Nivalis
| Name | Nivalis |
|---|---|
| |
| Sub-Sector | Primus |
| Type | Shrine World, Disputed |
| Population | 3.5 billion |
| Climate | Subarctic |
| Status | Non-Compliant, Conflict |
“We arrived deep in local winter and stayed for nearly a week. C complained, of course – unpredictable ground, foul weather, all the usual Voidborn grumbles. Secretly I think he was as impressed as I was by the capital. The holy statues are too vast to comprehend, even for someone used to Navy ships. More like mountains than artefacts. Went hunting in hill forests – unsuccessful but hugely enjoyable; hired snow gear from native guide, wasted a lot of ammunition. Local wildlife faster than expected!” – Travel Diary of Lucius di Firro, 575.M41
See Also:
About Nivalis
Nivalis is an inhospitable but beautiful planet just far enough inside its sun’s orbit to avoid the designation of Ice World. The habitable zone on the planet is restricted to a mountainous strip a few hundred kilometres wide at the Equator, with the rest of the planet locked in permanent glacial cold. Settlement on Nivalis was well-established prior to the arrival of the Imperium - the mountainous regions were home to a hardy, hospitable breed of Ruwwad called the Qawm'Aljibal who greatly prize physical courage and cunning. Their favoured hobby is hunting, and anyone of birth or breeding on the planet is expected to prove their worth by tracking and killing one of the many dangerous mountain beasts. Native Nivalian Mountain Folk view the wearing of furs, or jewellery made from the teeth or claws of one’s kills, as a status symbol, and tend to look down on those who do not wear them. They also revere the discipline of healing, and pilgrims have been known to visit their shrines seeking cures for all manner of injuries and maladies.
For much of its history, Nivalis has been a Shrine World first and foremost, with piety driven into the very bones of the land. Travellers and pilgrims say that every valley and secluded peak boasts its own shrine to the God-Emperor and His saints. Some of the highest peaks have been carved into massive likenesses of the great Heroes of the Imperium, the greatest of these visible from distant orbit. The constant presence of pilgrims travelling to and from the planet has led to extensive development in the urban centres. In happier times, the capital and many secondary cities boasted all the facilities that the discerning and pious citizen might need, and there was an extensive transport network connecting the most popular pilgrimage sites. It was once said that one could walk into a cathedral in the capital and find worshippers from every world in the Sector at prayer together.
Despite a history of tensions between native and Colonist populations, many Nivalian colonist families have adopted local habits and dress. Colonists have a reputation for hardiness against the icy temperatures of their home, and a spirituality and tendency towards the medicae arts acquired from the Qawm'Aljibal. Until its destruction in the rioting of 584.M41 the Nivalian capitol held a very respected Medicae Schola, with data rumoured to be drawn from the ancient Ruwwad repositories in the mountains. Many Nivalians with no Ruwwad blood at all wear furs, claws or teeth, even discreetly, as a mark of family pride.
Nivalis has been an unsettled planet since the mid 580s. In 584.M41, planet-wide riots broke out after an attack by heretics on the Navigator enclave in the planetary capital. An order of Adepta Sororitas were deployed to quell the riots and conduct counter-insurgency operations; it was during this deployment that the Sorors experienced the miracle leading to the founding of the Order of His Sanguine Tears.
Recent History
Main Article: History of Nivalis
Since 592, Nivalis has been devastated by nearly a decade of constant conflict, its once-pristine shrines wrecked, its lowlands torn up by fighting with the Archenemy who have deployed onto the city from the Space Hulk Durovera's Pain which still looms in orbit in the planet's skies. Nivalis fell under the rule of the excommunicate heretic Cardinal Grulge for most of this period, whose Fidelis Templar forces fought off Archenemy attacks while brutally repressing the local population. Several factions fought back against the Heresiarch's rule, including both local Qawm'Aljibal and local Ecclesiarchy faithful centring around groups of Gearwrights who had landed on the planet as refugees.
While Ignatius Grulge was arrested and officially executed by Imperial forces on Nivalis in 597.M41, the planet remains scarred and bloodied from its battles. Archenemy forces very nearly breached the Cathedral Precinct itself before being fought back by the valiant efforts of the Lions of Nemea and Crusade forces including the Letiferan First Armoured. Scores of leaderless Templar units remain stationed on the planet until the Crusade can find a home for them.
The hereditary nobility of Nivalis has been substantially altered, with many of the powerful Houses which supported Grulge's ascendancy stripped of their lands and wealth. Much of this land has been returned to the Ruwwad communities and families it was originally seized from. Many Qawm'Aljibal, meanwhile, have found themselves co-opted into the Adeptus Arbites in an agreement which many see as resetting the balance of power across the planet. The Gearwrights, meanwhile, have made themselves at home in the planet's slow recovery from violence; in the city’s defence and the wake of the fighting, the former Olethran refugees quickly emerge as a functioning logistical infrastructure, arranging mutual aid and sharing the words of their Saint with a population hungry for reassurance.