'''Arkhan Land''' was one of the most famous members of the [[Adeptus MechanicusMechanicum]], a [[Magos]] and techno-archaeologist[[technoarchaeologist]], one who went best known for recovering ancient texts of rare [[STC]] technologyfrom the [[Librarius Omnis]]. {{Fn|1}}

==HistoryBiography==Arkhan Land was one of the most legendary and gifted members of the Mechanicum even in the age of the [[Great Crusade]]. By the age of five, he could speak over 50 dialects and quickly became a renowned Tech-Priest who was able to successfully navigate the hazardous catacombs and tech-vaults beneath Mars' surface and recover [[STC]] fragments and artifacts. Known to the greater Mechanicum as an unparalleled genius but also arrogant and disrespectful, he was also notable for having few outward [[bionic]] enhancements. Shortly after the recovery of [[Angron]], Arkhan Land was personally assigned by the [[Emperor]] to aid him in his attempt to cure the [[Primarch]] of the [[Butcher's Nails]]. Land revered the Emperor as the [[Omnissiah]], and as such stayed loyal to him during the [[Horus Heresy]]. He later was part of the Mechanicum expedition inside the [[Webway]] during the [[War Within the Webway]].{{Fn|24a}}

Most notable of his accomplishments of the recovery of STC's from ===First Expedition===Land led a three-year expedition into the Great [[Librarius Omnis]] which led to in search of a functioning STC database{{fn|1}}, resulting in the recovery of the blueprints for the [[Land Raider|Land's Raider-Pattern Main Battle Tank]], [[Land Crawler|Land's Crawler]] battle tankmulti-purpose heavy utility vehicle, the information on rare anti-gravitic plates Mars Universal Land Engine (that led to the construction basis of the first '''Land's Speeder''', later known as the [[Land SpeederOnager Dunecrawler]] fast attack vehicle),{{Fn|13}} , and the information on rare anti-gravitic plates used in [[Land CrawlerSpeeder|Land's Speeder]] multi-purpose heavy utility vehicle, all of which are named for him{{Fn|2a}}. It is said he died on In the [[MarsM41|41st Millennium]] while on his second expedition into , some sources incorrectly state he died before seeing the practical implementation of the Librarius Omnis looking for more technologyanti-gravitic plates he discovered.{{Fnfn|12b}}

Two centuries after his expedition was declared lostLand's discoveries drew the attention of the [[Emperor of Mankind]], his vox diary was founddiscoveries finding wide use in the [[Adeptus Custodes|Legio Custodes]] who used a variety of [[Grav-Tank|Grav-Tanks]] powered by Land's anti-gravitic plates as well as the [[Imperial Jetbike|Paragon Pattern Jetbike]]. It spoke Shortly after the recovery of how his team had been picked off one [[Angron]], Arkhan Land was personally assigned by one by an unknown entity. There is some debate as the Emperor to aid Him in His attempt to cure the nature [[Primarch]] of this entitythe [[Butcher's Nails]]. Some say it was a sentient virusOnly Land could confirm the Emperor's belief that the Butcher's Nails were based on the ancient ''cruciamen'', others favour a mutant{{cite this}} or psychic entity{{Fn|1}} that may have lain dormant technology referred to in profane texts in the ancient areas of the Librarius until his meddling awoke it[[Hexarchion Vaults]].{{cite thisFn|4a}}

===Horus Heresy===[[Image:Arkhan Land and Sapien.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Arkhan Land and Sapien during the Horus Heresy]]Land revered the Emperor as the [[Omnissiah]], and as such stayed loyal to him during the [[Horus Heresy]]. He was evacuated from Mars by [[Space Marine Sergeant|Sergeant]] [[Nicanor Tullus]] of the [[Imperial Fists]] on the orders of [[First Captain]] [[Sigismund]]. As Land and Tullus made their way to the lander that would take them to safety, they were attacked by a [[Vorax Class Robot]] sent by the [[Dark Mechanicum]] to kill Land rather than let his talents be removed to Terra. Tullus gave his life to buy Land the time to escape along with other loyalist Tech-Priests.{{fn|5}} Although he and [[Fabricator General]] [[Zagreus Kane|Kane]] shared a mutual disdain for one another, Land's knowledge of forbidden weaponisation gleaned from the Hexarchion Vaults and good standing with the Custodes prompted Kane to seek his assistance in the ascension of [[Magos Dominus|Magos Domina]] [[Hieronyma]] into '''the Archimandrite'''{{Fn|4a}}. He accompanied the Archimandrite into the [[webway]], bringing his personal [[Grav-Raider]] and [[Familiar|Psyber-Monkey]] [[Sapien]] with him.{{fn|4b}} When they arrived in [[Calastar]] as it was [[War Within the Webway|falling to the enemy]], Land was visibly shaken by the sight of [[daemon|daemons]].{{fn|4c}} Following the Webway War, Land began spending much time with fellow veteran [[Dominion Zephon]] of the [[Blood Angels]]. Zephon's [[bionic]] limbs were constantly rejected by his body, so Land agreed to repair them. To bypass the bodily rejection, Land inserted fragments of a [[Dark Age of Technology]]-era Artificial Intelligence into Zephon's limbs and brain. The operation was a success and Zephon's limbs were finally accepted by his body, and in exchange Land demanded an audience with [[Sanguinius]] likely to lobby for the reclamation of [[Mars]] from the [[Dark Mechanicus]].{{Fn|6}} During the [[Siege of Terra]], Land managed to narrowly survive despite the ever-decreasing loyalist territory. Declaring he was too important to die, he managed to attach himself to convoys which fled into the [[Sanctum Imperialis]]. During this, he managed to nurse the wounded Dominion Zephon back to health from his injuries.{{Fn|7a}} Arkhan barely survived the journey back to the Sanctum Imperialis, but was pressed into service against his will to take part in the final defense of the [[Eternity Gate]] against hopeless odds. The night before the battle Land was comforted by both Zephon and the [[Skitarii]] [[Transacta-7Y1]], though the Blood Angel ordered him to protect his three Bloodthralls [[Eristes]], [[Shafia]], and [[Shenkai]] in the coming struggle. Should he abandon these thralls, Zephon pledged to hunt him down and kill him regardless of outcome.This combined with Sanguinius' rousing speech seemed to force some bravery into Land, who courageously took part in the defense of the Eternity Gate.{{Fn|7b}}  During the final stages of the battle, two of the three thralls he was charged with protecting were killed in action and Land, Transacta-7Y1, and the sole remaining Thrall fled back to the Eternity Gate.{{Fn|7c}} However both Transacta and Land's psyber-monkey Sapian were killed by the [[World Eater]] [[Kargos Bloodspitter]] before Land and Shenkai were saved by Zephon. As the Eternity Gate sealed shut, Land and his entourage managed to make it inside the Sanctum.{{Fn|7d}} ===Second Expedition===Land went missing while leading a second expedition into Librarius Omnis, with his vox diary being found two centuries later. He and his team were believed to have been picked off one by one by an unknown predator, possibly a psychic entity or a sentient virus.{{fn|2a}}. Other sources state that Land was killed by a psychic entity.{{fn|1}} ==Legacy of ==Land continued is so revered a figure in forming the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] that his followers amount to a new sub-cult within Mechanicus that called call themselves [[Landites]] (or '''Landists'''). They seek to continue the work of Land and continued research the many STC variants of his work .{{Fn|2a}} ==Publications==''Worthy Notes and Treatises of Direct Relevance to Land’s Raider-Pattern Main Battle Tank: The Rebirth of Arkhan an Ancient Miracle'' - an essay in searching rebuttal of old technologies the trend among the [[Space Marine Legions|Legiones Astartes]] of referring to Land's Raider-Pattern Main Battle Tank simply as a '''Land Raider'''.{{Fn|2a}} ==Trivia==*[[Belisarius Cawl]], or perhaps [[Ezekiel Sedayne]], had once known Arkhan Land. Cawl has memories of MarsLand from before the Horus Heresy, when Land had his strange simian brain familiar that he had cooked up. More poignantly, the [[archmagos]] recalls that Land was never happy with the name given to his tanks. Land had been quite angry with the name "[[Land Raider|''Land's'' Raider]]".{{Fn|8}}*In older media, Arkhan Land's first name is sometimes spelled "Arkan".{{Fn|19}}

*{{Endn|1}}: [[White Dwarf 245 (UK)]], pg. 21*2: [[Imperial Armour Volume Two - Space Marines and Forces of the Inquisition]], **{{Endn|2a}}: pgs. 83-84**{{Endn|2b}}: pg. 117*{{Endn|23}}: [[Codex: Skitarii (7th Edition)]], pg. 31*4: [[Master of Mankind (Novel)]] :**{{Endn|4a}}: Chapter 7Seven==Uncited==**{{Endn|4b}}: Chapter Fifteen**{{UncitedEndn|4c}}: Chapter Sixteen*{{Endn|5}}: [[White Dwarf 245 Into Exile (UKShort Story)]], pg. 21, by *{{Endn|6}}: [[Gav ThorpeBringer of Sorrow (Short Story)]]*7: [[Imperial Armour Volume Two - Space Marines and Forces Echoes of the InquisitionEternity (Novel)]]:**{{Endn|7a}}: Chapter 7**{{Endn|7b}}: Chapter 12**{{Endn|7c}}: Chapter 25**{{Endn|7d}}: Chapter 34*{{Endn|8}}: [[Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work (Novel)]], pgChapter 6*{{Endn|9}}: [https://www.warhammer-community. 117com/en-gb/articles/escfijsw/the-land-raider-at-25-celebrating-the-iconic-warhammer-tank/ Warhammer-Community: The Land Raider at 25 – Celebrating THE iconic Warhammer tank (posted 14/4/25)]