Amid the chaos of a forgotten stellar war, its void shields collapsed, overwhelmed by focused lance batteries from a heretek battleship or xenos construct (depending on whose legend is believed). In the critical moment that followed, a massive laser lance—pure, burning light—punched through the hull of the cruiser, carving a near-vertical path from the upper command decks down to the bilge, leaving behind what is now remembered as:
The Great Scar
Event and Impact
- The beam instantaneously depressurized multiple decks, rupturing bulkheads, vaporizing internal corridors, and killing over several thousand crew members in under a minute.
- Firestorms followed in oxygen-rich sections, and secondary plasma detonations ravaged through the lower decks.
Though eventually repaired, the line of destruction remains visible throughout the ship—a wound sealed, not healed.
Officers’ Remembrance
On Decks 4 through 6—just beneath the command bridge—the Scar has become a sanctified corridor-shrine, Though the names of those first slain are long faded, a tradition arose centuries later: each time an officer dies in the line of duty, their name is carved into the wall along the path of the Scar.
This space, now known as the Hall of Ashen Vigil, is a solemn, dimly lit corridor lined with voidsteel plates scorched during the original blast. Here, the memory of all fallen officers is preserved, even if the cause that first scorched the chamber is not.
- Tarnished relics—broken blades, oath rings, badge-clasps—are sealed beneath plasteel reliquaries.
- Engraved names fill the wall in spiraling, almost organic patterns, some glowing faintly with electrum inlay.
- Void lanterns flicker at regular intervals, their dim blue flame symbolizing the last breath of the faithful crew.
Pre-Battle Ritual
Before major engagements, it is customary for officers and select senior armsmen to gather here in grim procession. In the flickering light of sensor-torches and oath-braziers, they:
- Burn their oath parchments—handwritten vows of loyalty, hatred, and vengeance—on brazier altars.
- Recite litanies of hate, invoking the Emperor, the Omnissiah, and the names of their predecessors whose sacrifice still echoes in steel.
!GM only!
Ignis Aeternus WH 40K campaign notes 