Cthonia was a ruined mining world in the Solar Segmentum, the home of Primarch Horus and the recruiting ground for the Luna Wolves Legion. It’s remembered as a gang-ridden hive of tunnels and industry that met its end during the Horus Heresy.
Overview
Cthonia sat in one of the closest systems to Terra, close enough that early settlers could reach it without warp travel. By the time of the Great Crusade, its natural resources were long gone, its mines exhausted, and its surface dotted with crumbling industrial plants and catacombs. The population, around two billion, lived mostly in sprawling hives and fought in vicious gangs.
The planet was rediscovered early in the Great Crusade by a Star Hunters pioneer company. Their captain called it a nest of serpents better destroyed, but that changed when Cthonia was revealed as the home world of Horus, the first Primarch found. It was brought into the Imperium and became the recruiting ground for the Luna Wolves.
Horus and the Luna Wolves
Horus landed on Cthonia after being stolen from the Emperor, and grew up among its brutal gang culture. When he was reunited with his father, the Luna Wolves Legion drew its recruits from the planet’s hive gangs. Those recruits brought a ferocity and toughness that shaped the Legion’s character.
Cthonians had pale, craggy features and slightly freckled skin. Their world’s underworld was a place of constant violence, where spilled blood was a kind of currency. That harsh upbringing left its mark on the Legion’s earliest members.
Geography and notable locations
Cthonia’s surface was rocky and volcanic, riddled with tunnels and exhausted mine-workings. The Mechanicum ruled the surface, while most people lived and died in the labyrinth below. At the planet’s heart was a massive volcanic cavern the gangs used to incinerate their dead.
Two locations stand out: Lupercal’s Gate, a huge hive city that was later called Traitor’s Gate during the Siege of Cthonia, and Terminal Atlas, an immense space elevator cable from the Dark Age of Technology that linked the surface to an orbital plate above.
- Lupercal’s Gate: vast hive city, renamed Traitor’s Gate by Imperial forces during the Siege of Cthonia.
- Terminal Atlas: ancient space elevator connecting the surface to an orbital plate.
The Siege and destruction
During the Horus Heresy, Cthonia was blockaded by the Imperial Fists, who laid siege for years. The Sons of Horus tried to relieve the world, but the siege held. Some of the local population sided with the loyalists, and the Imperial Fists even began recruiting from the gangs.
In 014.M31, at the end of the Heresy, the Dark Angels destroyed Cthonia. The planet was left a shattered remnant, its legacy carried on only by the Legion that had come from it.
Cthonian Headhunters
The Cthonian Headhunters were Solar Auxilia cohorts drawn from Cthonia, known for their obsessive devotion to the Sons of Horus. They adopted Cthonian iconography, like a claw with red and black bands, and wore black and red armour that echoed the Justaerin and symbolised the darkness of Cthonia’s underworld.
They favoured mass infantry charges and chilling ululating battle cries. Rivals of the Saturnyne Rams, they joined Horus during the Heresy and clashed with the loyalist Rams at the Battle of Beta-Garmon.
Key facts
- Cthonia was a feral mining world in the Solar Segmentum with a population of about 2 billion before its destruction.
- Horus landed on Cthonia after being stolen from the Emperor, and it became the home world of the Luna Wolves Legion.
- The planet was blockaded by the Imperial Fists during the Horus Heresy and destroyed by the Dark Angels in 014.M31.
- Cthonia’s surface was Mechanicum-ruled, while most inhabitants lived in tunnels and hive cities, fighting in gangs.
- Notable locations included Lupercal’s Gate (later Traitor’s Gate) and Terminal Atlas, an ancient space elevator.
FAQ
What is Cthonia known for?
Cthonia is best known as the home world of Horus Lupercal and the recruiting ground for the Luna Wolves Legion. It was a feral mining world covered in hive cities and tunnels, notorious for its gangs.
When was Cthonia destroyed?
Cthonia was destroyed by the Dark Angels in 014.M31, at the end of the Horus Heresy, after being besieged by the Imperial Fists for years.
Who were the Cthonian Headhunters?
They were Solar Auxilia cohorts from Cthonia who served alongside the Sons of Horus. They were known for their fierce infantry charges, ululating war cries, and obsessive loyalty to Horus.