#warp mechanicum

[farsight-the-char]

CHONK LAD LETS GO

Focus let have us some new art for SM2, and among them included this Beast.

Thousand Sons bringing the thrall Hellbrutes to smack some Loyalists about.

[thamechanist]

Inbound to MCM!

[farsight-the-char]

Why not both?

friendly reminder that the age of technology is coming to an end and a new age of blood magic and dark rituals will take its place

[wh40kgallery]

Pariah Nexus Crusade

by Mikhail Savier

[ocherednoe-dno]

Stellaris!40k

composed with some help from @stygiantechpriest

Stellaris and 40k exist on a continuum. they are extremely similar sci-fi, and when viewed from the right angle, essentially the same galaxy.

Stellaris has a theme of galactic cycles of civilizations rising, thriving, falling. 40k has gone through one and a half or two cycles, with the first being that of the Old Ones and necron(tyr), the second-ish being what came after. There are implications that the fall of the Imperium would be the last cycle of the galaxy, which could not be recovered from to see new civilizations rise. Stellaris is also similar to 40k in that it dwells on the inevitable destruction of all things (the galaxy is littered with the ruins of past peoples), and that using the Shroud canonically enlarges the black hole in the center of the galaxy, thereby incrementally hastening entropic decay – at the same time, Stellaris is tonally opposite from 40k, remaining generally uplifting and looking upon everything interesting and fun that can happen in the meantime. Evil can be defeated and the galaxy can enter an era of peace, although it will inevitably end – but so will every cruel despotic regime and every age of terror and destruction. 40K too contemplates inevitable doom and the fall of empires, but from a more defeatist, hopeless perspective.

according to in-game dates, all precursors except the Zroni would have existed between the War In Heaven and setting present. It is possible they were one of the first spacefaring empires in this galaxy, which would potentially make them billions of years old, but they were almost certainly the first to learn how to use the Shroud, equivalent in every meaningful sense to the Warp. The Immaterium already existing implies that there had been many sapient lifeforms whose emotions, thoughts and beliefs could be reflected into a mirror realm before the Zroni started using it. Astral planes accessed through rifts are not the Shroud, and are likely alternate dimensions and timelines overlapping in a point with this reality (as with the dimensional portal that can appear on a colony).

Current factions

the eldar acted as a Fallen Empire between sometime after the end of the War In Heaven and creation of Slaanesh – immensely powerful and influential, but societally, technologically and territorially stagnant. Since DAoT humanity spread all across the galaxy, the eldar empire did not occupy a particularly large region of space. They served as the galaxy’s peacekeepers and would have responded to significant enough threats, such as the Cybrex. The eldar empire resembles a mix between the Holy Guardians and Enigmatic Observers (spiritualist and xenophile fallen empires). It is possible there were more Old Ones-aligned survivors of the War In Heaven who would have been other Fallen Empires (including the Ancient Caretakers), but they faded and died many millenia before humanity’s interstellar age.

the Imperium, in practice, is a Fanatic Purifier empire with the Remnants origin (fanatic xenophobe-militarist in M31, fanatic xenophobe-spiritualist in M42); it only seems not unusual among other galactic polities because this cycle is so grim and because it is the most widespread-by-territory civilization of its time. The Mechanicum was obviously a Cybernetic Creed civilization who cybernetically ascended early in their history, and continue to terraform perfectly lush planets into their preferred climate of „radioactive desert” to this day; they are certainly spiritualist, with the other ethic(s) being authoritarian, xenophobe or militarist (as a reminder, xenophobia does not preclude one from doing archaeology or studying aliens, but from giving them citizenship and allowing them on the ruling council). The Leagues of Votann are sufficiently evolved salvager enclaves.

orks are 40k’s equivalent to marauders, and their „Great Khans” are leaders of powerful waaagh!s who unite disparate ork clans and bands to wage war. Much less likely to take on satrapies, though. The dark eldar are more similar to pirates without the Apocalypse dlc, and to Unbidden who do not seek to consume the galaxy. The AI personality of the tau would be hegemonic imperialists, and their ethics xenophile-materialist-authoritarian. They are the only major faction in 40k who act as a normal Stellaris empire. If the necron start a large-scale conflict with the eldar, they will have a Stellaris War In Heaven, although the necron were not an active Fallen Empire – they just Awakened and got back to work. Unlike Stellaris Fallen Empires, they and the eldar are rife with internal division.

the various empire-less space creatures such as guardians, mining drones, crystalline entities and the like are diminished in number from a greater level of danger in the galaxy, if not utterly extinct. in addition, if the hyperlane network has been compromised or destroyed, organic space entities may not be able to travel between systems. however, as „void whales” are known to exist in the present of 40k, other species of migratory cosmic beings may have evolved the ability to move through the Warp instead. guardians, who mostly inhabit a single star system, are still likely to lurk in the dark corners of the galaxy - especially psionic avatars - daemonlike psykic emanations who have emerged into realspace in a stable form.

FTL travel

the nature of hyperlanes in Stellaris is not elaborated on; nonetheless, it is theoretically possible that the Webway, a dimension between both the Warp and the Materium, is a hyperlane network. However, in Stellaris, hyperlanes are not believed to be a separate pocket dimension capable of housing cities and libraries; nor are they accessed through gates, but connect systems naturally. Curiously, the event popup for space storms speculates that they are caused by increased use of the hyperlane network, and would eventually lead to its collapse and destruction. This explains the lack of hyperspace travel in the current cycle; perhaps the Webway was a Old Ones attempt to construct an artificial replacement to the hyperlane network. It is also possible that the hyperlanes eventually reappear again, or recover sufficiently to allow hyperspeed travel; the lack of hyper drives in 40k may be additionally caused by the fragmented and decayed hyperlanes not being easily detectable and observable, thus giving few interstellar polities the opportunity to develop the technology to traverse them.

Jump Drives and Warp Drives are not the same – Jump Drives do not use the Shroud, and instead shortcut through the dimension inhabited by the Unbidden, or somewhere extremely close in the multiverse. They are not a safe method of travel, and have cooldown periods between uses, but they seem superior to Warp Drives, which take one on a trip through hell. It is unclear why more civilizations have not developed Jump Drives – Warp Drives seem to be a simpler and baser technology, and in this tumultuous time, civilizations may simply not last long enough or develop far enough scientifically to have the opportunity of researching an alternate method of FTL travel. It is also possible that most polities simply believe that Warp travel is the be-all-end-all of interstellar transportation, and never think to study alternate methods of propulsion in the confidence that there simply isn’t anything better.

Deities

The four Shroud gods are either versions of Chaos/the same idea from a previous cycle, or they are alternate names for the Chaos Gods (daemons are Shroud Avatars). As the Shroud quartet seem less dangerous and actively malevolent than Chaos, if these are the same entities, the the Shroud gods were the Four at a time when the Warp was less turbulent and the galaxy’s turmoil had not empowered Chaos (and potentially rendered them even more cruel than before by way of creating more pain for the Warp to reflect). The presence of the Instrument of Desire/Slaanesh can be explained by seeing it as a „postulant-entity”: a being in the Warp which had begun to form, as some prerequisite for its future creation had been fulfilled, but which yet lacked the power it would achieve, the will and autonomy to act in its full capacity, and the ability to spread its influence independently. It is possible the other three Chaos Gods existed in „postulant” form for some time during – or even after – the War In Heaven.

The End of The Cycle is an entity of the theorized ’Deep Warp’ which even the Chaos Gods are wary of (see Tzeentch sending Kairos down the Well of Eternity instead of taking a peek itself), and is a crucial part of the galaxy’s cycles – ’clearing the slate’ for new life to emerge, as its ghosts eventually dissipate, and/or its defeat happens at a cataclysmic cost. It is noticeably more powerful than Chaos as a whole, and it does not strictly need or desire worship – its concept is entropy, the inevitable end, and it has consumed countless species and empires over dozens of cycles.

The restoration of free will to the necron may somehow interact with the Animator of Clay’s work – especially if some necron who got the ability to think for themselves weren’t meant to. The Animator itself is a relatively benign Warp-entity concerned with giving robots free will and self-determination, but amoral in that it does not care overmuch what they do with that free will.

The Worm-In-Waiting is a C’Tan related to gravity and cyclical time, as well as to the mortal concept of „attachment”(note that it manifests as a Dimensional Horror, not a Shroud avatar). It is much friendlier to lesser beings than other C’Tan, and did not participate in deceiving the necrontyr. It is not aligned with other C’Tan, and is probably operating close to or at its full power – however, it seems trapped in a pocket dimension of some sort, or otherwise impeded when manifesting in realspace. When an empire accepts the Worm, it devours their star as a C’Tan would – turning it into a black hole with its unique brand of spacetime powers (other C’Tan may or may not be able to do this, but most wouldn’t have a reason to either way).

Dimensional Horrors may be shards of the Worm-In-Waiting. Alternatively, they may be a lesser type of being of the same reality-bending nature as the C’Tan, or either ’failed’ C’Tan who could not ascend to full strength (perhaps that is why they are found around black holes – they consumed a star, but it wasn’t enough), or ’juvenile’ C’Tan who are still young. The Elder One is a particularly powerful individual of this group (could it have gained power from having had followers previously – as a C’Tan-like entity, likely from their souls and not their prayers), and seems to act somewhat similar to the Worm-In-Waiting.

Crises

the Contingency is as it is in Stellaris: an ancient machine intelligence seeded a billion years ago in this galaxy and several others to watch for and prevent a Class-30 Singularity. It is unclear what this is [or whether the Contingency itself is entirely certain what falls under these parameters], and thus it cannot be said one way or another whether the Contingency is still dormant in M42, or if it has been destroyed in a previous cycle.

the Unbidden (and the non-hostile Formless) exist in a wholly different dimension (notably, not the Shroud/Warp), and occasionally invade this galaxy – or, possibly, several galaxies – to feast on the essences of its inhabitants. As Jump Drives work by traveling in or near the home dimension of the Unbidden, and there do not seem to be many Jump Drive-using groups in the galaxy at present, it is not particularly likely that the Unbidden’s attention is drawn there. Furthermore, the Unbidden know of the Shroud and have some deal of respect for its dangerous nature – thus, the widespread corruption of Chaos and weakening of realspace may actually repel the Unbidden and make them unwilling to enter such a „tainted” plane of existence.

the Prethoryn Scourge resemble the tyranid greatly; however, they are confirmed to be fleeing a (formerly?) greater threat, and their hive mind’s subentities (specifically, brood-queens) seem to possess a greater deal of autonomy and closer-to-human thinking than tyranid norn-queens or other bioforms of high independence and sapience. Furthermore, a key difference between the two galaxy-consuming hive minds is that the Prethoryn do not have a genestealer equivalent; they seem to be generally less threatening, less adaptive and less numerous than the tyranid. The exact relation between the two species is unclear; they could be two divergently-evolved descendants of the same hive mind, the tyranid could have devoured the Prethoryn and absorbed their genetic material into the more dangerous hive mind, the presence of two extragalactic roaming Devouring Swarms could be a sign that this is a reasonably common evolutionary path or imply something about hive minds, the tyranid could be a hive mind who outcompeted the Prethoryn and became the Hunters who eclipsed their home galaxy (demonstrating the capability to devour light, if not stars themselves, as the final form of their infestation) and have since moved on to other feeding grounds – or, they may be the same species. The Prethoryn Scourge ended one galactic cycle by devouring all worlds of biomass, then continued their flight, evolving over millenia into forms more and more perfected for consumption of worlds. Eventually, new life emerged in the Milky Way, and eventually, the Scourge – now no longer running, but hunting – was lured back, and returned as the tyranid swarm.

the Synthetic Queen may remain imprisoned, or have already been defeated in a previous cycle. Alternatively, she may have already devolved the galaxy into nonsapience at least once, and left it or returned to isolation. Her return might not even be predicted by the eldar or necron, especially if Zarqlan was not known to the Old Ones. Since no major factions in 40k are believed to have wide-ranging knowledge on or experience with nanites (aside from what seems to be a single cult within the Mechanicus, some necron technologies, and occasionally seen used by the tau), she could be a true outside-context problem for the current galactic cycle – even moreso than the tyranid, as the Great Devourer commands carbon-based organic drones. However, the growing encroachment of the Warp on the Materium would give the Animator of Clay more opportunities to warn the residents of the galaxy, should it choose to.

as no Gateways are known to exist in the galaxy, the state of the L-Cluster cannot be determined. Furthermore, should one be discovered, there would likely be insufficient context and insights to activate it once more

the status of the Ithome Cluster and its residents cannot be determined. However, they may be wise enough to realize that invading the galaxy at present is a doomed endeavor – and the galaxy mostly very awful to inhabit – and are staying put behind their wormhole, Fanatic Purifier ambitions on hold. That would make them, shockingly, more rational than the Imperium, who did try to conquer the galaxy, and have been painfully rotting for millenia since. It could just as easily be that the Chosen were defeated in this cycle or a previous one.

whatever knowledge is required to perform Cosmogenesis or become Galactic Nemesis (that path, in particular, seems almost like a memetic hazard occasionally infecting random empires susceptible to its lure) is likely not present in the current day of the galaxy – if it survived previous cycles, the idea of „Galactic Nemesis” has been viciously suppressed by the Old Ones/eldar, and no known empire (save, perhaps, the fra’al) has both willingness and tech level to attempt to escape to another universe (which, in 40k, is a far more reasonable and understandable proposition, considering how everything is circling the drain already). Thus, it is not known how likely it is for any empire to attempt these crisis paths in the current cycle.

Entities existing in previous galactic cycles

The End of The Cycle, the Zroni, the Contingency (and their creators), the Unbidden and Formless depending on how time flows between this reality and theirs, potentially Cetana the Synthetic Queen and thus the prophet Zarqlan, the C’Tan and the Worm-In-Waiting, the Shroud four if and only if they are not the same as the current Chaos Gods, the observers of Ultima Vigilis, potentially the Animator of Clay, Prethoryn Scourge if considered a separate faction from the Tyranids, potentially the Chosen

[farsight-the-char]

The Leagues of Votann actually raid wayward and/or weakened Hive Fleets for bio-mass, and I think Chaos forces do similar stuff, plus you have Dark Eldar looking for things to torture too.

Failed tyranids invasions when they deposit more biomass than has ever been on the planet to a strip mined, barely habitable hive world.

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Oceans of Change

Past =-= Next

Author's note:

Summary: Jophiel is on Ancient Terra... what will he get up to?

Warnings:... Unhealthy coping mechanisms. A bit of Panic Attack. Let me know if I need to add anything.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams

Tagged: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k

How Jophiel came to Ancient Terra, to his complete and utter shame was that he'd fallen to the Black Rage during a fight against Xeno-scum. The Tyranids had been hunting on one of the far flung Imperial Worlds, he had his company of blood angels had been sent to fight and beat back the Xeno threat. Handling the Red Thirst was something he'd grown up with denying and only supping on the blood of others as little as possible without going into a Frenzy.

He'd been taught, and it had been firmly taught by the Mechanicum how to deny his disgusting and unholy cravings as best as possible. How to use his Siren-like songs and looks to lure in enemies to lure them to their doom. To have them murmur their Truths into his ears, or to be slain. How to only drink just enough blood that the ever-present hunger doesn't have him sink his unsightly fangs into a Loyal citizen or Cousins's neck or wrists.

He's heard… plenty of things from the older brothers on how they can, and do satiate the thirst, and his cheeks sting bright red at some of the things he's heard them say they do. How pleasurable it can be for the person in question, as well as them. He shakes his head and continues to glide in the water. He blinks the spots out of his vision stopping as he sways a little. This new world that he's landed on, somehow, after falling to the Black Rage and slaying as many enemies as he can, before dying, or more likely, being culled by his older brothers was confusing. Using the Warp was so much harder. It took far more of his energy to hide his wings.

Fuck, that is the only thing he can do, and it's been really, really hard. Sometimes the illusion hiding his wings is failing, much to his complete terror and panic at that. The first time it had happened he'd panicked, and he'd nearly torn his wings from his back, only cold practicality of doing that wouldn't help him. Another issue that he's having his that his wretched, cursed, mutation is dropping feathers at an alarming rate.

So while he knows there are other Space Marines around, he's been avoiding them as much as possible. He'd fallen to the black rage, and somehow, survived and had come to… what he'd learned, from learning some of the local (and very strange) language of the local base line humans is Terra- Ancient Terra. How he'd landed here he doesn't know. And that is a whole basket of eggs that he'll have to handle latter. He'd overheard from some of the humans that he listens to that there is going to be a shoal of Space Marines passing by. He absolutely doesn't want to be noticed by them.

Regardless of alignment. Hearing that there are Loyalist, Renegade and Chaos Marines on this Ancient, Holy Terra had his mind blank and he'd snapped out of it a few moments later and half of his feathers had been pulled out and he'd barely managed to keep his clawed hands from pulling out more feathers. He needs to get a handle on himself. He's better than this.

He takes in a couple of deep breaths as he rubs his face as he stuffs the feathers into the pouch. It's getting far too full. He needs to find a place where he can make a fire to burn the feathers. He glares at the feathers in his hand, they, to an outsiders view, are pretty, long, white and almost glowing in the water and sunlight. Why? Why did the Mechanicus allow him to live instead of cull him when his wings first started to develop? He's never had the courage to ask them, and now he will be entirely unable to.

He needs to continue moving, as he shoves the fistful of feathers into his pouch and has his wings closed shut on his back as he swims in the water, unaware that he'd wrenched the feathers out too harshly and a trickle of blood is flowing, like a trail, a beacon in the water. He notices it after a few hours and curses his own foolishness as he finds a small uninhabited island to swim through the air on and try to find something to make a fire to burn the damned feathers. He will try and weave the illusion on his wings and hide them. Just… He needs to… rest. He's been swimming for so long. And the failed weave of the illusion had taken a heavy toll on his energy levels. Jophiel hasn't slept in… in a long time, but as a Primaris Marine he doesn't need to sleep often.

He's gone longer without rest, food for far longer. He.. can… endure. He will. He must endure. He opens his eyes in alarm, the sun which had been high and hot in the sky was dipping down below the Horizon. Jophiel had wasted so much time sleeping! Oh Throne. He needs to get supplies together to make a fire and burn the excess feathers. He knows that the humans find the feathers pretty and he can try and trade things for them. But it has to be the smallest of the feathers, anything too large and… his brothers and cousins might notice and then… he really doesn't want to know what might happen if they did find the suspiciously large feathers.

Nothing good. Not for the human who had them, and not if they tried to seek out who had those feathers to begin with. After burning the feathers he rubs his face and continues to swim in the water, he's so thirsty. He's so hungry, the gnawing in his belly and the dryness of his throat has him coughing a little as he shakes his head. No- he has to continue on. He grabs some of the rations in one of his other pockets and eats some of the nutri-paste. Just enough to have the gnawing in his stomach lessen back to acceptable levels. He can't eat too much, otherwise he won't have more for future meals.

He notices a large boat, human made, it looked more like a pleasure cruiser, rather than something military. Curious he watches the boat from under the water. He sees the base line humans wander about the ship. It looks… they look like they are having fun as he swims closer, careful and curious. He sees a bunch of children running around one of the decks laughing and playing, before one of them slips and his hearts plunge in his chest as they fall over the side of the ship. He blinks and the child is in his arms.

He's gently cradling the child in his arms and is swimming in the air, the humans are staring at him. Oh no. That's not. The human child is staring at him with wide eyes and gently reaches out to touch his face, before their eyes drift to something behind him and his hearts sink to his stomach as the child reaches out and touches his wings. Fuck! The illusion broke again. More humans have gathered at the side of the boat where he is at and are staring at him.

This is bad, this is really bad as he gently sets the child down on the deck of the ship, a couple of older humans rushing over-they look like they are related to the little human as they look between him, his wings and their child. He puts a finger to his helmet, near where his lips would be in a shushing motion as he dives back into the water, unaware of one of his larger, primary feathers falling out of his wings and softly floating in the air, the child reaching out and grabbing the feather with wide, awed eyes.

[farsight-the-char]

Apparently a newer White Dwarf issue did another series of pages dedicated to hyping up the Darkmech and Vashtorr.

Apparently there has been a rise in Tech Heresy and sightings of Warp Mechanicum forces, some directly under Vashtorr's authoirty. The completion of Wyrmwood is attributed to this.

Iron Warriors and Black Legion particularly among the Chaos Marines, for obvious reasons.

Other quotes and stuff from across the Galaxy...

and interestingly, warp tainted Ironkyn, and a Battlesuit turning against it's cadre because of sabatoge.

[thamechanist]

A second Vashtorr article in what, 3 months? There was one in WD495, and this month's(497) will also have another vashtorr lore piece.

This, this definitely looks like something's coming, right?

Seems like they're getting the foundational lore out there now, to avoid another leagues of votann situation (Still no novel?). So I'd guess we'll get the announcement as to whatever is coming at adepticon in March

[farsight-the-char]

It mentions Soulgrinders which might mean those meme machines might get moved to CSM?

So now we are getting codex leaks before it even is time for a preorder? If this escalation continues in a year we get leaks before the book even goes goes to print. I just wish GW would swap to free digital rules aready, would make them look a lot less stupid.

Overall that detachment looks fairly tame for everything that is not a Maulerfiend. Because that's what it is: you play 3 Maulerfiends, and probably 2 Forgefiends supported by a boosted Warpsmith holding down the main firing lane, and maybe some Venomcrawlers. It might be a lot more spicy if Obliterators get changed from infantry to Demon Vehicle, there that +1 to wound definetly does some work, but as it stands now it is a fairly lame detachment as it realistically buffs only half of your army.

Moving and especially charging through walls with Maulerfiends is essentially all that matters. You will not spend command points on anything else.

[askthecaptaingeneral]

"Will they even believe it to be me?" He asked

The Mechanicum was so deeply devout that surely his ten thousand year absence would have warped and twisted the image of him in their minds. Kusig Alad was a man mythicized, and the image of him that stared judgingly from the frescoes and stained glass windows was so far removed from the man he was so as to be a different person entirely. They might think him a witch or daemon bearing their Holy Emperor's form, for no god of theirs would act as he did.

@divinacaptivus

“All you must do is play the part of their god. The void dragon remains unknown, and with the backing of the Custodes, they must believe you.” He said simply.

“None of them have been alive since the beginning, they have no reason to believe you acted any different unless you wish to break the deal.”

[the-wayward-arc]

Here's a question. How does Penny fit into the grand scheme of things? Because personally, I think her existence would be the cause of a schism within the Mechanicum/Admech. Because fundamentally she is an AI in a robotic body... but she also possesses a human soul that is entirely her own, therefore she is not a soulless AI.

Not to mention that the Treaty of Mars that banned AI also banned other matters of research... including experimenting with the warp/souls in the creation of technology. I mean clearly Penny was made *before* the Imperium found Remnant, but her existence is likely going to cause some heated arguments among the cog boys and girls.

Penny is one of the Legion's secrets. The only other people outside the Legion are Magnus and Horus. Horus has told Jaune of what will happen should her true nature ever be discovered but nonetheless has promised to keep her a secret. Keeping Penny's true nature a secret has been hard, especially since her father feels to hide her true origins in the age of absolutely wonderful technological advancements and wonder is a slap to the face. But he does understand what will happen to Penny.

A few techpriests sent to the legion have accidentally discovered what Penny is but all have been killed before they can expose her. Their deaths being labeled as attacks from Grimm or rebels within the Remnant system. Either way, Penny knows she is a huge risk and reliability to the Legion and Remant itself. She even wonders if it's best if she is simply taken offline but has been assured by Jaune and Ruby that is not the case nor something they will ever do to her. Penny is confined to Remnant, Vale to be exact. It saddens her because she wants to explore but if she is discovered...

[farsight-the-char]

I bet Mechanicum will get a larger release both in 40k and 30k, probably some overlap, with their Robots. Likely as part of a Warzone in 40k, likely by next year.

Dark Mechanicum ??? Depends on what GW does with Vashtorr in the near future.

Custodes????? Their codex is coming up soon. We will see.

With the Solar Auxiliary getting plastics, this makes me wonder about the two and a bit other mostly resin factions, Mechanicus/Dark Mechanicus and Tallons of the Emperor.

Will they get plastic?

[bolters-and-rivets]

391st Grand-Batallion (4th Legion); lore supliment

The 391st Grand-Battalion of the Iron Warriors, when not cruising the warp looking to settle their grudge with the Imperium, is based out of the Lishtragen system; a Binary-star system comprised of a red dwarf co-orbiting a sun-like star.

the Lishtragen system, rendered as seen from the Galactic plain, and in a simple view for clarity The system features 7 orbiting planets.

L-I is a barren, rocky world, much like Murcury or Ganymede, to close to the twin stars to be of much use beyond mining for resources.

L-II is an terestrial planet, about 1.25x the size of Terra and the staging ground for the 391st's manpower

L-III is an ocean world, used as a main berth for the 391's void fleet to avoid clogging up the orbit of L-II

L-IV to L-VI are gas giants, used by the Dark Mechanicum as forge worlds

L-VII is a brown dawrf; a proto-star that was flung from a nebula before it had a chance to reach critical mass and captured into the Lishtragen systems orbit, where it now resides on the outer edge. the presence of the brown dwarf has a substantial influence on the stability of the system, forcing the other planets into various elliptical or eccentric orbits, in fact, so sever is this outside pull on the system that planets Lishtragen-IV and Lishtragen VI both cross the orbit of Lishtragen V and back again.

How the system has sustained such eccentric orbits without planets colliding or getting flung off into space is unknown, but the uper echelons of the Grand Batallion theorise that the gods of chaos may have some role to play in orchestrating such organised chaos

Lishtragen-II is where we will focus our attention.

1st drafts of Lishtragen-II displaying climate and factions. Faction labels and locations are subject to change as I develop the lore further.

L-II is the staging ground for the 391st Grand Battalion, the planet's eccentric orbit and the presence of two stars gives it a climate that varies between oven dry and sauna-humid, the pull of the other planets locking the orbit into a rotational period that alligns with the seasons, so that the "summer" side of the planet is a scorching desert, whilst the "winter" side of the planet is invariably hot & humid rainforests and jungles.

the 391st as an entity holds most of the terretory on the summer side of the planet, using the scorched desert terrain and the maintain range known locally as "The Spine" to their advantage to make it as difficult as possible for outside assault their base of operations, known simply as "The Iron Keep".

As for the rest of the planet? The 391st Grand Battalion leaves much of the more hospitible terretory unocupied for a veriety of cults and renegade warbands to stake out their own little terretories and empires in miniature, this ultimately works in the 391st's favour as the varius faactions waring for terretory gives the Iron Warriors a pool of manpower to draw from who are specialised in many forms of warfare.

One notable region besides the Iron Dominion is the Free Terretory of Estadia, a designated neutral zone where all may do trade, seek sanctuary, and hire mercinaries free from the grudges outside its borders. It also sees use as a place for the factions to settle disputes that can't be so easily solved by feat of arms, for which a member of the 391st may preside over disputes and pass judgement. The defacto capital of the planet, at least so-far as the general population are concerned, is Hive City Primus, located in Estadia, a seedy hive rife with crime, slavery, and corruption. What "law enforcement" exists consists of little more than armed thugs drawn from the Grand Battalion's auxilliaries tasked with keeping the violence on the busiest streets to a tolerable minimum

Prepresentative placeholder image, until I have the funds to commision an artist to make artwork for me

[etherhart]

Hey, you seem to know about warhammer 40k right? I have a simple question about it. What are the basic factions? I want to get into the lore, but I don't even know of anything other than the imperium of man. Could you please help me? (This is an invitation to infodump btw)

Oh my god someone ASKING me to infodump??? This website is amazing ok so

The Imperium of Man is the biggest one, and the one most people know. A whole lot of humans who worship an emperor who may or may not be alive as a god, most live in huge hive cities on planets loosely held together by nightmarish bureaucracy and fascist cruelty. Space marines, Sisters of Battle, The Inquisition, all them. They’re led by a council of lords from earth, and as a rule genocidally hostile to anything that isn’t an emperor worshipping human. Tied to the Imperium is the Adeptus Mechanicum, an allied faction obsessed with ancient technology based out of mars. They worship a machine god and try to replace their own body parts with implants as much as possible, in addition to maintaining colossal war robots called titans.

The Chaos Gods or Ruinous Powers are 4 warp beings so powerful they have become able to spread their influence into real space, and have become immensely influential by doing so. Their societies are generally made up of corrupted humans and demons (manifestations of tiny fragments of a particular god) and exist primarily to spread the power of the warp. The four are Khorne, god of war/violence (and the blood god of skull throne fame), Nurgle, god of life in the bacterial sense, Slaanesh, god of excess, and Tzeentch, god of ambition. They were the Imperiums main threat for a long time and caused the state of decay it is now in.

The Eldar or Aeldari are space elves. They live a long time, control warp magic better, and some of them can see the future. They were once the dominant power in the galaxy, but their society was corrupted by excess in post-scarcity and they gave birth to slaanesh, killing most and destroying their home worlds. The three surviving groups were those who avoided the disaster - the Craftworld Eldar who had flown away on huge ships, preserving their way of life through discipline, the Dark Eldar or Dhrukari who escaped into pocket dimensions and preserved their way of life through torture orgies, and the Exodites, who had already fled to custom planets populated with beautiful nature and dinosaurs.

There are the Tyranids, an impossibly vast galactic invader hive mind that just wants to consume everything it finds. Mostly just Zerg type space bugs, but they do have “gene stealers” that infiltrate human planets and create cults designed to destabilize before an invasion.

The Necron were once the most powerful beings in the galaxy, slept for 60 million years on tomb worlds, and are just now waking up to recreate their empire. They are soulless killing machine robots for the most part bc of some ancient mythological trickery, but the few nobles with personalities are typically pretty funny.

The T’au are a relatively minor faction that get a lot of attention because they are so unique - they are technologically advancing, which is rare, and tolerant of other species in their society, which is UNHEARD OF. They aren’t very big, but they get a lot of fanfare because (they’re cool) they figh alongside humans and other alien species as the only diplomats in the galaxy.

The Leagues of Votann are space dwarves - they’re also very new, and have not been well established. They are led by ancient AI that knew everything but is now going senile, and have a grudge book they hold forever.

There are also thousands of rogues, one of planets, strange ancient enemies, etc. these are just the big ones.

Feel free to ask if you have specific questions :)

I love talking about this shit

[fauxmystique]

WH40k Writing Prompt

Since I have trouble coming up with writing prompts sometimes, I found one I liked! And thought I would share.

Hey everyone here! I really like this subreddit, and I'd love to hear more stories from you all! So, I decided I'd give a writing prompt this sunny afternoon, and see how it went!

Prompt: Ferrus Manus has just warped back to terra. There was no announcement, no greeting, he simply appeared with his entire legion. And then a Necron Invasion Fleet warped in as well. How would the battles go? Who would the heroes be? Are the Iron Hands the Angelic Saviors, or the Hated Heretics?

Could it even be... a trick of the Alpha Legion??

(Have fun!) (p.s. Have some flavor text)

M42 Status: Emergency Code: Black MECHANICUM INTERIOR MYSTERII ONLY

The file contains video footage of an imperium citizen using a standard issue dataslate on the surface of HOLY TERRA.

"He's returned! Oh Holy Emperor, He's Returned! Ferrus Manu-"

The video is promptly cut short by a high-power, short-range detonation.

WARP RIFT DETECTED OVER HOLY TERRA

Archmagos, please advise.

Oh, and here's my entry:

No time has passed since the day it was rainy in the square at the Imperial Chapel. When the newly installed Ministorum Priestess canted out in holy prayer's verse, "Here announces the Third Legion to Ever Be Erased From Imperial History. No More Shall Any Speak the Name, Ferrus Manus, for he is traitor and Anathema to humankind. So Sayeth He On Terra, Guilliman's Father.

A Bolter round struck her in the head immediately after. It had been forewarned, but the noise of a bolter... it still makes me jump. As rain poured down my cheeks I watched her die for something she had no choice but to do.

And in that moment, I felt something stir in my blood. Through the chemicals, and the suppressants, and the dampeners, a single bubble forced its way out of my mouth.

"Ferrus Manu-"