Inspirational Friday - 26/09/2014

[Tenebris]

Vainakh - Homeworld of the Arrogant Sons, Fiefdom of the Black Legion, Ater Sols

 

http://shrani.si/f/1W/It/M7UXshW/black-planet-rock-hd.jpg

 

Vainakh was for thousands of years a world plagued by the teeming masses of humanity, a hive world like countless others in the Imperium of Man, a wold of industry and violence, of nobility and decay, but all changed on the eve of the Emperor's Ascension in M37.232 when the skies turned purple and the entire world was engulfed by a Warp Storm. For hundreds of years the Ghamali Subsector, a cardinal crossroad in the Segmentum Pacificus, home to seven worlds and two pitiless black suns, was scorched and unraveled by the energies of the Warp. Mutation was rife, corruption of flesh and soul was endemic and wars for survival became a way of life but not even the tender mercies of Chaos could broke the hearty people of Vainakh. Humanity endured and the tall spires of this hive world still rose above the toxic atmosphere, but to a great surprise to all, their planet, their people, were no longer in the Ghamali Subsector, now they were in the dreaded Empire of the Eye, the twin black suns the only companions of their lone planet.

 

The sad truth was that the Warp Storm has never receded, that their God Emperor has abandoned them to a fate worst than death, the cataclysm endured by their civilization a thing beyond scope or myth, the doom of Vainakh was sealed and with it the fate of its people. Initially the true horror of their plight was made manifest when the daemons descended upon the people of Vainakh, then the soul crushing grip of their new Dark Gods was revealed but the death knell of their civilization as the people of Vainakh knew it was heralded by the arrival of the angels of death. Two legions fought for Vainakh, two hosts of astartes fought in the maddening void battle beneath the light of the twin black suns, one legion was clad in black and brass, the other carried the crimson upon its plate. The Arrogant Sons, a Black Legion warband, clashed with the Word Bearers of the 645th Host in the Battle of the Black Suns for the prize was rich indeed, a hive world, teeming with people, rich in technology to loot and manpower to shackle but Vainakh fought still, its orbital guns fought its would be slavers even while the two forces clashed above in the void.

 

The Battle of the Black Suns was a pitiless affair but the Arrogant Sons were the ultimate victors, their phalanxes of Rubicae and drug maddened Noise Marines fought a gallant battle with the Word Bearers and where faith in the Dark Gods went unrewarded, cold steel and the fury of emotions prevailed. Vainakh was secured by a daring drop pod assault since both warbands resulted to contend for their prize on the ground, the battle was vicious and merciless but at long last, after months of grueling attrition and urban combat the Arrogant Sons shattered the last Word Bearer on the beleaguered planet and captured a world for their Legion and Warmaster.

 

It was not long when the people of Vainakh realized that they now belonged to the Black Legion in body and soul. The Arrogant Sons made from their prized world a veritable fortress clad in adamantium, spires were toppled to make way for vast manofactorums, countless chain gangs were put to the work in the daemonic forges and massive fortresses known as the Black Towers were raised to further enforce the rule of the Arrogant Sons and by extension that of the Black Legion. What was once an unremarkable hive world now became a palace of thorns, with the Black Towers sprouting from the sinister planet like massive spikes, with the crags and high walls of the structures on the surface appearing like knots of dark vines, Vaniakh was now a true world of the Eye. 

 

The people of Vaniakh adapted, as their world adapted, to a life in the Empire of the Eye. Cults and cabals rose among the population of Vaniakh, gang lords carved a piece of the sprawling hives as their personal tyrannies, the duchies of the many Vainakhian nobles were transformed into realms of madmen and sycophants, the manofactorums and the forges became the life blood of the planet and countless gangs, clans and cults contend still for their lordship. All this is not only tolerated but also encouraged by the Black Legion. This hardy way of life, this constant conflict breeds tough and ruthless people, people which are in never-ending demand by the countless warbands of the Warmaster. Life and souls are traded for supplies, technology and exotic goods, entire clans are given to serve in the Black Legion in return for raw materials and the necessary skilled laborers needed to run the massive manofactorum. Ammunition and basic war material is produced in vast quantities on Vainakh but even so the most available commodity of the Arrogant Sons are the Vainakh people themselves.

 

With all this a parasitic relationship came to exist between the Black Legion and the people of Vainakh. The Arrogant Sons act as the protectors and rulers of this dark hive world, in turn the Vainakhians serve their overlords in life, in death and sometimes even beyond that. It is the Arrogant Sons that raid to keep their homeworld fed, it is the Arrogant Sons that pay the tithe to the Black Legion and it is the Arrogant Sons that are the reason why Vainakh was unconquered in this long time. Vainakh it is a rare thing in the Empire of the Eye, a civilization that functions, a world which not only survives but also thrives, a world which came to fear but also to respect its chaos space marine lords, a world which willingly follows its overlords in battle and if need be in death.

 

Life on Vainakh is still a cruel existence, food is scarce, weapons abound, violence is rife, warp plagues are endemic and death comes in countless ways but the people endure. A civilization based upon temporal power and the patronage of dark deities came to exist on Vainakh. Cults, cabals, gangs, duchies, all pay homage to the Black Legion and have to endure its demands, but there is always room for personal advancement, for achievement. Cults rise and fall on daily basis, all the Dark Gods and countless Chaos spirits are venerated in a myriad of different ways. The Vainakhians enjoy blood sports, ritual duels, excessive pleasure and arcane technology in equal measures, they are plagued by their many sins but also elevated trough them. Where one duchy might pay homage to the Dark Gods in elaborate rituals in exalted cathedrals, another gang or clan might debase itself in cannibalism and blood sacrifice. 

 

The gang law is the sole law among the people of Vainakh, bar the rare edicts of the Arrogant Sons. The strongest thrive, the weak suffer, since the resources are scarce some groups even practice basic eugenics or actively raid other groups. As long as the quotas are met and the cult excesses are contained the Arrogant Sons are not bothered, content to enforce their grim rule from the many Black Towers. On their part the Black Legion is still a fearsome presence. Genocides are common when certain mutation populations cannot be any longer contained, witch hunts are regular since the threat of the daemonic is always present, the infiltration of the other warbands is met with deadly force and any sort of uprisings in the manofactorums is brutally suppressed. It is known that the Arrogant Sons actively recruit from the Vainakhians, some recruits are even fit for astartes fleshforging but it is the unknown masses which are usually put to service in the Black Legion. It is not unknown that the Arrogant Sons and even other Black Legion warbands replenish their ranks of slave workers and chain gangs on Vaniakh, but also that chaos reaver fleets sailing under the Warmaster's banner often make due port on this dark planet. 

 

In the end Vainakh survives by virtue of being a fiefdom of Abaddon the Despoiler and his Black Legion. The Arrogant Sons are the voice of the Warmaster on the planet and the only authority they accept is that of their sole lord and master. A strict regimen of contracts, pacts and compacts is maintained to keep the world supplied, the population while teeming is constantly replenished by the slave raids run by the Arrogant Sons and woe betide those foolish enough to cross blades with the Black Legion. The "tithe" that the Arrogant Sons usually pay comes in form of slavefolk and ammunition or other basic war materiel, much rarer are the docking rights and the so called "flesh harvests". Those act as a rare form of compensation for the warband dealings. Vainakh boasts several orbital docks but their purpose is quite basic, shipbuilding technology and skilled workforce are a rare commodity in the Empire of the Eye and it is the wish of the Arrogant Sons to one day establish a functional shipyard. 

 

In terms of technology there are several Dark Mechanicus cabals which maintain some form of control over some manofactorums but in the end all on Vainakh belongs to the Black Legion, hence to the Arrogant Sons. Indeed some rare examples of "chaos technology" can be found on the planet, the "Sevenfold Chimes of Artanesh" are one such marvel as it is the "Temple Majorum Castra Perfidus" said to be the resting place of a Warlord-Class Titan but those are rare and almost legendary. Most of the productive power comes from the manofactorums built from looted imperial and xeno technology which daily produce goods such as bolt ammunition, basic weapons and generic tools which are always in great demand. The production output is nowhere near that of a fully developed daemonic forge but it suffices for the need of the Arrogant Sons and several other Black Legion warbands. 

 

In terms of geography there ls little remarkable on Vainakh. The whole planet is a massive leviathan of rockrete, adamantium and snaking toxic rivers and extensive canals. The manofactorums are visible from the orbit, defined by the deep gorges filled with miasmic magma and the tall structures which act as crude starports. Vainakh is a planet of tall spires, the so called Black Towers, most of which are either ancient hive spires or new bastions which spike the planet. The Black Towers are self contained fortresses, housing massive orbital cannons and missile silos, each tower is a pinnacle of black adamantium, festooned with rows upon rows of turrets and various defensive weapons. The greatest landmark upon the surface of Vaniakh is the dreaded Tower of Arrogance, a great fortress shaped in the form of the holy Chaos octet, the indomitable castle of the Arrogant Sons. Life on the surface of the planet is nigh impossible due to the common toxic deluges and the quite frequent events of warp instability. The Arrogant Sons being a warband in good graces with the Changer of Ways pays quite a havoc with the planet since the tender mercies of their Dark God often result in unwanted change of the geography. On some rare occasions even whole sections of the planet shifted place, resulting in millions of causalities and massive damage to the planet itself. 

 

Still, Vainakh is a planet in the Empire of the Eye. It is a planet bound to the Black Legion, it is part of the Warmaster's fiefdoms, it is a planet where astartes dwell, where war is life, death and glory, a planet where mercy is never expected and no quarter is given to anything or anyone living beneath the gaze of the two black suns and its dark patrons.