House Cadmus
Colour Scheme | House Info | Symbol | |
---|---|---|---|
Name: | House Cadmus | ||
Affiliation: | Imperium | ||
Knight World: | Raisa | ||
Colours: | Green/Yellow[4] | ||
Motto: | They Who are Not our Allies are our Prey |
House Cadmus is a Knight House of the Imperium.[1]
Contents
Overview
For thousands of years, the Knights of House Cadmus have gathered every midsummer’s eve to prepare for an annual hunt to keep the mutant numbers of their forested world of Raisa in check. This much-celebrated event is known as the Cull. Bio-reading cogitators are attached to their Knight suits before every Cull, enabling each Knight to track the number of savages he has slain during the course of the day-long hunt. The Knight who claims the greatest number of kills is the winner of this macabre tourney, and will rule the affairs of the house for the next year. So has the leadership of House Cadmus changed hands with far greater frequency than any other knightly house over the centuries. However, the current ruler, Baron Roland of Swinford Hall, has retained command for the last thirty-two years, such is his incredible run of victories in the Cull.[1]
It is well that a leader of such experience still rules, for the fighting strength of House Cadmus has suffered greatly in defence of the nearby forge world of Gryphonne IV after it was overwhelmed by Hive Fleet Leviathan.[1] The House lost so many Knights that Roland decreed that the House would be dedicated to the Imperium directly, as opposed to the Adeptus Mechanicus.[5a]
It is a tradition of the House that only male members of the House may take up arms, including piloting the Knights; female members of the House instead perform other duties, including conducting ceremonial and diplomatic dealings with other forces of the Imperium and the bearing of items of value (such as flags, trophies and rolls of honour). Most respected of these ladies of the House are the Knights' consorts - wives to the menfolk of the House and mothers to its future generations.[5b]
Another tradition of the House is that of the pre-battle feast. An old tradition, dating back to before the fall of the High Lord, in which the Knights and their consorts gather at the hearth to eat, drink and enjoy each other's company while they can. It is even traditional for the Knights to ride out to battle the next day with a sour belly and a hangover, although the Knights' bionic enhancements include inbuilt chem-shunts to mitigate these effects before the actual fighting starts. On Raisa itself this ritual occurs within the House's base, the hall of Golem Keep, set on a plateau overlooking the mutant-infested forests.[5a][5c]
The House's symbol features a split mutant's head, celebrating the Cull. This symbol was displayed alongside the Cog Mechanicus, however it is now displayed with the Imperial Aquila following the fall of Gryphonne IV.[5a]
Notable Actions
- ???.M30/M31: The Great Crusade — The Knight House fought beside the Legio Gryphonicus.[2]
- 014.M31: Siege of Terra[7] — At least some of the House Cadmus knights involved in the siege were left outside the Imperial Palace's Sanctum Imperialis when the Eternity Gate was closed, isolating them and forcing them to fight for their survival alongside other Life-Sellers.[8]
- 998.M41: Fall of Gryphonne IV — The entire House was deployed in the defence of the Forge World Gryphonne IV against the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Despite the combined efforts of the defenders of Gryphonne IV, the Tyranids consume the world. During the fighting, House Cadmus lost 76 Knights, leaving the House with only 27 Knight suits remaining.[1][5a]
- 999.M41: Defense of Vondrak — Following the fall of Gryphonne IV and the rededication of the House to the Imperium over the Mechanicus, House Cadmus nonetheless honoured the call of Archmagos Kyrano in the defence of the Forge World Vondrak from the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Hydra.[5a] Baron Roland personally led a force of his Knights[5b], assisted by allied Knights of House Hawkshroud[5d] and the Freeblade Sir Tellurus[5g][5j], to the forge temple of Vikara in order to recover the last remaining memory engrams of one of the Binary Apostles.[5b] Despite the swarms of Tyranids (and the machinations of members of the Mechanicus who wished to either force Cadmus to reforge its allegiance to the Mechanicus or be destroyed), Baron Roland succeeded in his mission.[5j]
- M42: Octarius War[6]
Known Knights
- Sir Anthonis - Senior Knight.[5a]
- Creig - Part of the detachment sent to rescue the memory engrams of the Binary Apostle from Vikara. Deceased.[5h]
- Enoch - Defence of Verdus Ferrox on Vondrak.[5f]
- Sir Mikel Farrimond - Defence of Verdus Ferrox on Vondrak.[5f]
- Jaime Garratt - Defence of Verdus Ferrox on Vondrak.[5b][5e]
- Sir Gregor - Part of the detachment sent to rescue the memory engrams of the Binary Apostle from Vikara. Deceased.[5d][5i]
- Sir Malcolm - Senior Knight and second in command of the House[5a][5d]. Pilot of a Knight Paladin known as The Beast Killer.[3][5f]
- Sir Martyn - Part of the detachment sent to rescue the memory engrams of the Binary Apostle from Vikara. Deceased.[5d][5i]
- Monteil - Part of the detachment sent to rescue the memory engrams of the Binary Apostle from Vikara. Deceased.[5h]
- Orlando - Pilot of Coward's Bane.[3]
- Rabert - Part of the detachment sent to rescue the memory engrams of the Binary Apostle from Vikara. Deceased.[5h]
- Axl Roddam - Defence of Verdus Ferrox on Vondrak.[5f]
- Sir Roderick - Senior Knight.[5a]
- Baron Roland - Current head of the House.[1] Pilots a customized Knight Lancer, although he prefers to pilot a Knight Errant during the Cull, an action which he believes levels the playing field.[5e]
- Silas - Defence of Verdus Ferrox on Vondrak.[5f]
- Stefan[5i]
- Jon Vasey - Killed by a Tyranid Zoanthrope during the defence of Verdus Ferrox on Vondrak.[5b][5f]
- Sir William - Senior Knight. Pilot of Bloody Broadsword.[3][5a]
Other Members of the House
- Aeliana[5b]
- Aikaterina - Consort of Sir William.[5b][5e]
- Cassia - Consort of Sir Malcolm[5b][5c]
- Cordelia - Consort of Baron Roland and ruling matriarch.[5a][5c]
- Persis - Consort of Anthonis, deceased.[5c]
- Assembler Thexton - High Sacristan[5a]
See also
Sources
- 1: Codex: Imperial Knights (6th Edition) — The Knightly Houses
- 2: The Horus Heresy Book Three - Extermination, pg. 160
- 3: Codex: Imperial Knights (7th Edition) — House Cadmus
- 4: Adeptus Titanicus: Titandeath, pg. 93
- 5: Knights of the Imperium (Novella) - Servants of the Machine-God (Anthology)
- 6: War Zone Octarius - Book 1: Rising Tide, pgs. 30-31
- 7: Mortis (Novel), Chapters 7-8
- 8: The End and the Death: Volume I (Novel) - 3:iv