House Taranis

House Taranis is a Loyalist Imperial Knight House with strong ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus. The first of the knightly houses to be established was that of House Taranis. This truly ancient house predates any other by many hundreds of years, for it was first founded on Mars during the Age of Terra. As the industries of the red planet developed into a vast metropolis of technological mastery, so too did it evolve to become the first and foremost of the Forge Worlds, and the Knights of House Taranis were its guardians. The STC technology supplied to many of the expeditionary fleets during Mankind's expansion across the stars included designs for armoured suits of exo-armour based on those first developed to be used by the Knights of Taranis. When the Knight Worlds were first rediscovered during the Imperium's Great Crusade many thousands of years later, it is likely that the Mechanicum used their intimate knowledge of the Knight suits worn by House Taranis to help win the loyalty of those worlds.

Genesis of the Knight Suits
The first Knight suit was one of countless technological wonders created on Mars during the Age of Technology. The pioneering Nobles of House Taranis became the original Imperial Knights, and piloted the very first prototypes, fresh from the forges of Mars' industrial heart. Uniquely amongst the Nobles of the other knightly houses, however, the subtle mind-altering technology was noticeably absent from the Thrones Mechanicum of Taranis' Knights. This was in part due to the fact that the Martian Nobles who became the first Knights were already fiercely loyal to their Mechanicum overseers and House Taranis was an integral part of Mars' infrastructure. The Imperial Knight STCs were upgraded to include the subliminal stimuli in preparation for Mankind's exodus across the stars, the better to prepare the Nobles who would be responsible for the protection of others. Many of the Knight suits piloted by the Nobles of House Taranis were archaic compared to those of the "younger" houses, for they included the very earliest patterns and marks of Knight armour amongst their number. The destruction of so many Knights during the Horus Heresy saw this balance redressed, however, and Maven's house was ultimately to be reborn with the very finest Knight suits at its disposal, as befitted the first of the knightly houses. Many of the Imperial Knights of House Taranis date back to the time of Taranis' renewal, each proudly emblazoned with the amended heraldry of their house. Never again has the strength of House Taranis been so sorely tested, for it returned from the precipice of annihilation greater than ever before.

Notable Campaigns
billowing clouds of flies sizzle against their ion shields and form drifts about their feet. The daemonic lord drowns one Knight in a tide of bile, and crushes two more beneath its weeping bulk. Yet the Knights' reaper chainswords carve through its rancid flesh and with a final, gurgling roar the Great Unclean One is banished. The remaining Daemons fade slowly from view, leaving the planet’s surviving defenders to count the cost.
 * The Emperor Arrives on Mars (c.M30) - Knight Taymon Verticorda, of House Taranis, is the first to encounter the Emperor on his arrival on Mars. In his guise as the Omnissiah, the Emperor forges an auspicious alliance between Mars and the newly unified Terra that forms the backbone of his fledgling Imperium. Preparations are made for a great undertaking to reunite the lost worlds of Mankind.
 * 'The Tarsok Incursion (230.M41) - Knights of House Taranis battle a daemonic incursion on the world of Tarsok V, taking the fight to the towering Great Unclean One that leads the daemonic horde. Wading through a tide of Plaguebearers, Seneschal Halver's Knights advance on the corpulent horror while

House Colours
With such strong connections to the Forge World of Mars, House Taranis has ever borne the red of the Adeptus Mechanicus as its livery.

House Arms
The name of House Taranis is heavy with the weight of deeds performed in an ancient time steeped in infamy. Yet even before the dark days of the Horus Heresy, House Taranis bore the honour of being the first knightly house. Indeed, the crest of House Taranis bears the stylised cog of Mars at its centre, for the red planet of the Adeptus Mechanicus is its home world –- a fact that grants it peerless status amongst the other knightly houses of the Imperium. House Taranis has ever proudly borne the red of Mars as its livery, though this symbolic field has since been adopted by many of the other knightly houses that are directly aligned to the Adeptus Mechanicus. The sword that divides the crest of House Taranis from the demi-cog symbol of the newly founded Adeptus Mechanicus was added in the wake of the Horus Heresy. Raf Maven, a valiant Knight who not only survived, but went on to rebuild and rule House Taranis after the disastrous civil war on Mars, insisted on adding the emblem in honour of his kinsmen who died in the bitter fighting. This legacy combined with its illustrious home world ensures that Taranis is the foremost knightly house.

Gallery
[[Category:H]]