Perdition Wars Narrative Campaign

The background for the forthcoming 40k narrative campaign run by Dan Quirk

"First pass at the background setting. There is obviously more going on, and more mysteries will be unveiled when I go into detail about the worlds in the system. Certain players will be furnished with additional info as their faction may or may not know more than they are letting on!

++1: The Bastion Crusade++
Nestled in the cradle of the Imperium where the Segmentums Ultima, Tempestus and Solar overlap lies the Bastion Sub-sector of Sector Ambillica. Ever had Bastion stood as a stalwart fortress, guarding one of the crucial routes to the Segmentum Solar and Holy Terra itself. The unpredictable and vicious warp currents of the surrounding Sectors made the Bastion Sub one of the safest and most reliable Transit lanes from the Galactic South. Many times during its history, Bastion withstood invasion from marauding Orks, depraved worshippers of the Ruinous powers or other, unnamed threats. However this was not to last forever.

When the Age of Apostasy erupted and ravaged the Imperium, warp storms appeared throughout the galaxy, cutting off whole sectors from warp transit whilst the eddies of the Empyrean raged. Most of these would die away in the aftermath in that bloody time, their anger spent like the life blood of Goge Vandire. This was not true of the Bastion Sub-sector. There the storms continued to thrash and boil the warp, making warp travel to and from the Bastion Sub-sector almost suicidally dangerous. The Administratum had no choice but to abandon the Sub-sector. The entire Imperium was still reeling from the impacts of the Age of Apostasy, and their attentions were needed elsewhere. Besides, the warpstorms did the job of Bastion better than any servant of the God-Emperor ever could; it made access through the previously calm Warp to Segmentum Solar, all but impossible. The perfect blockade.

And so Bastion’s importance faded into history. Until now.

38 Years ago standard, Ships traversing the Warp in the Ambillica Sector were shocked to find the warp storms had all but abated. For the first time in nearly 6 millennia, the Imperium could return to the Bastion Sub-Sector. Alas, all those years cut off from the Emperor’s Light had cost the worlds of Bastion dearly. Many had fallen to cults of the Dark Powers. Others had found themselves over run by greenskins, unable to call for aid from other worlds when the marauding barbarians bore down on them (Orks not being ones to allow something silly like a little bad warp weather deter them from finding a good scrap somewhere). Those that stayed loyal to the words of the Imperial Creed, had still lived in virtual isolation for nearly 6 thousand years and were now very different from the worlds they had once been.

A great crusade was launched by the Imperium to retake the worlds of the Bastion Sub-sector. Sometimes this would require re-education, and a new class of Ecclesiarch, sometimes it would need an entire world to be scoured clean before it could be resettled by good, Emperor-fearing folk. Hundreds of Imperial Guard Regiments, the entire Strength of Battle Fleet Ambillica and even a handful of the fabled chapters of the Adeptus Astartes lent their strength to this crusade.

++2: The Veil of Perdition++
Even after 38 years of Crusading, but a handful of the hundreds of Systems within the Sub-Sector had been brought back to Imperial compliance, and not all were as easily accessible as had first been thought. Some systems remained isolated by smaller warpstorms, forming barriers around planetary systems or the occasional rogue planet.

When the Warp Storm surrounding the Perdition System suddenly died away unexpectedly, the same conflicting mix of excitement, wonder and dread rippled through the Crusade forces as had held the whole of Ambillica Sector in its grip just 38 years earlier. A relatively small system, consisting of no more than 3 inhabitable worlds, Perdition should have been easy pickings for the Crusade.

A regiment of Imperial Guard, the Cyronian VIII Drop infantry, were dispatched under the command of Lord Inquisitor Ezekiel Guntz of the Ordo Hereticus. Their task was simple, they had only to evaluate the 3 worlds and report back to the fleet, so that the correct level of force could be applied to each world to bring it back into the fold of the Imperium.

++3: Celestium Mundis++

The Guard bulk transports and the flotilla of escorts which always accompanied these bloated ships had only translated into the Perdition System a matter of months when their Navigators began warning of the warpstorms once again. They were not as strong as those shielding the system previously, nor as constant. In fact, were the Navigators to have stared into the warp long enough, they would have begun to discern a pattern to the warpstorms’ occurrences. Approximately every 3 months standard, there would be a sudden and dramatic calm in the warp before another cycle of psychic turbulence began.  Fearing they would be trapped within the System should the warp storms continue to build, Lord Guntz made to return to the Crusade, but as the flotilla prepared to be redeployed, they were greeted bya most strange sight.

Before their very eyes, and a mere few thousand kilometres from the Lead ship’s starboard bow, a colossal space hulk translated into realspace. The ship had clearly once been of imperial design, and there were markings stretching back as far as the Great Crusade itself, not least of which its name, emblazoned in High Gothic characters 50 Stories tall – The Ceslestium Mundis. But 10 thousand years of being buffeted about the warp had left it a very different beast indeed. Huge holes were torn in the hull where sections the size of hab blocks were exposed to hard vaccum. Huge rocky protrusions erupted from all along the body of the Hulk where asteroids and other chunks of stellar matter had impacted into it. Some even had crude technology built over them.  Within moments, 3 more similar hluks of varying ages and sizes translated into the system.

Determined to discover if these Hulks posed any immediate threat to the souls of the Crusade, Lord Guntz lead a strike team consisting of his personal retinue, a Junior inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus and 2 platoons of the most elite men the Cryonian VIII had to offer to the nearest of the Hulks, a ship which had once been an Escort class.

Only a handful of men returned. The Junior Inquisitor was amongst them, but Lord Guntz was not. Inquisitor Corai made the captain of Guntz’s flagship aware that the mighty Inquisitor had fallen in battle with a creature from beyond and ordered the hulk destroyed, damning all the Guardsmen trapped within it to death.

Without Guntz’s strong leadership, the flotilla fell into disarray, arguing over seniority and who should give the orders. Astropaths sent word to the Crusade forces, and anyone who could hear requesting aid.

++4: The Perdition War++

Soon the System was overrun by different factions, vying for their place in Perdition. Some came to answer the imperial summons for aid and investigate the hulks or bring the worlds into compliance. Some wanted to defend the Humans living on the 3 worlds in the system from the myriad horrors arriving, yet more came drawn by the lure of the archeotech treasures hidden on ancient space craft and worlds which had not been plundered in over 6 thousand years. Whatever the reason, the outcome was clear. Perdition was plunged into a state of war."

Some background info on the Perdition System

" The largest inhabited planet within the Perdition System sits 4th from the Perdition Star. The Hive World of Eden exists in official records dating back beyond the Age of Apostasy, listed as the Imperial Capitol world for the System. Its populace claim they have remained pure in their centuries of isolation, and that they still walk in the Emperor’s footsteps, but can any people cut off from His light for so long be expected to remain untainted? Can the Imperium ever afford to take that risk?
  
It is an ugly, blistered world reminiscent of so many of the planets which fall under the Emperor’s divine light. If Eden ever had any oceans, they have long since boiled away, consumed in the fires of Industry and the Emperor’s war machine. Complex and archaic atmospheric generators maintain the oxygen levels for the planet in the absence of any natural plant life. Radioactive Ash Wastes cover most of the planet’s surface, with monolithic mountains and enormous crevasses cutting scars across the one, giant continent. A few pockets of humans dwell within the Ash Wastes, some by choice, most in exile as punishment for some crime committed by them, or some distant ancestor, against the Hive Dwelling majority. These small communities of Wasters (as they are known colloquially), are mostly nomadic, moving to avoid the constant radiation storms which plague the wastes. Many make camp in the extensive natural cave networks which crisscross the deserts, but some are foolhardy enough to eschew even this meagre protection from the harsh environment. Many are the tales of marauding bands of mutants which plague the Ash Wastes, periodically attacking some minor Hive cities themselves, and carrying unfortunates away for food, pleasure of Emperor knows what else.

There are dozens of Hive cities across Eden, each with its own idiosyncrasies and traditions. Of these, 4 have been elevated to the rank of Major Hives. One each for the 3 inhabitable worlds of Perdition and a 4th to honour the Emperor himself.

Notable features and locations of Eden

-Hive Tartarus: Major Hive. Capitol city of Eden. Seat of government for the Imperium within the system. Home of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, Ordos Inquisition Chapter House and the Fortress Administratum.

-Hive Aaru: Major Hive. Location of Ministorum central Cathedral. Seat of Ecclesiarchy Cardinal.

-Hive Sheol: Major Hive

-Hive Valhalla: Major Hive

-Elysium Hive: Minor Hive. Given over entirely to create a paradise for the retirement of Imperial dignitaries and high ranking nobles. Separate bio dome controls weather, giving the illusion of an outside space and garden which can be enjoyed.

-Asphodel Hive: Minor Hive. Atmospheric stabilisation station. All hive workers are employed by the monolithic technological marvel and toil in the effort to maintain and stable atmosphere around the planet. Located to the Polar South.

-Gehenna Hive: Minor Hive. Atmospheric stabilisation station. All hive workers are employed by the monolithic technological marvel and toil in the effort to maintain and stable atmosphere around the planet. Located to the Polar North.

-Niflhel Hive: Minor Hive. Manufactorum once responsible for producing the bulk of the weapons equipped to Imperial Guard regiments raised from the worlds of Perdition. Now given over to supplying the planetary defence forces.

-Olam Haba: Minor Hive. Manufactorum.

-Station Damocles: Locked in Geosynchronous orbit above one of the larger Ash Wastes, is the Space Station Damocles. Clearly of Imperial Design, the station is said to date back to before the Age of Apostasy. Superstitious fear of an unremembered curse keeps most natives away from Damocles. Those few expeditions which have tried to chart it, have often returned with horrendous casualties. What little could be gleaned was added to the Imperial Records. It is known the station is physically smaller, but similar in design to a Ramilles Class Star Fort. Although there is no trace of a warp drive, it does have enormous sub-light thrusters, for more than would be necessary to ensure it kept orbit.

 Laying 5th from the Perdition Star, Emperor’s Landing is something of a planetary anomaly. The world does not rotate as it orbits the star, instead, one half of the world is constantly turned away from the Sun and is perpetually dark, whilst the other is always facing it and bathed in never ending midday sun. It is said that the planet once spun normally as it completed its Sidereal Orbit, but that the day the Emperor set foot upon it, it came to a halt, so that the Emperor’s light would forever shine upon his devout followers.

Officially designated a shrine world owing to the fact that it once played host to the Emperor himself, Emperor’s Landing would more commonly be identified as a Feudal or Medieval World. On both sides of the world, ancient architectural design is prevalent, with only small additions of the Imperial Gothic aesthetic prevalent on the majority of Imperial planets.

Although once as devout a world as one could hope to find, it would appear millennia of isolation have had a degenerative effect on the souls of the populace. Both the light and the dark sides venerate the Emperor as their god, but cults evolved worshipping Him as a being of pure light, patronizing only those who live ever in the sun, or a devilish beast of darkness whose shadows will consume the universe. Many religious wars have been fought between the opposing sides, with no end in sight. Neither can agree upon the correct way to worship the Emperor and they are prepared to die for their beliefs. So divergent, are the cults of Night and Day from the writings of the Ecclesiarchy that they no longer fall within the acceptable limits of the Imperial Creed. In addition, the Inquisition is concerned that there could be a more sinister influence behind the practices of these cults, as certain elements such as human sacrifice (observed by both cults, albeit in a slightly differing manner – another topic of ‘debate’ between them) are reminiscent of other belief systems in the galaxy.

Most of the general population are unaware there are inhabited worlds beyond their own skies, content as they are to war with their neighbours. Only the capitals of each side have any regular contact with off-worlders.

Notable features and locations of Emperor’s Landing:

-Celestial City: A towering Proto-hive which acts as the capital for the Cult of Day and the light side of the planet. One of the few elements of Imperial Gothic architecture, Celestial City was built up around the spot the Emperor’s feet first touched the dirt of the world. Most of the inhabitants are not dissimilar to the Imperial citizens of a civilized world, with extensive knowledge of the world beyond their borders and contact with agents from Eden. The Celestials are considered angelic being by the general populace of the light side, seeing their higher level of technology and towering city as a step towards the Emperor’s divine light.

-East Wall: The mountain range dividing the largest continent in half, forming almost a perfect border between the light and dark sides of the planet. Many passes span the width of the mountains, and have been the site of the most vicious battles in their religious wars. Now both sides maintain fortresses (not unlike the stone built medieval castles of Ancient terra) at either end of the largest passes.

-Port Veil: The capital city of the dark side, and home of the Cult of Night. Unlike the Celestial City which was constructed to act as the planet’s capitol before the warp storms cut off Perdition, and thus bears many of the hallmarks of an Imperial City, Port Veil grey organically after the warp storms began. Rather than a single, planned city, it is really a conglomeration of many smaller settlements, joined together to increase their strength. Port Veil has several large outside spaces which act as landing platforms for off world transports, and is full of watering holes, gambling dens and ladies of ill repute. Port Veil has become a haven for renegades, fugitives and other unsavoury characters who want to disappear. Once this was just for those fleeing the authorities on Eden, but in recent days scum from all over the sector have started flocking the Port Veil.

-The Eternity Plains: Located in the Dark side of the planet, these are an huge, empty wasteland. The site of the great battle during the Emperor’s crusade. When the Emperor arrived at Emperor’s Landing, the humans were enslaved by an alien race (the name of which is now lost to history). The Emperor and his angels of death liberated the world but at great cost in lives. The final, decisive battle was fought here, upon the region which would come to be known as the Eternity plains. Many claim the scars of that battle still trouble the plains, and that on quiet nights, the dead themselves have been seen to walk once more, fighting a never ending battle that was won and lost eons ago.

 There is no local name on official record for the 3rd planet from the Perdition Star. The Bastion Crusade Munitorum have listed it simply as Perdition III. If the inhabitants of Eden or Emperor’s Landing know more, they are not given to talking of it, naming it only The Ghost World. Officially classified as a Dead World, Perdition III bears many of the hallmarks of that archetype. There are no native fauna on the planet, and not a living soul. Even the oceans have dried up. However, there is a working atmosphere, served mainly by a dense equatorial jungle which rings the entire surface of the planet.

It is obvious that the planet was occupied at one time. Even from low orbit you can see the infrastructure of Imperial Civilization. Spires and Proto-Hives stretch into the sky. Manufactorum complexes the size of continents spread out like giant mechanical spiders’ webs. There is even what seems to be a largely intact star port on the surface. But no life. There are no craters or blast marks, and the cities are not in ruins. In fact there appears to be no evidence of battle whatsoever, beyond the occasional scorch mark on a palace gate, or bullet hole in a hab block window.

Perhaps the greatest mystery of Perdition III is not even on its surface, but rather in the skies above it. Orbiting the planet is a countless number of ruined space ships. Ranging from damaged escorts and shuttlecraft all the way up to the mammoth space hulks which appeared in the void between Perdition’s worlds. In fact, with the exception of the Celestium Mundis, all of the space hulks which appeared to the Bastion Crusade exploratory flotilla have slowly gravitated here, content to hang in space like some titanic macabre graveyard.

Notable features of Perdition III. Note, that as there are no local inhabitants, there are no Imperial Records for names of specific regions on the Planet’s surface. A cursory scan by the Explorator flotilla revealed the following places of interest:

++Site Alpha++ The largest of the manufactorum complexes. Appears to have been the site responsible for producing the bulk of the armoured vehicles used by the Perdition Guard regiments prior to their isolation. Northern Region
++Site Beta++ Largest city complex. Presumed to be the previous capital city. Northern region

++Site Gamma++ The city sized starport. Eastern Region

++Site Omega++ Location not specified. Records locked by Inquisitorial Decreee."