The Purging of Lastrati

The First Purging of Lastrati

Ecclesiarch at the beginning of 36th Millennium, and also Master of the Administratum, he engineered the ascension of the degenerate Ecclesiarch Paulis III. Shortly after, Vandire topples Paulis and assumes the mantle of both High Lord of the Administratum and Ecclesiarch. Vandire's Reign of Blood begins. Almost 14 billion are slaughtered by the Divine Army during the Purge of Lastrati. TheDaughters of the Emperor from San Leor are coopted into becoming Vandire's personal bodyguard, and are renamed the Brides of the Emperor. The Reign of Blood culminates in the Siege of the Ecclesiarchal Palace, at the height of which High Lord Vandire is executed by Alicia Dominica, the leader of the Brides of the Emperor.


The Second Purging of Lastrati 

Occurred in 543.M36, as a part of the Athalor Crusade, under the command of Marshal Gervhart of the Black Templars Space Marine Chapter. During Lastrati's tumultuous past a sect known as the Divine Army had gained control of the unremarkable Hive World of Lastrati, located in the Ultima Segmentum. The Divine Army preached a doctrine of intolerance of those with even the slightest deviation from what their leaders viewed as the physical attributes of the perfect human being. They created genetically-tailored viruses that targetted particular traits, eradicating whole swathes of the population. When Imperial contact was re-established with this remote planet, only 2.5 million inhabitants were left of a world that had once boasted a population of 14 billion.

Lastrati had become a place of pilgrimage, and for centuries, the faithful had come to bear witness to such spectacles as the Hill of Heretics and the Plain of Purity. Marshal Gervhart and the Black Templars of the Athalor Crusade had come to Lastrati to take heart from the planet's potent displays of faith from the past, but were horrified by what they found. The Quintarchs of Lastrati had turned to barbaric blood rituals and human sacrifices in search of genetic perfection. At first the Space Marines were welcomed as examples of genetic supremacy, but the more the Black Templars saw, the more they realised that the rituals of the people of Lastrati had too much in common with the heretical cult worship of the Ruinous Powers. Marshal Gervhart ordered the planet cleansed of its degenerate inhabitants before continuing the Crusade. After four standard years of fighting, the warriors of Marshal Gervhart forced the remaining forces of Lastrati back into the Plain of Purity where they made their last stand before the Black Templars at the Hill of Heretics. The army was destroyed, the Black Templars showing no mercy and accepting no surrender. Those deemed free from taint were allowed to live - an act of mercy that was to have repercussion for Marshal Gervhart in later years.

Marshal Gervhart - Gervhart was the leader who initiated the Second Purging of Lastrati in 543.M36, as a part of the Athalor Crusade. He was also a fearsome warrior and master tactician, and was a keen student of history, second only to the Chapter's archivists in his knowledge and understanding of the ancient days of the Imperium. He had studied the ways of war of every Marshal since the time ofSigismund and was well versed in the most arcane weapons and wargear. Gervhart was one of a rare few individuals who had the honour of treading the holy soil of Holy Terra, leading a pilgrimage of warriors through the teeming multitudes to the very gates of the Emperor's Imperial Palace where he conducted them in a month-long vigil to seek the Master of Mankind's blessing before setting out on the Athalor Crusade. Upon the carven outer wall of the Palace were many ancient bas-reliefs of the long-forgotten battles and ancient conflicts, which Marshal Gervhart studied intently, finding many images of what appeared to be warriors of the Black Templars in battle. One of the mightiest figures carried a crackling staff of office and Gervhart vowed to craft a new weapon in its fashion. Leaving Terra with his obeisance made, Gervhart did indeed forge such a weapon, a mighty Power Maul, and adapted his fighting style so that he could wield it together with his Combat Shield. The Hive World of Lastrati, located in the Ultima Segmentum, had become a place of pilgrimage, and for centuries, the faithful had come to bear witness to such spectacles as the Hill of Heretics and the Plain of Purity. Marshal Gervhart and the Black Templars of the Athalor Crusade had come to Lastrati to take heart from the planet's potent displays of faith from the past, but were horrified by what they found. The Quintarchs of Lastrati had turned to barbaric blood rituals and human sacrifices in search of genetic perfection. At first the Space Marines were welcomed as examples of genetic supremacy, but the more the Black Templars saw, the more they realised that the rituals of the people of Lastrati had too much in common with the heretical cult worship of the Ruinous Powers. Marshal Gervhart ordered the planet cleansed of its degenerate inhabitants before continuing the Crusade. After four standard years of fighting, the warriors of Marshal Gervhart forced the remaining forces of Lastrati back into the Plain of Purity where they made their last stand before the Black Templars at the Hill of Heretics. The army was destroyed, the Black Templars showing no mercy and accepting no surrender. Those deemed free from taint were allowed to live -- an act of mercy that was to have a terrible repercussion for Marshal Gervhart in later years. The infamous Gervhart Repeal of the 36th Millennium was the only time a High Marshal has repealed the promotion of a Marshal to that rank. Though his name is now synonymous with the Repeal of M36, Gervhart's power maul remains one of the Black Templars most revered relics.

Second Purging of Lastrati (543.M36) — During the so-called Second Purging of Lastrati, the Storm Giants' 1st Company is sent to support Marshal Gervhart and his Black Templars as they purge the planet of Lastrati upon discovering the purity cult, called the Divine Army, had turned to blood rituals in worship of the Blood God Khorne. As this event occurred before the Storm Giants' Founding, the Imperial records are either in error as to which Chapter participated in the event or the Storm Giants are an older Chapter than the records of the Administratumsuggest.