Concept and Design

Now that I have the celestial bodies out of the way, I figured I'd give a little insight and background into what I'm doing here.

Years ago, my buddy Aaron got me into Warhammer 40k and I started painting my first army, Ultramarines. I picked them because I'm not the greatest of painters, and they had the most artwork.  My interest ebbed and flowed, and it took me forever to finish them (they're still not technically finished, but damn close).

I wanted to come up with a project that interested me, and could keep me in the hobby for longer stretches of time. I liked the idea of coming up with my own armies and their own fluff.  But that wasn't enough, and I needed something to tie them together.  That's when I came up with this project.  I've spent time on The Lexicanum, Bolter and Chainsword and DakkaDakka doing research and gathering ideas, not to mention many conversations with other hobby minded friends.

The system itself is based (loosely) on the Mu Arae star system.  I wanted it to have a relatively realistic feel, like it could actually exist.  The other system I had considered using was Gliese.  You'll see that both those names appear as Tau and Eldar respectively.

My main influence, at least in naming conventions, is Inuit mythology.  This started when I was trying to find a name for my Hive Fleet, and stumbled upon Tizheruk.  It fit well, and so did Malina and Amarok.  Secondary influences are Hindu (Lava and Kusha) and Japanese mythology (the 7 hive city names on Amarok).  Names of people in system will also fit into those three cultures with some exceptions (notably, the Falcon Guard, although Hayabusa is "Peregrine Falcon" in Japanese.)

The only army that isn't designed by me are the Thousand Sons.  When researching splinter groups of Chaos Space Marines, I felt my options were limited.  I could have created a Space Marine chapter that fell to chaos (and I still may, because the idea intrigues me), but the Thousand Sons fit in well with why the Gliese Craftworld was even in the vicinity.

So aside from their imagery, I'm doing my best to keep all logos, icons, and pictures as creations by me.  I don't have a ton of artistic talent, but I can create some stuff in photoshop.  All the planets were done using photoshop techniques combined with cool textures I found (as well as some help from Grey_Death when I couldn't get my water or gas giant looking right).  All the army logos were created by me in photoshop as well (they'll appear when I start putting armies up).  Any painted models that go up will also be by me, unless otherwise noted.  Chances are I might pony up for some commissioned work on the centerpieces (for example, my Commissar will be commissioned, because I know I can't do it justice).

In the coming weeks, I plan on putting up army backgrounds, character backgrounds, general fluff, army lists and anything else that I think relates to this project.

If you've got any questions, feel free to pester me in the comments.

Kusha

Planetary Datafax: Kusha

Class: Uninhabitable moon, Satellite of Ezochi (Rotation - 43 standard hours, 0.18G, Mass - 0.015 TM)

Designation: Dead World

Population: None

Tithe Grade: N/A

Climate/Geography/Biosphere: Atmosphere - Kusha has an atmosphere consisting mostly of sulfur dioxide, sulfur monoxide, and sodium chloride, making human habitation entirely impossible. Even if the air was breathable, Kusha is home to more than three hundred active volcanoes and a high core temperature, resulting in an ever shifting landscape of lava rivers and cooled magma.

Governmental Type: N/A

Planetary Governor: N/A

Adept Presence: N/A

Military: N/A

Trade/Economy/Notes: Kusha was not always as uninhabitable as it currently is. Originally it was near-barren rock with a minute atmosphere and little in the ways of flora and fauna. Thousands of years prior to the first human habitation in the system, Eldar from the small craftworld Gliese landed on Kusha to dispose of a chaos relic they were unable to destroy themselves. Upon sealing the artifact away, the moon underwent the volcanic changes almost immediately, rendering it the dead world that it is today.

Lava

Planetary Datafax: Lava

Class: Semi-inhabitable moon, Satellite of Ezochi (Rotation - 43 standard hours, 0.3G, Mass - 0.002 TM)

Designation: Ice World

Population: Human-imperial, 10,000 estimated

Tithe Grade: Solutio Tertius

Climate/Geography/Biosphere: Atmosphere - Lava's atmosphere is comprised of enough oxygen to support human life, yet the moon resides outside Malina's habitability range, resulting in temperatures that are never above freezing outside of man-made habitations. Those same temperatures keep Lava devoid of any naturally occurring flora and fauna. All food sources are imported from Kintaro. The earth below the layers of ice on Lava are rich in many minerals and natural gasses, which are mined and collected, and then sent throughout the Imperium. Many of these minerals are highly radioactive, making the mining of them a tenuous process.

Governmental Type: Appointed Governor-Warden

Planetary Governor: Governor-Warden Dai Kobushi

Adept Presence: None

Military: Imperial Garrison comprising the 31st Amarok regiment.

Trade/Economy/Notes: Lava produces materials used in production on Amarok. However, the radioactive nature of many of the minerals mined on world has slowly forced the labor to be made up of various prisoners throughout the Malina System, as there are very few who would volunteer for this work. The relatively high crime rate on Amarok coupled with the relatively high rate of death in the mines provides a work force that is constantly turning over. The small security force that was originally deployed with the convicts was quickly overrun, resulting is mass rioting. Governor-Warden Dai Kobushi requested more experienced units for security, and the 31st Amarok was sent, on the condition they were fitted with Individual Radiation Shielding (something not afforded to the convicts working the mines).

Ezochi

Planetary Datafax: Ezochi

Class: Gas Giant (Rotation - 10.5 standard hours, 1.07G, Mass - 24.2 TM)

Designation: Gas Giant

Population: None

Tithe Grade: N/A

Climate/Geography/Biosphere: Atmosphere - The majority of the atmosphere around Ezochi is made up of methane (>95%) and the rest being a combination of oxygen, ammonia and phosphine. Even if the air was able to be properly filtered for human habitation, there exists no true solid surface to land on.

Governmental Type: N/A

Planetary Governor: N/A

Adept Presence: N/A

Military: N/A

Trade/Economy/Notes: N/A

Igaluk

Planetary Datafax: Igaluk

Class: Semi-inhabitable moon, Satellite of New Vinton (Rotation - 54.6 standard days, 0.23G, Mass - 0.02 TM)

Designation: Dead World

Population: Human-imperial, 1000 estimated

Tithe Grade: Solutio Tertius

Climate/Geography/Biosphere: Atmosphere - None. The only geographical features are a small number of large craters that dot it. Human habitation is only possible in entirely self contained mining operations.

Governmental Type: Appointed Governor

Planetary Governor: William Morgan Shepard

Adept Presence: None

Military: None

Trade/Economy/Notes: Originally given up as entirely void of usefulness, Igaluk was found to be rich in various rare metals, so mining operations were hastily set up on world. A skeleton crew of workers is sent every six months from Amarok to live on site and maintain the various machinery for mining.

New Vinton

Planetary Datafax: New Vinton

Class: Sub-Terran (Rotation - 48 standard hours, 1.4G, Mass - 1.4 TM)

Designation: Feral World / Adeptus Astartes Homeworld

Population: Human-feral, 3 million estimated; Adeptus Astartes, 1000 at full strength

Tithe Grade: Aptus Non

Climate/Geography/Biosphere: Atmosphere - Native atmosphere has Terran levels of oxygen at sea level, but becomes thinner quickly as the altitude rises. More than 70% of the planet is covered in oceans. Due to high tectonic activity, mountains cover a majority of the available landscape. Temperatures fluctuate wildly, as the long day allows for the day to get very warm, and the night to get very cold. While this allows for human habitation, it requires a hardy individual to survive. Fishing is the main source of food for all that live on New Vinton, and most cultures have a number of settlements in direct contact with the ocean. Local flora and fauna have been domesticated to provide supplemental food and production sources.

Governmental Type: Chapter Master of the Falcon Guard

Planetary Governor: Chapter Master Rene Hayabusa

Adept Presence: Adeptus Astartes: Falcon Guard

Military: Any Falcon Guard Battle Companies not currently deployed, as well as one ten man squad from the 1st Battle Company at all times.

Trade/Economy/Notes: New Vinton was the first planet to be settled in the Malina System, albeit unintentionally. Originally lost knowledge, the first settlers history was pieced together upon finding two wrecked ships in the mountains. A failed warp jump placed them too close to the planet, and they plummeted to earth. Those that survived the crash as well as the harsh day/night cycles cobbled together some form of society. Left to their own devices for millennia, the world slowly turned feral. Upon rediscovery by the Imperium, society on New Vinton was home to a number of large warrior tribes, bereft of technology and living on their own while fighting for domination over one another. Lack of strategic resources coupled with the strong warrior clans made it an excellent recruiting world for fleet based Adeptus Astartes chapters.

Upon the first signs of weakening of the warp storm surrounding Tau space, the High Lords of Terra ordered the Falcon Guard to be founded in M40, and they were given the planet as their homeworld.