Work has been crazy, this was my first time all year I've had more than one day off and its only because I'm moving to night shift and I popped this out while I'm purposely depriving myself of sleep so I can sleep a solid few hours during the day.

This is literally labeled in my docs as "World Building for a Fic I'll probably Never Write" but I actually have the outlines for a trio of stories centered around the Knight Angelus Fortis and another story that would center around another Knight. I still don't know if I would ever write them, but I might start with some one shots based on the Knights from this world that I have laid out here. If I do, they'll be posted here.

I do still plan on updating the other stories eventually, once I finally get out of Ohio and back to a somewhat normal, regular job site and not this unmitigated disaster that I was forced into after the guy before me quit halfway through when he realized he had effed it up too bad to recover.

Seraphim

History:

Seraphim is a Knight World founded by four Freeblade Knights as a reward for crushing the Chaos rebellion and slaying a Word Bearer Warlord bent on offering the world's people as a final sacrifice and ascending to daemonhood.

With the rebellion crushed, and the planet's leadership slaughtered by the cultists and daemons, the Ecclesiarchy, newly under the rule of Sebastian Thor, granted the four champions the world as theirs to rule, the survivors of the planet and the Astra Militarum regiments sent originally to crush the rebellion, their subjects.

Markus Dietrich, the pilot of the Knight Angelus Fortis, was elected leader of the four Freeblades and struck the cursed former name of the world from the record and renamed it Seraphim.

Geography:

Seraphim's surface has 65% of its surface covered in water, with one true deep sea where enormous aquatic beasts prowl the dark depths, and several shallow warm seas where large schools of fish have recovered hundreds of years after the Age of Apostasy.

Three major continents make up the majority of dry land, one in the Northern Hemisphere, one in the Southern Hemisphere, and one that straddles the equator to the East of the northern and southern continent. Between the northern and southern continents is a relatively thin land bridge which represents one border of the shallow seas between the three continents.

The deep ocean that makes up two thirds of the western hemisphere is dotted with volcanic islands, most of the volcanoes being dormant or dead, though every other millennia one of the more active islands has been known to erupt and choke the skies of the planet with ash.

The Northern continent is the second largest of the three major landmasses, and sports a variety of environments. The western and eastern shores of the continent are lined with large mountain ranges, with the one in the west being taller and older, with rocky slopes and snow capped peaks. The eastern mountains are smaller and younger, but filled with thick, misty forests that are home to plentiful game and the cunning predators that survive on that game. Vast expanses of grasslands are framed by rolling hills to the inside of both mountain ranges, perfect for farming all sorts of gen-hanced crops and grazing herds of grox. Past the grasslands and towards the center of the continent, enormous trees, hundreds of feet high, dominate the landscape, rising out of soggy marshes where gigantic sauropods feed on the otherwise out of reach tree tops with their long necks. Giant predators stalk these bloated sauropods but won't hesitate to take on a Knight. At the center of these marshy woods is a massive lake with a single island in the center where the Sanctuary of House Dietrich towers above the waters and houses all Knight suits not currently claimed.

The Southern Continent is split in half by an enormous river flowing north and emptying into the shallow sea. The grand river's delta is a massive jungle filled with large primates, exotic birds, and carnivorous reptiles, as well as producing many of the planet's delicacies with sweet fruits and flavorful meat. Outside of the jungle surrounding the river delta, however, are expansive deserts stretching out for hundreds of miles in all directions, spotted only sparingly with oasis around small springs of clean water. Swimming the dune seas are the ferocious sand wyrms, gargantuan reptiles the size of a Knight with long bodies and short legs. The southern edge of the desert are marked with deep canyons that fill with water every spring when the snow from the mountains in the deepest southern reaches of the continent melts. It is this snow melt that feeds the lake that feeds the great river of the continent and also supports the largest oasis of the desert. It is in this idyllic greenery of palm trees and lush ferns where a gaudy, yet formidable fortress of white stone stands as the Sanctuary of House Ali and their stable of Knight Gallants and Errants.

The Eastern Continent is shrouded in mist as well as mystery. Gradual slopes lead to snow capped peaks that jut above the fog that choke the thick forests that envelope the large majority of this smaller landmass. In the valleys between the broad mountains are swamps filled with blood sucking insects, man eating amphibious predators, and venomous snakes. To the east and the north of this island continent are more hospitable environments of gentle grasslands and glades of beautiful flowering trees. It is within a cordon of these white and red petals that black stone sets the foundation for a palatial fortress that houses House Kuroishi's Sanctuary and their stable of Oni masked and unique Knight Samurai (Paladins) and Ronins (Wardens).

The land bridge between the northern and southern continent is not actually a land bridge, as there is a forty mile gap where the warm waters of the shallow seas feed into the cold depths of the single major ocean, however this point is moot, as an ancient bridge constructed during the Dark Age of Technology spans the gap with its broad ferrocrete roadways and enormous adamantium supports. On either side of the bridge sit twin fortresses of red brick bearing the blue and red flags depicting the golden aquila over a stone bridge, the coat of arms for House Dupont. The twin fortresses holding the Sanctuaries for the Northern Family in the North Fortress, and the Southern Family in the South Fortress where unclaimed Crusaders slumber. The northern half of the land bridge is covered in short brush where grape vines grow wild, though the locals have long since domesticated the plants and produce a variety of fine wines highly sought after throughout the segmentum. The southern half catches the fringe of the jungle surrounding the river delta, but the trees are more sparse at the southern end and give way to fields of wet grasslands.

The many islands of the deep ocean in the Western hemisphere sport a variety of ecologies and environments. Hundreds of smaller islands are nothing more than small rocks, upon which an old keep might be found on one in seventy. Within these keeps, men at arms from various houses man sensoriums and auspexes that monitor the blind side of the planet for any vessels that make it past the SDF ships in orbit. Upon the larger islands, very little fauna aside from medium sized herbivores, insects, and migrating avians can be found, though out of the dozens of these islands, every other one has a large keep placed upon it, fit with battlements, servitor controlled anti air defenses, and a place for a transport capable of carrying knights to land. Finally, near the center of the large, cold ocean, are the three largest islands, two of which are homes to major settlements and minor Houses, and survive largely on the hunting of the deep sea megafauna. A single sea dragon is capable of keeping the citizenry of one city busy for half a year. The third island is a well kept paradise surrounded by artisan brick walls that are covered in murals depicting the glory of the Emperor, the Primarchs, and the life and martyrdom of Saint Katherine. Within the beautiful gardens that cover the large island are several glorious buildings that, while they may serve many purposes, all venerate the Emperor, and at the center of this complex is the utterly massive cathedral that serve as Seraphim's main Coven of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. The cathedral is old enough that there are still references and murals dedicated to the glory of the Order of the Fiery Heart, which became the Order of Our Martyred Lady after the martyrdom of Saint Katherine. Also within this enormous cathedral, is a Knight Sanctuary dedicated to the Noble Warriors who have dedicated themselves to the Order and now follow the Coven's Battle Sister's across the Parish to defend the enemies of the Faith of the Emperor.

Population: 5.6 Billion

The Northern Continent is the most highly populated of the three continents; 2.2 billion, and contains one of the two Hive Cities, Dominion. The grasslands are filled with small agricultural villages and some larger settlements where the citizens live in general comfort and are able to produce enough food with modern technology and their liege's protection to create a surplus, feeding not only the people, the nobles, and Hive Dominion, but exporting grain and grox meat to the entire sector. On top of this, the natural grain crop of the world, a type of tall grass with nutrient rich seeds, can be distilled into a luxury alcohol that has become quite popular within the Parish of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. The forests also produce enough timber to supply a quarter of the Segmentum with cheap construction grade lumber. It is within these forests that real cities can be found, supporting the mining of the nearby mountains, and providing trading hubs for farmers from the grasslands. It is within the mountains that iron, copper, gold, platinum, and lithium are mined and shipped to coastal cities where the raw resources are shipped by water to Hive Dominion.

Dominion was the final stand of many of the rebel forces that the Four Freeblades and their loyalist allies smashed on their rush to stop Chaos's Dark Ritual that would have turned the planet into a Daemon World. Dominion is the smaller of the two Hives, and is situated at the north end of the land bridge, and is the home to many members of both House Dietrich and House Dupont, though it is technically within the boundaries of House Dupont's fiefdom and as such the leadership of the city falls upon the current head of the Northern Family. Dominion houses the large majority of the manufactorums of Seraphim, and produce, among other things, war gear such as Leman Russ tanks, Chimeras, Valkyries, Rhinos and other vehicles for the Noble Houses' Men at Arms and the Battle Sisters of the Coven. It also is the primary producer of Knight Armigers, the smaller and less powerful war suits being the only ones the planet currently has the ability to manufacture. As a result of all of this industry and machinery, Dominion has the largest concentration of the disciples of the Machine God, with the largest enclave of the Mechanicum on Seraphim.

Population of Hive Dominion: 650 million

The Southern continent is sparsely populated, but thanks to Hive Sacrosanct, it maintains a high population; 2 billion. Suburbs with populations stretching in the high hundreds of millions surround the Hive, sprawling out into the desert and skirting the jungle surrounding the river delta. Into the river delta are small villages that survive on fruit picking and pelt hunting in the jungle, funneling their surplus into Hive Sacrosanct. Once the jungle ends and the desert begins, the signs of human civilization all but vanish. The dusty roads only maintained by the heavy, plodding steps of the Knight Gallants of House Ali making the trek between the oasis settlements, the Hive City, and their Sanctuary. There is some industry to be had in the vast deserts, massive tracked crawlers sift through sand dunes to collect many of the important minerals vital to the synthesis of high quality ceramite. The other minerals, and in fact the singular metal component of ceramite, can be found in the snowy mountains to the south of the continent, as mining cities have slowly been pulling adamantium from the earth for the past century, only finding the veins in the deepest mountains recently, and indeed is one of the deepest held secrets of Seraphim, for the vein is rich enough to manufacture the armor plating for an entire Legio of Titans, but none of the Four Major Houses or the two Hive Cities have the ability to properly utilize the rich vein, for they do not have the infrastructure to manufacture larger knights, lacking both the machines and the knowledge.

Sacrosanct was the last stand of the loyalist forces, and the only thing standing in the way of the Chaos cultists from gaining control of the entire southern continent and establishing control of every inch of the world's surface. It was here that the Four Freeblades landed and for ten days turned away every attack the rebels brought across the bridge, before, on the eleventh day, sallied forth with reinvigorated and reinforced loyalist forces and formed the spearhead that claimed the land bridge in the name of the Emperor and laid siege to Hive Dominion. Sacrosanct is the larger of the two hives, stationed at the southern entrance of the land bridge. Like its northern counterpart, Sacrosanct is ostensibly Dupont territory, and is ruled by the leading member of the Southern Family, but many members of House Ali also claim the massive hive as their home. Where Dominion has spires that reach into the bottom stratosphere, the spires and towers of Sacrosanct touch the troposphere of Seraphim. This space is needed, as while Dominion sits on dry ground and therefore has an expansive underhive, Sacrosanct instead sits on marshy wetlands of the river delta and its underhive does not contain any approved habitation, as the only thing found underground are the enormous adamantium reinforced ferrocrete pillars that support the impossibly tall spires. Sacrosancts industry does not have the capacity to produce war machines in the same numbers of Dominion, but instead produces Kantreal pattern lasguns in the billions, heavy bolters in the millions, and artillery and ammunition in numbers uncounted. Sacrosanct's industry provides not only the munitions for the Men at Arms for the local Houses and the Sisters of Our Martyred Lady, but for hundreds of Astra Militarum regiments in the Segmentum Obscurus. It also provides the major space port for the planet, and 70% of space travel is done through its shuttle pads.

Population: 850 million

The Eastern Continent is lightly populated in comparison to its two larger neighbors, 900 million, with the vast majority of its population living within coastal cities that facilitate the majority of trade between the islands of the deep ocean and the two Hive cities. Many nobles from House Dietrich, Dupont, and Ali as well as the wealthy elite keep vacation homes upon the idyllic beaches facing the shallow sea, and more than one small city has cropped up in their wake. Deep within the damp marshes and misty mountains, however, no cities are to be found, instead only small, reclusive villages, and high monasteries. In fact a large portion of the land within the island continent has been dedicated to the Order of Our Martyred Lady, as House Kurioshi holds the tightest bonds to the Sisterhood, seconding more Knights to the Order than any of the other Major Houses. House Kurioshi's Sanctuary however, is as isolated as is possible, keeping only small villages within the walls of the fortress to house the peasantry who live incredibly simply and with the most minimum of comforts and luxuries.

The islands of the deep ocean concentrate the majority of the 500 million people upon two of the three largest islands, but fishing villages and cities can be found on many of the smaller ones, and small villages crop up to support the small keeps and fortresses that dot the hemisphere. Of course, where there are open waters and robust sea trade, there are pirates, and many small, uncharted islands can be found throughout the deep blue where the criminals have made their home. In response, many of the islands with keeps and fortresses maintain robust seaward defenses, and the two major population centers keep naval defense vessels that patrol major trade routes. None of these forces, be they lawful or nefarious, dare interfere with the goings on of the Convent on the third and largest island, both in fear of retribution from the power armor clad Sisters of Battle, and in genuine fear of the God Emperor's Wrath. The Order maintains a small water bound fleet, used only for the transportation of supplies and missionaries while using orbital transportation for the movement of their military assets. The Convent is largely female for obvious reasons, however there are a few villages within the artisan walls of the compound that farm the fertile land and supplement the food stores of the Convent.

The shallow sea between the three major continents has few islands, and none of significant enough size to warrant populating permanently, however traffic is still quit significant amongst the waves. Some goods are too heavy to be efficiently transported via shuttle, some too cheap to warrant the fuel, but mostly the traffic is involved in transporting trillions of gallons of oil that deep sea oil rigs drill from beneath the crystal clear waters. There is a competitive fishing industry that thrives along the coasts of the land bridge, where the nutrient rich currents of the shallow seas swirl before dumping into the cold ocean. The meat of some of the fish can be found gracing the feasting halls of the Exalted Court, the Convent, and governor's mansions throughout the Sector.

Military Forces of Seraphim

Men at Arms

The Knights of Seraphim are a force to be reckoned with, able to go toe to toe with entire maniples of a Titan Legion, but as mighty as the war machines may be, even they have weaknesses that cannot be covered. Gallants lack long range firepower, Crusaders need space to bring their firepower to bear, Errants and Paladins struggle with large numbers of infantry, and Wardens chew through ammunition too quickly for extended frontline use. While many of these problems can be patched with carapace weapons, or covered by intermixing the various Knight patterns, the Knights of Seraphim are able to more effectively wield their strength across more fronts by augmenting their might with the Men at Arms, a military force of baseborn natives of Seraphim arranged into various regiments designed to reinforce their liege lords in battle.

Each House keeps Men at Arms, though the manner in which they are used differ from the rest.

House Ali prefers Gallants and Errants, and lack long range firepower, so it is no surprise to see tanks and artillery in the white and gold of House Ali trailing the aggressive Knights, clearing their flanks and softening up hard targets.

House Kurioshi focuses on rapid strikes and aggressive assaults with their Samurai and Ronin before retreating to a defensible position, and as a result, rough riders in the black and bronze of House Kurioshi use their krak and melta tipped lances to keep the line of retreat open for the Knights and stationary heavy weapons teams fortifying the fallback point.

House Dupont relies on the long range firepower of their Crusaders to do the heavy lifting, but quickly find themselves at a disadvantage in close quarters against heavy infantry. As a result, chimeras and squads of infantry in the blue and silver of House Dupont screen the lines of towering war machines, blistering the survivors of the battle cannon rounds and mass reactive shells of the Knights with hails of las fire.

House Dietrich fields the most varied lances of Knights, not relying on long range firepower more than close range assaults, neither preferring defensive engagements to offensive, so to are their Men at Arms the most varied force of Seraphim. As such, the green and violet of House Dietrich can be found in many forms. Hellhounds and Leman Russ tanks fill in the gaps between Battle Lances. Taurox filled with squads of infantry race after Assault lances. Earth shakers and mortar crews add their firepower to that of a Fortress Lance. Valkyries provide air support to Shock Lances and drop stormtrooper squads to provide close in infantry support. Rough riders gallop alongside Armigers in Scout Lances.

System Defense Fleet

Seraphim lacks a substantial System Defense Fleet, dedicating most voidcraft possessed by the four Major Houses to the transportation of the Knights from the planet's surface to distant warzones, relying almost solely upon the Imperial Navy and any void vessels fielded by the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Thankfully, due to the planet's status as a Knight World, the Sector's Battlefleet routinely patrols the system and will generally keep a strike cruiser and a dozen support craft in orbit of Seraphim.

Oceanic Defense Fleet

The deep ocean and the shallow sea are both patrolled by water craft, and while the majority of these craft are designed to be quick so as to respond to piratical raids, and therefore carry at most heavy bolters and heavy stubbers to clear enemy vessel decks and cripple engines without sinking the ships. However, both island cities on the wet side of the planet provide harbor to enormous naval vessels armed with autocannons, artillery guns, and missile launchers. Some giant craft are even designed to support flights of Valkyrie gunships, Avenger strike fighters, and Thunderbolt air and space superiority fighters. The purpose of these larger vessels is to provide defense for the wet side of the planet, the larger guns filling the sky with explosive shells and the aircraft hunting down landing craft, giving the Knights time to arrive and bolster the defenses on land.

The Order of Our Martyred Lady

The resident Sisters of Battle are not the largest Convent within the parish, but they are still likely the second strongest military force next to the Knights on Seraphim. Just as the ranks of the Commissars and Stormtroopers of the Men at Arms are filled with the third sons of Noble families, the Schola Progenium tend to funnel the third daughters of Noble families into the Order of Our Martyred Lady. While an Order Militant of the Ecclisiarchy and the Ordo Hereticus, the Convent also produces Sisters Famulous, Dialogous, and Hospitaler.

The Order of Our Martyred Lady wield a variety of powerful weapons, however their specialty are flamers and meltas, and the Convent on Seraphim does not deviate from this doctrine, their Seraphim squads, despite not being named after the planet itself, are particularly famous amongst the Order and the parish at large. However, the true line units of Our Martyred Lady are the punishing Dominion squads, armed with meltas and flamers, burning a path through heretics and xenos alike. The most elite and proven Sisters pass on to become Celestians, or in the case of Seraphim squads, are reorganized into Zephyrim squads. Before a Sister may start on this path, however, they must start their career as a Repentia, charging the enemy with no armor and swinging their Eviscerator Chainswords to prove their faith in the Emperor. The garage bays of the Convent hold some mechanized armor as well as a squad of Paragon war suits. Separate from the main compound of the Convent is the Sanctuary of the Knights oathbound to the Order of Our Martyred Lady, the pure black armor marked only with the Sigil of the Order apart from the left pauldron painted in the colors of their House.

The Convent of Seraphim is able to field four battalions, two of which are pure infantry, a third is mechanized infantry, and the fourth is a support company. The Convent relies on sworn Knights for Heavy armor, and the towering war machines do not disappoint.

Saint Katherine's Martyrs (First Infantry Battalion) is primarily made of Novitiates, Repentia, and Dominion squads. The Martyrs have ten companies, one hundred Sisters each. Each company carries at least two ten women squads of Repentia, and two more ten woman squads of Novitiates, and six ten woman Dominion squads.

Saint Katherine's Chosen (Second Infantry Battalion) is consisted of the more elite Sisters who engage in much more focused missions, often deploying in advance of the Martyrs, taking out hard targets and assassinating enemy leadership. This battalion is much smaller, composed of only five companies, and each one is much more specialized. The first two companies are Seraphim squads, using jump packs and inferno pistols to drop straight into enemy strong holds or directly on top of enemy armor and turn them to slag. The next company are Celestian squads, armed in the same fashion as Dominion squads, providing elite killing power at specific points on the battlefield. Following them in the fourth company are the Celestian Sacresancts, close ranged melee focused units who provide an unbreakable bulwark in the front lines and make for ruthless kill teams in the corridors of an enemy fortress. Finally, in the fifth company, are the Zephyrim squads, whose raw mobility and killing power see them dropping behind enemy lines and slaughtering their way through the enemy's command structure.

Saint Katherine's Sword (Third Mechanized Battalion) is the heavy infantry force of the Convent, carrying heavy weapons and ferried into battle in Rhinos and Immolators. It is comprised of ten companies, each company carries ten transports carrying five woman Retributor, Repentia, or Dominion squads, bringing fire, fury, and rockets to the hardest of fighting. Each company carries a variety of each kind of infantry, and typically carry forty Sisters Repentia, forty Sisters Dominion, and twenty Sisters Retributor.

Saint Katherine's Mercy (Fourth Support Battalion) is filled with Sisters Hospitaller and Dialogous, as well as engineseers, tech priests, and even Sacristans dedicated to the care and supply of the Knights sworn to the Convent. This battalion supplies and repairs the many machines of Sword Battalion, as well as the power armor and weapons of the Sisters.

The Convent of Seraphim is led by the Canoness Austeria Dupont, the third daughter of a minor branch of the Northern Family. Although her loyalty is strictly to Order of Our Martyred Lady and the God Emperor Himself, Austeria, a sixty three year old woman, maintains a close relationship with her nephew, King Stefan Dietrich. Austeria may be an old woman, but in her Paragon War Suit, she remains an ardent defender of the Faithful against the enemies of Mankind.

Hive Cities

Hive City Dominion's primary defenses are powerful void shields capable of warding off an orbital bombardment, and Deathstrike missiles configured to reach orbit and fitted with Godspear warheads capable of shattering a cruiser's void shields and outright destroying frigates and smaller void ships. It is also defended by many smaller lance batteries that are incapable of striking vessels in high orbit, but can destroy landing craft and hitting any ships that enter low orbit.

Hive City Sanctum also is defended by void shields, but exchanges Deathstrike missiles for Macro batteries. These gigantic cannons are capable of launching thousand ton explosive projectiles into high orbit, and while individually they lack the power to destroy capital ships, when all ten batteries coordinate fire on a single target, the effects can be devastating. Despite all of this, Sanctum remains extremely vulnerable to attack from orbit due to its massive spires and relies heavily on low powered lance batteries to keep strike craft from toppling them upon the rest of the city.

Arbites

Technically not a military force, the Adeptus Arbites have fortresses within both Hive Cities, and precincts in the island cities. The law on Seraphim is incredibly strict, it is not uncommon for petty thieves to have their hands amputated, for traffic violations to result in indentured servitude lasting a decade, or drug use to result in public executions. Hive gangs resist the execution of justice, but because of the Knights walking the broad streets in full panoply, they are restricted to the tunnels of the Underhive and tight alleyways of the slums, where strike teams of Arbites hunt them down.

Knights

By far the most powerful military force of the planet, and aside from other Convents of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, the strongest ground based force in the Sector. The four hundred Armigers, five hundred Questoris, and thirty Dominus knights could go toe to toe with a chapter of the Adeptus Astartes and win. These forces are split between the four Major Houses and the dozens of Minor Houses scattered throughout the world, though the Minor Houses are always sworn to one of the Major Houses.

Major Houses of Seraphim:

House Dietrich

House Dietrich is the Royal House of Seraphim and has sired an unbroken line of Kings extending all the way back to when the Four Freeblades liberated Seraphim from the clutches of the Chaos Cultists. When the Ecclesiarchy granted rulership of the world and the right to start Noble Houses to the Four Freeblades, the question of rulership came up. Markus Dietrich had been nominally leading the Knights during the campaign and engaged the Word Bearer Warlord for the soul of Seraphim, so it was decided that he would be King and his sons would be King and his House would rule Seraphim until the other Major Houses decided House Dietrich was no longer fit to rule. So, Markus married a Cadian Captain whose regiment had been summarily disbanded and left upon Seraphim to repopulate the devastated world and sired the first in a line of Monarchs that would rule for more than four millennia.

House Dietrich women may not inherit their father or husband's lands and titles, but they may rule as regent in their son's or late husband's name until they can remarry or their son becomes of age. They are able to become Squires and undergo the Ritual of Becoming to become full fledged Knights.

The ranks of Nobility for House Dietrich are as follows:

King (He's the king. He rules all of Seraphim, commands the loyalty of all of his own lords, as well as the Duke of Dupont, the Shogun of Kurioshi, and the Emir of Ali. The only force on Seraphim not at his direct command are the Sisters of Battle from the Order of Our Martyred Lady.)

High Lord (Rulers of vast swaths of land, there are only four, the High Lord of the Eastern Mountains, the High Lord of the Northern Tundra, High Lord of the Western Plains, and the High Lord of the Southern Tributaries. They are all directly sworn the King.)

Minor Lord (Minor Lords rule provinces within the four districts of the Northern Continent. They are sworn to the High Lords of their respective District.)

Petty Lord (They govern cities and small smatterings of villages and towns, ensuring the fields harvest is divided justly, the grox herds are grown and slaughtered at apace, and the mines meet their quota of iron, copper, and aluminum. They are sworn directly the Lord of their Province)

Knight (Given the honorific Sir, or Dame if they are a woman, Knights enforce the law and the writ of their liege lord. Petty Lords, Minor Lords, High Lords, and even the King will keep a small number of Knights to enforce their will, and the Knight is sworn to the direct service of the Lord of their choosing.)

House Dietrich maintains the largest stable of Questoris and Dominus Class Knights, and the second largest stable of Armiger Class Knights. They also maintain the most diverse stable of knights as the scions of House Dietrich have long held a marshal tradition that began with the first Queen of Seraphim, one that mirrors the doctrine of the Cadian forces. Every Knight has a role, every Lance has a purpose, and when used together, every enemy will be destroyed. Battle Lances, Assault Lances, Shock Lances, Fortress Lances, Scout Lances, Destroyer Lances, and Siege Lances. Every Lance fulfills a role and covers the weakness of another Lance. House Dietrich is also one of two Major Houses that allow women to pilot Knights, though women are still not eligible to inherit a Lordship.

House Dietrich keeps a stable of around 100 Armiger Class Knights. Those who pilot these noble, if undersized, steed are split into two groups. The majority of them are raised Men at Arms and baseborn who have shown exceptional skill on the battlefield, a strong sense of duty, and loyalty to Seraphim. For these soldiers, attaining the rank of Squire is the height of achievement and while there are no laws against Knighting these warriors, none have ever undergone the Ritual of Becoming and allowed to pilot a Questoris or Dominus Class Knight. The rest, typically around 10-20 pilots, are the highborn children of House Dietrich and the Minor Houses sworn to House Dietrich.

62 Knight Warglaives

36 Knight Helverins

2 Knight Moirax's (Only to be used on hostile worlds, or worlds with an already high level of radiation.)

Questoris Knights are the most common Class of Knight walker within the Sanctuary of House Dietrich, and while the Monarchy is always trying to add more to their stables, battlefield attrition keeps the numbers from swelling. Currently House Dietrich has 194 Questoris Class Knights. 122 of them directly belonging to House Dietrich, the other 72 belonging to various Minor Houses and Freeblades that have sworn themselves and their steed to House Dietrich.

65 Knight Errants (Typically the first pattern to be piloted by the newly Knighted for its simplicity and sheer destructive power)

41 belong directly to House Dietrich

18 come from Minor Houses

6 are Freeblade Knights whose quests have been completed, but cannot go home.

57 Knight Paladins (The mainstay of the Battle Lance, piloted by experienced and proven Nobles)

34 belong directly to House Dietrich

22 come from Minor Houses

1 is a Freeblade Knight whose quest was completed long ago, but owes an honor debt to King Stefan and serves until it is satisfied

32 Knight Wardens (Crucial to the Assault Lance and the Fortress Lance. Piloted by veteran Knights who are as comfortable charging into the guns of an enemy fortress as they are defending an allied one)

18 belong directly to House Dietrich

12 come from Minor Houses

2 are Freeblade Knights who have completed their quests but cannot go home.

22 Knight Gallants (These suffer the most from attrition, but provide unquestionable might when placed into the Shock Lance. These Knights are piloted by only the most brash and glory hungry of Nobles)

15 belong directly to House Dietrich

3 come from Minor Houses

4 are Freeblade Knights, as Gallant pilots are so common amongst the ranks of the Freeblades.

16 Knight Crusaders (The devastating firepower these Knights bring to bare is matched only by the amount of maintenance the complex targeting systems require to function at peak efficiency. These walkers are piloted by reserved veterans, who have the skill and experience to best use the withering firepower, and the willingness to allow others the glory of melee combat)

12 belong directly to House Dietrich

4 come from Minor Houses

2 Knight Preceptors (The rarest of the Questoris Class Knights, these Knights are only piloted by the greatest of champions. The rarity and complexity of the Las Impulsor keeps the number of Preceptors low, particularly amongst Questor Imperialis Houses, but the quality of their pilots and the ferocity of their machine spirits ensure that very few are ever lost in battle)

Angelus Fortis is the only Preceptor directly belonging to House Dietrich, and was the personal steed of Markus Dietrich and was piloted by his sons for thousands of years. However, Angelus Fortis has refused every pilot for the past five hundred years, refuting the veteran Nobles, and outright killing the inexperienced pilots through violent brain hemorrhaging. None know why Angelus Fortis has become so picky, but some have whispered that the honor and faith of the Sons of House Dietrich have fallen off. These rumors persist to this day, and each King has strived to silence them by proving his House's honor and his personal faith.

Courageous Alacrity is the Knight Preceptor belonging to the Freeblade Sir Arturius, of a House long since dead from a world long since destroyed. He came to Seraphim from a devastated world, the only survivor of his House, and had pledged his service to the world of Seraphim and House Dietrich. He is the current Prefect of the Exalted Court and serves as the mentor to every Squire on Seraphim at least once before they undergo the Ritual of Becoming.

Dominus Class Knights are a rare treasure, and a boon to any Knight House, even the Monarchical House Dietrich cannot boast of having a plethora of the incredibly powerful war machines for the complexity of its myriad of weapons, the targeting systems required to control those weapons, and to maintain its dual plasma cores. Still, House Dietrich boasts a respectable stable of the behemoth war machines with 7. Often these towering lords of war are piloted by the most talented pilots who are also the most experienced commanders, serving as battlefield commanders and campaign generals, coordinating Knights and Men at Arms alike, forming Lances and Battalions, choosing when, where, and how the forces of Seraphim will engage the enemy.

3 Knight Castellans (Mobile fortresses with enough firepower to decimate an entire armored company and armor and ion shields strong enough to withstand the return fire while it does it. The Nobles piloting these are reserved and stoic, but when their ire is stoked, their wrath is incomparable)

All belong to House Dietrich

4 Knight Valiants (Tall and imposing, like their Castellan brethren, these Knights are more focused on frontline fighting, incinerating entire companies of infantry and crushing their armored support, shrugging off strikes that would have destroyed a Questoris Class Knight twice over)

All belong to House Dietrich

Notable Members of House Dietrich

Markus Dietrich (Dead)

A Freeblade Knight, the leader of the Four Freeblades that led the campaign to retake the world of Seraphim from the forces of Chaos and stop the ascension of a Demon Prince. King Markus never spoke of the final confrontation, not even to those of the Inquisition, only ever telling them that Seraphim was pure. Psykic delving proved him truthful, though some members of the Ordo Malleus suspected that he was hiding something. He was the crowned the first King of Seraphim the same day he married Captain Hana Logan of the Cadian 975th Mechanized Infantry.

Stefan Dietrich (Alive)

The current King of Seraphim and the Lord of House Dietrich. He ascended to the throne when his father, King Roran Dietrich, was torn from the Throne Mechanicum of Heavy is the Crown by an Ork Meganob while grappling with an enormous squiggoth upon the world of Oricham IV. Stefan now pilots a repaired Heavy is the Crown after being denied by the machine spirit of Angelus Fortis.

Greta Dietrich (Alive)

Princess Greta Dietrich is the eldest child of King Stefan and Queen Midori Dietrich nee Kurioshi. At 14 years old she has only just started Squiring and now pilots the Knight Armiger Warglaive, Hateful.

Walter Dietrich (Alive)

Crown Prince Walter Dietrich is the youngest child of King Stefan and Queen Midori Dietrich nee Kurioshi. At 7 years old, he has been trained in the ways of ruling and has extensive education in the Code Chivalric, but he is still just a child, and has not started blade work and has many years before he begins Squiring.

Karl Dietrich (Alive)

Petty Lord Karl Dietrich is the head of a minor branch of House Dietrich, and is the lord of a small mining community. While his Lordship is insignificant, his feats upon the field of battle are not. Piloting the Knight Errant, Death of Monsters, the Baron of the Badlands has claimed the heads of enormous Ork war beasts, Tyranid bio-titans, and giant mega-fauna of xenos worlds. The tusks and teeth of such creatures adorn his Knight's chassis and their skulls are prominently displayed on the walls and halls of his family's keep.

Amelia Dietrich (Alive)

Lady Amelia Dietrich nee Dupont is a former scion of the Northern Family and grew up in her family's small manor in the suburbs of Hive Dominion. She squired and underwent the Ritual of Becoming as a Dupont but was married off to Hans Dietrich, the aging Earl of the Western Prairie. She was allowed to attempt to bond with a Knight in the stables of her husband's fortress, but was unable to bond with any of the machines. However, when her husband died, and her ladyship for the fortress and its lands challenged, she attempted to bond with her late husband's Knight Castellan, Hammer of the Arbalest. Now riding the enormous mobile fortress, her ladyship is unchallenged as she rules the largest producer of grain and meat on Seraphim in her young son's stead. In battle she has proven as ferocious a combatant as she has a politician, leaving ruins of heretic armor wherever she treads.

Luk Hemmler (Alive)

Sir Luk Hemmler is a petty Knight whose House is sworn to the service of House Dietrich. His House rules a collection of townships within the forests bordering the western mountain range, and mostly provide timber, animal furs, and riflemen, but they also lay claim to three Knight Questoris, their House having been founded by three Freeblades whose quests have finished and were unable to return to their homes. Sir Luk himself pilots a Knight Paladin Blood of the Saints, and has fashioned a reputation for leadership, and was promoted by King Roran to the Knight Captain of the Angel's Fist, a company of ten Knights that form the vanguard force of any Crusades launched by the King or Master of Justice.

Markus Lehndorff

Markus Lehndorff is the illegitimate son of King Stefan Dietrich and Colonel Cecilia Lehndorff of the Mordian Iron Guard. Conceived before King Stefan's marriage to Lady Midori Kurioshi, but after King Roran Dietrich's death. Markus spent the first 14 years of his life with the Mordian 135th Armored Infantry, being raised by the officer corps of the regiment, learning tactics and starting training to become a sentinel pilot. When he was 15, however, the 135th was devastated by a splinter of Hive Fleet Leviathan, and was saved by the timely intervention of Knights from Seraphim. It was here that King Stefan learned he had a son, aside from Walter, and that Markus would learn he had a father. With the devastation of the 135th, the regiment was going to be absorbed into another Mordian regiment, and Cecilia chose to pass Markus off to his father. Initially scorned by the Nobility of Seraphim, and mistrusted by his stepmother, Markus was only allowed to Squire as a pilot of an Armiger thanks to the express command of his Father. His natural skill as a pilot and the sentinel tactics he learned with the Mordian Iron Guard quickly saw him earning the begrudging respect of his fellow Squires and even a few of the Knights he served, dubbing him the "Iron Bastard". Markus, being baseborn, shall serve as a Squire for the entirety of his service, never to earn the title Knight, but he acquits himself well astride the Armiger Warglaive, Cleaver.

Angellus Fortis

Angellus Fortis is not so much a member of House Dietrich, but it is the foundation upon which House Dietrich was built. An ancient Knight Preceptor, the chassis is older than the Imperium itself, and some Sacristans believe it might have been built upon Holy Terra during the Dark Age of Technology and sent out on ancient sleeper ships to settle the first Knight Worlds.

The ancient Knight Preceptor is equipped with a Relic Las Impulsor called Arch Angel's Grace. In its low strength firing mode, it fires a fusillade of red las bolts capable of slagging space marine power armor out to 300 meters. On high power, it fires a green laser beam that can core right through a Leman Russ and melt the armor of a Baneblade out to 200 meters. Both of those modes are standard to all Las Impulsors, but the relic Las Impulsor, Arch Angels Grace, has a third firing mode called Las Cutter, where it fires and holds a ten meter long blue beam that can slice through hordes of infantry, slice a tank in half, and even stab through the armor of a Titan. On its left arm, across from Arch Angel's Grace, is a Thunderstrike Gauntlet with taloned fingers. Interestingly, records from the Age of Apostasy describe the Thunderstrike Gauntlet as being more typical to the average gauntlet wielded by Knights, but the records must be mistaken for as long as House Dietrich has fielded Angelus Fortis a taloned gauntlet with a crackling, violet disruption field as opposed to the standard white and blue disruption field.

Angelus Fortis was the Royal Steed for thousands of years, striding into battle under the control of the King of Seraphim and laying waste to the foes of the Emperor, but after a disastrous campaign to crush the rebellion of Crassus II, where the Traitor Knights of House Herpetrax and their Word Bearer Traitor Astartes allies revealed themselves and nearly threw the Knights off world. In the final stand of the Loyalist Knights, King Duran attempted to save his knights by challenging the leading Renegade Knight, Gladius Daemonum. In the epic clash, the Knight Despoiler managed to pin Angelus Fortis's Thunderstrike Gauntlet to its side and rake the Preceptor's cockpit with its Diabolous Heavy Stubber, piercing the weakened armor shell and perforating the monarch on his Throne Mechanicum. In a rage, the ferocious machine spirit of Angelus Fortis threw the Traitor Knight from its grapple and dealt a grievous blow to Gladius Daemonum with its razor sharp talons. Though the Traitor Knight managed to flee the battlefield, its compatriots were not so lucky, as even without its pilot, Angelus Fortis's fury would not be quenched, and the walker claimed four more engine kills before it ran out of targets. Since that day, every Noble that has tried to bond with the Knight has failed. Experienced pilots are roughly rejected, suffering from migraines for months afterwards, while new, inexperienced Knights are sometimes killed outright through brain hemorrhages. At first, only those in direct line of succession for the Crown were allowed to try, but it has since been opened up to all pilots of Noble blood, yet, for the past 500 years, Angelus Fortis remains unmoved within House Dietrich's Sanctuary.

Being unable to waken Angelus Fortis has since put their right to rule as monarch under threat, as the original Knights of the other three of the Four Freeblades still walk Seraphim. Rumors persist that House Dietrich has lost its way, and each King since has worked hard to dispel the notion that they were weak and unworthy, now piloting the Knight Valiant Heavy is the Crown, and proving their worth upon the battlefield time and time again, though it is likely that only the politically savvy marriages, arranged by the Sisters of the Ordo Famulous, were able to keep the Crown firmly on the head of the eldest son of House Dietrich.

Heraldry

The Heraldy of House Dietrich is a split colored shield, showing their steadfast defense of the people of Seraphim and the Imperium, one half dark green to denote their house, the other half burnished gold to mark their loyalty to the Imperium of Man, with an angel wing on the green half, and a black half aquilla on the gold half. A sword, blade down, stands behind the shield, representing Dietrich's marshal courage, with lances of green, ivory, and gold crossing behind, tips pointing out and up, to denote their adherence to the Code Chivalric.

The colors of House Dietrich are dark green and ivory, matching the colors of Angelus Fortis who in turn had taken its colors from the Dark Angels Chapter of Astartes. Due to their status as Royalty, each Knight from the head family bears violet striping, denoting their kingly blood.

House Dupont

House Dupont is the wealthiest House on Seraphim, being the Lords of the world's only two Hive Cities. They also can call upon the most Men at Arms thanks to the populations of these two Hives, though they do allow other Houses to recruit soldiers from the enormous populations. With this wealth and power, on the surface it would seem surprising that this powerful family had not taken the Throne for themselves. Fortunately for the power balance of Seraphim, the scions of House Dupont are more interested in disagreeing with one another, splitting this enormously powerful House into the Northern Family of Hive Dominion, and the Southern Family of Hive Sanctum. While it might be assumed that the rivalry extends from their pride in their respective Hive Cities, the baseborn soldiers of the Men at Arms have noted that the Southern Family prefers Knight Crusaders with Thermal Cannons, and the Northern Family prefers Knight Crusaders with Rapid Fire Battle Cannons. Of course committing a rivalry over something so petty is beyond the Noble born scions of House Dupont, who claim there is no rivalry and it simply makes governing the two enormous Hives more efficient and that while they operate in good faith, the other Family has been cheating them on tariffs and insulting their honor. As long as they commit their forces to Crusades and the defense of Seraphim, the other Houses are more than willing to stay out of the internal politics of House Dupont.

It should be noted that while House Dupont is split between two Families, they are still under the rulership of a single Duke, elected by the Heads of each Family. For a Duke to be appointed from one Family, the other Family must agree, and the price for such agreement is usually significant, and often takes the form of trade concessions, the Oaths of Loyalty from certain Minor Houses, and almost always the advantage on marriage. When other Houses come seeking an alliance through marriage, the Family that gave up the Dukedom is always allowed to negotiate it, which is why, with the current Duke, Francois Dupont, being from the Northern Family, the Dowager Queen Joanna Dietrich nee Dupont, the wife of the late King Roran Dietrich, was from the Southern Family.

It is also significant that House Dupont is the only House that allows women to inherit and one of two to allow women to pilot Knights.

The ranks of Nobility for House Dupont are as follows

Duke (Head of the House, voted on by the two Marquess and Earls of both Families.)

Marquess (Head of one of the two Families, mayor of one of the two Hive Cities. In theory they are sworn directly to the current Duke.)

Earl (Local Lord, governs city quarters and suburbs, sworn directly to their respective Marquess.)

Count (Minor Lord, manages city sectors, ensures manufactorums meet quotas and that hab blocks produce soldiers and laborers. Sworn to their local Earl.)

Baron (Petty Lord, enforce the law and keep the peace in the streets of the Hive City. Sworn directly to their local Count.)

Knight (Given the honorific Sir, or Dame if they are a woman. Adult Knight pilot who has completed their Ritual of Becoming but has not yet inherited their mother or father's seat.)

House Dupont has the largest stable of Armiger Class Knights, thanks in large part to it ruling a Hive that manufactures them, and has the second highest stable of Dominus Class Knights. Its stable of Questoris Class Knights is significant, but trails behind House Ali for the second most. Fortunately for House Dupont, they also suffer the lowest rate of attrition when it comes to their Knights thanks to their battle doctrine of ranged firepower (and the sacrifice of thousands of Men at Arms). House Dupont has three Lances comprised solely of Knight Crusaders and when they are forced into close quarters fights likely to devolve into a melee, they prefer Knight Wardens to all others. Some Minor Houses do keep Knight Gallants, Errants, and Paladins, but the scions of Dupont generally turn their nose up to the limited options of the Errants and Paladins, and outright reject the simplistic brutality of the Gallant.

House Dupont tries to keep around 150 Armiger Class Knights in the stables. Just as with House Dietrich, Dupont splits the Armigers into two groups, young Noble Squires learning the ropes of piloting a Knight before undergoing their Ritual of Becoming, and experienced and proven veterans of the Men at Arms who provide the majority of the pilots for the versatile platform.

50 Warglaives, piloted exclusively by elevated Men at Arms, and used primarily to provide heavy close in fire support to screening infantry and escort longer ranged Knights through close quarter battlefields

100 Helverins, mixed between elevated Men at Arms and Noble Squires. Like the larger Knights of House Dupont, these are used to rain heavy firepower down upon the enemy from long range. They are also used to harass enemy convoys, hit heavy infantry and light armor from the flanks, and keep the target board clear of lighter targets so the bigger guns of the Crusaders can target harder and heavier enemies.

Knight Crusaders, as stated above, provide the bulk of the Questoris numbers, with Wardens a distant second, which is crucial to the Dupont combat doctrine and their core lances, the Devastator Lance, the Eradicator Lance, and the Punisher Lance. In total House Dupont keeps 124 Questoris Class Knights.

52 Knight Crusaders (These form the backbone of House Dupont's doctrine, bringing an Avenger Gatling Cannon and the pilot's choice of a Thermal Cannon or Rapid Fire Battle Cannon. Any Noble of decent standing pilots a Knight Crusader and leaves the cruder, and less sophisticated Knights to their lesser.)

27 belong to the Northern Family and are exclusively armed with Rapid Fire Battle Cannons on the right arm, and Avenger Gatling Cannons on the left.

25 belong to the Southern Family and are exclusively armed with Thermal Cannons on the right arm, and Avenger Gatling Cannons on the left.

1 Vigilia Honoris one of the original Four Freeblades and piloted by the Duke Francois Dupont of the Northern Family. It is armed with a Rapid Fire Battle Cannon on the right arm, and a Thermal Cannon on the left.

36 Knight Wardens (House Dupont's preference for close quarters combat. Piloted only by petty lords unable to gather the influence necessary to even try and bond with a Crusader, and the Nobles of Minor Houses scattered throughout the suburbs of the Hive Cities.)

13 belong to the Northern Family

15 belong to the Southern Family

8 belong to the Minor Houses

17 Knight Errants (If a member of the Southern Family is going to debase themselves by piloting one of the lesser Knights, they will do it in the more noble Knight Errant, which has the decency of having the powerful Thermal Cannon. The Nobles who pilot these are generally disgraced and not piloting them by choice, and as such, rush into battle attempting to earn their honor back. Knight Errants will head up assaults of Knight Wardens and Armiger Warglaives.)

10 belong to the Southern Family

5 belong to the Minor Houses

2 are Freeblade Knights sworn to House Dupont

15 Knight Paladins (To serve penance for a courtly infraction in the Northern Family, one must pilot a Paladin as mark of solemn shame, and cover Knight Wardens as they play the role of shock assault.)

10 belong to the Northern Family

4 belong to the Minor Houses

1 is a Freeblade who owes his allegiance to the Northern Family

3 Knight Gallants (Crude and debased, no one bearing the name Dupont may pilot a Knight Gallant and continue to bear the name. Begrudgingly, however, they are useful, and provide the tip of the spear when assaulting the walls of mighty enemy fortress and make excellent hunters of powerful enemy engines.)

2 belong to Minor Houses

1 is a Freeblade Knight sworn to the protection of the Duke Francois Dupont

1 Knight Preceptor (A strange respect is given to the pilots of these rare patterns despite their short ranged, melee focused nature. The Noble piloting these Knights mentor the Squires and show the heroism and bravery the Emperor requires of them, and it is likely the awe they felt as Squires carry on when they become Knights for these storied warriors.)

Noble Fury is piloted by the venerable Marquess Eléa Dupont, a forty three year old woman who brings honor to her family and her mother, who is the Countess of the Manufactorums of the Southern Family. The vicious war machine carries the devastating Las Impulsor and crackling Thunderstrike Gauntlet.

In accordance with Dupont's insistence on keeping their distance and laying waste to their enemies through devastating firepower, Castellans are the primary pattern of Dominus Class Knights within their Sanctuaries. Sometimes, however, one really needs to set their enemies ablaze and harpoon their heavy armor, and so Knight Valiants are found leading the charges of Wardens into tight quarter fights. All in all, House Dupont can lay claim to 18 Dominus Class Knights, a number even the Great Houses of Terryn, Hawkshroud, Taranis, or Raven would find respectable.

12 Knight Castellans (The ultimate paragon of House Dupont's might, only the Earls and Counts and their immediate family are even allowed to try and bond with these towering mobile fortresses. The firepower of these behemoths is used to blow holes in enemy fortresses and armored lines alike.)

6 belong to the Northern Family

6 belong to the Southern Family

6 Knight Valiants (Sometimes, one must get closer to the enemy, as distasteful as it is, and nothing ends this unpleasant experience as quickly as the powerful Valiant, charring hordes of infantry, smashing tanks, and clearing city centers in minutes where lesser Knights may take hours.)

3 belong to the Northern Family

3 belong to the Southern Family

Notable Knights

Audrey Dupont (Dead)

Audrey Dupont was one of the Four Freeblades that liberated Seraphim, piloting Vigilia Honoris, a unique Knight Crusader with both a Rapid Fire Battle Cannon and a Thermal Cannon. It was her guns that held the line at Hive Sanctum while the other routed the rebels within. It was also her guns that signaled the start of the siege of Hive Dominion, and her guns that finally broke through the walls. What earned her the Dutchy of the two Hives, however, was not her martial prowess, but her political savvy, as while Markus Dietrich astride Angelus Fortis was the figurehead that the people rallied around, and leader of the Knights, it was Audrey who held the disparate Loyalist forces together and coordinated them throughout the conflict. It was due to this responsibility that she was not present when Angelus Fortis entered the final confrontation with the rebel leadership.

Francois Dupont (Alive)

Duke Francois Dupont was born to a Baroness of some slums of Hive Dominion, but he had greater designs than his mother, and soon after her passing, had maneuvered his way into being the Viscount of Hive Dominion's Fourth District, and had the ear of the Marquess Marinette Dupont, the Head of the Northern Family. His talents upon the battlefield lay less in the piloting of his Knight, though he is as accurate with his Battle Cannon as any scion of the Northern Family is expected to be, but rather, his tactical acumen impressed upon his betters, coordinating fire from other Knights and the deployment of their Men at Arms with skill and a cool head. With an accomplished record on the battlefield and proven political savvy, when the previous Duchess died and the Dutchy was leaderless, the Marquess was quick to put her favored Viscount up for consideration. It was a close thing, and his competition from the woman who would go on to be the Queen was fierce, Francois won the votes he needed when he used connections with the gangs he had formed during his time as the Baron of a slum to murder a civil leader in Sanctum that was causing the Southern Family troubles. The man may not be a force to be reckoned with astride his Knight, but he has made himself a man to be feared and respected all the same.

Joanna Dietrich nee Dupont (Alive)

Francois's chief rival for the claim of Duke (or Duchess in her case), upon failing to collect the votes necessary, Joanna turned her attention outward. Young and beautiful and already familiar with the Crown Prince who remained unwed, Joanna pursued the younger Roran Dietrich, and succeeded in getting the royal son to ask the King to arrange their marriage. The nuptials not only secured her future place as Queen of Seraphim, but also secured the Southern Family's status as the premier half of House Dupont, regardless of who held the Dukedom. Joanna is a talented rider, more so than her distant cousin Francois, but lacked the talent for seeing the broader picture of the battlefield, her fierce Knight Castellan, Siege Breaker, plays into this inherent flaw, resulting in her failing to notice her husband's death at the hands of an Ork Mekka Nob for she was too busy scrapping shokkjump draggstas simply because they were in her sights rather than any sort of strategic reason. Her Knight still bears the colors of House Dietrich, but King Stefan, her son, removed her from the Royal Lance. She now serves with her former House, hoping to one day get back in her son's good graces.

Mathéo Dupont (Alive)

The second child of the Earl of the Space Port, Mathéo Dupont was destined to a mundane life and mediocre legacy of serving his elder sister, but when Ork Freebooters set up a base in the asteroid belt of the system and started raiding outgoing trade ships and attacking SDF ships, the newly Knighted Sir Mathéo led an attack with a Lance of Knights from different Houses and a company of stormtroopers from House Dietrich. The Knights landed on the asteroid base of the Orks and quickly set into the greenskins on the planetoid's surface, decimating the Freebooters, and opening the base for the stormtroopers. Sir Mathéo then proposed and planned an ambush for the Ork ships still flying in system, and laid waste to the scrap vessels that returned to drop off loot. Following his success in defending the system, Sir Mathéo was promoted to the leader of Hive Sanctum's defenses, and after a decade of service in this role, granted a Seat in the Exalted Court by King Roran Dietrich as the Gatekeeper.

Rhea Dupont (Alive)

Dame Rhea Dupont was rejected by every Questoris Class Knight the Northern Family had when she had completed her Ritual of Becoming, and it seemed it was her destiny to simply be married off to House Kurioshi. However, in her effort to avoid an ignominious fate as the wife of some minor Shogun, she attempted to bond with a Dominus Class Knight, and was rewarded with the acceptance of the ferocious Knight Valiant, Merciful Doom. She has further honored herself and her House with exceptional zeal on the battlefield, blasting hymns and prayers to the Emperor from her vox speakers as she incinerates the enemies of Man. Her unconquerable faith and ability to bolster her allies with her fervor inspired King Stefan Dietrich to offer her the Seat of the Herald in the Exalted Court.

Vigilia Honoris

Vigilia Honoris is an old Knight Crusader and one of the chassis that made up the Four Freeblades that liberated Seraphim from the Chaos Cultists. The Knight is the youngest of the Four Freeblades, having been constructed in the 33rd millennium on the Forge World of Metalica and still bears some of the markings of House Raven upon its chassis.

It is a unique Knight Crusader in that it does not have the typical Avenger Gatling Cannon on the left arm that most others do, instead sporting both the Battle Cannon and the Thermal Cannon. It complements this heavy arsenal with a Stormspear Rocket Pod, though some Dukes have been known to switch this out with another carapace weapon from time to time, and two heavy bolters mounted to the shoulder gimbles, as opposed to the typical single heavy stubber and ecranche.

Vigilia Honoris, while being younger than the other three of the Four Freeblades, is still an ancient machine, older than most Dreadnaughts of even the most storied Chapters of Space Marines. As such, it has a very strong machine spirit, one that has influenced the members of House Dupont significantly, for there is nothing the ancient war machine finds more distasteful than close combat. This influence has spread to the Nobles of House Dupont, and the ire of the walking artillery platform is stoked whenever it comes across one of its scions wielding Reaper Chainswords and Thunderstrike Gauntlets. Despite its distaste for the brutality of melee combat, this ancient war machine despises the Orks more than any other foe, finding their crude scrap walkers and junk vehicles offensive to its sensorium, driving its pilot to unleash Vigilia Honoris's wrath in full upon the greenskin vehicles.

Vigilia Honoris has been the steed of the Duke or Duchess since the founding of the Duchy when the Ecclisiarchy bestowed the world upon the Four Freeblades, and still serves in this role today. However, in the private records of the Duke, kept by each Duke and Duchess before Francois, and now kept by the man himself, it is noted that the machine spirit is slowly becoming more difficult to rouse, and more bellicose in its mood, only rising quickly for the promise of killing Orks or traitors, and becoming upset and slothful when facing Aeldari or Tyranids. It is unknown exactly why the spirit of Vigilia Honoris has become this way, but it is interesting to note that the problem was first noticed only a few decades after Angelus Fortis slipped into its dormancy.

Heraldry

House Dupont's crest is that of a great silver bridge spanning a field of blue that end in a tower on each side. On the right side, lances thrust outward, portraying the Northern Family, on the left side, halberds are arrayed, to symbolize the Southern Family. Above the silver bridge is the Golden Aquilla of the Imperium of Man, and in the double headed eagle's talons is a halberd in the right talon, and a lance in the left.

The colors of House Dupont are royal blue and silver, using gold to denote their allegiance to the Imperium as a member of the Questoris Imperialis. The blue denotes oath they took to House Dietrich and silver, their intention to honor that oath. Members of House Dupont that serve upon the Exalted Court may run violet stripes across one of their shoulder paldrons to denote their elevated status, and the Duke may choose to paint a lance or a halberd upon their carapace for either the Northern Household, or the Southern Household respectively.

House Kurioshi

House Kurioshi is the least wealthy of the Major Houses, though they are by no means poor. Their island continent is not particularly mineral rich, and has little in the way of fertile farmland, covered in forests, swamps, and mountains as it is, but the art produced by the Daimyo and the peasantry is sought throughout the sector. Several statues of the Primarchs within the Convent of the Order of Our Martyred Lady were sculpted by the scions of House Kurioshi and the vaulted ceilings of House Dietrich's Sanctuary is covered in mural of the God Emperor, resplendent in His golden armor, standing before the kneeling forms of the Four Freeblades which was painted by the eldest daughter of the third Shogun of House Kurioshi. Indeed, the daughters of House Kurioshi are highly sought after as wives by many Noble Lords of the other three Major Houses for their beauty, grace, and artistic talents, and it is through marriage that these women serve their House, helping secure more material goods from the wealthier Houses. To that end, the current Queen of Seraphim is the second daughter of Shogun Hideki Kurioshi, and has brought great wealth and honor to the island continent, supplying them with first choice of the freshly made virgin Knight engines.

The daughters of House Kurioshi are not eligible to inherit their father's lands and titles, nor seek glory in combat astride the great Knights of their House. Instead they bring strength to their family through marriage, artistic skill, and if neither of those are an option, then joining the Order of Our Martyred Lady as Novitiates.

House Kurioshi has no Minor Houses sworn to them, and are the only Nobles on their island continent.

Their Sanctuary castle sets its foundation upon a swath of exposed Blackstone. Any attempt to mine the mysterious mineral has been heavily advised against by the local Mechanicum.

The ranks of Nobility for House Kurioshi are as follows

Shogun (Head of the House, the leader of House Kurioshi and ruler of the island continent.)

Daimyo (Lord, landowner and rulers of provinces and groups of villages or cities. Sworn directly to the Shogun.)

Samurai (Landed Knights, rulers of villages, farmsteads, small tracts of lands, sworn directly to the local Daimyo, or the Shogun himself.)

While House Kurioshi may have the smallest stable of Knights, their engines are highly sought after by all in the sector for skirmishes, campaigns, and crusades. Each Knight of House Kurioshi is a warrior with few peers, excelling in long range combat with Battle Cannons, Avenger Gatling Cannons, and Thermal Cannons, and lightning fast and deadly in close combat with their vicious Reaper Chainswords. No Knight of this House carries a Thunderstrike Gauntlet, finding them crude and inelegant, instead preferring the roaring teeth of their ferocious Chainswords. The standard strategy of House Kurioshi is rapid offensives, followed by consolidation of their forces, and seeking out enemy leadership to crush them underfoot. This reputation Kurioshi Knights have built of lancing ahead of friendly forces and breaking enemy lines and assassinating enemy leadership has made them highly sought after by Imperial Guard generals for campaigns that must be ended swiftly, by Canonesses who desire to destroy a heretic cult leader with heavy armor, and space marine captains facing super heavy enemy engines. While other Houses certainly second their Knights to the Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, and even Space Marine Chapters, House Kurioshi almost entirely seconds their Knights, and very rarely ever field armies of their own.

House Kurioshi keeps a small stable of Armiger Class Knights, only 35, using them very rarely and only for Noble born Squires as they do not raise any Men at Arms to become Armiger pilots. Primarily Squires of Kurioshi operate alone alongside a Questoris Class Knight, learning how to conduct one's self on the battlefield with courage and honor, receiving lessons in the way to best strike at different enemies with their Reaper Chain Cleavers and how to prioritize ranged targets for their Thermal Spears and carapace mounted Heavy Stubbers.

35 Armiger Warglaives (The only pattern of Armiger Knights used by House Kurioshi, these Squires are there to learn how to wield their war machines and the expectations that will be heaped upon them once they have been Knighted.)

Questoris Knights, like every other House, make up the mainstay of House Kurioshi's might, but once again they keep fewer than the other three Major Houses with 56, but that number is up from recent years thanks to the union between King Stefan Dietrich and Queen Midori Dietrich nee Kurioshi allowing the subordinate House first pick of virgin Knight engines acquired from allied forge worlds. With a focus on hammering the enemy from range and charging to deliver punishing melee, every Questoris Knight of House Kurioshi is armed with a Reaper Chainsword and one of three ranged options, depending on preferred engagement types. The nomenclature of these walkers also differs from the other Houses.

21 Knight Samurai (Armed with the Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, the Samurai is the most numerous of House Kurioshi's Questoris stable, and fills a versatile role, able to pound away with anti-tank ordinance or scythe through infantry with Heavy Stubbers)

19 Knight Ronin (Blasting away with searing flashes of nuclear fission from its Thermal Cannon, the Ronin represents the 'monster slayers' of House Kurioshi. The Samurai and Daimyo who pilot these machines seek out the largest war machines of the enemy and reduce them to slag or char their bodies to blackened ash, and if the nuclear heat of the Thermal Cannon isn't enough, they take great pleasure in carving them up with the whirling teeth of their Reaper Chainswords.)

15 Knight Shinobi (Perfect for chewing up entire battalions of infantry and light armor, the Avenger Gatling Cannon will spew forth 30 mm mass reactive shells at a variable rate from 600 rounds per minute up to 3,900 rounds per minute. These enormous bolter shells will eviscerate even fully armored space marines and punch through the armor of transports and light tanks, and those left alive will face the thundering footsteps and roaring chainsword of the aggressive and spiteful Noble who pilots the Shinobi.)

1 Knight Oni (Sollemnem Mortem is piloted by the Shogun of House Kurioshi, and is one of the Four Freeblades to free Seraphim. It also happens to be the only Questoris Knight to not be equipped with a Reaper Chainsword, instead sporting a Hekaton Siege Claw on its left arm and a Volkite Chieorovile on its right arm, and a Graviton Crusher under its left shoulder.)

Despite its apparent lack of great wealth, Kurioshi does still field a small number of Dominus Class Knights. They are of great expense to upkeep for the smallest of the Major Houses, but the firepower they can provide in support of their smaller brethren is worth the expense. The 5 Knight Sensei kept by House Kurioshi are invaluable and piloted only by Daimyo and Samurai who have proven their mettle through a decade of battle.

5 Knight Sensei (The towering Dominus Class Knight is not well suited to the blitzing attacks of the Kurioshi Knights, but it is uniquely well suited to mixing long range support and bringing a hammer down when the smaller Knights get stalled. The Volcano Lance on the left arm brings long range destruction, and the Thundershock Harpoon on the right arm is the close range hammer. Only those nobles who have mastered combat and survived a decade in the field are even allowed to try and bond with these bellicose and belligerent war machines.)

Notable Knights

Haruki Kurioshi (Dead)

Haruki Kurioshi piloted Sollemnem Mortem during the liberation of Seraphim, and was one of the Four Freeblades who founded the Knight World afterwards. Haruki spent much of the war to free Seraphim from the Chaos Cult fighting without much support, ranging out with small contingents of Imperial Guard or completely alone. It was his ranging into the deserts of the southern continent that paved the way for Angelus Fortis and Iram Imperatoris to smash heretic strongholds, and his assault deep into Hive Dominion set the stage for Vigilia Honoris to pound cultist armor without fear of the enemy maneuvering around her to strike from her flanks. And once again, Haruki led the way for Imperial forces to liberate the island continent his House now rules. After Angelus Fortis returned from the stronghold on the lake, having finally cut the head from the rebel leadership, Haruki founded House Kurioshi when he married an priestess of the God Emperor, setting the foundation for the deep piety found in his descendants.

Akio Kurioshi (Alive)

Shogun Akio Kurioshi is the head of House Kurioshi. His keen mind has earned his House much fortune, choosing campaigns for his Samurai well, earning renown through the sector, and cultivating allies and contacts in the Astra Militarum and Adeptus Astartes. More than that, he was also the political mind behind getting his daughter, Midori, engaged and married to then Crown Prince Stefan Dietrich, and managing to get his distant cousin, Daimyo Hanzo Kurioshi, on the Exalted Court as Master of Justice. These two moves have allowed the Shogun more freedom in choosing campaigns for his Samurai, afforded him more profit from those campaigns, and strengthened the admittedly weaker military might of his House. Aside from all of his political gamesmanship, he is still the rider of Sollemnem Mortem and has lived up to the honor and warrior prowess demanded of the Shogun of House Kurioshi.

Daiki Kurioshi (Alive)

Samurai Daiki Kurioshi is the petty lord of a small swamp village, given that area to protect and rule, and also allowed to recruit Rough Riders for his own personal retinue of Men at Arms, however rarely is he striding through the marshes. Instead, he and his Knight Shinobi, Honor Extremis, pound the dirt of distant planets, pursuing and slaughtering the enemies of the Emperor. He is particularly renowned for the defeat of WAAAGH! Snazz Stabba and Boss Snazz Stabba, who Daiki eviscerated with his Reaper Chainsword right through the armor plating of Snazz Stabba's Gorkanaut.

Kenji Kurioshi (Alive)

Samurai Kenji Kurioshi holds no lands of his own, and won't until his father passes his lands on to him, but that has not stopped the aggressive young Samurai from pursuing glory. Taking his father's Rough Riders, Kenji rode out onto an agri-world three sectors away and confronted Drukhari raiders astride his Knight Ronin, Holy Wrath. His impudence and arrogance saw each of his father's Rough Riders fall to the blades and whips of the Wych Cults, and nearly saw Holy Wrath destroyed as well, but the machine spirits of the Knights of House Kurioshi are seasoned with centuries of combat experience, and Kenji, armed with the knowledge of his ancestors, was able to turn the tables on the piratical raiders, and scoured the wyches from the world with his steed's mighty Thermal Cannon. Since his dishonor in allowing the death of so many of his allies, including the Men at Arms of his father, Kenji has been on a penitent campaign, serving alongside the brutal Kanak Skull Takers 78th Infantry.

Hanzo Kurioshi

Daimyo Hanzo Kurioshi is the only member of House Kurioshi to wear a purple sash over his armor and to bear a violet stripe over his Knight's carapace, thanks to his Seat upon the Exalted Court. Hanzo was first selected as Master of Justice by King Roran Dietrich, but was mostly placed there thanks to the machinations of his Shogun Akio Kurioshi. Recently, however, the Shogun has found his ear on the Exalted Court to be deaf to him, as the young King Stefan has earned the respect and love of the older Daimyo. As Master of Justice, Hanzo has launched a total of three crusades over his career. Leading the Knightly forces of Seraphim against the daemon engines, cultists, and traitor Astartes of the Chosen of Iron, hunting down a splinter fleet of Leviathan that threatened Seraphim, and meeting WAAGH! Snagga Dakka on Oricham IV and crushing the orks before they could drown the Sector in a sea of green, though not without great cost, as King Roran Dietrich, arriving to reinforce the crusade with a contingent of Knights, lost his life to an ork Meganob.

Sollemnum Mortem

A Knight Styrix, renamed by its pilot as a Knight Oni, forged on the Forge World of Ryza during the Horus Heresy. Upon its chassis, the esoteric and strange markings of a House Sidus can be found, though any efforts to find information on this House are futile, as though they don't exist.

Each Shogun of House Kurioshi is bombarded with images and recollections of the terrible wars of Titan Death, fighting between the towering forms of Titan Maniples, engaging Iconoclast Knights, smashing Traitor Astartes, and even the final shot to fell the enormous form of God Machines. Titan Death takes its toll on the pilot, but provides inherent experience and the knowledge of how to engage enemies of all sizes, from infantry to titans.

Its Volkite Chieorovile fires streams of plasma capable of slagging the adamantium armor of a Leman Russ or a renegade Knight, or vaporizing swaths of infantry under its nova bright beams. Across from the devastating Chieorovile, the three claws of the Hekaton Siege Claw spin and snap, capable of shearing through a baneblade's armor or tearing through the knee of a Titan, and when faced with hordes of heretics or xenos abominations, the inbuilt heavy flamer that replaced the standard rad cleanser will bathe their unending ranks in burning promethium. Added to the significant firepower of the Volkite Chieorovile and the destructive power of the Hekaton Siege Claw, a Graviton Crusher sits mounted on the gimble beneath its left shoulder, crushing heavily armored infantry and light armor under their own weight.

Sollemnum Mortem has been the steed of Kurioshi's Shogun since Haruki first founded the House. It's lust for battle and desire to see the enemy driven before it has spread into the scions of the House, driving them to seek out their foes alone, fighting as wandering warriors and killing as many enemies as possible. In recent centuries, however, the personal records of the Shogun have reported a decrease in Sollemnum Mortem's lust for battle. It still rouses easily, but the machine spirit of the ancient walker simply performs its duty, and quickly and easily returns to slumber once the battle has been won. Privately, Shogun Akio believes this to have been caused by the continued slumber of Angelus Fortis, as though the machine spirit of Sollemnum Mortem misses its ancient companion.

Heraldry

The Coat of Arms of House Kurioshi is a large, bronze flowering cherry blossom tree emerging from a black stone foundation, a golden double headed eagle perched atop the highest branches, wings spread to cover the bronze petals. Around the black stone foundation, curved single edged swords point up and away, sharp edge facing out. The black stone foundation represents their Sanctuary, which stands upon a seemingly natural deposit of the rare and mysterious material. The flowering cherry blossom shows House Kurioshi's ability to thrive even on hostile soil. The aquilla above shows how they survive under the Emperor's beneficence, and the katanas surrounding the foundation are representative of their warrior prowess.

The colors of House Kurioshi are black; denoting stoicism, bronze; symbolizing their courage, and like all the Houses of Seraphim, gold; for their loyalty to the Emperor. Nobles seated upon the Exalted Court may place a violet marking upon a shoulder pauldron of their choosing, displaying their elevated status and royal connections.

House Ali

Spread out over the vast desert of the southern continent, House Ali rules over a people that are mostly split between different desert dwelling tribes. There are small cities in the southern mountains and the eastern coasts, and larger cities that straddle the mighty river that finds its source at the Sanctuary Oasis of House Ali, but these simply pass the wealth sifted from the sands to the Hive Cities. It is for this reason that House Ali is content to allow the Minor Houses sworn to them to rule over the more civilized settlements, and choose for themselves to range out from their fortresses kept in the sporadic oasis's of the desert and keep the peace between the desert tribes that run the enormous sand crawlers that sift the sand for the minerals that constitute the ceramic portions of ceramite. All too frequently a Knight of House Ali is required to intervene in the conflicts between the tribes as one sand crawler makes a minor border infraction of one of their rival tribes, leading to war in the dunes. Many young Squires cut their teeth in quelling the border disputes, and the sons of House Ali not fortunate enough to become Knight pilots, may augment the peacekeeping Knight walkers in Leman Russ Tanks and Chimeras. Indeed the officer corps of House Ali's Men at Arms are all nobleborn or baseborn sons of the Sheikhs of House Ali or the Lords of the Minor Houses who were born third, or born to a family not able to supply itself with enough Knights.

The women of House Ali do not inherit their father's titles, nor are they allowed to become Squires or Knights.

The ranks of Nobility for the members of House Ali are as follows

Emir (The Head of the House)

Sheikh (High Lords, major land holders and sworn only to the Emir)

Effendi (Minor Lords, governors of land owned by Sheikhs and sworn to the Sheikh they serve.)

Mujahideen (Unlanded Knights, sworn to Effendi, Sheikhs, or the Emir, and sons of Nobles, having not yet inherited their father's title and lands.)

House Ali form the mailed fist of Seraphim's military might. Any foe that House Dietrich cannot out maneuver, any fortress that House Dupont cannot crack with their cannons, any army that blunts the sharp advances of House Kurioshi, House Ali will smash apart with a thundering charge of dozens of Knight Gallants. Thunderstrike Gauntlets and Reaper Chainswords combined with the enormous momentum of dozens of war machines has proven enough to shatter the will of ork WAAAGH!s, heretic armies, Eldar raiders, and tyranid swarms. The Knights of House Ali wade through the smaller troops, absorbing small arms fire with thick adamantium armor and deflecting lascannons and rockets with well placed ion shields, all the while making broad scything sweeps with the churning teeth of their chainblades that chew through the smaller foes with contemptuous ease, all while pounding feet push them towards the largest and strongest of the enemy, where the crackling energetic disruption field of their Thunderstrike Gauntlets explode against adamantium, wraithbone, and chitin, laying low even the greatest of foes. Most Knights of House Ali are unashamed gloryhounds, seeking out the strongest and largest foes on the battlefield, seeking to take trophies of enemy walkers, wraith constructs, and bio-titans. The walls of House Ali's Sanctuary Oasis are decorated with the heads of ork war engines, tyranid bio-titans, Aeldari wraith constructs, and even a Ta'unar Supremacy Armor. The daemon engines of Chaos and traitors are destroyed, and while the glory is recorded, no trophies are taken of the tainted machines. Renegade and Iconoclast traitor Knights have their ecranche harvested for trophies, for anything else runs the risk of corruption within the Sancutary Oasis, the shields are then hung in the inner courtyard and used for target practice by menial laborers who wish to test their skill at throwing rotting vegetables and sewer waste.

Armiger Class Knights under House Ali suffer an attrition rate that is not commensurate with the other Major Houses, thanks in large part to the way they are utilized. Helverins race alongside the larger Questoris Class Knights and provide the ranged anti infantry support that the Gallants of House Ali do not have, while Warglaives charge ahead of the thundering wall, delivering the first blow upon the enemy and breaking cohesion of the line, allowing the larger Questoris Knights to pound through and annihilate the enemy. Because of the dangerous roles the Armigers play, House Ali likes to keep a large force of 100 total Armiger Class Knights.

35 Warglaives (Piloted exclusively by Noble born Squires. The aim of this platform is to give the budding warrior the experience in close quarters fighting that will be expected of them after the Ritual of Becoming.)

65 Helverins (Piloted exclusively by raised up Men at Arms. This pattern is pressed into unusual service as a close in fire support platform as opposed to long range harassment like it was designed, but the experienced men wearing the Helm Mechanicum find the role fitting as they stomp through the eviscerated victims of their deadly autocannons.)

At 126 Questoris Class Knights, House Ali has the second largest stable of Questoris Knights on Seraphim, edging out House Dupont by only two. Unlike House Dupont's Knights, however, House Ali does not bombard their enemies from afar, playing it safely and allowing their Men at Arms to take the risk of close in fighting. Indeed, the stables of House Ali does not contain a single Knight Crusader in the white and brass of their colors. Instead, House Ali charges the enemy, smashing them apart in close in combat. If they are required to take ranged weapons, the Knights of House Ali prefer carapace missile and rocket launchers, or the short ranged Thermal Cannon or the spinning Avenger Gatling Cannon.

68 Knight Gallants (These are the mainstay of House Ali. Typically the first and only Knight any Knighted scion of the House pilots. Thunderous charges and blitzing pincer attacks are both well served by the pattern's greater speed and crushing melee weapons, but these Gallants require the aid of armored companies and artillery batteries to put the enemy into a position for the powerful war machines to do their work.)

60 belong to House Ali

5 belong to Minor Houses

3 are Freeblades, sworn to the Emir once they completed their quest

26 Knight Errants (Considered second best by the sons of House Ali, the powerful Thermal Cannons offer more options in combat while still affording them the chance to get in close and do what Mujihadeen do best, carve up their opponents with Reaper Chainswords, or crush them with Thunderstrike Gauntlets.)

20 belong to House Ali

4 belong to Minor Houses

2 are Freeblades, swearing allegiance to House Ali upon completion of their quest

20 Knight Wardens (Used primarily to protect the flanks of advancing charges and to provide close in anti-infantry fire support to columns of Leman Russ battle tanks and batteries of basilisks. Only a Noble with no need for his own glory, or whose glory days are past him, would willingly pilot such a Knight. Still, there is great respect within House Ali for these patterns, many battles that hung on the edge of a knife were saved by the timely intervention of a Warden from the backlines, more still were decided by the heroic defense of artillery and tanks against enemy advances.)

17 belong to House Ali

3 belong to Minor Houses

8 Knight Paladins (Only a couple of these Knights exist within House Ali's ranks, and unlike those who pilot Knight Wardens, the Nobles who ride these machines are not well respected, for the Rapid Fire Battle Cannon is seen as a coward's weapon, best suited for those not able, or not willing, to fight the way a Knight ought to. Sons of a poor family, or of a scorned family, may come to find that these patterns are the only ones available to them, and must work hard to overcome the scorn directed at them by their more fortunate kin.)

3 belong to House Ali

5 belong to Minor Houses

1 Knight Crusader (Considered a necessary evil when allied with Houses that do use them, no son of House Ali would ever deign to ride one themselves, but every generation there seems to be one woman from House Dietrich or Dupont that married into House Ali and brought their Knight Crusader with them. While it goes against the traditions of House Ali, a doting or particularly spineless husband will sometimes allow their wife to continue piloting their Knight, provided that they do not partake in the glory of close combat.)

1 belongs to the wife of a Sheikh. Spoils of War was formerly a Knight of House Dietrich, but was brought over when Dame Grishold Dietrich married Sir Nadeem Ali when he was still a Mujahideen. Her inclusion in campaigns is a touchy subject amongst the Sheikhs of House Ali, but none can deny her firepower has swayed battles before the Gallants could even strike the front lines.

1 Knight Preceptor (This Knight, while not as honorable as the Knight Gallant, is one of the noblest patterns a member of House Ali could hope to pilot. As is typical with these machines, mentors and heroes ride the Preceptor into battle, inspiring Squires with their heroics and teaching them the tactics of their House and the weaknesses of their enemies.)

Fist of the Righteous is currently piloted by the eighty year old Junaid Ali, a Mujahideen who was born the second son of a minor Sheikh. He has piloted the Preceptor since he turned forty, forfeiting his Gallant to his brother's son and bonding with the only Preceptor owned by House Ali.

House Ali does not keep any Dominus Class Knights as their slow pace does not synergize well with the rapid maneuvers and blitzing charges. Any long range fire support they may provide House Ali considers ancillary to their massive armored companies and endless batteries of artillery.

Notable Knights

Haris Ali (Dead)

Haris Ali was one of the Four Freeblades and the pilot of Pugnator Imperator. Haris was the fiery spirit of the Four Freeblades, and where Markus Dietrich would lead, Audrey Dupont would organize, and Haruki Kurioshi would scout, range, and harass, Haris Ali was the first one to strike the front lines, the two enormous relic power scimitars of Pugnator Imperator reaping infantry and scything through tanks. There was no battle he did not throw himself into with abandon, and often he and the fiery machine spirit of his specialized Knight Gallant would have to be reigned in by Markus Dietrich and Angelus Fortis. Over the course of the campaign to take back Seraphim from the Traitor Knights, Haris claimed the head like sensoriums of twelve Knights himself, establishing the glory seeking and trophy taking traditions of his House. Unfortunately, this lack of discipline continued after Seraphim was retaken, and his many sons from many different women went to war to try and claim the title of Emir, a conflict singlehandedly put to rest by Angelus Fortis.

Zahid Ali (Alive)

Zahid Ali recently inherited the title of Emir from his father when the death of King Roran Dietrich was broadcast and the pain and sorrow of losing the king struck Pugnator Imperator, causing a heart attack within the sixty seven year old man. The heart attack did not kill Zahid's father, but it did render him unable to pilot the ancient Knight Gallant. In the intervening years between his father's sidelining and his father's death, Zahid bonded with Pugnator Imperator and cut a swathe through the enemies of the Emperor. On the paradise world of Babel III, he took on three Aeldari Wraithknights of Craftworld Biel Tan who mistakenly believed the world to belong to the xenos. The xenos walkers were swift, and lived up their wraithlike moniker, but the spirits within the soulstones and the xenos pilots combined had only lived half as long as the ancient Pugnator Imperator, and combined with the natural talent Zahid himself had as a Knight pilot, and the constructs stood no chance. The gargantuan power scimitars sliced through wraithbone, and so masterful were his sword strokes, that both the xenos pilots, and the soulstones powering the constructs, were left intact, allowed to return to the Craftworld with the message that Babel III belonged to Mankind, as did the rest of the galaxy.

Danish Ali (Alive)

A prominent Sheikh of the central desert, claiming lordship over a dozen small tribes, though he rarely spends any time actually ruling, as his wife, a former tribeswoman herself, handles the matters of diplomacy between the desert dwellers, but when diplomacy and talk cannot win the day, the crushing grip of Dune Devil's Thunderstrike Gauntlet will settle any and all matters. Such diplomacy was enacted in a campaign against remnant Tyranids on a jungle world. Normally, the mopping up of Tyranid remnants is not the duty of Knights, but a hierophant was among the survivors, and the Catachan Jungle Fighters fighting the xenos did not have any heavy armor, but a contingent of Seraphim Knights, Danish Ali among them, was only one system away. After a week of hunting through dense foliage, Dune Devil finally managed to corner the monstrous insect like xeno, where they began their clash in earnest. The adamantium teeth of the Reaper Chainsword, normally so adept at chewing through chiton, were blunted by the abnormally tough armor, and the crackling energy of the Thunderstrike Gauntlet, normally able to punch through the thickest of barriers, merely reflected off the sloped and segmented plates. Suffering grievous wounds at the scything talons of the enormous creature, Danish, in a last ditch attempt, surged forward and wrapped the mechanical fingers of his Thunderstrike Gauntlet around its throat and squeezed. The hierophant thrashed, striking against the adamantium armor and steel chassis, but it was unable to break the grip, and with an almighty heave, Dune Devil tore off the monstrous xeno's head, and filled the gaping wound that used to be a neck with lead from his gimble mounted heavy stubber, shredding the secondary brain.

Junaid Ali (Alive)

A Sheikh of many years, Junaid has long since given up the glory and honor of piloting the most noble of Knights, the Gallant, and taken up the rightful place as an elder and protector of those who still have the energy and hunger for such fighting, and now rides the stoic Knight Warden, Sanctuary, in the backlines with the basilisks and on the flanks with the Leman Russ Battle Tanks. This pseudo retirement to the backlines should not be reason to underestimate this man, as the Kytan Ravager, The Baleful Blade, discovered when the accursed daemon engine sought to claim blood for its blood god and skulls for the skull throne among the relatively vulnerable battery of basilisks. It had only just revealed itself when Sanctuary was upon it, destroying the Hades Gatling cannon with a swipe from his Reaper Chainsword and kneecapping it with a burst from his Avenger Gatling Cannon, Junaid Ali finished it off with a stomp to its head, flattening the corrupted metal and banishing the daemon back to the warp. Many in the Knightly Lance didn't believe the report from the artillery line at first, that an aging knight and his Warden were so quick to annihilate as dangerous enemy as a Kytan Ravager, but the ruined metal corpse spoke for itself.

Faisal Ali (Alive)

Currently serving as Monarchsward to King Stefan Dietrich, and King Roran Dietrich before him, Faisal has had a venerable and honorable career, though his failure to protect one of his closest friends in King Roran burns at him to this day. He had been battling a gargantuan ork stompa, trading blows between his Knight Gallant, On the Path to Glory, and the enormous machine, when the meganob leapt from the gargantuan squiggoth's back and tore into the cockpit of Heavy is the Crown. So angered by the loss, Sir Faisal caved in the stompa's troop bay with a single mighty blow from On the Path to Glory's Thunderstrike Gauntlet, toppling the enormous monstrosity, and then disemboweled the gigantic animal with a sweep from his mighty Reaper Chainsword. Enraged, Faisal would claim two more squiggoths and a Morkanaut before his rampage ended and the greenskins turn and fled. He now takes his duty as Monarchsward more serious than ever, never allowing King Stefan to take the field without him, even when hunting the therapods outside of House Dietrich's Sanctuary Island.

Pugnator Imperator

A Knight Gallant, older than the Imperium itself, constructed on a world sometime during the Age of Strife to help defend the hapless people from the predations of Eldar raiders, whether they came to take their crops and burn the fields, or steal their people and slowly peel their skin off in the torture chambers of their void ships. To counter the swiftness of the xenos machine walkers, Pugnator Imperator was constructed with elongated arms ending in two large, curved, brass inlaid scimitars that act as attenuators for powerful disruption fields, allowing them to slice through nearly anything. The ancient Gallant has nearly twelve thousand years of experience loaded into its esoteric Throne Mechanicum, allowing even novice pilots to wield the arcane weapons with expertise, and veteran Nobles to swing the power scimitars like a vicious tempest, scything through any enemy foolish enough to try and face this machine head on.

Pugnator Imperator brings with it and imprints upon its new rider an inborn hatred of the eldar, craftworld or dark, for its history is rife with conflicts against both. The world it was constructed upon was already beset by warp spawned abominations when it's reactor first ignited, but the other Knights had already purged the psykers of the world and the daemons were receding, that was when the xenos of Craftworld Biel-Tan set upon the world. At first, before the construction of Pugnator Imperator, the people of that world rejoiced, having found evidence that life still survived beyond the veil of their world, and then the aliens attacked, their Wraithknights too quick and too nimble for the Knights of the unsophisticated society to properly counter. It was under this threat that Pugnator Imperator was constructed, designed to be swifter, and more deadly, to keep up with its xenos counterpart. It proved capable, fighting off several raids, and soon the aliens found that food was not worth the effort, unfortunately for the farmers and peasantry of the world, their dark cousins would find human suffering well worth the risk.

Records heralding back to the time of the Four Freeblades show that Pugnator Imperator, regardless of the Emir piloting it, was a brash, bellicose, and eager combatant, leading reckless and ill conceived charges across open terrain, surviving thanks to its pilots' skills with an ion shield, and carving through enemies with a gusto one might an expect from an ork or a Khornate cultist, but in recent centuries, its brash and churlish nature has been subdued. Once into battle, its machine spirit soars, reveling in the carnage and the challenge, but when the fight is over, and the enemies of the Emperor lay defeated, Emir Zahid has said that it almost feels as though the Gallant is looking for something, and that the machine spirit's elation quickly dissipates when it cannot find it, and will almost fall into a depressed state when accompanied by Knights of House Dietrich.

Heraldry

The Coat of Arms for House Ali is a brass fist clenched around a brass sword on a white field, a double headed golden eagle perched on the tip of the fist. It is as simple as their House's philosophy, a fist to smash their enemies, a sword to cut them open, all in service to the Emperor.

The colors of House Ali are white, for their purity of purpose, and brass, for the strength of their arms and power of their knights. Gold is the color, as it is for all Houses of Seraphim, denoting their loyalty to the Imperium and the Emperor of Mankind. Members of the Exalted Court may take a violet strike to denote their status.

Exalted Court

High Monarch

The Seat of High Monarch is always occupied by the eldest male member of the main line of House Dietrich, which has remained unbroken since Stefan Dietrich was elected to the position by his fellow Freeblades after liberating Seraphim.

The Knight traditionally rode into battle by the High Monarch is the ancient and storied Angelus Fortis, however the Preceptor has refused every rider for the past five hundred years, and the Stead of the King has since come to be the venerable Knight Valiant, Heavy is the Crown.

Gatekeeper

The Seat of Gatekeeper is typically held by a member of House Dupont. The duties of this title are many, and the glories few, but the Knight who takes this Seat take the role seriously. The Gatekeeper is charged with the defense of Seraphim, coordinating the System Defense Fleet, Planetary Defense Force, the Order of Our Martyred Lady, and all Knights that each House are required to second to this office.

Currently the role is taken up by Mathéo Dupont of the Southern Family, who rides the Knight Crusader, Angel's Bulwark, armed with an Avenger Gatling cannon on one arm, a Thermal Cannon on the other, a heavy stubber, and a Stormspear Rocket Pod.

Monarchsward

The Seat of Monarchsward has nearly always been held by a member of House Ali, with only two instances in the four millennia of the office's history going to a member of House Kurioshi. Unlike the Gatekeeper, the duties are singular, but the glories are numerous. The Monarchsward follows the High Monarch into battle, defending the King from all those who would do him harm. This has resulted in many a glorious duel with Tyranid monstrosities, Ork stompas, Aeldari wraith constructs, and Chaos daemon engines. The Sanctuary of House Ali has entire halls dedicated to showing the trophies claimed by these warriors.

Sir Faisal Ali, a venerable warrior of nearly seventy years whose Knight Gallant, On the Path to Glory, is covered in battle honors awarded to him by three generations of Kings. Monarchswards have long died young once taking the Seat, it is a testament to Sir Faisal's prowess that he has survived five decades of service in one of the most dangerous postings of the Exalted Court.

Master of Justice

An office that House Kurioshi holds in high esteem, and has held more than any other House since its inception. The Master of Justice is a Seat of authority, able to take Knights and Men at Arms onto a Crusade separate of the King himself, though he needs the Monarch's permission to launch, and must gather volunteers. Within the Fortress Sanctuary of House Dietrich is a room only the King and the Master of Justice have access too where tablets of Blackstone lay, engraved with the names of hated enemies and arch foes. Daemon engines of evil reputation, Ork Waaghs of considerable size, Aeldari raiders of heinous intentions, and most accursed of all, Traitor Knights.

Lord Hanzo Kurioshi has recently arisen to this position after taking command of a company of Knights after the Master of Justice before him fell to an ugly but undeniably powerful Ork Stompa. Rallying the routed Knights and Men at Arms, the Lord Hanzo duelled the mighty machine and slew it, and shattered the Waagh! He rides a mighty Knight Ronin, Sword of Honor, with an Avenger Gatling Cannon, Reaper Chainsword, and Ironstorm Missile Pod.

Herald

The Herald has been seen by some as a purely political office, commensurate to the Commissariat of the Astra Militarum. Just like the Commissars of the Imperial Guard, however, the Herald spends much of their time at the frontlines, spurring the Men at Arms onwards, ensuring the discipline of the younger and less tested Knights, and relaying the orders of His Majesty the King to all forces. The Herald also treats with allies and foes alike, relaying the word of the King to those he cannot treat with himself.

Lady Rhea Dupont of the Northern Family trumpets the arrival of her king from her towering Knight Castellan, Merciful Doom, vox grill blaring the decrees of her liege while the Conflagration Cannon and Thundershock Harpoon speak to His Majesty's fury.

Prefect

A Hero. A Legend. A Knight of Uncountable Virtues, Unerring Resolve, and Indefatigable Honor. All of these and more must describe the warrior who ascends to this Seat. The King alone does not have the authority to appoint someone to this position. A Knight must be hand selected by the previous Prefect and judged, along with a handful of other selected candidates by the entire Court. This venerated warrior is the most senior mentor on Seraphim, and every Squire must serve under this warrior at least once before undergoing the Ritual of Becoming and becoming Knights in full.

The current Prefect is the Freeblade Knight, Sir Arturius, piloting one of the rarer Knight Preceptors, Courageous Alacrity, armed with the powerful Las Impulsor and vicious Reaper Chainsword. Sir Arturius ascended to the role of Prefect when he was 41 years old and is currently 62 but still retains the vigor of a man half his age, and everyone on the Exalted Court, save for Arturius's oldest friend Sir Faisal Ali, have squired for him on at least one campaign and hold the old warrior in high esteem.

Culture

Tournaments

Tournaments are a common sight on Seraphim, with all four Major Houses holding one each year, Ali at the beginning of the year, Dupont a few months later, Kurioshi two months after that, and Dietrich one month before the end of the year. Minor Houses will host small tournaments, typically only drawing a handful of Knights, but even four Knights are enough to put on a show for the locals and draw in spectators from all over the province. The tournaments held by the Major Houses are always attended by every Knight Pilot available to make it on Seraphim, sometimes even dragging Knights from other worlds, or Knights from nearby campaigns that no longer require their presence. These tournaments are enormous, week long events, featuring feats of marksmanship with carapace rocket pods, duels with toothless Reaper Chainswords, and jousts with ten meter long armaplas lances designed to shatter upon impact with the opposite Knight's ecranche.

Rules

The Arbalest Competition is a series of challenges of marksmanship with carapace mounted rocket pods.

The first challenge is a long distance firing range, lobbing unguided rockets over miles of open terrain onto a target separated into ten scoring rings. Each Knight is given 18 rockets with their warheads replaced a paint bomb, with each Knight being assigned a color.

The second challenge is a rapid fire shooting gallery, with the retired hulls of Leman Russ Tanks maneuvering around an obstacle course where the Knights must pick them off as they reveal themselves with a well placed painted rocket, while being careful not to accidentally shoot the tanks designated as friendly. Each enemy tank shot scores 2 points, each friendly tank is a penalty of 1 point.

The third and final competition is a free for all fire fight between the competing Knights as they stalk one another through gauntlet and striking one another with their paint bomb rockets. Use of arm mounted or melee weapons are strictly prohibited and will disqualify those who fail to follow the rules. This competition is as much a test of the pilot's ability to use their ion shields to slap aside sudden and unexpected paint bombs as it is a test of their marksmanship. Each 'kill' is worth 3 points and can only be obtained by striking an enemy Knight 3 times, a 'wound' is worth 1 point, and is obtained by striking an enemy Knight without 'killing' it, and the final Knight standing is awarded an additional 5 points.

The Swordsman Competition is set into three stages that pit each Knight against each other in a test of the Noble pilot's skill with a Reaper Chainsword. Each duel is fought without the adamantium teeth that make the Reaper Chainsword so deadly, instead the combatants must simply clash blades. Scoring for all three stages is the same and as follows; 1 point for each blow landed to any armor plate, 2 points for each blow landed upon the enemy's ecranche, and 3 points for any blow landed upon unarmored sections. Knocking the enemy Knight over is an instant victory, but striking the sensorium of the enemy Knight is grounds for disqualification.

The first stage is a round robin tournament to determine seeding for the second stage. Each Knight will fight 6 other Knights, with at least 3 wins required to advance to the second stage in the larger tournaments, though smaller ones may include every Knight participating.

The second stage is composed of four ladder brackets where Knights with the most wins will face the Knights with the least wins from the first stage in the first round, the winner of that match will then face the winner of the other match, and so on and so fourth until four champions are left, moving the competition on to the third stage.

The third stage is a four way free for all between the four champions, with each Knight fighting until 10 points had been scored against them, resulting in their defeat, with the last Knight standing being declared the victor.

The Joust is staged similarly to the Swordsman Competition, with three stages to reduce the number of competitors and allow the most skilled pilots and powerful Knights to rise to the top of the lists. For the duration of the Joust, the Knight's right arm weapon will be replaced with a vice fitted to hold easily replaceable ten meter long aluminum lances. The Joust focuses on testing an aspect that the Arbalest Competition and Swordsman Competition do not directly challenge. While the Arbalest Competition tests a Noble's ability to see through the eyes of their Knight and make rapid, accurate shots, and the Swordsman Competition tests their ability to tap into the war like nature of their walker's machine spirit, the Joust tests the bond a pilot has with their Knight. To land a well aimed blow on a small target with a large an unwieldy aluminum lance while trying to avoid the other Knight's lance requires impeccable footwork, sure aim, and incredible trust in the machine spirit of their Knight. The scoring for the Joust is the same in all three stages. The Knight's make three passes at each other per match, 1 point awarded for striking the opposing Knight, 2 points for striking the ecranche of the opposing Knight, and 3 points for knocking the opposing Knight's ecranche off its shoulder mounted gimble, resulting in an automatic victory.

The first stage of the Joust, if the tournament has enough competitors to warrant it, is a two day long competition to fill sixteen slots. Typically, the sixteen seats are filled with Knights from the hosting House, though in the case of annual tournaments, one seat is held open for the previous year's champion. The Knights not occupying these slots may challenge any Knight holding those slots. Over the next forty eight hours, many jousts will take place on the many trampled tiltyards until an end to the first stage is called and the sixteen Knights are set.

The second stage of the Joust is a round robin style tournament, where each Knight will joust with each other Knight left three times. The top eight Knights are then selected to go onto the third stage. Any ties in record will be settled by head to head record.

The third stage is a true ladder tournament, the seeding determined by points scored in the first and second stage of the Joust, with the most points scored facing off against the least points scored in the first round. After this final stage, the champion of the Joust will finally have been determined.

Often the prizes for these tournaments will be master crafted power swords, relic volkite pistols, refractor field generators, or some other esoteric and arcane piece of the Omnissiah's bounty. While these rewards are indeed great, and many across the galaxy, even the wealthiest governor or most well connected inquisitor, would hardly turn their nose up at such a prize, most Nobles compete for the glory and fame. Freeblades compete for a place in a Major House's stables, or their support in completing their quest. Some Minor House Nobles even compete to vie for the attention of a woman above their station.

Trial of the Prefect

Over the course of a month their deeds will be recounted, their honors displayed, their courage espoused, and their skills tested in a planet wide event. Pictcasts are shown all over the planet for the entire month, those with the means will travel to the Fortress Sanctuary of House Dietrich, and all, even the Sisters of Battle and the Tech Priests of the Omnissiah, will watch the proceedings closely. The shops close, the manufactorums shut down, and celebrations throughout the world ensue.

The first day of the Trial of the Prefect is the introductions of the candidates, each of them a Knight of renown in their own right. Each would be well known to the planet's populace, and stories of their deeds would already be circulating through the groups eagerly watching. Each Knight is displayed in full panoply, and the Nobles within are interviewed individually and asked to recount their most daring feats and glorious victories.

The First Test of the Trial of the Prefect is the Test of Might, where each warrior is loosed into the forest of towering trees surrounding the Lake of the Angel's Triumph on a hunt. While the name of the Trial may suggest that this is a test of might, and it surely will test that, it also tests the Knight's hunting prowess and their raw cunning. Their prey is not the titan sized sauropods roaming the marshy ground between each half kilometer tall tree, but the Knight sized therapods that prey upon them. If the Noble isn't careful, they could quickly find the hunt turning in on itself, as the beasts are cunning in their own right, and more than capable of ripping the adamantium plates from a Knight's chassis and send scything claws and ravenous teeth through the vulnerable pilot and engine. More than one candidate has met their end at the tip of these great predator's claws. Upon successful completion of the hunt, each Nobles' prize is judged by the Exalted Court and the people of Seraphim, and while taking the largest specimen will certainly win one great favor, a clean kill leaving an unspoilt body will typically see one claim victory in this Test.

The Second Test of the Trial of the Prefect is the Test of Resolve, a punishing test of both Knight and Noble that will push the limits of their endurance and mental fortitude, simply finishing the Test is enough to advance in the Trial. Starting from the bailey of the Fortress Sanctuary of House Dietrich, the candidates must make it to the Oasis Sanctuary of House Ali in one week. On this trek they will receive no aid and no rest. The path that has been picked for them will test the mastery of their steed's agility through the mountains, their speed through the Hive Cities and the Land Bridge, and their endurance through the deserts. With only seven days to traverse over 10,000 kilometers, the Nobles must coax all speed out of their mounts. Stopping means failing to finish the race. When the Knights come through the Hive Cities, they are greeted by the adoring masses, and though they cannot slow down, each Noble will play to the crowd, revving chainswords, waving thunderstrike gauntlets, raising their pennants, trumpeting hymnals to the Emperor, and the crowd, without fail, responds with roaring cheers that shake even the deep foundations of the Hives. When the candidates do finally make it to the Oasis Sanctuary of House Ali, they are immediately thrust into the Third Test.

The Third Test of the Trial of the Prefect is the Test of Fortitude. As the Knights approach the Oasis, finishing the Test of Resolve, the batteries of the Sanctuary open up, shelling the war machines with artillery shells, lascannons, autocannons, and mass reactive shells. The Nobles must wield their Ion Shields in their exhausted state and turn aside the worst of the attacks, deflecting artillery shells and stopping lascannon lances, while turning their adamantium armor plates to the autocannon and mass reactive shells. Many Nobles are unable to withstand this fusillade, particularly after the exhaustion of the previous Test, and fall just meters from the safety of the greenery of the Oasis. Those who can pass the devastation, however, are welcomed into the Sanctuary, where they finally receive the rest and repairs they so desperately require.

The Fourth Test of the Trial of the Prefect is the Test of Faith. Having proven to the Exalted Court and all of Seraphim that each surviving Noble is an expert in the piloting of their Knights, able to silently stalk cunning predators and skilled in their steeds weaponry to take down the beast with a quick stroke. They've proven their own body's strength as well as their ability to master their war machine's spirit by trekking the breadth of the world. And finally, they've demonstrated their perseverance in weathering a fusillade of firepower and standing tall at the end. Now it is time to test the Faith of the surviving candidates, and none can do so better than the Sisters of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Little is known about the Test itself, and the admiring masses are not permitted to witness the Test, and are instead treated to the history and traditions of the Order and shown the magnificence of the cathedral they have made their Convent. What is known of the Test is that each Noble has their faith tested, and that not all shall pass the Test, and that not all who have taken it have survived. Those that pass shall move on to the Fifth Test, while those who have not are turned free, for though their faith was not of adamantine strength, they are no heretics. Some choose to return to their House, some pledge themselves to the Order, and some even choose the Path of the Freeblade, taking on a quest to strengthen their Faith.

The Fifth Test and the penultimate of the Trial of the Prefect, is the Test of Skill, where the remaining candidates, typically no more than four out of the original dozen, are entered into a tournament on opposite sides of a bracket. The bracket is filled out with any Knights who wish to enter, and any from across the galaxy may enter, including Freeblades, Taranis, Hawkshroud, Taranis, and Krast, though they typically are vastly outnumbered by Seraphim Knights. The Nobles in their grand war machines will engage in duels of marksmanship, jousts, and melees, whittling the numbers down until there are four left, the champions from each bracket. It is not required that these champions be the candidates for Prefect, but they were not considered for the role for no reason, and often, at least two of them will reach the final four, and never has there not been one to reach this group. Reaching this stage is all that is required for the candidates to advance to the final Test. These Final Four are all champions in their own right, and have garnered great honor for themselves and their Houses, but there can only be one true champion, and over the course of three duels, the prize is awarded to the victor. Most times, in fact nine out of ten times, this champion is the final candidate for the Trial of the Prefect.

The Sixth and Final Test of the Trial of the Prefect is the Test of Honor, which is not a true test in that is a judgement delivered by the Exalted Court on the character of the final claimants to the title of Prefect. Sometimes this is little more than a ceremony as there is only one left, but typically there will be two candidates that are still in contention. Their actions throughout the trial will be judged, questioned, and investigated. The deliberations are pictcast throughout the planet, as is the final judgment, and when the new Prefect receives the Angel's Wings upon their steed, the final night of celebrations begin across Seraphim.

Freeblades

Freeblade Knights are often looked down upon, or mistrusted at the very least, by other Knight worlds and the Houses that rule them, but upon Seraphim, Freeblade Knights are welcomed openly, and treated with respect. Having been founded by four Freeblade Knights, the tradition of the Freeblade is looked upon with a certain romance by the Four Major Houses of Seraphim, and while very few of their own take the oath, the option is always open as a means to regain honor after failure, or to advance ones status through achievement for those born in the lower strata of nobility.

Freeblades from foreign worlds are welcomed into the island fortresses of the ocean hemisphere.

These small fortresses serve a dual purpose, the first of which is to serve as a place for a dishonored knight to serve penance, as he or she must place their knight within the stables of the fortress and must take over the defenses of the island and welcome those who come seeking the second purpose. The second purpose is to provide sanctuary for Freeblade knights who find themselves in between tasks or quests and are in need of rest and complete repair and rearmament of their steeds. The penitent knight will welcome the Freeblade and offer his or her services in their quest, if the aid is accepted, then upon completion of the Freeblade's quest, or once the Freeblade honorably dismisses the noble from their service, then the Knight's penance is over. If no Freeblade comes, or accepts the noble's service, then after one year the disgraced noble will be given the choice of either swearing the Oath of a Freeblade and forsaking their House, or returning to their House, but be burdened with a Mark of Shame, never to be expunged.

Once a Freeblade's quest has been completed, there are several options open to them

The Freeblade may pledge their service to one of the Four Major Houses. In fact, there is some fierce competition between the Houses for certain Freeblades.

Ali and Kurioshi will offer lands and marriages to Freeblades piloting Paladins or Crusaders, valuing their long range firepower to complement their stables without having to fight in such a cowardly manner themselves. Dietrich and Dupont will offer wealth and courtly positions to Gallants and Preceptors, their close quarters power and immense piloting skill helping to screen and protect their longer range Knights.

All Houses but Ali would gladly offer their daughters or sons, castles, lordships, and even their Family name for a Freeblade of a Dominus Class Knight.

However, for Freeblade Armigers, the office of the Precept in the Exalted Court is their only option, serving as tutors to fresh Squires first piloting their own Armiger. After years of service to the Office, they may become Bondsmen to a Noble of their choosing, serving as direct extensions of that Knight's power.

They may also choose to start Minor Houses of their own, provided they can afford the land necessary to serve as their holdings. This is often the preferred choice for Freeblades who took their oath with another, marrying their fellow Freeblade if they are of the opposite sex, or forging marriage pacts between their children if they are not.

Particularly pious Freeblades may choose to cast aside their heraldry and adopt the black and red of the Order of Our Martyred Lady and serve forever within the ranks of the Sisters. Female Freeblades are far more likely to choose this option than their male counterparts, but service to the Order is often bereft of the luxuries enjoyed by those who choose to join the Houses, and as such, this path is still not taken often.

Finally, they may remain a Freeblade, and act as a sort of mercenary, garrisoning an ocean island fortress and taking offers from Knights who are leaving on Campaign, choosing who they lend their strength to. This is often considered the least honorable path they may take, but it is popular amongst elder Freeblades, who do not wish to remarry, cut the ties they had with the House they originally hailed from, particularly if that House is extinct, or live the spartan life required to pledge oneself to the Sisters of Battle.

Lance Formations

Each House has their own special version of the Noble Lance of Knights, but all Houses can marshal their Knights into one of the three general Lance formations, the Cavalry Lance, the Fortress Lance, and the Line Lance.

The Cavalry Lance is comprised of the fastest Knights the forces could draw upon. Often choosing Gallants, Wardens, and Errants to fill in the Knightly roles and preferring Warglaives to Squire, these Knights blaze away with their weapons, even as they push their machines past stable firing speeds. Many Noble Pilots have trained for jus this purpose, able to compensate for the bobbing and bouncing of their war machine to still land their shots with vicious accuracy. Often upon drawing close with the enemy, yet another burst of speed is roused from the ancient war machines, closing the distance with enemy tanks and armor and smashing them aside with brutal melee combat.

The Fortress Lance is the formation of choice to defend important strategic positions, be it the gate of a Hive City, the flank of a great host, or a solitary bridge providing allied forces the means to cross a river. Lobbing shells and blistering hails of bullets are the requirements to be able to be in this Lance, leading commanders of such formations to prefer Crusaders and Paladins, with Helverins for Squires. Standing still, the Pilots who find themselves in these formations have trained themselves and their steeds to use the extra stability to extend the range of their guns by half, and when facing down charging enemies, they have learned to make every shot count, landing wounding shots at twice the rate of their more aggressive compatriots.

The Line Lance marches into the teeth of their enemies, rather than striking a weak spot like the Cavalry, or breaking the enemy charge like the Fortress, these Knights enter battle on equal footing with their enemy, and win through superior skill. Paladins, Errants, and Wardens are the preferred Knights for commanders of these Lances, the well rounded nature of these machines giving them the ability to adapt to anything the enemy could throw at them. This Lance is where many Houses choose to employ their overwhelmingly powerful Dominus Class Knights as well, as a single Castellan can punch a hole through any enemy line, allowing the more nimble Questoris Knights to pour in and scatter the enemy, and a Valiant is more than capable of taking out any enemy super heavy war machine, breaking the will of the enemy and turning a battle into a rout. Armigers may have some role in this lance, but the nature of these battles put the smaller war machines in greater danger than the other two, so only the most experienced Squires typically take part. Each Knight in this Lance looms large in their enemy's eyes, blaring their warhorns and shaking the ground with their thundering stride, many enemies of Mankind break in their presence, and their menace is only magnified when they lash out and strike down the enemy leaders, sowing discord and causing the enemy to flee before them.

House Dietrich runs two Lances specific to their House, the Combined Arms Lance, and the Royal Lance

The Combined Arms Lance is unique because it typically only contains one Questoris Knight, often with a pair of Squires or Bondsmen in Armigers to assist them, while they command Men at Arms forces. Any Knight may be used, but the Knight in question will often dictate which forces best complement its abilities. Crusaders and Helverins will support armored infantry in Chimeras, Gallants will charge in under artillery cover and flush out enemy armor for Leman Russ Battle Cannons, Paladins and Errants with their Warglaive Squires will leave massive holes in the enemy for friendly light infantry to fill the gap and hold the line. Even the few Preceptors will strike deep into enemy lines to provide firepower for Tempestus Scion strike teams. Fighting alongside their Liege Lord, the Men at Arms are filled with resolve, and earnestly obey their every command.

The Royal Lance is the King's personal Lance, often containing more than one of the Exalted Court, and always bringing the Monarchsward. Few if any Bondsmen or Squires may participate in this Lance, but the King may still command the larger Knights as though they were his Bondsmen. The Knights that make up this Lance are typically those who have earned the King's favor and almost certainly will always be supported by other Lances working on its flanks.

House Dupont prefers to keep their enemies at a distance, and that is reflected in their Bridge Lance.

Highly precise, pinpoint weaponry allows the Knights of House Dupont to safely target their enemy even when their Squires are engaging them in close quarters. Three Crusaders and their Warglaive Squires take the field, with the Armigers rushing forth to engage and the enemy in close quarters fighting, allowing for the Pilot's skilled aim to take out the larger enemy war machines without endangering their Squires. Such is their skill with marksmanship that Crusaders may create an opening for their Bondsman's Reaper Chain Cleavers to finish off their foes.

House Kurioshi often operate alone as Knights, but rarely are they truly alone, as each Samurai brings their Men at Arms with them, often in the form of mounted cavalry in the Strike Lance.

Strike Lance is smaller in overall manpower than most other Lances, and either must be supported on large scale by its allies on the field, or is more likely used to range deep into enemy territory, targeting supply lines, rear formations, and commanders. Fast and quiet, these Knights run at low power, with specialized leg joints to soften their impact and quietly approach their target, charging in at the final moment before detection and smashing their formation, with horsemen sweeping in and cleaning up.

House Ali have one preference to how to field their Knights. They smash into their enemy like the Wrath of the Emperor with the thunderous Hammer Lance.

The straightforward Hammer Lance is composed of as many Knight Gallants as a commander can muster, their Squires and Bondsmen, and smashing them into the foe. Particularly clever commanders may split his Hammer into two swings, one that hits the front and the second that sweeps in from the side, but as always, the Hammer Lance seeks a nail, and finds it in the Foes of Mankind.