Royeaux

Royeaux was a former feudal world that served as an Adeptus Astartes homeworld of the Bright Wardens Space Marine Chapter. This planet was classified as a feudal world as its technological level was suspended far below many other Imperial societies. The other aspect is how the natives lived in a perpetual state of ruling feudal lords, obligations and allegiances. Each person born on Royeaux lives and dies within their fixed societal stations. This world also possessed a strong military caste of feudal knightly orders that practiced a strong chivalric code. The Bright Wardens once drew their aspirants from this military caste and inherited many of the feudal customs of their adopted homeworld, incorporating them into their own Chapter customs. Unfortunately, sometime in the 36th Millennium, Royeaux was invaded by the Word Bearers Traitor Legion, who laid waste the formally paradise world. Evacuating as many people as they could, the Chapter was forced to subject the doomed planet to Exterminatus, rendering Royeaux as barren dead world.

Background
The Bright Wardens are a fleet-based Chapter that solely recruits their members from the planet Royeaux. This planet once was a medieval world located near the infamous warp rift, known as the Maelstrom, in the Ultima Segmentum. The population of the planet is nearly 12 million.

The green plains and forest dominate this world with one great sea called the Sea of Wraiths stretch across the Vellendiel shore. Villages, settlements, forts, and medieval cities dot the land. The villagers and the nobles live according to ancient Terran medieval lives during M1, and no Imperium weapons such as bolter, missile launchers or even lasguns are known to the planet's denizens. When their planet was invaded by the Forces of Chaos, the nobles raised their armies, armed only with medieval weapons -- swords, axes, spears, pikes, crossbows, arquebus and gunpowder-powered cannons.

Royeaux met its end when the Word Bearers, under the leadership of Dark Apostle Keyran the Pious, laid waste to the planet, destroying everything in their path. Realizing the planet was lost, the Bright Wardens began to evacuate its citizens and moved their command center upon the Battle Barge Tears of Joan. With the aid of the Inquisition and their Dark Angels' allies, planet Royeaux was sentenced to Exterminatus. The remaining citizen of Royeaux were divided into three groups and were sent to different medieval worlds in the Imperium.

After their planet was destroyed by the Word Bearers Chapter in M36, the Bright Wardens became a fleet-based chapter, though still recruited their members from surrounding feral or medieval worlds.