Adrastapol



Adrastapol is a Knight World of the Imperium of Mankind whose primary allegiance is to the Imperium itelf rather than the Adeptus Mechanicus. Located in the distant Majestis System, Adrastapol is home to several knightly Households of noble descent which are ruled by a supreme leader who bears the title of High King. Throughout its long history, the title has been passed from House to House and currently resides with the House Draconis. Yet, the name of Adrastapol also carries its share of misgivings and mistrust, for time and time again the Knights of Adrastapol have had to battle their own, as entire Houses fell to the insidious touch of Chaos. This was recently illustrated by the dire events of the Donatos Uprising. In the wake of this campaign, the Ordos of the Holy Inquisition have despatched an envoy to Adrastapol to make sure the remaining Knights' loyalty remains above all suspicion.

History
Much of Adrastapol's history has sadly been lost to the ravages of time and war and only the most recent events and chronicles can be considered reliable by the educated man. As a result of this lack of manscript sources, the only truly reliable source of informations would reside within the ghost of the former Knights and their memories which still reside within the Thrones Mechanicum of those ancient Imperial Knights still in service today. As with most Knight Worlds, it is generally recognized that Adrastapol was colonized in the distant past of the Dark Age of Technology when most Colony Arks were outfitted with the sacred STC-systems that would lead the first settlers to build the first Imperial Knights. Sadly, whatever threat initially prompted the STC-system to begin the construction of Imperial Knights has long since been lost to history. Over the long millennia of the Age of Strife, the Adrastapolian branch of humanity maintained much of its numbers and technological mastery, preserving the ancients suit of Knight-armour their forfathers had entrusted them with and defending their homeworld from exterior threats. In particular, the Adrastapolians maintained high levels of skills in the domains of mechanics, energy production and metallurgy, which can perhaps best be observed in the ingenious and highly unique weapons developed by the Knight Households such as the Draconsword of House Draconis or the Chimersword of House Chimaeros. Over these years of isolation, each of the Households of Adrastapol developed a strong identity with extensive martial traditions, codes and customs that through accumulation have almost become impenetrable to outsiders.

For much of its history, the Households were left to govern themselves, each House operating from its own mighty fortress and watching over Adrastapol's population, which grew exponentially until it reached into the tens of millions. To ensure stability and prevent internecine conflict, the hereditary title of High King was created and awarded to the ruler of the strongest House of Adrastapol's seven confirmed Households. In addition to his crown, the High King was awarded an additionnal symbol of his rule, a coterie of seven Servo-Skulls which were covered in precious metals and fashioned to the likings of each of the Houses'heraldic animal: the dracon, the minos, the wyvorn, the pegas, the hydra, the chimer and the medusa. For centuries if not millennia, Adrastapol prospered under the rule of the different dynasties of High Kings until it was reunified with the Imperium of Mankind. Again, no sources of these ancient times remain, but the fact that the Knights of Adrastapol still owe fealty directly to the Imperium rather than to the Adeptus Mechanicus should indicate that first contact was made by an Expeditionary Fleet of the Imperial Army or the Legiones Astartes. Following Imperial Compliance, it would have been expected of the Knights to participate in the wars of the Great Crusade, but again through the lack of hard evidence it is difficult to pinpoint Adrastapol's contributions to this greatest and most noble of all human endeavours. What is known is that Adrastapol did not escape the Horus Heresy unscathed as during the rule of High King Rhoderic Tan Chimaeros, two full Houses of Imperial Knights - House Hydrax and House Medusos - sided with the Traitor WarmasterHorus Lupercal. This would be the first, but sadly not the last time that the Knights of Adrastapol would fight each other.

In the wake of the Horus Heresy and the destruction of House Hydrax and House Medusos, the remaining Households divided the fallen House's territory and ressources amongst themselves, consolidating their power and nuturing their wounds. During this period, a pall of secrecy descended upon Adrastapol and what truly transpired on the Knight World is unknown. As was their Emperor-given duty, the High Kings of House Chimaeros led the Knights of Adrastapol into battle when called upon and for millenia the Knight's homeworld prospered and remained safe.

The Ork Wars and the Fall of House Manticos
Few are the enemies that would be foolish enough to assault a Knight World, and yet this is neither unprecented nor fully unexpected. Of these enemies, the warrying tribes of the Orks are perhaps the ones that would most readily come to mind. Towards the end of the 40th Millennium, in the youth of future High King Tolwyn Tan Draconis, Adrastapol became the focus of one of the violent migrations of the Orks known as WAAAGH!s. Led by one of their fearsome Warbosses, Skarjaw, the Orks assaulted Adrastapol in force. The Adrastapolians called this sombre chapter in their history the Ork Wars because the conflict lasted for many years and would see millions of the folk of Adrastapol die. Even according to the low standards of the Orks, Skarjaw was a savage representative of his foul xenos-breed, a creature that was almost feral, Skarjaw brought many of the Orks' great warbeast, the towering Squiggoths to Adrastapol. The foul creatures flourished on Adrastapol and the five remaining Houses of Imperial Knights were hard pressed to hold the line against the Orks, High King Gerraint Tan Chimaeros incapable of vanquishing the foe. Many are the tales of heroism forged in this war, until Skarjaw was finally defeated. Having broken through the defence lines of House Pegasson, the Orks sought to assault the Draconspire, the ancestral home of House Draconis but where unexpectedly attacked by a party of Draconis Knights led by Tolwyn Tan Draconis which succeeded in disrupting the Orks and kill Skarjaw which perished beneath the blows of Markos Dar Draconis. The skattered survivors of WAAAGH! Skarjaw would go on to povide the Knights of Adrastapol with welcome quarries for their great hunts and the training of their squires.

The Ork Wars left Adrastapol severely weakened as it had succeeded in entirely destroying one of the noble Houses - House Manticos - whose keep was razed by the Orks. But as he walked the scorched and blackened ruins of the former fortress, High King Gerraint Tan Chimaeros discovered a lone survivor, a beautiful girl on the brink of womanhood, a fragile little thing he would save from the debris and eventually take as his consort, the Lady Alicia Kar Manticos, last scion of a lost house. For the Imperium, Adrastapol and House Chimaeros, it would have been better the girl had perished at the hands of the Orks.

Society
The Adrastapolian value honour and decorum to the extent that adressing a Scion with the wrong form of address can quickly lead to an honour duel being called. To complicate matters further, the name of a Scion as well as his formal title may change over time. In its most basic form, an Adrastapolian Knight will have a prefix before the name of his House that will denote his relationship to the House's ruler. In this regard, the most valued prefix is that of "Tan," which denotes direct kinship to a Noble House's ruler without considering the Knight's position in his own House's hierarchy. In general terms, this prefix would indicate that everybody bearing the prefix of "Tan" is a member of royalty and should be treated with the greatest respect. For example, the current ruler of Adrastapol bears the name of Danial Tan Drakonis, son of the former High King Tolwyn Tan Draconis and brother to Jennika Tan Draconis.

The most common prefix is "Dar" -- which could loosely be translated into Low Gothic as "of House" or "belonging to House." The prefix "Dar" indicates to which House a Knight's allegiance is given. This prefix is of great symbolic value and only upon completing his Rites of Becoming and being formally ordained as a Knight may a squire claim this prefix. During his training, a squire may be referred to simply by his first name and rank, such as Squire Willem, and may be called Willem Dar Minotos only after having survived his Becoming rituals. Should a Knight choose or be forced by circumstance to become a Freeblade or have his House destroyed, he would automatically bear the prefix of "Kar" which would replace any prefix that came before it. Seldomly has this been seen as anything other than as a mark of shame.