House Dumontine

""+Hero+? The Mechanicum does not indulge petty notions of vanity, mortal. But if you make the +error+ of mistaking +besting unfavourable odds+ and +service at all costs+ as +heroism+, then yes, by your standards, House Dumontine are quite the +heros+ indeed.""

- Titan Priest Michiel Kakau; Discussing strategy with a visiting Imperial General

House Dumontine is a Mechanicum sworn Knight House, bound to the Forge World of Hephaestia. Founded at some point during the Age of Technology and rediscovered during the Great Crusade by the Imperium of Man in the latter 30th Millennium. Though able to maintain independence for millenia, this unfortunate Knight House was forced into indentured servitude in accordance with the Sidon Protocols, the complex web of obligation and duty which binds both House and Forge in a dangerous accord, whose tangled precepts often times easily led to the loss of any semblance of independence for a Knight Household that failed to uphold the protocols. The unfortunate circumstances surrounding the house's fall were what led to House Dumontine's diminishment and eventual subservience in the late 41st millenium.

History
The enemy of all things is time, and House Dumontine of the Agri-World of Croissance made dire foes of it. Once a valiant and noble house of knights with dozens of suits at its disposal, Dumontine stood forever vigilant over the system of Ensante since the early days of the Imperium. Containing only the Agri-World of Croissance and the Hive World of Crasseux in the Segmentum Pacificus, the knights of Dumontine would often depart the system to quest for glory when Imperial petitioners came forth. As the Imperial Tithe came about once per century to the Ensante System, Dumontine would often pledge knights to sail the stars with the recruits for the Imperial Guard, slaking their thirst for glory while fulfilling their imperial obligations. But as Croissance gained note for the production of infantry fighting vehicles and a fierce reputation for combat about the sectors surrounding the Eye, so too did it become a target from a mighty Ork WHAAG!, striking at the system in 382.M41.

The system was ravaged in the attack, Dumontine and the PDF of Crasseux managing to fight off the green hordes at great cost and nearly two dozen suits of armor. Vast chunks of the Hive World’s infrastructure were destroyed. The pleas for help went out and perhaps due to the vagaries of the warp, rather then the nearby forges answering, it was the Forge World of Hephaestia who answered, sending engineers and workers to begin rebuilding the world.

But it was this aid that would doom them. A Warband of Iron Warriors known as the Iron Flesh Warband had long harbored a hatred of the Forge World and had spent many long years searching for it. Agents of the Warband brought news of the Forge’s presence in Ensante and the warband attacked in 794.M41.

The attack was sudden and utterly merciless. The traitor’s allies in the dark mechanicum had worked foul machinations upon the Iron Warrior ships and had given them the power to perform Exterminatus upon the Hive World. Without any significant space borne presence, House Dumontine was unable to assist and could only watch helplessly as the Iron Warriors rained down on their world. Once again Dumontine called for aid and waited as the most peerless siege smiths of the forces of chaos went to work.

For over a month they prosecuted a hit and run war against the traitors as they garrisoned the bulk of their people and civilians in their fortresses. Cerastus Knights rampaged through the traitor lines as Questoris knights broke traitor engine after engine. Unbelievable destruction was wrought unto the land as plague spread and the earth was scarred by ancient energies and exploding ordnance. Eventually Hephaestia arrived in force and began to drive the traitors back. But it was too little and too late. As the traitors saw their match and were slowly being overrun, they began to collect what blasted shells of fallen knights they could as sorcerous exterminatus preparations were made. Evacuating what knights they could and what of the population could be retrieved, the Hephaestian Tahgmata retreated as the world was destroyed.

What remains of the once great house now resides on Momus, the remaining populations lending their expertise to farming the land. All the meanwhile, the last 27 surviving knights have given up their heraldry, bonding with the Mechanicum forces which saved them so that they may someday wreak a bloody vengeance as the Iron Flesh warband is utterly destroyed.

The undertaking of the Sidon Protocols was imagined to be temporary as the house regained its strength. But even the mighty can fall, and pride be broken along with it.

House Culture
The disposition of the House is a sullen one, filled with bitter anger and a grim purpose. Once upon a time, the House was a fierce and proud one, an example of noble and knightly virtue bound in the chains of courtly politics. Under their own power did they secure pacts with forged of the Pacificus Segmentum and staved off the encroachment of the mechanicus into their affairs. When Lord Adrian Dumontine made the bargain to save his house with the Forge of Hephaestia, he unknowingly sealed their fate forever.

The shame of losing their home, their dominion, and their world stained the souls of all the surviving nobles, and tinted the outlook of the citizens who had escaped. Their independence forfeited for survival. The casting off of their heraldry and renouncement of their imperial oaths only compounded their defeat. For a time the house functioned almost as it always had, joining with the Mechanicum forces and questing out into the galaxy. But over time things changed.

The nobles were nigh suicidal in their actions, many of them determined to disobey their Seneschal, Lord Dumontine, who had traded glorious deaths for living in shame, some succeeded and the numbers of the House dwindled further. In a move known only to Lord Dumontine, he made anouther sacrifice to ensure the preservation of his house. Meeting in secret with the Stataraga magi of the Forge, anouther bargain was struck, for the magi were equally displeased with the unneeded loss of valuable knights. En masse the knights of his house were retrofitted with incredible Mechanicum technology, armor plating, and spiritual upgrade systems that lent an unparalleled connection to the suit Anima. None noticed as the engrams branded into their brains by the throne Mechanicum subtly changed and over time the rates of knightly loss diminished and the total number of knights began to rise. The desperate need for vengeance was replaced was replaced with a cold fury and taciturn hatred, shackled in new chains of service and logic.

Over time the culture of the house and surviving peasants shifted to an amalgamation of knightly virtue and Mechanicum protocol, cybernetics pervaded the people’s and nobles, enhancing their connection to the machines they depended on. Peasants replaced beasts of burden with mechanical walkers linked to their minds and farming tools with hardwired equipment. Nobles grew to rely on cybernetics for their increased ability and link to their knights, with a select few nobles being inducted into the Anima Cult of the mechanicus.

When Lord Dumontine was critically injured during the great retreat in the Battle of Momus and cybernetically entombed into his knight, Lady Dumontine assumed leadership of the day to day duties around the house. Only then did she uncover the nature of the bargains and pacts made by her husband and all he had given away in the name of survival, and how far unto their house the mechanicus has encroached. But by then it was too late to do anything, and she too was too tied into the workings of the Mechanicum to break away.

Croissance
The Former Homeworld was a peaceful and idyllic place, filled with dense forests containing all manners and sorts of beasts and game, while the fields provided nourishment to the peoples and, paired with rich mineral harvests, were an excellent source of material to trade to the nearby Hive World for basic material and the more distant Forge World of Gannemus in exchange for training for their sacristans, parts for their knights, and machinery to continue the manufacturing of their own knight suits.

Momus
Given land and citadel upon the converted Agri-World of Momus, Dumontine now resides in Mechanicum forged iron citadels, overseeing the production of the farms and under the Magi Lachrimallus, and building under the eye of the ruling magi'''. '''Continent sized Argodome networks shield the macro-farms from the glaring light of their sun. Land is sometimes given to serfs who manage to distinguish themselves in the manufactoria and the forge fanes, this land does not get inherited and once the landholder dies, another is selected to watch over the lands. Upon Momus is a great Mechanicum citadel built of iron and stone for the purposes of House Dumontine. Within this facility are the repair and construction facilities used for the rebuilding of the thrall-house. Momus was ravaged in the opening months of the Lightless Century. Over 43% of its land was rendered contaminated or unusable by malign plagues. Food production has suffered and land is restored where possible, where impossible, new Mechanicum facilities have sprung up dedicated to cloning food products and involving in genetics work in addition to mass manufacture of ammunition.

The Iron Crucible
A titanic iron fortress constructed to house the knights of Dumontine in the highlands of Momus at the Northern Pole. Lying in the middle of a blasted and bleak landscape coated in periodic snow and ravaged by war and conflict of the lightless century, the Iron Crucible has withstood hundreds of minor attacks over the millenia, and a dozen over the last century, but it has always stood. Built on an STC base for a containment vault, over time more and more has been added as the fortress has been used to hold various important assets ranging from Genestock to armament to food surplus. Since the arrival of House Dumontine, many major changes have been made both aesthetically and functionally. Aesthetically it has been modified into a facsimile of the once great Castle Boyarde upon Croissance, while within those structures have numerous production and repair bays been built along with armament facilities as well as a huge assortment of Medicae, augmetic installation, and enmeshment facilities. The fortress is equipped with battleship class defensive lasers and voidshields strong enough to survive sustained orbital bombardment all powered by deep sunk geothermal power cores.

Notable Members of House Dumontine
The survivors of Dumontine are battle hardened veterans to man. Every one of them is possessed of iron will and unyielding drive. Though subservient to the Mechanicum they are not mindless, and have made great names for themselves in the Machine Cult.

Lord Adrian Dumontine
Seneschal and De Jure leader of House Dumontine. A fierce and somewhat temperamental man, Lord Dumontine has been the leader of his house for over 310 years. Since the fall of his house his disposition has become darker and more serious, and since his entombment into his knight, darker still. In battle his ferocity returns and he leads the knights in the field despite being no longer able to deal with business as a mortal man, his mind focused on war and tactics above all, perhaps out of guilt for what has become of his house under him and his willingness to sacrifice almost anything to see things through.

Lady Galinda Dumontine
The De Facto leader of House Dumontine, Lady Dumontine is charged with the day to day business of the house. Dealing with the oversight of new knight construction along with the Archmagos Prelate and also relations with the Mechanicum, in which she expends her energy fending off the gradual encroach unto their sovereignty. Lady Galinda is a patient woman well suited to her mount’s machine spirit and is willing to wait for progress. A somewhat spiteful woman who despite her iron will, gives into to minor rebellions against the machine cult given what knowledge she posseses. For her skill in battle she has been granted a Cortex Controller, and thus is capable of summoning and coordinating Automata support in the field.

Ser Alexi and Nicholi Dumontine
Two brothers who serve as lifeguards to Lord Dumontine, they pilot the last two lancers of the House. Gung-ho despite the mechanicum engrams burned into their brains and filled with a desire for justice and valor, these two knights relish in challenging themselves. The two brothers are possessed of varying temperaments of how to deal with their battle approach. Alexi, piloting Excorciator Tyranis would slay all who stand before them with brutality. Whereas Nicholi advocates a defensive mindset, forming a great shield with which he may counter and destroy the enemy. Both have proven invaluable to the house in its diminished state.

Archmagos Prelate Osterman
Ostensibly, Prelate Osterman is akin to the Executor Fetial found within the Titan legion, a diplomat between House and Forge who functions as an advisor and observer within the Household, seeing both to the well-being of its Knights and the training of its Sacristians and overseer of assigned tech priests. It is rumored that he stands as a quiet tyrant behind the throne of the Household's master, but in truth, is one of the more moderate tech priests. The Prelate functions as a link between the scions of the Households and the amorphous structure of the Forge World. To the Household he is a representative of the Forge World, but within the constantly fluctuating network of prestige and alliances that is the Mechanicum Taghmata system, he is the representative of the Household. While he is firmly determined to maintain Mechanicum loyalty to the house, to his credit, he has shielded the house from the most insidious of political machinations of the Forge, and while he was appointed by the Archimanditure he is rumored to have close ties to the Seven Lords of Hephaestia themselves.

Notable House Dumontine Knights

 * Venator Regalum: A Knight-Cerastus Atrapos, piloted by Lord Adrian Dumontine. This knight suit was specially made at the order of the Forge Master Primus Jhon’son and the sanction of Mars. It is his dark duty to hunt the mightiest of the enemy war engines and slay them. Built deep in the Primus Forge of Hephaestia, this towering war engine has slain with cold hunger and consuming purpose. Since the War of Momus, this mighty knight has become the tomb of Lord Dumontine. Critically injured in the Battle of Momus, he was cybernetically entombed into his mount.
 * Comedenti Hominum: Knight-Cerastus Castigator, piloted by Lady Dumontine. Serving as an imposing force upon the battlefield, this knight stands ascendant among what is left of the Arbelaster Order. Possessed of enhanced targeting mechanisms and specially augmented ocular augmetics intended for greater data gathering, granting the pilot incredible amounts of battlefield data.
 * Ferrarum Venatori and Excorciator Tyrannis: Knight-Cerastus Lancers, Piloted by Ser Alexi and Nichol Dumontine. As Life Guardians of his lord, the two lancers are covered in victory banners for throwing themselves between gargantuan monsters and heretek engines alike to keep their master safe. Piloting the last of the Dumontine Lancers, they alone are uniquely suited to preserve their lord and friend’s life.

House Colours
Formerly the knights of Dumontine bore pure bone white and gold armor. Since binding with the mechanicum, the armor has been quartered, with the right greave, shoulder-plate, and chest-piece (often the right half of the face plating as well) being painted the ashen red of Hephaestia with the brass of the forges.

House Livery
The nobility of the House cast off their personal and household liveries, taking on the sigils and signs of the Mechanicum. However, some vestiges of pride remain, it is common practice that each knight maintain a tally of superheavy vehicles slain upon the kill-banners each knight carries as both a point of pride and sign of skill.

Noted Involvments

 * 111.M42 – A personal vendetta: Coming out of the repair bays, the twin brothers of House Dumontine, Aleksi and Nichola, requested permission to carry out an oath of vengeance against a Khornate aligned warband known to operate in the spinward Calixis Sector by the name of the Blood Terrors. With their petition granted by the Archimandriture, a small Tahgmata battlegroup was dispatched alongside the two brothers to eliminate the foe. With overwhelming force the two knights and their allies obliterated the warband in its entirety, for even with mighty armor captured from Imperial depots, they could do nothing against the might of the machine cultists. This machine crusade was noted for the extreme disproportionate havoc it wreaked despite the relatively small force.