The Lathes

“Like three glowing jewels within the crown of the Mechanicus are the Lathes. Their power is manifest, their importance is paramount, and their logical attraction beyond compare. Without these worlds the Calixis Sector would not exist, and without them it could not continue to exist today.”
–Fabricator-General Castellar at the Convocation of the 2431st Conclave of the Lathe-Covenant
Found near the center of the Calixis Sector, along the borders
of the Golgenna Reach, the Malfian Sub-sector and the Drusus Marches, is an
entire system the Adeptus Mechanicus dominate and
rule: the Lathes. Its three main planets, ceded to the Adeptus
Mechanicus during the final stages of the Angevin Crusade and
since transformed into massive forge worlds in their own right,
have been vigorous furnaces of production and research at the
core of the Sector for over two thousand years.
The Lathes are the foremost forge worlds of the sector, rivalling Scintilla’s Gunmetal City for weapons manufacture. The three planetoids, Lathe-Het, Lathe-Hesh and Lathe-Hadd enjoy an anarchic, fluxing orbit around their violent blue-white sun, intersecting to produce events of hyper-gravity. At such times, industry goes into frantic production, as the commingled gravitational urges of the passing planetoids allow for the specialist smelting of rare metals and alloys. Lathe-world blades are famed throughout the Calixis Sector for their unbreakable character.
Gravitational duress also accounts for the dense, armor-piercing quality of Lathe-world ammunition. These so-called “body-blowers” are expensive and rare, and often purchased singly. The damage they can do to flesh is astonishing. Blades produced under gravitic circumstances on the Lathes are considered holy and special. Lord Hax owns a rapier of Lathe origin, presented to him by Magus Luol Rho, emissary of the Lathes at the court of Scintilla. It is rumored that King Skull’s sword is also an unbreakable tongue of Lathe manufacture. The workforce of the Lathes is surprisingly small but all those born and bred on those oddly tangling planetoids are meaty, squat and powerful in their demeanor, and built with heavy bones and mounds of flesh. The population toiling in the massive macro-foundries based there to exploit the unique gravitation fluxes are huge, heavy set brutes more Ogryn in stature than man. They are but one part of the story, for scattered throughout the planetary system are dozens of vast city-sized orbital stations and hundreds of mining and research ouposts, hulks, asteroid bases and scores of vast steelglass-domed agrology platforms---arbors of green and blue that provide food and water amid the frozen void.
Since their founding, the Mechanicum of the Lathes have
converted nearly every object in the system to the purposes
of the Machine God. They have occupied almost every stable
anchor point in the system with research stations, agrodomes,
and Skitarii garrison bases. Reaching out from the central
system, the Magos of the Lathes have stretched their power
and influence across the Sector using all manner of coercion
and manipulation. From the Lords Dragon conducting their
diligent interrogations on the prison asteroid of Sheol 17 to the
Magos Biologis of the Hippocrasian Agglomeration laboring
over the churned devastation of Morwen VI, the Adeptus
Mechanicus has spread throughout Calixis, and the Arch-Magos of the Lathe-Covenant drive to maintain firm control
over their far-flung holdings. These Lathe Worlds, the common
title given to the various stations, planets, and systems the
Adeptus Mechanicus of the Lathes claim rule over, represent an
enormous power within the Calixis Sector.
The Lathes are held in the fealty of the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars, and are a secretive, closed environment. Access to the inner system is strictly controlled by automated ward ships and the Magos Militant commanding the massed power and might of the Mechanicus, capable of calling in extremis on the dread might of the Titans of Legio Venator who are said to have a hidden fortress on the dead moon of Lycosidae at the system’s heart. The outer fringes of the system are somewhat more receptive to visitors, and it is here at the trans-shipping orbitals that the great Chartist vessels and Mechanicus high-liners put in to trade and to export the Lathe System’s vast output, whilst also feeding its equally vast hunger for ore and metal. Fiercely independent and beholden to none but the lords of distant Mars, the Lathe System’s near five billion inhabitants answer only to the Archmagos council of the ruling Lathe-Covenant, and here the rule of the Omnissiah holds absolute sway.
The Lathes are protected by a fraternity of warrior priests, who can call upon the power of Titans if the circumstances demand. They are the Auxilia Myrmidon, a militant sect of the Cult Mechanicus, and are centered in the Lathe System and in particular their heavy fortified arsenal and base on the city-sized Panopticon Orbital Station. From this mustering ground, the relatively few Myrmidons are dispatched in small bands to oversee the defenses of the Mechanicus’s domains, seek out and destroy their enemies.
Unfortunately for the Arch-Magos of the Covenant,
controlling the ambition and thirst for knowledge of countless
adepts, scattered widely over the vastness of the Sector, is nearly
impossible. Factions and sects vie for control of their own
individual fiefdoms, secret research cabals operate with furtive
aims, and forbidden experiments occur wherever the endless desire
for knowledge overrides control or sanity. Added to this litany
of difficulties are the caprices of Astropathic communication and
the insurmountable vagaries of Warp travel, as countless stellar
phenomena and other, stranger anomalies wreak havoc with all
attempts at interstellar command, often rendering even the most
careful and diligent leadership efforts completely fruitless. Entire
tech-heresies might rise, Explorator ships become lost in their
travels and forgotten, and research outposts fall to disuse and
decay, and worse, as the Lathes strive in this impossible task.
==Founding of the Lathes==
As the Angevin Crusade ground on into its fourth standard
decade, the Imperial forces pushing towards the planet
Orendal through the Adrantis region met with greater and
greater resistance, contending with more and more severe Warp
storms and incurring staggering losses. Essential to those victories
that were achieved were the Explorator fleets of the Adeptus
Mechanicus, bravely providing reconnaissance and resupply
services across all fronts. As the situation within the Calyx Expanse
grew more and more grim, supply and support challenges for
the forces of the Imperium were mounting. Mechanicus legends
speak of the saviors of the crusade, the sudden appearance of a
massive Adeptus Mechanicus fleet, complete with ancient Lathe-class
Fabricator vessels and full deca-legions of Skitarii. Supported
with no less than a demi-legio of medium and light Titans to
bolster the war machines of the Legio Venator already present,
these forces proved indispensable for the final push to meet Lord Militant Angevin and his forces at Orendal.
Arch-Magos Mat Aleph Xenon, commanding the enormous
might of the reinforced fleets and armies of the Adeptus
Mechanicus, requested as reward for his efforts the stewardship
of a small system, Pondus Impare, just inside the borders of the
Imperial stronghold of the Golgenna Reach. The erratic orbits
of its planets and the strange behavior of gravity within the
system rendered it nearly useless to most colonization or mining
plans. However, situated as it was in the borderlands between
the pacified Imperial regions and the half-tamed expanse of
Adrantis, and given the role of the requester himself, the Lord
Militant did not hesitate to grant this request.
Having a massive friendly force garrisoning a system so close to
the embattled frontier was ideal for the Imperial generals. The Lord
Militant himself, sorely grieved with the terrible losses suffered
in the latest push, had withdrawn from all command decisions,
leaving his forces in disarray and confusion. General Drusus,
rising to command the Crusade, maintained a strong relationship
with Xenon, and the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus continued
to serve reliably throughout the remaining phases of the war.
During the remainder of the Crusade three massive Fabricator
ships landed on the three primary planets of the Pondus system,
and began to churn out infrastructure needed to supply the
material needs of the crusade through the final stages. The needs
of the forces tasked with the pacification and policing of an entire
fledgling Sector were vast, and only fully developed forge worlds
would be able to meet the growing and desperate demand.
In less than two decades, the unceasing efforts of the
Fabricator ships had laid the foundations for three independent
forge worlds: Het, Hesh, and Hadd, named after the ancient
ships now permanently residing on each world. With single-minded
purpose, their inhabitants bent their every fiber
towards the production of weapons, vehicles, and ammunition
to feed the ravenous beast that was the Imperial war machine.
Enormous autofactories stripped the planet surfaces for raw
materials, crawling their slow, implacable way across the planets,
leaving nothing but dry, ruined desolation in their wakes.
Imperial soldiers and naval personnel, manning the vast cargo
ships sent to collect the equipment and ship it to the front lines,
could only stare in awe at the incredible changes being wrought
upon the planets in such a short time. Upon seeing the vast
canyon systems the criss-crossing pattern of the autofactories
had knurled into the surface of the planets, many commented
that they appeared to have indeed been turned on a lathe.
Arch-Magos Xenon referred to his new domain as “The
System where the Lathes Dwell,” to honor the venerated
machine-spirits bound within the ancient and powerful artefacts,
but this proved to be cumbersome for official documentation.
Soon the name was shortened to “The System of the Lathes,” and
then simply “The Lathes System” towards the end of the Angevin
Crusade. However, the tendency of Imperial personnel to refer
to the planets, rather than the system, caused it to appear as the
Lathes on most star charts. Over the course of the intervening
centuries, even the Adeptus Mechanicus itself has come to refer to
its domains across the entire Calixis Sector as the Lathe Worlds.
==Exodus of Steel==
Over the next thousand years the Adeptus Mechanicus consolidated
its power over the Lathes and their surrounding system. Factories,
orbital assets, and research stations spread throughout the system,
taking advantage of the opportunities the various anomalies and
variances existing within the system offered. The density of forge
worlds alone was enough to set the Lathes apart. Controlling a
system so rich in strange phenomena and material resources, with
the full power of three ancient Fabricator ships at their immediate
disposal, was nearly unprecedented in Mechanicus history, and
much was made of the opportunity. Entire research groups were
transferred from Mars and other outlying facilities to these fresh
new holdings in the fledgling Sector.
One of the central aspects of the system that lured
Mechanicus researchers were the three major asteroid belts,
all situated at curious angles to the ecliptic plane, intersecting
at various turbulent points. It was clear from the structure
and composition of the three belts that they did not share a
common origin, and thus each offered its own potential. In
addition, in those regions where two, or even all three, belts
converged, an extremely rare array of conditions held sway.
Researchers from Mars and beyond were eager to come to
the system to pursue lines of inquiry as varied as gravimancy,
cryomantic mining, and kinetic discordance.
Most prominent among the system’s many fascinating
properties, however, were the tearing gravity storms and
horrific pressure shears that had rendered the system all
but useless to other servants of the Imperium. Vast cities
in space were erected solely to observe these phenomena,
poring over probable causes and effects, and into possible
applications for any powers thus discovered. Arch-Magos
expert in transportation, Warp technologies, communications,
and weapons theory descended upon the system, swelling the
ranks of the Adeptus Mechanicus within the Lathes.
In order to feed the countless millions now laboring
throughout the system, enormous food manufactories and
agrology platforms were constructed under the auspices of
the Rustica Mandate. These vast complexes were established
throughout the system to provide sustenance to all those servants
of the Omnissiah who still required such basic needs. The stations
were carefully placed throughout the region, so as to maximize
the logistical impact of each station and its production.
Empty and remote regions often existed amidst the
research stations, weapons platforms, and agrology domes
that sprang up across the system, the very gravitic anomalies
that made the system so fascinating often causing these
isolations. Many of these regions provided ideal storage
locations and study facilities for captured crafts, exotic
xenos vessels, space hulks of various provenances, and
more, that had been brought to the Lathes for innumerable
other reasons. The offices of Lord Inquisitor Caidin and his
predecessors have filed many complaints and demands for
information and even for the outright surrender of several
specimens. There are no records of any such demands being
approved, due in large part to the sovereignty of the Adeptus
Mechanicus, especially within their own domain.
To ensure the security of the many assets that have since
been brought under the protection of the Lathes, many Omni-Vigilens and Indoctrination Bases have been established
throughout the system for the Crimson Guard and their Titan
allies, the Legio Venator. Although the greatest presence of
both the Crimson Guard and the Legio Venator is to be found
in Adeptus Mechanicus holdings outside the Lathes System,
both entities maintain strong forces within the system,
including the Legio Venator fortress world of Lycosidae, and
even the Panopticon Orbital Station. The Mechanicus know
that should the Lathes fall, their own power within Calixis
would soon fall with them.
==Descendants of the Lathes==
The Lathes System is subject to a unique array of stresses and
stellar phenomena that make it fascinating to the full spectrum
of Mechanicus adepts. This, combined with the alluring
density of planetary bodies suitable for conversion into forge
worlds, and the presence of multiple resource-laden asteroid
belts, made the system irresistible. The inhabitants of the Lathes
are the standard cross-section of any active forge world, but
have expanded to occupy nearly every niche possible in the
system. After thousands of years of acclimation and adaptation,
however, there have been two primary genetic divergences
from the standard Imperial norm.
Due in large part to the crushing and indiscriminate gravitic
shears that buffet all three of the primary worlds, as well as the
rest of the entire system, adepts and menials alike descended from
the original colonial stock have generally low, powerful bodies.
Most Magos Biologis theorize that these alterations make these
deviations, dubbed Lathesmasters, the ideal workers for this
harsh, chaotic environment. A second, less well known, genetic
offshoot, however, caused a branch of inhabitants that are massive
in stature, often more so than Ogryns. These giants, unfortunately,
cannot leave the system or their bodies soon collapse. Whether
it is the gravitic anomalies, some sort of mineral dependency, or
perhaps even a strange symbiosis with the system’s sun, these huge
creatures die within days of leaving their home system. There are
many whispers within the Calixis Sector concerning the daunting
size of this secondary branch. Rumors abound concerning
their dimensions and strength, and the possible causes of such
deviation from the genetic norms. It is when outsiders witness
these large specimens that fresh rumors of mutation or genetic
experimentation once again arise. A constant struggle is waged
between the Lexmechanic Canonicus of the Lathe-Covenant and
the Calixian Conclave, who seem determined to categorize the
larger genotype of the Lathe World as Abhuman.
Because of this altered but stable genotype, Tech-Priests,
Skitarii, and menials alike originating from the Lathes are
shorter than average, but stronger and more durable. In fact,
most standard humans would require some form of augmetic
enhancement or gravitic support to survive for long in the
Lathes System. However, there are many out-system humans
that call the Lathes home as well, called to the system from
all over the Imperium. Because of this diversity, there are even
more factions within the structure of the system than would
usually be expected, even among the fractious, individualist
adepts of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
At the very top of the feudal hierarchy of the Lathes
and their vassal territories are those adepts belonging to
the Lathe-Covenant. Following the original documents of
confederation---called the Pact of Blood and Oil---and these
adepts control the web of relationships, obligations, and
enmity that define the position of the Adeptus Mechanicus
within the enormous power structure of the greater Sector.
Power within the Covenant is slow to shift, but when there
is an adjustment it often involves varying translations of the
responsibilities, duties, and claims contained within the Pact
and their relationship to the governors of the Calixis Sector.
The two most obvious factions vying for control of the
system and its far-flung holdings are the Disciples of Thule and
the Followers of the Divine Light of Sollex. Devoted to the
teachings and example of Explorator Arch-Magos Paracelsus Thule, his Disciples are utterly focused on the search for ancient
technologies from ages past, often to the exclusion of all else.
Those adepts who follow the Divine Light of Sollex, on the
other hand, are weaponsmiths without compare, devoting all of
their time and energy to the development and production of the
most destructive technologies imaginable. These adepts are truly
ruthless in their pursuits, and are suspected of several incidents
of genocide, as well as the sudden and complete deaths of entire
biospheres in more remote corners of the Calixis Sector.
Serving as the native defense force, and the armed wing
of the Adeptus Mechanicus within the Sector, is the Crimson Guard. A massive weapon, forged from the ranks of loyal
Skitarii, combat servitors such as the famed Spatha-pattern
creation, and skilled Secutor warriors, the Crimson Guard
is scattered across the Sector. They are deployed in units
that range in size from individual squads guarding outlying
stations to regimental combat units stationed on major bases
and fortress worlds watching over the most sensitive and
important assets of the Mechanicus. Under the auspices of
the Crimson Guard within the Lathes System itself are units
that have not actually been contained within the standard
chain of command for centuries, including the Brazen Guard Praetorii. Ostensibly, the Crimson Guard serves the Lathe-Covenant first and foremost, but the reality is much more complex than this, with various commanders and Arch-Magi commanding the fealty of various units and divisions,
including the Grandmaster of the Legio Venator and the
Forge Masters of the Lathes.
Within the ranks of the adepts are whispered even darker
schisms, factions whose existence sits on the shadowy border
between hearsay and legend. The implacable Lords Dragon are
said to stalk hereteks throughout the Sector, while the fabled
Acuitor Set mech-assassin cult haunts the darkest fears of the most faithful
servants of the Omnissiah. The adepts of the Ordo Reductor,
in their blood-red robes, threaten destruction to any who stand
against the Covenant, while the adepts of the Hippocrasian Agglomeration are said to study life to the very edge of death and beyond.
Many other cabals, more sinister or mysterious, lurk around the
edges of rumor and innuendo, shaping the relationships and
patterns of fealty within the Lathes System like the violent and
incomprehensible shears of local gravity.
The current balance of power within the Lathes System
is difficult to decipher, even to those adepts who must daily
contend with it. Nominally standing atop the furiously
burning forges of the Adeptus Mechanicus in the Calixis
Sector is High Fabricator Castellar, ruling from the forge-temples
of Lathe-Het and leading the adepts of the Lathe-Covenant as the first among equals, for the greater glory
of the Omnissiah. However, tensions abound between the
Fabricator General and his deputy, Arch-Magos Ralwure the Golden.
While the bureaucracy of the Covenant grows and grasps for
power in pursuit of the quotas and production levels of their
past, Forge Master Janden Samekh Alpha of Lathe-Hesh also
burns with indignation at this betrayal of the foundational
ethics of the Mechanicus. And over all, lies the eerie stillness
of Lathe-Hadd, the Silent Forge, where political conflict has
forced nearly every factory and workshop on the planet to
fall still, waiting for a revelation that refuses to arrive.
==Taming of the Lathes==
“We have before us the rawest of diamonds, my brothers. But with the diligence and dedication you have shown in all things, this system will soon be the most glorious jewel in the crown of the Mechanicus Calixis.”
–Arch-Magos Mat Aleph Xenon addressing the first Conclave of the Lathe-Covenant
For their assistance in the prosecution of the Angevin
Crusade, the Adeptus Mechanicus was gifted with the
Pondus Impare system, eventually renamed the Lathe
Worlds. It was in this system that three ancient Fabricator
ships were sacrificed to the war effort. The massive vessels,
constructed in the orbital shipyards around Mars thousands
of years before, had never been intended to enter a planet’s
atmosphere. However, it was decided that they would be
incapable of feeding the hunger of the Imperial war machine
if they remained in orbit. In a concerted effort involving
almost the entire Adeptus Mechanicus fleet, each of the
three primary planets received one of the priceless artefact
ships, lowered into the gravity well on the glaring plumes of
countless retro-jets and ancient gravitic plates. Immediately,
the three Fabricator ships began to construct the massive
mobile mining/factory crawlers that would harvest the
planets’ resources for the war effort.
Before the final thrust into what would one day become
the Drusus Marches, the Cynod of the Mechanicus and High
General Drusus signed the Pact of Blood and Oil, outlining
the rights and responsibilities of the forces of Mars within the
Calixis Sector in perpetuity. Ultimately, the loyal forces of the
High General, wielding weapons the Adeptus Mechanicus
of the Pondus System provided for them, were able to defeat
the enemies of the Imperium. The three planets, each housing
an irreplaceable artefact of the Dark Age of Technology, had
churned out enough weapons, machines of war, and ammunition
to drown the enemies of Man. The surface of each planet had
been scoured clean in the endeavor, the crawling manufactories
chewing through the land and transforming it into the materials
of war. More and more advanced factories, warehouses,
templums, and hab-blocks grew across the planets as the skeletal
structures of true forge worlds were laid down in concentric
circles around each of the grounded Fabricator ships.
The effort of transforming the Lathe Worlds into their
present forge world status was the work of many centuries.
Layer by layer, building by building, the planets evolved. The
viscera of pipelines, tram-tracks, and transportation tunnels
were laid amidst the bones of evolving infrastructure. Higher
and higher into the darkening atmosphere rose towering
structures, the Cog Mechanicus glaring down from scaffold-enshrouded
factories, research facilities, and worshipping
centers alike. Carbon poisons saturated atmospheres as the
native inhabitants migrated into sealed habitats beneath the
surfaces of the planets, or slowly died of stubborn pride. As
the Lathes System developed, so too did the Mechanicus
holdings throughout the newborn Calixis Sector.
Surveyor maniples conducted an exhaustive survey of the
entire system. Each item found within was assayed for its
best value to the efforts of the Mechanicus, assigned relevant
resources, and the taming of the Lathes begun. Harbinger
stations and Scrutinatus platforms were pushed throughout
the system. In the earliest days thousands of adepts died
studying the system’s star and watching over the entangled
loops of the intertwining asteroid belts. Many more adepts
perished in the efforts to catalogue the system, but centuries
of disasters, looting, misfiling, and simple neglect means that
only the most cursory reports survive.
Several strange, notable anomalies can still be found in the
data remnants kept deep beneath the Nidus Omega on Lathe-Het. Records show several celestial bodies that apparently no
longer exist, but are referenced in several different entries, such as
an entire cometary fragment, originally of some importance, that
was either misidentified or mislabeled and thus lost to the mists
of time. A legion of blank-faced servitors bears the responsibility
of digging through these partial data scraps in the incense-laced
darkness of the Elogium beneath the Nidus. The efforts of these
fallen servants is tireless, and yet the High Fabricator and his
fellow Forge Masters hold little hope to see more than a single
reconstituted datum over the course of a lifetime.
One of the most infamous info-gaps is that there are
no early records to show the existence of the planet now
designated Cella. Because of the partial nature of the records,
it is impossible to know if Cella was, in fact, present all along,
or whether those early adepts, who struggled to bring an entire
system into the Mechanicus fold, actually constructed it. Several
archaeological expeditions have been suggested, but the High
Fabricators have denied every request for time or resources
throughout the millennia. If the rocky bones of a natural planet
are present, however, there is no way to tell now without such
an effort. Layer after layer of storage space, warehouses, stasis-vaults,
and data-tombs have accumulated over the entire planet’s
surface and deep into its mantle and core as well. Most adepts
merely assume that it is an artificial construct, taking pride in
the Mechanicus Calixis and its ability to craft worlds out of
nothingness. Those few outsiders who have visited the system,
however, often express serious doubt that a planet nearly the
size of Terra itself could have been constructed artificially.
One of the most important mandates delivered to the
legions of adepts reforming the system was the need for
the Adeptus Mechanicus within the Lathes System to be as
independent as possible. This was a policy dictated from the
high towers of Mars itself, despite the close ties between
the Imperium and the Mechanicus. To this end, the adepts
instituted a web of life that stretched across the system,
connecting those few regions of stable gravity to each other
with a pipeline of transportation routes, agrodome stations,
and transfer points, that would ensure that all the Omnissiah’s
servants requiring food would have it, without the need for
importation from Imperial worlds. The Rustica Mandate
required the largest deployment of independent stations in
the system, and is one of the most ambitious engineering feats
to be seen throughout the Lathe Worlds.
Working outward from the Lumen Stations, which keep a
constant watch over the fluctuating energy waves of their sun,
legions of adepts struggled diligently to harness the system and
make it their own. It was the work of several decades to anchor
the Sagitarium Stations above Desideratum. Myrmidons of the
Ordo Reductor, working closely with a host of war sages and
Secutors, labored tirelessly to hang these stations and their
lesser cousins around the desert planet. For nearly two thousand
years now, every form of weapon known to man has punished
the planet’s surface, scattering hab-sized shell casings, re-entry
shafts miles deep, and other gigantic wreckage across the
empty wastes. Rumors occasionally surface of strange artefacts
blasted up out of the planet’s crust, but the Factors of the High
Fabricator quickly dispel them, as all official records declare
that there was never any xenos presence within the system.
Even as the rest of the system took shape, a shell of stations
was constructed at the margins to present an amicable façade
to the rest of the Sector. These Excipio Stations also provided
a convenient cover for massive defensive works, a first line
of defense should the need ever arise. An army of workers
built these dual purpose stations, primarily servitors who
were immediately repurposed or destroyed outright once the
stations were complete. The Excipio Stations now provide an
elaborate mask of unity and friendship while defending the
system from unwanted scrutiny or encroachment.
The skeletal structures of the docks, floating in high
anchor around the three Lathes, were among the first works
to be completed. When the system was young and the Calyx
Expanse not yet fully tamed, Explorator fleets were seen as an
essential adjunct to the Lathes System’s responsibilities. Even
after the formation of the Calixis Sector, the support and
coordination of these fleets was seen as vital to the directives of
the Mechanicus Calixis. Vast Explorator fleets are still regularly
sent forth into the Koronus Expanse and beyond after ancient
treasures and undiscovered phenomena to further the Quest
for Knowledge. The history of the Lathes overflows with
celebrated Explorators, among them Secutor Josefus Sendar Ion the Bloody and the tragic figure of Magos Jonwa Kline, lost
beyond the Rifts of Hecaton over three centuries ago. The most
famous, of course, is Arch-Magos Paracelsus Thule himself.
Often these Explorator fleets carry with them sacred
archeotech and other technologies not available to the average
run of humanity. The launching of such a fleet is an delicate
and momentous event, and the adepts of the Lathes treat is as
such. When the flagship Sacred Wheel of Certainty was launched
in M41.721, over a hundred thousand Lathesmasters attended,
singing in binary cant as the enormous ship slid out of its
cradle and into orbit around Lathe-Het. Massive atmosphere-scrubbers
cleaned a path through the pollution at that moment,
so that as a billion arc-torches lit the darkness and flocks of
candle-bearing cherubs filled the skies, those on the surface
were able to witness the departure of the enormous vessel.
Over hundreds of years the Lathes System transformed
itself into one of the most important Mechanicus holdings in
the entire quadrant. The shaping and development has never
stopped, however, and the system has continued to be crafted,
wrought, and changed down through the years to fit the shifting
priorities of Forge Masters as they come and go. Currently,
the Lathes are enduring a tumultuous period of confusion,
conspiracy, and deceit, but undoubtedly they will arise stronger
than before; the consequences, if not, are too horrible for even
the logic-engines of the Covenant to conceive.
==The Rule of Iron Law==
The Lathe Worlds comprise every planet the Mechanicus claim
rule over within the
borders of the Calixis Sector and beyond
into the Koronus Expanse (though the latter is without any
Imperial recognition, given the nature of that lawless region).
The challenges of leading such a diverse and individualistic
group as the adepts
of the Omnissiah are manifold, ranging
from the eternal
problems of void communication and transportation, to
the more insidious issues of oversight and tech-heresy. Over
time, an elaborate structure has evolved within the rigid
confines of the Pact of Blood and Oil to assist the Lathe-Covenant in managing its holdings.
The Lathe-Covenant requires a careful balance between three
distinctly seperate offices: the High Fabricator of the Lathes, the
High Council of the Arch-Magos, and the Consilium Magos.
The High Council is a small cabal of Arch-Magos drawn from all
the Lathe Worlds, responsible for every facet of production in the
Mechanicus Calixis. The Consilium Magos, on the other hand,
is a much larger body, again made up of adepts from throughout
the Lathe Worlds. It is the duty of the Consilium to interface
with outside agencies of power such as the Sector Governor’s
council and the Holy Ordos. The Consilium hears petitions from
these bodies, analyses their cases, and then advises the High
Council. Ancillary to these assemblies are the Magos Vagus, the
remaining magos in the Sector. Any magos may attend Covenant
session, call for a hearing before the High Council, or request an
audience with the High Fabricator, although this will most likely
be denied unless they are able to pique his interest.
In theory, the Lathe-Covenant is independent of the High
Fabricator, and he, in turn, is only one among equals within the
High Council. However, over the past several hundred years, the
balance of power has slowly shifted away from the Covenant
and into the hands of the High Fabricator, effectively anointing
him, unofficially, as the sole ruler of the Lathe Worlds and
marking the Covenant as little more than an advisory body.
==The Lathes System==
“The Lathes would present a solid-seeming veil of common purpose to the Calixis Sector at large, but their fractured reality is far from the monolithic, unified face they project to all outsiders.”
–Margrave Francesca Gryval, First Imperial Consul to the Lord Sector Calixis
The Sentanim system is home to much more than the
Lathes themselves. Veiled in mystery, the aberrant nature
of space and time itself protect secretive adepts as they
pursue their manifold projects and agendas, far from the prying
eyes of outsiders. Should an agent manage to pierce the security
of the outer system, they find gravity itself turned against them,
as local special anomalies make it almost impossible to navigate
without inside aid. Gravitic shears and storms, congested lanes
of transport tying each planet or region tightly together, and
the countless assorted detritus and debris of two thousand
years of expansion clutter the system further, forming a nearly
insurmountable maze to any outsider attempting to enter.
*Lathe-Hadd
*Lathe-Hesh
*Lathe-Het
*Sentanim
*Desideratum
*Cella
*Lycosidae
*Rusica Mandate Stations
*Praeclusio Anchor Points
*Lathe Belts
*Excipio Stations
*Panopticon Station
==The Lathe Worlds==
The Lathes System is the undisputed centre of the Cult
Mechanicus within the Calixis Sector, the font of all
blessed technology in this region. The rule of the Adeptus
Mechanicus reaches far beyond this one system, though, to
hundreds of planets, thousands of orbitals and research stations,
and unknown numbers of Explorator vessels across the region
and beyond. They are all still collectively known as the Lathe
Worlds, those places where the Mechanicum holds sway or owns
outright. Most are huge industrial forge worlds, generating giga-tonnes
of material to drive the Calixis Sector from one day to the
next, and fuelling the colossal war effort of the Spinward Front
and its other battles across the region. Others range from isolated
research facilities, orbital void stations, and far-flung Explorator
fleets, to data-crypt worlds, failed experimental colonies, and other
unique emplacements. Outsiders assume each is under the firm
control of the Lathes, all part of a sector-wide, singular machine
of unified thought dedicated to the Glory of the Omnissiah. Like
many other such beliefs concerning the Adeptus Mechanicus
within the Sector, they are woefully ignorant of the actual truth.
The various sub-factions underneath the Lathe-Covenant
councils oversee the administration of the various Mechanicum
holdings across the Sector. Areas that entire manufactorums once
occupied on Lathe-Het are now devoted to such bureaucratic
functions, something that has become a strongly fractious point
within the higher ranking Magos-sects. Here the obsessive zeal
for gathering and recording data most lower Tech-Adepts display
has gone unchecked, creating endless information tombs for the
reports, directives, proclamations, regulations, and other records
each world generates, as well as those heavily edited Praecursator
Grid monitor-streams that filter down to this level. So much data
is gathered and kept that it has become impossible to perform any
meaningful analysis or even organization, as the Lexmechanics
struggle just to
sort and file
the incoming waves of
information that unceasingly
crash over
them. Bands
of servitors mindlessly
ferry
data-stacks
across the planet,
weaving patterns
of information
like ant-trails, the
goal of preserving
ancient knowledge
more
important than
actually utilizing it.
Adepts watching over their worlds furiously construct new
datum-vaults to contain it all, each quarrelling with each other
over the relative importance of their charges and the data they
generate. Massive shrine-vaults score the surface, devoted to
the premier forge worlds or research facilities, some so layered
in consecryptions that few, if any, are able to gain access.
Many other vaults fall into disrepair as rival Adepts re-route
their maintenance servitors to other repositories, or are even
razed to make room for more privileged or powerful monitor-sects.
Other crypts are destroyed in deliberate data-purges after
regime changes in the ruling councils, or razed as their worlds
are condemned for harboring tech-heresies. More still simply
fall to the predations of time and are forgotten, eventually
collapsing into dusty ruin and destroying centuries of history.
This is but a fraction of the difficulties the Lathes face. Just
as Holy Terra and the Administratum nominally oversee the
Imperium, a surely impossible task considering the difficulties
of reliable Astropathic communication and Warp travel, so the
Lathes also strive but fail to control their own empire within
the Sector. Even with perfect monitoring, understanding, and
compliance, the Lathe Worlds would be ungovernable.
Often, change happens faster than the Lathes can react or
plan. Planets revolt to overthrow their Tech-Priest masters,
to be crushed into subservience or reborn as hostile regimes.
Records of entire systems are lost in data-quakes, their existence
erased and their oaths of knowledge-tithes forgotten. Tech-heresies
fester across the Sector only to burst like rotten fruit,
despoiling the minds of once-loyal Mechanicum servants against
the Omnissiah’s proper worship. Explorator fleets vanish from
Imperial space, never to be seen again or worse to return with
unholy technologies and heretical xenos wisdom. Commonly
punitive fleets arrive to correct wayward Lathe Worlds, only
to find their target long since destroyed, absorbed into a rival
Calixian sect, reformed in their ways, or simply no longer
where the outdated records indicated it should be. Astropathic
communications between the Lathes and their dominions go
unheeded, misinterpreted, or simply ignored. This is exacerbated
as the Lathe-Covenants and the Astropathic Choirs of Lathe-Het
hold each other in barely restrained contempt for the dogmatic,
outdated, and inefficient belief-patterns the other holds. Even
with the mysterious Praecursator Grid aiding their efforts,
and frequent loyalty programming engram-branded into their
servants, the Arch-Magos of the Lathes are often only able to
give the illusion of oversight and control over their worlds.
So it is that the Lathes turn, striving in their impossible goal
of perfect control over their dominions within the Calixis Sector.
The great cogwheel of the Opus Machina is raised upon all of the
worlds, yet it is in actuality a mere symbol of unity for the Cult
Mechanicus. The Magos of the Lathes issue decrees and orders
to their charges, designed to enforce the tenets of the Machine
God the prosperity of the Mechanicum, with enough power
behind their binary directives to encourage compliance. These
orders are followed, ignored, lost in Astropathic translation,
misunderstood, or transformed into myth, depending on the
recipients. The sheer inertia of these processes maintains much
of this Empire of the Machine in the Calixis Sector through the
millennia, its massive geared teeth grinding endlessly, but with
each year wearing away more and more.
Category:Adeptus Mechanicus
Category:Systems
Category:Calixis Sector
Category:Golgenna Reach
==History==
The birth of the Lathe Worlds began with the birth of the
Calixis Sector itself, during the Angevin Crusade. A memorable
amalgamation of brilliant victory and tragic setback, the
Crusade set out in the fourth century of the 39th Millennium
to conquer the region then known as the Calyx Expanse.
Praetor Golgenna Angevin was placed at the head of this grand
military force consisting of millions of loyal Imperial souls, and
directed his efforts to cleanse the Calyx Expanse from debased
human cultures and several minor xenos cultures that opposed
the Emperor’s glory. Angevin’s remit was to purge the Expanse
of these obstacles to pave the way for Imperial colonization.
Naturally, such a prospect intrigued the Tech-Priesthood of
Mars, and a sizable contingent of Adeptus Mechanicus forces
accompanied the Crusade.
The Angevin Crusade (322.M39)
Lord Militant Angevin’s grand strategy included a sweep
through the Calyx Expanse on two fronts, pushing the
enemies of the Emperor who chose flight over destruction
before him, and then trapping them all together in the
Adrantis Region. Here, the full power of the Crusade would
come crashing down in one masterstroke. Ahead of the forces
of the Lord Militant raced a score of ships, such as Rogue
Traders vessels and the Explorator fleets of the Adeptus
Mechanicus. These ships helped identify potential targets and
scouted enemy strongholds for the more powerful naval units
arriving in their wake. At the sharp end of Angevin’s thrust
into the Calyx Expanse, these Rogue Trader and Explorator
fleets saw furious action on a regular basis. Acts of heroism
and sacrifice were common, and on many occasions, the Lord
Militant acknowledged that his decisive successes would have
been impossible without the services and sacrifices of these
irregular forces. The glory the Explorator Fleets gained in
these actions helped set the Adeptus Mechanicus a position
of honor in the Calixis Sector for centuries to come.
Conquering Adrantis (359-369.M39)
The first actions of the Crusade proceeded exactly as planned
by the Lord Militant, and the greater part of the Calyx Expanse
had been brought under the control of the Imperium in a few
short decades. Unfortunately, after the enormous successes of
these early phases, the commanders in charge of the final push
into the Adrantis region failed to make allowances for the
desperation of foes pushed to the very edge of extinction.
The Crusade’s offensive ground to a bloody halt, and
Imperial forces suffered far more grievous losses in four years
than had been inflicted during the first two decades of the
Crusade’s advance. These losses were so devastating that the
Lord Militant was obliged to order his forces to regroup in
defensive positions within the Golgenna Reach.
Shaken by the defeat, Lord Militant Angevin abdicated
command of the Crusade to a council of his generals as he
himself went into seclusion to mourn. Lacking coherent
leadership, the council of generals began to quarrel over
the authority that the Lord Militant set aside. The Adeptus
Mechanicus forces accompanying the Crusade considered
their agreements to lie with the Lord Militant, and held
themselves apart from these squabbles for power.
The situation worsened as the enemies of Mankind began to
exploit areas thought safely subdued; ravaging warbands of Orks,
the Warp-worshipping Yu’vath race, and a mysterious group of
shadowy, xenos pirate raiders were amongst the greatest of these
opportunistic enemies that threatened the Crusade’s flanks.
When it seemed that the Crusade was on the verge of
losing all the territory gained by Lord Militant Angevin,
command of the main Crusade was seized by Lord General Drusus. A leading personality amongst the followers of the
Lord Militant, Drusus was a popular and gifted commander,
and he organized a daring series of counter-attacks that
pushed the enemy forces back long enough for the Crusade
to gather its considerable strength. Drusus’ strength of
character was apparent to the Adeptus Mechanicus forces,
and they swiftly agreed to lend their forces to his command.
Once more, the Rogue Trader dynasties and the Explorator
fleets of the Mechanicus led the way for the redeployment
and reinforcement of the Crusade’s offensives.
Dawn of the Lathes (380.M39)
The Adrantis region was finally subdued through great acts of
velour and much struggle. The victory could not have been assured
without the assistance of the Adeptus Mechanicus. A major force
under the leadership of Arch-Magos Mat Aleph Xenon turned the
tide, and in gratitude, High General Drusus signed a pact with the
Adeptus Mechanicus ceding control of several worlds in the Sector
to the Tech-Priesthood of Mars. These worlds included Hadd,
Het, and Hesh, a trio of worlds that were declared unsuitable for
other Imperial agencies due to the unusual gravimetric effects of
the system upon all three planets.
The effort of transforming the Lathe Worlds into their present
forge world status was the work of many centuries. Layer by
layer, building by building, the planets evolved. The bones of
infrastructure were joined by a viscera of pipelines, tram-tracks,
and transportation tunnels. Soaring into the atmosphere rose
the towering structures of the Adeptus Mechanicus, its cog-wheeled
iconography glaring down from scaffold-enshrouded
factories, research facilities, and transmat altars alike. As the
Lathe Worlds and their system developed, so too did the
Mechanicus holdings throughout the newborn Calixis Sector.
The Praecursator Aftermath (580.M39)
Two centuries after the establishment of the Lathe Worlds, the
system was only partially tamed and the far-flung holdings
of the Adeptus Mechanicus were still in the turbulent process
of consolidation. It was then that the fledging Calixis Sector
was thrown into violent disarray. A conspiracy soon emerged
that reached tendrils into many different power bases, from
the Governor’s Council to the Imperial Guard. Even the
Adeptus Mechanicus and the Inquisition were not spared. The
ultimate goal of the conspiracy was never revealed (although
it is rumored that entire data-vaults in the Tricorn contain
detailed theories and evidence), but what is known is that the
conspiracy centered around a group of agents known only as
the Praecursators. According to official reports, no upper level
members of the conspiracy were captured alive. Agents of the
Praecursators had infiltrated their target organizations at the
highest levels, which meant that rooting out the conspiracy
was extremely difficult, even after the agents were discovered.
An uneasy alliance of mid-level Administratum functionaries,
Adepts, and specialists from the various infiltrated groups was
formed and tasked with tracking down the Praecursators,
isolating them from their power base, and then taking them
into custody. The Adeptus Mechanicus was essential to this
effort, providing transportation, cogitator support, data-sifting,
and tailored meme-viruses to help root out the Praecursators.
Ultimately, the Tech-Priests of the Lathes concluded that
a rogue Inquisitor Lord was at the heart of the conspiracy,
although much suspicion was also cast upon sects of the
Mechanicum as well, due to the heretical tech-rituals the
Praecursators’ activities displayed.
The Praecursators had gone to great lengths to isolate the
command structures of the Sector governance from several
key Mechanicus facilities. Theories amongst the Lathes
suspect that the conspirators were attempting to preserve
these facilities for general use by Calixian citizens. This
populist element of the conspiracy was particularly abhorrent
to all of the affected organizations.
In the years following the unravelling of the conspiracy, the
Fabricators of the Lathe Worlds bent every effort to lessen the
strength of the Inquisition, within the Calixis Sector in general
and over the holdings of the Mechanicus in particular. A great
deal of infighting arose from the collapse of the Praecursator
plot, and the Arch-Magos of the Lathe-Covenant demanded
that the Sector Governor cede control of the planet Synford.
Since then, Synford has become the primary producer of
Baneblade super-heavy tanks for the Sector.
Despite the ancient nature of the plot, there is still lingering
ill will among some members of the Inquisition who trace their
ideological roots back to the lords and masters of that earlier
time. Some Inquisitors still hold suspicions that the entire plot
originated in the Lathe Worlds, in an effort to consolidate and
expand their control within the Calixis Sector. Centuries after
the end of the conspiracy, reports from the Inquisition claimed
that the Praecursators eventually evolved into a particular cult
of tech-heresy known as the Logicians.
The War of Brass (738-740.M40)
Over a thousand years after the initial founding of the
Lathe Covenant, the hive worlds of the Gelmiro Cluster fell
into apostasy. Their leader in this descent into heresy was a
charismatic ruler who called himself the Emperor of Brass. This
mysterious figure led his followers into the foul worship of the
Ruinous Powers. Loyal to the Emperor of Brass, frenzied fanatics
from the wealthy and powerful worlds of the Gelmiro Cluster
murdered every functionary of the Adeptus Administratum,
ritually desecrating the bodies of the fallen. Significant portions
of the affected planetary populations accompanied their new
overlords into treachery beyond redemption.
Dissatisfied with holding the powerful worlds of the Gelmiro
Cluster in his augmented fist, the Emperor of Brass sponsored
bloody uprisings on several other nearby worlds. Soon after,
a full-scale rebellion threatened the wider Calixis Sector. The
death toll continued to rise as he publicly tortured and executed
loyal Imperial servants and citizens. The Sector Governor was
forced to call upon all available forces to stem the bloody
tide. From across the Calixis Sector and beyond, loyal units
converged upon the Gelmiro Cluster. These Imperial forces
first pushed through the neighboring regions, and crushed
the nascent rebellions there with heartless efficiency. Amongst
these forces that rose to answer the Governor’s call were several
battle Titans of the Legio Venator, and an entire Explorator
fleet with support from the mysterious Ordo Reductor.
The campaign against the Emperor of Brass and his
burgeoning rebellion, known as the War of Brass, lasted
just over three years, but even in that short time the fighting
proved especially vicious. In the end, several companies
of Space Marines were needed to reduce the final hives
to rubble. In the final, desperate battles at the heart of the
Gelmiro Cluster, several records were discovered hinting
that support and reinforcement had been supplied directly
from the Eye of Terror itself, linking the Emperor of Brass
to far more dangerous threats.
At the end of the conflict, the once-rich worlds of the
Gelmiro Cluster had been reduced to smoking remnants of
ruin and shame. Many planetary populations had become
nothing more than scav-mutants, doomed to wander across
the devastated wastes, surviving off the rotting remains of
their once-great civilizations. The Imperial agencies of the
Calixis Sector avoid the haunted worlds of the Cluster, now
classified as war worlds, to this day.
The Iron Wall of Silence Descends (740.M40)
The Calixian Mechanicus forces suffered staggering losses during
the War of Brass. In the end, the battlefields of the Gelmiro
Cluster were strewn with countless corpses of Skitarii and the
scattered remains of many more combat servitors. Indeed, so
high was the cost that the High Fabricator of the Lathes, Arch-Magos Kovikal Quietus, declared the imposition of the “The Iron
Wall of Silence,” a steadfast rule of segregation from all other
groups within the Calixis Sector. From that point onwards, any
cooperation, beyond minimal requirements of existing pacts,
were strictly forbidden in an effort to preserve the Calixian
Mechanicus forces and allow for a period of rebuilding.
The Meritech Wars (211-226.M41)
Roughly five centuries after the final collapse of the Emperor
of Brass and the scouring of the Gelmiro Cluster, a far more
insidious danger arose from the Merates Clans. Rebelling
against the Imperium of Mankind, the Clans drew many
renegades and other malcontents to their cause. They declared
independence from the Imperium, and began a systemic series
of raids and heavier incursions into surrounding Imperial
space, threatening both the Calixis and Ixaniad Sectors. At
the height of the conflict, the very survival of both sectors
was thrown into doubt as the seeds of rebellion and anarchy
were sown far and wide by the forces of the Merates Clans.
Such confusion and violent resentment was unleashed
throughout the regions afflicted by the Clans that civil war
threatened to soak both sectors in blood. Production across the
affected regions ground to a halt, as those who were not dragged
into the conflict withdrew to defend their holdings and hope for
intervention. Trust was an impossible hope in the wake of the
Clans’ attacks, as entire populations that had seemed docile and
loyal for generations rose up to support the rebels.
When all appeared lost to those loyal few who remained
within the beleaguered systems, the leadership of now-legendary
Calixis Sector Governor Myram Harvala surged to
the rescue. A coalition of forces brought together from across
the Calixis and Ixaniad Sectors swept into the advancing rebels
along multiple fronts, crushing their forces and knocking their
reserves back into the Merates Cluster. Imperial Guard, Imperial
Navy, Adeptus Astartes, and Inquisition forces ground the
opposition to tatters as they pushed them deeper and deeper
into the heart of the now defunct rebellion. With victory all
but assured, the High Fabricator of the Lathes, Forge Master
Kovikal Quietus, sent three full Explorator fleets directly from
the Lathe System. The centuries-old Iron Wall of Silence was
finally broken, without prior notification or coordination. The
Explorator fleets, with support from the Legio Venator, were at
the forefront of the purification of the Merates Cluster. From
that point on, there was no mercy and no quarter. Entire worlds
were cleansed with weapons of such enormous destructive
power that many of the planets were shattered into asteroids.
By the time the forces of the Imperium and the Mechanicus
were finished sweeping through the Merates Cluster, not a
planet remained that had not been scoured of all life.
A thorough Inquisitorial investigation was conducted after
Sector Governor Harvala declared the rebellion at an end.
While laudable, the brutal zeal with which the forces of the
Imperium, and the Adeptus Mechanicus in particular, had
conducted the final phases of the counter-attack, had left not a
single witness or prisoner to be questioned or paraded before
the victorious processions along the avenues of Scintilla. Even
those prisoners who had been taken prior to the arrival of the
Mechanicum’s elite Crimson Guard were eventually lost to a
rash of unusual malfunctions and sudden, mysterious deaths.
The Inquisitors exhausted all possible avenues of inquest,
and soon followed whispered rumors of the Logician
Tech-Heresy to the very doorstep of the Lathe System
itself. However, rather than cooperate with the forces of the
Governor, Fabricator Davos Phar responded with a brittle
show of icy indifference, imperiously dismissive of the
envoys’ requests, and accused the Inquisitors, their masters,
and the very Sector Governor himself of blatant disrespect
and towering hubris. Referring to them as “the miserable curs
of a thankless master”, the Fabricator ordered the frontiers
of the Lathe System and all other Adeptus Mechanicus
holdings in the Calixis Sector closed, and all the force at
the Fabricator’s disposal was bent to keep outsiders from
penetrating the sovereign territory of the Omnissiah. The
ancient Iron Wall of Silence was re-instituted, and stood again
unbroken for over five hundred years with brief exceptions,
until the Malygrisian Tech-Heresy erupted across the Calixis
Sector, forcing the Adeptus Mechanicus once again into the
affairs of the Sector at large.
The Second Siege of Vaxanide (507.M41)
Three centuries passed after the conclusion of the Meritech
Wars and the re-establishment of the Iron Wall of Silence
before the forces of the Lathes once again ventured forth,
answering the call of the Sector Governor to stop the incursion
of the Ork-infested space hulk Pinnacle of Savagery. Ninety
years earlier, a similar attack had cost the system greatly, and
the lack of response from the Lathes lessened their standings
amongst the notable rulers of the Sector. In response to this
fall from grace, and its attendant loss in trading status and
support, the Calixian Mechanicus sent out two full Explorator
fleets to assist Battlefleet Calixis in facing the Ork menace.
The Pinnacle of Savagery and its supporting fleet were met
at the edge of the Vaxanide system. A dramatic battle ensued
as the massive space hulk pushed deeper and deeper into
the system towards planets that still bore the scars from the
earlier Ork assault. The loyal ships of the Battlefleet Calixis
Squadrons peeled away attending Ork vessels from the
enormous space hulk and defeated them in detail. Meanwhile,
the brutal weapons of the Ordo Reductor and the Explorator
fleets pounded into the space hulk itself, ultimately shattering
the vessel’s spine and spilling its vile contents into the void.
The danger to the system was not yet halted, however, as
the significant chunks of the space hulk continued to hurtle
through space towards the vulnerable planet. Again the Adeptus
Mechanicus moved to intervene, putting lives and ships at
great risk to slow the wreckage down, and ultimately bring it
to a halt. However, when the ranking admiral of the Battlefleet
suggested that any intact wreckage be destroyed, Arch-Magos
Haverill Gemm, commander of the Mechanicus forces, denied
the request, and the remains were claimed for the Lathe Worlds
as recompense. With no further consultation of the Imperial
Navy, the Explorator fleets secured several ships to each chunk
of wreckage, fired their engines, and brought the largest sections
back to the Lathe System for reasons unknown. The Imperial
Navy, concerned that xenos hostiles might still pose a threat,
lodged several complaints against this action, to no avail.
The disposition of any salvage from the Pinnacle of Savagery
was never released, and its present location is listed as “unknown”
in all Administratum sources. Though ancient treaties grant the
Mechanicum rights to new technological discoveries, claiming
the hulk while it still was categorized as a threat was singularly
uncommon in the Sector. Many amongst the Inquisition and
Imperial Navy suspect that the Calixian Mechanicus had planned
all along to secure the space hulk’s secrets for themselves.
The Malygrisian Tech-Heresy (742-770.M41)
In the middle of the seventh century of M41, the insular and
isolationist Calixian Mechanicus was again thrust into the spotlight
when one of their own turned violently, irrevocably renegade and
dragged the Lathe Worlds into a sector-wide path of carnage.
Explorator Arch-Magos Umbra Malygris was a militant
renowned for his dedication to the destructive potential
of technology. Malygris devoted decades to studying the
weapons and munitions of bygone eras, poring for years
over ancient tomes and datastacks of ancient and suspect
provenance. A devotee of the Divine Light of Sollex, the
Arch-Magos attracted many of the most gifted weaponsmiths
and researchers under the aegis of his organization. Leery of
the growing popularity of the militant adept, High Fabricator Castellar moved to sanction Malygris and attempted to break
up the cabal he had surrounded himself with, fearing a
recurrence of the False Fabricator affair several decades earlier.
However, Malygris refused to relinquish any of his power,
and declared Castellar as nothing more than an “ineffectual
bureaucrat.” Thus, the stage was set for a massive conflict that
would reach across the breadth of the Calixian Mechanicus.
Castellar attempted to use the Forge Guard to force
compliance upon the errant Arch-Magos. However, bizarre
system failures and binary invert-afflictions---themselves
creations of the inventive and insane mind of Malygris---rendered even the vaunted and mighty Forge Guard ineffectual.
Warned of the imminent attack, Malygris fled the Lathe
System with a fully provisioned Explorator fleet containing
vast amounts of research, ancient weapons, and blasphemous
examples of his own tech-craft. A surprising number of
Tech-Adepts rose up in support of Malygris, swayed by his
charismatic data-cants and heretical approach to advancing
technology. As a result, many of the ongoing works of the
Calixian Mechanicus became abandoned, threatening a full
dogmatic schism within the Lathe Worlds and the far-flung
holdings of the Omnissiah’s Cult.
Aware of the danger posed to the entire Calixis Sector
by the renegade Arch-Magos and his deluded followers, the
High Fabricator formally declared Malygris and all who
obeyed him as Apostate in the eyes of the Omnissiah. Next,
Castellar contacted Lord Sector Marius Hax upon Scintilla,
and requested assistance. This unprecedented outreach from
the formerly isolationist Mechanicus quickly drew Hax’s
attention to Malygris’ threat. Convinced of the seriousness of
the situation, Hax used his influence to dispatch several major
concentrations of Battlefleet Calixis to assist in the search
for the missing Explorator fleet. No less than five full battle
groups of ships, comprising both loyalist Explorator vessels
and detachments of the Imperial Navy, formed the pursuit of
the heretical Arch-Magos. Malygris and his followers fled to
the furthest reaches of the Sector, always managing to stay at
least one step ahead of his pursuers. Along the way, Malygris
tested his research and weapons systems in a series of attacks
that laid waste to several planets in his path rimwards towards
the Halo Stars. Malygris and his followers subjected Xeiros Prime, Loss, and world-designate MMX215 to terrifying
experiments. Orbital apostasic arrays drove entire planets into
raving insanity. Bio-forged horrors stalked formerly-bountiful
wastelands, transgenic atrocities ravaged entire cities, and
enormous gene-lathes processed entire populations into
ulcerous, writhing seas of living tissue.
The renegade Arch-Magos’ pattern was broken when his
fleet arrived at Synford II. Many of his materials exhausted,
Malygris turned to raiding Mechanicus facilities to acquire
the technology and resources he needed to continue his mad
schemes. The raids were indiscriminate and widespread, and
it was the Synford system that suffered Malygris’ attentions
the most---after scouring Synford II down to bare rock for
raw materials, the renegade’s fleet bombarded the planet to
destruction, leaving only a shattered husk in their wake.
However, the Calixian Mechanicus and Battlefleet
detachments had tightened the noose. Malygris was cornered
at the edge of the Synford system, caught between the
advancing Mechanicus Explorator fleets and the flanking
Imperial Navy detachments. At the forefront of the assault
was High Fabricator Castellar’s flagship, Iron Promise. One of
the Adeptus Mechanicus’ few true battleships, Iron Promise
was a heavy combat vessel bearing a proud and long lineage.
Malygris’ fleet opened fire, attempting to overwhelm Iron
Promise with a storm of macrocannon batteries and lance
weapons. However, Castellar’s vessel had been retrofitted with
several unusual devices of war from the High Fabricator’s
personal vaults, and it was the blessings of these modifications
that granted the mighty ship a chance to survive the attack.
Void shields shorted out one after the other, and the massive
vessel trembled under repeated hammer blows of nova cannon
fire. Reeling in flames, with several decks exposed to the void,
the ship seemed nearly crippled, but Iron Promise had finally
reached optimal range for its killing blow.
The jutting prow split like a blossoming flower and gaped
wide, exposing an enormous weapon that rapidly gathered
corposant energy from the system’s sun. In moments, Iron Promise
struck back with one final, searing blast of unspeakable power
and blinding light. The weapon’s scything beam engulfed the
enemy fleet and shattered all but the largest ships in one blow.
The battle did not last much longer, as the Imperial Navy
and the Mechanicus fleets ruthlessly destroyed any surviving
enemy ships---including any intact pieces of debris large
enough to support survivors. With a curt message of gratitude
to the Imperial Navy, Castellar and his forces turned about
and headed for their home port in the Lathe System.
Whilst Malygris and his followers had been decisively dealt
with in the Synford system, extensive purges of sympathizers
and secret partisans of the renegade Arch-Magos shook the
Calixian Mechanicus for years afterwards. The Divine Light of
Sollex sect was severely scrutinized, with many suspect Tech-Adepts quietly replaced and sent back to the Lathes for reindoctrination.
The taint brought through Malygris’ actions
kindled a distrust of the more militant groups of the Calixian
Mechanicus that exists to this day. Many fear that the tech-heresies
of Umbra Malygris most likely live on, hidden in
secret laboratories and locked away in dark stasis chambers
throughout the Malfian sub-sector.
==Personalities of the Lathes==
It is no accident that the Lathes are the central concentration
of authority within the Calixis Sector---the three worlds that
make up the Lathes contain the greatest Forges, the most
advanced technology, the most revered secrets of knowledge,
and the most experienced adepts of the Cult of the Machine
God. It is a truism amongst the Calixian Mechanicus that “as
go the Lathes, as goes the Sector.”
*High Fabricator Castellar
*Arch-Magos Ralwure the Golden
==Power Factions and Sects==
“Put three of them in a sealed chamber and you would find no less than five factions and two secret sects. I swear to you, I believe I have met Tech-Priests whose left brain and right brain belonged to two different splinter groups.”
–Rogue Trader Choras Donagal, First Trader of the Golgenna Reach
The Lathe Worlds are, in theory, one seamless, perfect
mechanism where all serve in unity of purpose under
the rule of the Lathes. On a practical level, however,
they are nothing more than a loose conglomeration of factions,
each consisting of millions of insular, isolated adepts, most far
distant from their masters. Each adept pursues their own Quest
for Knowledge with which to enrich the Omnissiah and the
greater glory of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Occasionally, they
find themselves capable of working in unison towards their
disparate goals. However, quiet often, Tech-Priests across the
Sector find themselves at odds with their brethren, with those
for whom they should maintain the highest esteem. It is in
those moments, when loyalty to the Omnissiah, loyalty to
one’s self, and loyalty to one’s faction or chosen sect collide,
that the true measure of an adept is often known.
History is replete with examples of adepts who have
pursued their own Quests for Knowledge against the better
judgment of their peers. The False Fabricator of Cyclopea
and his elaborate Servitor army, the dangerous allure of the
Pharrian Profanation, and of course, Arch-Magos Umbra Malygris
himself, all stand as ready examples of the danger that can be
posed from abjuring the teachings of the Omnissiah in favor
of personal advancement or power.
It is, therefore, extremely important for any adept entering the
crucible of the Lathes to exercise a certain amount of awareness
towards the various factions and sects that comprise the Lathes
System and the diverse feudal holdings of the Lathe Worlds.
*Lathe-Covenant
*Disciples of Thule
*Magos Fidelis
*Divine Light of Sollex
*Cult Achanum
*Alium Union
*Scions of the Iron Sphere
*Hippocrasian Agglomeration
*Ferrous Whisper
*Levelists
*Tenninites
*Aes Omnisiah
*Carnicula
==Unique Equipment==
Graviton Pulse Launcher
Thanks to the unusual gravitic phenomena that affect the Lathes,
the Calixis Mechanicus are experts in gravity manipulation, and
the Graviton Pulse Launcher represents one of the many fruits
of their expertise. Based upon the graviton gun, the launcher
projects an orb or nucleus of barely contained gravitic energy.
The orb descends rapidly, limiting its range, but once a target is
struck, the field containing the energy collapses and a vast pulse
of energy radiates outwards, violently crushing anything nearby.
Everything caught in the blast area is pressed to the ground
and must take a Hard (–20) Strength Test or be knocked
down. Being thrown to a solid surface from a standing
position and forced to the ground in this way is enough to
inflict 1d5 Impact Damage with the Primitive Quality to the
Body, although what the character or object is thrown against
and how far they fall may well make this effect far worse.
Additionally, anyone attempting to move or perform physical
actions within the blast radius for 1d5 Rounds afterwards
must first pass an Arduous (–40) Strength Test. At the GM’s
discretion, the blast may shatter brittle objects, collapse loose
flooring, rupture containment vessels, damage vehicles and
machinery, plus wreak any other havoc deemed appropriate.
Heavy, 20m, S/–/–, †, PEN —, Clip N/A, RLD N/A, Blast (6), Inaccurate, WT 24kg, Cost 4700, Extremely Rare
†See weapon entry.
Lathes Arc-Welder
Whilst not technically a weapon, this manufactorum tool
is mostly used for delicate construction work in the Lathes
system, but can easily double as an extremely dangerous
melee device. Capable of firing intense blasts of heat at
very short ranges, an arc-welder easily cuts through most
personal armor, and the resulting electrical damage to the
target can fry organs from the inside out.
Aside from its profile in melee, an arc-welder is capable
of cutting through meters of adamantine plating, up to 40
centimeters thick every minute (thinner material can be cut
through faster). Arc-welders are usually mounted on the wrist
and can rapidly extend outwards for use, making them easily
concealable. All enemy Weapon Skill Tests to Parry arc-welder
attacks suffer a –20 Penalty due to its method of operation.
Melee, 1d10+5†, E, PEN 10, Unwieldy, WT 2kg, Cost 1,700, Very Rare
†The User does not add his Strength Bonus to this weapon’s Damage.
Kronos Mk III Plasma Pistol
Class: Pistol (Plasma)
In addition to seeing military service, this sophisticated
plasma pistol is offered for sale by the Mechanicus
weaponsmiths of the Lathes at an exorbitant price for
those who wish to purchase its sacred power. Just why this
rare and potent device of the Omnissiah’s divine wrath is
available for sale while other lesser weapons are not remains
another inscrutable mystery of the Mechanicus.
The Kronos has two settings: on the maximal setting it
consumes three shots from the clip at once, and requires two
Rounds after firing to recharge.
Pistol, 30m, S/–/–, 1d10+6, E, PEN 6, Clip 10, RLD 4Full, Recharge, WT 4kg, Cost 5,000, Very Rare
Maximal: 40m, 1d10+10, E, PEN 6, Overheats, Recharge
Hyper-Density Penetrators (Ammo)
Famously nicknamed “Lathe Body-Blowers” for their
appalling effect of ploughing through vulnerable flesh, these
bullets are cast from a unique dense metal alloy only made
possible by exploiting the strange gravitational forces within
the Lathe System. Because of their great mass, they must be
propelled by a far more powerful explosive charge than a
normal round, and so are limited only to the sturdiest firearms
capable of handling them.
Effects: Reduce the base range of the weapon by half.
Increase its Penetration by 2. The weapon gains the
Tearing Quality. Finally, an average man-sized target hit
by one of these rounds must succeed on an Ordinary
(+10) Toughness Test or be knocked off its feet from
the impact.
Weapons: Hand cannons, hunting rifles, shotguns (lose the
Scatter effect), bolt pistols and boltguns (weapon Damage type changes from X to I).
Cost 100ea, Rare
Lathe Blade (Weapon Upgrade)
The astronomical and gravitic alignment of the Lathe worlds
creates the conditions for the production of metal alloys of
rare and singular properties. Such a strange metal is used to
fashion the legendary Lathe blade. So phenomenal is their
strength and structure that they can have paper thin edges
yet be flexible enough for the blade to resist breaking under
the impact of the most powerful blows, and can even be
unaffected by the devastating action of a power field. Some,
including Lord Hax himself, favor a Lathe-forged blade
over a power weapon such is their quality and repute.
Effects: A Lathe-bladed weapon loses the Primitive quality.
Increase the weapon’s Damage by 2 and its Penetration by
+3. Wielders of these weapons gain a +10 bonus on Weapon
Skill Tests. A Lathe blade cannot be destroyed by the effects
of a power field and counts as having an Armor value of
25 if directly attacked. A Lathe blade is automatically of the
Best Craftsmanship (the effects of this have already been
included in these rules). This upgrade cannot be combined
with the Mono upgrade.
Weapons: Knives, throwing knives, swords, axes and great weapons.
Cost 2,500+, Very Rare
Sky Eye
A techno-arcane device of great sophistication, a sky eye
incorporates a small hovering sphere slightly less than two
fingers wide with an elegant docking station containing a variety
of holo-display modules. The sphere scouts out a chosen area
within 15 kilometres of the docking station, a process that can
take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours depending
on the distances involved and the level of stealth asked of the
sphere component. Upon the eye’s return, the docking station
produces perfect three-dimensional holomaps of the scouted
area that can be downloaded to standard data-slates. Within
the Calixis Sector, only the Adeptus Mechanicus brethren of
the Lathes are known to be capable of producing such devices.
Rumour has it the Inquisition has access to ultra-quiet sky eyes
that incorporate camouflaging materials, which they use to
scout out the interiors of rooms and buildings before entering.
The sky eye drone is a Minuscule object that can sustain
only a single point of Damage before it is destroyed. It has the
Flyer (8) trait. Attempts to detect the sky eye either by sight or
hearing are at a –30 penalty.
Cost 1,500, WT 4kg/case, Very Rare
Lathe-pattern Refractor Field
Refractor field devices see service with highly ranked
and trusted Imperial agents of all kinds. No smaller than
a pistol ammunition clip, they disperse the energy of an
attack throughout the total area of the field effect. They are
noticeable when activated as they surround the user with a
hazy glow of light, making them easily detectible in lowlighting
or at night.
Protection Rating 30, WT 0.5kg, Very Rare
Lathe-pattern Null-blocker
These small, matte-black boxes do not attract attention.
However, they are constructed with psy-inert ceramics, and
filled with delicate circuitry that at least partially creates
the affect generated by an untouchable. They are issued to
members of the Inquisition to provide protection against
psyker and warp-spawned opponents. They can be worn
around the neck or affixed to armor, but can only shield
one person.
Null-blockers behave like any other field, except that their
field ability only applies to psychic powers. When the wearer
is affected directly by a psychic power, he may make his field
save. If he is successful, the power has no affect on him. Of
course, the field is useless against indirect attacks from psychic
powers, such as dropping a large stone on the wearer from a
great height using telekinetics.
Protection Rating 60†, WT 0.5kg, Extremely Rare
†Protects against psychic powers only.
Lathe-Pattern Power Maul
A light, slender, and elegant model of power maul, this unusual
weapon (crafted only on demand in the Calixis Sector) has a
spiked handguard and a long, straight, un-weighted haft. It
must be handled more like a sword than a club, which some
users find frustrating, and critics have labelled the weapon fussy
and difficult to master. However, the Arbitrators manning the
Precinct Fortresses of the Lathe Worlds find that the slender
profile is highly effective in the dense manufactorum corridors.
Those who take the time to familiarize themselves with the
pattern’s idiosyncrasies declare it one of the fi nest examples
of a power maul. The apparent fragility of the design is
misleading, and the versatile power field is more than capable
of inflicting the same damage against opponents as models
with a more brutal heft.
The user may switch settings once per turn as a Free Action.
This weapon is so well made and finely balanced that it adds +5
to the user’s Weapon Skill when attempting to Parry.
Low Power: Melee, 1d10-1(+SB), I, PEN 0, Shocking, WT .5kg, Cost 2,100, Very Rare
High Power: Melee, 1d10+5(+SB), I, PEN 5, Power Field, WT .5kg, Cost 2,100, Very Rare
Navitus-Pattern Percussion Mallet
Never intended for combat, the Navitus-Pattern Percussion
Mallet was designed to enhance the brute strength of the user
in any task that required a hammer—anything from beating
weld-nails to hammering dents out of hull plating. Used widely
among the menials that toil endlessly within the forges of
the Lathe Worlds, Percussion Mallets are relatively common,
although finding someone willing to sell one and risk the
Adeptus Mechanicus’ wrath is often a far harder task.
The Navitus-Pattern Percussion Mallet doubles the User’s
Strength Bonus when calculating Damage (or increases the
users Unnatural Strength multiplier by 1), and can be used
as a Thrown Weapon.
Melee, Thrown, 6m, 1d10+2†, E, PEN 5, Unwieldy, WT 4kg, Cost 3000, Rare
†See item entry for additional rules.
Core-Gel
Although the more stringent members of the Mechanicus
Priesthood consider it heretical, this transparent material is fast
becoming a necessary part of the day-to-day operations within
the Lathe Worlds. Viscous and highly conductive, core-gel acts
as a surrogate for Electoo-inducers and MIU links, giving those
who lack these forms of implants access to cogitators and datacrypts.
It is most often found on Lathe-Het, where the gel has
become almost mandatory to access the older and more decrepit
data-crypts with no longer supported interface technologies. A
character can use an application of Core-Gel to access machinery
that would otherwise require an Electro-Graft or MIU interface,
even if he does not possess these implants. Core-Gel decays
quickly, and must be cleaned away and reapplied every hour. Each
canister of core-gel contains enough for two applications.
Cost 500, Rare
Lathes Mechadendrite Stabilizers
The Lathes are known for mysterious and frequent gravity
shifts, which can overcome even experienced Tech-Priests
when they are in areas not properly shielded with additional
grav plating. Years of study indicated that replating the
myriad facilities would be impractical, so many in the far
edges of the system began surreptitiously developing a radical
mechadendrite design to aid in their work. Instead of adding
additional manipulation capabilities, pairs of gyroscopically
stabilized, heavily clawed talons can anchor a Tech-Priest
firmly onto a surface, where he can conduct his furtive
research more peacefully. Though somewhat heretical, more
and more are appearing across the Lathe Worlds.
Lathes Stabilizers require a Half Action to activate or deactivate.
Once active, if the Acolyte remains in place, he counts as being
Braced and gains the Sturdy Trait. The Acolyte also ignores
modifiers to his Movement in areas of High, Low, or Zero
Gravity and in areas with Tremors or other uncertain stability, as
well as gaining a bonus to Climb Tests. The Mechadendrite Use
(Utility) Talent applies to this Mechadendrite.
Cost 300, Adeptus Mechanicus Only
Lathe-pattern Jump Pack
Jump packs are large backpacks containing powerful turbofan
or rocket engines. A user triggers a jump pack to lift high into
the air and then swoop down as part of their assault. Jump
packs are also useful in leaping over high obstacles and reaching
rooftops in a single bound, but without training most users will
seriously injure themselves in crashes. Though bulky, loud, and
somewhat dangerous to use they are ideal for the maximum in
personal mobility on the ground or even in the void.
Jump packs require the operator to have the Pilot (Personal)
skill. A standard jump pack allows for a safe, guided fall from
any height and, with a thruster boost, make an unlimited series
of short jumps (landing at the end of each Round’s movement).
Alternatively, the pack can duplicate the Flyer (12) trait for up
to a minute at a time.
A jump pack’s power supply will last for about an hour of
strenuous operation before requiring replacement.
Weight 25kg, Rare
Lightning Cannon
These weapons are believed to be of ancient human design,
discovered in the deep data vaults of the Lathe Forge worlds
in the Calixis Sector. Though not as powerful as many other
devices, they are suitably impressive, especially to native
populaces or xenos barbarians. Made of ceramics and glass,
when triggered a micro-beam of ionizing energies is focused
on the target to create a large electrostatic charge differential
between the target and the gun’s spiked barrel tip. The longer
the trigger is held , the larger the charge created. When the
trigger is released, a powerful bolt of lightning leaps from the
gun to the target, accompanied by a huge thunderclap.
Add +2 Damage and +2 Pen for a every Half Action spent
aiming the weapon before it was fired (to a maximum of +4
Damage and +4 Pen). Note: this still grants the aiming bonus
as well.
Basic, 60m, S/-/-, 2d5+4, E, PEN 4, Clip 2, RLD Full, Overheats, Shocking, WT 0.5kg, Near Unique
Thunder Hammer (Lathe Pattern)
Huge hammers featuring oversized heads, these weapons
store energy and then release it in a violent explosion
upon impact. The tremendous concussive force released
is equivalent to a concentrated grenade explosion,
strong enough to punch holes in vehicles and
knock those nearby to the ground. Though
extremely cumbersome to wield, they are
often used by Ministorum priests to both smite the wicked
and invigorate the faithful. Lathe patterns are lighter than
most Imperial versions, designed for use by unaugmented
humans. They also have only a single concussive front.
Melee, 2d10+4(+SB), E, PEN 10, Power Field, Unwieldy, WT 15kg, Very Rare
Lathe-Pattern "Rockhound" Void Suit
Void suits are protective suits worn by the workers who make
their livelihoods mining asteroids, carving comets for ice, cold
ship repair work, or any of the other dangerous but lucrative
professions to be found in the void. Unlike most heavy void suits,
the “Rockhound” is lighter and allows more user dexterity, an
essential trait given the nature of their work. The models feature
a solid torso carapace over layers of thin but tough voidproof
fabrics with extra padding on the knees and elbows. The helmet
is large, and completely clear. It sports a backpack to provide a
re-breather and power supply. The main feature of the suit is
the cold-gas micro-jets which surround the torso carapace, to be
used for locomotion in limited or absent gravity. Each suit also
has a variety of storage pouches, attachment points, and belts for
carrying any and all of the tools and supplies a void worker might
need. Most users customize their suits in a variety of eye-catching
ways, the better to identify each other at a distance. Many miners,
for example, will decorate their suit with symbols indicating rich
strikes, or banner poles showing their home vessel.
Each suit can sustain the user in the void for 15 hours of
operations, and includes a vox-link, suit-patch kit, helmet,
protective eyewear including a photo-visor, and a clip harness
with ten meters of line. The suit also applies a -5 penalty to the
user’s Agility Characteristic while wearing the suit. The micro-jets
grant the user the Fly (3) Trait in low or zero gravity situations.
WT 30kg, Scarce
Category:Adeptus Mechanicus
Category:Systems
Category:Calixis Sector
Category:Golgenna Reach