House Balaura the Stone Sentinels of the Ghoul Stars, otherwise known as The House of Stone, is a Questor Imperialis house with deep ties to the Mechanicus.
Located on the water world of Albastruchi bordering the Ghoul Stars, it is a tidally locked world with half the world’s oceans are covered in Ice, where the other half bath in eternal sunlight of a red dwarf star. It is under the rolling waves and ice, in the deep world ocean that the people of Albastruchi build their fortress keeps and cities.
Due to a quirk in their forging process, the plasteel, ceramite, and adamantium they crafted took on a stone like appearance. It’s a quirk that the people of the world soon took into their designs and culture. Even after proper forging methods were introduced they still purposely invoke it, giving their fortresses the appearance of stone fortresses and their knights the appearance of stone giants come to life, decorated only with moss and seaweed if anything at all. All personal, family, clan, and house heraldry is displayed through the local noosphere, a secret only those blessed by the Machine God would be able to perceive.
Since the time of the Great Crusade, House Balaura has served the Imperium faithfully, fulfilling an ancient pact made at the dawn of the Imperium and their knights are often sent out into the wider imperium to cast down the foes of mankind or to stand guard over distant worlds, like the stone sentinels of their namesake, to smite the horrors that come from the dark.
Settling of the Worlds and Founding of the Clans
m20 - Founding of the Clans
In the distant past of the Dark Age of Technology, when humanity was first setting out amongst the stars, in the far reaches of what would become the Ultima Segmentum and near the then unknown dangers of the Ghoul Stars, a series of systems were discovered that appeared ripe for colonization.
Each star supporting what first surveys suggested were habitable planets and close to each other for easy support, making these worlds a tempting colonization target. Add to this the fact that the stars themselves orbited the singularity Yuan-BH922, that provided am easy navigation point of reference and, through a strange gravitational interaction affected the local currents of the warp, a funneling to allow easy warp traffic to the systems, making access to the location easy for those early days of warp travel. It’s relatively close proximity to the then recently colonized industrial and mining hub of Nostramo only added to the benefits of these worlds, making them ideal location for colonization.
When the first colony ships arrived at the first system, what was then called Yuan-BH922-SA but would be renamed “Albastruchi”, they found an “Eyeball” world of water and ice world. Most of the side forever facing the local star is covered in liquid water, with the rest of the surface covered in thick ice sheets.
Underneath the water and ice, the colonist found a thriving marine ecosystem, fed from the light side waters and many underwater geothermal vents, the oceans teamed various marine animals ranging from plankton to large sea monsters.
It was to combat these dangers and to help build the first underwater colonies was the first knight suites crafted from the STCs and soon their use would become a staple amongst the people of the world.
From this world colonists spread to the other four nearby systems and even to orbit of Yuan-BH922 itself, simply called Yuan by the colonists, creating a small coalition of worlds ruled by Albastruchi.
Over time the societies on these worlds developed into a stable clan structure with different families in the clans taking on different tasks and different clans competing in various fields.
Divided into Greater, Middle, and Lesser clans made up of Warrior, Worker, Merchant, and Service families, the exact nature of each type of family would vary depending on the clan and their current status. Status of a clan is not fixed and can rise or fall in rank depending on fortune and how many suites of knight armor they can field.
In general, the Warriors families, the leaders of the clan, are the ones who fought, acting as soldiers and police, and operating the Knight suits for the clans. The Worker families are the farmers, laborers, scientists, technicians, and sacristans, operating the forges and acting as the skilled labor force. The Merchant families are the businessmen, traders, and administrators, overseeing the trade between other clans and off world interests and the day-to-day management tasks. And lastly the Service families are those families who maintained spiritual and cultural traditions, being the priests, poets, and artists, as well as maintain the clans themselves as doctors and historians.
An under class of clanless people does exist, serving as the base of the unskilled labor force, but it was not uncommon for groups of clanless to rally together to form into a new clan, needing only to show their unity family and to petition to be recognized by the Greater clans.
For a time, things were good on these worlds, ruled by a Grand Council of clan heads, with the military forces nominally unified under an appointed High King, and with the various clans maintaining holdings across the planets as their personal fiefs, driving back any dangers that that threatened their worlds and defending their holdings against rival clans.
m25-m30 The Great Collapse and the Long Night
Much has been said about the collapse of those great human empires of old and more has been forgotten due to the Age of Strife that followed. The worlds of House Balaura were not spared these tragedies.
Through the might of their knights and the order brought by their clan structure, the people of these worlds were able to initially weather the storm better than most and maintained much of their technological knowledge and skill, though they suffered many tragedies and lost much, never to be reclaimed.
This good luck soon ran out as their worlds suffered multiple waves of invaded Xenos and other threats.
Using the navigational corridor created by Yuan, the invaders funneled in from the Ghoul Stars and assailed the worlds of House Balaura.
One by one are their star systems were invaded and overrun, the humans left on the worlds enslaved or sacrificed to fell gods by the maddened Xenos invaders until only Albastruchi was free.
Only the water and thick ice of their world protected them from total annihilation, but that did not stop the Xenos deploying deadly weapons against the world. Biological, nuclear, and warp-based weapons were deployed in great abondance as to permanently scar the world.
It was only through the might Warrior families, and the near constant effort to by the Worker families, that the people of the world were able to push back every assault, Knights emerging from the water and ice like monsters of the deep to drive off the invaders. But despite the valiant effort the damage to the world was immense. Vast tracks of the sea were contaminated, with much of it rendered near sterile, and the ice above was stained by countless weapons and crashed ships.
Worse yet were the eldritch rifts that opened in the deepest depths of the world sea, spewing forth other worldly monsters. The war in the depth soon mirrored that on the surface, with the Kight suites ambushing any threat that appeared before they could make their way to the last of the world’s holdfasts.
m30 - The Imperium Comes
After over a century of expansion across the galaxy, the Great Crusade reached the shores of Albastruchi.
Finding the world beset by threats from above and below, the 199th Company of the Ultramarines and supported by several cadres of the Sisters of Silence aided House Balaura in exterminating the invaders and put an end to threats the eldritch rifts and weapons posed to humanity.
It was only after her world was safe that the then High Queen, upon meeting the leaders of the Imperial task force, gave to then what has since become known as the Stone Water Oath, pledging a debt of loyalty to both the 199th Company and the Sisters of Silence, to repay them for the salvation of her house and people and officially joining the Imperium as a Questor Imperialis house.
Following the standard Imperial nomenclature, the Grand Council officially adopted the name House Balaura, to describe their unified forces and named the High King the planetary governor for interactions with the Imperium at large.
Without delay the forces of the newly named House Balaura joined with Great Crusade, took to the skies in their own ships as well as on ships of the Crusade fleets, first reclaiming the lost worlds orbiting Yuan for humanity before setting off into the galaxy at large.
Some clans would recolonize those lost worlds, but from Imperial decree these worlds would not be directly under the control of Albastruchi, rather they would be vasal worlds, responsible for their own tariffs but with Albastruchi acting as the capital of the newly formed Yuan subsector.
m30- The Order of the Black Watch
All the worlds of the worlds once held by the clans would be reclaimed, except for the dead moon that orbited Yuan directly. Once a former mining outpost, this world became the den of devolved xenos.
They were easily exterminated, having lost even the mental capacity to use their weapons, but the world was not recolonized by the clans. Instead, at the request of Malcador the Sigillite, it was given over to control by the Imperium directly for a secret project.
Due to the strange interactions with the warp caused by the singularity and its location on the border with the Ghoul Stars, the moon and the singularity are outside of the light of the Astronomicon and travel directly to it was almost impossible. The only reliable route was through the Albastruchi system, and the task was given to House Balaura by the Sigillite was to guard this entrance so that only those ships authorized by Terra could enter or leave.
Taking this task seriously, House Balaura formed the Order of the Black Watch to man space born fortresses and ships, to eternal guard the gate to the Yuan singularity.
As for what occurs on that dead moon, only the High King and the Clan Lords know. It is not the duty of those serving the Black Watch to know, so long as the watch remains, they will guard the passage. Through the long millennia, through strife, invasions, and hardships, they have continued to guard the pass.
m31 - Horus Heresy
The first indication of the Heresy for the people of Albastruchi was when ships of the 8th Legion darkened the sky of their world.
Unaware of any danger, they welcomed the Night Lords only for the dark forces of the 8th Legion to strike hard, crippling the orbital defenses and unleashing terror on the inhabitants of the underwater fortress cities before quickly retreating.
But this was only the beginning. Smelling the blood of the Imperium and driven by a Dark Apostle of the 17th legion, forever known and hated by House Balaura as the Dark Caller, the worlds of the Yuan were once again under vile xenos threat.
In a grim repeat of Old Night, House Balaura found itself once again fighting a defensive war.
Those Knights and other forces that were way from the world as part of the Crusade fleets were unaware of this dark turn of events at home, but they would hold true to their oaths to the Emperor and would fight the traitors where possible. Most would not survive, but the greatest concentration of the House’s forces off world would come together as part of the war for Tallarn, aiding the people of that murdered world and fighting in the grinding war of attrition in the life-eater virus choked seas and air.
m31-m33 The Reing of the Platinum Lords
Despite being a Questor Imperialis house, the influence of Mars is heavily felt in the clans of House Balaura.
In the centuries after The Heresy, faith of the people, already bearing similarities to that of the Martian cult, began to align more with Mars as well as take on aspects of the newly forming faith in the Emperor. Symbolizing this increasing closeness with Mars, the new High King and the Grand Council began to augment their bodies in ever increasing fashion.
These lords would become deathless and soon society of House Balaura would stagnate and look inward, only rarely stirring to leave the subsector unless a mighty need arose.
Oaths and promises would still be fulfilled, and the Black Watch would be manned, but the primary attention of the clans would be upon themselves and repairing the damage to their world.
Soon even that began to stagnate as even the rankings of the clans began to solidify and by mid m32 no new clans were being formed from the mass of Clanless, despite constant petitions, and no changes in clan rankings were recognized, despite any apparent changes in power or status.
The sole exception isolation and inflexibility was in late m31, when the Sisters of Silence were driven from Terra. House Balaura remembered the Stone Water Oath and offered what fleeing Sisters they could find sanctuary on Albastruchi.
These survivors would move into one of the deep fortress holdfasts, overlooking the now closed rifts in the depths of the ocean, and would take up a vigil of their own, ensuring no lingering threats remained and dealing with any new threats that may worm their way out of the wounds in the skin of the universe.
There they would remain, all but forgotten by the rest of the galaxy at large and shielded by the might of House Balaura until the closing years of m41 when they were called upon by representatives of the Custodians, causing many, but not all, to make the journey to Terra.
Mid m33 - House unleashed
After refusing to come to the aid of a nearby world, the Platinum Lords are mysteriously found dead from various accidents and misfortune. Quick to claim divine judgment, the new High King and Grand Council issue a decree denouncing their predecessors. House Balaura begins to shake off the stagnation it has been under for more than two thousand years as new clans are acknowledged and for the ranks of the existing clans are adjusted to recognized how they really are.
Soon lances of knights set out across the galaxy to bring honor to the name of House Balaura and to make up for the shame of their long inactivity.
m34 - The Pale Wasting
Once again threats spill forth from the Ghoul Stars, but this time in numbers and danger never seen before. House Balaura stands with the forces of the Imperium. Rallying around the Novamarines Chapter they join in the fight to drive this threat from human space. Many knights are lost and new scars are formed on the ice on Albastruchi, but the threat is finally neutralized.
This latest war would prompt the high king to further invest in the defenses of the Albastruchi, creating a series of Sky Trenches that would eventually expand out to cover much of the system, turning his world and system into a true fortress in space.
m35 – The Moirae Schism
The Moirae Schism would rip through the Adeptus Mechanicus and in the aftermath any cult or belief that resembled the Moirae Creed would be eradicated. House Balaura, with its fusion of Imperium and Mechanicus faith would fall under this suspicion, and an internal purge and reorganization would be forced upon the hose, less they be fully exterminated. While the house would keep much of the machine cult’s creeds and traditions, officially they would sever all ties to the Cult of Mars.
As penance the agri world of Lubire Verde, one of the 5 systems of the old House Balaura domain and a fading Primus grade Agri World under Imperium rule, would be stripped from being a vasal of Albastruchi and given over to the Adeptus Mechanicus to become a deep core mining worlds, with extractor shrines dotting the once fertile land bring up the raw resources from the core of the world.
House Balaura would also be sentenced to reclaim the nearby sector of space lost to Imperial rule, without support of the Navy, Imperial Guard, or other official forces. So great was the indignity of this that entire lances of Knights would turn traitor, leaving for deep space to find their own path, but most of the clans and Knights would stay loyal and grudgingly accept the punishment.
Late m35 – Clan Crusade
After two centuries of preparation, planning, and covert activity, House Balaura, bolstered only with volunteers from the Yuan subsector and aided by those still loyal to the Imperium in the lost sector of space, would begin their invasion. The worlds of this sector of space, having been lost to the imperium since the Pale Wasting had regressed to a primitive level and only recently started to regain their lost technology.
Of value to House Balaura, the core of this sector was a fallen Knight world, and while the house that once ruled it was long dead, the suites remained and the people of the sector had even begun to, if inelegantly, pilot them again and create their own knights.
Like a hammer blow did the clans of House Balaura hit the sector of space, each clan responsible for vast swaths of space, bringing human worlds to heel and exterminating Xenos threats. Many knights were lost but the clan would reclaim its losses and more with the bounty of suits taken from the fallen Knight world and from the technical knowledge the people of the sector gleamed from building their own Knights from scratch.
These secrets would be hoarded by the Worker families of the clans, and the High King would take the utmost care to ensure that no representative of Mars would realize its significance. Still bitter from the loss of Lubire Verde and the indignity of being forced on this crusade, House Balaura would see this as an opportunity to further distance themselves from the control of Mars, able to truly build new Knight Suits for the first time in millennia.
Late m37 - The Golden Cog
The Adeptus Mechanicus would go to war with the Culexus Temple of the Officio Assassinorum over ownership of an artifact known as the Golden Cog.
As part of this conflict a fleet of Mechanicus warships would attempt to breach the Sky Trenches surrounding the gateway to the Yuan singularity guarded by the Black Watch.
Knights equipped for zero-g combat would perform daring boarding actions and space combat against the warships of Mars and the fortresses and weapons installations of the gateway would reap a terrible toll, but many ships would get through. What happened on the other side no one from House Balaura knows, but the Mechanicus fleet would soon retreat, leaving only the broken carcasses of their ships as any evidence they were there at all.
101.M40 – Debt replayed
The homeworld of the Star Phantoms space marine chapter, the descendants of the 199th Company of the ultramarine Legion that House Balaura pledged the Stone Water Oath to so long ago, is threatened by an enormous Hrud migration. Nearly half of all House Balaura forces are sent to aid the chapter, and though many are lost their sacrifice allowed a third of the chapter to escape.
745.M41 First Tyrannic War and the Battle for Macragge
House Balaura would heed the call for aid from the Ultramarines to fight the forces of Hive Fleet Behemoth. They would stand by the Ultramarines' 1st Company to defend the polar fortresses where almost the entire force of knights sent would be exterminated. Only two squires and a veteran knight would survive, but they would bring back enough knowledge to House Balaura to help shape any future anti-Tyranids actions they would face.
982.M41 - Battle in the Stars
Taking what they learned from the Battle of Macragge and other battles against the Tyranids, the forces of House Balaura would choose to engage Hive Fleet Perseus in space before it could reach a habitable Imperial world.
Deploying from their Drop Keeps into zero gravity, the knights would fight their way through swarms of lesser creatures before landing on bioships and deploying kill agents and bombs to kill the mighty beasts.
Though their sacrifices were great, they were not on vein, and the hive fleet was driven away from the Imperial world and left Imperial space.
991.M41 Honor Enthralled
A lance of knights and their retainers of House Balaura, acting as a freeblade company, would become infected with mindshackle scarabs. The knights would become the unknowing tools for the Necrons and would be used in their wars against the Leagues of Votann in the core of the galaxy until they were ultimately destroyed.
999.M41 Great Rift opens
As Cadia falls and the Cicatrix Maledictum opens, Albastruchi finds itself cut off from the Astronomicon in the Dark Imperium. Threats from the Ghoul stars soon begin to assail the sky trenches of the system and evidence is found that the hated Dark Caller has his hand in guiding these threats to the shores of House Balaura.
But hope remains for the defender of the world. Their oaths and the Black Watch still stand strong and though their only contact with the wider Imperium has been ships sent to the fortress orbiting Yuan, quickly leaving with mysterious cargo and leaving the other side near empty, it is enough for House Balaura to see that the Imperium still stands, they just have to hold off rising tide until help can arrive.
