Ok, by popular demand, here's my extremely brief summary of SM
history.
*************************************************
My first tackle (general history only; dates are completely made up,
of course; any comments greatly appreciated; this is based on
original fluff, especially StD and LaD, minus the novels which I
don't have access to):
year 0
end of Horus Heresy. The Imperium is is a sorry state, the Emperor
gets confined in the Golden Throne. The remnants of the Chaos fleets
hide into the Eye of Terror
years 0 - 50
general rebuilding and reorganization. The Imperium is still fully
functional at this point, because the Emperor is still around giving
orders. The vast majority of galactic space is brought back under
Imperium rule. The Space Marines' Chapters get split and reorganized.
Founding of what will become general imperial military doctrine
(separation of troops and fleets, etc.).
years 51 - 100
the Emperor progressively loses touch with material reality. The 12
High Lords of Terra further an Agenda of religious propaganda and
repression, in an attempt to retain control of the Empire when the
Emperor will no longer be functional. Institution of the Galaxy-wide
Inquisition. Founding of the Grey Knights. Exterminatus policy
becomes part of standard imperial doctrine. The AM gets decapitated,
with all the most brilliant leaders executed for heresy or "retired"
to meditate on "their sins". A flourishing of fanatical death cults
results in the founding of some of the most extreme Imperium
organizations (e.g., Adeptas Sororitas, the Assassins' temples).
The Illuminati faction is born, when some of the few survivors of
Greater Daemon possession meet and share their experiences. Senseis
in the Galaxy become dimly aware of some sort of destiny waiting
for them.
years 101 - 200
the Emperor permanently loses the faculty of speaking. No further
direct communications with him are possible. Things get even worse
at this point, with the huge and elephantiac imperial bureacracy
gaining control of the executive aspects of general Imperium
administration under the guise of "interpretation of the Emperor's
will". This results in a massive efficiency loss throughout the
whole Imperium.
Meanwhile, religious propaganda has become institutional; witch-hunts
are a regular "feature" of most planetary societies, resulting in
terrible losses of both scientific knowledge and psychic personnel.
The institution of psychic sacrifices to the Golden Throne doesn't
help things to get any better. At this point, every imperial
istitution (Astronomicon, AM, SM etc.) is heavily permeated by
fanatical religious zeal.
The Illuminati faction grows slowly but constantly and gets some
organization. The first of the Illuminati are allowed access to the
Eldar Black Library. Great (if secret) breakthroughs are made in the
understanding of the Warp.
Meanwhile, Senseis in the more peripheral regions of the Imperium
rise to prominence in the local solar systems. A few of them get
hunted down and killed by Imperium armies. Two of them get "invited"
by the Illuminati, who kill them during researches on Warp reality.
years 201 - 250
First and second contact with Tyranids result in massive shockwave
to the Imperium's organization. Estimate danger to the Imperium is
quickly assessed to be far too high for the High Lords of Terra to
be comfortable. Resurgence of genetic engeneering and xenobiology
is the first immediate result.
Several peripheral systems, many of which lead by Senseis, secede
from the Imperium. Many of these rebellions are put down in a
bloodbath. The most extensive ones actually manage to repel
imperial assaults. The most shrewd planetary governors continue to
pay lip service to the Imperium and most of them escape imperial
attention while building massive defense fleets which, while not
warp-capable, are more than a match for any imperial fleet.
The Illuminati quickly seize the opportunity given to them and
"acquire" some of the youngest and most brilliant genetic engineers
to launch the Star Child Project.
years 251 - today
The Imperium is crumbling. Its fleets are barely able to protect
(and subjugate) the core systems. A new and more capable generation
of High Lords is frantically trying to reorganize the various
imperial organizations, but hundreds of years of religious propaganda
make this a nearly desperate attempt. Scientific research resurges,
in an attempt to cope with the crisis at hand.
Many of the fringe solar systems have, by all means and purposes,
secluded themselves from the Imperium. A new colonization wave
expands the borders of human-controlled space. Many of the colonists
meet Eldar colonies on the "new" planets. Initial contacts result
in several destructive wars, followed by peace treaties; the cultural
interchange marks the birth of a new technology when Eldar and Human
scientists exchange their knowledges; the Exodite worlds are born
[now THIS is a good reason to have a separate TG list...]
The Illuminati continue their quest for the Star Child, convinced
that only the full-fledged return of the Emperor can grant humanity
release from Chaos. Orks raids increase in size and frequency, taking
the opportunities given to them by the lack of a central defense;
Chaos cults flourish while religious repression takes a back seat.
Meanwhile, a small group of Senseis concoct a bold plan: to stop
forever the Golden Throne, thus letting their father finally reach
Godhood.....
***********************************************
I wrote this on the spur of the moment a few months ago. I think we
could revise this and insert the various specific incidents into the
timeline to come up with a decent "unified fluff".
Luca Lettieri
Received on Thu Aug 10 2000 - 09:26:45 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0
: Tue Oct 22 2019 - 10:59:04 UTC