House Sidus is a Tertius-grade Imperial Knight house of the Questor Mechanicus, known also by the cognomens "Scions of Ryza," and the "Shackled Knights," that has valiantly stood amongst the defenders of the Imperium of Man for millennia. Despite the paucity of records claiming the foundatioin of this Knight household occurred during the early years of the Great Crusade, this has proven untrue in light of the events that occurred during the Horus Heresy. Founded upon the Forge World of Ryza, House Sidus has stood as its stalwart protectors, standing eternal vigilance over their homeworld from the encroachment of those that would do it harm.
House Sidus shares Ryza with the Titans of the Legio Crucius, whom hail from the western edge of the southern continent of Erudition, this Titan Legio makes the Fortress of Iron, a towering hollow mountain as their bastion. Located further east is the forge city of Endeavour. This locale serves as a repository of knowledge, for beneath the city lay archival catacombs containing the sum of Ryza's knowledge.
Deeper still sits the war vaults of Ryza, sealed by order of the Emperor for fear of what they contained. Known only to a few, it was also here that House Sidus made their home, engaged in simulations until such time that war called and their existence was finally revealed during the Defence of Ryza during the Horus Heresy.
The existence of House Sidus was known only to a select few before Ryza was invaded during the Horus Heresy, though many had once questioned why Ryza laid claim to no Knight house despite possessing the knowledge and capabilities to support one. In hindsight, Ryza's refusal to found a household even after support was offered from Mars indicates that the secret of the existence of House Sidus was kept for the Forge World's own purpose, perhaps in the hope of retaining a measure of power known only to themselves.
Assurances by the hierarchs of Ryza that no such ambition was held, and that House Sidus was forged following the Warmaster's betrayal, are suspect at best. Regardless of their intent, the continued loyalty of Ryza to the Imperium remained without question and whether House Sidus stood newly-forged or millennia-old remains one amongst many mysteries that emerged from the Horus Heresy best left unanswered.
Though the Defence of Ryza was reported as the first engagement of House Sidus, its Scions acquitted themselves well, besting the Knights of House Morbidia atop Mount Causcaut and claiming two engine kills during the Loyalist assault upon Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega. Despite their existence being kept secret prior to the conflict, House Sidus did not stand idle for the remainder of the Horus Heresy and beyond, marching in support of the Legio Crucius, possessed with a singular desire to punish those who had devastated their world and restore the faded glory of Ryza.
House History[]
House Sidus houshold colour scheme as displayed by the Cerastus Knight-Atrapos Virealis during the Horus Heresy.
The exact origin and date of founding of the House of Sidus is held in much contention amongst the ranks of both the ancient Mechanicum and the Officio Militaris College of Arms. According to official records retrieved from the data-vaults of both Ryza and Mars, the date of House Sidus' founding stands as 007.M31, as determined by information delivered and sworn as truthful by representatives of Ryza before the Parliament of Mars.
Despite this, many amongst the Adeptus Mechanicus have since cast doubt upon the veracity of such claims. Indeed, the strength of Ryza has long been held in some contention, supporting as it did fewer numbers of warriors than a Forge World of its scale was capable of maintaining. The original records pertaining to the strength of Ryza and its holdings noted, with some contention, that the Forge World laid claim to no Knight house.
Such an assertion was met with scepticism from many amongst the Cult Mechanicus, for the Forge World contained both the means and the knowledge to construct such machines. Many questioned why, in millennia of self-rule, the hierarchs of Ryza had deemed it unnecessary to ratify the creation of such a force in defence of the Forge World against threats a Titan Legion would be ill-suited to overcome.
To this, Ryza held no answer, stating only that its magi had turned their minds to other pursuits. Though some demanded further investigation, none was forthcoming and, in time, suspicions were set aside in recognition of Ryza's considerable contribution to the Great Crusade, lest strife be caused by false accusation. Thus it came with much surprise to many amongst the Mechanicum when reports dispatched from beleaguered Imperial forces across the Ultima Segmentum spoke of Knights decorated in the livery and iconography of Ryza lending aid to their efforts.
Responses from Ryza as to the allegiance and provenance of such Knights proved slow, a circumstance which representatives of the Forge World placed upon the fractured nature of communications during those troubling times. The same communiqués stated that the formation of House Sidus, as the nascent household was so named, had been created in the half-decade following the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V, a claim publicly derided by some amongst the Mechanicum.
House Sidus Questoris Knight Magaera Urasangshou as depicted during the Horus Heresy.
As evidence for the falsehood of such a claim, critics levelled accusations that the strength of House Sidus, made up as it was by considerable quantities of Knights Styrix, Knights Magaera and Knights Atrapos, would be impossible, even for the forges of Mars, to produce in such time.
The true origin of House Sidus may forever remain a mystery for, though great scrutiny was turned towards uncovering the truth, little but circumstantial evidence pointing towards an alternative date of creation was found. Following lengthy investigation, it was with much reluctance that the official creation date for House Sidus was enshrined within Imperial annals, despite objections to the contrary.
Disagreement with such a date is noted in two amendments to the records of House Sidus, stating that many of the household's Knight armours bore signs of solar decades of use rather than years, and combat reports attesting to the first recorded actions of House Sidus noting a rigidity in their movements and tactics often associated within extensive simulation training.
Nevertheless, it is impossible to ignore the significant contribution House Sidus made across the Ultima Segmentum, lending aid to dozens of worlds during the Horus Heresy. In other times, the hiding of resources may have been judged far harsher, yet such wrongdoing paled in comparison to the heinous deeds of others -- thus the issue of House Sidus was cast aside in favour of more pressing concerns.
Notable Campaigns[]
- Defence of Ryza (012.M31) - During the Horus Heresy, a great battle took place on the Legio Crucius' home Forge World known as the Defence of Ryza. Forces of the Dark Mechanicum, led by the Traitor Titan Legions and their Chaos Knight allies fought against the Loyalist servants of the Omnissiah. Countless Titans and Knights fell on both sides. Despite achieving several notable victories against the Loyalists, including the destruction of the bastion of the Legio Crucius, the Traitor forces soon faced a new threat. The Hierophant of Ryza ordered the opening of the Forge World's war vaults, giving her allies full access to the deadly, and once-forbidden, knowledge held within. When the defenders of Ryza marched out once more, they did so with weapons capable of sundering even a Titan with terrifying ease. Alongside them came a whole new force -- House Sidus, a Knight house previously unknown to the Imperium, consisting nearly exclusively of Mechanicum Knights and kept hidden away beneath the city of Endeavour until such time as they were needed. So assembled, the Loyalists went on the offensive, hoping to throw back the Traitors before they too could regroup. It was at Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega that the two forces were to meet in great numbers, the spaceport hosting the last battle of the invasion as it had the first. The Scions of House Sidus acquitted themselves well, besting the Renegade Knights of House Morbidia atop Mount Causcaut and claiming two war engine kills during the Loyalist assault upon Conveyance Terminus Nine-Omega. Eventually, the Loyalists were able to drive back the Traitors, only to be bombarded by a Chaos warfleet from orbit. There was little to celebrate, as the guardians of Ryza tasted pyrrhic victory, and the world never recovered the prominence it had known as a true rival to Mars before the Heresy.
Notable House Sidus Knights[]
- Ursanshou (Knight Magaera) - Ursanshou was a rare and ancient pattern of Knight armour --a Knight Magaera -- that was produced by the forge-fanes of the Mechanicum. Despite its rarity, the conflict upon Ryza revealed several dozen of its kind amongst the ranks of House Sidus, their numbers unleashed upon the Traitors during the Siege of Endeavour at the Defence of Ryza and the subsequent battles. Depicted above before departing Ryza after the recapture of Conveyance Terminal Nine-Omega, like all Knights of House Sidus, it took its name from the stars recorded within ancient cartography records charted by Mankind's first explorers. Translated, the Knight's name meant "Guard of the Stars" and in recognition of its title, Ursangshou was amongst the first Knights of House Sidus to give chase to the Traitors across the stars during the Horus Heresy.
- Virealis (Cerastus Knight-Atrapos) - Records indicate that Virealis, depicted above, piloted by techno-savant Scion Haddeusi Unyrix, holds the honour of being the first amongst House Sidus to awaken from the stasis vaults during the Storm of Endeavour on the Forge World of Ryza during the Horus Heresy. Furthermore, the household's first two reported engine-kills are also attributed to this Knight Atrapos, with engagement reports showing Virealis to have emerged from concealed bunkers into the midst of a Legio Vulturum Warhound Titan pack. Virealis is recorded as having felled two Scout Titans by expertly severing their locomotors with its las cutter then retreating into the streets of Endeavour before the remaining Traitor engines could move to engage the Knight.
Notable House Sidus Personnel[]
- Scion Haddeusi Unyrix - This Scion of House Sidus piloted the Cerastus Knight-Atrapos Virealis during the Horus Heresy.
House Allies[]
Titan Legios[]
House Strength[]
In number, House Sidus stood amongst the smallest of Mechanicum-aligned households, for records released by Ryza in the years following its invasion indicated a complement of around sevenscore Knights, a number far lower than expected for a Forge World of Ryza's prominence. This would normally mark House Sidus as a Tertius-grade household. Such a discrepancy can be explained, however, by the nature of the Knights that made up House Sidus' numbers, for all but a decade of its number consisted of the rarest of Knight patterns, those of Knight Magaera, Knight Styrix and Cerastus Knight-Atrapos.
Such numbers were unheard of in all but the largest of households and even rarer was it that such patterns formed the bulk of a house's numbers for any reason save catastrophic losses. The presence of so many rarer Knight armours would no doubt offset their low numbers, for the raw power and esoteric technology wielded by the Knights of House Sidus provided them with the capability to contest households twice their number under the command of a shrewd tactician.
A Knight Magaera is a marvel of lost technology and stands amongst the rarest examples of Knight armour produced by the forge-fanes of the ancient Mechanicum. Despite its rarity, the conflict upon Ryza revealed several dozen of their kind amongst the ranks of House Sidus, their numbers unleashed upon the Traitors during the Siege of Endeavour and the subsequent battles during the Defence of Ryza.
House Appearance[]
House Colours[]
The Knights of House Sidus are painted in the black and orange of their homeworld of Ryza with gold trim.
House Arms[]
The arms of House Sidus takes the form of a black star, the center of it bright yellow and marked with a High Gothic letter "s". This symbol is centred upon a field of orange.
Sources[]
- Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: Loyalist Legios (Specialty Game), pp. 118-127
- Adeptus Titanicus - The Horus Heresy: The Defence of Ryza (Specialty Game), pp. 18-19, 24, 56-57
- Warhammer Community - The Defence of Ryza: The Story (23 July 2020)
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