Warhammer 50K... What do you Think

[the one]

So the timeline has moved on 10000 years what has happened to the races of the galaxy? What do you want to have happened? What crazy thing could have happened? Tell the one tell all!

[the one]

I'll start with this:

In ten thousand years the galaxy has changed. As the ravage of the tyranids battered the gaxaly from every angle, Necron awaking deep in lost planets the two battle for ultimate control. Nine thousand years ago the golden throne on terra failed and the emperor finally died his ten thousand year death. His death scream echoed thought the then great Imperium of Man. Hundreads of pskyers died in agony with him and the planet soon fell apart without access to warp travel. They soon started falling pray to the ork and tyranids, more and more unending war speading. The 12,000 remaining loyal marine now stand guard over terra, the last bastion of mankind. The Tau were ravaged by the tyranids, only those loyal to the then Farsight remain, his name now been passed down the aggressive leaders of the Tau. The Eldar begain to pursue their goal and started reclaiming maiden worlds, only to be soon attacked by Tyranids. Choas starts to dim with the enroaching hive fleets, the gaxaly now just a battle between The Tyranids and The Necrons

[Sangre]

Golden Throne fails, Emperor enters the warp, beats the Chaos Gods to a pulp with their own ripped-off limbs. Chaos is vanquished, the psychic shockwave shattering the eldritch horrors of the warp. With warp travel now a piece of piss, Imperial unity is stronger than ever before, but a civil war breaks out between the factions who wish to preserve the old Imperium, and those who propose a new alliance with the Eldar and Tau. The proponents of the New Imperium win the civil war, and a golden age of prosperity arises, during which the Tyranids are cleansed from the stars. Then the New Imperium of Races faces down the Necrons, now crippled through the actions of the Eldar Laughing God. Short of occasional actions to pacify the Orks, peace reigns in the Galaxy...

While new Chaos gods silently grow in power, in the deepest recesses of the warp...

[Kefka]

Well, lets see.
Necrons are starting to pop-up more, so those planest are doomed.
'Nids have only "Tested the waters" so to say, not come full force yet, so more doom.
Too many orks
Plenty of Chaos Primarch Demon Princes could get up and do something for once in 20000 years, they could do something doomy
Emperor is slowly dying, again, doom.

That's just for the Imperium. I pretty much see all the races dying off except Necrons, Chaos (not space marines, the demons) Tyranids and orks. Everyone else seems to disorganized or small in number to put up a good fight when the time finally comes.

Although, I could see this going down:
Leman Russ comes back, bringing with him other missing primarchs like Corax, Vulkan, and Khan.
Guilliman and LionEl also wake up, all fully healed.
These six primarchs rebuild the imperium as best they can.
Emperor slowly dies, but ascends to Godhood where he fights the Chaos Gods himself
BUT, the Illuminati find and sacrifice all the Sensai (legitimate sons of the Emperor)and the Emperor will be reborn.
Imperium does a 180, is at near full strenght again, unified by the emperor and returning primarchs, Chaos is crippled (or maybe destroyed). Perhaps even the Eldar ally with the humans to fend of Tyranids, Orks and Necrons.

Basically, there are many things that will doom the imperium, but there are still a few faint, glimmers of hope for them.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

chaos aliens more prominent.

chaos space marine legions entirely wiped out.

orks entirely wiped out, kroot fill their niche now.

second enslaver plague, but not as big as the WIH one.

minor-alien races have risen up and made their own empires (ulumeathic league, barghesi, thexians ect)

necrons more prominent.

Imperial guard and space marines build vehiciles that dont look so utterly boring.

[Melissia]

orks entirely wiped out
Yeah, that was completely random, without logic, and having no basis in fluff to boot. Orks outnumber all races in the galaxy COMBINED. If the Orkoid races are completely wiped out, then the galaxy itself is going to be practically empty.

[DarkLink]

The Emperor is reborn, and Chaos is vanquished.

Then follows the Great Crusade, pt 2, shortly followed by the Horus Heresy pt 2 :p. GW has to keep the universe at war somehow ;).

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Yeah, that was completely random, without logic, and having no basis in fluff to boot. Orks outnumber all races in the galaxy COMBINED. If the Orkoid races are completely wiped out, then the galaxy itself is going to be practically empty.

haha well its a wishlist of mine than something with any basis :P and it wouldnt be empty with all those more interesting and non-humanoid minor-races reoccupying the territory ;)

[Melissia]

And I would argue that there are no xeno races more interesting than the Orks. Just because somehting is non-humanoid doesn't make it unique or interesting. It's just a shape, nothing more-- Orks have 40K's most unique culture of all the races present in its universe, which more than makes them worth preserving.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

And I would argue that there are no xeno races more interesting than the Orks. Orks have 40K's most unique culture of all the races present in its universe, which more than makes them worth preserving.

Each to their own, I find them boring and uninspired bar a few backround niches (i.e. perfect economy). But for me always-green-all-the-time Incredible hulks that parody imperial tech using trash from the dumpster aint my idea of interesting, personally. What exactly are your reasons/opinions for them being so interesting though ?


Just because somehting is non-humanoid doesn't make it unique or interesting. It's just a shape, nothing more.

It is unique and interesting visually, but obviously needs a solid backround just as much as a good visual design - like the enslavers, Saturthi or umbra. And for me shape is very important. I find it saddening how consevervative sci-fi fans are these days, where character and relatability are more important than concept and creativity, it doesnt surprise me people dont think or care for that kind of thing - and is my major reason for creating my own war-game and mythology from scratch.

[fuzzbuket]

Golden Throne fails, Emperor enters the warp, beats the Chaos Gods to a pulp with their own ripped-off limbs. Chaos is vanquished, the psychic shockwave shattering the eldritch horrors of the warp. With warp travel now a piece of piss, Imperial unity is stronger than ever before, but a civil war breaks out between the factions who wish to preserve the old Imperium, and those who propose a new alliance with the Eldar and Tau. The proponents of the New Imperium win the civil war, and a golden age of prosperity arises, during which the Tyranids are cleansed from the stars. Then the New Imperium of Races faces down the Necrons, now crippled through the actions of the Eldar Laughing God. Short of occasional actions to pacify the Orks, peace reigns in the Galaxy...

While new Chaos gods silently grow in power, in the deepest recesses of the warp...

and now with nothing to fight the SPEESH MAREENS decide to start playing hide and seek and the custodians jump out yell PEAKABOO screw orks (says so in HHCollectedVisions) and kill the remenants of traitor marines and then the milliatry might of the imperium fixes the human webway.

and everyone lives happily ever arfter

THE END





200000 years later Gw remembers the dark eldar they get 200000 years of codex creep, an incubi snezzes and the entire universe explodes in the codex creeped blast!

[Melissia]

What exactly are your reasons/opinions for them being so interesting though ?As I said, their culture. Their set of beliefs. Hell, even their religion. They live in a society where those at the top really ARE the most qualified for the job-- Orks get bigger, stronger, and smarter the longer they live, and the more they fight (with rare exceptions of Smartboyz, but they don't live very long typically speaking). Orks don't have social unrest as we know it; all the Orks have similar ideas on how things are run. What they worry about is who could run it best, and they decide that quickly and brutally, then move on to more important things. They don't just kill indiscriminately, most of the time they're just interested in a good fight, and they-- every single Ork, from the lowliest boy to the biggest warlord-- all want to be the best.

They are a race that instinctively strives to better itself, regardless of their level of sentience. The Eldar, the humans, the tau, the servants of chaos, they all can become content, and enjoy times of peace. The Orks? They can never be content with what they have. They will always be struggling-- to become bigger, stronger, and meaner than everyone else.

[Xas]

I think the first answear is the most fluff reasoned one:
nids and necrons will fight for domination (or completely ignore each other and the C'tan go to sleep again while the hivefleets move on to other galaxies for food).

the chaos gods will dim when all the scentient life is gone.


the only possible way for humankind to survive another 10k years (other than just going the eldar way and fleeing in giant spaceships) is if they would either unite all the imerium's strenght with the imminanet powers that chaos posesses (only realy way for this to happen is if abbadons 14 black crusade finally reaches terra and switches the throne's "off-switch" and then takes over the empire) or the emperor gets rebor somehow (starchild background).

[eagleboy7259]

I think the first answear is the most fluff reasoned one:
nids and necrons will fight for domination (or completely ignore each other and the C'tan go to sleep again while the hivefleets move on to other galaxies for food).


I thought that the Necrons that have awakened were relatively small in number. Who's to say that the rest of them even wake up in time to contest the galaxy from the Tyranids? or that the Tyranids are so quick to win over the rest of the galaxy? Last I checked the Tyranids can't really interact with the Warp, so how are they going into the Webway & the Eye of Terror? I really think that in 10k the galaxy will remain more or less the same.

[trjames]

There's already a WH50K, we call it Fantasy. The Emperor died, Terra was thrown into an even more "dark ages" state, and now instead of bolters, people used bows.

Yep, Fantasy is definitely what happened 10,000 years after the Emperor died. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Anaximander]

warhammer 50k? Hmmmm *ponders*

19th edition now in force

The pinning question is now satisfactorily resolved but irrelevant, because everyone is fearless.

Both DE players are still happily using their 2nd edition codex.

CSM codex simplified to the point where there are now only 2 unit entries, a generic commander and a single troops choice!

Tau have "discovered" another 4 species which they have enslaved/persuaded to join the greater good. But the stats are poor so nobody uses them.

IG troopers are 1 point each.

nidzilla is taken to its ultimate, where your army consistes of a single model but with varying stats according to choice/points.

[Just_Me]

Last I checked the Tyranids can't really interact with the Warp, so how are they going into the Webway & the Eye of Terror? I really think that in 10k the galaxy will remain more or less the same.

What are you talking about? The Tyranids are almost unquestionably the most psychically active of all the races, their entire race exist as a single non-physical psychic “super-consciousness,” short of being a Warp God I doesn’t get more warp interactive than that. Hell, their interaction with the Warp is so powerful and fundamental that they/it exert direct influence upon it in their immediate vicinity, calming its normal fluxuations through sheer application of will.

[Sangre]

and now with nothing to fight the SPEESH MAREENS decide to start playing hide and seek and the custodians jump out yell PEAKABOO screw orks (says so in HHCollectedVisions) and kill the remenants of traitor marines and then the milliatry might of the imperium fixes the human webway.

and everyone lives happily ever arfter

THE END





200000 years later Gw remembers the dark eldar they get 200000 years of codex creep, an incubi snezzes and the entire universe explodes in the codex creeped blast!

I'm sorry what?

[eagleboy7259]

What are you talking about? The Tyranids are almost unquestionably the most psychically active of all the races, their entire race exist as a single non-physical psychic “super-consciousness,” short of being a Warp God I doesn’t get more warp interactive than that. Hell, their interaction with the Warp is so powerful and fundamental that they/it exert direct influence upon it in their immediate vicinity, calming its normal fluxuations through sheer application of will.

I thought that Tyranids and Shadow of the Warp worked differently than that. If they are one single psychic super-conscious then how come Khrone, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, and Nurgle don't just gang up and beat the snot out of the Hive Mind in the immaterium? I'm no fluff expert, but I remember reading something explaining that and why you wouldn't see Hive Tyrants roaming around the Eye anytime in the future.

[the one]

Also, everyone, what do you think Cyphers secret mission is? Stuff like this what do you think has happened? Void Dragon? Mars?

[Xas]

I thought that Tyranids and Shadow of the Warp worked differently than that. If they are one single psychic super-conscious then how come Khrone, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, and Nurgle don't just gang up and beat the snot out of the Hive Mind in the immaterium? I'm no fluff expert, but I remember reading something explaining that and why you wouldn't see Hive Tyrants roaming around the Eye anytime in the future.

It is notset in stone HOW the shadow in the warp works. what is more or less set in stone is that it increases the barriers strenght between the immaterium and the material plane to such a decree that mortal psykers are going insane and even basic things like communication and the astronomicon's light are phased out.


without knowing how the shaodw works we cannot tell how the eye of terror would be affected. so probably the deamon worlds witihn the eye as well as comoragh (which is within the webway. hard to believe the nids will find out how to use it if the (d)eldar arent totally dumb) could be save but the rest is still doomed.


one simple reason why the great 4 do not engage the hivemind (if it was a immaterial entity) would be that it simply is far stronger than all of them combined. if you compare the respective realms (and see the codex deamons for the reasoning why tzeentch is the strongest of them - basically because all deamons cause change and change is tzeentchs realm) of emotions (great 4) and empthiness/instinct/survival/hunger you can see a reasoning for this.

every creature that exists would fuel the (unproofed) chaos god "hivemind" by simple wishing to live or lacking emotion. so while the great 4 need sentient life to fuel them power ALL life would fuel a realm of "survival" and even the lack of life would fuel the realm of "empthiness".


I do not think the hivemind is a warp entity like the great 4 (even though if it were it would be far more pwoerfull) but simply a term we use for the combined consciousness of a hivefleet (and maybe the whole tyranid race). in theory it could work quite the same way as the necron hirarchy but with biologicall brains isntead of computer-brains.

[Duke]

OK here it goes.

The Eldar connect the webway to another galaxy which is filled with beautiful worlds that are uninhabited. They move there and then blow up all the stars in the milkyway. Everyone else dies slowly.

"...Didn't you know that the stars themselves lived and died at our will?"

Duke

[eagleboy7259]

I wasn't trying to say that the Tyranids are a Warp Entity like the Chaos Gods, but like all beings in the universe they have a presence in the materium and the immaterium. In the fluff GW says that if every soul is like a flicker in the warp, then psykers are like a wildfire that draws demons in like a mosquito to a lamp. Being the reason why most demons enter reality through rouge pyskers. Now if a little rouge pysker is like a wildfire then wouldn't the hivemind be like a sun? and I don't really get how the hivemind could defend itself on the warpside unless it had some kind of duality and existed in both places are once.

[Duke]

As far as I have always understood it The hive mind is like a shadow in the warp...

Duke

[Talon57x]

Here is my theory:

It will not be the Tyranids, Necrons, Eldar, Humans, Orks, or Chaos who rule in the year 50,000.

It will be the Tau Empire.

Here is why: In a mere 6,000 years the Tau have gone from fire and clubs to having technology superior to that of humanity. It took mankind over 40,000 years to reach where they are.

The Tau will discover the Webway, will find out how to connect to it and expand it, and will mostly use that instead of the Warp for travel.

The Tau will conquer most of the Imperium, and will reach Terra and re-name it Ter'ra.

The Tau will discover how to permantly seal off the Warp from reality, destroying the Eye of Terror and the power of both Chaos and the Eldar. The remaining Eldar will be assimilated into the Tau Empire.

The Tau will shatter the Tyranid Hive Mind, decimating the Great Devourer and rendering it weak.

The Tau will wipe out both the Necrons and the Orks, and will use technology to eliminate the C'tan.

[Melissia]

That assumes that the Tau can in fact keep up their technological pace, and that they can conquer the Warp. And if they cut the warp off from the materium, then that might actually doom everyone, including the Tau.

[Just_Me]

I wasn't trying to say that the Tyranids are a Warp Entity like the Chaos Gods, but like all beings in the universe they have a presence in the materium and the immaterium. In the fluff GW says that if every soul is like a flicker in the warp, then psykers are like a wildfire that draws demons in like a mosquito to a lamp. Being the reason why most demons enter reality through rouge pyskers. Now if a little rouge pysker is like a wildfire then wouldn't the hivemind be like a sun? and I don't really get how the hivemind could defend itself on the warpside unless it had some kind of duality and existed in both places are once.

It does exist in both places at once, and if you think carefully about the “psyker as bonfire” “hivemind as sun” analogy recall that if you get too close to the sun and you get burned…

The way I have always conceptualized it is like this; all living things influence the warp, sentient beings much more than non-sentient ones, and psykers most of all. Each such being has an island-like area of influence in the warp physically and psychically centered on themselves (the warp “shadow” of their mind) which is their “psychic -domain” (my own term). Weak-willed beings do not have adequate control to defend their “psychic -domain” and thus it can be invaded by others (either powerful psykers pushing into their mind, or Daemons assaulting it from within the warp). Strong-willed individuals can defend their domains; the mind of a powerful psyker or even very strong willed non-psyker will be difficult for another psyker (or even a daemon) to penetrate.

The Tyranid Hivemind is a gestalt super-consciousness that spans across and is part of all of the entities in a hivefleet. So by extension their “psychic -domain” spans across the hivefleet and extends psychically across the warp everywhere in physical proximity to the hivefleet, just as a human psyker’s influence does, albeit on a mind-numbingly larger scale. Trying to access psychic powers while within the hivemind’s realm of influence is not impossible, the hivemind does not blank out the warp as some people seem to think, but as you have to go through the hivemind itself it is prohibitively difficult to reach into or out of the “shadow in the warp,” comparable to actually trying to breach its “psychic-domain.” As the hivemind is overwhelmingly more powerful than any individual could ever be, forcing through its mental defenses is incredibly difficult. To access the warp within the hivemind’s sphere of influence requires a) that you are a tryranid manifesting the hivemind’s own access to the warp, b) being more powerful than the hivemind and punching through with brute force (i.e. a functional impossibility), or c) working past it skillfully with subtlety and finesse (the only really viable option, reflected in-game by more difficult psychic tests and the immunity to normal perils).

[Melissia]

I would say that Gork and Mork are the most powerful psychic entities in existence, myself...

[Just_Me]

I would say that Gork and Mork are the most powerful psychic entities in existence, myself...

If the power of a Warp God is directly proportional to the number and fervor of their worshipers (as all signs seem to suggest), then that is the inescapable conclusion...

[crazyredpraetorian]

Here is my theory:

It will not be the Tyranids, Necrons, Eldar, Humans, Orks, or Chaos who rule in the year 50,000.

It will be the Tau Empire.

Here is why: In a mere 6,000 years the Tau have gone from fire and clubs to having technology superior to that of humanity. It took mankind over 40,000 years to reach where they are.

The Tau will discover the Webway, will find out how to connect to it and expand it, and will mostly use that instead of the Warp for travel.

The Tau will conquer most of the Imperium, and will reach Terra and re-name it Ter'ra.

The Tau will discover how to permantly seal off the Warp from reality, destroying the Eye of Terror and the power of both Chaos and the Eldar. The remaining Eldar will be assimilated into the Tau Empire.

The Tau will shatter the Tyranid Hive Mind, decimating the Great Devourer and rendering it weak.

The Tau will wipe out both the Necrons and the Orks, and will use technology to eliminate the C'tan.

But, the real question is "Will Fire Warriors ever be able to win in CC? Even against Grots?"

[Just_Me]

But, the real question is "Will Fire Warriors ever be able to win in CC? Even against Grots?"

No. :cool:

[Melissia]

Personally, I'm thinking the following:

Adepta Sororitas (and the Ecclesiarchy):
The Ecclesiarchy and their Adepta Sororitas are both caught off guard by the secession of the Confederation of Ultramar, and in the years of vicious fighting after the secession the Adepta Sororitas are nearly wiped out. They are saved, finally, by the presence of a Living Saint, whom attempts to usher in a new era for the Sororitas and the Ecclesiarchy by reforming both to meet the new situation. But the church has always resisted change, and nearly a third of the church's officials oppose the Living Saint, although all Sisters remain loyal to her as she came from one of their number. The Living Saint brokered a truce between the Imperium and the Confederation in exchange for acceptance of the Ecclesiarchy and the Adepta Sororitas in both nations, and reformed the Sororitas in order to make them more effective as a military organization, but it proves to be a steep uphill battle to make even the smallest of changes.

Chaos Daemons:
Daemons have been given a new means to exit out into the world, through the second opening on the Eye of Terror. They relish fighting the Orks and Necrontyr, and all the carnage they can wrack, as well as new followers. A new breed of Daemon begins to form, Daemons of the material realm whom are much more stable than their immaterium-based cousins. These daemons turn into princes fo the material realm, forming pacts with mortal worshippers as demigods and increasing the influence of Chaos in the mortal realm. But at the same time... this new breed of daemons doesn't want to share with the old.

Chaos Marines
Abbadon's 14th Black Crusade ends before it can truly begin. Abbadon managed to take Cadia from the Imperium in a quick blitzkrieg attack, but as he gloated over the fallen corpse of no less than three chapter masters, one of those chapter masters rose up and struck him down, his greatsword mysteriously glowing with a brilliant white flame and Abbadon's soul is utterly destroyed, not returning to the Warp. Fierce infighting breaks out amongst the Chaos Marines and their mortal allies as they try to determine who the next warboss will be, leaving them nearly blind to the second hole opening up on the other side of the Eye. But some of them do notice... and several warbands use it to finally make their way out of the Eye fro the first time in untold years.

Chaos Servants (Lost and the Damned, chaos-tainted xenos, etc):
The breakup of the Imperium into two halves has given Chaos a new wound with which to sink its claws deeper into and rend further apart. Furthermore, Chaos is turning its eyes towards the Eldar and Tau even more, corrupting them and their servants towards its own uses, as it works its eternal malevolent will upon the galaxy as it always has. More races of Xenos fall under the sway of Chaos, but more than anything... Chaos is working now to bring about the Emperor's death, fearing that the Inquisition has found a way to resurrect its greatest enemy. And maybe they have...

Dark Eldar:
The Dark Eldar enjoy more and more converts from the Craftworld Eldar as time goes on, and this has bolstered not only their numbers, but their egos. Their raids become more daring, their tortures become more hideous and cruel, and above all, Slaanesh looks at her wayward children, and smiles at their excess. Deep within the reaches of Commorragh, whispers that Slaanesh will accept the Dark Eldar as her servants rather than potential torture toys only further encourages these rampant acts of depravity and debauchery, intending to become such good servants to the Prince of Excess that they are accepted by it and no longer promise eternal torture as its playtoys upon their deaths.

Eldar:
Finding themselves constantly hunted down by the now-freed Necrontyr, the Eldar enter in an uneasy alliance with the Tau. More and more, the Eldar find the most wayward of their kind disappearing and then being found later amongst the Dark Eldar raiders, making the Craftworld Eldar wonder what exactly is going on. The Exodites are constantly being threatened by the Ork invaders, and the Eldar find themselves hard pressed on all fronts-- As craftworlds begin to fall one by one, the Eldar are forced to move on to the Exodite worlds, and are desperately trying to find a way to save the infinity circuits on their fallen craftworlds before they are lost forever.

Imperial Guard:
The Imperial Guard is split along the lines of the Imperium of Man and the Confederation of Ultramar. An uneasy truce between the two organizations allows the Guard to focus on more military matters such as defending and retaking worlds. An unfortunate side effect of the dwindling power of the Ordo Hereticus, however, is that there are fewer Inquisitors watching for heresy-- and so the number of Guard companies turning to Chaos has increased, leaving the Guard mired in its own infighting far more than ever before. Rather than look towards the Inquisition to cure this, however, the Adeptus Terra turns towards the Ecclesiarchy and the Adepta Sororitas, but those two organizations have their own problems...

The Inquisition:
The Daemonhunters and Xenohunters maintain their eternal vigil much as they always have, however the Witch Hunters take a huge setback as the respect for their authority dwindles from their constant abuses of the common folk and the nobility alike, and their excesses in punishment-- especially the use of exterminatus. Even the other Ordos rarely rise up to defend them, forcing the Ordo Hereticus into a difficult decision... reform in an attempt to regain respect, or struggle to force their authority on anyone who questions them. Most suspect that they will do the latter.

Necrontyr:
The Necrons rebel against their C'tan masters, and manage to trap and starve the Nightbringer and strengthen the prison of The Outsider with the (clandestine) assistance of The Deceiver. In the process, they erect a second anti-warp Pylon on the opposite edge of the Eye of Terror, and are invading the Eye of Terror in an attempt to capture ground and build more pylons to shut off the eye once and for all. Unfortunately for them (and fortunately for the servants of Chaos), the Orks decided to jump in and join the party. Necron raids against all psychic-capable races increase-- they may believe that they have broken the shackles of their gods, but they still hate psykers with a vengeance, as this was ingrained on their psyche for so long.

Orks:
The Orks ended up being the first line of defense against a number of Tyranid hive fleets, but this still doesn't bode well for the rest of the galaxy-- after all... the Orks are now, collectively as a race, bigger, smarter, stronger, and meaner than they have ever been, and a variety of Warlords are poised to start a new series of WAAAGH!s into all known territories. Even the Eye of Terror itself isn't safe from the Ork hordes, as they attack it through the second hole opened up by the Necrontyr.

Space Marines (Loyalists):
The actions of the Ordo Hereticus eventually lead to a secession amongst the eastern fringe, led by the Ultramarines and forming the Confederation of Ultramar. They claim to still be loyal to the Emperor, but are no longer under the auspices of the Adeptus Terra or, more importantly, the Emperor's Most Holy Inquisition (although they still allow the Daemonhunters and Xenohunters to do their jobs without harassment). This has not gone over well with the Adeptus Terra, however... they reach an uncomfortable truce out of necessity, but both know that one or the other may very well stab them in the back at any given moment, and so they eye eachother, waiting for the opportunity to be the one that strikes the first blow. A number of chapters remain with the Imperium, however-- most of the chapters within the Confederation of Ultramar are themselves descended from the Ultramarine genestock. The secession has caused a schism amongst the Astartes even more along Codex Astartes lines, as those loyal to the Imperium begin to reject many of its rules in favor of more unconventional tactics and force organization, while the Confederates cling tightly and rigidly to it.

Tau Empire:
The Tau Empire has reached an uneasy peace with the Confederation of Ultramar and the Eldar craftworlds closest to them. They begin to realize the depths of the threats facing them and know that they can ill-afford to earn the ire of any of these powerful opponents, and begin to instead attempt to research and send ambassadors throughout the galaxy using the Confederation of Ultramar's ships, searching for clues as to what exactly Chaos is. Whatever it is, the Tau are utterly horrified by it, as it seems to be effecting their allies more and more... not just the Confederation and Eldar, but also their Kroot and other close allies as well.

Tyranids:
The Tyranids may have lost a great deal of biomass to the Orks, but they still have plenty left to spare in their hive fleets. Furthermore, the prolonged fighting with the Orks allowed the Hive Mind to experiment with new mutations and adaptations, and new tactics as well. The next Tyranid invasion is immanent, but noone knows where it will be from, or what new horrors will arrive in it.

[Gotthammer]

Here is why: In a mere 6,000 years the Tau have gone from fire and clubs to having technology superior to that of humanity. It took mankind over 40,000 years to reach where they are.

The Tau will shatter the Tyranid Hive Mind, decimating the Great Devourer and rendering it weak.

Humanity's peak was at around 15-20,000AD with the development of STC, Warp Drives, and the stabilisation of the Navigator Gene all happening in this time period. This period was far more advanced than the year 40,000 It then took another couple of thousand years for it to fall apart with the emergance of psykers and the Age of Strife, then the slow clawing back to where humanity is 'now'.

The Tau's superiority in technology is debatable, their understanding is superior though and not limited through dogma and superstision.

Also, only killing one in ten Tyranids won't get you very far ;)

[Melissia]

The Tau understanding of the universe is entirely scientific, which means that they ignore a complete other half of existence (IE, the Immaterium).

[Duke]

But even the Immaterium could be better understood through science. (to a point)

Duke

[Melissia]

I should rephrase myself.. I mean the physical sciences, rather than the science of studying the immaterium, which in fact does exist (there are, I think, two ways you can have a character in the Dark Heresy roleplay whom studies the Warp, one via actually having a psyker, and the other one by having an Adept, IE a scholar-- who can actually gain some psychic powers through their studies).

[Gotthammer]

The Tau were attempting to study the anomoly consuming Medusa V to better understand the warp. It didn't turn out too well for them though and their ending blurb implied they were stearing clear of that research for the time being due to the risks.

[Duke]

I wonder though, what the tau would be capable of in the next 10k years... Perhaps find a technology that would allow the warp to not exist near them... Who knows.

[Melissia]

Or they could just hit a ceiling in their technology and stagnate. Which I think is more likely TBH.

[person person]

I think by 50k The Tau would've gained the technology to leave this galaxy, 'cause this galaxy's just eternal war.

50k would be the same in the big picture.

The Emperor would be dead, killed by Abaddon's 14th Black Crusade, only to unleash His true form, smitting him on the spot. He has not been seen since his ascension to godhood. Many believe he is reuniting lost Primarchs for the end times or fighting the Chaos Gods. The Imperium is gone. Now humanity is scattered throughout the galaxy.

Abaddon's death has awakened all the Daemon Primarchs, they're all now fighting for Terra, cause a 1st company cpt. killing the Emperor is enough.

The orks becoming stronger and launching countless Whaaaghs!!!

Necrons rebel, splitting into more Necrontyr-ish 'crons and other necrons that just cannot comprehend trying to break free due to fighting for the C'tan for millions of years.

'Nids are flooding into the galaxy, number at par with the orks.

The Eldar die creating Ynnead and kill Slaanesh.

DE stronger and raiding a lot more 'cause Slaanesh is dead slowly recreating Slaanesh.

[eagleboy7259]

The Tau were attempting to study the anomoly consuming Medusa V to better understand the warp. It didn't turn out too well for them though and their ending blurb implied they were stearing clear of that research for the time being due to the risks.

So the Tau just have their fingers in their ears on all matters concerning the warp? What I always wondered is that GW said in the Kroot Mercs list they mention the Kroot as being able to manifest some psychic abilities... don't the Tau ever wonder what the heck is up with that? and are the Vespid able to use psychic abilities?

[mightymconeshot]

they plug their ears yell nananana and close their eyes. just like the little kids they.

my take is that the emperor kicks the golden bucket, isnt reborn, humanity dies off however this also weakens chaos. space marines are the last bastions of humanity as they control maybe a system each in which the protect the survivors. orks fight nids. both get stronger and the war stalmates. tau break apart as more and more war leaders go renagade. the metal men ? i dont know enough of their back story. eldar finally die off and create the new god. DE is now raiding more and is generally living well.

[Melissia]

Humanity doesn't need the Emperor to survive, he just a HUGE help. As a race, humanity has always bred some very strong survivalists that can crawl in and out of the galactic woodwork like cockroaches.

[Ivarr]

@Melissa I love what you wrote for most of the races.

I imagine something very close to the Confederation of Ultramar...though rather than a proper secession, I imagine a complete polarization of the Imperium. The Emperor rises. The Throne continues to fail, but as it is still functioning to some extent, the Inquisition refuses to recognize this false Emperor. The imperium is split along these lines. Even the space marines themselves are divided. The Ultramarines and their successors along with the White Scars, Ravenwing, Salamanders and Space Wolves side with the Emperor. The Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Sisters, Grey Knights and the entirety of the Black Templars continue to serve the Inquisition.

While the Imperium divides, the Chaos Gods gain power. If they were able to focus their energies on the Imperium, they would perhaps have the power to succeed on one of Abaddon's crusades , but as the Tyranids and Necrons increase their activity, no faction can gain a major advantage. Orks remain orcs. The Tau Empire spreads but suffers "growing pains" as it does and there are many civil wars fought over what truly is "the greater good." The Eldar and Dark Eldar continue on in the same fashion that they have...though labeled a "dying race, " they remain a power.

For the record, I believe that Cypher's mission is to release the Emporer from his mortal body. With the rise of the new Emperor, Cypher and his Fallen abort their quest and follow him unquestioningly, certain that nothing of what was the Emperor remians within the throne. They are forgiven and rise to become a full chapter, the New Angels for lack of a better name. The hatred between the Dark Angels and New Angels can only grow.

[Melissia]

The Sisters serve the Emperor, not the Inquisition. The Inquisition are, to the Sisters, merely fellow servants of the Emperor that the Sisters have signed an agreement to assist if asked. IMO they don't "serve" the Inquisition so much as fight for roughly the same cause. I think the Sisters would follow the new Emperor, much as Sisters follow the Living Saints when they come up in history.

[Ivarr]

Actually that would work quite well. I considered that myself, I just was not sure whether the Sisters or Grey Knights were more likely to follow the New Emperor and I am admittedly not as up on my Sisters fluff....Given the division within the Inquisition in core belief about the Emperor, I actually imagine that at least a small portion of them would follow the new Emperor as well. I would assume that the Inquisitors serving along side the Sisters would be more likely to side where the Sisters do.??

[Ivarr]

The basis for my split of the Imperium is simply the high level of corruption within the Inquisition. I believe that, at the highest level, the inquisition would deny the Emporers rise just to maintain the power that they currently possess. Much of the rest of the population and military would follow them just out of fear of the reprocussions for opposing them.

[Melissia]

No, not just a small portion, the vast majority if not the entirity of the Sisters would follow the reincarnated Emperor if he really was who he is said to be. As I said, the Emperor imbues certain individuals with the status of Living Saint, divine powers given by Him-- they are considered the utmost leaders of the Sororitas, and any Sister would gladly follow a Living Saint in a crusade into the eye of terror itself. If the Emperor Himself was reincarnated, the effect would be exponentially stronger.

And the Inquisition is no more corrupt than any other part of the Imperium, indeed it's actually less a matter of corruption than it is a matter of differing opinions between various Inquisitors. Honestly it's getting a bit tiring-- I don't really like the Inquisition myself, but people really play the Inquisition as bad guys far too much, they're the default bogeymen and people use them instead of thinking of something more inventive half the time.

[Just_Me]

And the Inquisition is no more corrupt than any other part of the Imperium, indeed it's actually less a matter of corruption than it is a matter of differing opinions between various Inquisitors. Honestly it's getting a bit tiring-- I don't really like the Inquisition myself, but people really play the Inquisition as bad guys far too much, they're the default bogeymen and people use them instead of thinking of something more inventive half the time.

Interesting, as you may have already guessed, I am a big fan of the Inquisition. Out of all of the Imperium's forces they are the least corrupt, and generally the most free-thinking. Most people do seem to cast the Inquisition in the role of a narrow-minded intolerant organization, when they are in fact the most broadminded of all of the Imperium's organizations, and despite what some people seem to think they are patently NOT stupid, only mentally exceptional people can even become Inquisitors in the first place.

In addition they are the only Imperial organization that dictates its actions based on a consideration or ethical concerns. Though the ethics they advocate are cold and ruthless, they do actually consider them, in stark contrast to say, the Munitorium that doesn't even think about the morals of sending millions of soldiers to their deaths, or the Administratum who doesn't consider what raising tithes will do to quality of life on a planet.

[Nabterayl]

So the Tau just have their fingers in their ears on all matters concerning the warp? What I always wondered is that GW said in the Kroot Mercs list they mention the Kroot as being able to manifest some psychic abilities... don't the Tau ever wonder what the heck is up with that? and are the Vespid able to use psychic abilities?
They don't have their fingers in their ears, but as a race, they have virtually zero psychic potential. That means they can't navigate the Warp, can't use it to send FTL messages, and can't use it to manifest psychic abilities. That being the case, there's very little reason to devote R&D to opening up Warp portals and poking around. That might yield some unexpected results down the road that nobody can foresee, but the Warp is a pretty dangerous place to be poking your head into just for the sake of exploring.

[Talon57x]

They don't have their fingers in their ears, but as a race, they have virtually zero psychic potential. That means they can't navigate the Warp, can't use it to send FTL messages, and can't use it to manifest psychic abilities. That being the case, there's very little reason to devote R&D to opening up Warp portals and poking around. That might yield some unexpected results down the road that nobody can foresee, but the Warp is a pretty dangerous place to be poking your head into just for the sake of exploring.

The Tau can use the Warp for FTL travel (and probably FTL messenger drones) but they can only "skim" it for short distances at a time. There are more details in the BFG fluff.

As for knowelege of the Warp, the Tau Empire know it exists and knows that it is a danger (from the Perdus Rift, Medusa V, and probably warnings from trading partners).

However, I think that the Tau view almost everything from a scientific perspective. A long time ago, we thought that illness was caused by some unknown force, and we were superstitutious about it. Now we know that it is just caused by viruses and bacteria. I think that this is the way that the Tau approach the Warp. To humans, it is a mystical, shifting semi-real environment, that most humans are superstitutious about. The Tau probably view the Warp as merely an unexplored and invisible part of reality, just how scientists view quantum physics today. As such, I think that the Earth caste is studying the Warp, but at arm's length.

On topic, I do not think that the Tau Empire will split further. O'Shovah was an anomaly, and his decision to go renegade was made upon an alien planet, away from the Ethereals. There are many more Tau that fight and live for the Greater Good.

[Nabterayl]

The Tau can use the Warp for FTL travel (and probably FTL messenger drones) but they can only "skim" it for short distances at a time. There are more details in the BFG fluff.
Tau FTL dives rely on the existence of the Warp, true, but they don't actually enter the Warp:


Achieving transition to the Warp required more than technology, it required psychically attuned minds and the Tau race boasted no psykers. Without them to guide the transition no amount of power could breach the dimensional barriers. The best the Tau could do was make a partial transition, forcing themselves into the void that separated Warpspace and real space before they were hurled out again like a ball held under water then released.

[Duke]

I there was one race that could figure out the warp it would be the tau. Just give them a few centuries.

[Melissia]

I doubt it. The Tau just don't have the mindset to understand the warp, psychic power, and sorcery.

[Talon57x]

Tau FTL dives rely on the existence of the Warp, true, but they don't actually enter the Warp:


Achieving transition to the Warp required more than technology, it required psychically attuned minds and the Tau race boasted no psykers. Without them to guide the transition no amount of power could breach the dimensional barriers. The best the Tau could do was make a partial transition, forcing themselves into the void that separated Warpspace and real space before they were hurled out again like a ball held under water then released.

True. I was not saying that they enter the Warp, they merely "skim" the surface. (Kinda like ice skating. You do not enter the water below, and eventually the cold will force you to stop) However, the "partial transition" is still using the Warp, except as a force to "push" the Tau vessels back into reality.

Melissia:

The Tau have the mindset to understand it, but they view it objectively. They probably think of Psykers channeling Warp power in the same way that they think of their own weapon technology: as an object that converts reactor/Warp power into a blast that makes things go boom.

[Melissia]

Which is exactly why they do not have hte mindset to understand it. The psyker's warp power isn't technology, it's something different. It can be studied scientifically, but you have to accept that there are things out there that material and energy based science won't be able to explain. It's similar to the argument made by a certain vampiric scientist in White Wolf's World of Darkness-- we KNOW there is a sort of spiritual aspect to things in the 40K universe, but the Tau don't really want to believe in it yet.

[Duke]

But again, if there was a race thAt could figure it out the tau would be the ones to do it...

[Ivarr]

Interesting, as you may have already guessed, I am a big fan of the Inquisition. Out of all of the Imperium's forces they are the least corrupt, and generally the most free-thinking. Most people do seem to cast the Inquisition in the role of a narrow-minded intolerant organization, when they are in fact the most broadminded of all of the Imperium's organizations, and despite what some people seem to think they are patently NOT stupid, only mentally exceptional people can even become Inquisitors in the first place.

In addition they are the only Imperial organization that dictates its actions based on a consideration or ethical concerns. Though the ethics they advocate are cold and ruthless, they do actually consider them, in stark contrast to say, the Munitorium that doesn't even think about the morals of sending millions of soldiers to their deaths, or the Administratum who doesn't consider what raising tithes will do to quality of life on a planet.

I guess at some point I will have agree to disagree. I think that the Inquisition is about as open minded as the protestant mobs in Salem, Massachusetts. I am very aware that some of the Inquisitors are not as corrupt as others, however, the inquisition as a whole is very corrupt. We are talking about the "religious" secret police of the Imperium who counters civil unrest with accusations of Chaos corruption and exterminatus.

I think it is just as likely that the Psychic energy channeled through the Golden Throne is some Chaos God as it is still that of the Emperor...and if the psychic energy is corrupt, the power being given by way of those energies is corrupt so are those who wield it.

Meanwhile, the common citizen/servant of the Imperium of Man is forced to except what the Inquisition proclaims to be doctrine and are forbidden to question it.

As for the Inquisition being the least corrupt...that is absolutely true if you take the word of the Inquisition as the only truth. And to compare the iron-handed enforcement of religion which is the Inquisition to the Munitorum is very much an apples to oranges comparison. The Munitorum deploys military tools in support of military operations with military efficiency...there is no moral question. They make tactical/strategic decisions and those decisions result in orders which are then carried out without question at every level down to the individual trooper. Individual inquisitors are free to affect policy based on their own interpretation of their "religion"...some are puritanical, some are liberal and some are certainly corrupt. Being both religious and prior service military, I see these two as so completely different that you cannot compare them.

<<For the record, I hope that no one is offended by this discussion..or even aggravated. I am just enjoying friendly debate over the fluff both written and unwritten and by no means do I believe that my way is the only way to see it.>>

[Nabterayl]

I don't know think it's a question of the Tau not "believing" something about the Warp, so much as that believing in it is irrelevant. To the extent they can manipulate the Warp with technology, they can interact with it. To the extent they need something other than technology to manipulate the Warp, they can't.

Abandoning research into the Warp is just an acknowledgment that the extent to which they can manipulate the Warp with technology is basically zero. They can use the existence of the Warp with their technology (witness the dive drive), but interaction with the Warp itself is something they've determined they would need psykers for, no matter how good their technology. That's just a fact about the Warp; it has nothing to do with their mindset. Psykers being unavailable, they've stopped research.

There's no denial going on here, no incompatibility of worldview. Just an acceptance of facts.

[Melissia]

however, the inquisition as a whole is very corrupt.
Again, no moreso than any organization in the Imperium. Including the Astartes.


But again, if there was a race thAt could figure it out the tau would be the ones to do it...

It's already been figured out by the Imperium and the Eldar, and quite possibly even the Orks. The Tau are actually behind the times in this particular section of technolgoy.

[Duke]

None of those races mastered the warp through technology, they simply learned how to lessen the bad effects.

[Melissia]

That's quite possibly because the warp doesn't work through technology. It can effect technology, but the warp itself is an entirely different sphere of science altogether. It's studied by the Adeptus Administratum's Magisters and Loremasters, as described in Dark Heresy. Still, the Adeptus Mechanicus actually DOES study warp-touched technology, and that's one patht hat your character in Dark Heresy can take-- and not a heretical one.

[Duke]

Oddly enough it isn't heretical... Though one would think so. Chapters have been declared heretics for less, lol.

[Melissia]

In fact, the Magisters and Loremasters are capable of using their knowledge to awaken their own psychic powers. That is, they can gain a psy rating and therefor psychic powers, although usually minor ones compared to a full on Imperial Psyker character.

[Talon57x]

I don't know think it's a question of the Tau not "believing" something about the Warp, so much as that believing in it is irrelevant. To the extent they can manipulate the Warp with technology, they can interact with it. To the extent they need something other than technology to manipulate the Warp, they can't.

Abandoning research into the Warp is just an acknowledgment that the extent to which they can manipulate the Warp with technology is basically zero. They can use the existence of the Warp with their technology (witness the dive drive), but interaction with the Warp itself is something they've determined they would need psykers for, no matter how good their technology. That's just a fact about the Warp; it has nothing to do with their mindset. Psykers being unavailable, they've stopped research.

There's no denial going on here, no incompatibility of worldview. Just an acceptance of facts.

True, the T'au race can not interact with the Warp, but the Tau Empire could, at least in theory. The Tau Empire assimilates other races and if one of those races were psychic, and they could be convinced that their place in the Tau Empire is facilitating Warp interaction for the Greater Good, then the Tau Empire would be able to interact with the Warp.

If psykers are absolutely required for Warp interaction, then the Tau Empire would only need to find a willing group of psykers to work with them (even humans/Gue'vesa could work). There are examples of technology interacting with the Warp with a psychic aid (Psychic Hoods, Null Rods, Wraith and D-Cannons, Ghosthelms, Eldar Runes, etc.) so even the Warp could be shaped to work for the Greater Good, just with willing psykers and the right technology.

Honestly, if I were a psyker in 40k (or 50k for purposes of this discussion), I would rather work for and help the Tau Empire than be shoved into a Black Ship and be "fed" to the Golden Throne.

[Melissia]

The problem with that is that most psykers whom are fed to the golden throne are only fed so because they are too weak of will to resist the call of daemons.

[Sangre]

I'm sure the whole Tau Warp Travel thing is covered by the whole "Tau have no psychic presence" and "Tau are too bloody clever to expand their empire too quickly, by literally flying through hell."

[Nabterayl]

True, the T'au race can not interact with the Warp, but the Tau Empire could, at least in theory. The Tau Empire assimilates other races and if one of those races were psychic, and they could be convinced that their place in the Tau Empire is facilitating Warp interaction for the Greater Good, then the Tau Empire would be able to interact with the Warp.

If psykers are absolutely required for Warp interaction, then the Tau Empire would only need to find a willing group of psykers to work with them (even humans/Gue'vesa could work). There are examples of technology interacting with the Warp with a psychic aid (Psychic Hoods, Null Rods, Wraith and D-Cannons, Ghosthelms, Eldar Runes, etc.) so even the Warp could be shaped to work for the Greater Good, just with willing psykers and the right technology.

Honestly, if I were a psyker in 40k (or 50k for purposes of this discussion), I would rather work for and help the Tau Empire than be shoved into a Black Ship and be "fed" to the Golden Throne.
Certainly psykers are absolutely required for Warp interaction as far as the earth caste can tell. I agree that the Empire could make use of Warp travel using allied psykers, but I think that would require a cultural shift. The Tau may be willing to welcome other races into the Empire, but they're still racist, imperialist *******s, remember. My personal suspicion is that, if push ever came to shove, the ethereal caste would have strong objections to tying something so fundamental to the fate of the Empire as interstellar travel and communications to non-tau. More progressive voices within the caste might win in the end, but I think it would be a major societal watershed.

[Duke]

nab is right, it would take a huge shift in the general mindset of the Tau to accept warp travel and allied psychers.

I could, however, see the Tau inventing something similar to the Webway.

Duke

[Melissia]

Quite possibly causing a schism of some kind.

[Zeev]

I could see the Tau stealing some of that nice shiny Necron tech that travels faster than the warp., or developing something similar.

One does not need the Warp to travel quickly...its merely the only know way for most races.

[The Custodian]

Heres something you may enjoy, got a copy before BL site went down...

Written by Lord Lucan at the Black Library Forums... THis is a grimmer (yes grimmer) outlook for the future...

It is the 51st Millenium, and the war continues.

There was no great conflagration or calamitous final battle.
Across the vastness of the galaxy, the Imperium died. Not with a bang, but with a whimper. The galactic empire of humanity crumbled, its enemies too many, too great and too terrible to imagine. The great conflict of Octavius had no victory, a war without end. In the fiery chasm of strife, the locust and the green holocaust fused, as beast looked upon barbarian and both saw the other as kin. The new entity spread with a speed undreamt of by Ork or Tyranid. War and hunger melded into a singular desire to ravage, rape and remake all in the image of the new devourer.


The Devourer’s hybrid nightmares were regenerative, and spore-born, combining into a grand horror, which murdered the galaxy, leaving naught but fragments as it left.

Metallic sentinels of unflinching dread rose up on some worlds, leaving them safe from the new devourer waaaggghh, but instead made them slaves to the silver sentinels, and fodder for their glowing metal gods.

The Eldar who had held on to life for so long, slowly winked out of existence one craftworld at a time. Eventually, even the rumbling hearts of the avatars fell silent. For a time... In the dead craftworlds, something slithers through the infinity circuit to this day. Unfortunately, the great god of the dead, Ynnead, is trapped within this infinity circuit, howling its mournful song into the darkness, eternally hungry in its desire to wreak vengeance on She Who Thirsts.

The Tau, naïve in their hope of unity, expanded into a realm of corpses and ash. Every world they came across was dead. The hard and unpleasant task of terraforming each world turned the Tau into bitter, self-righteous beings. They were disgusted at the actions of their predecessors, and vowed not understand their fellow races, but to purge them. Only the Tau could be trusted with worlds. They decided that all others must be cast out. Watching, their patron laughed his sardonic laugh as his puppets twisted into terrors.

The Golden Throne finally failed. No-one knew for certain what happened to the Emperor. For once the throne fell, no vox or astropathic transmissions ever came from Terra again as warp storms engulfed the planet. The shattered remains of humanity had neither the power nor the will to return. All that is known is that the astronomicon died with the death of Terra, spluttering to nothing over the course of five hundred years. Eventually, the Imperium, coherency lost by the splitting of its forces against the new devourer, and the sudden surge in warp storms, was shattered like glass. Chaotic cults stampeded through humanity, like electrical surges in an ancient power grid.

The Inquisition with the death of the Emperor, finally lost its façade of unity, and most died, killed by the more powerful within its once hallowed ranks. The greatest Inquisitor Lords seized whole systems, becoming feudal Kings and Regents. Uniting scattered mobs of their deadly follows around them in order to wrestle power from Local Governors.

The church also shattered, becoming nothing more than a series of minor sectarian cults. All save Ophelia. The Sororitas withdrew from as many worlds as they could, and gathered around Ophelia and nearby systems. Ophelia became a vile charnel house for the Eccliesiarch, who had been driven insane by all he had seen. He gathered his Canonesses, Abbesses and Witchhunters together and put billions to the torch. Any system within range of short warp jumps (as navigators could no long take long jumps, due to the warp storms) of Ophelia were terrorized by the Imperial Church, who searched desperately for someone to blame for this nightmare.

It was said that in those days, a hundred thousand Petty Imperiums were created from the carved up corpse of the Imperium of Man. Each claimed legitimacy and claiming to be led by a leader chosen by the Emperor as he finally died. Some even claimed to be the Emperor reborn. Humanity, so scared in their huddled masses, believed this heresy without question, too afraid to imagine a universe without their father and protector.

The Space marines fared little better Most chapters utterly disintegrated as their forces fighting individual missions across the galaxy, found they could not return to their Chapter Masters. In the darkness, alone, many marines chose the only path they knew: War. They became rogues and near bandits, pillaging Imperial world ‘for the war effort’ as they would say in justification for their actions. It was said White Scar war bands and Raven Guard war bands were the worst, as they were so swift and ruthless in their pillaging.

The Black Templars retained the most of their original fervour, and merely continued their crusades. They became full worshippers of the God-Emperor and High Marshall Dorstros declared a new and great crusade: to destroy every human that did not submit to them, and purging everything and everyone else. Their fervour blinded them to their own heresies, as more and leaderless marines desperate for orders tagged alongside the Black Templars’ crusade. Millions of rag tag former guard and massive mobs of flagellating Imperial Cultists quickly joined the crusades' march across the stars. Soon, their depleted numbers (depleted during the wars with the new devourer) had nearly reached two thousand, representing the second largest single group of Imperial marines still in existence (second only to Grand Sicarium). Yet, no matter how large their crusade got, the Tempalrs were naught but a band of raving fanatics

Ultramar was renamed Grand Sicarium, under their new ruler, Cato Sicarius. His realm became a holy site for the other Ultramarine successors. Their fractured remnants gathering around Ultramar like a swarm of flies. Sicarius declared himself High Space Marine king, decreeing that those under his protection should worship him as the god he was. Sicarius became the ruler of his own little empire, his angelic marines and ordinary humans under his decree became his worshippers. Upon Macragge itself, the fortress of obsidian was crafted; the heads of Agemman and Calgar were stuck upon great steel pikes. A grim demonstration of Sicarius’ desire to rule all. Ultramar became a darker place in those centuries.

Those forgeworlds still intact either fell to chaotic or Dragon-cult invasions. Some were ransacked by rival warbands desperate for tech priest slaves to help them work their stolen technologies. These slaves became bartered like currency amongst the various larger ‘Petty Imperiums’ as they became known now. Some forge worlds simply sealed themselves off from reality entirely, their Fabricators for once preferring ignorance over knowledge of what lay beyond.

Chaos became a raging torrent in these dark millennia, rising to Strife-Era levels of corruption. Worlds were dragged into the warp as whole planets were over-run by psykers, madmen, and monstrous space marines. The chaos Legions became virtually indistinguishable from rabid bands of former loyalists. Some groups slaughtered in the name of dark gods, others just slaughtered.

Abaddon seized massive swathes of space around the eye, being careful to avoid the new devourer, as it blundered around him. Dodging like a skilled swimmer giving a swarm of predatory fish a wide berth, he avoided them. Abaddon and his 78th Crusade, plunged into the solar system. It is there that legend tells of the war of two spheres. Here, Abaddon faced the army of the Dragon transcendent, a vast army of fallen mechanicus and those same silver sentinels that already plagued thousands of worlds.

The confrontation was epic in scale. Warped spawned magic, and daemonic machinery and weaponry, battled weapons of unimaginable power, and the vast serried ranks of Necrons and pariah, which covered nearly every solid Solar world like a silver carpet. In the end, Abaddon was forced to merely surround the ort cloud. The Dragon had ensured the solar system was his.

His, save for a single orb of diamond hard stubbornness: Titan. It stood, a stony fortress, its doors sealed from the necrons by admantium and heavy cannons, its soul sealed from Abaddon by the cold steel cage of faith encaging the hearts of the Grey Knights and Custodian Guard still trapped upon the world. All other humans on the world had perished a thousand years previously, yet the ancient warriors stood firm, a shadow of the Imperium’s previous glory.

In the turbulent energies of the warp, the Chaos gods also suffered. For upon the end of the Emperor, something else stirred. Birthed upon the death of Him on Terra, the Starchild suckled upon the raged religious lunacy of the dying Imperium, consuming every soul remaining upon terra in its birth pangs. This is what killed the astronimicon. Ophelia became a focus for this dark zeal. At the dawn of the 50th millennium, the Starchild became the Star Father, and the warp became a battleground. For a brief instance (or perhaps and eternity in the warp, none can tell for sure) the Star Father became dominant over the chaos foes. Then, with the sickening inevitability of the great game of chaos, the Star Father became one amongst the five, an order god amongst chaos gods.

Where they spread chaos, He spread oppression. Where their daemons were feral nightmares that rended souls, His daemons were faceless automata, enslaving the souls of humans into servitude. Star Father daemon worlds sprung up in the eye and across the galaxy in the closing thousand years of this dark age. They were balls of featureless gold, with golden faceless daemons and billions of mindless, empty humans. The inhabitants of these worlds shuffled across the surface for no particular reason until they simply died of starvation, or fatigue

It is the 51st Millennium and I cannot wake up from this nightmare! I cannot wake up!

[person person]

Almost everything died.

Thats the way it 'ought to be.

[Duke]

Wow you peoe have a huge imagination.... A crazy, whacko, slightly twisted imagination, kudos!

[anubis]

in the thick fog of war stired an age old menece, the anciant ruler of the necrontyr hordes. the machien god Anubis.

near the inner circle of the galixy the might of the necronyr awoke and countles numbers of the c'tan awoke to feed on the dense star filled reagon, giving unmeasreble strength to there limitless power.

the year is 45,000 and the anubi' army has reganed its strength leaving the galaxy core dark and lifeless. for the next 5000 years the necrontyr horde spilled forth consuming and enslaving all in its wake.

the tau empire now so advanced and power full are still no mach aganst the never before seen monsters of the necrontyr, thousands of masive tomb stalkers apear on planets through out the galaxy and begin stripping the planets of all life. unable to stop the wave of death in the galaxy the tau build their new wormwhole gates and leave the galaxy to start any elsewhere in the universe.

the hivemind fell first to the hunger of the c'tan, as countless tyranids were descimated my the endless planet eating swarms of scarabs.

the orks and their simple minds became slaves to anubis whom promised them endless war and power tricking them just like the necrons before them.

the eldar vinshed into the web way to hide from the necrons.

the emprium fought to the bitter end. the last batle held on the very planet the emperor left his children to return to terran after the bulk of the crusade was complete. now he returns once more to join his children in batle every last IG and SP chapter was there unified as brothers for the last great event in the history of man. a batle so great that the flames and explosions lit up the planet so bright that the system's star was dwarfed by its light.

in the space high above the planet the fleet of man clashed with the swarms of necron heresy. in the shear chaos of the fight, a warp storm so vast that it stretched across the system and tore open. chaos spilled out hungry for destruction.

however the necrons met both forces like a boot meets an ant. the necron poored into the warp and spread in its choatic realm much like it had in the galaxy.

in the dawn of the 51st milenium th last star winced out of existnce eaten by the hungry c'tan, the necrontyr lead by the machien god Anubis prepered itself for the journey across the void in search of life elswhere in the univers.

the tau scrambling to find its foot hold in the univers, foresee a time when the necrons return.

in the 51st milenium there is only death

http://images.epilogue.net/users/el-grimlock/anubis.jpg

[person person]

Anubis and Necrons. How the hell didn't I see that?

Nice pic.You made it?

[Bard of Twilight]

After the death of the Emperor, the secret masters of His Inquisition,gathered all the Kensai knights (see The Inquisition Wars) and sacrificed them. And so the Numen, "The Light Path" was created, phychic shockwave that crippled Chaos. Then, the Rhana Dandra came ,the Final Battle of the Eldar kin against the Chaos. Both sides were extinguished, but by the death of the last of the Eldars, Ynnead was born, The God of Dead. With his help, the Old Ones destroyed the C'tan and the Tyranids and so the galaxy rested in peace. Finally, Mankind, with a new leader who called himself "Emperor" entered a new era of enlightment and technology...

[Cryl]

I quite like that future history that Custodian posted, very Grim Dark and doesn't sound too impossible

[anubis]

Anubis and Necrons. How the hell didn't I see that?

Nice pic.You made it?

no i thank google. but damn isnt it just pefrect. when i found it i couldnt believe my luck. very C'tan ish and it has the green crystals too