House Taranis
| Colour Scheme | House Info | Symbol | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Name: | House Taranis |  |
| Affiliation: | Imperium | ||
| Knight World: | Mars | ||
| Colours: | Red (Post-Heresy)[2b][5c] Blue/white (Heresy-era)[13b] | ||
| Motto: | Honour thy Forge, Honour the Primus Ordinus.[10] | ||
House Taranis are a Knight House of the Adeptus Mechanicus, located on Mars.[2a][2b]
History
The first Knightly House to be established, House Taranis was founded on Mars before the formation of the Imperium. This truly ancient house predates any other by many hundreds of years. As the industries of the red planet developed into a vast metropolis of technological mastery, so too did it evolve to become the first and foremost of the forge worlds, and the Knights of House Taranis were its guardians. The STC technology supplied to many of the Expeditionary Fleets during Mankind’s expansion across the stars included designs for armoured suits of exo-armour based on those first developed to be used by the Knights of Taranis. When the Knight worlds were first rediscovered during the Imperium’s Great Crusade many thousands of years later, it is likely that the Mechanicum used their intimate knowledge of the Knight suits worn by House Taranis to help win the loyalty of those worlds.[2a] By the start of the Horus Heresy, Taranis fielded some 600 Knight suits, including large numbers of rarer Porphyrion, Atrapos, Magaera, and Styrix Patterns.[13a]
House Taranis remained loyal to the Imperium during the Horus Heresy, taking part in the Battle of Mars on the side of the forces of Kane. All but two of them were killed, fighting the forces of the Dark Mechanicum. Two members of the Knights of Taranis survived and went into hiding, but their later fate is unknown.[1x]
In 230.M41, the Knights of House Taranis battled a Daemonic incursion on Tarsok V. Despite heavy losses, they managed to defeat a Great Unclean One and win the day.[2c][5b]
During the Indomitus Crusade, 3 lances of House Taranis Knights were deployed from the vessel Zar-Quaesitor.[8]
After the Battle of Malak was a force of House Taranis Knights part of Task Force II, Battle Group Ezekis - together with members of the Black Templars, Crimson Guard, and unidentified forces from the Astra Militarum and Adeptus Mechanicus - and was turned, with the rest of Battle Group Ezekis, into agents of the Blood God Khorne by the Murder-Curse.[15]
Other Campaigns
- War of the Beast
- War of Recovery[12]
- Cold Trade Wars[12]
- 13th Black Crusade
- Battle on the killing fields of Umekha[9a]
- Battle of Ontoria XII[9d]
- Defence of Frontis[11]
- Indomitus Crusade[12]
- The Charadon Campaign[14]
- Fourth Tyrannic War[16]
Heraldry
The Knights of House Taranis are red with halved black-and-white greaves and shoulder plates and silver edging.[2b][5c]
Prior to the Horus Heresy, House Taranis's Knights wore primarily dark blue armour, rather than the red or silver common to those Houses affiliated with Mars.[13b] This changed during the Heresy, however, as most of House Taranis's surviving pilots repainted their Knights red in recognition of the debt they owed to Loyalist Forge Worlds.[13a][13b]
The House's crest, likewise, evolved with time - the symbol always featured the cog of Mars, but the sword that bisects the crest was added after the Horus Heresy. Some attribute this to the legendary Raf Maven, who allegedly insisted on the addition in honour of his fallen housemates.[12]
Holdings
During the Great Crusade, Taranis's primary fastness on Mars was on Arsia Mons, on the other side of the mountain from the Magma City.[1a]
In the modern Imperium, in addition to their main fortress temple (no longer on Arsia Mons[17]), House Taranis has control over a number of armoured keeps on Mars. Among them is Hydraulach Point, currently ruled by Sir Archimaxes, which maintains watch against the feral battle-servitors that infest the southern Mare Erythraeum.[9c]
House Elements
Armoury
Known Knight Suits
Dominus Pattern
- Devastation Unbridled — Castellan.[9c]
- Olympus Resurgent — Valiant.[11]
- Scion of Chryse — Castellan.[11]
Cerastus Pattern
Questoris Pattern
- Ares Lictor — Paladin.[1b]
- Blade of Mars[5c][9b]
- Crimson Destroyer — Warden.[11]
- Equitos Bellum[1c]
- Fortis Metallum — Preceptor.[1c]
- Iron God — Warden.[9a]
- Mors Iram — Styrix.[13c]
- Omnissiah's Fury — Paladin.[5c]
- Pax Mortis[1c]
- Red Might — Crusader.[5c]
- Retributor — Gallant.[9a]
- Scarlet Doom — Paladin.[3]
- Spirit of Voltaire — Crusader.[11]
Armiger Pattern
Known Knights
High Monarchs
- Taymon Verticorda — One of the House's two Lord Commanders during the Horus Heresy.[1c] Pilot of Ares Lictor.[1b]
- Caturix — One of the House's two Lord Commanders during the Horus Heresy.[1c]
Barons
- Cavanix — Pilot of the Crimson Destroyer. Led the Knights sent to aid the world Frontis.[11]
- Griegor — Pilot of the Iron God.[9a]
- Solon Rhadamanthine — Pilot of a Knight Crusader.[7]
Seneschals
Other Knights
- Agamon - Knight during the Horus Heresy
- Sir Archimaxes — Pilot of Devastation Unbridled.[9c]
- Leopold Cronus — Knight during the Horus Heresy, pilot of Pax Mortis
- Sir Darkarrus — Pilot of Scarlet Doom.[3]
- Drantar — Pilot of Red Might.[5c]
- Gentran — Knight during the Horus Heresy
- Govatek — Pilot of Olympus Resurgent. Among the Knights sent to aid the world Frontis.[11]
- Raf Maven — Knight during the Horus Heresy, pilot of Equitos Bellum
- Tovekh Mau — Pilot of the Scion of Chryse. Among the Knights sent to aid the world Frontis.[11]
- Lady Melandra — Pilot of Retributor.[9a]
- Razelon — Pilot of the Spirit of Voltaire. Among the Knights sent to aid the world Frontis.[11]
- Soberan — Pilot of Omnissiah's Fury.[5c]
- Stator — Knight during the Horus Heresy, pilot of Fortis Metallum
- Sir Thassor — Pilot of the Red Jackal.[9b]
- Lord Therberax — Pilot of a Knight Errant.[6]
- Ulantor — Noble
- Valek — Pilot of Red Warrior during the War of the Beast
- Sir Xantek — Pilot of Blade of Mars.[5c][9b] Terribly wounded by a Chaos Titan. He has survived the Ritual of Becoming twice and embodies his house's ability to rise again from darkness.[9b]
- Yelsic - Knight during the Horus Heresy
Bondsmen
- Bondswoman Jocasta — Knight Warglaive Argyre. Among the Knights sent to aid the world Frontis.[11]
- Bondsman Fovin — Knight Warglaive Aram. Among the Knights sent to aid the world Frontis.[11]
- Bondsman Hastaelock — Knight Helverin Lyot. Among the Knights sent to aid the world Frontis.[11]
- Bondsman Fargrim — Knight Helverin Zunil. Among the Knights sent to aid the world Frontis.[11]
Images
Scarlet Doom, the Knight of Sir Darkarrus
See also
Sources
- 1: Mechanicum (Novel):
- 1a: The Tharsis Quadrangle of Mars (map before Chapter 0.01)
- 1b: Chapter 0.01
- 1c: Chapter 1.01
- 1x: [Needs Citation]
- 2: Codex: Imperial Knights (6th Edition):
- 3: Warhammer: Visions 8, pgs. 170–171
- 4: White Dwarf 36 (2014), pg. 22
- 5: Codex: Imperial Knights (7th Edition):
- 6: White Dwarf 127 (2016) — Regiments of Renown
- 7: White Dwarf September 2016 — The Ultimate Guide to Imperial Knights
- 8: Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition), pg. 20
- 9: Codex: Imperial Knights (8th Edition):
- 10: Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus (8th Edition), pg. 57
- 11: White Dwarf July 2018 — Battle Report: A Gauntlet Thrown Down
- 12: Codex: Imperial Knights (9th Edition), pgs. 24-25 — House Taranis
- 13: Adeptus Titanicus: Loyalist Legios:
- 14: War Zone Charadon - Act I: The Book of Rust, pgs. 40-41
- 15: White Dwarf 487, pg. 100 — The Red Angel
- 16: Leviathan (Box) Rulebook, pgs. 247-253
- 17: Codex: Skitarii (7th Edition), pgs. 14-15 — The Red Planet
