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Tanith

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Tanith was a planet in the Sabbat Worlds cluster of Segmentum Pacificus. The planet's Imperial governor was known as the Elector, and he ruled from the hive city of Tanith Magna.[Needs Citation]

Map Basic Data Planetary Image
px Name: Tanith PlanetTanith.JPG
Segmentum: Segmentum Pacificus
Sector: Sabbat Worlds
Subsector: Unknown
System: Unknown
Population: Present Population Non-Existent
Affiliation: Imperium
Class: Dead World
Tithe Grade: Unknown

Overview

Tanith was a heavily forested world, famous for its forests of nalwood trees. Nalwood trees were capable of uprooting and moving, with entire forests migrating. This made blazing trails through the forests useless, as any trails were erased by the movement of the trees. As a result of this, Tanith's native inhabitants have an unerring sense of direction, developed in the ever-changing woodlands, and unmatched stealth skills which became renowned during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.[Needs Citation]

Nalwood was Tanith's main export, and became extremely rare after the planet's destruction.[Needs Citation]

The capital city of Tanith - surrounded by a giant wall, presumably to keep the nalwood trees from moving into the city - was Tanith Magna. The world was governed by the Elector, and the main governmental building was the Assembly. The planet was split up into counties, and each city raised a militia, from which a number of Imperial Guardsmen were recruited.[Needs Citation]

Tanith's native wildlife include larisel, small animals hunted by woodsmen - presumably for food - and shoggy, small amphibian creatures with bulging eyes that dwelled by woodland pools in Tanith's forests.[Needs Citation]

Tanith's people are pale-skinned and dark-haired, with a lilting, sing-song accent. Most Tanith men (and youths) were tattooed with blue ink.[Needs Citation]

Culture and Language

The main Tanith curse-word is feth, the name of an ancient Tanith tree-god.[Needs Citation]Sacra is an alcoholic beverage favoured by the Tanith, although it is not clear if it is native to Tanith.[Needs Citation]Tanith Pipes are described as a small clutch of spidery reeds attatched to a bellows bag which is squeezed rhythmically under the arm, and make a sound similar to Uilleann pipes. Their initial use on Tanith was to guide off-worlders through the shifting forests, but in the Tanith First they were used to rally the men and spook the enemy (although they have a similar effect on the Tanith's allies).[Needs Citation]

According to Scout Trooper Bonin, most old Tanith families (his own included) baptise and officially name their children at the age of eight, as naming children at birth was considered premature and a child would grow into the names he or she would need. Bonin also remarks that this tradition wasn't observed much in Tanith's final years.[Needs Citation]

Tanith was home to the legendary Nalsheen wood warriors, a brotherhood of Tanith who used the martial art cwlwhl (pronounced kil-wil); using blade-tipped staffs to fight off multiple foes. The Nalsheen were responsible for overthrowing the corrupt Huhlhuch Dynasty and ushering in the free modern era of Tanith. Guardsman Mkvenner is the only remaining Tanith to have been trained in cwlwhl, but has reluctantly admitted that he never completed his training.[Needs Citation]

The Nalsheen used proto-Gothic - the early form of both High and Low Gothic used presently in the Imperium - as their private language.[Needs Citation]

The Fall of Tanith

On his deathbed, Warmaster Slaydo, commander of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, bestowed upon Ibram Gaunt - a commissar who had fought with distinction at Balhaut - the rank of Colonel-Commissar and dispatched him to Tanith to raise three regiments for the Crusade.[Needs Citation]

In the wake of their defeat at Balhaut, a splinter fleet of Chaos slipped past the picket set up by the Imperial Navy, thanks to the newly-appointed Warmaster Macaroth's change of tactics. This small fleet attacked and conquered six worlds, The Circudus Offensive, one of which was Tanith. The Chaos armada bombarded Tanith from orbit, and deployed ground troops to kill vital Imperial personnel. The forests of Tanith burned under the crippling firepower of the fleet. Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt was one of the last people to leave the planet before its demise, and was saved by a youth called Brin Milo, whom he took with him in gratitude. Milo confirms that he was the only civilian to leave Tanith alive, being too young to join the Guard.[Needs Citation]

Trivia

  • The county names are closely similar to those of real-life Ireland and Scotland.
  • Many Tanith names begin with "Mk", a variant of "Mc" or "Mac" used by the Irish and Scottish, from whom inspiration for the Tanith appears to have been drawn.
  • There are also elements of Welsh in their language.
  • Tanith pipes are described as a similar in appearance and sound to Uilleann pipes.

Sources