The Cwn Annwn

[KiltedMarine]

Mods, if this belongs elsewhere, I acknowledge my failing and will be careful to correct it.  My own Chapter, call them "counts as" Wolves, call them "heretical," just don't call them late to the party...

 

Cwn Annwn- The Hounds of Arawn

Homeworld-

For Caldonyr of the iron skies!  For Caldonyr of the cold rains and the red mountains!  From her were you born and to her may you return in death.

                    -Rig Fennid Eochaid Draigcarreg at the Battle of Roxxen III

Caldonyr is the main inhabited world of the system of the same name in Subsector DuPlann, York Sector, of Segmentum Obscurus in the near galactic northwest.  It orbits a brown dwarf known to the inhabitants as Balor, which in turn has a highly eccentric orbit of a large-mass blue white star called Kienn.  As a result Caldonyr has a highly variable cycle of seasons, leaving the inhabitants in a constant state of competition for resources.  Wet, dreary but productive growing seasons lasting several Standard Years can end quickly and turn rapidly into short but intense drought, then shift into harsh winters with deep snow and frigid temperatures.  The cycle of seasons is predictable, but only over a long period of time, and so the local population rely on their druids for reading of the stars and the movement of Balor and Kienn in the sky to know when to plant, when to reap, and when to prepare for war.   

On average, Caldonyr is a cold and wet world.  Were it not for the warmth provided by Balor, the planet would be just outside the habitable zone of Kienn during most of its orbital period.  The skies over much of the planet are overcast much of the time, and precipitation is frequent save during the periodic “fire summers” when Kienn glares hotly in the sky.  The planet is close to 80% ocean, with forests and rolling grasslands covering the equatorial archipelagoes where most inhabitants live.  Wildlife and plant species alike are primarily descended from Terran species, but significant mutation and genetic drift have resulted in a number of species of megafauna which are hunted by tribal nobles for prestige and by the Astartes for sport.  Notable amongst these species are the Cyun Annown, light grey to white canids roughly a meter tall at the shoulder.  Sometimes also called the Rigrann Blaidath, or kingwolves, they are considered the sacred hunting hounds of the Emperor and symbolic of the right of kings.  They are only hunted under specific ritual circumstances, and chieftains of the Caldonyran tribes especially prize them as breeding stock for their own hunting hounds.

 

The Hounds keep the people of Caldonyr at a low tech level, believing that hard competition between tribes makes all of them stronger.  Should one tribe become too dominant, the Star Warriors may gift a weaker king with a wonder from the Emperor, a magic sword or a suit of armor or some other marvel that will balance out the more powerful tribe’s advantages.  Such gifts are never allowed to stay with a lineage, however; when their job has been done, the Star Warriors return to reclaim their boon.

The people of Caldonyr follow a heterodox but approved blend of the Imperial Creed with local pre-Compliance animist rituals.  The Emperor is venerated as Arawn, the King of the afterworld called Annwn.  The druids perform relatively orthodox rites of mass worship and communal prayer alongside much more obviously pagan rituals of sacrifice, divination and abjuration of evil spirits.  This syncretic belief system involves a great deal of mysticism; the Caldonyrans see the hand of the gods, Imperial saints, and at times the Emperor himself, in everything they do.  Dreams are taken very seriously, and interpreted by druids for portents.

Founding-

Sing praise to the Emperor for the aid of these, the sons of Caldonyr, the Hounds of Arawn of the Adeptus Astartes, for their swift descent on wings of flame as angels of the Emperor’s Judgement did on this day bring terror and death to the heretics who dared rise against the Cardinal of DuPlann.  Let their brotherhood be praised by all loyal supplicants of the Diocese, and may all cathedrals sing the Dona Nobis Victoria and En Nomine Imperator for the sake of the souls of their noble fallen in this righteous cause!

                -Declaration of Cardinal Castorus of DuPlann, 3 162 229M36,

                The first official mention of the Hounds of Arawn Chapter

The founding of the Hounds of Arawn is deeply uncertain, as is not uncommon for Chapters born during or shortly after the Age of Apostasy.  The level of genetic instability present in their geneseed has led to theories that they are part of the Cursed Founding, but no documentary evidence exists to support this supposition.  The Hounds show deviancy, but this deviancy is not so pronounced as within chapters such as the Black Dragons or the [name to be entered].  Responsible historians unwilling to engage in flights of fancy are forced to simply acknowledge that the Hounds were founded some time between the ## and ## Foundings, and work forward from that point.

The first Chapter Master on record is Pwyll Stormbrow.  Very few details about him can be ascertained for certain, owing to a total lack of documentation.  It can be assumed he was originally a champion or other notable warrior from another Chapter, but which one is unknown.  The Hounds’ own founding myth describes him arriving at the head of a host called the kingfathers, leading these warriors into battle against the Orks who had ravaged Caldonyr for generations.  According to this legend, recounted every ninth Standard Year in the midst of True Midwinter, Pwyll and the first Red Branch descended from the sky on wings of flame leading an army of fair-haired human warriors with spears like lightning.  Ethnohistorians of the Adeptus Missionaria have theorized that this legend shows conflation of the Chapter’s founding with the world’s liberation during the Great Crusade; Leman Russ and the VIth Legion are known to have operated in the DuPlann subsector during the Crusade, and the Caldonyr system sits at a junction that the Compliance Fleets would have needed to control.

The earliest known official record of the Hounds of Arawn dates to M36, at which time three companies are noted, with Pwyll at their head.  They performed a drop pod assault on Meaux IV, which had risen in a separatist rebellion against Cardinal Castorus of DuPlann, a supporter of Vandire.  The Hounds participated with great fervor in no fewer than three major suppression campaigns on behalf of the DuPlann Diocese.  In fact, it is not until 248M36 that a definite break in allegiance appears.  The Hounds were instrumental in the overthrow of the Moirite schismatic Fabricator-General of Cormall, and demanded a substantial tithe from the orthodox Mechanicum Magos they installed as his replacement.  Cormall and the Diocese had been closely allied since M34, and Castorus saw the Hounds’ demands as a usurpation of his own authority.  When he attempted to place the Chapter’s homeworld of Caldonyr under interdict, the Hounds ignored his proclamation and heavily mauled the castigation fleet he sent to bring them into line in 250M36, a series of daring and hard-fought actions that form a large and much-beloved saga still taught by the Chapter’s Bardii.  The soured relations between the Chapter and the Cardinal lasted, with levels of acrimony varying from mere silence to outright combat, for another twenty years until the sudden appearance of Waaagh!Heartrippa in the DuPlann subsector in 268M36.

Snagrash Heartrippa had managed to build a sizable Waaagh! in the Galactic northeast at least in part thanks to the infighting taking place between Vandire’s regime and a host of officials who stood in opposition to the tyrant.  With no real unified leadership, Imperial reaction to the Ork Boss’s rampage was piecemeal and ineffective.  He succeeded in enslaving no fewer than four systems before appearing in the DuPlann system at the head of several hundred thousand greenskins.  The Cardinal sent panicked calls out throughout the sector only to find that responses were sparse.  Elements of Battlefleet York arrived, but were limited to a task force of three cruisers and five squadrons of destroyers.  The Cadian LIV and Strathclyde 3rd, headed to fight Vandire’s forces on York Primaris, diverted to the DuPlann system and engaged with the Orks in a holding action, despite Castorus’ role as a supporter of the High Lord.

The Hounds of Arawn had spent the prior two decades building their numbers and engaging primarily in anti-piracy and anti-xenos actions.  Their early history of support for the Cardinal had left Thorian elements distrustful of them, and they had grown deeply disillusioned with the Cardinal they had previously supported.  The call for aid from DuPlann gave them an unambiguous enemy to fight, and they responded in full Chapter force, having only the year before filled out a full ten Companies.  Notable amongst their number was the preacher Patricius Ninianus, who had been brought into the inner circle of Chapter Master Stormbrow after sneaking onto Caldonyr to spread the word of Sebastian Thor.  The preacher’s courage in the face of possible execution had greatly impressed the Chapter Master, and Stormbrow sought his counsel in spiritual matters.  When they arrived on DuPlann early in 269M36, they swiftly broke the back of Heartrippa’s Waaagh! with a rapid series of drop pod assaults culminating in the relief of Cathedral City.  Pwyll defeated Heartrippa in personal combat, but too late for the Cardinal.  The Chapter Master’s bodyguards found Castorus’ corpse in his shattered throne room, hacked to almost unrecognizable ruin.  Pwyll declared a day of mourning, and Patricius was named Cardinal to the acclamation of the people of Duplann.  It took another two years to effectively mop up the remaining Ork resistance, at which point the Hounds of Arawn joined the growing forces converging on Terra to overthrow Vandire’s regime.  With the end of the Reign of Blood and the Chapter’s maturation into a full-sized force, the scope of their actions broadened far beyond the York sector.  Pwyll died fighting traitors from the World Eaters Legion in 290M36 during the Badon Scouring, replaced by the first native Caldonyr-born master of the Hounds, Duncan apArth. 

[KiltedMarine]

Recruitment-

Every third Standard Year, at dawn on the True Spring Equinox, vermillion- armored warriors swathed in the white hides of kingwolves emerge from the doorways of the Great Cairns at Boin, Skoon, and Gweneth.  They are met by the druids and the chieftains of the nearby tribes, who pay them homage as the emissaries of the High King and, in turn, Arawn himself.  In turn, the Star Warriors anoint the mortal kings of the three kingdoms and the black-armored bards of the Chapter test and anoint candidates to the druidic orders.  Once these rituals are completed, at sunset great bonfires are lit and  the young men of the tribes begin the Testing.

First each candidate must recite his lineage.  The people of Caldonyr trace lineage through both the father and mother.  Men and women of all classes are proud of their heritage, and can usually recite their genealogy for several generations on both sides.  Owing to frequent polygamy and polygyny amongst the royal lineages, most Caldonyrans can claim at least some relation to one or more of the legendary “kingfathers,” the host of non-Astartes that are believed to have accompanied Pwyll Stormbrow when he arrived on Caldonyr.  An aspirant to the Hounds of Arawn must be able to recite his lineage at least far enough back to show descent from a king or chieftain whose connection to the kingfathers is certain.  If one or more Sky Warriors are known to have been selected from amongst his uncles and cousins, so much the better.  

Once lineage has been determined, the candidates engage in a month-long series of competitions.  Foot races, contests of strength, endurance tests, eating competitions, duels of satire and insults, all are part of the process of finding which candidates are physically and psychologically toughest and most fit for service.  Brawls between candidates are frequent, and the Hounds overseeing the selection process generally allow them to work themselves out, using them as yet another method of evaluating which candidates have the right fiber.

The final test is the Hound’s Gauntlet- the candidates must complete a cross-country race carrying a shield, shortsword, and three javelins.  Along their path they are stopped by Star Warriors who set challenges before them.  Challenges include recitation of sagas or answering of riddles, ritual combat, or the completion of tasks off the race route.  Such geasa are usually designed to be tests of courage and determination as much as physical skill, but they are intense, and many candidates fail.  Some few even lose their lives.  Only candidates who complete the Gauntlet with sufficient speed and with their shield and sword still in hand are accepted as aspirants, and move on to the next phase of selection.  Their kinfolk are ritually paid by the Chapter for the loss of their sons; the price for each aspirant is two fine spears, a chunk of steel the size of a Star Warrior’s fist, and a bull aurochs.  To the Chapter it is a pittance, but for a struggling family it is a princely amount of wealth.  Each aspirant is allowed one night to spend celebrating their own wake with their family before departing at dawn to join the chosen warriors of the Lord of the Otherworld.

Aspirants are taken to the Blessed Isle for the next steps in their apotheosis.  During the second phase of recruitment, aspirants receive the first astartes implants and are assigned to companies called fienne.  Effort is made to make sure that candidates are separated as much as possible from their own tribesmen, and in fact that youths from rival tribes are forced together.  The intent is to foster loyalty to the Chapter first, then the fian second.  Aspirants are taught to read, to use the holy bolter and bolt pistol, and put through intense physical and psychological training and indoctrination to activate and nurture their implants.  Fienne are pitted against each other in games and mock battles.

[Olis]

The founding of the Hounds of Arawn is deeply uncertain, as is not uncommon for Chapters born during or shortly after the Age of Apostasy.  The level of genetic instability present in their geneseed has led to theories that they are part of the Cursed Founding, but no documentary evidence exists to support this supposition.  The Hounds show deviancy, but this deviancy is not so pronounced as within chapters such as the Black Dragons or the [name to be entered].  Responsible historians unwilling to engage in flights of fancy are forced to simply acknowledge that the Hounds were founded some time between the ## and ## Foundings, and work forward from that point.

 

How about the Sons of Antaeus? Or perhaps the Flame Falcons?

 

Anyhoo, this feels like something for the Liber rather than the Space Wolves sub, but that is up to you, brother. ;)