Planetary Governor
Planetary Governors are those given the blessing of the Emperor and posted to rule over a world in his name. Naturally, the Imperium is far to vast for a totally centralised system of organisation, so the Planetary Governor is given discressionary control over the defence and development of the planet in question.
The biggest role they play is as Imperial Commander of the planets defences. These may include Planetary Defence Forces, orbital defences and even the Imperial Navy in some cases. Due to the fickle nature of the warp, communication with the Adeptus Terra is often delayed and sometimes prevented entirely. Often this means that Governor's must make decisions on the defence of their world without advice and help from Terra, meaning that for the world to prosper, every Governor must be adept at military matters as well as the development of the planet's trade infrastructure.
Even though Governor's are given these powers over a planet, they come at a price. The governor is a sworn vassal of the Imperium, and as such is required to provide military support to local campaigns. In the early period of the Imperium this was a simple process, a straightforward pledge to provide a certain number of troops and to fight in person. This was seen to be too inflexible as, as the Imperium grew, the differing numbers of troops provided made poor use of some planets populations and on others too higher a proportion of the population was sent to war, leaving the planet sorely short of labour. This was later replaced with a tithe. It is assessed by the wealth and available resources of the planet, and can be taken in the form of either troops or resources. Sometimes, this tithe is raised from the general population in a similar method to that of the recruitment of the PDF, on other occasions the troops are requisition from within the ranks of the PDF itself. Sometimes, this action can lead to a depleated defence force until the men return or more are recruited. Most tithes are regular obligations, while others are demanded when specific circumstances are met.
This leads to a close relationship between Planetary Governors and the Departmento Munitorum who look after the deployment of men and supplies across the galaxy. Both tithes go to the Departmento Munitorum who can raise soldiers from across entire sectors.
