THE WH40K FLUFF BIBLE >>The Imperium +++Overview of the Imperium+++ The ADEPTUS MECHANICUS or Tech-Priest are the guardians of Earth's ancient knowledge. The Adeptus Mechanicus owns and administrates the factory planet Mars, whose vast orbital workshops turn out the majority of the weapons, spacecraft and other technologically sophisiticated machinery used in the Imperium. The Adeptus Mechanicus is as much an arcane cult as a scientific body, and its knowledge goes beyond mere technology into the realms of techno-arcana. The ADMINISTRATUM is responsible for assesing and levying tithes, distributing Imperial resources, and countless other administrative functions. It is the largest of all the departments of the Adeptus Terra. Its members are for the most part scribes and petty officials, the hereditary slaves of a galaxy-spanning bureaucracy. The heart of the organisation lies within the Emperor's Palace, a vast complex whose cavernous vaults extend far below ground. The Administratum is probably the most powerful organisation in the entire Imperium. It is divided into many departments, offices and subordinate organisations. The ADEPTUS TERRA is also known as the Priesthood of Earth, or more simply as the Adeptus. It consists of many millions of dedicated servants and religious followers whose duty is to interpret and enforce the Imperial will. It is the Adeptus which actually controls the Imperium, including its armies and fleets. The Adeptus Terra is divided into many departments and sub-departments, some of which operate so secretly that their existence is unknown outside of their own membership - only the principal departments are shown here. ADEPTUS MINISTORUM. To countless billions the Emperor is nothing less than a god to whom they devote their entire lives. Over the aeons this faith has spawned a vast and powerful organisation devoted to his worship - Adeptus Ministorum, more often known as the Ecclesiarchy, after its cheif high priest, the Ecclessiarch. The Adeptus Ministorum is a very powerful organisation with its own crusading armies in the form of the Adeptus Sororitas and Fratris. ADEPTUS CUSTODES. The Emperor's Guard or Custodians are the palace guards of the Emperor, and their duty is to protect the Imperial Palace. As the Imperial Palace covers such a large area of the planet the Custodians act as a defensive army. Only a select inner corps of three hundred, called the Companions, actually serve the Emperor as personal bodyguards. ADEPTUS ASTRA TELEPATHICA. The job of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica is to recruit and train psykers for service throughout the Adeptus Terra. The organisation's most important role is to train Astropaths. The title of Astropath is an abbreviation of Astro-telepath it refers to a psyker capable of sending a telepathic message over interstellar distances. The vast distance between the stars means that technological forms of communication are useless. A psychic message sent though the warp is not necessarily instantaneous, but it si sufficiently quick to be a practical means of communication. Only Astropaths have the power to send and receive psychic messages over interstellar distances. +++The Imperium Now+++ Over ten thousand years ago the Great Emperor of Mankind ascended to the Golden Throne of Earth. Of the wars he waged to get there, of the countless agonies of battling worlds, there is no record. Only the Emperor remembers - if indeed even that strange and ancient creature can recall those distant times. The ascent of the Emperor marked the end of a long era of human history, an age typified by inter- human warfare and a gradual decline of the acculumated knowledge of millennia. This was the Age of Strife. The high point of scientific achievement had occured thousands of years before, in the yet older age known now as the Dark Age of Technology. Through the Dark Age of Technology and the Age of Strife, mankind has come to the present age - that of the Imperium. In many respects it is a time of superstition, in which a great and unfathomable technology has been enslaved to the forces of mysticism and madness. To the ordinary humans of these times, the peasants in the fields and the warriors amongst the stars, scientific thought represents an abhorrent perversity; a corruption of honour and religious virtue. Even to those few humans who deal with the material of technology, the science and the magic have become largely inseparable; the warp engine must have runes upon its side, the laser gun requires the blessing of the Gods of Battle. This is a universe in which the gods, mysticism and magic are real. For this is a time of great change within humanity itself, a time when more and more humans are developing powers and a vision far beyond those of their ancestors. Humans developing these abilities are known as psychics, or psykers, and by many less flattering names - the most common being that of witch. Psykers are men and women who have the ability to transcend the normal laws of space, placing them in touch with great universal forces which lie far beyond the understanding of their kin. Their gifts defy explanation; telepathy, telekinesis, illusion, and countless others. Many ordinary humans attribute these powers to a divine origin. Some psykers claim their powers enable them to tap forces which he under the control of entities existing outside of the real universe - beyond normal time and space. Others seek a rational explanation for these phenomena - but this is not a rational age and they are few and their voice is weak. +++NOTE ON LANGUAGE+++ The common language of the Imperium is represented by English, proper names have been rendered in an anglicised form. Many of the titles of ancient institutions and organisations are presented as Latinised English (such as the Adeptus Terra). This represents an older tongue, itself a development of Twentieth Century languages, not necessarily Latin as such. This older tongue is known in the Imperium as "Tech", being a version of the language in which technical rituals and ancient works are recorded. This developed during the Dark Age of Technology (in fact a golden age from the point of view of science - it is only dark in the minds of the men who now fear it). It derives from the common tongue of the time, an assimilation of English, European and Pacific languages which developed over many centuries in the American/Pacific region. This was the universal medium of written record until the Age of Strife, and was spoken as a first language by many and as a second languange by almost everyone. Its idioms and vocabulary now appear archaic and mystic, many of its words have acquired religious significance over the years. It is the language of the Tech-priests and of forbidden books. The common tongue of the Age of the Imperium is spoken as a first language on almost all civilised planets, and is accepted as a second language on planets within Imperial control with the exception of some medieval and feral worlds. This is a bastardised version of Tech, combining additional elements from several of the oriental languages of ancient Earth. Over the millennia it has changed greatly, and now bears almost no resemblance to the tongues from which it derived. Although a common language, it varies fiom planet to planet (and even from region to region), so that it is not always easy for two characters to communicate if they are from different worlds. Medival, feral and worlds suffering from long periods of isolation may have several indigenous languages derived either from Tech or one of the ancient Earth tongues. It was quite common during the Dark Age of Technology for worlds to be settled by small communities of 'isolationists'. These eccentric groups were often self financed and their journals unrecorded, many were of racial minorities attempting to recreate a sense of national identity away from the overpopulated Earth. Some of these groups made a deliberate attempt to revive long dead or moribund languages, perceiving them as a source of national identity and communal strength. +++NOTE ON THE TECHNOLOGY IN THE AGE OF THE IMPERIUM+++ Except on the occasions where a technical explanation or description was felt useful to an understanding of the rules, such explanations have generally been avoided. The book contains few descriptions of how specific items are used or function - it is enough within the context of the game that the item has the effects attributed to it. This has been a deliberate policy throughout the rules. The main reason for this is simply that the Age of the Imperium is not a technically inclined age, to have included descriptions of 'head-up dispays', 'computer links', etc, would have given the wtong impression entirely. This is an age where problems are solved by brute force and ignorance, where dangers are either too gross or too unthinkable to elicit any other response. The other reason why technical description has been avoided is that the Age of the Imperium lies more than forty thousand years in the future - at a stage in history when those head-up displays and computers are about as innovative as storte circles. What scientific knowledge persists from the Dark Age of Technology is far above and beyond anything we can imagine from the perspective of the Twentieth Century. That understanding lies only with a select few - the Adeptus Mechanicus - the Tech-priests of the Imperium. Even their knowledge is somewhat debased, and the popular image of technology can be compared with that of witchcraft in medieval times. Those who come into contact with technology use it with reservations and a reveicnce that are almost religious. The Space Marines, for example, treat their equipment and armour as if if were imbued with a will of its own - a fine chest-plate, well looked after and constandy maintained may reward its wearer by saving his fife; whereas a Marine who neglects his equipment may be struck down by a leaking suit or malfunctioning weapons.