Knights of the Forge

The Knights of the Forge are a Salamanders descendant chapter from the planet Ashaytus, located in the galactic south of the Ultima Segmentum, to the east of the Nephilim Sector. The chapter is well-trained in siege warfare, as they are tasked with repelling xenos from nearby systems, a valiant task worthy of their knightly heritage.

While their traditions may differ from the norm of starts chapters, they hold some values, such as citizens' lives, higher than most, probably from their Salamander progenitors and questing forefathers. These beliefs, however, can sometimes put them at odds with planetary governors, members of the Inquisition and even other chapters. None the less, the knights fight on, for they know that duties will be remembered by the Emperor, and those they protect.

History
The Knights' history cannot be explained in its entirety without making reference to their homeward, Ashaytus', past.

Before the light of the Great Crusade, Ashaytus was a lush, green and poisonous planet. The death world was home to many, tribes, lineages, kingdoms, but all were divided by two races; the human settlers and the alien inhabitants, the Estara. Stories of the beginning of the human settling depicted them as the first to arrive at Ashaytus, however, many years later, the Estara appeared, warring with the colonists. Much of the humans' technology had been destroyed by the aliens, and slowly the civilisation became more simple and medieval. Five kingdoms emerged, now with corresponding cities, each with various tribes with certain skills:

The most powerful were the Pyre, a tribe specialising in the making of weapons of metals and the trade of those weapons to the other conflicting tribes, giving them vast wealth and the power over the other tribes.

The second most powerful were the Anguards, a lineage of warriors whose city is one of the better recruitment areas.

Next there was the K’lanin, a tribe of many of the planet’s most intelligent minds, spearheading architecture, biological research and the eventual peace that was formed. They also have many psykers, referred to as Sken’ñan, who would use their abilities to help mining and forsee when the planet would travel closest to its stars, causing an eruption in heat and forcing the tribes to retreat underground.

Penultimately, there were the Vilan, the largest tribe, filled with miners and traders. They often supplied and worked with Pyre, both maintaining a healthy coexistence throughout the years of conflict.

Finally, there were the ambitious Katark who lived mostly underground, using their cave systems to wage war against the other tribes and unleashing brutal assault when the others retreated underground.

(TBC)

Chapter History
The Knights of the Forge are a young chapter, who while somewhat inexperienced, have faced the despair and casualties that many other chapters have in their lifetime. They have not taken part in many campaigns or crusades, though sometimes feel inclined to do so in vengeance or to cripple or push back an enemy force. Examples of these include The Cleansing of Zakar III, a chaos-infested world, or the Taking of Xephan, where a small group of marines were sent to an agri-world to dispatch of a Dark Eldar webway gate. The Chapter was founded in the 23rd founding, roughly eighty years before a large ork invasion. The Chapter were unnamed and didn’t have a specific homeworld or insignia. Only after a large, hard-fought battle, were the chapter named, given a symbol and granted their homeworld, Ashaytus. They were the Knights of the Forge, called so because of their graceful use of blades and their descendance from the Salamanders. They were given Ashaytus, a death world with veins of magma, where they built their Fortress-Monastery, The Bridge, around the bridge that their Chapter Master Pezarus Hugon sacrificed himself, killing the ork leader and hundreds of other orks. Their symbol, a flaming white sword, was given after Hugon’s Honour Guard claimed that his sword was lit with the rage in his soul, allowing him to smite down hundreds of orks before falling, however, this is doubted by many imperial officials and inquisitors, even with the chapter’s persistency.