Savona
| Title(s) | of the Ruptured Skein[3d] Lady of the Spinward Conflagration[2b] |
|---|---|
| Active Period | ~M34[1a]-993.M37[3] |
| Species | Human[1b] |
| Type | Slaaneshi-Mutant[1b] |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Affiliation(s) | |
Savona is a Slaaneshi-mutated Human warrior fighting for the Emperor's Children.[1b]
Overview
Savona is taller than an Astartes, but thinner and more agile. She has clawed hands and slender legs that end in heavy black hooves. Her narrow face has sigils carved into the cheeks and brow, framed by white braided hair, and has a single nostril pierced with three golden rings.[3a] Savona wears Astartes Power Armour and wields a large power maul. On her head she wears a golden helm taken from a dying aeldari autarch, repurposed to interface with her battleplate.[3b]
Savona enjoys eating the progenoid glands of slain Astartes, regarding them as a delicacy.[1d]
History
Savona was born as the spoiled daughter of an Imperial Governor[3a] that ruled over an agri-world.[1b] She received everything she could have desired, except freedom. She felt she was nothing more than a spoiled pet of her father. At some point, she killed her father.[3d] She craved freedom and experience, not the flat circle of a dull life lived simply as a Governor's daughter, then Governor's wife, then Governor's mother, and finally Governor's widow. This was her only path in life, for a time.[1b]
Eventually the Emperor's Children 12th Millennial arrived to raid the planet for slaves and supplies. She sacrificed this life of drudgery for one of excitement and sensation, a new life with a million possibilities. Savona joined the Emperor's Children willingly, approaching them draped in her family's skin and offering the Legion their hearts. She began her career in the 12th Millennial as one of their serfs. She wore a golden torc and suffered great pain and pleasure in her service. Eventually the Legionaire she served died on a world with iridescent dust and singing winds. As he laid dying, she pried his armour off with a knife and took this gift from her miserable master piece by piece.[1b] The moment she donned Gondol's battleplate she was pledged to the pleasures of war.[1b]
The seemingly semi-sentient daemonic battleplate transformed her into something new. Its barbed hooks integrated throughout her flesh and grew carapace beneath her skin. Eventually, it became so intertwined with her flesh that it couldn't be removed, even if she wanted to.[1b] She subsequently rose in status, never truly becoming accepted as part of the Legion but still recognized as a accomplished warrior. Seen as unworthy, she held no rank or authority, earning everything through her own ferocity over and over. However, Kasperos Telmar would indulge his warband, something Savonas took full advantage of.[1b] By M34 she was ranked 2nd in the Joybound, the elite guard of Telmar's warband.[2a]
While a member of the Joybound, Savona commanded the loyalty of a group of at least thirty marines, their helms marked with a black hoofprint and held the title "Lady of the Spinward Conflagration".[2b] Among these followers was the gutter-poet Bellephus, once of the Emperor's Children 214th Millenial. Bellephus continued to faithfully serve as her amanuensis and equerry for centuries, always trailing in her wake.[1e]
After The Shattering of Lugganath and Telmar's death, Savona joined Fabius Bile's warband. Bile's ship, the Vesalius, would player host to the Emperor's Children 12th Millenial, alongside his resident Consortium warband. She continued to rise through the ranks of the 12th by pitting her rivals against one another or goading them into attempted coupes of the ship, all of which inevitably led to their deaths.[1a] Following the events on Solemnace, Savona was placed in charge of the remainder of the 12th Millennial.[1c] She later led the 12th in the Battle of Belial IV against the Dark Eldar, but upon realizing the battle was lost departed with the survivors to chart their own course.[3c]
