Grimdank

The Renegade Knight known only as  Nevermore is an imposing presence on a battlefield. The hulking, midnight-black behemoth often appears unbidden in the darkest hours of the night, surrounded by a swirling cloud of corvids. It is eerily silent until it begins to charge, at which point its laud-hailers begin to emit a deep, twisted mockery of a raven's cry, the mechanical cawing a twisted, unhinged laugh. The sound continues as it plows into the battle lines, cruel talons and whisper-quiet chainsaw tearing combatants on both sides asunder. The melee is accentuated by the echoing cries of its errant flock, the birds diving and swooping around the heads of the beleaguered infantry in a whirlwind of feathers, talons, and beaks. As quickly as it descends upon its prey, the shadowed monstrosity vanishes, leaving a trail of dead and dying, destroyed tanks, a few pitch-black feathers, and an echo of its cry. The origins of Nevermore are unclear, as are its loyalties. It serves no ...

The last members of the advance party exited the Devourer dropship Fire of Faith , the cavernous maw of the transport closing with a sharp report behind them. "Atmosphere appears to be breathable, sir. It's a good thing this landing bay is still powered, or we'd all be sucking vacuum right about now." The commander sighed, delivering a curt strike to the back of private Kowalski's head. How protocol had slipped so far was beyond him, especially amongst so many new recruits. They were barely out of basic training, for Emperor's sake! Turning to his lieutenants beside him, Walicz began issuing orders to reconnoitre the immediate area. It wasn't often that something as extensive as this hulk remained intact, let alone powered. As the sensor teams started to spread out, exploring the myriad tunnels and doorways leading off from the bay, he took stock of the environment. Efficient, sensible Imperial architecture blended seamlessly into misshapen, almo...

Category: Xenos Hive Fleet: Gelugon Location: On route to Palidas System Unique identifiers: Thermophage, chilling touch First recorded contact: See excerpt below "Space is dark and cold. It's as far from what people imagined Hell as the one toilet on the shuttle is from this log station. What people don't think about is that Hell is more welcoming." The astro-loggers voice was being recorded by the auto-writer. They were one of the skeleton crew in this section of the ship. It was a lonely position, keeping a record of what is happening on a ship that was routinely managed by a team of 5 people. "People crave warmth. People crave talking and things to react to. This tin can has just me and the four guardsmen." Sounds echoed throughout the ship. Another pipe burst, some cables spark, maybe some space debris crashed into the hull and dislodged any number of things.  "Probably have a better conversation out there. At least then so...

The Argent Praetors are an Ultima Founding chapter tasked with patrolling the Cicatrix Maledictum, and maintaining vigil around the few safe corridors through it. As with many of the chapters formed in the wake of the Indomitus Crusade, the Praetors' parentage is unknown to the wider Imperium. Within the ranks of the Praetors, the majority of the battle brothers believe they are sons of Guilliman. Whilst this is true for a large portion of the chapter, the truth is somewhat more complex. Echoing the Deathwatch's approach to melding the strengths of each of the founding legions, the Praetors maintain an elite first company drawn from several different founding legions, giving them more flexibility in their approach to combat - something incredibly important in a position as tumultuous as theirs.  Jaeger Squads The chapter utilises an unusually large number of rapid insertion squads, colloquially referred to as Jaeger squads. Each of these Jaeger squads specialises in a di...

The Borderlands   The Damocles Gulf has been a frontier zone between the burgeoning Tau Empire and the Imperium of man for centuries, and more than once wars have flared over the region. However settlement continues, and both it and a number of border zones have become something of a loose mix of Tau and Human control, with many settlements of nebulous loyalties and unclear authority. It is from within this region that many developed worlds reside, enjoying limited autonomy as the great powers seek to counter each other.   To the Imperium it is Sub-Sector Damocles, officially abandoned by Imperial authorities. To the Tau Empire the region is considered to overlap the outskirts of the Sept’s of Ksi’,’yen and Fi’rios. However a handful of worlds in this region maintain independence by playing each side against each other, and maintaining nominal support of the higher authority. In a world where humans live under nominal control of two empires, they have learne...

In an alternate timeline, the Warmaster Horus did not succumb to the temptations of Chaos - rather, it was his brother Rogal Dorn who fell, leading to a tumultuous period where the distribution of power and loyalties were in disarray. This series of events culminated in the Dornian Heresy . It is from this timeline that the band calling themselves the Iron Bulwark arose. During a freak warp storm, the Iron Blood  and several accompanying battlecruisers were hurled through the fabric between dimensions and cast millenia forward in time, arriving through a hole in unreality in the closing years of the 41st millenium, in a galaxy where it was not Dorn who betrayed the Emperor of Mankind, but Horus. Initial contact with the forces of both Chaos and the Imperium highlighted to Perturabo that this was not the same universe that they were familiar with. Conflicts arose with both sides, and to protect themselves from persecution by the Ordo Hereticus or other branches of the Ecclesiarc...

Space hulks are enormous conglomerates of ships, asteroids, and interstellar debris, drifting in the void between the stars. No two space hulks are alike, as each is shaped by any number of different factors. They slip between the materium and the immaterium, and are often filled with all manner of monster, whether daemon or xenos in nature. Sometimes they are found by salvage parties, scavengers, or refugees seeking a new home. Whatever the case may be, one can never be sure what will be encountered within. Many hulks are large enough to contain their own atmosphere and biome, allowing life forms of all shapes and sizes to dwell, survive and even prosper amongst the ruins of untold civilisations and the flotsam of dozens of systems. The space hulk known as Deliverance is one such example of this - within the labyrinthine tunnels of the hulk are the rusted corpses of hundreds of ships and stations, their origins shrouded in mystery. The mechanical melds with the mineral, the m...

The Alpha Legion is an open secret, and there are a multitude of claimants to the title of Alpharius. It is impossible to tell who, if anyone, is the real Alpharius, and groups have risen to prominence around dozens, if not hundreds of these alleged Primarchs. Amongst these groups are many ravening warbands of chaos space marines, renegades, and even some who claim to still be loyal to the Corpse Emperor. Whatever the true allegiance of the Sons of the Hydra once was, it has been lost to the aeons as splinter groups forge their own paths. One such group is known as the Obscurum Scalpus, or Hidden Knife. A renegade collection of agents from dozens of otherwise vanquished splinter groups, they serve their own hidden agenda, helping out citizens of the imperium, denizens of the eye of terror, and even the occasional xenos group. Whatever their motivations, the agents of the Hidden Knife have chosen not to share it. Although by the very nature of their legion roots they do not have a...

The Palidas system is one of untold millions throughout the Milky Way. Before the destruction of Cadia, there was little value in the backwater system, beyond the mining agri-world Tantalus. Even then, Tantalus was important only for the minute amount of resources it provided to the Imperium at large. With the advent of the Cicatrix Maledictum , there are very few paths between the Imperium Sanctus and the Imperium Nihilus - the most well-known is the Nachmund Gauntlet, safeguarded by Vigilus - but others also exist. One such unnamed corridor is most closely bordered by the Palidas system, and as such it has become a region of great conflict. The system contains several planets, planetoids, and moons; the main point of contention is the third planet, Tantalus. The Palidas System Palidas Palidas is a wholly unremarkable star, roughly the same size and luminosity as Sol. Pelops Pelops is a dwarf planet, far too close to Palidas to be even remotely conducive to life. Moon...

Centuries ago, a prison barge headed for Xantos (a mining agri-world) intercepted an as-yet undiscovered space hulk, crash-landing on the surface of the mammoth structure. The survivors of the crash banded together, searching for a place within the hulk to call their own. Eventually they discovered a grotto, deep in the bowels of the vessel where metal, stone and earth melded into a series of echoing caverns and myriad tunnels. Here they created their new home, named Freedom’s Landing in bittersweet memory of the ship that brought them here and saved them from their fate on Xantos. Unbeknownst to them, they shared their new home with a terrifying organism - whether it had arrived with them on their prison barge, or had already been present on the hulk was unknown. Whatever the case may be, they soon found members of their small community missing. As the days and months passed, more and more members vanished into the eternal gloom of the tunnels around Freedom’s Landing . Until, ...