Aureus Nahor
History
The cult flourished for a thousand years due to the corruption of Regium's Planetary Governors, which allowed Nahor's faith to spread across the world, and many temples were constructed in her honour. The Goddess' followers also honoured her by planting seeds under their skin, while also caging their skin with tangled piercings of knotted wood and metal. A massive[1c] breed of tree on the world was a focal point of Nahor's religion[1b], as the trees were treated as sacred sites of the Goddess[1c]. The trees' roots were also of much importance, as Nahor's dead worshipers were buried with them[1b] and placed within the trees' inner walls[1c]. Their sacred art also depicts the roots snaking down to encase the world's core[1a]. Her white, rune-stitched robed priests[1c], known as the Keft[1e], were the guardians of these world roots[1d] and claimed they formed a chamber within the core of Regium and would protect Aureus Nahor's followers in their times of need. Though the Emperor was treated as a separate god, Aureus Nahor's followers also worshiped Him and He played a part in the Goddess' mythology. According to the Keft, should Regium ever fall from the Emperor's grace, He would light a fire within its core that would tear the world apart.[1e]
However, Aureus Nahor's religion came to an end in M42, when the Ultramarines Lieutenant Varus Castamon led a large Imperial strike force to Regium. He was charged with turning it into a part of the Imperium's vital Sanctus Line and drastic change would need to be made to secure the world. This included having Regium's Planetary Governor executed for corruption and also putting an end to Nahor's religion. Confessor Thurgau was largely in charge of this and though the Goddess' worshipers resisted at first, most stopped after the strike force gave them two revelations. The first was that the Goddess' trees, which were of such importance to her religion, were actually[1b] Geoengines known as Calefaction Pumps, which had terraformed Regium so that it could support life[1c]. The second, was that those who refused to follow the Imperial Creed were destroyed by the Imperium. Nahor's worshipers were informed that would have been their fate, had the Ultramarines not been at the head of the strike force. Due to the Space Marines' presence and the revelations brought to them, the Goddess' worshipers were allowed the time to accept that their religion was no more. Their leader, Vela Zalth, aided in this transition period and all this allowed Confessor Thurgau to convert the worshipers into the Imperial Creed, without a drop of blood being spilled.[1b]
Thurgau also demanded, however, that Nahor's most holy temple be leveled and he later had the fortress city of Zarax built in its place. This was a statement of intent on the Confessor's part, but the former worshiper Urzun, claimed he could still hear the weeping of Nahor's tree roots from beneath the fortress. The worshipers' songs about Nahor were also banned, though the Imperium did have them written down in books. But even with the banning of her religion, the Goddess' presence was still felt on Regium[1b]. This included the world's depictions of the Emperor, wearing a helmet bearing a crown of knotted branches and of Him wielding a Sword that trailed leaves instead of flames[1a]. Nahor's former worshipers also continued the practice of skin piercings, and planting seeds underneath their skin, though they did so now in honour of the Emperor, whose blood they believe was made of tree sap. These were minor deviations to the Imperial Creed, were allowed to continue at that time.[1b]
Vela Zalth was still a leader to the former worshipers, though she now bore the title of Proconsul. She did her best to temper those who resent having to stop worshiping the Goddess, which included her protégé and successor, Consul Damaris. While Zalth understood their complaints and resentments against the Imperium, she was quick to remind them that Nahor and the Emperor were now one and the same. And also what their fate could have been, had they refused to embrace the Imperial Creed. For his part, though, Thurgau still worked to stamp out any deviations that still flourished amongst the Goddess' former worshipers. This included their skin piercings, planting seeds underneath their skin and believing the Emperor's blood was tree sap. Regium's new Imperial Governor, Seroc, had told the Confessor to ignore this, as these deviations to the Imperial Creed were minor compared to how the worshipers now prayed to the Emperor. In Seroc's view, pressing the matter would only undo all the work Thurgau had done to end Nahor's religion. The Confessor though refused to do so, as he believed these minor deviations could later lead to larger ones, if they were allowed to fester.[1b]
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | Leviathan (Novel) |
Despite this, however, the Goddess was still secretly worshiped and some of her Keft priests still gathered to honour the Calefaction Pumps as her sacred sites. This ultimately came to an end, though, when Hive Fleet Leviathan invaded the world. Ultimately, Lieutenant Varus Castamon's Imperial forces were not enough to save Regium, and he gave the order to destroy it so the world would not be consumed. His forces achieved this by throwing a reactor down what Aureus Nahor's followers called a world root, but was actually a pump from a Calefaction Pump machine. The resulting explosion started a chain reaction[1e] that caused Regium to explode, and only Castamon and four other Imperials survived the world's destruction. Regium's death also likely brought an end to Aureus Nahor's religion.[1f]
Sources
