Sacris

The world called Sacris is classified as a Forbidden World by the Adeptus Terra and is located in the Calixis Sector of the Ultima Segmentum of the Imperium of Man. Sacris is a feral world of highland moors and dark, gloomy swampland. It is inhabited by primitive human tribes of warriors who gather around charismatic clan warlords and continually battle for supremacy in the planet's shadowy swamps. The tribes of Sacris have a firece code of honour and deeply believe that a man's word is his bond. The tribes worship the Emperor of Mankind as a stern divine father who judges the souls of all men by their strength at arms and the purity of their honour. The culture of Sacris has had a strong impact upon the Storm Wardens, as many of the Chapter's Neophytes come from the tribes. It is not uncommon to see Storm Warden Scout Marines with woad-painted faces like those of the native tribes. Humans are not the only inhabitants of Sacris, however; a sizeable colony of the Abhuman Ogryns survived on the planet's rocky southern continent, possibly the descendants of Ogryns owed a debt of honour as the result of an ancient oath sworn by the Storm Wardens before the Nemesis Incident. Whatever the truth of their origins, the Storm Wardens do not show the usual Imperial distaste for Abhumans and have fought beside many Imperial Guard Regiments in the past that included units of Ogryns and Ratlings.

At the present, automated Imperial orbital beacons encircle Sacris, declaring the world forbidden to all traffic and communion with the wider Imperium and spreading rumours that the planet is home to a deadly plague. The reason for this deception is unknown, save for the fact that it was Owin Glendwyr's final command as Chapter Master. Later Chapter Masters have continued this false quarantine, though they do not know the purpose for it or what danger Sacris might present to the rest of Mankind. The Storm Wardens maintain their fortress-monastery on Highcastle, the single ivory-coloured moon that orbits above Sacris. Crenelated Gothic towers surmounted by Gargoyle-Servitors define this great stronghold. Inhabited by all the Storm Wardens, it holds massive chambers where the Chapter's many vehicles and wargear are maintained. The fortress-monastery's halls bear many blank banners and deep scars left behind by the Nemesis Incident. Highcastle's lower halls (the term refers to the fortress-monastery as well as the moon of Sacris) extend deep below the moon's surface and contain the automated nanofurnaces that provide the raw materials and physical conditions necessary to craft new weapons and vehicles for the Chapter, overseen by the Master of the Forge. Deeper still are the stasis chambers, though none but the Storm Wardens' Dreadnoughts know their true location. Highcastle is a seemingly impregnable citadel, although much of the fortress remains inaccessible and unknown, even to the Storm Wardens. The age of Highcastle is difficult to determine accurately, but the fragmentary records remaining to the Chapter from before the Nemesis Incident reveal that Highcastle was present in this part of the galaxy even before the Angevin Crusade and the resulting formal incorporation of the Calixis Sector into the Imperium of Man.