House Vonyx

"The Imperium abandoned us, left us to die on our own - Left our world, and our people to be put to the torch. No longer will we be controlled by ineptitude - The Gods of Chaos have opened our eyes, and we will repay our slavery to the False Emperor in kind!"

- Lilana Vonyx Like many Knight Houses, house Vonyx was once part of the Imperium of Man since the early days of M30 prior to the Horus Heresy. The House was originally established under the Lord Jaedus Vonyx on the planet of Ferrosal. The latter is a planet within Segmentum Obscurus with an abundance in resources with several native human populations, but with far more predatory wildlife. The resources of the planet were claimed by Lord Jaedus Vonyx, the then-Warlord of the planet. This abundance in resources and rapid development under Jaedus' leadership coupled with the technology and knowledge brought by the Tech Priests of Mars after their arrival, soon lead to the founding of the Vonyx Knight House.

History
In the early days of M30, prior to the Horus Heresy, a planet was identified in the central region of Segmentum Obscurus. It was part of a subsector of three planets, two of which were habitable. Skull probes were deployed, along with a number of scouts from the Shadow Chalice Chapter. The expedition group soon discovered that whilst there were only a few native human settlements, it contained two things in great abundance - The first is the resources that were found on the planet, vast amounts of raw materials including pure water springs, sand, metallic elements, oil and just about any other material that would be useful. The other was the large amount of hostile wildlife, including large kraken-like sea creatures, not too dissimilar from those found on Fenris, but much smaller and not of Tyranid origin.

The expedition leader, an unnamed Tech Priest, made contact with Jaedus on the planet, and offered the technology available to them in exchange for his loyalty to the Imperium. Jaedus was initially ready to decline, but he saw the Astartes escort of the Shadow Chalice with him, and knew he and his warriors with basic weaponry would not stand a chance, though he also saw the chance to improve the living conditions of his tribe, so he agreed.

Over the course of the next few centuries, Jaedus and his people embraced the Technology brought to his people and the rule of the Imperium of Man. In exchange for his allegiance, he was made the master of what would soon be House Vonyx, a new Knight House of the Imperium. This need was also made evident as the number of predators on the planet shot up rapidly due to their lack of resistance. The Kraken of the oceans had grown into huge sizes of forty feet (tentacles not included) as well as an unrecognised plant species called Virids, carnivorous plants that would often move in groups to kill and feast on human flesh. When springtime came about the planet, the Virids would pollinate rapidly - If left to pollinate on their own, they would soon cover the planet.

Jaedus was tasked with choosing ten of his best to join him in piloting the first Imperial Knights of the planet. This group contained at least four Knight Acherons armed with flamers to deal with the cannibalistic plants. The other Knights varied in type, and it was Jaedus himself who brought down the only recorded Kraken mother on the planet with a heavily modified Knight Paladin. With this effort alone, most of the planet was rendered safe for further development, with the exception of the Northern hemisphere. Skull probes were sent there to investigate and what was found was kept as a well-guarded secret by Jaedus and the Tech Priests of the planet, prohibiting travel there to all on the planet.