Forge World Catrolith

History

The Forge World of Catrolith is not actually a single world. Much like Jupiter, Forge World Catrolith is actually a gas giant, around which orbit a collection of diverse moons, some as big as a small planet in their own right, and others merely large asteroids. The central forge complex sits on Catrolith Secundus, the largest moon of Catrolith.

Catrolith Segundus is a cold and barren world of intense tectonic forces, leaving the planet a collage of continents bordered by pronounced faults, no more than a kilometer wide but several dozen kilometers deep. The colonization of Catrolith as a mining and industrial facility was gradual but hugely successful, transforming the unfriendly moon into a flourishing mining world. Networks of mining tunnels and cliff-habs dug deep into the roots of several continents, while the vast surface plains and sharp mountain peaks were used as orbital launching and staging platforms, as well as space for solar farms and greenhouses.

During the Age of Strife, Catrolith declined without outside contact or extra-system trade. A series of interlunar wars devastated the populations of Catrolith's moons repeatedly, and by the time a Mechanicus Explorator fleet had arrived, the whole of Catrolith Segundus had naught but 10,000 souls living upon it. But, it did have two things of great importance: easy material wealth and lost technology.

When an Explorator Fleet re-discovered the devastated Catrolith Segundus late into the Age of Rebirth, it was still host to several STCs collected by a single aging planetary archivist. Designs and patterns concerning geothermal power plants, thermodynamics, and exotic materials construction remained well-preserved on the foremost moon (amongst other intact copies of known and mostly-known designs).

Once this archivist was dealt with, the Mechanicus began the reconstruction of a mining operation in secret. They made several attempts to avoid Imperial bureaucracy: firstly by omitting their rediscovery of Catrolith and allowing it to remain a Lost World in Imperial standing for over 300 years, then claiming it was “being investigated” for another 200 years, and finally (by the mistake of an apprentice Imperium-Mechanicum diplomat) claiming that it was a functioning Forge World. By the time that the Imperial bureaucracy grew suspicious and dispatched an Inquisitor to investigate, the Mechanicus had such a strong presence in the area that several governing Magos simply decided to actualize their own bluff and declare Catrolith an official Forge World by the time the Inquisitorial task force arrived.

Present Day

Today Catrolith is a bustling center of industry for the sector, supplying vast shipments of manufactured goods to the Munitorum, and a steady supply of otherwise-rare components and materials to the Mechanicum at large. The gas giant Catrolith Prime boasts a dockyard large enough to refuel and repair an Emperor class battleship, and the entire planetary system had been extensively mapped, mined, and fortified. Orbital defenses and mining operations repurposed into space-fortresses litter the moons and asteroids of the Catrolith system.

The datasmiths and lexmechanics of Catrolith train tirelessly in the ways of proper archival and informaintenance. Following in the example of the now-legendary Old Archivist, maintaining the ancient records pristinely is of paramount importance to the forge world. Catrolithii dogma honors the preservationist aspects of the Quest for Knowledge above all else. Even the most esoteric data is kept in hexadectuplicate parity, and maintenance of artifacts is seen as more sacred than production of new equipment (an interpretation of Cult Mechanicum doctrine which alienated Catrolith from several pragmatic, war-torn Forge Worlds). On Catrolith the noosphere follows uncommonly regular patterns of data flow, with citation of older data being incredibly prevalent, meeting or exceeding even the most dogmatically truth-focused Mechanicum strongholds. Tech-Priest Logi are, perhaps unsurprisingly, therefore the most numerously represented amongst the four holy orders on Catrolith as a whole, doubly so on Cathrolith Segundus itself. Magi are trailing second, followed closely by Artisans. Genetors are scarce, mostly acting as surgeons or providing medical treatment and expertise. Catrolith exists in a sparse region of space, so few xeno species traditionally lurk near the system. Catrolith concerns itself not with the mysteries of the alien, instead dedicating itself completely to the Quest for Knowledge and the struggle against those enemies closest to the Mechanicum: the daemonic Dark Mechanicus, the purging of tech-heresy, and the covert Shadow War.

Catrolith is known for being a hermetic forge world. While it certainly provides countless weapons and vast sums of rare materiel, it rarely shows the kind of ambitious vying for territory that it’s fellow Forge Worlds in other sectors exhibit. It doesn’t maintain a Titan legion, and its official military presence is comparatively lacking. However, this is merely what the records show.

Catrolith has deep ties to the Imperial Navy, especially now that they are cut off from the Jovian docks. Catrolith routinely enlists the armies of the Imperial Guard whenever they are nearby, offering to totally re-supply threadbare deployments in exchange for unscheduled “detours” to assail or repulse a nearby foe. After centuries of odd records for troop movements around Catrolithii space, this behavior has only recently been uncovered via cross-reference by the clerks of the Munitorum. The efficacy of Catrolithii forces is bolstered by the routine deployment of otherwise-rare weapons which demand exotic materials. Catrolith has, on several distinct occasions, fielded significantly more Skitarii than it claimed it could. Catrolith controls two large Knight Legions, House Stonebraker and House Feinler. And of course, every Data-smith and Algorithmancer has heard legends of Catrolith’s data warfare enclaves.

Hidden deep under dozens of kilometers of bedrock, one thousand and twenty-four enclaves of Datamancers all work tirelessly to protect the sanctity of data itself. Cryptographers and Data-Archeologists decipher the deepest encryptions, Data-Predators combat the impossible threats of daemon-worms and scrapcode viruses, Monitor Malevolii and Prognostatisticians forecast the arrival of foes before they themselves know they will attack, and Info-executioners surgically remove all traces of errant or memetically hazardous data from Mechanicus, Imperial, and even Inquisitorial records. The war of information is an endless attrition war, a self-replicating virus which Catrolith is determined to delete with every weapon in its truly gigantic digital arsenal. Catrolith rivals Mars itself in this respect alone.

Culture

The Mechanicus of Catrolith are known for their use of very old and reliable pieces of technology, perhaps more than other Forge Worlds. This is primarily due to the use of a fortified bronze alloy in their fittings and accents, which oxidizes strangely and yields an odd, irregular aqua-blue patina. This tarnishing would be considered disrespectful on other worlds, but Catrolithic Mechanicus believe that this is a sign of maturity, a lasting proof-mark of reliability. Reuse of components is considered to honor the sundered donor machine, bringing with it a modicum of the predecessor’s glory and endurance, and preserving the blued hues of a proven machine. This extends to bionic implants as well. Death rites for Catrolithii Mechanicus include the ritual harvesting of cybernetics, which are sent back to Catrolith for implantation in others. While this is definitely common practice for Skitarii, it’s rare for a Forge World to unilaterally prefer used bionics regardless of class, standing, or the ease of reproduction for the implant in question.

The colors of Catrolith are blue and bronze, though equal importance is given to displaying the “true” or “original” colors of their tools and cybernetics. The lowest-ranking Skitarii and scribes are cloaked in pale blue robes, matching the vast barren surface of their cobalt-tinged home moon. As the ranks ascend, the blue hue grows darker and darker. All those who bear the rank of Magos wear robes of ferrocyanide blue or darker. The Fabricator General of Catrolith wears robes of a near-black indigo; as does the Prime Archivist, a non-standard office with authority at near-parity to the Fabricator General.