Battle for Felweather Keep
| |||
The Battle For Felweather Keep occurred in the beginning of the Horus Heresy, when the Traitor Forge World Cyclothrathe invaded Damaetus III/II, the Homeworld of their Loyalist ally House Vyronii.[1]
History
Though the Knight House had sworn themselves to Cyclothrathe during the Great Crusade, the Forge World joined the Traitor forces that betrayed the Imperium and turned upon their unsuspecting Loyalist allies. Its Dark Mechanicum armies were then sent to secretly invade Damaetus III/II[1] under the guise of attending a bonding ceremony with House Vyronii.[2] However, Grand Master Jahk's eldest son, Gios, had been fighting offworld at the time and learned of both the Horus Heresy and Cyclothrathe's betrayal. Attempts were made to stop Gios, but though he was wounded, he managed to reach his Homeworld and warned House Vyronnii of the upcoming attack. While Cyclothrathe launched their invasion shortly afterwards, Gios' warning had allowed the Knight House to activate the wall guns of their fortress, Felweather Keep, and made their Knight suits ready for war. What would have been an overwhelming and unstoppable surprise attack by the Forge World, instead turned into an ambush. Felweather's guns were able to shoot down dozens of Cyclothrathe's drop ships, but this loss did not stop many more from successfully landing on Damaetus III/II.[1]
Cyclothrathe's massed Dark Mechanicum forces, along with its Corrupted Knights and those of House Atrax, then marched for Felweather Keep to destroy the scions of House Vyronii. With their own Knights being vastly outnumbered by the invaders and Felweather's walls offering poor protection, due to centuries of disrepair, House Vyronii marched out to meet their foes. Led by Grand Master Jahk, aboard the Knight Lancer Rex-Orfeo, the House's Knights attacked the invaders in the forests near Felweather Keep, intent on defiantly facing their possible destruction. If it were to occur, then the House wanted its legacy to be enshrined with the blood of their foes. This attack initially caused great losses to Cyclothrathe, but the Forge World's superior numbers and the Chaos blessings of its Corrupted Knights, quickly began to overwhelm the Knights of Vyronii. However unbeknownst to Cyclothrathe, Grand Master Jahk had led a second smaller force of his Knights through the forests using hidden paths known only to his House. Soon this force attacked the invaders and caught the Forge World's armies in a pincer attack. The tide of the battle turned against Cyclothrathe in that moment and its armies were shattered, with most of the survivors withdrawing to the Forge World's few remaining drop ships.[1]
The Corrupted Knights refused to retreat, however, and continued attacking House Vyronii. Among them were a Questoris and an Atrapos which bore the Aucteller oath-mark. This ancient rite meant the two were sworn to strike down their foe's greatest warriors and two Corrupted Knights targeted Grand Master Jahk. By then, the Grand Master was thick in the fighting and had become separated from his bodyguards. This allowed Jahk to be cornered by his pursuers and though he fought valiantly, the Grand Master was overwhelmed and slain by the two Corrupted Knights. His death infuriated the surviving scions of House Vyronii, however, and their rage fell upon Jahk's killers. The two Corrupted Knights were quickly destroyed by the House and the remaining invaders on Damaetus III/II fell to Vyronii's wrath afterwards. While victory was achieved, however, a quarter of the House's Knights were destroyed and their leader lay dead.[1] Gios would succeed his Father as Grand Master[2] and with their alliance severed by Cyclothrathe's treachery, Vyronii's Sacristans began salvaging what they could from the battlefield, in order to repair their remaining Knights. While the invaders would be amongst those harvested for parts, the Corrupted Knights were not among them. House Vyronii feared doing so could lead them to become corrupted as well and Cyclothrathe's Knights were instead incinerated within Felweather Keep's plasmatic heart.[1]
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Community: Exemplary Battles of the Horus Heresy – Corrupt Your Knights and Quest for Profane Power (Posted on 12/09/2023) - The Battle for Felweather Keep, pgs. 2-5 (Last accessed on 12/09/2023)
- 2: The Horus Heresy Book Four - Conquest, pgs. 114–117
