Skadi IV

Skadi IV is the second moon of the Skadi System located in the Segmentum Tempestus. This frigid and icy moon serves as an Adeptus Astartes Homeworld of the Wild Hunt Space Marine Chapter.

Founding
When the end of the Indomitus Crusade came, after the battle of the Pit of Raukos, Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman divided part of the remaining Greyshield forces into new chapters. Some of them, like the Wolfspear and the Wolf Wardens, were from the gene-line of Russ, and Wolfram too was summoned before Guilliman and ordered to establish his own primaris chapter. He was gifted with the Skadi System, some say because of the Lord Commander's careful considerations, others say because of his wyrd. Anyway, longing to reconnect the chapter to its original roots, Wolfram took advantage of the untamed nature of Utgard to place the chapter's fortress-monastery. Instead of a single, ridiculously tall mountain like The Aett, however, the headquarters were established fortifying the northern part of the impervious Rockmaw range, nearest to the active volcano known as mount Elidur where the chapter's forge was established.

Climate & Environment
Skadi IV has a frigid climate, during the hot season the max temperature reaches 20° Celsius in the equatorial regions, in winter freezing ice storms sweep the surface covering the land in a thick blanket of snow and ice.

The predominant biomes of the planet are therefore taiga and tundra. However, Skadi IV is rife with life both animal and human.

The human population on Skadi is concentrated on tropical and equatorial zones. The cities on this unforgiving planet are structured on two levels: the surface level is inhabited during summer, while in winter only structures like observation posts and comms hubs are manned, most of population spending the cold season in the safety of underground vaults. This peculiar civic organisation saved thousands during the Red Years (AKA the Noctis Aeterna). The biggest city and once planet capital is Hammerfest, located near mount Logi, a dormant volcano.

Fauna
Skadi's environment has selected a very peculiar fauna, well suited to endure the harshness of the planet. Amongst the most characteristic creatures of the planet are:


 * Hircocervus (Tragelaphus magnicornus): A hardy, ubiquitous herbivore; the hircocervus was the primary cattle animal in the millennia before the introduction of the more commercially efficient Grox (M35). Now the species has reverted mostly to wild state, herds of hundreds of animals crossing the planet in complex and vast migration paths. Before the Red Years hircocervus has been a prized trophy beast for off world nobility.
 * Hychneumon (Lutra ichneumon): Skadi IV's landmass is criss-crossed by rivers from many mountainous chains, creating an ecosystem on his own. The alpha predator of rivers and swamps is the Hychneumon, a semi-acquatic mustelid carnivore. The biggest specimens reach 2 meters (6.5 ft) length and are known on the planet for their soft and waterproof fur. A very intelligent animal, the Hycneumon lives and hunts in packs of up to 20 specimens. Their diet consists mostly of fish and little amphibian, but it is not uncommon to observe ambush attacks on weak or sick large herbivores near the end of the hot season. Furthermore, stories of hunters mauled to death when getting too near to a nesting place are amongst the most popular in Skadi IV’s taverns.
 * Tyrant Snow Leopard (Panthera alpheus): Called the ' King of Ice ' the ' Silver Death ' and the ' Arctic Ghost ', this great feline is maybe the most famous animal associated with the planet. High 1.5mt to the shoulder (5ft) and long 6mt (19.6ft) counting the tail, the Tyrant Snow Leopard was the planet royalty's symbol until the Red Years. A powerful solo predator, this magnificent death-machine stalks its prey for days before pouncing out of nowhere in a whirlwind of claws and fangs. It is considered the deadliest catch in the First Hunt given its uncanny ability for ambushes (some scholars even theorize a psychic potential). Before the Red Years, hunting a Tyrant Leopard was restricted to the richest people of the Segmentum. Now it is said that a Probandus who brings back a Tyrant Leopard trophy will have a place ensured into the ranks of the Wild Hunt.
 * Sabretooth Bear (Ursus smilodon): If the Tyrant Snow Leopard is an elegant, graceful death machine, the Sabretooth Bear isn't as stealthy, but it is surely deadly. 6 mt (19.6ft) tall when standing and weighing up to 2 tons (4.4k lbs) this beast is the alpha predator of the planet (at least on land). Its most peculiar feature is the fearsome set of teeth which can break power armour as easily as an axe through rotten wood. The canines are especially enlarged and grow throughout the animal’s life, used both to hunt preys and attract partners. The sheer size and power of the sabretooth bear inspired the design of some of the Wild Hunt’s armour, especially those of the bjornagothar (the bear priests, equivalent to the iron priests).
 * Skadian Puffin (Fratercula fortirostris): The biggest avian creature of Skadi IV is the ' Axebill ' or Skadian Puffin. Its wingspan can reach up to 6mt (19.7ft) and the biggest specimen can be over 3mt (10ft) tall. Its most characteristic feature is the massive, silver and black coloured serrated beak, used to break open the rock-hard shell of its favourite prey, the ubiquitous nautiloid. Light yet very strong, in antiquity the beak was used to fashion axe-heads. A very social animal, it forms colonies of up to 50 specimen; the favourite nidification sites are high clifftops where they arrange the massive nests in two concentric rings (a structure called "castle" by natives) to better protect the chicks. The skadian puffin is territorial, especially during summer (when the eggs are laid and chicks raised) and it is not unheard of attacks to unlucky boats passing too close to a colony.
 * Nautiloid (Archyteuthis cataphractus): The most common sea creatures of the planet, Nautiloids are 10-tentacled cephalopods. As defensive strategy their bodies secretes a substance similar to mother-of-pearl. As the nautiloid grows older more layer of this "sea lacquer" are added creating in time a robust shell. Nautiloids never stop growing and can live up to 200 years, becoming armoured leviathans. However, the larvae are microscopic and constitute the majority of zooplankton.

Fauna
Many of Skadi IV's wildlife has been exported in previous millennia to Utgard, the moon has however some peculiar autochthonous species.
 * Ironwing Raven (Corvus sidereus): According to many xenobiologists, the utgardian raven is a distant descendant of the infamous razorwing. The body is long (from bill to tail) 1mt (3.2ft) and has a wingspan of up to 2.5mt (8.2ft). An omnivorous bird, it is known for the peculiar metallic black plumage. Direct observation and field studies have shown that these birds tend to pick regularly on stones and rocks with a high content of ' sablesteel ', a ferrous mineral with a high carbon percentage very sought after by metalsmiths. Similar to their far ancestors, the ravens’ metabolism accumulates the mineral on feathers (giving them their beautiful colour), but mostly on claws and beaks making them exceptionally hard. This is especially important given the fact that also their eggshell are harder than usual, so the hatchlings need the help of an adult to break free from the egg.
 * Utgardian Boar (Sus ecumenicus): This creature is one of the most adaptable creatures in the whole galaxy, it shows an uncanny variety in phenotypical characteristics based on its habitat of choice: forest-dwelling boars are the smallest sub-species and their mane tends to maintain the juvenile stripes, they live in small familiar groups and are omnivorous. Swamp and wetland boars have longer legs with wider feet to help them advance in the treacherous terrain; their snout is also longer with wider, flattened tusks. The third most common sub-species inhabits grasslands, it is the biggest variety and lives in numerous herds; its diet consists mostly on grass and roots that the boar unearths with its massive tusks.

''EDITORIAL NOTE: Long-range scans of Utgard, recorded shortly after the instalment of the Wild Hunt, seem to have spotted the presence of unrecorded, massive lupine creatures in the moon’s forest. These voices have never been confirmed and further attempts to survey the satellite have been harshly denied by the chapter.''

Fortress Monastery
The chapter's headquarters were established fortifying the northern part of Rockmaw Range, the highest mountain chain on Utgard. The range has a volcanic origin, but after millennia the only active volcano remains mount Elidur. The black basalt of the range earned the chapter's Fortress monastery its Veidhamàl name: Alsvartr (lit. pure black).

The accessways to the fortress are protected by a network of fortifications and redoubts, the most important called Tönndyr (lit. the Fang-Gate).

The proper fortress sprawls across three mountains. Mount Skòll, Mount Hati and Mount Elidur, where the chapter's forge is housed.

In a small valley between Mount Elidur and Mount Hati is located the sacred grove of Mymr's Eye, whose waters are essential in the Hrafnagothar ' s rites.

At the heart of the Fortress complex lies the Mjodholl, here, the Chapter Master helds council with the rest of Chapter command. It is also used for celebrating victory rites.

Deep into the underground, spanning below the Mounts Skòll and Hati, the hall of the Ulvergothar is located. Along its walls the name and sagas of fallen battle brothers are recorded.

Utgard
Utgard is the biggest of Skadi IV's two moons. Geological findings showed however that the celestial body is actually a planetoid caught into the planet orbit billions of years ago. It has a metal rich nucleus, surrounded by a molten mantle. This provides the planet its own magnetic field and warmth. Therefore, Utgard has a natural, breathable atmosphere and its own biosphere. The climate is more temperate than Skadi IV, with a max temperature of 30°C in summer at equatorial latitudes. The moon is covered in thick forests and grasslands and has an intense geological activity; the surface is criss-crossed in mountain ranges (most notably the Rockmaw range) and dotted by volcanoes and geysers.