Icelus

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WORK IN PROGRESS.

Imperial Classification

An icelusian herald in the Planetary Governor's employ.
Population
32 billion
Tithe Grade
Adeptus Non
Geography
Barren ash wastes, flat and arid other than a massive mountain range straddling its equator. Large pits dot the landscape, most likely remnants of ancient lakes and seas.
Government Type
Adeptus Astartes
Planetary Governor
Planetary Governor Maximillion Escidia
Adept Presence
Adeptus Terra, Administratum, Adeptus Ministorum, Adeptus Astra Telepathica (Astropathic Choir upon Mount Telthon), Adeptus Arbites, Scholastica Psykana, Adeptus Astartes
Military
Planetary Defence Force, Emperor's Nightmare Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes
Trade
Icelus is a major exporter of weaponry, munitions and armour, up to and including starship weaponry. It is also the recruiting world of the Emperor's Nightmare, and the source of its Fortress Monastery. Icelus cannot support itself and requires massive imports of food from the surrounding sector.

++Thought for the Day: A mind without purpose will wander in dark places.++

Icelus is a Hive World within the Segmentum Tempestus. An arid desert of ash and ruin, its natural beauty destroyed by the fires of industry long ago, the world plays host to five mighty hives, each a home to many billions of souls and belching thick plumes of smoke into the atmosphere as they produce vast quantities of military equipment in a vain attempt to assuage the boundless hunger of the Imperium. The people of Icelus are influenced strongly by the stewardship of the Emperor's Nightmare, the livery of the Chapter's 2nd through fifth companies being taken as the royal colours and the uniform of the Planetary Defence Force.

Icelus Locations

Hive Icelus Primus

The Planetary Capital, resting upon a broad plain in the northern hemisphere of the planet. The city is surrounded on either side by two sea-pits, most likely as a defensive measure. There is one way in or out of the Hive, not counting underhive bolt-holes, the enormous golden gates at the front of the city. This is constantly congested, so the nobility and wealthy merchants make use of the numerous hangars branching out from the city like spinning plates to travel in and out. The highest hangar is reserved for the Emperor's Nightmare, and is one of the tallest points of the city.

Being the Hive closest to Betten-Burgen, Icelus Primus is the starting point for the recruitment ritual of the Emperor's Nightmare, prospective candidates travelling from all over the planet in a desperate attempt to become one of Icelus' guardian angels. Many never make it, as travel by foot in the ash wastes is a dangerous prospect at the best of times. During the time of the recruitment the paths to the capital become rife with danger, bandits and nomadic beastmasters preying upon the pilgrims.

Icelus is also the largest hive, with a population dwarfing the others by several billion. As such, this is also the headquarters of the Planetary Defence Force and the Adeptus Arbites maintains a moderate presence. Icelus' infamous underhive is an utter mess, its corridors and clearings choked with crumbling masonry and old works of art from some forgotten cultural rennaisance. Now, gangs and worse stalk its ruins, and decent people are few and far between.

Hive Primus hosts Icelus Central Station, an enormous, multi-tiered, cavernous structure deep inside the midhive (but reaching the upperhive). Decorated in purple and gold, with enormous statues of Astartes, birds and governors of old, this station is the meeting point of all rail lines on Icelus. All Rail Guilds maintain headquarters on the station, and it's also the central hub of the Plotters Combine.

Hive Icelus Secundus

Located on the equator, nestled in a large mountain clearing, Hive Icelus Secundus has neither the manufacturing strength nor the impressive figure of Icelus Primus. Instead, this high-up hive is the main port of the planet. It is also the home of the largest Adeptus Arbites precinct, as the Arbitrators are more concerned with ensuring the planet's exports make it off the planet than the bickering of the other hives. The five tunnels leading out of Hive Secundus, each large, heavily guarded roads bored through a separate mountain, are the only ways in or out by foot. Should a serious security threat arise on Icelus the tunnels are collapsed with demolition charges, relying on the many fighters and flak batteries upon the mountains to repel airbourne invaders.

Icelus Secundus' most impressive building is the enormous main Star port, a collossal entity which takes up a full third of the mountain walls surrounding the hive. Although the port is officially the property of the Planetary Government, its day-to-day running is handled by a triumvirate of members of the Planetary Defence Force, the Adeptus Terra and a collective of Merchant's guilds, each of which have a different use in mind for the valuable docking space it provides. This results in a fair amount of bureaucratic jostling as the three factions maneuver for influence over the port. This has resulted in more than a little organizational chaos before.

Hive Icelus Tertius

Another equator-bound hive, Icelus Tertius is built around a cluster of particularly high mountains, rather than nestled in its depths like Icelus Secundus. Icelus Tertius is regarded as an ill-omened place by the populace, as not only is it the headquarters of the Scholastika Psykana on Icelus, but within the highest peak, Mount Telthon, dwells the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. The mountain is largely hollowed out, and access is granted through colossal elevators known as "The Drops". An entire culture has evolved within The Drops, as the elevators require near-constant maintenance. This civilization of mechanics, who receive very little contact with the outside world save supplies, are scornfully referred to by the Hive populace as "Drop-mice".

Hive Icelus Quartus

Located in the southern polar region, Icelus Quartus is unique among the Icelusian Hives in that it is almost entirely underground. The only indicator of its existence is a collossal cavern leading down to the soot-stained depths. It is here the heavy industry of Icelus takes place, the inhabitants making use of a magma river at the Hive's depths to forge battleship-grade weapons and ammunition. It is a brutal place, continuously covered in smog and filled with the echoes of heavy manufacture. Light is a commodity in Icelus Quartus, something to be earned through toil or stolen from those less deserving. Quartus' nobility dwells within The Stake, a large metal pillar which stretches from the Hive's top to its very bottom. Inversely to the normal scheme of things, the lower down in The Stake a noble's dwellings are, the greater their perceived status. This is largely due to the enchanting vision of the Magma Lake as seen by the lower levels, and also because smoke travels upwards. If the nobles must leave The Stake, they do so with ornamental rebreathers and servants to ward away the cloying smoke.

Hive Icelus Quintus

Icelus Quintus is a bizarre settlement, at least upon a Hive World. The structure can be likened to an enormous glass bubble, a transparent enclosure which arcs over the entire hive. In stark contrast to the rest of Icelus, Icelus Quintus possesses very little manufacturing facilities at all. Instead the toil of Quintus is directed towards agriculture and general food production. City-sized factories produce crops at an industrial level, overseen by the inhabitants. The sight of such a verdant construct is decidedly bizarre, a massive artificial oasis in the middle of the ash wastes, and many an eyebrow has been raised by members of the Adeptus Terra. The Emperor's Nightmare firmly quashes any proposals to bring the Hive more into line with the manufacturing giant which is Icelus, to the chagrin of many. In addition, due to the sheer staggering number of crops grown here it is physically impossible to police them all. As a result, Icelus' stimulant black market is almost entirely situated in Icelus Quintus. The relatively pleasant view in contrast with the other hives makes Quintus a favoured holiday home for the nobility, though its growth is limited by the clear carapace above it which makes real estate immensely valuable.

The Rail Network

The southern hemisphere of Icelus is criss-crossed by an elaborate railway system which connects the Hives like blood vessels. This network is as old as the Hives themselves, and indeed speculation runs through the more eccentric fringe of the College of Archeologists that the railway predates them. Heavily armed maintenance teams scour the rails daily, fending off raiders and predators in order to keep the trains running without a hitch.

Although the rich and powerful can afford to travel from Hive Secundus to Hive Primus by air, for most travellers their first view of the Capital will be from the windows of a train compartment. It is the primary way of travel between the Hives on Icelus as the foot trails are treacherous and plagued by bandits, some of which have specialised as train robbers and made a name for themselves on the flats. It is also necessary for commerce and trade, and thousands of tons of goods flow upon the rails daily.

The Transcontinental Rail Guilds of Icelus are the source of power and wealth for many noble families. Barons vie for lucrative lines in a constant low-level struggle that at times erupts into open warfare between mercenary armies. Sabotage and assassinations are common, but to be a rail baron in Icelus is to be one of the social elite.

Controlling the network as a whole is the Plotter's Combine, the group of administrators and traffic controllers that are responsible for the railway system as a whole, booking trains into allotted time-slots and making sure that the routes are collision-free. Obviously the power this organization is considerable, though they act more as arbitors and mediators for the Rail Guilds rather than overlords. Nevertheless the Combine is rigid and its schedule tight, it is considered a major social faux pas to waste the time of a Plotter.

High-ranking Nobles and other influential individuals, such as Inquisitors, need no tickets to go to their destination of choice. They simply order a destination, and trains are chartered for them, routes plotted through multiple Guild lines without a question. Congested lines suddenly unblock for them, and commuter trains are delayed for hours or days so that these special trains can pass. Generally known as "Purple Expresses", these trains are the envy of many.

Icelus Rail Guilds

Below is a list of the largest and most influencial Rail Guilds of Icelus, along with some rumors that surround them.

Aldous Company

Credo: "No delays. No compromise. No mistakes." Founded by Baron Issachar Aldous and developed by his 3 children, Aldous Company has built a reputation as a solid, reliable Guild that serves midhive and upperhive with an enviable efficiency. Aldous trains are the most punctual in the network, a feat achieved by cogitator-aided trains and hefty bribes to the Plotters in equal measure. Heavy-handed business practices and a competitive edge has given Aldous a near-monopoly on traffic with Quartus hive (with the notable exception of the exclusive supply contract the Nakadah Guild managed to secure with the Emperor's Nightmare chapter). The Aldous monopoly on Quartus-Primus traffic is an insult to the other Guilds, and a source of constant petitions to the Governor's desk. Rumors: The youngest brother of the Aldous siblings has taken a sudden intrest in the Secundus lower hive levels of late, sponsoring several expeditions to the hive base. This is unusual, especially since Secundus traffic is beyond Aldous territory...

Balsus Shipping

Credo: "Next stop, tomorrow!" A guild with close ties to the Mechanicus, Balsus trains boast masterwork engines and servitor-operated turrets. This company specializes in cargo shipping, and Purple Ticket passengers generally shun Balsus trains because of the no-frills interiors and service. Still, this Guild is the one most admired by the Priesthood of Mars for the exemplary way it tends to its machines. Balsus Shipping trains are frequently targeted by raiders seeking to avail themselves of the precious cargo they carry. The Guild keeps them at bay with their mechanized guards, as well as strategic alliances with a few nomad clans that are allowed to use cargo compartments to relocate their settlements. Rumor: A persistent rumor is that the Balsus Guild turns any stowaways they find into servitors. This rumor is false, planted by the Guild itself to mask the actual source of their unending army of lobotomized cyborgs...

Jaharra Lines

Credo: "Tried. Tested. Victorious." An old Guild, Jaharra Lines was the winner in the vicious Waystation Wars of M36-37 and has since cemented its influence on the western parts of Icelus. Jaharra's intrests lie in controlling key chokepoints of the rail infrastructure, such as major crossings and forks. The Guild operates tired, worn-down trains that the common folk can ride for cheap, as well as lavish, extravagant rail yachts for the purple-ticketed crowd. Jaharra Lines is dogged by a persistent scandal that concerns an ill-fated merger plan with House Quarter. Following the Waystation Wars, an arranged marriage between the eldest son of House Quarter and the then-debutante Belesa Jaharra was poised to secure both Houses' fortunes. However, the Quarter's Folly incident financially crippled House Quarter and the marriage was canceled, souring relations between the houses. When Jaharra withdrew from the deal, House Quarter's other rivals took advantage of their weakened state to stamp the Quarters out of the industry, something the surviving Quarters curse Jaharra Lines for to this day. Rumor: The Matriarch Belesa Jaharra is growing tired of her rejuvenant-extended life, and is preparing to hand her empire over to one of her most trusted concubines... but which one?

Lindacr Travels

Credo: "Movement is the life of Man" The brain child of the eccentric Baron Lindacr, this Guild specializes in luxury train services for the hiver elite. Nobles wishing to survey their estates or travel for leisure use the small, sleek Lindacr trains to the fullest. The most popular departures are booked up several years in advance, and in some cases tickets have been the subject of duels to the death. Lindacr also maintains close ties with land-train caravan lords, something that earns him a great deal of scorn from rival Guildmasters, but ensures him excellent guides for the annual hunting trips that hive nobles make into the Icelus wilds. The hunts are extravagant social affairs, especially since they are frequented by the Planetary Governor Maximilian Escidia who is always eager to add to his immence collection of trophies and specimens. Lindacr's friendship with the Governor also ensure favorable relations with the Plotters' Combine. Rumor: The departure schedule of Lindacr trains has become increasingly erratic. Unbeknownst to all, if one were to plot the movement of all trains from this Guild, one would see a pattern, almost like a hieroglyphic language being inscribed on the surface of Icelus...

Varinez - Magroth United Lines

Credo: "Emperor's Blessings, Terra's Steel" A Guild formed from the merger of two smaller baronies, V-M boasts the best security of all Guilds in the business. Because of Varys Magroth's connections within the Munitorum, V-M militia guards are hand-picked from the PDF, and Esma Varines' contacts within the Mechanicus keep the Guild's autogun turrets well-oiled and their murder-servitors impeccably programmed. In fact, the flagship train of V-M, the Elhunon, has never once suffered a raider attack, robbery or hijacking, something no train of any other Guild has managed. The Elhunon's guns keep nomads at bay, while strict and draconian security measures ensure infiltration attempts are foiled long before departure, making it the train of choice for paranoid nobles and couriers with precious cargo. Rumor: While the two Guild heads are deeply in love, their children and heirs hate each other. Minor skirmishes have already erupted between gangs loyal to each of the five siblings, and it's only a matter of time before a full Rail War erupts on V-M soil...

Concordat of Daloush

Credo: "His will be done in every endeavour" One of the largest power players in Icelus, Daloush holds a comparatively small area of the rail network, but makes up for it by diversifying into the much-despised land train and caravan market. Daloush is not run in the traditional Rail Guild way, with a baron leading the organization. Rather, all decisions are made by a gathering of stakeholders, which include a few nomad wheel-lords as well as hiveborn nobles. Daloush also owns and operates a number of mines on Icelus and within the asteroid belts, making it one of the most important supplier of precious minerals to the manufactorums. Rumor: Returnees from a Daloush expedition into the deep uncharted regions of Icelus' remote asteroid belt refuse to go back and continue prospecting for obscure reasons.

Nakadah Wayfarer's Service

Credo: "Tried and True" Mikober Nakadah took the trial of the Gillyflower at the age of 11. While he managed to survive several skirmishes with nomads, raiders and fellow competitors, he failed to preserve a flower. Impressed by his acumen and skill, the Nightmares offered him life as a chapter serf. Nakadah turned them down, determined to find a place in life where he could rise to the very top. Recruited into the failing Rail Guild of Thraxos Stam, Nakadah worked his way up from a lowly coal-shoveler to assistant guildmaster and right hand of the Baron. After Baron Stam's untimely death, Nakadah swiftly took over the Guild and transformed it from a corrupt, disorderly mess into a serious contender to the dominance of the major Icelian guilds. Nakadah's keen business sense led him to achieve a complete monopoly on the minor commuter lines that ferry menial workers and midhive laborers from Quintus' sattelite settlements and underground caverns into the vast agri-factoriums of the central hive dome. Nakadah trains are old and worn out, but have a reputation for timely departure and safe arrivals. Honouring the Baron's origins, travel on Nakadah trains is free of charge for any child undertaking the Trial of the Nightmares. Rumor: Secret Nakadah cargo trains ship large quantities of organic compounds and plant matter from Quintus to Primus. It is rumored that these trains ferry unknown drugs for use by the Emperor's Nightmare chapter and several high-ranking Inquisitors...

Cultures of Icelus

The Witiko

The Witiko, the ice wanderers of the far north, are among the oldest peoples of Icelus and their culture has changed little since the Emperor’s armies first reclaimed the planet. The Witiko are constant travellers, living together in small family units and fishing on the ice for years at a time. The Witiko follow a simplified though fairly non-controversial variation of the Imperial Creed wherein age begets authority. The eldest is the head of the family unit and the Emperor, as the oldest human, is the patriarch of humanity.

The Witiko are master survivalists, able to live in arctic conditions with surprising ease. Though las-rifles and firearms have made their way into many of their hunters hands, a compound bow made of perforated wood from the northern forests remains their traditional weapon of choice, Often children of either gender will make a pilgrimage to the forests and carve themselves a fishing rod or bow as a rite of passage into adulthood. This teaches the child the importance of their tools, without which the Witiko would surely starve.

Though there is abundant life in the north it is not easy to hunt, swimming beneath ten feet of ice or hiding beneath the snow. Resources are scarce and in times of desperation some men will do the unthinkable to survive. This is known as the Wendigo Psychosis, a folk illness that has plagued humanity since before they began to explore the stars. In larger communities men and women who feel the cravings will submit themselves to the family elders for honourable execution but the disease seems to take hold later in life and many of those who fall victim to it are patriarchs themselves. Having consumed their families these gluttonous cannibals stalk the barren wastes with a desperate craving for human flesh.

It is from these madmen that Nana Wendigo takes her name. Hers is the cannibal family. The snake that eats its own tail. Icelus has starved for too long but now it will consume itself.

Important People of Icelus

Planetary Governor Maximillion Escidia

under construction

Lord Commander-Commissar Teucer Ajax

under construction

Inquisitor Viscount Pascal Eneko Xabi

Appearing outwardly as a frail, wizened old man, Inquisitor Pascal has a long history of service in the Emperor's Inquisition. Taken from his noble house by the Black Ships as a teen, the Inquisitor has since honed his psychic abilities to reach Epsilon-grade powers. Specializing in telekinesis and divination, Pascal is unafraid to use psykers, mutants and abhumans in his retinue. On Icelus, however, Pascal usually prefers to use natives, since abhumans and mutants are very rare there.

He has maintained extensive ties with House Xabi, that have previously provided their dynastic resources for Pascal in the form of informants, transport (stellar and planet-bound) and funds. Through his former acolyte, Mayra Ushas, Pascal liaises with the Adeptus Astra Telepathica and the League of Blackships. It is believed he maintains a librarium and research facility jointly run with the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, but that is as of yet unconfirmed. It is known however that he maintains a vessel, a herald-type ship comparable in size to a cobra class destroyer. This ship, the 'Inosaya', is known to possess advanced warp drives and plasma coils that allow for much decreased travel times in the void. Pascal also has full access to the asteroid facility built to monitor the Emperor's Nightmares chapter for deviancy.

Inquisitor Pascal is somewhat well-known in Icelian society for having been a ladies' man in his youth. Memories of his liaisons have faded as time has passed. However, Pascal is known among Inquisitors to have been romantically involved with two of his protegés, Inquisitrixes Lera and Mayra. Pascal is known to exhibit a fascination with Imperial heraldry, and is in fact a senior member of the sector's College of Arms and Heraldic Devices. This curiosity has also led to him taking an interest in ancient Icelus history, and he is rumored to have spies in the College of Archaeologists as well as informants in the Convent of the Nightingale.

Rejuvenation and prosthetics keep Pascal spry despite his three centuries, telekinetically augmented hammerblows keep him terribly lethal in combat and a penchant for scrying the future seldom leaves him ill-prepared. A well-connected and experienced Inquisitor, Pascal is also a well-known figure in Icelus social circles. Admired by many and hated by the enemies of the Imperium that dwell in the wastes and shadows of Icelus, Inquisitor Pascal Xabi is a force to be reckoned with.

Inquisitor Lady Mayra Ushas

A Sister of Battle, Mayra served in Inquisitor Pascal Xabi's retinue at the very beginning of his career. Unlike her mentor, she is an iron-willed, martial-minded orthodox believer in the Imperial Creed. Tasked with guarding the psykers of Icelus's Astropathic Choir, as well as serving as liaison to the Black Ships in the sector, Mayra views psykers as poor lost souls to be tended to and protected, an uncommonly tolerant view of psykers for a Sister that she acquired during her time as Pascal's chief Interrogator and acolyte.

After a certain incident with Inquisitor Pascal (which both she and Pascal refuse to talk about to this day), Mayra took up an oath of celibacy. Perhaps to compensate for renouncing the pleasures of the flesh, she has developed a keen interest in fine cooking and exotic cuisines.

The Lady Inquisitor rarely travels outside the sector, but when she does, she uses her personal vessel, "His Resplendent Mercy", a Dictator-class carrier. Her personal retinue is a squadron of highly trained assassins/ fighter pilots from an obscure death cult that glorifies dogfighting. In battle, Inquisitor Mayra uses an archaeotech weapon that is the envy of many and the source of many rumors.

Lady Ushas is not born on Icelus and regards the planet's intricacies and strange customs with suspicion. She is aware of the obscure history of the planet's colonization and the establishment of the hives, but does not take an interest in the details of it like her former mentor Pascal. She has clashed with many notorious cultists and criminals on Icelus, most famously during the Alpha Legion's failed invasion, and carries scars from a battle with a renown Redemptionist nomad leader that continues to elude her attempts to defeat him and his plots.

Icelus Flora and Fauna

The Gilliflower

The sweet Mother-of-the-evening rises from the sun-parched earth in small patches where the harsh pollutants of Icelus are sparse. Her soft graces are coveted by young aspirants; lives are taken in her name, fortunes spent for the sake of her delicate beauty. As sought after as the position she represents with the Emperor's Nightmare, the softly mottled purple-and-white flower holds young men in thrall, a thing of singular beauty amongst desolation and monotonous wastes.

Though she is the heart and soul of Icelus and its warriors, she is from Terra. Like her protectors, she is a conqueror, as sensual and frail as they are devoted and fierce. She is the Emperor's justice, unbearably beautiful, righteous and radiant, visited on the galaxy; where she grows, the Imperium flourishes. Adit Aurora Alata Ardens, fair Nightmother. Stand sentinel, sleepless, 'til the blazing sun.

Salt Creeper

A bizarre organism, this slug-like creature lives on the salt flats of Icelus, this creature is particularly suited toward existence in its chosen habitat. Where there is little food to be found, the Salt Creeper survives much as a plant, using a large black or brown organ along the top of its body to collect sunlight, and numerous "pores" along the dermis to intake salt and other minerals from the ground. It is an effective scavenger, able to "vomit" a digestive material from these pores and absorbing the resulting slurry, allowing it to ingest any organic matter it happens upon. It moves by shifting the liquid within its balloon-like skin in the direction it wishes to travel. Prized by locals for its digestive fluid, used in the treating and tanning of hides, and its nutrient-rich "blood" is an effective meal replacement (though highly unpalatable due to the high salt content).

Magnum Nephropsal or "giant salt lobster"

These crustaceans dwell in the vast salt flats of Icelus and as adults can measure up to several meters long with a very flat ground hugging profile. This flat profile allows them to lay flush against the ground, or dig shallow pits out, to hid in plain sight with the utmost ease. They can lay in wait for months on end as they wait, listening to vibrations in the ground for prey to come close. When they sense prey they burst forth with amazing speed to eviscerate their prey with their claws, and just about anything counts as prey. These beasts rarely need to drink and can subsist on what scant condensation and moisture from their prey they can collect.

While the flesh of the salt lobster is highly toxic for human consumption, the hepatopancreas of it (or digestive gland) can be fermented to produce a powerful stimulant. Their eggs however, are quite the delicacy if a clutch can be found... and successfully raided without either of the parents goring the would be thief.

Ash Raptors

Ash Raptors, sometimes referred to as "Owl Dogs" by off-worlders, are a species of quadrupedal avians endemic to Icelus. Owing to massive dust storms in the stratosphere (believed to have occurred some time after a warp storm isolated the planet and an unknown "calamity" began to destroy the world's life-sustaining capabilities), the Ash Raptors' wings developed slowly into forearms, as they were forced to spend more and more of their time on the ground. Mostly nocturnal, they possess large eyes capable of detecting even the smallest movement from dozens of meters. Accompanied by large, pointed ears, capable of hearing vibrations produced by prey burrowing beneath the surface, as well as powerful claws and a hooked beak, male Ash Raptors are adept at hunting small prey.

Female Ash Raptors typically live in small groups and are capable of hunting larger prey. Using their hind claws, they are able to tap out rhythms of varying intensity on the parched soil. These small vibrations are interpreted by other members of the pack. The higher the frequency of the tapping, the closer an individual is to prey. Highly intelligent, but not sentient, Ash Raptors in captivity often bond to the nomad beastmaster who raises them. They display the fierce loyalty of their masters, necessary for survival in Icelus' unforgiving wastes.

Ash Raptors lay eggs once per year, and spend an unusual amount of time in the mother's body before being deposited into a small den in the ashy surface, where they are nurtured for at most two weeks before hatching. In the wild, Ash Raptor young typically travel with their mother's flock until they are drawn away by other Ash Raptor young at two to three years of age. These young Ash Raptors will pair off and travel for a number of years until breeding, at which point the female will seek a new flock. It is believed that in captivity, the fiercely loyal bonding of Ash Raptors to their masters replaces this relationship, and interrupts natural mechanisms that would normally drive the individual to its next stage of life--lonesome, wandering males and small flocks of females.

Bred for aeons for intelligence, obedience and hunting ability, Ash Raptors are ideal companions for the wandering Icelians. Due to a hodgepodge of chemicals in their diet, Ash Raptors' feathers and skin may range in color from their natural spectrum of grays, browns and cream-white to bizarre combinations of iridescent oranges, purples and greens. Ash Raptors, if fed correctly and treated with respect, can live for sixty or seventy years. Upon the death of their companions, many Icelians craft ornate shrines in the desert, arraying their feathers in patterns behind their skulls. Small offerings are always left at such shrines when they are encountered, often consisting of dried meats, incense or shiny trinkets--which the creatures are drawn to. Ash Raptors that outlive their masters have been known to attach themselves to individuals who were close to them, most frequently wives, sons or daughters.

Greele-gnats

Medium sized [about an inch in length] flying insects with 4 sets of wings. They thrive in the hive sumps and slag pools of the wastes, feasting on the hydrocarbon slurry. They like to make nests in extremely hot and wet places, which are the perfect conditions for their larva. Because of this they often set up in the boilers of idle trains, causing severe damage as they construct their carbonized nests throughout the trains plumbing. They are vicious defenders of their territory making extermination a real hassle for workers.

Oriffs

Oriffs are lobsters covered in millions of thin "hairs," and live in deep trenches and subterranean caves. The individual hairs are designed to trap motes of organic particles when the lobster wafts its claws in the air and also serve as a sensory bank for locating large predators and potential prey. They are though, if fished out of their horribly toxic dwellings with sugary food products, rich in protein and a nutritious staple foodstuff for nomads. The claws and shell are also traditionally used in castanet fashion though the practice is deemed old fashioned and sometimes laughable given to the appearance of the wielder.

Durna

The Durna are small (think cat size), relatively docile tardigrade organisms. With a set of small feeders at the front they are incredibly hardy, one of the few creatures that will quite willfully ignore a dust storm and bury a tough proboscis like foot into the ground and latch on. When the storm has subsided the foot it drawn back and the Durna continues its slow, plodding existence. They seem to be able to handle both heat and cold and breed voraciously under certain conditions and are considered a mild irritation as many a nomads lasgun has had the stock dissolved off by them.

They make excellent target practice

Ash Jelly

Dwelling in the ash wastes of Icelus, the ash jelly is another of many strange creatures that have adapted to survive in the world's hostile climate. Ash jellies begin life as small polyps about the size of a grown man's hand and have a hazy purple-gray or blue-gray color with two concentric circles of anywhere from 5 to 25 tentacles around the creatures mouth. The inner tentacles are often bio-luminescent and used as lures to draw in small creatures. The outer tentacles are lined with tiny barbs that inject a venom that causes hallucinations and eventually death. In addition to whatever it can catch with its tentacles, the jelly also consumes the ash particles and the very ground it rests upon to feed the chemosynthetic bacteria that dwell within its gut.

As they age, the ash jelly slowly accumulates a supply of methane that is a by product of the bacteria. Once it has a sufficient supply, the upper portion of the polyp will transform in an umbrella shaped structure called a medusa and detach to float off into the sky thanks to its methane filled pouch at its core. This lights up the ash filled skies with glowing lights as they drift about before finally coming to rest on the ground to return to their polyp stage once again to start its own life separate from the polyp it detached from.

Ash jellies are edible through out their life span and have a pleasing taste provided its properly prepared by washing it in alcohol. The polyp form is generally regarded as a delicacy however it extra care must be taken to ensure none of its stinger tentacles are consumed (the stinger tentacles are inactive in the medusa stage).

The bogs of Icelus

The bogs of Icelus, covered in a thick layer of algae and industrial oil, harbor a surprising life-form--bacterium that convert the oil into usable energy by transporting it into the depths of the bog. Buried under tons of decomposing plant matter and industrial runoff, the oil undergoes combustion, driving reactions which create mild neurotoxins, which filter to the surface. These neurotoxins build up in pockets beneath the algae and oil on the surface, and are released slowly in small jets, visible as a thin stream of iridescent gas. This gas, referred to as The Sleepless' Breath, causes severe whole-body numbing, insomnia and psychosis.

Nightmother's Fingers

Growing up to one meter below the ash-covered, wind-swept surface, Night Mother's Fingers spread in five long, finger-like tendrils into the barren soil. Covered in a thick, wax-like coating, the Night Mother's Fingers are an ancient fungus that has managed to survive for thousands upon thousands of years. Each of the typically five "fingers" of this fungus fluctuates in thickness with the amount of water stored in its central chamber. This water, because of the selective waxy membrane coating the fungus, is remarkably pure, and for generations beyond counting has provided a source of water for the nomadic tribes of Icelus. Occasionally, small outcroppings of flora--including, rarely, the gilliflower--can be found growing amidst the ash plains, their roots lodged firmly in Night Mother's Fingers' water chambers, some specimens of which grow close enough to the surface to permit this parasitic relationship.

Trench Feather

While commonly referred to as a plant because of its deceptive appearance, the Trench Feather is actually a hardy form of tube worm that dwells in the deep trenches of Icelus's salt plains. It's body consists of a resilient, almost woody, tube that is anchored securely in the rock by burrowing root like structures. At the end of the tube is a large majestic plume that bears striking resemblance to a feather slicked in shimmering oil and is typically a vivid red in color but both purple and gold are not unheard of. This plume is used to catch the numerous varieties of tiny insects that swarm maddeningly along the chasms. The trench feather subsists not only on the swarms of insects but it also lives in symbiosis with a chemosyntheic bacteria that can consume the toxic fumes that are heavy in the air. Trench feather's reproduce asexually through their roots, once distant enough from the main body it will turn to the surface to sprout a new tube, forming vast colonies of the creatures along the walls.

The trench feather is extremely toxic for human consumption however it can be used to make vivid, iridescence dyes.

Tales and Lore of Icelus

The First Men

Sit down, boy, and listen! My father told me this story, and his father told him, and before that his father's father and his father's father's father, and so on until the very beginning of time. This story has been told for as long as our clan has been riding these rails.

Listen! The people in the hives say that the rails are here for their sake. But my ancestors know otherwise. Before the hives, there were the First Cities, and before the Imperium, there were the First Men. Our ancestors, boy.

Listen! The First Men came from the stars, to this world, Icelus, which means "Paradise" in an ancient tongue. How can anyone call such a place paradise, you ask? Well, a paradise it was, back then! A green and lush world, covered in deep forests and clear blue seas. And so the First Men settled here, and they were pleased.

But then came the Great Calamity, and the Star King decreed that no man should venture out into the stars again, and sealed the Void with tempests of fire and beasts and nightmares that dwell there even today. So the First Men remained on Icelus, surrounded by a terrible storm, and waited for the coming of the Star King. But as they waited, they forgot the old ways, and fell into despair. They wanted to return to the old life, but knew not how. While the last sparks of the old life died out, the Calamity from the stars came to Icelus. It poisoned the water and murdered the trees, it dried up the seas and filled the air with evil dust. And so our ancestors left the great cities to dwell in caves and roam the wilderness, never staying in one place too long, for to remain is to displease the Evening Mother, the Voice of the Star King.

Listen! Then the skies cleared again, and emissaries of the Star King returned. Changed were they, and changed we were also; and so, not understanding each other, we clashed in war. On the grounds where brothers bled in vain, the great hives were built. And the new children of Icelus looked around them, and knew nothing but the dust, and the wasteland, and the hives; and they believed that was all there ever was.

Listen! Don't believe what they do! For we are the children of the First Men, the Star King's chosen. We must remember that which was lost, for if we do not, no one else will. Pass this story on to your son, boy, for if you do not, He will not look kindly upon you.

- Rail nomad legend, recorded by Scrivener Anton Basjid. Investigation by Adeptus Administratum pending.

The Nightmother's Breath

An ashstorm blows against the sides of the thick leather yurt, its crevices sealed with a jelly made of chemical byproducts to keep out the fine sand and ash particles. The constant rushing and slithering of the dust against the yurt wraps itself intimately around the old man's story, his arms hugging two small children tight to his sides as they stare at their family's history etched into the cured leather walls.

"Long ago, before the Star King closed the Veil of heaven to us, our people lived in great cities open to the sweet air with the ancestors of the Hive Born. We lived together in peace; trading and farming outside the great walls.

But the Star King saw fit to draw closed the Veil of Heaven, and our peoples fell into despair. Lamenting our fate, we blamed each other, and after much strife, we, the Children of the Plains, struck out from the great cities, through the withering forests, into the dead plains. The Walldwellers closed themselves in, and became hostile, attacking us when we came close, startled at our lean and ferocious appearance. We skirmished for years unending as our great world died of our sorrow, her lakes and oceans disappearing as the Night Mother cried to the stars.

The Walldwellers became angry with our ways and our fighting, believing it was us who departed from tradition and killed the old ways. They set out to destroy us, and left their walls in our pursuit. Though we were valorous, they were many, and our people suffered greatly. After one and a thousand years, the Night Mother's eyes were dry from weeping, and she looked with clarity upon her Earthbound Children. Seeing us flee into the Ash Plains with only our lives, she breathed deep and in exhaling, brewed great storms all across the surface, obscuring us from our pursuers. Baffled and blinded by the dust stinging their eyes, The Walldwellers retreated to their cities and hid; built themselves in as to shelter themselves from the Nightmother's Breath.

That is why we do not fear the ashstorms, young ones; they are the Nightmother's kind blessing. We thank her for her veil, and for our lives."

The old man lifts a small metal bowl with a close-fitting top. Ornate etchings cover its surface, and a small hole is drilled in the top to allow incense smoke to pour forth. It is much like the one atop their yurt, wafting smoky supplication to the Nightmother.

Icelus local parlance: a few expressions specific to the planet.

1. "Flower Child" - a child whose cunning and strength makes him a natural candidate for induction in the Nightmares.

2. "Keep to the rails" - stick to the established plan; don't do anything stupid, don't panic; don't stick out of the crowd. Example: "Just keep to the rails and this heist will go off as planned. Trust me, the guards won't be here for 15 more minutes."

3. "Purple Express" - used for someone having an unfair advantage. Example: "Mashilu must be the supervisor's pet. Now she's riding the Purple Express in Administration while we're stuck on the manufactorum floor with the servitors."

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