Questoris Familia: House Valcorian (WIP)

[Kelborn]

Greetings traveller,

my name is Veliad Kelborn, remembrancer of the Questoris Familia, tasked to write down the tales of the so called Scarlet Onslaught or better known as House Valcorian, the heirs of Lordahron.

Attached you will find their tragic past, which is full of loss, sacrifice and heroism. But then the Imperium came to save them. The holy Adeptus Astartes of the famous Black Templars helped them in their most desparate our, taking them as allies and teaching them everything about His glory Great Crusade.

Soon, they adapted. Soon, they left their past behind, renaming themselves House Valcorian.

But enough of an old man telling stories. Please continue. Embrace their legacy. When you will meet them on the battlefield, you will see them from a different point of view.

Please forgive me for adding some ancient pictures I have found in our archives. Though they are not owned by me or House Valcorian, I found them suitable.

For Him on Terra!

Yours sincerely,

Veliad Kelborn

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House Valcorian

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Title: The heirs of Lordahron

Household Grade: Secundus (on its way to achieve rank Primus)

Warden Domain: Lordahron (formerly), crusading fleet Scarlet Onslaught (current)

Cognomen: The Burning Blades, The Scarlet Crusaders, formerly known as House Atreis

Allied Legions/ Forge Worlds: Forge World of Deepforge, Black Templars, Ecclisiarchy

Allegiance: Fedelitas Extremis

Founded by the great Lord Tyr in the 25th Millennium during the Age of Technology, the then known House Atreis had a long and glorious history boasting some of the finest warriors ever to sit on the Throne Mechanicum. Eons ago, there was no single Household on Lordahron, Atreis' homeworld, as their ancestors have divided into seven separate kingdoms with Atreis being the strongest. The elite cadre of the seven kingdoms nobles can trace its illustrious ancestry back to a time when their forefathers rode horses into battle against the beasts and Wildorks of their homeworld, fighting desperate battles against the terrible beasts. In their first years on the seemingly beautiful world of Lordahron, the early settlers lacked the means to make use of their Knight STCs, unable to mine the components to craft the Adamantium required to fabricate the walkers. In their place, native steed like creatures, called Talbaks, were used, perfectly adapted to the environment of Lordahron. Astride these mounts the knights, clad in baroque armour of techno-plate crafted from locally-mined iron, would do battle. The mightiest of their number was Tyr, who slew two Lurkers, a native predator species, and an Orkboss with his lurkerbone lance before eventually becoming Atreis' inaugural ruler, making it the most powerful and venerated of all seven kingdoms. Even though the Knight suits enabled the nobles to finally overcome the beasts and held the Orks checked, they never forgot the skills they had mastered.

To this day, Lordahrons Knights are amongst the very deadliest in battle. Though these times are long gone, just like the beasts themselves, the nobles still test their fighting skills against each other on talbakback, each one a great warrior both in and out of his Knight armor, in the wide halls of their flagship Lucifer. Their unification into one Household, after their tragic loss of Lordahron, resulted in renaming House Atreis into House Valcorian and a House of consummate bladesmen, each one deadly in close quarters with a Reaper Chainsword and more than capable of besting war machines many times their own size with a flurry of devastating thrusts and cuts. House Valcorian is one of the Imperium's greatest knightly houses, despite being one of the mediocre in number with about 150 Knights at its disposal. In honor of the cavalry formations that once battled the beast’s and Orks of their ancient homeworld, House Valcorian refers to a household detachment of its Knights as a Lance. Indeed, the Knights of House Valcorian crave such melee combat, and have earned a bloody reputation for aggressiveness in battle, charging quickly into their foes and rending them to scraps.

History

Tales of House Atreis

Thoras Valcorian, the first Highlord

About one century prior to the first contact with the Imperium of mankind, the seven kingdoms of Lordahron were everything else but unified, with small skirmishes , discussions and threatenings being daily routine. Wildorks from the Gurubai jungles were a constant thread, but none of importance to the northern kingdoms who had their own problems with a rising population of lurkers and riots. House Strom for example suffered heavily when a riot nearly turned into civil war.

It was in this time of conflict when, in the tropical jungles of Gurubai, one Ork rose to power and would change Lordahron forever, Garrok Blackjaw. He quickly got rid of his adversaries and united the whole Dreddmaw clan, turning it into the first and only Waaagh!! Lordahron would ever see. Like a green Tide of death, the Orks streamed out of the jungles, charging at the walls of kingdoms Boriak and Laradna. As both of them fought seperatly, they stood no chance and needed to flee towards the northern kingdoms. Baron Lothar led their exodus, constantly defending his people and those of House Laradna against the advancing Orks. Having conquered Boriaks castle of Blackrock, the Dreddmaws had advanced technology in their hands for the first time. Recognising their ability of building and tooling, it did not take long until the Orks were building their own giant and twisted Knights.

Meanwhile the Exodus under Baron Lothar arrived at the gates of castle Honorhold of House Atreis. Duke Thoras Valcorian welcomed them and offered his help. After discussing with Lothar, he came to the conclusion that every kingdom on its own could not stand against the rising Ork menace. He send out Heralds to gather all of the remaining four kingdoms to decide about their destiny. Luckily for them, the Orks were too busy to turn Blackrock into a fortress and use its technology to booster their forces.

For the first time, all seven Lords of Lordahron sat together to either agree on an unified force to engage Blackjaw or to seal their doom. Though it was difficult enough to get all seven lords at one table, Duke Thoras Valcorian achieved the impossible after a couple of days. When they emerged from the throne room, they lead their forces with ferocious passion and honor against Blackjaws clan. Under the leadership of Baron Lothar and the newly elected Highlord Thoras Valcorian, a force of several dozens Knights and the unified army of Lordahron would face the Dreddmaw clan. Though the Orks had advanced technology to use, the Scions of the Scarlet Crusade, how they called themselves, were more familiar with it and well trained, marching towards the Blackrock fortress. Against the united human forces, the wild Orks did not stand a chance. During the last battle at the Blackrock fortress, Thoras fought against the first functional orkish equivalent of an Imperial Knight, the Jugganaud. Build from a scavenged Knight and plundered material, it was the only thing they were able to build this size. It belonged to their Boss, Garrok Blackjaw. In an apocalyptic duel between Orkbane, Duke Valcorians Knight suit and Jugganaud, the fate of Lordahron was decided. No one can actually say what happened, but when Thoras Valcorian wanted to execute the killing blow, the Jugganaud exploded from within. Strange, violet lightning erupted from the broken chassis of Jugganaud, consuming Orkbane. When it reached its peak and no mortal eyes could withstand its intensity, it came to an explosion, followed by a shockwave which only the other Knights of Lordahron could withstand. When smoke and ash had lifted, both had vanished. Duke Thoras Valcorian, savior of Lordahron was gone. With no leader to keep discipline up, the diminished forces of the Dreddmaws fled into the jungles. Since then, they have not tried to start a new Waaagh!!!. Lordahron and the seven kingdoms werre save again.

House Atreis' sacristans did everything to get a glimpse of what happened with their Lord. They came to the conclusion that the Orks had either used some weird and instable technology as Jugganauds power engine or that a Weirdboy, an rare Ork capable of using psionic powers, was onboard and did something that went terribly wrong, resulting in this strange explosion. Whatever the case, the people of Lordahron had lost their greatest hero.

House Atreis renamed its castle into Thoragarde in honor their savior. Thoras' son, Uther Valcorian took his seat on Atreis' throne, swearing that he would get rid of the Ork threat once and for all. The other six Lords agreed that without Thoras intervention, they would have all died. Therefore they all pledged their loyalty to the throne of House Atreis, unifying Lordahrons population for all eternety. Though they had successfully faced and prevented their destruction, death itself would soon come for them.

Lordahrons Fall

"I have seen the future. I have seen our galaxy, our world in flames. A golden God, betrayed by those he loved. Civil War. Brothers fighting brothers. A great Devourer arriving to feast upon our remains. Death itself rising from ancient graves. Such horrors. You cannot imagine them. Only death will save us. Death will be our salvation. Embrace it! For in the distant future, there is only war. "

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Nar'Ruhl, leader of the cult known as the Damned

About thirty years had past since the Ork-Wars had ravaged the seven kingdoms. The remaining Orks fought again against each other in a constant struggle for power. The dangerous Lurkers were nearly extinct. The kingdoms of Lordahron were prospering, enjoying their peace but from the unlikiest edge of the world, death was about to rise to devour them all.

The primitives of the northern wildlands were uniting under an unknown leader. Household Strom, the ruling House of these regions engaged those gatherings with their mighty Knight scions, not knowing that those they had killed, rised again shortly after. Their mysterious leader, Nar'Rhul turned out to be in favor of the dark god known as Nurgle. Rumors had it that he was blessed with a second soul, some whispered that Nar'Rhul had allowed a daemon to possess his body, granting him incredible power.

With every body rising from the dead, Nar'Rhuls army was growing, until he gave command to attack the first target in his plan: castle Danaria of House Strom.

When the southern kingdoms lost contact to House Strom, Highlord Uther Valcorian send an expedition force to look after them. They never returned. He decided to have a look for himself. Along with his son Liam and his Aucteller Ballador Servantes, he travelled to the cold wastes of the north. Arriving at the borders of kingdom Strom, the Highlord and his followers were welcomed by none other than the Knights of House Strom themselves.

Unfortunately for them, the Damned taken taken over of control of Stroms stock of Knight Suits and attacked the arriving detachment. Even worse, their cult leader Nar'Rhul finally rerealed himself, a ridiculously huge abomination with bleeding eyes and numerous infected wounds across his body. Mushrooms grew out of his back, constantly spreading their spores which infected he area around him with pestilence and death. He heralded the end of all things and death being their salvation.

With that, he casted a spell to resurrect the previously fallen expedition, which was hidden beneath the snow, Valcorian had sent previously. Outnumbered and not able to stand against the foul sorcerer, Lord Uther and his men retreated. While retreating, Liam Valcorian was overwhelmed. He sacrificed himself, charging at the corrupted Knights, buying his companions the necessary time to escape. Shocked by the loss of his son, Lord Uther returned just in time at Thoragarde, when heralds from all over Lordahron came to him, requesting for aid and support. As it turned out, Nar'Rhul had used the conquering of Strom as a distraction to send his priests in all of the remaining six kingdoms, corrupting them from within. Uther did what he had to do. He gathered all pure and loyal forces he could get. All in all, he had about 100 Knights and several hundreds of infantries under his command. Out of Thoragarde, they would liberate their homes from the mark of undeath. The reclamation lasted for years but was futile, as the undead armies and the corrupted Knights were getting stronger with each fallen man. Then, the day came, when the very last Knights and citizens searched for shelter behind the walls of Thoragarde being the last bastion to remain. There, they were able to hold back the undead forces for nearly two years. The losses were immense. Ulric Boriak, the only heir of his father Talsdan, died fighting three corrupted Knights of Strom, taking two of them with him into the maws of final death. It was the hour of heroes and legends.

In their most desperate hour, when extinction seemed close at hand, salvation came on thunderous engines through the clouds above Thoragarde, the Imperium of man had arrived.

While Uther and his diminished forces fought the hordes of undead, the Horus Heresy had ravaged the entire galaxy. During the so called era of the Forging, the victorious Imperium had started countless crusades to reclaim those systems lost by heresy and to claim unknown regions of the galaxy. One of these crusades consisted of none other than the famous Black Templar’s, sons of Rogal Dorn, the Emperor's Praetorian. It was them, who discovered Lordahron. Seeing the last survivors of a once prosperous planet fighting for their life's against the cursed servants of chaos was more than enough to convince the Black Templar’s to immediately make planet fall. Hailing from the skies in countless Thunderhawks and the like, the angels of death engaged the endless hordes of undead. Even though they were able to drive back the Damned, the crusades commander, Marshal Heinrich, declared that they were too many andte planet was lost. He offered Highlord Uther and his daughter Lady Tyria Valcorian, the last members of the ruling House Atreis, and their people a refuge on his ships and promised them to help them to reclaim everything they would need to endure, most notably the STCs within the seven kingdoms castles as they were to precious to get lost. Although they were able to save thousands of citizens, hundreds of loyal servants, most notable the Houses' Sacristans and enough resources to keep their Knights functional, not all STC shards could be recovered. In the remains of former castle Kirin'but of House Laradna, Lord Uther and the sinister Nar'Rhul fought for the last of the rare STC shards. Though Lord Uther fought fiercely in his ancient Knight suit Bringer of Light, the foul sorcerers powers have constantly been growing as did his size. No one could deny his possession as his body reminded more a foul daemon of Nurgle than a human being. Knowing that he neither could defeat his enemy nor could escape, Uther set the engines of his old suit on overdrive, resulting in an explosion strong enough to destroy the STC and to vaporize himself and the champion of Nurgle once and for all. With his sacrifice and the final death of Nar'Rhul, the forces of the Damned were leaderless and acted headless, buying enough time for Uthers daughter Tyria to evacuate the last Knights of the forlorn world they had once called home.

Saved on the Black Templars fleet, the survivors of Lordahron watched their world burn when the fleet enacted a bombardment to purge it. Descending from all seven kingdoms, the refugees needed a leader to guide them, they needed a future to look upon. All remaining barons, dukes and the like declared that they would only follow the orders of Tyria Valcorian, the rightful heir of House Atreis. Tyria accepted their vows and announced that from now on there shall be no more difference between the Houses of Atreis, Rotheris or Boriak. They all had lost their home and were all equally new in this galaxy at war, which lied before them. The gathered Knights raised their fists and belowed the new name of their unified, new Household: Valcorian.

The Imperium of mankind

"Look at your precious world, Uther. Why are you so stubborn? This world, this galaxy will burn! Death is the only way out. Join us. Join me and together, we will bring the peace of the grave to everyone before the fires will erupt."

"Fool. You seem to forget. Fire does not care if you are dead or alive. It burns either way! "

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Last recorded words of Highlord Uther Valcorian, blessed be his sacrifice, and the monster known as Nar'Rhul

Following the events on Lordahron, House Valcorian held a deep grudge against every form of sorcery or mutation. Living alongside the Black Templars for quite a while, made them close allies in both war and spirit alike, especially Aucteller Ballador Servantes quickly befriended the zealous Templars. As they were newly introduced to the wider Imperium, the Black Templars taught them everything they needed to know. Like their Templar allies, the Knights of Valcorian quickly adapted the idea of a unified humanity and the ideals of the Emperors Great Crusade. Their spend time as an ally of the Black Templars made them as headstrong as the sons of Dorn. But instead of ignoring loyal psykers like the Templars under Marshal Heinrich did, the Sacristans of House Valcorian, on behalf of their new leader Tyria Valcorian, started to experiment on captured ones. For the Knights of Valcorian, every psyker was a lost and damned soul, waiting to the abused by xenos witches or the dark forces of chaos. Therefore, their only way of absolution was to fight against these forces. If they die fighting, they would find redemption in the eyes of the Emperor, the only psyker pure enough to resist the dark gods. After many years of research, they were finally able to turn them into a weapon which could be used by the Houses scions. They modified their Knight suits, hiding a small cell behind every Knights shoulder crest. There, a psyker would be placed before every battle. When his powers were needed, his Scion would activate the necessary systems, opening the shoulder crest and releasing the psykers enhanced powers, be it a kinetic shield, a lightning storm or the ability of foresight. Normally, the usage of the psionic powers to such a degree was too much for a mortal body to handle, burning it from within. Therefore, in most cases, the psykers died a short but terrible death. But some were not so lucky. Sometimes, a psyker survived the battle. If that was the case he was taken care of until he was ready to be used again in the heat of battle, hoping that this time it will be his last act of duty.

Since their loss of Lordahron, House Valcorian gained much favor and influence. A loyal ally of the mighty Black Templars, many Freeblades or small Houses, which stood at the brink of extinction, decided to join them, raising its numbers into the hundreds. Furthermore, the relationship between them and the Black Templars and later the Ecclisiarchy resulted in obtaining more and more ships to carry their Knights and the necessary supplies. The people of Lordahron, familiar in the ways of war since their birth, quickly adapted their new role of the ship’s crewmen and auxiliary troops. Tyria Valcorian, first ruler of House Valcorian, was named Grand Crusader by Marshal Heinrich, honoring her engagement against the foes of mankind, since the loss of her homeworld. The command over their own crusading fleet consisting of several dozen capital ships, their flagship being the Lucifer, an Avenger-class Grand Cruiser.

Tales of Honour

Kaptin Dabossa - M32

"Who's da Boss?" "You da Boss, kaptin!" "Aye! I'm Kaptin Dabossa! Now, all canons, fire in the whole! Show dem Umanz who's da Boss 'ere!" "You da..." "SHUT UP! One time's enuf!"

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Kaptin Dabossa aboard his flagship King Bokks Revenge

During the dark age of the rising Ork warlord known as the Beast, the Imperium had to face the greatest war since the Horus Heresy. Some might even say that it was even more devastating than the betrayal of Horus. Whatever the case, the Beast made use of numerous and various Ork groups to bolster his ranks. Among those mercenaries were the infamous and cunning Grinskull Freebootas. Known for his cruelty and his usage of commandos to sabotage his enemies forces and later overcome them with his mechanised army, Kaptin Dabossa was tasked to raid the southern fringes of the Imperium to bind as many forces as possible, leaving the Sol Segmentum weakened. Therefore, he choosed to assault the most precious and well defended targets Segmentum Tempestus had to offer.

It was during his assault on Tharis IV, an important support base of the local imperial forces, when the nearby Gilnead Crusade, consisting of the Knight House Valcorian and a Black Templars crusade, received their new orders concerning the rising to Ork threat. While he Black Templars were force to return to the Sol sector to enact the Last Wall protocol, Household Valcorian was tasked to stop the ravaging Dabossa. For the first time since their induction into the imperial forces, the Knights of Valcorian were on their own. Along with their own auxiliary forces at their side, they received the distress call of Tharis IV. Together, they hunted Dabossa through the entire Segmentum Tempestus until they finally met on Tur Kilas. Outnumbered, the Freebootas fought fiercely but stood no chance against the newly renamed Scarlet Onslaught, the continuously growing fleet of House Valcorian. Though their victory was ultimate, Kaptin Dabossa was able to flee aboard his flagship King Bokks Revenge, sacrificing the rest of his fleet.

Victorious for now, Grand Crusader Manath Valcorian, son of Tyria Valcorian, gathered the remaining forces of Segmentum Tempestus and returned to the northern regions of the Imperium. The Beast was still out there and the war was far from being over.

Rise of the forgotten kingdom - M41

"This is our galaxy. You will be purged and forgotten. Embrace your destiny. Death awaits."

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Highlord Anubarak of the Nerub dynasty while emerging from the tomb beneath the growing hive city of Niliad

At the end of the 41st Millennium, House Valcorian received a distress call of a nearby colony, Abidus II. A recently colonised planet, Abidus II was a beautiful world with many and yet untouched resources like the rare adamantium or other metal which were important for the wider industry of the Imperium. A single Hive city, called Niliad, was in the making, builded around the first factories and mines. Beneath it, the first miners had discovered an ancient and locked gateway. Curious and not listening to the representative of the Adeptus Mechanicum, Niliads rulers ordered them to open the gateway. In doing so, they activated emergency systems which slumbered for eons. The earth rumbled when the gateway opened and a wind, cold as ice, blew out of it, giving the gathered people chills. It was the last thing they would feel as thousands of awakening Necron warriors emerged from the ancient tombs, the Nerub dynasty had awakened.

Shortly after, the Scarlet Onslaught entered the orbit of Abidus II. Niliad was no more, the survivors had fled into the wilderness. The Necrons of the Nerub dynasty had begun to rebuild their ancient kingdom. House Valcorian made immediately planetfall at the side of the of the 423th Hyldracian Jumpers and the Sons of Medusa chapter. While the Sons of Medusa started a seperate ambush into the ancient tombs of Nerub, House Valcorian fought the emerging Necron forces directly to distract and bind them in the ruins of Niliad. A glorious and honorable battle begun between the forces of the Imperium under Grand Crusader Tirios Valcorian and the soulless, silent fighters of Highlord Anubarak within the ruins of Niliad.

Home

Lordahron

"Lad, no one feels ready. No one feels that he deserves it. And you know why? Because no one does. It is grace, pure and simple. We are inherently unworthy, simply because we are human, and all human beings are flawed.

But Lordahron loved us anyway. It loved us for what we sometimes can rise to in rare moments. It loved us for what we can do to help others. And it loved us because we can help it share its message by striving daily to be worthy, even though we understand that we cannot ever truly become so.

So stand there today, as I did, feeling that you cannot possibly deserve it or ever be worthy, and know that you are in the same place every single knight has ever stood."

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Grand Crusader Darion Valcorian, addressing new scions right before the trial of the throne

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Thoragarde, home of House Atreis

The world of Lordahron was comprised of one major continent, with a number of smaller islands scattered about it. The large continent was divided into seven kingdoms which derive from the first settlers’ eons ago and some untamed areas like the southern Gurubai jungles or the northern Icepeaks. The kingdom of Strom was located in the north, Therac in the west, Atiur in the east, Laradna in the south and Atreis in the center of Lordahrons continent. The other two kingdoms, Rotheris and Boriak were located in between the other kingdoms, habituating some of the most dangerous regions, Rhoteris' castle was build right next to a large oasis in the desert of Taniris, while Boriaks home is in the deep jungles of Gurubai. It is there, in the lethal and vast jungles, where the remaining Wildorks of the Dreddmaw tribe had fled to.

Though a beautiful world, many dangers lurked in the shadows. Wildorks, living their way longer than the human settlers, see them as intruders on their world. Driven back in the so called Ork wars, which lasted for centuries, they were finally defeated, when the human settlers were able to field the first unified force of Imperial Knights under the leadership of Thoras Valcorian. In the coldan distant northern regions, there lived a society of outcast and condemned. They lived in clans, degenerated to nothing more than barbarians. Still they were a constant thread for the kingdom of Strom.

Since its destruction after an uprising of a chaos cult dedicated to the dark god Nurgle, it is nothing more than a wasteland. Seemingly purged from all form of life, the planet was declared perditas. With nowhere to call home, the survivors of the seven kingdoms united under a new banner and joined their saviors and the Imperium of mankind.

The Scarlet Onslaught

Since the fall of Lordahron, House Valcorian and its people have joined the Black Templars Crusade for numerous times. Living alongside them, made them close allies in both war and spirit alike. As they were newly introduced to the wider Imperium, the Black Templars taught them everything they needed to know. Like their Templar allies, the Knights of Valcorian quickly adapted the idea of a unified humanity and the ideals of the Emperors Great Crusade. To prove themselves, every citizen of Valcorian joined the Crusades cause, serving aboard the ships or at the side of auxiliary troops. I did not take them long to fully adapt a life of war as they had faced a constant thread on Lordahron, the wild Orks of the Dreddmaw clan. It did not take long until the first ships pledged themselves to House Valcorian and were fully maintained by Lordahrons descendants. For their long wielding alliance and friendship, High Marshal Heinrich made use of his connections and gave his old friend Tyria Valcorian a Avenger-class Grand Cruiser. She named it Atreis as a reminder of where they came from and the ideals House Atreis had stood for: wisdom, justice and compassion. During the centuries of loyal service, more and more ships, which were assigned to them, pledged their loyalty to House Valcorian which ultimately resulted in their own fleet, capable to undergo its own crusades.

The descendants of the Lordahron refugees became the crew of the fleet, including the Houses Sacristans and its own regiments of auxiliary troops, who also support their Knight Scions on the battlefield.

The Lucifer

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The Lucifer, flagship of the Scarlet Onslaught

The Lucifer is an Avenger-class Grand Cruiser which is many ways the archetypal Grand Cruiser. It comes from an earlier era of Imperial fleets, when Grad Cruisers straddled the line between Cruisers and Battleships. It is a massively potent and brutally simple warship that While regarded as unusually reliable and faithful for Grand Cruisers, the Avengers are now amongst the rarest of their class. No one knows for certain where the Lucifer, which was formerly known as Imperator Eternum, first originated. Since it has become the flagship of House Valcorian, it has undergone a great deal of modifications. The original macro-weapons, designed to brutally crush enemies at short range, have been replaced with either longer-range laser batteries or extremely powerful short-ranged macrobatterries, guaranteeing the ability of the Lucifer to crush its foes at any range. In addition, the aft gun decks have been removed and replaced with Titanforge lance turrets. Those foes foolish enough to fight the Lucifer find a ship able to wreak havoc at long range, but as they close its fire only intensifies, until they flee or break up under the punishment.

Furthermore, it's interior was greatly refitted as well, giving it the capabilities of carrying and maintaining about 50 Knight suits and the necessary equipment. As they have lost their homeworld, a great portion of the supply deck was reshaped, turning it into a large garden with its own eco system consisting of Lordahrons flora and fauna which was saved during the exodus. Nowadays, a peaceful herde of Talbaks strives through flushing green grass, while little Mandaki forests give shelter to other small animals like the rare Wolpatig or a couple of different bird species like the Ironhawk. This is the most precious place for the people of Lordahron as it serves as a constant reminder of what they have lost and from where they are coming from.

Each Valcorian has ruled his and the Houses interests from aboard it, to the point where they do not bother to maintain a stronghold of operations on a planet or space station. They have lost their homes previously. They don't want history to repeat itself. Therefore, they have not taken another planet as theirs. The ship is utterly unsubtle, which seems to fit House Valcorians desires perfectly. Its martial pride and legacy of Imperial service are immediately obvious by the unmasked ranks of gun batteries and baroque ornamentation portraying it as an Imperial vessel. Those who serve aboard her report the vessel seems to contain an aura of complete confidence and utter pride, as if the vessel itself could not conceive of a challenge it could not overcome. This hubris may not be misplaced -- in its centuries of service in the Valcorian’s fleet, the times the Lucifer has been forced to retreat from battle are few and far between.

Material Strength

Upon taking its place alongside the crusading hosts Black Templars Fleet known as the Evangelior Crusade, House Valcorian was allotted a nominal Household grade classification of "Tertius Belicosa", a rating that recognized the very mediocre number of Knight armors the House was able to field. At the brink of extinction and saved by the Evangelior Crusade, the surviving Knight Scions of Lordahron were able to field about 70 Knight suits, including 34 heavily damaged ones which would take months if not years until they could fight again. Without anywhere to go, they decided to accompany the Black Templars and help their saviors to unite mankind again.

Over the centuries, House Valcorian fought in numerous campaigns, obtaining a reputation of a fierce, loyal and honorable Household, which was the embodiment of the Great Crusades ideology. Dozens of Freeblades and other nearly extinct Household joined their cause, swelling their numbers until M41 up to 150 Knight suit fighting for the Scarlet Onslaught fleet with additional suits resting in the depths of their ships. This fact made it nearly unnecessary for the masters of House Atreis to enter into compact with any of the many Mechanicum Forge Worlds whose envoys sought access to their vaults, and while it was never determined how many Knight armors laid within those hallowed chambers, it must have been a large quantity indeed for the House to feel secure in rebuffing the Mechanicum's advances.

As the Knight scions derived from different Houses unified as House Valcorian, they had abandoned the concept of letting the bloodline decide who should pilot a Knight. The House has a system to reward those who do well in war or work with titles or even Knights. Even peasants might obtain one, but their children likely won't retain the title. The only exception falls to the Valcorian bloodline. They are the peoples chosen family to lead them.

It was only in the field of conveyance across the stars from one war zone to the next that Valcorian was deficient. In practice this mattered little, for the vast armada of ships of all imaginable type that was the Evangelior and following Crusade Fleet was well able to accommodate their arm ours, and after years of service, some of these vessels as well as other ships were permanently assigned to the service of House Valcorian.

In composition, the House was able to commit a wide range of armor types to the field of battle and displayed a singular organization in this regard. Unlike many other Knight Houses, the Valcorian deployed their Knights into broadly homogenous wings. The largest number were the Knights of the Anvil, generally equipped with Questoris class armors, predominantly Errant and Paladin types. Other Knights were fielded as a purging phalanx, invariably equipped with Questoris Knights-Acherus or Questoris -Knights-Crusaders and similar types of armors. The Grand Crusader herself favored an ancient suit of Questoris Knight-Errant type armor called Ashkandi and she was ever attended on the field by a veteran Life Guard formation equipped with different types of Knight suits.

Notable Elements of House Valcorian

Notable House Valcorian Knights

"The Scions are nothing without their Knights. The Knights are nothing without their Scions. Both need us Sacristans as we need them as well. Do you see it now? It is a symbiosis. One part is nothing without the rest."

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High Sacristan Bran Ironhand

• Galthorian- An Ancient Questors-Knight-Paladin armor of Grand Crusader Darion Valcorian.
• Ashkandi - A Questoris-Knight-Errant armor of Highlord TyriaValcorian. This was the last functional Knight suit of House Atreis after Lordahrons fall. Though there were other, more battle hardened suits, they were heavily damaged and needed appropriate treatment. Tyria chooses this suit for herself. Years ago she had passed the trials to become a Knight Scion in this suit. Since then, there was no need to use it again. For her, it was an omen. Right after their departure, leaving the burning Lordahron behind, she started to train with it. Together, they withstood numerous obstacles and many foes. Its colors became the new scheme for all Valcorian suits: grey as base color (as a sign of their mourning), red livery (to honor the blood of those who have fallen) and skull white details (standing for those who will perish before House Valcorian). Since then, Ashkandi is the favored Knight armor of all Grand Crusaders following Tyria Valcorian.
• Ashmourne - A Cerastus-Knight-Acheron armor of Aucteller Ballador Servantes. After the battle of Juverasz, the suit was heavily modified to bear the remains of Ballador Servantes. A side effect of this modification was that the imprints of its former Scions, the personality of Ballador and the machine spirit were fused together, resulting in the birth of a new being calling itself the Ashmourne.

Notable House Valcorian Personnel

"Remember, my daughter, we are knights. Vengeance cannot be a part of what we must do. If we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust, then we will become as vile as the Orks."

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Highlord Uther Valcorian

• Highlord Tyria Valcorian- Daughter of Uther Valcorian and second in command of House Atreis after her brothers’ sacrifice. After the deaths of her father and brother, it was her responsibility to lead the remains of the once proud kingdoms of Lordahron. A born leader like her father, Tyria gathered her people on the Black Templars flagship, the Eternal Blade. She told her people that they will find a new home and endure everything fate has planned for them. After her speech, all of her people rose and swore that they would follow her into the depths of hell if it was their destiny. Furthermore, they declared that House Atreis and the other ones of Lordahron were no more. From now on, they all would be House Valcorian. Becoming the first leader of House Valcorian, Tyria fought alongside their saviors for numerous times. The Black Templars zeal and believes would soon be adapted by them, slowly turning them into righteous warriors like them. As the years passed, House Valcorian fought various enemies of mankind, Xenos and chaos forces alike. Convinced by the Black Templars that the servants of the Emperor should not rest until every threat was neutralized, Tyria started to build up her own fleet to become eternal Crusaders like her allies. As the leader of their new fleet which set out to engage mankind's enemies on their own, she abandoned the title of Highlord. Instead of it, the leader of House Valcorian would be named Grand Crusader.
• Grand Crusader Darion Valcorian - Legendary Grand Crusader and descendant of Uther and Tyria Valcorian. Fought the empire of Twilight and its vile leader Dal'Gun, who was also responsible for bringing the plague of Nurgle to Lordahron, leading to the foundation of the Damned and Lordahrons destruction. He is accompanied by forces of Valcorians old allies, the Black Templars. Also took part in retrieving the mysterious Grail to honor the previously fallen House Scions under Lord Hemet Voss during the Red Crusade of Golgotha.
• Aucteller Ballador Servantes / Ashmourne - Kinsman of Duke Uther Valcorian and a senior member of the lord's elite Lifewatch phalanx. As such, Ashmourne was rarely more than a dozen strides from Bringer of Light. After Uthers death, he renewed his vow to honor his dearest friend. Until his last breath, he would protect Tyria with his life. Years later, the chance of fulfilling his vow was close at hand. On Juverasz, House Valcorian and their Black Templars allies fought a splinter force of the Beasts countless army, the Freebooter fleet of kaptin Dabossa.While fighting a Gorkanaut, Blade took a heavy blow of the enemies weapons which was destined to hit Tyria. Saving her life, Ashmourne fell. After the Orks's defeat, Ballador was recovered, barely alive. In a desperate attempt to save his life and on his very own wish, the Apothecaries, Techmarines, Sacristans and Techmagi of the entire fleet tried to save his life, placing him in a MIU tank similar to a princeps' tank. They were successful and able to modify Ashmourne as well to carry the tank. Like a hero placed in a Dreadnought, he would be able to carry on fighting but at a higher cost any could have imagined. While resting, his personality fused together with the machine spirit of Ashmourne and the imprints of its former Scions via the modified Throne of Mechanicum, eradicating what was once Ballador Servantes and creating a new being calling itself simply Ashmourne.

House Appearance

House Colours

The proud heraldry of House Valcorian incorporates the traditional colours of grey, blood red and bone white.

[Although this is a Space Marine wearing their color scheme, please try to use your phantasy, ok?]

House Arms

The heraldry of Hous Valcorian owes much to its founding ruler, the Grand Crusader Tyria Valcorian. It was she who chose the crest of her house, which depicts a variation of the old crest of House Atreis, her ancestors. It depicts the great L or Lordahron, which is somehow used in all of the seven kingdoms crests, on the shield o House Atreis, the defenders. She added two blades behind the shield as a symbol of readiness, to draw the blades if necessary. Instead of her old Houses colors of blue, silver and golden, she decided to use colors which fit in their current positions.

Instead of the shining silver of the past, dark grey should remind everyone of the loss of their homeworld.

The royal blue which was only used by the descendants of legendary Thoras Valcorian, was replaced with blood red, honoring those who have fallen to defend the innocent.

Where gold stood for wealth and peace, bonewhite colors shall herald the future of their enemies. They shall be the next to fall before the might of the Imperium.

Both livery and crest are the preeminent symbols of the house and embodies the valour and bravery of the last Knights of Lordahron. To this day, the ruler of House Valcorian, the successor of Uther, bears a stylised burning blade emblem on his Knight suit in Uther's honour, who also known as the Ligtbringer. The other side of their House crest features a demi-Aquila displayed on a field of black, symbolising the Imperium.

Without any formal ties to a Forge World of the Adeptus Mechanicus, House Valcorian's crest is dominated by a pair of stylised wings to acknowledge its allegiance to the Imperium of Mankind. On one side of the shield the house emblem of a great red colored L of Lordahron on the ancient grey shield symbol of House Atreis, and on the other side a bone white demi-Aquila is displayed on a field of red. This same dual-split is used throughout most Knight House heraldry, in this case, symbolising House Valcorian's loyalty which is equally divided between their house and the Imperium.

[Kelborn]

+++update+++

 

- added sevaral pictures, including color scheme (have no real mini or an appropiate painter, hope you can imagine it either way), Thoragarde and the Lucifer

• Sources of the pictures: Thoragarde (rocketdock.com), the Lucifer (lexicanum.com), color scheme (B&C Painter

- also revised the layout

 

Hope you enjoy it. :)

[Doctor Perils]

Hi there, though I haven't had a chance to go through all this just yet, this seems to be a pretty good start to an interesting household. However, there are still some problems that should get sorted out before carrying on.

• The Houses (both ancient and modern), planet, main continent and kingdoms all seem to have names that interchange between Lordahron, Valcorian and Atreis, and it is suuuper confusing ! You need to settle once and for all what each name represents, and have a maximum of two things with the same name (so you won't have a planet that's sometimes called Lordahron and sometimes Valcorian, for instance)
• Please keep a coherent formating, it's astonishing how much of a difference it makes! If you're writing in word, you should have a button for "Paste from Word", if not, paste as plain text, then format again. Better yet, try getting used to including the markers when writing in your word processor.
• I've seen you writing with a lot of imagination and insight, so seeing names and descriptions that are pretty much copy/pasted from Warcraft seems a bit - if I'm being brutally honnest - lazy If you absolutely can't think of a new name (I know I have trouble with this), there are lots of great name generators on the net (http://fantasynamegenerators.com/ and http://www.behindthename.com/ are two great examples). Now I'm not saying you can't take inspiration from Warcraft or Dune/Greek Mythology) but as things stand, it's a bit too painfully obvious.
• If I were you, I'd also pick three main characters that absolutely embody the spirit of House Valcorian or are absolutely pivotal in its history, then include the rest as an appendix or in spoiler tags. The number of names and stories you have here is quite daunting for a first time reader, and (s)he will have more chance of just moving on then staying to read through the whole thing. The same goes with the Knight Frames.
• Also, noblemen can sort of choose the surname they use, and it isn't necessarily the same as the family name:
  • for instance Henry the IVth of England was generally called Henry Bolingbroke (before behing called "Your Majesty" :P), and he was the son of John of Gaunt;
  • The war of the Roses was fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York, and eventually ended with the rise of the Tudor Dynasty in England;
  • however, all these people were part of (or drew their claim from) the House Plantagenet.

[Kelborn]

Hey, thank you for your feedback.

1. Will definetely have a look on the formation. You're right. Next time I'll try the Word button.
2. Hm.. Will have a look on it but I had an extra look for not mixing the names. Maybe I've overseen something.
3. The Warcraft thing. Yeah, i know that I used a lot from its lore but I did not copy paste. I like the overall story they have created. What I wanted to do is s conversion of it which feels like 40k but still has its fantasy flavor. Last times I did something similar, it was so subtle that no one got it. So yeah, I did it pretty obvious but tried as well to create something 40k like out of it. And we are just talking about their origins here. Rest is 100% my imagination.
4. Yeah, uploaded again too many characters. Shall I remove some for the time being?
5. What you have mentioned concerning family names, etc. will be used for my next Household (japanese themed so I do need to take care of that before it confuses).

See this as my prototype Household.
Things I'll learn from here, will be used for House Toho.
Of course I will work on Valcorian as well as I still love it.

Thanks again.

++edit++

- Revised the layout of the article

- Threw some characters + suits out

- Had a look on the introduction. You were right, there were some mistakes which confused the reader, thank you.