House Orhlacc



'''House Orhlacc is a Loyalist Imperial Knight House aligned with the Imperium of Man. That demonstrated unflinching loyalty during the latter part of the Great Crusade and throughout the Horus Heresy. Although not amongst the most powerful Knight Houses, being only a Secundus Grade Imperial Knight House, House Orhlacc nevertheless was heavily involved in many major campaigns of the Horus Heresy, especially in the region of the Coronid Reach where their valiant effort contributed to the reconquest of the the Agri-World of Numinal. Although of sinister repute both within the forces of the Mechanicum and those of the wider Imperium -- albeit for very different reasons -- House Orhlacc has always been famed for the technological skills both of its Sacristans and its Knights which vastly contributed to their strenght and ultimate survival through their millennia-long isolation. Reunified with the Imperium in late M.30 through the efforts of Lord Commander Suleiman Grimm of the Dark Angels Space Marine Legion, House Orhlacc became a respected ally, their courage and heroism being rewarded by the attribution of a Memento Mori by the hands of the Emperor himself for their bold sacrifice during the Rangdha Outbreak. House Orhlacc is one of the few known houses to have willingly abandoned their original Homeworld of Dark Haven during the events of the Horus Heresy as to better relocate itself on the grim world of Wychval and fight on throughout the Heresy. As a reward for their assistance Ireton MaSade, the famed Militia Commander and leader of the loyalist war effort, would give over dominion of Wychval to House Orhlacc.

History
Perhaps surprisingly so the history of House Orhlacc -- or "The Dread and Wise House of Orhlacc" to give it it's full title - is one well accounted for. At the very least it is well-documented, most record and archives having been preserved by the House's Sacristans and remaining Lexmmechanics. The Chronicles of Founding of House Orhlacc tells the tale of how explorators originating from Lucius Forge World set out for the Cyclops Cluster in their tireless quest for resources and mineral wealth. Having discovered both in the nearby uninhabited systems as well as a live-sustaining world close-by, decisions were made to protect those valuable resources by establishing the newly discovered world as a Knight World. Isolated, covered in shadows an teeming both with vegetation and fauna the world was aptly named Dark Haven and soon became home to dozens of Knight Households. So it was that in the latter era of mankind's golden age, Dark Haven was colonized by the Mechanicum. Space was cleared in the dense vegetation, settlements were founded and mighty keeps erected to house the new knightly houses. However as the first colonist discovered soon enough Dark Haven never was the paradise they were promised, but a death world. From the tinniest plant to the mightiest animal, every lifeform of the planet's expansive ecosystem was fatally toxic to the humans that were now trying to colonize this world. The thick forest canopy had hidden an entire hostile ecosystem dominated by local predators whose venom was so corrosive that it could eat through plasteel and even sear ceramite. Unable to feed of local growths the colonist had to progressively rely on the vast stockpiles they had brought with them. The colonist petitioned their Forge World for aid, which was swiftly granted : off-world agriculture was introduced onto Dark Haven which in conjection with supplies shipments from Lucius helped keeping food shortages at bay. Additionally a team of what can only be described as Magos Biologis was despatched to the new colony with the certain hope of eventually finding a solution to the planet's toxicity. In these first decades of human settlement, progress was slow but steady. This was however soon to change.

Age of Strife
Matters however worsened dramatically with the beginning of the Age of Strife for which the colonist were obviously ill-prepared. Despite their best efforts the Magos Biologis had failed to deliver a solution to the planet's initial and it's population still very much depended on external shipments to survive - a supply chain the warp storms had now abruptly cut short. Relying solely on their ever-dwindling stockpiles the colonists soon suffered privations and famine. To make matters worse, as if sensing the colonist weakness, the planetary ecology surprisingly and abruptly turned against the humans. Entire settlements vanished under the hyperactive flora, their inhabitants killed by predators, intoxicated by hence unknown micro-organisms or starving to death due to mysteriously polluted supplies. Tirelessly the Knights rode out, doing battle against the very planet itself. Most of their keeps were by now protected by mighty everburning pits or trenches, their elemental fire seemingly the only sound defense against ever-hungry vegetation, silent spores and toxic predators alike. In the slim hope of survival the Knights of Dark Haven continuously had to ride out to hunt down mega-predators our mow down the ever-creeping vegetation. As the stockpiles dwindled further, the inevitable happened: to satisfy their hunger and save their people House turned against House and Knight fought Knight as increasingly desperate they resolved themselves to turn to abominable and horrifying acts to guarantee their own survival.