Ravinder

At the heart of the Cinnabar Sector, in the Vasant system of the Kamal Sub-Sector lies Ravinder twin planet of D'Cruze and seat of the sectorial government, one of the two major powers within the sector.

Firmly in the hand of the Batari clan ever since the Horus Heresy up to the 39th Millennium, their power dwindled and the incompetence of the last Sectorial Governor from their ranks, Daud Batari lead to their eventual fall from grace. After many years of political intrigue and infighting, reign over the sector was eventually granted to bloodline Gesser with ties to many of the noble houses of Terra.

Unlike their predecessors, the Gessers allied themselves with House Padparadscha, the Sector's most powerful dynasty of merchants, craftsman, bureaucrats, officials and officers, accessing their network of contacts and influence in military and finance for an exchange of being granted entry to the world of the ancient Terran noble houses.

History
Records dating back to the Great Crusade or the Horus Heresy and its aftermath mention Ravinder only briefly as the place of battles between Night Lord and unknown Loyalist forces. These documents are fragmentary and incomplete, often providing vague or contradicting numbers and dates. The first secured and confirmed records mentioning Ravinder hail from the 34th Millennium as Ravinder is mentioned to be under siege from a splinter force fo Abbaddon the Despoilers forces during the 4th Black Crusade. A combined force of Black Legionnaires and troops of the Night Lords plague the planet for weeks before they are confronted and fought off by the 4th and 5th Wing of the Lions Exemplar, the D'Cruze Heavy Infantry and numerous other regiments.

Deep within the sector and heavily guarded, Ravinder passes events such as the Age of Apostasy unfazed, though finds itself repeatedly under siege during the various Black Crusades. Each time, it would be invaded by varied forces only to be reconquered under great effort.

Arad's Purge
In M39, a great shift goes through the entire Sector as the Batari Clan, holding the seat of sectorial government since nearly 7.000 years are stripped of their position due to the blatant incompetency of Daud Batari. Daud had severely neglected the sector, causing corruption among officials and heresy among the population to run rampant. After the fall of the Batari Clan, the position of Sector Governor was left vacant for nearly two decades before the noble bloodline Gesser was granted fiefdom over the sector. Arad Gesser was appointed to the position and immediately began to bring the Sector back into shape, a process that would be taken over by his successors and lasts to this day.

1st Wave
Those allied to Clan Batari were still in their positions of power and consequently the first to suffer from the Gessers takeover. Thousands if not millions of officials and bureaucrats were relieved from their positions under the pretense of uprooting the rampant corruption, but argued by many to put those loyal to the new rulers into positions of influence.

2nd Wave
Clan Batari had been adamant in refusing to ally itself with House Padparadscha, regarding them as upstart savages and beneath their standing. While the Gessers likely had the same view, they recognized the influence the Padparadschas possessed throughout the Sector and the many forces present. In exchange for accessing this network, they granted them government over Ravinder and an entry into the political machinations of Terra, forging a bond with mutual benefits which lasts to this day.

The Dark Imperium
With the Sector back under capable management and its two major forces working together rather than against each other, Cinnabar saw an era of stability and comparable peace for the next millennia. The increasing number of Chaos attacks would eventually reach their peak with the destruction of Cadia during Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade. With the formation of the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Cinnabar Sector lost its connection to Terra and the guidance of the Astronomicon.

Heresy ran rampant as Chaos forces plundered many of the Sectors' worlds' and both were barely contained by the present military forces. Relief would come in form of Guilliman's Unnumbered Sons and the Indomitus Crusade, granting the Sector direly-needed reinforcements. Still far from stable, the Sector's collapse has been avoided and actual steps to secure it are being taken.

Geography
Ravinder is the twin planet of D'Cruze as the two bodies share a mutual orbit around the Vasant system's star. This is where most of the similarities end however, as Ravinder has inevitably changed drastically over its existence. The dusty, salt-desert covered surface is largely consumed by sprawling Hive Cities the size of continents and reaching several kilometers into the sky. Ravinder's oceans have dried up under the intense heat of its star after the atmosphere has become thinner and thinner and consequently, most wild- and plant-life has either vanished or sought shelter underground.

Flora and Fauna
Aside from insects and lichens, there is little in terms of natural life left on Ravinder. Most animals have sought shelter in the sewers and uninhabited levels of the Hives, preying and being preyed on by the often equally feral population.

Culture
As the seat of government for an entire Sector, Ravinder has become totally devoted to the unimaginable bureaucratic effort this is. Entire cities have become nothing more but archives, filled with millions and millions of scribes sorting documents, processing requests for military aid, putting reports of attacks and defenses in order and requesting proper responses. The vast size of the Imperium means that many of these documents are already outdated by the time they are processed, which does not stop the machine of bureaucracy for one second.

The power needed to supply the planet-covering network of cogitators is processed from thermal generators, operated by a working class going into the billions. Born, living and working in the dark underbellies of the Hives, only a select few ever lay as much as a glance on their masters and most even live in utter ignorance of the importance they have in sustaining the Hive's existence.

Government
The Planetary Governor's position has been separated from that of Sector Governor by the first Gessers and granted hereditary to House Padparadscha in exchange for their aid in putting the Sector under their masters' control. Their duty is that of an Overseer, managing the Hives in order to enable the Imperial bureaucracy to run as smoothly as possible and therefore allow the Sector Governor to exert their office with utmost efficiency.

Benit Gesser, Lord Cinnabar
The current Sector Governor is a man of order and control, desiring nothing more than to keep the Sector functioning and under Imperial reign by all means necessary. His noble lineage has produced an individual of absolute confidence, keeping a court of advisors and specialists to offer their particular view on a matter should it become necessary. Gesser despises distractions from his duties and expects those serving under him to let only those problems truly of his attention reach him.

Though close to 300 years old, Rejuvenation agents and artificial organs grant him the appearance of a merely 60 year old man with an imposing, broad frame and a deep, sonorous voice. Dozens of his heirs stand ready to take over his position, yet he seems to have regained strength and vigor in face of the Dark Imperium.

Shobha Padparadscha, Lady Ravinder
The dark-skinned, lithe shadow behind Gesser's chair, Schobha Padparadscha rules Ravinder after the death of her older Brother at the dawn of the Cicatrix Maledictum, which circumstances remain mysterious. Lady Ravinder rules the planet with a tight fist, tolerating little in terms of failure or shortcomings. A pragmatic woman, she cares not for long trials, instead replacing those failing her swiftly and without much of a trace of their predecessors.

The Silent Spire
Crowning Prabhat Dominus Alpha, Ravinder's larges Hive lies the spire, the tower serving as the seat of both Planetary and Sectorial Governors. It holds offices, private quarters, ball-, tea- and meeting rooms for both positions as well as an independent power supply should that of the Hive malfunction. Far above the billion scratching feathers of the scribes it is perhaps the only place on Ravinder featuring true silence as well as the last remains of the planet's nature, preserved in lush gardens.

Ravinder Exiles
Known as the 'Ravinder Praetorians' during the rule of Clan Batari, the regiments raised on Ravinder have since dropped far from their esteem. Formerly recruited from the noble sons and daughters of families allied with the rulers of the Cinnabar Sector, the 'Ravinder Exiles', as they have become known, are now conscripted from all sorts of criminals.

The seat of Planetary Governor was granted to House Padparadscha under the condition that they would end the rampant criminality of the lower Hives. Indrahjit Padparadscha, the one chosen for this position and great-great-grandfather to the current Lady Ravinder, simply had the Arbites round up every Hive Ganger they could find, merge them with the contents of the overflowing prisons and ship them off-world as regiments of the Astra Militarum. Those unwilling to comply would be executed promptly.

At the current day an age, the Ravinder Exiles for their abysmal morale and discipline as they pick their officers from their own ranks. Barely equipped and even less trained, they are deployed as little more than meat shields, living defense lines only tasked to slow down the enemy, be it with their lifeless body. There is no end of service and the Hives' lower levels produce a constant stream of involuntary recruits.

D'Cruze Heavy Infantry
Tasked with the protection of Ravinder along with the defense fleet of the Imperial Navy, the regiment is raised on its twin-planet. With the Padparadschas' close ties to the Mechanicum, soldiers of D'Cruze are equipped unusually well. Though their Carapace Armor is lighter and their Hellguns not as powerful as that of the Imperial Scions, the gear is still far above that of what most guardsmen can even dream of.