Sicarra

Beginnings
During the peak of human civilization, now referred to as the Dark Age of Technology, humanity sent out vast fleets of colony ships. These ships held vast amounts of resources in food and tech, but they were a resource itself. Once a ship had landed on a habitable planet, the settlers would strip it down for construction materials, making a return impossible and success mandatory.

Among the tech carried by these ships were impossibly large suits of armor, armed with a devastating array of weapons and tools. Standing dozens of feet taller than a common man, these suits were vital in conquering planets, as they not only aided in construction, but also protected the colonists from predators or Xeno forces. For that role, they became known as 'Knights', inheriting the name of ancient terran warriors known for their code of chivalry and honor.

One such world was Sicarra, a desert world safe for moderate zones near its poles. It was here where the colony ship Peregrine made planetfall, close to the largest oasis its crew could find. Within a year, the massive vessel had been torn apart, its hull and intestines turned into a sprawling city which soon bore the name Glastonmouth, baptized after the first man to loose his life on Sicarra.

Like a myriad of other worlds, Sicarra too was guarded by its Knights, steely giants piloted by brave men and women and equipped with weapons befitting their size. They traversed the desert, purging nests of predators or repelling Xenos raiders. Not long and they would become known as the Knights of the Peregrine, for the vessel's name was still present, painted in larger than life letters on the flank of their keep.

Prosperity
Soon, it became apparent that Sicarra could not contain its rapidly growing population and so the colonists, now the world's rightful inheritors, set their eyes once more towards the stars. Building space crafts once more, they first conquered their moons and from there, the rest of their system. One after another, planet after planet would be brought into the growing empire, each providing resources to construct the Knights necessary to protect them and reach out to the next world.

Over the course of several millennia, the Knights of the Peregrine spread over the entire Dinadan Cluster. So large had their ranks grown that several minor households had been founded under the banner of the Peregrine. However, not all of them would live through the times that laid ahead.

The Age of Strife
As humankind was at its peak, it would fall low. Psykers, so far few and rare, started to be born all over human domain, drawing in countless daemons and other warp entities. At the same time, warp storms erupted all over the galaxy, swallowing worlds whole or separating them from each other. Space travel did become nigh impossible. Adding salt to the wound, the Men of Iron, thinking machines and formerly loyal servants to their human masters, rose up in violent riots.

Sicarra and its Knights were not spared and for seemingly endless centuries, the contact to their brethren was lost. Cut off from the resources of their vassal worlds, the Knights were forced to restrict the access to their suits further and further, as their repair became increasingly difficult. Consequently, their influence grew until they were eventually entrusted with the rule over their planet. Regressing into a state of feudalism. The Knights of the Peregrine became House Peregrine.

When the warp storms faded at the beginning of the 30th Millennium, House Peregrine set out into space to reclaim the fiefs recorded in their annals. Alas, they found many worlds barren, carrying only destroyed ruins or even worse, a population enslaved by Xenos or the madness of daemonic corruption. Beyond salvation, the Knights Peregrine purged these worlds.

The Great Crusade
When the forces of the Emperor's Great Crusade reached the Dinadan Cluster, it is said that House Peregrine readily took the opportunity to fight alongside the formidable Legiones Astartes. After having the Tech Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus examine their Knights, the House mounted the majority of their mechanical steeds and joined the Great Crusade.

Countless worlds of the Cinnabar Sector were brought under the wing of the Emperor, either liberated from the clutches of Xenos or Daemons or forced into submission with the Knights' hammering cannons. It is widely accepted that House Peregrine developed its fondness for fast assaults and swift maneuvers from fighting alongside the IXth Legion, the Blood Angels, whose skill with the blade they tried to emulate.

The Horus Heresy
When Warmaster Horus betrayed the Emperor and dragged several of his brothers with him into corruption, the Dinadan Cluster was not spared from the flames of the civil war. Traitorous members of the Imperial Army left in the wake of the World Eaters bloody path towards Terra were ravaging the worlds supposedly under the protection of House Peregrine. When their call for help reached the Knights, they turned on their heels and rushed back to their home.

Breaking through the hastily put up defense of the traitors, the Knights made planetfall and crushed those who slayed their subjects under the steely claws of their suits.

The Battle for Glastonmouth
During the heights of the battle for the Dinadan Cluster, it was revealed that the son of the High King of House Peregrine, originally tasked with defending Sicarra during the time of the Knights' absence, had succumbed to the lure of fame and power. Betraying his own, the Knights returning to their keep in Glastonmouth were met with fire from the city's defense batteries and the Knights protecting it. Unwary and having expected a peaceful return, High King Everard fell to the surprise attack of the traitors.

Struck with shame and wrath over his brother's betrayal, Prince Philander took command over the Knights' forces and personally led the next attack on the city. Answering his sibling's mocking demand for an honorable duel with an artillery barrage from the cannons of his Knights, Philander and a select few charged into the city. Tearing their former comrades apart even after they surrendered under the violent onslaught, the two princes eventually met Knight to Knight. Though tired from the battle, Philander proved far superior to his younger brother and the duel ended with the defeat of the traitor.

Sir Philander was not content, however. He called for all his siblings, declaring his line of the family for unfit to occupy the throne. Instead, he handed the rule to his most trusted Lieutenant, Primrose Hargrave-Peregrine. This decision has become one of the customs of House Peregrine, enabling those with the necessary abilities to exceed the limits of their birth.

Though facing opposition from his relatives, no one dared to deny Sir Philander. After the reign over the House had been passed on, the prince took those left of his family and declared them and himself Freeblades, seeking to redeem the failure of their line with service until death. After they left Sicarra, they would not be seen again.

After the Fire
With the death of Horus and the interment of the Emperor on the Golden Throne ending the Horus Heresy in a pyrrhic victory, peace was slowly enforced once more across the Imperium. Similarly, House Peregrine reinforced their hold over the Dinadan CLuster, repairing their Knights and ridding themselves of every traitor they could find. Lady Primrose, now effectively High Queen Peregrine, declared that skill and not blood would decide over the throne. Every Knight of the House had the right to challenge the heir to a duel for the throne, no matter how low in the line of succession they stood. In the, not uncommon, case that multiple Knights would challenge the supposed heir, all of them would enter a fight against each other at the same time, with their performances being the deciding factor over their claim. These duels, whether one against one or many against each other, are known as the Bohort.

War of the Beast
(WIP)

Age of Apostasy
(WIP)

The Black Crusades
(WIP)

The Dark Imperium
Even cut off from the Segmentum Solar and the guiding light of the Astronomicon, House Peregrine has remained vigil over its domain. Having called all their Knights back home, the House intends to keep up the tradition of not having any foe stay on their worlds for longer than a week since the days of the Horus Heresy. With High King Reann Peregrine being of an age too old to let him join the fray of the frontlines, it is his niece, Onnifer Peregrine, who holds active command over the House's forces. So far, she has held her position through 12 duels.

Geography
Sicarra holds no oceans, forming a single landmass. Dominated by deep, arid deserts and steep rock areas, the most surface water and greenery is visible close to the poles, where the melting glaciers forms rivers and lakes that evaporate rapidly the further one travels towards the equator.

Occasionally, basins and depressions lay protected from the sun, able to gather dew or ground water and turn into permanent oases. Most often, these places form the center of settlements or outposts, further supplied by wind traps and water recyclers.

Flora & Fauna
Wildlife has perfectly adapted to the harsh conditions of Sicarra, preserving water in every way possible. Cacti and dry bushes dominate, though the larger deserts are usually entirely devoid of plant growth on their surface.

Similarly, animals mostly use the night to go about their lives and many of them are carrion eaters.

Notable Species

 * Wanderhawks: Large, majestic birds with wing sizes exceeding 2 meters, these animals have become the heraldic animal of House Peregrine.

Lansquenets
Like any planet, Sicarra holds several regiments of PDF troops, dubbed the Lansquenets. Raised from the general populace and overseen by nobles failing to pilot a Knight or too low in the line of, the Lansquenets form a well-trained, highly motivated force.

Loyal to individual dukedoms of Sicarra, they usually operate alongside the Knights of their rulers and capture positions or act as scouts. Many pilots who leave Sicarra take a regiment with them, which protects the nobles' encampment during their campaign or accompany them on official festivities.

Instead of Lasguns, the Lansquenets carry Bolt Carbines, repeating long rifles of ancient design. While not true Bolt weapons, their large calibre still provides ample fire power, which, combined with their precision and their wielders skills as hunters, makes them a quite powerful weapon.