially the toxic and heavily irradiated surface of Andlang cost the greenskins countless lives but the orks proved hardy and quick to adapt. The poorly manned and all but abandoned lesser fortresses of the house were quick to fall and the orks used these mountain strongholds as shelters from the worst of the natural hazards. The clumsy and ill-suited tanks and trukks used by the orks were hastily converted into walking warmachines, killa-kans, deff-dreads and stompas by the hundreds in a crude parody of the noble war-engines of House Cenwulf. For decades the ork forces held the upper-hand, pushing the warriors of House Cenwulf ever backwards until only Jotunheim remained, and there they were halted. Hundreds of thousands of orks died trying to breach the walls of the fortress, their dead piled so high that the mounds became unstable and fell down the slopes of the mountain like an avalanche, but of corpses instead of the usual radioactive snow. So high were the ork casualties attacking Jotunheim that the entire campaign shifted in the favor of House Cenwulf. Depleted in warriors and material to an enormous extent the orks could no longer withstand the remaining knight lances of the house and were slowly driven back to their captured strongholds and exterminated.

Legends told about this conflict suggest that the campaign raged on so long the stockpiles of munitions in Jotunheim were nearly exhausted and the Knights of the house resorted to mounting their few remaining artillery shells on long metal shafts and carrying them in thunderstrike gauntlets, imitating the rather insane tankhammers of the orks. This allowed the nearly ammunition starved knights to deliver a mortal blow to even the largest ork warmachines up close and personal where energy shields wouldn't protect them. The great Road of Bones that leads up from the valleys to the gates of Jotunheim is believed to be named after the thousands of crippled ork warmachines the xenos used to build the crude iron road. In modern times the ramshackle highway has been rebuilt and reinforced with Imperial construction but underneath the permacrete road and adamantium bracing the rusted iron of ruined warmachines can still be seen.

Modern Imperial strategos believe that the hostile environment of Andlang prevented the orks from replenishing their losses. With precious little in the way of fertile ground for the spores of the orks to take root and grow the losses the greenskins took were simply unsustainable. Even so the massive initial force was almost enough to wipe out the house and only the combination of fearsome combat skill and wise tactics allowed the house to survive this terrible time of trial. 

Waaagh Ironklaw stands as the first in a long series of ork invasions of Andlang that have persisted for thousands of years. Every few centuries a new onslaught will assail the Vanyr system. Some of these attacks are repelled in space, some have savaged Folkvangr or more recently Ydalir but most have targeted the homeworld of House Cenwulf. In a crude mockery of the proud panoply of the house the Orks have over-time adopted the very fighting styles and structures of the house in their own savage way. Each greenskin invasion is spearheaded by a core of heavily armored walkers largely comprising Stompas, Morkanauts and Gorkanauts, supported by formations of Killa-Kans, Deff-Dreads, and Mega-Dreads. This tendency of the orks to ape the weaponry and technology of their enemies has led to a history of enormous clashes of walkers on the surface of Andlang. Hundreds of human machines facing off against many times their number of xenos engines and very often emerging battered but victorious. The vast hordes of infantry typical of ork invasions are often absent from the more recent invasions of Andlang, the greenskins relying much more heavily on sealed armored walkers and small numbers of heavily augmented infantry known as cyborks, once again mocking the noble augmented warriors of the Huscarls.

The Liberation of Caspian Sigma – 343.M30

Centuries before the Imperium of Man would come into contact with House Cenwulf the nobles of Andlang were busy fighting fiercely to expand and stabilize a small realm of order and productivity. One of the battles fought during that time was to liberate the Feudal World of Caspian Sigma from the tyrannical despots who had risen to power over the world during the dark age of technology. Most of the settlements on the planet existed in a pre-industrial technological state, farming with beast-driven plows, lighting their homes with candles and oil lamps and defending themselves with iron swords and spears. The lords who ruled over them however had managed to maintain a somewhat higher degree of technology. Mounting raids on the lowland settlements from their mountain strongholds in the east the tyrants would ride out on clockwork iron steeds, wielding shock-lances and laslocks and armored in a crude form of powered armor. The most powerful of these Iron Lords piloted crude bipedal walkers roughly two-thirds the size of a Questoris-Class Imperial Knight. Far less sophisticated than the mounts of the Imperial Knight houses these mechanized suits lacked any kind of MIU interface, lacked the protection of ion shields and mostly mounted crude cannons and up-scaled shock-lances but against the simple weapons and armor of the rest of Caspian Sigma's inhabitants these machines were terrible monsters of death and destruction that could annihilate anything that stood before them. Perhaps once, long ago, these machines were knights and their pilots were descendants of an ancient noble house lost to history but if so they had fallen a very long way as to become almost unrecognizable. Far from espousing the noble virtues of the code chivalric these degenerate monsters preyed on the lowlands farm settlements, steeling captives to drag back to their mountain abode to harvest for blood and organs, bathing in the vital fluids of their victims and replacing their own withered flesh with fresher meat these foul creatures managed to extend their lives into long centuries at the expense of the innocent. 

Enraged at the terrible state of the planet the nobles of House Cenwulf landed upon the lowland plains and marched east towards the mountain fortresses of the Iron Lords. In winter the few passes into the mountains were all but impassable, preventing most attackers from reaching the heights but also preventing the Iron Lords from descending. It was during the winter months that the lowlands people could breath easy a little and try to rebuild and prepare for spring and renewed raids by their monstrous abusers. Though winter lay heavy on the land when the knights of House Cenwulf landed this proved little difficulty for the mighty steeds of the house. As if to prove the complete futility of their enemy's resistance the scions of House Cenwulf marched into the mountains through the snows. The few fortified gates and watchposts that greeted them were broken open and cast down as they went. Within a matter of days dozens of Knight Titans of House Cenwulf had reached the distant heights to discover an extensive hidden valley at the heart of the mountain range where the Iron Lords had carved out their own sheltered existence. The valley was a veritable paradise, kept prosperous by the wealth stolen from the lowlands and the hoarded remnants of technology the Iron Lords had amassed the valley was rich with fruit trees, ponds and streams full to bursting with fish, lush forests full of game and ringed with lavish castle palaces from which the various Iron Lords and their households lived. Were it not for the statues of ghoul-faced monsters in spiked plate lining the roads or the fields of rotting corpses staked out on spikes the place would have been reminiscent of many Imperial Knight homeworlds.

Driven into a dark fury by the grim and morbid trophies and monuments of the Iron Lords the nobles of Andlang began their assault on the fortresses. One after the other the Imperial Knights broke open the bastions, dragged out their enemies and slaughtered them. Tortured slaves with blades for arms threw themselves at the knights only to be gunned down by stubbers or stamped into the soil under titanic adamantium feet. Power armored men-at-arms wielding lightning-sheathed halberds and firing high-powered laser-bursts from wooden-stocked las weapons marched out in serried ranks only to be cut down by avenger gatling cannons or blasted into scraps by battle cannons. Lesser nobles on mechanical steeds wielding lances and crude plasma carbines launched daring charges at the knights only to be torn from their saddles by reaper chainswords or crushed by thunderstrike gauntlets. Rockets and missiles ripped the few cannons and howitzer defense weapons from iron-clad battlements. When at last the greatest of the Iron Lords were forced to take to the field their crude walkers proved little threat to the noble warriors of the Knight House. Large-bore cannon shot and poorly calibrated energy weapon fire splashed harmlessly from the ion shields and armor of the knights while their own weapons ripped the metal monsters of the Iron Lords apart and made a mockery of their enemy's greatest weapons and warmachines.

Within a matter of days more than a score of castles and several hundred enemy machines had been destroyed, the burnt-out carcasses littering the kilometers of forests and fields of the valley. Their mission complete the nobles descended from the mountains and met with the elders of the lowland villages and told them of the Iron Lords defeat. The nobles of House Cenwulf promised protection for the people of Caspian Sigma so long as they remained honest and virtuous and loyal to the nobles of Andlang. In return for their fealty the nobles of House Cenwulf worked to share some of the captured technology of the Iron Lords with the lowlands people, to raise among them nobles to oversee and protect the settlements, to build castles, dam rivers, build bridges and otherwise bring a moderate level of prosperity and order to the world. House Cenwulf's nobles did not want to advance the people of Caspian Sigma too far for their simple hard-working and tenacious spirit impressed the nobles and they feared too much access to technology would degrade their culture. For the wealthiest simple arc lighting illuminates their keeps, the professional guardsmen were to be armed with laslocks. Simple vox-casters would allow the various settlements to communicate and facilitate trade but otherwise little would change. Grox beasts pull the plows through the cultivated fields, fishermen still use twine nets to haul fish from the rivers and wagons and sail-boats are the primary means of transportation. House Cenwulf itself would maintain no formal presence on the planet but would keep Caspian Sigma under its protection and monitor the world for signs of danger. The ruins of the mountain fortresses were however forbidden to the inhabitants. House Cenwulf rebuilt the fortified gates protecting the passes and mounted servitor-crewed defensive guns upon them, ensuring none would set foot in the mountains without the permission of the house. The gutted keeps and ruined machines of the Iron Lords were left as ruins, all trace of statuary, iconography or inscriptions were obliterated, the libraries burned and the terrible laboratories smashed utterly.

When they departed the nobles of House Cenwulf left behind a valley of ruins and wreckage with no identifiable trace of who had once lived there. A single pre-fabricated bastion was placed in the north end of the valley, crewed by servitors and fitted with an orbital vox broadcast array, which itself could reach a small deep space relay installed by the house to watch over the system. The relay was a small space station with a crew of a few hundred thralls and outfitted with a handful of short-ranged messenger craft. Small ships only barely capable of making short, blind jumps through the warp. These runners could make it to the Vanyr system with relative safety and reliability and would bring word of any threat to the system. This method was used heavily by House Cenwulf to maintain communication throughout its protectorate domain through the centuries of the dark age of technology though today the station has been replaced with a more formidable installation crewed by several astropaths able to contact the choir on Andlang in case of emergency. It would not be until after the coming of the Imperium that House Cenwulf would return to Caspian Sigma and the Valley of the Iron Lords. Given that Andlang itself is a poor host for visiting nobles or dignitaries the lords of House Cenwulf chose to, on occasion, use the valley on Caspian Sigma as a meeting place. Remote, scenic and peaceful the valley made for a much better backdrop for negotiating trade deals, marriage contracts and treaties than the toxic wastes of Andlang.

In time the valley would become the favored spot of the nobles of House Cenwulf to hold tournaments. Every few decades House Cenwulf will hold a tournament in the valley, calling on any Knight from far and wide to come and compete, be they warrior of a noble house or freeblade is irrelevant, all are welcome, all may compete. Sometimes House Cenwulf, or one of the other participants, will bring xenos combatants for the nobles to test themselves against, usually Ork or Eldar warmachines kept in stasis-shielded vaults and unleashed on the tournament fields during special events. Sometimes these foes will be intended to allow for a somewhat realistic re-enactment of some great battle or victory of House Cenwulf or one of the other houses participating, sometimes they are merely sport for the nobles to show-off their skills in destroying. Always steps are taken to ensure little real threat to the participants or audience. Concealed void-shields and weapon emplacements built into the ruins protect the viewing stands while onlooking Knight Crusaders stand-by to intervene should an enemy appear to be doing too well. The wreckage of the xenos machines is added to the expansive detritus of the tournament fields which itself is never cleared. Ruined limbs from Imperial Knights, broken armor components, shell-casings by the tens of thousands and rusted hulks all overgrown with grass and weeds populate the vast fields of the valley. These wrecks add some interest to the competitions, ensuring participants have to be wary of their footing and must sometimes hunt for their opponents through particularly dense fields of wreckage. At times the nobles of House Cenwulf will collect the ruined carcasses of enemy tanks and warmachines and bring them back to Caspian Sigma for the direct purpose of adding to the wreckage fields. So it is that the ruins of Necron aircraft, renegade astartes and traitor guard tanks, ork stompas and Tau battlesuits can be seen dotted among the tournament detritus. Those rare occasions when a legitimate enemy threatens Caspian Sigma and battle is joined elsewhere on the planet the nobles of Andlang always ensure to remove any and all remains from those battlefields and bring them to the mountains. Nothing can be allowed to remain and taint the serenity and order of the lowlands, all such evidence of battle is left in the Valley of the Iron Lords where it belongs.

The Tournament of Souls – 071.M37

Early in the thirty-eighth millennium the Forge World Minoris Ydalir came under mysterious attack by a deadly and merciless foe. At first the loss of outposts and mining settlements was chalked up to industrial accidents, natural disasters or internal conflict but it was not long before the first major forge settlements were suddenly going dark. Teams of investigators sent to discover what was happening were also lost until one lucky vox report, transmitted just before the sender was brutally killed, reported contact with an unknown but deadly enemy. The Mechanicus was quick to mobilize what forces it had and call upon House Cenwulf for military aid. Supported by lances of Imperial Knights and the God-Engines of the Legio Sirius the forces of the Mechanicus finally began to encounter the enemy and survive. Though the first few engagements saw heavy casualties inflicted on the forces of the Imperium the Knights of House Cenwulf were quick to react to the enemy. Closing ranks and providing a formidable front of armor and shields and overlapping fields of fire the enemy were repelled and their nature determined. The invaders were Eldar from the Craftworld of Iyanden. Swift-footed Wraithknights supported by smaller wraith constructs and swift-moving skimmer tanks and jetbikes. The enemy were fleet and deadly and had been systematically butchering the inhabitants of the planet, seemingly on a mission of extermination.

Though the Eldar Swordwind proved to be fearsome foes and inflicted far greater losses to the Imperium than it sustained it was eventually repulsed, the majority of the Iyanden warriors and constructs slain and the survivors forced to flee, whatever plans they had for Ydalir ended. The crucial juncture came when several squadrons of psychically shielded Onager Dunecrawlers armed with icarus arrays were buried beneath the black sands in a narrow valley and powered down weeks before House Cenwulf intended to move a large force through the area and lure the enemy into attacking. When the eventual ambush struck the convoy the Onagers were remotely re-activated and crawled their way out of the sand to unleash their deadly anti-air weaponry against the swift-moving Eldar vehicles. The resulting counter-ambush saw most of the xenos aircraft and skimmer-transports shot from the sky. This left the majority of the remaining xenos without support and suddenly stripped of their advantage in speed. The slow moving Wraithguard, Wraithlords and their supporting infantry were encircled and crushed. The few remaining Wraithknights who proved fast and fierce enough to break from the ambush were eventually run to ground by swift-footed Cerastus-knights and Armigers and were destroyed to the last. This ambush also saw the death of the Farseer leading the campaign and several Spiritseers providing support and leadership for the wraith-warriors. Denied leadership and the bulk of their forces the remaining enemy units quickly vanished by unknown means. Because of the odd similarity between the forces of the Eldar and the lances of House Cenwulf this conflict was somewhat comically named after the courtly tournaments common to Imperial Knight Houses.

On several occasions after this first conflict forces from Craftworld Iyanden have struck at formations from House Cenwulf entangled in conflicts across the Imperium. Seemingly possessed of no military purpose apart from exacting revenge on the warriors of the house these attacks often inflict considerable casualties before withdrawing but never without sustaining losses of their own. Why the fate-obsessed Eldar would bother repeatedly engaging Imperial forces for little, if any, gain remains a mystery.

The Storm of Blood – 888.M37

One of the less well known but brutal conflicts to be fought on Andlang was a savage invasion by a vast Khornate army during the eight-hundred and eighty eighth year of the thirty-eighth millennium. Having already scoured several nearby systems of nearly all life a massive Khornate army managed to breach the Vanyr system and made straight for Andlang, almost completely bypassing Folkvangr and Ydalir in eagerness to engage a more worthy enemy. Featuring an enormous number of Hellbrutes, Maulerfiends, Forgefiends, Decimator Engines, Defilers, Soul Grinders, Brass Scorpions, Blood Slaughterers, Kytan Daemon Engines and even great Lords of Skulls. A dizzying array of armored walkers formed the core of this warband of slaughter supported by masses of cultists fitted with environment suits and rebreather masks, as though the armies of Khorne had specially prepared to fight the warriors of House Cenwulf on their homeworld. No matter what preparation they had made the forces of Khorne proved to lack the leadership and discipline to make the most of their preparations and assets once they reached the surface.

Despite the formidable masses of armored killing-machines backed by hordes of blood-frenzied cultists the forces of the Khornate army proved relatively easy to bait, ambush and eliminate piecemeal. Fast-moving Cerastus Knights would strike at the greater mass of the chaos army and swiftly withdraw, luring the more mobile elements of the force to chase after them. Before the rest of the enemy army could catch up ambushing units of Knight Crusaders, Onagers with Neutron Lasers and lascannon armed Sentinels and Ironstriders would hit the enemy from the flanks and behind even as the Cerastus lances turned about and struck back to the fore. Time and again these systematic ambushes whittled away the greater strength of the enemy army, bleeding it of it's most deadly machines and capable warriors. When the forces of the Khornate army were sufficiently weakened the bulk of House Cenwulf was assembled into a massive formation numbering scores of Knights and hundreds of lesser machines and struck at the enemy as a single massive spear-thrust. In a three-day long battle of annihilation the forces of Khorne were wiped out to the last man. 

It would be several months more before the last of the Khornate invaders were driven from Folkvangr and Ydalir. The enemy on Ydalir had mostly been contained by the armies of the Adeptus Mechanicus but had still managed to inflict some damage while on Folkvangr the loss of life had been considerably greater. Despite the best efforts of the PDF garrison the heavily armed and swift moving chaos warbands had slaughtered many-thousands of civilians before they were finally run down and destroyed.

The Humbling – 113

The campaign known as the Humbling was one of the first major military actions taken by House Cenwulf outside of the Vanry system after the opening of the Great Rift and the sundering of the Imperium. Serving with an outrider element of the Indomitus Crusade several lances of House Cenwulf Knights ventured to the galactic south-east along the edge of the Great Rift, eventually joining forces with Imperial fleets fighting on the borders of the Damocles Gulf against a variety of threats including stranded elements from the Tau Empire. Despite being cut-off from reinforcements and heavily outnumbered the Tau were still fighting on, relying heavily on their advanced weapons and superior mobility. The scions of House Cenwulf had never fought the Tau before but relished the idea of crossing wits and guns with an enemy who so heavily favored armored walkers similar to their own Knight Titans.

Clearly the Tau had fought Imperial Knights before and were quick to deploy teams of Crisis Suits armed with Fusion Blasters, heavy-rail rifle armed Broadsides and even heavier units such as Riptides and Stormsurge units to engage and destroy the Knights of House Cenwulf. For their part the nobles of Andlang were unimpressed with the efforts of the Tau. Onager Dunecrawlers equipped with Icarus Arrays and twin-Icarus Autocannons mounted to the carapaces of many of the deployed Knights made short work of the airborne battlesuits. Streams of rapid-tracking tracers, flak rockets and homing missiles blasted the xenos from the sky to scatter their broken forms on the rocks below. Heavier Stormsurge units found their firepower deflected across overlapping ion shields while Neutron Lasers and Thermal Cannons made short work of their heavy armor. The Tau had arrogantly engaged the warriors of House Cenwulf believing their mobility and advanced weapons would see them victorious but they had clearly not anticipated the sizable support elements typical of House Cenwulf's lances or the sheer weight of anti-air firepower those elements could provide. Outfought and heavily outgunned the Tau forces engaged by House Cenwulf were slaughtered. Before the campaign could continue it's purge the Indomitus Crusade forces were recalled for another push into Imperium Nihilus. Though left unfinished the humbling showed that the technology of the Tau could not make up for a lack in discipline or experience.

The Battle of Saint Sebastian's Will

Just a few months after the sky tore open a huge fleet of ramshackle raiders, pirates and scum spilled into the Triton system on the edge of the Vanyr Sub-Sector and immediately set to ravaging the inhabited worlds. Spearheaded by a detachment of Black Legion traitor marines the attack was swift and brutal. The capitol world of Uriah's Hope was quickly brought to heel and then, out of sheer spite, virus bombed. The world is now a dead, lifeless husk of empty cities and scorched topography. Saint Sebastian's Will was the next target as the world was a minor sacred site for the Ecclessiarchy and featured a cathedral dedicated to a lesser saint of the Imperial Cult. While the traitors were distracted laying waste to Saint Sebastian's Will a large flotilla of loyalist forces entered the system and powered straight towards the traitor fleet. Led by the Hearth ships of House Cenwulf, supported by a Strike Cruiser of the Space Wolves and a handful of Imperial Navy ships-of-the-line the bulk of the fleet was made up of dozens of escorts, merchantmen, q-ships and rogue trader vessels. Fortunately the enemy fleet only contained a handful of capitol-class vessels itself and was mostly composed of ramshackle escort craft crewed by the lost and the damned, cultists and heretics in the thrall of the ruinous powers. The battle over Saint Sebastian's Will lasted for three full days and saw dozens of damaged ships fall into the gravity-well of the planet and crash into the surface. If the traitors hadn't succeeded in destroying the planet then the battle to save it did. Many more gutted ships now slowly orbit the planet, their courses slowly deteriorating. Every few months another wreck crashes into the surface and joins the growing ship graveyard. Now Saint Sebastian's Will is a scorched and wreckage strewn wasteland. So much dust and ash was cast into the sky during the fighting that sunlight no longer reaches the surface and won't for the next few centuries. Almost all life on the planet has perished and every major center of habitation was left in utter ruins. Despite the destruction some enemy forces survived the void battle and so the vengeful lances of House Cenwulf made planet-fall and spent weeks hunting through the wreckage and ruin to ensure that all trace of the foe was obliterated. Similar efforts were launched on Ovid's Folly and Marna's Rest but the damage to both worlds was also considerable. More than two-thirds of the inhabitants of Marna's Rest had perished and though the population of Ovid's Folly had fared better, sheltering in their fortified towns and cities until relief arrived, the planet's fields and granaries were burned to ash. In one fell blow the system was left in complete ruin and its once prosperous people all but annihilated. Now Saint Sebastian's Will and Uriah's Hope are both classified as dead worlds and Ovid's Folly is a budding fortress world. Only Marna's Rest continues to function anything like before and even then at significantly reduced production. Much of the burned fields remain in a ruined state and the population has yet to be restored to its pre-Great Rift levels. Much of the terrain now features prefabricated military structures serving as temporary barracks for thousands of soldiers waiting transfer to the growing fortifications on Ovid's Folly, where a garrison of some twenty Imperial Knights oversees the construction.

The Vigilus Campaign

Following the end of the Indomitus Crusade the nobles of House Cenwulf received word that a stable corridor of space between the Imperium Sanctus and the Imperium Nihilus had been discovered and that it was under serious threat. The High King immediately mobilized all available forces, rallying some thirty Knights and their supporting forces as well as conscripting regiments from Folkvangr and calling for the aid of Ydalir, the Forge World Minoris committing warriors and god-engines to the campaign. En route to Vigilus the fleet of House Cenwulf made contact with a Lost Company of Space Wolves and requested their aid in the campaign to secure Vigilus. The request was granted, adding nearly two hundred Space Marines to the forces under the general leadership of High King Sigurd. Upon arrival the forces gathered to the banner of House Cenwulf committed themselves to battle without hesitation. In a series of brutal battles against genestealer cults, ork speed freak mobs and chaos forces the warriors of House Cenwulf acquitted themselves honorably and with distinction, driving back the enemy in defeat wherever they fought. Despite their best efforts House Cenwulf could ultimately do little to alter the outcome of the war. Though the Imperial forces and the world of Vigilus itself suffered greatly in the conflict the Nachmund Gauntlet was ultimately preserved, if diminished somewhat. With the worst of the fighting over the surviving House Cenwulf units and their allies have withdrawn from the surface, preparing to set out into the Imperium Nihilus yet again in search of new foes.

The Hunt for the Abhorrent

The recent appearance of a previously unknown pattern of Knight armor among the forces of the Questoris Traitoris houses has piqued the curiosity of House Cenwulf's nobles and sacristans. Many among the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Inquisition believe these new Abhorrent-class Knights are simply warped Questoris chassis that have been twisted into new forms by their time spent in the warp. The scions of House Cenwulf disagree with this sentiment. The regularity of form among these Abhorrent-class machines has convinced the nobles of Andlang that the forces of the archenemy have discovered some long-lost Imperial Knight related STC fragment that has enabled the production of these new warmachines. Always keen to recover archaeotech lore related to any walker-based weapons technology the nobles of House Cenwulf have set themselves to the task of either recovering this lost technology or reverse-engineering it from captured enemy machines. Strike forces from House Cenwulf have made raids into the territory of House Herpetrax and to Surtr's Wake, former homeworld of the now fallen House Khymere. These missions have resulted in the capture of priceless machine-lore and a number of examples of Abhorrent-class Knights that the sacristans have already set about re-purposing into functional and pure knight armors for the use of House Cenwulf. Several formerly Abhorrent-class Knights already march among the ranks of House Cenwulf, sanctified by the efforts of the house Sacristans, aided by adepts from Ydalir and warded by the arcane rituals of the Space Wolves various priests, Rune, Wolf and Iron. So far all such restored knights have been armed as Knights Preceptor and given into the care of venerable veterans of the House and fitted with newly constructed Thrones Mechanicum. In battle these provisionally dubbed Adamant-class Knights have proven keen and agile and earned great renown even in their relatively short service. Despite many setbacks the adepts of House Cenwulf are convinced they will eventually succeed in returning the STC of the digitigrade legged Knights and their distinct Laser Destructors to the arsenal of the Imperium.

Launch of the Vanyr Retribution Crusade

Following the successful hunt for the Adamant-pattern Knight schematics and a triumphal return to Andlang with the data the armories of the House have been swelled with new and recently refurbished Knight Armors. Additionally the allied territories of the Vanyr Sub-Sector have made great progress in a massive militarization and buildup of forces that House Cenwulf bid them begin following the opening of the Great Rift some years ago. Millions of men and women under arms have been recruited, trained, armed and prepared for deployment, massive defensive installations have been erected, ships built and tanks and warmachines by the tens of thousands rolled out of the sub-sector's various manufactoria and forges. With the massive build-up of forces well under-way the nobles of House Cenwulf chose to launch a massive new campaign seeking to forge through the Great Rift into the Imperium Nihilus once again and take the fight to the enemy. A fully sixty Knights and two hundred Armigers have been committed to this force along with twenty-thousand Huscarls, fifteen thousand militant Karls, and a hundred and fifty thousand Thrall militia, and these forces are in addition to the standing crew strength of the house fleet.

Supplementing this massive force of arms is a detachment of some thirty thousand Skitarii, and an unspecified number of battle servitors and robots from Ydalir. The forge world minoris is also committing two thousand Secutarii Titan Guard and two maniples of Titans, one scout and one battle maniple numbering seven Warhound Scout Titans, two Reaver Battle Titans and a single Warlord Battle Titan. From there the muster gathered freshly raised Astra Militarum regiments from every world of the Vanyr Sub-Sector including the Galene System and it's Adepta Sororitas penal colony. A total of nearly eight hundred thousand soldiers were packed into a massive flotilla cobbled together from the vessels of House Cenwulf, the Mechanicus, the Ecclessiarchy, Imperial Navy squadrons that had found themselves taking shelter in the sub-sector and a mixture of Merchant Fleet and Rogue Trader vessels from House Qing. The ground forces were further supplemented by the mass conscription of refugees that had fled to the relative stability of the Vanyr Sub-Sector from other more chaotic regions nearby as well as the various scattered Astra Militarum forces berthed aboard the variety of troop ships and Imperial Navy vessels that had found themselves stranded in the region, isolated from their other commands. These navy vessels came primarily from the Segmentum Solar but some ships from the Segmentum Tempestus and Segmentum Pacificus battlefleets had somehow wound up in the sub-sector as well. All told around sixty warships and another two hundred and fifty plus merchant, transport and escort ships combine to form a flotilla of over three hundred vessels. Such a large fleet seems quite mighty but the bulk of it is small, poorly armed merchant vessels that stand little chance in battle against proper warships, the main combat fleet is not small but is a fraction the size of the vast battlefleets assembled as part of the Indomitus Crusade. Nevertheless the fleet has an advantage that few others possess, a functional and mobile Ramilies-Class Star Fort.

The tides of the warp, even in the Imperium Sanctus, roil with storms. Travel is treacherous and difficult under the best of circumstances at this time. The mission of the crusade, to sail directly into the storms, would be madness were it not for the Svalbardi. Guided by a cadre of half a dozen experienced Navigators the great Ramilies fort smashes it's way through the tides of the warp. Dozens of sanctioned psykers and hundreds of Astropaths borrowed from the ranks of the Adepta Astra Telepathica relay on Andlang help push back the tides of the warp around the fleet and smooth it's passage while the fort itself calms the tides with it's very presence, the millions of tonnes of sanctified Adamantium and iron impose reality and stability around itself as it pushes through the tide like a hammer blow against the chaos. The rest of the flotilla follows in close proximity, maintaining as tight a formation as possible and remaining within the warp wake of the great star fort at all costs. To further improve the odds of the fleet thousands of priests, preachers and missionaries have been scattered among the fleet. Leading hymns with thousands of crew and passengers at a time the priests of the Imperial church urge their comrades to express their faith, using belief in the Emperor's power to steel the hearts of the crews and ward away the intrusion of the daemonic. Incursions and losses are still guaranteed to a greater or lesser extent but with these overlapping methods the flotilla has managed to make great strides towards their destination with relatively few losses. Morale among the fleet has risen dramatically as the methods and tactics of the House Cenwulf commanders and their various allies has proven effective in forging a path through the tides of the warp and the armies of the crusade fleet have already crushed a number of chaos and xenos fleets and armies as they hop from system to system towards their destination.

Vanyr Retribution Crusade Forces

House Cenwulf
-61 Imperial Knight Titans

-203 Armigers 

-21,530 Huscarls 

-15,190 Karls
-158,360 Thralls

Ydalirian Mechanicus

-33,100 Skitarii 

-Battle Servitors and Automata (~20,000)
-2,210 Secutarii 

-7 Warhound Titans

-2 Reaver Titans

-1 Warlord Titan 

Folkvangr Astra Militarum
-2,800 Falkenberg Lifeguard Storm Troopers

-82,600 Folkvangr Light Infantry

-7,200 Frateris Militia

-69,000 Underhive Conscrips

Krastenwald Astra Militarum

-18,000 Krastenwald Void Corps

-83,000 House Qing Mercenary Corps

Mazzanti Astra Militarum

-26,000 Mazzanti Dragoons

-83,000 Novem Deathsworn

Caspian Astra Militarum

-3,300 Preceptoral Guard
-21,000 Kagrian Knives 

Triton Astra Militarum

-248,000 Triton Defense Corps

Galene Adepta Sororitas

-415 Sisters of Battle 

-5,250 Frateris Militia

-3,090 Arco Flagellants 

-21,000 Penal Legionaries

 

The Scattered and Dispossessed

-11 Freeblade Imperial Knights 

-6 Freeblade Armigers

-3,129 Cadian Shock Troops

-1,481 Catachan Jungle Fighters

-901 Mordian Iron Guard

-2,108 Ventrillian Nobles

-1,897 Armageddon Steel Legion

-671 Tallarn Desert Raiders

-194 Harakoni Warhawks

-1,080 Elyssian Drop Troops

-8,190 Valhallan Ice Warriors

-1,880 Vostroyan Firstborn

-811 Indigan Praefects 

-454 Atillan Rough Riders

-198 Ogryn Auxilia

-291? Ratling Snipers

-918 Tempestus Scions

-314,000 Conscripts

 

Crusade Fleet Assets

House Cenwulf

-Ramilies-Class Star Fort

-3 Grand Cruisers

-7 Sword-Class Frigates

-8 Cobra-Class Destroyers

Ydalirian Mechanicus

-Ark Mechanicus

-Forge Ship

-3 Light Cruisers

-18 Frigates

-3 Destroyers

Imperial Navy 

-Emperor-Class Battleship 

-3 Battle Cruisers

-8 Cruisers

-2 Light Cruisers

-7 Troop Ships

-24 Frigates

-8 Destroyers

Merchant Fleet

-1 Battle Cruiser

-3 Cruisers

-18 Light Cruisers

-83 Armed Freighters

-21 Bulk Haulers

Rogue Traders Militant House Qing

-Retribution-Class Battleship

-2 Cruisers

-6 Light Cruisers

-11 Frigates

-15 Armed Freigthers

-12 Bulk Haulers

 

Ecclessiarchy Fleet of Faith 

-Avenger-Class Grand Cruiser 

-2 Cruisers

-9 Frigates

-19 Armed Freighters

-2 Troop Ships