Selenar
The Selenar are an ancient gene-cult that have dwelt on Luna since the Age of Strife.[4b]
Contents
History
The Selenar were an ancient order, having existed since antiquity. They have been known by many names, such as the Eleusinians, Oesirica, Damia, and the Immacolata. Whatever their title, they have always had the same goal: to keep the power of creation out of the hands of Mankind.[4a] At some point during the Age of Strife, they became the rulers of Luna's civilization.[4b]
The Selenar were conquered by the fledgling Imperium during the Pacification of Luna, during which the ruling Matriarch Heliosa-54 ordered the Gene-Witch Ta'lab Vita-37 to hide the Magna Mater from the forces of the Emperor.[4b] They were then made to cede the Somnus Citadel to the Sisters of Silence and were forced to remove their equipment and prepare it for the Sisters' arrival.[5] The gene-crafters, though, were somehow able to exact their vengeance and corrupt the gene-seed of the III Legion, with a disease known as "the Blight".[1] At some point, it is known that the Selenite cults were purged by the Imperium,[2] but at least some remaining elements endured on Luna over the last of their gene-tech by the time of the Solar War. Shortly before the Siege of Terra during the storming of Luna by Sons of Horus forces under First Captain Ezekyle Abaddon, the Selenar Matriarch, Heliosa-78, refused to carry out her orders from Rogal Dorn to destroy her gene-tech in order to prevent it from falling into traitor hands. She and the surviving Selenar instead pledged themselves to Warmaster Horus and promised to deliver onto him new Astartes warriors.[6]
With Luna now under the control of traitors, Ta'lab Vita-37 continued her mission to safeguard the Magna Mater. She sent out a distress signal which was intercepted by the loyalist vessel Sisypheum. During their raid on Luna, the Magna Mater was denied to traitor forces and put into the hands of Nykona Sharrowkyn aboard an abandoned coaling station.[4c]
The Selenar still exist in M42, but they are a shell of what they once were. Now known as the Soul-night, these descendants of the Selenar have lost all of their power and knowledge and live within the settlements that dot Luna's surface. According to their history, which been passed down as folk-lore and songs, the Selenar's downfall began after the King who subjugated them, became blind and silent. Afterwards, lesser men ruled in his stead and they let loose hunters that destroyed the Selanar and the Silent Sisters, who they shared Luna with. One of the Selenar managed to escape Luna, however, and the Soul-night claim there is a chance she will return on every thousand year intervals.[5]
Known Selenar
- Heliosa-54 - Matriarch during the First Pacification of Luna.[4b]
- Heliosa-78 - Matriarch during the Siege of Terra[3]
- Ta'lab Vita-37 - Gene-Witch charged with safeguarding the Magna Mater.[4b]
- Andromeda-17 - Scion
See Also
Sources
- 1: Chirurgeon (Short Story)
- 2: Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix (Novel) - Chapter 4
- 3: The Solar War (Novel) - Chapters 20-22
- 4: Sons of Selenar (Novella)
- 5: Watchers of the Throne: The Regent's Shadow (Novel), Chapter 9 - Aleya
- 6: The Solar War (Novel) - Chapters 20-22
