Editing Chaos Knight (section)

===Iconoclast Houses===
Probably the best known and most numerous of the Chaos Knight factions, these guys roughly correspond to the Imperial Houses of the regular Knights. They range from [[Lawful Stupid|houses that followed traitorous causes out of loyalty to their oaths]] to power-hungry assholes and some downright weird cases like House Khymere.
*'''House Lucaris''' - Originally an Imperial Knight house whose homeworld Morda Prime was brought into compliance by Horus. During the Horus Heresy, they fought alongside the Traitors because of their vows to Horus. Even after the Warmaster was killed, House Lucaris kept the oath and continued to fight against the Imperium. They went as far as cutting ties with the [[Black Legion]], whom they thought have betrayed Horus; though in recent centuries they have struck an alliance with [[Abbadon the Despoiler]]. Their colors are dark blue and red with gold trim.
*'''House Herpetrax''' - A Knight house which had only been discovered recently by Rogue Trader Cherris Draik (possible relative to the Rogue Trader character in [[Blackstone Fortress]]). They refused to submit to the Imperium and waged war to keep their independence. It turns out that over the millenia the house was approached by multiple individuals calling themselves the [[The God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]], but none could match the mettle of House Herpetrax. House Herpetrax then said fuck all claims of sovereignty over humanity by the Emperor, and all would bow at their feet or be exterminated. It seemed that members of the House had been worshipping Chaos for a long time before being discovered. Their color scheme is olive green, tan, and black with gold trim.
*'''House Khymere''' - House Khymere is a Knight household that has only recently turned to Chaos. When the Great Rift opened, the Knights were seen fighting on behalf of Chaos. To stop their rampaging, the [[White Scars]] and [[Ultramarines]] attacked them, only to discover that they were still loyal to the Imperium. [[Judged|The nobles, appalled by the accusations, ventured into the Great Rift to prove their loyalty.]] [[Irony|The nobles all succumbed to the influence of Chaos on their crusade, and traveled back in time to become the very heretics they were initially accused of being.]] Their color scheme is dark red and black with brass trim.
*'''House Mandrakor''' - House Mandrakor sided with Horus during the Horus Heresy, yet for some reason never faced retribution for their actions after the Heresy ended. The nobles of the house destroyed all evidence of their betrayal and became very insular, fearing that the Imperium would come any day now. When the Imperium rediscovered House Mandrakor completely ignorant of their past betrayal, the nobles fought back fearing it was a ruse to draw them out. A few nobles of the house saw their rediscovery as a chance for redemption and managed to flee, now fighting as loyalist Freeblades. House Mandrakor is extremely inbred from years of internal politiking, to the point where their High King and High Queen are siblings. Their color scheme is orange, black, and cream with dark gold trim.
*'''House Devine''' - Molech was one of the earliest Knight Worlds to be brought into the Imperium, and unknown to all but the Emperor the planet concealed an ancient gateway to the Warp in its depths that he himself had (supposedly) used to gain his power. It had been assumed that a century of Imperial rule had stamped out the influence of the native cults of the [[Slaanesh|serpent god]], but when Horus assaulted the planet during the Heresy the second son of House Devine's High King betrayed his father and ultimately led the rest of his House into the clutches of Slaanesh (with a little help from [[Fulgrim]]). They were presumed destroyed in the Great Scouring, but rumor has it that a few of them still live. Their color scheme is maroon and purple with gold trim.
*'''House Ærthegn''' - A reaving band of Knights that was brought into the Imperium's fold by Horus after he personally slew the Chieftain of one band and subjugated the rest. Little is known about why House Ærthegn became the way they did other than that their original world was destroyed in an unknown calamity. Horus's attempts to civilize the house was largely unsuccessful, as the house only intensified their reaving ways and often dueled other loyalist houses and Freeblades to prove themselves to Horus and their Chieftain. All Horus did about this was to send Davinite Lodge Priests known as Crow Priests to the house which cemented their loyalty to Horus, although a few were spotted fighting for the loyalists during the Heresy. Their color scheme is black and red with silver trim.
*'''House Caesarean''' - House Caesarean was first formed to protect the colonists who settled on the moon of Octavia. Protected by warp storms throughout the system, the people of Octavia flourished and built many cities within the moon's jungles, and House Caesarean grew with them. What happened next is unclear, but a common thread in tales told by the families of House Caesarean is that the house awoke creatures locked by away by a long gone civilization that fucked everything up. When the Imperium rediscovered Octavia, the world was in constant warfare between tribal units of House Caesarean, the creatures themselves long dead. Though Octavia began to be rebuilt, the distrustful nature of the house led them to side with individual commanders rather than Horus or the Emperor specifically when the Horus Heresy broke out. To them, loyalty was earned on the battlefield and survival was all that mattered. Their color scheme is half black half yellow with silver trim.
*'''House Gotrith''' - House Gotrith was stuck in a bitter fight with [[Orks]] on their homeworld of Dallanar until the Imperium showed up and bailed them out. Though the Imperium helped rebuild the house's numbers, the scions of House Gotrith became bitter when the inhabitants of Dallanar started looking to the Emperor as their protector instead of them. The scions of House Gotrith spread themselves out amongst the Great Crusade looking to build a name for themselves, and soon garnered a reputation for bloody conquests that saw them relegated to guarding already conquered worlds. Unwilling to let others choose their fate, House Gotrith decided to side with Horus and tear down the Imperium, starting with the people of Dallanar for looking to the Emperor instead of them. Their color scheme is grey and red with brass trim.
*'''House Ioeden''' - House Ioeden once ruled over a dozen worlds until treachery from within toppled their empire and reduced them to raiders all vying for the position of High King. When the Emperor of Mankind arrived with the Great Crusade, he enticed them onto his side by promising to reunite their worlds and their house. The Emperor stayed true to his word, but he placed off-world foreigners in charge instead of House Ioeden. The bitter scions of House Ioeden sided with Horus to get their land back and united for the first time in millenia to butcher the loyalists on their worlds and rule with an iron fist. Yet House Ioeden would soon lose their worlds again as they were too busy fighting amongst themselves to properly defend them. Now exiled and reduced to raiding again, the scions of House Ioeden abandoned all pretenses of honor, fighting dirty and even [[Alpha Legion|dressing up as Knights from other loyalist houses]]. Their color scheme is purple and [[Ultramarines|ultramarine blue]] with gold trim.
*'''House Oroborn''' - House Oroborn was once fiercely loyal to the Imperium after being rescued from the brink of extinction while fighting a war against xenos. Exactly why House Oroborn turned traitor is unknown, but it's believed the house was gripped with a sickness that had once been prophesied to be the house's undoing, a superstition that was thought to have been stamped out by the arrival of the Imperium. Having turned insular to avoid retribution from the Imperium, the house was apprached by agents of Horus who promised a cure in exchange for their loyalty to the Warmaster. Instead, the sickness only further corrupted the house and sealed their fate. Their color scheme is rusty black and white with sickly green trim.
*'''House Makabius''' - House Makabius won an 800-year long civil war on their homeworld of Baroda that left them the only Knight house on the world, and were forcefully brought into compliance by the [[Imperial Fists]] a few decades later. The house's decrepit state combined with the slow resupply from the Forge World of Mezoa meant that new Knight suits were fought over daily. The younger generation from the house often went Freeblade out of eagerness to join the [[Great Crusade]]. One of those Freeblades named Markan Hrotham earned the favor of [[Abaddon the Despoiler|Ezekyle Abaddon]], and returned to Baroda to get the house loyal to Horus. With the help of the younger generation, Hrotham overthrew the old guard of the House and called everyone back to wait for Horus's call, culminating in a mini-Istvaan that left all the loyalists in the house dead. When the time came, House Makabius would never get the glory they desired as it was the [[Death Guard]] who came instead of Horus, stripping Baroda of all its resources and making House Makabius come with them on genocidal wars against the Imperium. Their color scheme is grey and cream with gold trim.