Rahe's Paradise, known as Lsanthranil's Shield by the Eldar, was a recruitment world for the Blood Ravens Chapter of Space Marines. Much of the world's surface was covered in inhospitable desert and rock, but human life was sustainable in the equatorial mountain ranges, where the temperature was fairly temperate. This area recieved almost all of the sparse rainfaill that the planet recieved. The world's name came about when one of the first Blood Ravens missionaries. the legendary Chaplain Elizur, had commented that "this is a very harsh place to live." The tribal chieftain he'd spoken to, whose name was Rahe, had perhaps not fully understood what the Chaplain had said, and replied "No, this is my paradise", and so it was. Many subsequent visitors have noted the irony in the name.
Population
A world as harsh as Rahe's Paradise produces hard, brutal people. Food on the surface was scarce, and competion for it was fierce. Tribes warred not only with each other, but also with the vicious animals who also competed for food. As a result, the natives of Rahe's Paradise were extremely xenophobic, distrusting anyone outside their tribe. A tribe's most important structure was it's storehouse, where the food was kept. Children were raised with weapons in their hands, always prepared to defend their home from attack by other tribes and hungry animals. The Blood Ravens encouraged this vicious tribal behaviour, as it produced strong and able recruits for the Chapter. Like all of the Blood Raven's recruitment worlds, the population of Rahe's Paradise produced an usual number of psykers.
Necrons
Unbeknownst to the Blood Ravens, and to the natives, a deadly force slept just beneath the surface. This threat took the form of the Necrons who had made Rahe's Paradise their Tomb World 65 million years before. In the caves, tunnels, and catacombs that ran beneath the desert's surface, thousands of Necrons lay slumbering, along with their spacecraft and machines of war, waiting for new Red Harvests to begin in the galaxy.
Lsanthranil's Shield
Lsanthranil's Shield was an ancient device constructed by the Eldar thousands of years ago, to make certain the Necrons of Rahe's Paradise would never rise. Lsanthranil's Shield was designed, essentially, to cast a psychic shield around the planet. This shield would perpetually fool the Necron Lord into thinking that the galaxy was not yet ripe for harvesting, thus ensuring he would never awaken and the Necrons would sleep indefinetely. Once the Eldar had constructed the device, they entrusted it's maintenence and safe-keeping to an unknown chapter of Space Marines, with whom they'd been working in unison against the Necron threat. However, this chapter mysteriously abandoned their post, leaving behind little trace of themselves. In the 41st Millenium, the unchecked number of psykers on Rahe's Paradise was beginning to weaken Lsanthranil's Shield, and threatened to wake the Necrons.
Battle of Rahe's Paradise
In the 41st Millenium, Eldar from the Biel-Tan Craftworld and the Blood Ravens clashed on the surface of Rahe's Paradise. The Eldar, Dark Reapers and rangers led the by the Farseer Macha, had come to see to it that Lsanthranil's Shield continued to function. Once on the surface, they began to target human psykers, seeking to thin their numbers and stop them weaking the shield. The Blood Ravens 3rd Company, commanded by Captain Gabriel Angelos, had come to Rahe's Paradise to conduct their Blood Trials, and immediatly engaged the aliens. After several intense battles, however, both sides realized the threat posed by the weakened Lsanthranil's Shield, and the Farseer was quickly allowed to restore the device to full working order.
Destruction
In orbit, however, the situation was an entirely different matter. The Dark Reapers vessel Reaper's Blade, beset by two Space Marine Strike Cruisers, was destroyed. This released the contents of the Dark Reapers spirit pool into the atmosphere of Rahe's Paradise. The resulting psychic feedback shattered Lsanthranil's Shield once and for all. With unnatural speed, the Necrons on the Rahe's Paradise roused, and begin attacking all living beings on the surface, Human and Eldar alike. Both sides quickly evacuated the planet, as the Space Marine strike cruisers and the remaining Eldar Wraithship in orbit struggled to contain the ever growing numbers of Necron space vessels trying to leave Rahe's Paradise. This became a futile effort, however, when a Shroud-class cruiser lifted off and fled for the system's star. While the Eldar Wraithship Eternal Star, and the Strike Cruiser Ravenous Spirit pursued the Shroud Cruiser, the second Strike Cruiser Rage of Erudition stayed behind and perfomed an Exterminatus upon Rahe's Paradise. This destroyed the planet, and all the Necrons remaining on it.
Sources
- Dawn of War - Ascension (Novel) by C.S. Goto