Glaive's Reach

Originally an unnamed region, merely extension to the No-Man's-Land and Glacial Nebula, the small constellations of Glaive's Reach has been elevated by the Cult Mechanicus Cambria and made into a highly productive and fortified enclave at the heart of the Subsector.

Enveloped in the melting glaciers of the cosmic ice, Glaive's reach is dominated by streams and currents in the void, breaking up the shelfs and winds of mysterious cold. Here ends the reign of cosmic snow and the glowing light of imperial splendor begins. Not by chance, the worlds of Glaive's Reach strive to match the wealth and excellence of nearby southern Trantor. In a sense, it is the rivalry between the two Triumvirate Powers made manifest and at the same time center of their balance, for here the third world of the Triumvirate was raised, the Nimbus Imperatoria Laurentia.

## Astrography

Square at the center of Subsector Cambria, Glaive's Reach is surrounded on all sides by fortified constellations of the Imperium. To the galactic north, it extends into the Glacial Nebula, and ever stronger winds of cosmic cold mark the border between the two.

To the west there lies the forgotten region of the Cambrian No-Man's-Land, many worlds of which are blessed by their vicinity to the richer worlds, for the Astartes of the Hallowed Glaive sends their pilgrim fleets to uplift their neighbors stricken by a cruel fate.

Eastward of the Reach, there lies Pahmn's Strait and the wide corridor to the Gulf of Cambria. From this direction, the favors and blessings of the Cult Mechanicus are sent, and the worlds of Glaive's reach maintain good relations with all systems there.

At last, to the South, there lies the Trantor Reef, the eternal rival of Cambria and, by extension, the Glaive's Reach. Cold silence marks the border there, where two of the strongest sides in Sector Gondwana stand side by side and yet against each other, always ready to repel the common enemy and yet unwilling to truly work together.

## Cosmic Winds

Howling through the void of empty space are the cold winds of the Glacial Nebula. Coming from the galactic north, they scour the interstellar regions, penetrating the Heliosphere of any star in their wake. Cold and radiation, therefore, hold many systems fast in their grip, the worlds within brittle and inhospitable even to the resilient, human life.

Only in the strong spheres of Jovian giants and the magnetic fold of particularly metallic stars exist worlds safe for habitation. Through the influence of the Mechanicum and the humanity of old, such planets still exist in some number. Those form the flock of colony worlds calling the Hallowed Glaive their gracious patrons. Still, their fate is a harsh one, for their populace is prone to abhumanity and by the immaterium corrupted entities ever seek to take hold among the loyal denizens upon these worlds.

## Pilgrims and lonely isles

Traveling among these stars are first and foremost pilgrims aside from the Astarte's military might. Civilian trade and commerce are scarce among these worlds, not for the difficulties of navigation alone. The worlds in this region are a seclusive lot and were isolated wholly through most of the Age of Strife. They maintain few connections and traditions with one another and as such seek to protect their independence, shying away from trading with distant worlds.

The Samaritan Pilgrimage Fleets are the only ones welcome in every system and often take on merchants who seek to make a profit in this region against all odds. Even just proximity to the Astartes vessels grants any trader some measure of trust among the populace and so a few minor trade routes are somewhat regularly maintained.

## Notable Systems

### Nimbus Imperatoria Laurentia

As chapter homeworld to the Astartes of the Hallowed Glaive, the most magnificent construct of the

Cult Mechanicus Cambria became the world to complete the Triumvirate of Gondwana. It's completion and settlement by the Emperor's children marked the high point of the Sector's history in human memory and was marked by the chroniclers of both Trantor and Cambria as the beginning of a new era for all worlds of the entire region.

The gargantuan orbital under the Laurentian sun is the capital of imperial culture and doctrine, a new world wonder by the grace of the Omnissiah.

## History

### Empty realm

In the distant past, the Glaive's Reach was nameless and empty. A cluster of stars with no significant worlds, just bordering on the No-Man's-Land and the elder frontier, it was the silent center of the Subsector for eons. What few souls there were fled these empty stars when the Glacier was coming, and the cold winds of the Borealis stars.

This was the state of these worlds at the coming of the Imperium when explorators sent forth from newly discovered Cambria first created stellar charts in great detail of the young domains. The region was then given its first name after a dominus explorator long forgotten and with little plans for pioneers and settlers in mind.

### Mechanicum

Glaive's Reach, under another name, lay abandoned for much of the early Imperial Age, a space in between the two great powers of Subsector Cambria. None dared to claim these worlds, none was willing to abandon them, and so the people on those worlds in-between found themselves in a strange position of having two grand imperial institutions rivaling for their favor, sending sometimes gifts, sometimes armies to ensure their loyalty.

The greatest work done came finally, when the Mechanicum decided to back up its claims and construct an imperial torus high above the central world of the region. And such was created the Nimbus Imperatoria Laurentia, the proto-form of its design being sent there directly from Forge World Cambria. But at the time, the Nimbus remained without purpose, ultimately a stronghold for Skitarii Legions, which would not dare venture further to the Trantor Reef.

### The coming of the Hallowed Glaive

This state of perpetual imbalance remained for many hundred years until the fate of the Sector was changed during the Surge of the Thetys Rift. War came upon Subsector Cambria, and all conflict among imperial sides ceased in the confrontation with a more terrible enemy than either had ever faced in this region. As the universe itself contorted, changed and swept away crusaders of the Imperium, Glaive's Reach was thrown into a maelstrom of conquest and loss and would have been wholly consumed by it, if not for the coming of the third force of the Triumvirate.

There came the Astartes of the Hallowed Glaive, survivors of a fallen chapter, from their lost homeworld countless lightyears away. And their coming brought about a resurgence of imperial might, freeing not only the worlds of Glaive's Reach but lifting the age-long Siege of Trantor.

Finally, the tide of the war was turned, and Nimbus Imperatoria Laurentia, at the heat of the middle-region, was given to the Astartes as a reward. From there on, Glaive's Reach was their domain, and the old name was expunged from the imperial record. From there on and forever, it would be the holy territory of the Emperor's chosen warriors, whose ancient ancestors were founded and raised on Holy Terra.