Imperium
From Lexicanum
The Imperium is the galactic empire under which the vast majority of humanity is united. The ruler of the Imperium is the god-like Emperor, the most powerful Human psychic to date, who has led the Imperium since its very beginning.
In the Milky Way galaxy, the Imperium is the most powerful political entity. However the Imperium's supremacy is challenged by several enemies.
From the outside, several alien - xeno races are continuously locked in several wars against imperial forces. From within, simple rebellion, secession, mutation, dangerous psykers, and heretics endanger the Imperium. The Imperium survives only through the oppression, suffering, servitude, endurance, and sacrifice of both mankind and its Emperor.
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History of the Imperium
The Imperium was founded by the Emperor, also called "The Immortal Emperor", "God-Emperor", and the "Master of Mankind", at the end of the Age of Strife - a very long period of anarchy, war, and destructive regression which almost completely reversed thousands of years of mankind's progression made during the Dark Age of Technology.
As the warp storms of the Age of Strife subsided, after having secured the scientific posts and spacedocks of Luna, along with the factories and scientists on Mars the Emperor began to unite mankind under his rule. A vast navy was built with which his armies undertook the Great Crusade, which lasted for about two centuries.
During this massive military campaign, the Emperor employed his most potent military units, the Space Marine Legions, lead by their born leaders, the Primarchs. These, coupled with the combined might of the Imperial military (which was later separated into the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy as fully separate organizations), reclaimed all reachable human colonies for the Imperium. The Great Crusade only ended with the tragic Horus Heresy.
At the climax of this tragic civil war the Emperor managed to slay Horus, the leader of the rebel forces. However the Master of Mankind was sorely crippled and per his instructions placed upon the Golden Throne. For nearly a ten thousand years he has remained there suffering indescribable agony, worshipped as a god by the the untold masses. He is sustained by the daily sacrifice of hundreds of psykers, whose souls he consumes to maintain his frail body.
The Imperium in the 41st Millennium
Goverment
The Imperium is still nominally ruled by the Immortal Emperor of Mankind. However, since his ascension to the Golden Throne, the duty of actually ruling the Imperium belongs to the Senatorum Imperialis - the Imperial Senate, formed by the twelve High Lords of Terra. The identities and responsibilities of these High Lords may vary, as individuals inevitably die and their influence grows and wanes, but its members are always the leaders and representatives of the most powerful imperial organizations.
Ultimately, the High Lords are in effective control of the entire Imperium, and are responsible for maintaining it through the bureaucracy of the Adeptus Terra. In practice, given the enormous size of the Imperium, many of the outlying regions are largely left to fend for themselves without any direct involvement in the central government.
Organizations
Most of the organizations comprising the Imperium are divisions of the vast Adeptus Terra - the Priesthood of Earth. There are countless divisions; the most important are:
- Administratum, vital bureaucracy, consisting of untold billions of bureaucrats and scribes. It assesses tithes and taxes, conducts population censuses, keeps records, plans infrastructure projects, and does a million other things.
- Adeptus Astra Telepathica, telepaths who transmit FTL messages through the Imperium.
- Navis Nobilite, Navigators who pilot Imperial vessels through the Warp.
- Adeptus Astronomica, they maintain the Astronomican used by the Navigators in their travels.
- Adeptus Mechanicus, technicians and scientists who build and maintain Imperial equipment, vessels, and weapons of war.
- Adeptus Arbites, police force who brutally imposes the Lex Imperia - the Imperial law.
- Officio Assassinorum, assassins who eliminate all enemy leaders they can reach.
The only Imperial organizations that technically do not belong to the Adeptus Terra are:
- Inquisition, troubleshooters and internal affairs division; they hunt down heretics, alien infiltration, and Daemons. The ultimate authority, they answer only to the Emperor and to themselves.
- Adeptus Ministorum, the Imperial church which maintains the Imperial creed and faith.
However even these organizations must cooperate with the Adeptus Terra for the welfare of the Imperium.
The Imperial goverment includes many large sub-organizations within the Administratum, such as the Departmento Munitorum which is responsible for the Imperial Guard. The Imperial Fleet and the semi-independent Adeptus Astartes are other sub-organizations. Some organizations are so secret their very existence is a closely kept secret, and sometimes known only to the Emperor himself.
Smaller Imperial organizations are the Adeptus Custodes, Officio Sabatorum and the Templars Psykologis.
Provinces
The sheer vastness of the Imperium means that it would be completely ineffective to have a strongly centralized government. Therefore the Imperium is divided into six Segmentae Majoris:
- Segmentum Solar, inner core and heart of the Imperium
- Segmentum Pacificus
- Segmentum Obscurus, a heavily fortified area, within it lies the forbidden Eye of Terror.
- Segmentum Tempestus
- Ultima Segmentum, the largest province of all.
Each Segmentum Commander oversees his Sector commanders, who in turn oversees Subsector Commanders, who oversee the individual Planetary Governors. The higher ranks in this system are usually combined with a basic planetary governorship as well as interplanetary duties. This system is the means by which the Imperium, which is largely a confederacy, maintains control of the separate planets that make it up.
Because of the distances involved and the unstable nature of warp communication, imperial Commanders generally operate very autonomously. This allows quite a lot of variation in the regional governments. Many governorships are hereditary (examples of this include Segmentum Commanders of Segmentum Tempestus and the royals of Volpone), but it is also possible for a planet to have an elected Commander (such as the Electors of Tanith), a tyrant Commander who rules by force of arms, or anything in between. So long as the Commander fulfils his duties to the Imperium, his rule will generally be accepted by the higher authorities.
A rare few Commanders preside over feral or medieval worlds where the Imperium has not been able or seen fit to introduce modern technology. These Commanders sometimes live on orbital installations, only occasionally visiting the planet to control mutation and heresy, as well as collect the modest tithes these planets pay.
The Imperial duties of an Planetary governor include paying the planetary tithe to the Administratum, controlling mutation and heresy, and putting down insurrections and rebellions.
A serious responsibility is the maintenance of a adequate planetary defence force capable of defending the planet in the event of invasion. The Planetary Defence Forces (abbreviated to PDF) are expected to defeat attacks from minor foes, and in the case of major invasions to hold out until reinforcements arrive, which could take a period of months or even years.
A relatively small number of Imperial worlds are not ruled by a Commander, but are overseen by an alternate organisation such as the Adeptus Terra, Imperial Guard or Space Marines. These include the Forge Worlds of the Adeptus Mechanicus, whose inhabitants toil without pause to manufacture the weapons of the Emperor's armies (including Mars, Gryphonne IV and Fortis Binary), the Cardinal worlds of the Ecclesiarchy, which are given entirely over to education and worship of the God-Emperor (Ignatius Cardinal, Ophelia VII), and the Space Marine Chapter planets (Fenris, Macragge, Baal, Medusa).
Seccessions and rebellions
Attempts of secession of individual, or even several, worlds and star systems are simply inevitable in a large empire. With a lack of quick and stable communications the local military officers will usually promoted by, and therefore largely suport, the local ruler. An ambitious and rebelious ruler will usually also gain the support of the local nobility and many times the local population. However in the Imperium some important facts work against this:
- Fear - Inquisitors are more than capable and alltoo willing of eliminating rouge governors.
- Garrisons - the more important worlds and star systems are also garrisoned by sizable detachments of the Adeptus Arbites and/or of the Adepta Sororitas. These garrisons reside in heavily fortified fortresses. Their officers are not promoted by the local ruler and the rank-and-file is largely sepparated from the wider population. The loyalty towards the Imperium of such garrisons is extremely hard to subvert.
- Loyalists - the masses are taught by the Ecclesiarchy to always remain loyal towards Terra above everything else. To follow and obey rebel leaders is to commit heresy and treason. Traitors are vilefied and to kill one is considered to commit a righteos action.
- Assassination - as an rebellion unfolds operatives of the Officio Assassinorum are sent by the High Lords of Terra to eliminate its leaders. The death of a charismatic leader and his faithful supporters can weaken or even outright end a rebellion.
- Lack of support - a local ruler will most of the time have no influence over other regional rulers. Most of the time he will also have no vessels of the Imperial Navy. Therefore most rebellions will not spread further.
- Retribution - the Imperium is totaly uncompromising towards rebels or seccessionists. Loyal imperial forces will inevitably be sent to crush any rebellion. In most cases regiments of the Imperial Guard; sometimes detachments of the Space Marines.
- Wider Universe - to rebel against the Imperium also means that one will not be protected or aided against the Orks, Chaos Space Marines, Tyranids, etc.
All these reasons don't mean that rebellions don't happen. In fact numerous rebellions plague the Imperium all the time, many of them instigated and manipulated by the forces of Chaos.
Imperial languages
The archaic High Gothic is used only by the most powerful Imperial elite, and seldom used. Low Gothic is the language of the common people and also used by the local nobility. Many regional dialects exist, some of which are mutually incomprehensible. For most Imperial worlds, Low Gothic is the inhabitants' only language.
Imperial Dating system
The Imperial dating system is based upon 'Anno Domini', although expressed in rather different terms. A full dating code consists of a check number, year fraction number, year number, and the millennium.
The millennium is a suffix, represented by an 'M' and the millennium number.
The three digits preceding the millennium is the year within the millennium, running from 001-000 (one thousand). For example 0150930/M32 is the year 930 of the thirty second millennium (31930 AD).
Imperial military
The Imperial military forces are organized in several branches:
The forces of the Inquisition are charged with combating threats both within and without. Most Inquisitors belong to one of three orders:
- The Ordo Malleus (Daemonhunters) - with its military arm, the Grey Knights
- The Ordo Hereticus (Witch Hunters) - with its military arm, the Sisters of Battle
- The Ordo Xenos (Alien Hunters) - with its military arm, the Deathwatch Space Marines.
Enemies
Apart from the internal enemies within (the heretics, traitors and mutants), the forces of the Imperium constantly battle against the following enemies:
- The forces of Chaos
- The Eldar and Dark Eldar
- The Tyranid Hive Fleets
- The various Ork Waaaghs
- The Tau Empire
- The Necrons
Quotes Imperium
- Imperial Quotes - general Imperial quotes
