Hotel Death

The Space Hulk known as the “Hotel Death” is a forbidden treasure, a siren’s call that lures Imperial servants to their death. At its heart is a treasure beyond all measure, a Lightning Claw once wielded by The Emperor of Mankind himself, but all who have sought it have fallen victim to their own greed.

Hotel Death
First discovered in 825.M41 Hotel Death was a space hulk that emerged from the warp in Segmentum Tempestus. It was relatively small in comparison to most space hulks, though far from the smallest, and was a jumble of ships with a well preserved pre-Heresy luxury vessel at its core. This vessel, revealed to be the “City of Gold” likely served as the personal craft of an important dignitary or extremely wealthy individual. Its gold plated hull and decadent interiors soon attracted raiders and explorers who were keen on looting it.

However, any who entered fell ill with a mysterious sickness. It sparked not only a fever in them but a horrific lust for gold and an insurmountable greed. This plague soon spread outside the ship as several men were taken off and brought back to local population centers. This plague, called “Gold Rush Fever” compelled more and more people to try to explore the depths of Hotel Death and the City of Gold in particular. They came in waves and penetrated deep into the heart of the space hulk despite horrific losses due to mishap and mysterious disappearances. However, the numbers lost in its exploration would pale in comparison to the price the Imperium would pay when its greatest treasure was revealed...

The Emperor’s Treasure
In the heart of the City of Gold was a sealed vault that contained a singularly fantastic treasure- the missing lightning claw of the Emperor of Mankind. None could lay hands upon it however as at that moment the space hulk revealed its true purpose- a legion of Chaos Space Marines and a horde of daemons loyal to Slaanesh materialized within the hull upon some unknown trap being sprung. The human looters, consumed with lust for treasure, at first fought against the Slaaneshi forces but soon joined them as their wills were twisted to serve the Prince of Pleasure. However, with this information known to the wider Imperium greater force would be brought to bear on it.

The Greedcall
The cry went out and just about everyone answered it. Marines from any chapter who could spare men and send them did so with a terrifying fanaticism, Inquisitors from all three major orders arrived with their retinues and compliments made haste to Hotel Death, Imperial naval forces dispatched a fleet to the effort with Imperial Guard troops ready to engage, the Imperial Cult and Sisters of Battle joined the fray, and even the Custodes dispatched a Shield Company to the effort.

So many forces gathered to converge on Hotel Death to recover that other fronts suffered from the lack of troops. Such a mustering of might may have been more than sufficient to reclaim the claw but Slaanesh works in mysterious and devious ways. All those who entered into the vicinity of Hotel Death made a claim to the lightning claw of The Emperor and none would allow the others to claim it for themselves. It is theorized that the subtle whispers of Slaanesh were to blame but it may very well have been legitimate greed. Because of this call to greed, fighting soon broke out and the Imperial forces were thrown into an intense civil war where brother fought brother “for the glory of The Emperor”. This petty squabble soon becomes one of the costliest incidents in the Imperial record.

The Battle
There was fighting in every hall, battle brothers backing up into each other as they fought hordes of daemons down one forsaken hallway and did battle with heretical marines down the other. Every window an egress, every weapon port a makeshift docking port for a craft dropping off more meat for the grinder. For mortal men to have stepped foot upon that forsaken place was as fatal as stepping up to the gallows, some things are more important than one's life. Honor, glory, greed, many things move a man to action even when the price is almost assured death. In this case it was nothing so grand- the irresistible siren's call of a treasure pulling their strings like puppets marched them to their death as sure as lambs to the slaughter.

Brother fought brother as they slogged through the knee high blood of the lower decks of the City of Gold. Rivalries flared, oaths were born, pure human blood was spilt, and chaos reigned supreme. None who entered Hotel Death could ever leave and on that day humanity lost more than men...

Aftermath
With the Imperial forces defeated, Hotel Death returned to the warp with the corpses of thousands on it. It is still sighted sometimes by Rogue Traders exploring the far reaches of space who are occasionally lured in by its siren’s call and the promise of claiming a revered piece of The Emperor’s personal wargear. Several chapters have likewise been tempted by it and, even knowing it was a trap, attempted to claim its prize. None have penetrated far enough to even lay eyes on The Emperor’s treasure but that makes it all the more alluring. Each person who sees it asks themselves, “Am I the one? Will I be the one the make it where others have failed?” and to each Hotel Death quietly whispers, “No...”

Theories & Heresy

 * This was almost assuredly a honey pot to lure in Imperial forces to the slaughter.
 * The name “Hotel Death” was applied to it by Imperial Scholars after the fact. It was so named because it was initially classified as an “H Class Space Hulk” and H, in Low Gothic, is sometimes read as “Hotel” in military slang.
 * Despite rumors to the contrary, all evidence suggests that it is the genuine article. Psykers, several librarians, and a Cardinal all confirmed that the presence of the artifact was undeniable. It may be that Chaos cannot approach the artifact and they are simply using it as bait as they cannot make use of it in any other way.