Vale

Vale is an Imperial feudal world that is also the Adeptus Astartes Homeworld of the Reverent Crusaders Space Marine Chapter.

Background
Deep within the Segmentum Pacificus lies the Chapter's homeworld of Vale. The planet's society believes that everyone must pull their weight or else be left in the cold, men and women knights across the world in endless war with one another. All in a vain attempt to get themselves in the Crusader's favor and therefore the favor of their God Emperor. The Astartes encourage this behavior because it has maintained a powerful pool of recruits to pull from, many infants stolen from their families by Initiates as part of their own training. Other children are offered by royal families who are promised a chance of their bloodline ascending to a divine being.

Fortress-Monastery
The construction of their Fortress-Monastery, the ' Radiant Citadel ', would draw the eyes of the planet's armies and their leaders, witnessing giants who descended upon their world. Donned in suits of armour to fit their larger stature they got the fear and respect of those who had lead a hundred of battles, swearing loyalty and submission to the Reverent Crusaders. Hundreds of kingdoms around the planet to this day wage wars to prove their strength and faith in the Golden, one of the most famous of these would be the ' Königreich der Löwen ', or in Low-Gothic the Kingdom of Lions. With the rise of the Ivory Lion the land would change to its name to further appease to their angels 'Radiant Kingdom'. The Ivory Lion took control of this kingdom after her attainment of an ancient suit of armour, believed lost to the ages. It was bright white and couldn't become tainted by any physical filth. Even blood that touched its fur mantle would seemingly evaporate upon contact. Touching it would feel like petting a warm living animal. It's suspected that this armour generates a Conversion Field, for legends state that the wearer upon being struck by an enemy would receive divine punishment for daring to raise a blade to the true lord.

Flora & Fauna
The system has been besieged by warp storms since M34, there'd be spans of years in which the system would become surrounded by these storms. These times would be known in Low-Gothic as ' Days of Darkness ' in which the subterranean species of the world would become more active. Mighty beasts that resemble those also found on the Desert world of Tallon Prime. Black fur, scales or feathers but many of these species would possess a skeletal exoskeleton that would envelop more of its body as they get older. In Low-Gothic they are called ' Nocti ', many with alternate names to differentiate between them. Such as 'Noct Stalkers' or 'Noct Brawlers'. It's believed that there may be hundreds of species on this world compared to Tallon Prime which has only a few dozen that can survive its environment. It has also been discovered that unlike those on Tallon Prime the populace of Nocti on Vale do not fear light, in additional they are Blanks attracted to psykers. Villages and even cities have been besieged by thousands of these monsters in the past which is why if one is discovered to be a Psyker they would have been sentenced to death to save the rest of the population, with the appearance of the Reverent Crusaders they are now instead sent to The Radiant Citadel where they are thought to be cleansed of their sin but rather are utilized by the Chapter.

Greenskin Menace
Though the threat of the Nocti is constant the world is also besieged by Feral Orks. This is a result of an attempted invasion by an Ork WAAAGH! in M33 that would be fought off by the combined efforts of the Reverent Crusaders and several kingdoms who put aside their own grievances to aid their angels in fighting off these invaders. Thousands of years later Ork tribes still wander the world, some leading their own packs that attack small villages and make use of bands of Gretchins to scout out the locations days in advance before the Ork strike. Kingdoms will only spare a few hundreds soldiers to fight off against these green skinned creatures and the Nocti while a war with another such kingdom is given more focus. The existence of adventurers have helped the general populace against the planet's dangerous wildlife for millennia.

The dawn of the 42nd Millennium brought the destruction of Cadia and the appearance of the Great Rift, the Warp Storms that once plagued the world of Vale would become less frequent, despite this it would see a rise in Nocti activity. Reacting to the appearance of the Great Rift attacks would become more frequent and on a much larger scale than thought possible. The once endless wars between men upon the world of Vale would soon begin to die down and instead would turn their attention to fight off against the seemingly infinite hordes of these monsters. The Chapter would appear distant from the conflict, in truth they would send their Initiates into the thick of this new war dubbed the 'Dark Wars', a new and more efficient means to train their Neophytes by battling a foe that threatens life on the world.

By the year 084.M42 Primaris Marines would begin to join the Chapter, they're expected to take part in this war as part of their initiation as battle brothers, bringing the head of some of the largest Nocti they can fight. To both the satisfaction and disappointment of the Grand Master they have proven this task has to be made more challenging.