Morozhko

Morozhko is a inhospitable feudal world of ash and snow that is home to the deadly and unforgiving Lightning Wraiths Space Marine Chapter. Many of the chapter's traditions are taken from their feudal homeworld, most of which derived from the Order of Brehus, an alliance of Morozhkan Kingdoms that dissolved when the kingdoms that made up the order were destroyed during a brutal war between the Order and the rest of Morozhko. All that remains from the Order are savage tribes scattered on the eternal winter plains of Morozhko.

Background
Morozhko is a hostile feudal world, cast in an almost permanent winter due to its distance to its star. Furthermore, a volcanic catastrophe in the early years of the planet's formation led to thick layers of volcanic ash and smoke to be trapped in its atmosphere, rendering the planet bereft of much-needed sunlight for the majority of the year. On the surface, the planet consists of either vast and empty plains or enormous mountain ranges that are nigh hospitable and traversable. It is a wonder that life somehow survived in this brutal landscape. Any flora that exists is typically fungal in nature, as they are not dependent on sunlight. The fauna on the planet is surprisingly diverse. From the grox-like quadrupeds that feed primarily on plain mushrooms to the enormous Ayur hawks that are used as both a means of swift transportation or hunting during times of peace.

Discovery
Following the Lightning Wraiths' inception during the 23rd 'Sentinel' Founding in M37, the newly formed Chapter sought out a suitable homeworld within their assigned sector of Segmentum Obscurus. Through expeditionary fleets consisting of a handful of squads and a member of the high echelon, the Lightning Wraiths soon found the Feudal World of Morozhko. The head of the expeditionary force that found Morozhko was a former White Scars Stormseer named Tayang Ganbold and with him was one squad of scouts, one squad of Tactical Marines and the Gladius-class Frigate Exodus. At the time of their arrival, Morozhko was experiencing a prosperous and peaceful Iron Age. The frigid surface was littered with Empires of varying sizes and might. The largest and mightiest of these empires was known as the Ghonzi Empire under the rule of a man named Lord Amadeus Schreifter. The Ghonzi Empire and fifteen other empires scattered across the habitable plains of Morozhko formed the Volair Coalition. It was the prince of the small nation of Inxi that had spotted the Lightning Wraiths' landing ship and because it was a part of the Volair Coalition, it shared the knowledge regarding the new arrivals to its allies. Before long, every single monarch became privy to the news that a star fell to Morozhkan soil and was tempted to investigate it.

And so, as the Lightning Wraiths expedition party landed, dignitaries from every Morozhkan Empire came to greet the strangers from the stars. Initially, they thought that the Astartes were messengers from their pagan gods who have come to deliver them to the path of absolution and glory. This forced the Lightning Wraiths to educate the dignitaries of the galaxy and the Imperium. The expeditionary force had landed far from any habitations as they intended to investigate the planet's surface in solitude. If they were greeted by a small party, then it would have been a simple task of silencing them. However, the large crowd of dignitaries and their subjects marching towards them made it an impossibility to conceal their presence without incurring the military might of the entire planet. Although they were Adeptus Astartes and would be more than a match against millions of feudal soldiers, the thought of killing humans due to a misunderstanding did not sit well with the expeditionary force. Through the wonders of science and the oratory skill of the mortal shipmaster, the dignitaries were awed by the vastness of the galaxy and humanity's domain.

Little did the Lightning Wraths know that deep within the Ghonzi Empire, a daemon laid dormant within an ancient relic. It was awakened when it felt the psychic presence of the former White Scar Stormseer. The daemon had been banished to the Warp centuries ago by the White Scars and it longed for revenge against the warriors clad in white and red. It had managed to crawl back into realspace at the dawn the Morozhkan Empires, but only through a foolish Morozhkan's attempts to peer into the void. Even then, the daemon was trapped inside a mirror and was used by the Lord of Ghonzi to peer into the other Empires' state of affairs so that he may capitalize on any weaknesses. This was how the Ghonzi Empire grew to its massive size and it was how the daemon began its plot of revenge.

As the many monarchs traveled the Morzhkan wastelands to greet the strangers, the daemon's plans began to unfold. As she wandered the hallways of the Ghonzian Fortress, Lydia Ergenweld, the wife of Lord Schreifter, was drawn to the hidden mirror through a seductive and hypnotic song that emanated from it. Before she knew what was going on, the daemon possessed her and used her body to murder the Lord of Ghonzi a few days after his arrival. Through false tears and sorrow, the possessed widow blamed the 'demons from the stars' for murdering Schreifter and demanded that every kingdom should join arms and remove the invaders from the planet. Initially, many of the Kingdoms refused to listen to her demands, claiming that it was just her grief that was directing her actions. However, strange murders began to plague each of the Morozhkan empires, each one was immensely brutal and can only be achieved by beings of great strength. Fear and panic began to seep into the minds of the monarchs, and when one of them became the victim of the brutal killings, they sprang into defensive action. All but nine amassed their armies to march towards the Jirae Mountains in order to drive the strangers away.

The nine monarchs who refused to drive away the Lightning Wraiths were part of a union known as the Order of Brehus, named after the first Lord of Morozhko and the Mountain King of Jirae. These nine lords immediately set out to the wastelands with a small coalition of their families and honour guards to warn the giants of bone and blood red. When they arrived, Ganbold had already sensed the daemon's malign presence and had contacted the rest of the Chapter for aid, but was told that it would take months for the closest expeditionary fleet to arrive due to the Immaterium's turbulence at Segmentum Obscurus. Even if their warning was obsolete, the Monarchs of the Order pledged themselves to the Lightning Wraiths under an oath of honour at the moment of arrival. They guided the Astartes to a hidden tunnel network under the infamous Jirae Mountains so that they may prepare for the war before returning to their Kingdoms to marshal their troops. Instead of being offended by the monarchs' assumption of their lack of combat skill, Lightning Wraiths were impressed by their willingness to protect strangers and had the beginnings of kinship with the Monarchs of the Order as those mortal men and women were considered outcasts by the majority of the 'civilized' empires of Morozhko.

Each monarch of the Order ruled an empire at the frontiers of Morozhko's plains, pushing the limits of humanity's resilience and desire to expand. Some of them even bond with the volatile fauna and either make them into their pets or as their war beasts, from an enormous avian capable of transporting two heavily armoured warriors known as the Ayur Hawk to the Polshta Nemeans, lions coated in pure white fur that frequently stalk the only volcano in Morozhko - Mount Estia. Some still clung to gladiatorial rites of passage for teenagers, so that their warriors would be a fearless and experienced flock. Others practiced a religion that placed a heavy emphasis on death and ascendance to immortality through said death. Of the nine monarchs, the Lightning Wraiths found themselves to enjoy the company of Izhmael Kalator the most.

Izmael Kalator was the Preceptor of the Crypt-Watchers, an ancient order tasked with safeguarding the location of the Jirae Mountains' greatest treasure - the Tomb of Brehus, and the king of a small nation called Qashai. A diminutive and intelligent man, Izmael always tried to find time to communicate with the imposing warriors. His desire to learn and teach was contagious and his soft-spoken nature made it imperative to listen whenever he spoke. He had been the one to suggest that the Astartes should plan for the incoming war within the tunnels of the Jirae Mountains. It was Izmael who insisted that he would guide Tayang and his men to the Tomb of Brehus with the promise of revelation. It was within the Tomb of Brehus where the Lightning Wraiths understood why the Order was willing to fight and die for them.

They had discovered that the Tomb was an enormous Imperial Shrine with Imperial iconography painstakingly carved into the walls of the mountain. Time had eroded some of the detail, but the rough outlines of twin-headed eagles and the vigilant guardians of the Adeptus Astartes could still be made out. At the centre of the tomb was a small structure with nine pillars carved into the likeness of nine people holding up a gilded roof. Each of the pillars had a bronze plaque at its base containing the name of the person the pillar is modeled after, their history and a virtue that they represented. Within the structure, an upright marble sarcophagus faced the only entrance and exit. Its lid was carved into the lifelike image of the First King of Morozhko and the sparse amount of offerings at the foot of the sarcophagus indicated that the Tomb has very few visitors.

As the nations gathered their armies, the possessed Lydia began the creation of Chaos cults and had seduced many citizens to join with promises of power and wealth. Many had been tricked to act as vessels for daemons to bolster the Morozhkan armies in their crusade against the Lightning Wraiths. Others were taught to speak in daemon tongue to prepare for the inevitable summonings of Greater Daemons. An enormous amount of people were driven insane by the increasing whispers of the Immaterium and were granted inhuman strength through their insanity. Before long, the once proud and mighty Ghonzi Empire became the epicentre of madness and mindless violence. Its streets were littered with corpses showing signs of ritualistic sacrifices and the sigils of Chaos were branded onto the minds of everyone who remained alive. Days after the call to war was made, the entire military force of Morozhko bar the Order of Brehus arrived at the foot of the Jirae Mountains. While knowledge of the Crypt's existence is widespread, the entrance to it is not. In an attempt to find it in a short amount of time, large patrols were sent to scour the mountains to search for it while some of the engineers attempted to tunnel into mountains of interest. The engineers were met with little success as their steel pickaxes struggle to chip away the thick layers of rock that conceal any potential tunnels underneath. On the other hand, reports of patrols going missing began to increase. Some of the missing patrols turned up with one or two members remaining and their wills to fight broken. Soon, stories about how the Mountains have spirits that are protecting the strangers surfaced among the warriors.

These disappearances are the work of the skilled mountaineers of the Xulka Empire, who are renowned for their innate skill in navigating the treacherous slopes of the Jirae Mountains. Under the cover of the thick snowfall, Xulkan Jagers ambush the patrols with crossbows tipped with poison before cutting down any survivors. Alongside their mortal comrades, Lightning Wraith Scouts eradicated any patrols they came across with nary a sound thanks to their silenced sniper rifles. Tayang and his accompanying tactical squad were confined to the tunnels of the mountains as their heavier armour would give them away. They despised the claustrophobic halls, but swallowed their pride as they found it to be necessary to maintain the element of surprise.

Some of the Order's warriors, most belonging to the Ayur Hawk riding Uzeki Knights of the Umfasir Kingdom, were taught how to operate Imperial com-beads as they were tasked with reconnaissance. Through these com-beads, Uzeki Knight Narruk Olasiya reported the arrival of reinforcements and an increase of patrol deployment. When the next batch of patrols were dealt with by the wandering Jägers and scouts, they were appalled to discover their countrymen and family members as a part of the patrols. Many of their countrymen had their tongues cut off and their hands bound to their weapons, rendering them unable to warn the defenders or to plead for mercy. Those who weren't subjected to this kind of mutilation were victims of another affliction. While they were alive, the hidden warriors noticed that they moved with an unnatural gait, as if they were struggling to control their own bodies. When the ambushes were sprung, it required significantly more effort to kill one of them. Their bodies would become a pincushion for poisoned crossbow bolts and the only proof of their bodies feeling the impact of the bolts or the poison coursing through their veins was a strangled cry of ecstasy. Decapitation was the only way to ensure that they would stay dead.

These findings were immediately reported to the gathered monarchs and Tayang. It was deduced that the Morozhkan armies against the Order had split apart during the journey towards the mountains and had targetted the Kingdoms of the Order. The gathered monarchs were especially concerned about the more resilient prisoners and were curious as to what caused these people to behave in such a manner. In a sign of good faith in the willpower of the gathered leaders, Tayang revealed to them the truth of what he suspected their captured countrymen had become and told them of the daemon residing on the planet. Initially met with bewilderment, they listened to Tayang as he told them about the Immaterium, the existence of psykers and daemons. To prove to them that he wasn't tricking, he showcased a small portion of his power by conjuring spectral falcons. The final straw for the gathered monarchs was a report of how one of these' possessed prisoners had mauled a squad of Jägers with their bare hands and how the prisoner mutated into a fiendish creature after the act. At that point, the Warrior Kings and Queens felt that the time had finally come for their counter-attack. And so, at the break of dawn, the war drums of the Order resounded off the intertwining tunnels underneath the Jirae Mountains. Vicars, the spiritual leaders, of the Vossaka Kingdom led the recitations of ancient battle creeds as the war drums' song increased in intensity. From the invaders' perspective, it sounded like the mountains themselves were enraged at the trespassers. When the last notes of the war song was played and the last lines of verse were recited, the gathered armies of the Order of Brehus let loose a terrifying war cry that conveyed their rage and pain at those who used their own families and countrymen against them. Flowing out of the tunnels like quicksilver and over the mountains' steep slopes, the soldiers of the Order of Brehus made their final charge with their Kings and Queens leading from the front.

The former White Scars themselves used the massive charge as a distraction so that they could attack from the enemy's flanks. They were accompanied by heavily armoured Hussars of the Utyug-Krov and Lancers from the Duchy of Polshta, warriors mounted on massive bears and lions respectively. The enormous beasts were hard-pressed into keeping up with the Astartes' bikes, as both the rider's and the mount's pride demanded that they stay by their new lords' side until death.

The battle was a lengthy bloodbath, with massive casualties from both sides. The Order of Brehus was outnumbered by a hundred to one, but they made up with ferociousness that the other kingdoms lacked due to their insistence on being 'more civilized'. Their lack of martial drive was exploited by the battle-ready knights of the Order. The Lightning Wraiths' advanced weaponry also even the odds somewhat, as each bolter shell either killed or heavily injured 5-7 men. At least one died from the shockwave of a bolt in gyroscopic flight, another from the direct impact and at least 3 from the resulting shrapnel due to the bolt's detonation within the victim.

When the remnants of the Order arrived at Aludica, the Capital of the Ghonzi Empire, they were surprised to see how far the mighty fortress had fallen to Chaos. Mutated townsfolk wandered the streets, too far gone to be saved by any means. The only option for them was extermination. Surprisingly, some of the citizens of Aludica survived the Chaos occupation and the subsequent purges by the fanatics and when they heard of the city's upcoming salvation, they emerged from their hiding spots and aided in the hunt. Soon, the streets of Aludica were filled by small mobs of desperate citizens armed with whatever they could get their hands on converging on any mutant they come across. Many of these mobs were slaughtered to the last due to the mutants' gifts from the Dark Gods, but the sheer desperation that the civilians had to having their city cleansed was enough for them to keep throwing themselves at the monsters that took their home.

When all seemed bleak for Tayang and the remainder of the Order, the reinforcements that Tayang had requested arrived and among them was Khugol Khan. The sudden rain of drop pods provided the Stormseer an ample distraction to let loose his psychic fury upon the possessed Lydia. His psychic attack vaporized Lydia's body, but the daemon still remained on the planet as its essence still remained on the mirror. Izmael heard the song that the daemon used to entice Lydia and was drawn to it. As Tayang was still incapacitated from the backlash of using his gifts, Izmael wandered through the halls of Aludica's palace without conscious thought. Before he knew it, he was in front of the accursed mirror and the daemon possessed. Unlike Lydia, Izmael had the willpower to fight off the daemon's possession long enough to destroy the mirror. As the daemon bellowed in agony as its tether to the material is severed, Izmael ignited the room with an alchemical concoction he devised so that he and the daemon would die in fire.

Khugol Khan claimed the world to become their homeworld and with Tayang's recommendations, began the construction of their fortress-monastery as a massive tunnel network underneath the Jirae Mountains, with the Tomb of Brehus as its epicentre. Nine entrances were constructed for the tunnel network, each are connected to a Shrine built in tribute to the nine Lords and Ladies of the Order of Brehus that defied their entire world to stay true to the Imperium.

Fortress-Monastery
The Crypt of Brehus is a massive tunnel network hidden within the heart of the Jirae Mountains. It is both the Lightning Wraiths' Fortress-Monastery and an honoured shrine dedicated to the Imperial Saint Hassan Brehus as well as the Lords and Ladies of the Order of Brehus. There are nine entrances to the Crypt, each one is blocked by thick plasteel doors that only open when the Chapter's Vicars decide that it is time to accept new aspirants. However, finding these entrances is not an easy task, especially during the aspirant trials as the harsh weather of Morozhko coupled with the almost impossibly steep Jirae Mountains hide the tunnels from the untrained eye. Even if one manages to find an entrance, they would have to traverse the pitch blank tunnel while avoiding the creatures that reside within the shadowy depths.

If they manage to survive these first set of Trials, they will be greeted by another plasteel door that only opens through a dual biometric system, as the Chapter Serfs tasked to guard the doors outside and inside are required to have their blood drawn through a hidden scanner at the same time. Behind those gates is one of the revered Tombs of Brehus. Each entrance leads to a Tomb that contains a Lord or Lady of the Order. To the general populace, these Tombs are shrines of the Imperial Cult. Many brave the treacherous Morozhkan mountains in order to pay their respects to the heroes of the Uprising and to profess their undying faith to the Emperor. To the aspirants, the Tombs are a sign that their path to become Astartes has truly begun.

Within the highest peak of the Jirae Mountains lies the Sanctum Astralis, an observatory that is psychically attuned to the Immaterium's everchanging paths. The Magister and his Viziers reside within the Sanctum and use it to scry into the everlasting void to search for any calls for aid or drifting Space Hulks ripe for an expedition into its bowels. Wards are engraved into the walls of the Sanctum in order to prevent any potential exploitation of the psychic attunement by the daemons of the Immaterium. Sometimes, they abduct and train Blanks to guard its sole entrance so that neither the daemon within nor daemons without may exit or enter the Sanctum.

The Khaganate Sepulchre
The Khaganate Sepulchre is a massive underground library filled with ancient tomes and books containing knowledge regarding the galaxy's inhabitants.The Sepulchre is protected by the Kharash, an honour guard consisting of the greatest Morozhkan warriors, and a contingent of Lightning Wraiths Astartes and serfs.

The only way to access the Sepulchre is through the behest of the Preceptor or the Oathtaker, as they are the only one who know its location and the access codes required to open the massive doors that protect its invaluable treasure.