It's what I do that defines me.

Save the rave!

Evidence under the cut. Trigger warning: it might look like blood. It’s not.

So, here goes:

I really, really like Jagathai Khan and his obvious Mongolian theme.

That said, I've always felt that different legions could be drawing more upon different cultures. Sure, you have Thousand Sons with their Egyptian theme, and you could make an argument for Word Bearers and Blood Angels being sort of Middle Eastern tinged... but for me, that's not enough. And I can do pretty much anything in my head.

So, in my head canon Kiavahr, Corvus's home world, is a weird mix of different periods of Japanese history.

I know, I know, but think about it. Kiavahr was controlled by Tech guilds, ruling class that controlled its manufactoria. We don't know how exactly this worked, but it wouldn't be a big stretch to suppose that each guild master had certain manufactoruims he was in charge of and which were essentially his domain. You know, kinda like daimyōs. They would also need their own warriors to protect them from rebelling workers and sometimes from other guild, so they would create a special type of warriors who were paid to serve them and maintain order. You know, kinda like samurai.

And the Raven fits, too: the three legged crow can be found in many cultures. In Japan specifically, there is a Shinto god Yatagarasu, a god of guidance. Corvus, as a leader of rebellion, could adopt the raven as his symbol, guiding his people to a better future and a new era. As for the Raven Guard's stelthy tactics... it still fits, shinobi being a popular characters in Japanese culture.