Charopós

Charopós is an ancient world that lies just beyond the northeastern-most edge of the known galaxy, near the border of the Segmentum Obscurus and the Ultima Segmentum, in the Acheron System. This world also serves as an Adeptus Astartes homeworld for the savage and bellicose Imperius Ravagers Space Marine Chapter. This isolated planet is classified as a war world, as it is in a constant state of warfare between the various city-states and client satrapies. Due to their harsh and unforgiving lives, the people of Charopós make ideal candidates for Space Marine Aspirants.

Background
Once a technologically advanced world, Charopós managed to miraculously survive the savagery, chaos and strife of Old Night. For thousands of years, the light of civilisation refused to die out completely, as the Charopósians were subjected to a multitude of horrors, ranging from savage internecine conflicts, mutations, the emergence of psykers and the attempted dominance of rampaging xenos. From the war-wracked world, fragments of the Dark Age of Technology remained - a reminder of the former accomplishments of humanity from a bygone era - which was treasured through the subconscious racial memory by the ignorant descendants of mankind. The survival of this world was only accomplished due to the planet's location near several Warp anomalies which makes interstellar travel difficult, yet provided enough of a veil of reality which protected them from the malignant influence of Chaos. Despite long forgotten, past events that occurred during the Age of Strife, the Charopósians still maintain a healthy distrust of anything otherworldly, including psykers and sorcery.

Following the creation of the Imperius Ravagers and their subsequent launch of their Crusade from Macragge, Charopós was discovered nearly a century and a half later. Still led by their Chapter's founder, Legatus Praetore Bruticus Kratos, the Imperius Ravagers found Charopós as a world ravaged by war, as various city-states and client satrapies fought one another and were ruled by corrupt, decadent and inbred nobles. These city-states dominated the planet and endlessly fought over the limited verdant valleys, plateaus and vales in a constantly shifting lattice of power and warfare. Given to the pursuit of wealth, dominance and security, the people of Charopós developed into a secular, opportunistic culture.

Many of the regions of the newly discovered world had been ravaged through the use of forbidden chem and rad weapons in ages past, turning many of the once verdant areas into radioactive wastelands. The legacy of past conflicts in which millions of soldiers had given their lives in pointless conflicts were also evident throughout the planet, as trenches and ruined fortifications were spread across the length and breadth of entire continents. These wasteful wars were not fought for honour or conflicting ideologies, they were motivated by the greed and arrogance of the planet's rulers. The utter disregard shown by the world's nobility for the lives of their subjects were both shocking and horrific.

These warring city-states were separate dictatorships ruled by brutal tyrants who often conducted purges against all opposition, both real and imagined, and kept their subjects in line through ruthless and draconian tactics. Within this fractious realm, the strength and ruthlessness of one's military forces came to be the hallmark and measure of the greatest of the city-states and their rulers. Charopós' incessant wars were fought between these massive armies of professional soldiers. The Charopósian arts of war evolved over time towards a sublime mastery of heavy infantry style tactics and brutal close-quarters assaults.

The Imperius Ravagers found the Charopósians to be a hearty and proud people who were not submissive, and therefore, not the most pliant or easiest of subjects to rule over as they were aloof, prideful and justly wary of friend and enemy alike. To them, mercy was an alien concept, as they were prone to mete out murderous violence to any insult or slight to their honour. Taking several subjects from the local populace, the Imperius Ravagers thoroughly tested them in soul-crushing trials which tested them physically, mentally and spiritually. As they were not found wanting, the Imperius Ravagers ultimately deemed them free of deviancy and found the people of Charopós to be ideal candidates. Legatus Praetore Kratos saw the value of such a world - the inhospitable terrain and warlike culture proved an ideal recruiting ground for the Chapter - as the world's inhabitants could easily be moulded into potential Astartes. The Imperius Ravagers declared the world of Charopós as their own and its surrounding system as its demesne in the name of the Imperium of Man. Kratos had found a permanent home for his Chapter.

Acheron System
The Acheron System consists of three habitable worlds, an outer ring of asteroids as well as various mobile defences and star-fortresses. Notable worlds include:
 * Charopós - The Chapter homeworld of the Imperius Ravagers is a savage war world of rocky windswept mountain ranges and rad-ravaged wastelands. The people of this world live in a feudal, early-industrial state, whose city-states constantly wage war upon one another in an effort to secure limited resources and helots (slaves) to perform both mundane tasks, and to serve as helot-warriors within their vast armies. Over thousands of years, this constant state of warfare has purposely been encouraged by the Imperius Ravagers, who often stoke blood feuds and internecine conflicts between the various city-states, in order to keep the people of Charopós in a constant state of conflict. This makes for a hearty warrior-stock that is ideal for potential Astartes candidates.
 * Hephaestios - This forgotten outpost of the Adeptus Mechanicus was from its inception in the early 30th Millennium, created to be a war-world - a fane of weapons and armaments solely intended to serve the needs of the ever-advancing frontline forces of the Great Crusade. But following the events of the Horus Heresy, contact was lost with Hephaestios, due to the vagaries of war and every increasing warp turbulence that made interstellar travel and communication precarious, at best. Rediscovered by the crusading fleet of the Imperius Ravagers in the latter centuries of the 32nd Millennium, they found the Tech-Priests of Hephaestios' Cult-Mechanicus still loyal servants of the Emperor of Mankind. After successfully defending the Forge World from a rare large-scale invasion by the Forces of Chaos and their Dark Mechanicus masters, the Hephaestiosan Priesthood swore their allegiance to the Imperius Ravagers, becoming their primary source of war matériel.
 * Acheron Primus - The world of Acheron Primus and its sister world Acheron Secundus are binary-worlds locked in a perpetual orbit ellipsing around a giant, slowly-dying red sun. Acheron Primus is a feudal world very similar to Charopós, in which its people are constantly at war with one another. It is made up of several micro-states comprised of mercenary armies. These micro-states are lorded over by a greedy aristocracy, whose avarice is manifested by vast wealthy estates which are supported by the toiling of a multitude of impoverished helots. These human populations are often beset upon by abhuman Beastmen - aberrant creatures that are descended from human stock who combine the physical appearances of humans and Terran animals. A large population of these fell creatures inhabits the wastes of the northern continent known as Tartaros. These bellicose creatures thrive upon the edges of civilisation and have grown strong through their unending thirst for battle. They often launch raids into the few civilised lands as often as they hire themselves out to fight in the various conflicts that rage across the planet. There is little that the humans can do by way of prevention or retaliation because the Beastmen are such an elusive and mobile foe. Like Charopós, this constant state of conflict has proven an ideal recruiting world for potential Neophytes for the Imperius Ravagers.
 * Acheron Secundus - The world of Acheron Secundus is a fief world of the Imperius Ravagers, utilised as a training ground for the Chapter's freshly inducted Aspirants. It is here that they begin their journey to becoming fully-fledged battle-brothers, when they receive the first of many implants and begin their indoctrination process. Those who are found to be the strongest of their number are transformed into the post-human Adeptus Astartes. To this end, Acheron Secundus is host to a large contingent of the Chapter's Medicae. Hidden stores of gene-seed are maintained deep within the subterranean repository vaults of the Imperius Ravagers' primary medicae facility, known as Caduciós. This citadel bears massive void shields, automated defences and anti-air defence lasers, as well as a small garrison of battle-brothers for its defence. Those crusading companies of the Imperius Ravagers that sustain substantial losses during an extended Crusade are added to the garrison on Acheron Secundus, which helps add another layer to the world's defences and the vital function of protecting their Chapter's gene-heritage.