Hallowed Calhall

A shining beacon of the Emperor's light, Hallowed Calhall is the foremost bastion of imperial faith in the far-flung Sector Gondwana. Its worlds harbor undying flame of hope, relics of past golden ages and a spiritual link to Holy Terra. Billions make the pilgrimage every year, just to see a glimpse of those sacred planets and come closer to the light of the Golden Throne.

In a sector dominated by a Triumvirate of the Adepta Mechanicus, Administratum and Astartes, the souls of the faithful at heart burn ever more fervently for the God-Emperor. They flock around Calhall's hallowed sun, and make themselves a kingdom of their own, in the image of the prophecy of a golden age for all mankind.

As wardens of this higher purpose and mediators in the Triumvirate's many disputes among each other, the devout followers of the imperial faith hold some considerable power in the machinations of the sector, and the standing of Hallowed Calhall remains undisputed by all.

## Astrography

Small as though the claimed territory of the faithful may be, it is of all the more strategic import to the Subsector Cambria. Situated on the eastern-most fringe of the Trantor Reef, Hallowed Calhall forms the link between the domains of the Administratum World Trantor and the rival Forge World Cambria. The sole charted and safeguarded route between both worlds leads through the hallowed system and is monitored by the guardian fleets of Calhall Sacrosanct.

Because of this, Hallowed Calhall is a mercantile crucible, channeling interstellar traffic more than a dozen major systems. Thousands of vessels pass through its inner system alone on every day, many of which will stay for some time at one of the system's countless ports to take on supplies and receive blessings for a safer journey.

### Star

Hallowed Calhall is a most peculiar star, its life measured in cycles of rebirth and eruption.

Every three-hundred and sixty-seven years, this volatile sun shrouds the entire inner system in a tempest of stellar matter and energy. Plasma and exotic particles from the Calhall's inner core are shot outward during this event, in vast arcs reaching several astronomical units into the open void. In many instances, these stellar arches remain unbroken for several weeks, as ever more matter shoots outward while much of the mass plunges back into the star. Cascades of secondary eruptions are caused by the massive shift of internal matter, propagating the event.

By the end, the star always shines brighter than before, its fusion fire reborn in a new order of the vast cosmic mechanism. This rebirth of the sun has made Hallowed Calhall itself a symbol of the Emperor's might and spawned dozens of phoenix cults even beyond the system.

### Violaceus Nebula

What matter remains trapped somewhere in orbit around the seething sun, coalesces in each cycle into the Violaceus Nebula. Starting out as a radiating tempest of exotic energies, the Violaceus dissipates, whipped away by solar winds over time. To the pilgrims who arrive for the first time at Hallowed Calhall, it is said to resemble the ever-watchful eye of the Emperor resting on Sector Gondwana, a symbol for the unending vigil of the master of all mankind.

To the helmsmen and navigators of all imperial ships, the Violaceus represents a dire challenge. For all its strategical importance and ideal location in the Subsector Cambria, the system of Hallowed Calhall itself is not traversed easily. For this reason, Hallowed Calhall maintains a dedicated in-system navy of pilot vessels and several minor astropathic beacons.

## Planets

### Choris

The scorched world of Choris plays host to a great number of solar phoenix cults, dedicated to the worship of the light of the Golden Throne as it is embodied by the ever returning cycle of death and renewal in the star of Hallowed Calhall. To survive the close proximity to the source of solar storms, these enclaves of the faithful have to be protected by massive arrays of planetary shielding, fueled by the very same energies they were erected to prevent.

Due to their millennia-long, intense study and contemplation of the local star, the phoenix cults provide not only libraries worth of religious texts and works of unique art, but also the most precise and comprehensive data on the stellar climate of Hallowed Calhall and its influence on the Immaterium. Because of this, the observatories of Choris are renown and respected by many voidsmen of the sector.

### Anatambra

Here lies the seat of the Ordos Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, the harbors of the guardian fleets of Calhall and the deep crypts wherein lie some of the Ministorums most prized – or feared – possessions.

Far from hospitable, Anatambra is a hot and barren world, largely untamed and littered with ruins. Its surface is unprotected from the solar storms and suffers complete devastation in each cycle. In these wastelands, the faith of the sisterhood is tested and their strength measured against the forces of both nature and the unnatural.

Because of the solar tempests, most settlements of this world lie in lava-tubes below the surface. Only the convent fortresses loom high above the land, venerable mountains erected over millennia of on-going fortification.

Despite having only an insignificant native population, Anatambra has been known to pay its tithes to the Imperium in the form of regiments raised for the Astra Militarum. These regiments are formed not by denizens of the Ecclesiarchy worlds, but by pilgrims coming to this holy system for the sole purpose of pledging their lives to the greater cause.

Though not officially forces of the Adeptus Ministorum, the regiments of Anatambra's Faithful are widely regarded as forces of the Cult Imperialis.

### Munimentum Anatambra

The only world officially inaccessible to the pilgrims of Hallowed Calhall is the heavily fortified Munimentum Anatambra. Only those who swore their eternal service to the Emperor as soldiers of the Astra Militarum or the Imperial Navy will receive the honor of ascending to the fortress moon.

The Munimentum is an all-encompassing complex of bulwarks, ports, and industry, housing much of the system's military prowess. It is the foremost guardpost of the system, and from here hail the guardian fleets protecting the routes of pilgrimage spanning the entire sector.

### Calhall Sacrosanct

The capital of this holy system is the world Calhall Sacrosanct, both a former feudal world and arcane technological marvel. This was a treasured world long before the arrival of the Imperium, and its unique importance to ancient humanity for unknown reasons has translated into equal importance of this world to the Imperial faith as a symbol of mankind's mandate among the stars.

This mandate calls, among other things, for the preservation of the domains that humanity once claimed. Because of this commandment, the Adeptus Ministorum has gone to great lengths to settle this holy world without desecrating its innate beauty as it had been protected throughout all the Age of Strife by the marvelous techno-monoliths scattered across its surface.

Shielded against the solar storms by these artifacts of old humanity, thrives a natural paradise of dense, golden jungles and shallow violet seas. The wildlife of this world has survived even into the forty-first millennium, in the shadow of masterfully constructed hives and megalopolises, devised by the most gifted architects in all the sector.

To gain access to the technologies necessary to fulfill the commandments of their devotion, the holy councils of Calhall even turned to the Adeptus Mechanicus for aid, and small enclaves of quite eccentric and reclusive tech-priests still exist on this world.

#### Reliquiarum Theca

The Reliquiarum Theca is the sole natural moon of Calhall Sacrosanct and appears unassuming to from afar. Without the protection of arcane technology, its surface is barren and scorched with every cycle. However, early pioneers of the Imperium found the moon to be of unusually dense and stable rock, blessed even with rare deposits of precious metals. This sparked a slow, but methodical mining operation, conducted not by the Adeptus Mechanicus, but devoted guilds of craftsmen, set serve the Emperor in works of creation, rather than war.

Utilizing little to no industrial machinery, billions of workers continue the task of turning the entire moon into a monument of the imperial faith, a single, global place of worship made by the bare hands of humanity.

Pilgrims from all over the sector come to this world, where they are guaranteed to earn a modest livelihood for their work. Many stay for a few decades before moving on, but some spend the rest of their lives, seeking mastery of their craft.

In the forty-first Millennium, the Reliquiarum Theca is already one of the most astounding monuments of the entire sector, even though the project is far for complete. To wander these halls and to see the names of every worker inscribed in the rock of this world inspires millions yearly to join in the great task. And many of those who return from this world, bring the passion of creation to their respective homeworlds.

### Cinis

Ashen Cinis is a unique cemetery world, where there are no mausoleums, gravestones or lanterns for the dead. The entire planet is covered in the remnants of lush nature, on that once existed more than ten-thousand years ago, before the techno-monoliths of this world failed.

The dead shipped to Cinis are embalmed and buried in this ash, and lie there still for the remainder of the cycle, before the emperor's light, channeled through the star, incinerates the planet whole. It is an end appealing to those craving a final conclusion, rather than the drawn-out festering of entire dynasties on other cemetery worlds. It is also the last resting place for all pilgrims failing to reach Hallowed Calhall alive.

### Sacrum Geminos

The twin-worlds of Sacrum Geminos are tightly locked in an orbital dance and swept not only by the stellar tempests but also massive volcanic activity. Only a handful of major imperial orders have chosen these small worlds as their permanent home, burying deep below the surface and following old traditions that rarely attract a greater following. Here, one may find the more obscure cults and traditions dedicated to very old local saints, or heroes from very distant stars.

### Peregrini

*Asaph of Galand; Calocerus of Eleusis: Fabius of Khand: Ubald of Ossuar*

The four pilgrim worlds, the Peregrini, all lie in within belt where the remnants of Calhall's stellar tempests form the densest part of the Violaceus Nebula. Journeying continuously through the violet clouds, they grow a minuscule amount with each cycle, taking on mundane and exotic particles from Hallowed Calhall's core. Around each of these worlds, the collected particles form a field, shielding the world surprisingly effective against the stellar tempests. While too small to sustain human habitation on their own, these four worlds were comparatively easy to settle and host a great number of pilgrim's colonies.

The four worlds themselves were named after great pilgrims of other important spiritual worlds, and in that tradition are still the first point of arrival for many newcomers to Hallowed Calhall.

### Fidus Nagal

One of two jovian giants, Fidus Nagal is a world rich in precious gases. Several large orbital plates form the basis of extensive mining operations conducted by trade-conglomerates coming from both Trantor and Cambria. These operations largely fuel the industry of several anchorage points, where the mass-transit of civilian vessels through this invaluable system is supported. Because the Adeptus Ministorum holds the ultimate rights over all resources of the system, it can leverage the mining rights for these resources in negotiations and mediations easily.

Fidus Nagal itself has only a small permanent population, outnumbered several hundred times by the visitors on any day. All merchants and civilian captains coming through this system are regularly reminded of their obligations to the imperial faith, limiting the typical cultural excesses most other trading ports display.

### Orpheus

A single imperial cult dominates the world of Orpheus and its moons. While it is not the most influential cult of the sector, nor the one with the most followers, it's domain is the most centralized when compared to other religious orders of the Ecclesiarchy, which are spread on many worlds.

The Cult of Orpheus is dedicated to the gifts of the human mind and their expressions through ways other than the spoken word. Its followers adhere to the teaching that the mind is shaped through its form of expression and believe the gothic language to be insufficient to truly grasp the truths of the Imperial Faith. For this reason, any and all souls to set foot on Orpheos or its moons swear an oath to abstain from the crude usage of the spoken word.

Instead, the cult resorts to other, higher forms of expression which require a mastery beyond that of simple language. Consequently, Orpheus has become a stronghold of the fine arts, excelling in music, sculpting, frescoes, and architecture.

To visit Orpheus is an indescribable experience to the pilgrims and most will refuse to even make attempts of describing its vast marble cities in words. Only the experience itself is exported from this world, in monuments to the artistic mastery of this world.

#### Silentium and Cantus

Unlike Orpheus, a world overflowing with the artistic celebration of the Imperial Faith, Silentium is an entirely silent world, dedicated solely to the study of ancient relics and their restoration. Cantus is the opposite world and one dedicated to the choirs of the orphic order. Angelic voices are said to have filled its days and nights uninterrupted for the last eight thousand years.

### Anrath

The cold giant Anrath is the outermost point of anchorage in the system of Hallowed Calhall and another vibrant port of the holy system. Many goods are exchanged here between trading partners of Trantor and Cambria, which refuse to infringe on each other's territory. The colonies here are strung on long, glittering bands around the planet, intersected by long, golden spires of temples and convents from lesser orders.

## Routes

The single most important route between the Administratum World Trantor and the Forge World Cambria passes through the system of Hallowed Calhall. From the trantorian side, it is known as the Iter Emensus, whereas the Adeptus Mechanicus will only refer to it as the Via Septendecim. The name of the route itself is one of the countless points of contention between the two triumvirate powers.

Far from the light of Holy Terra, Hallowed Calhall is indispensable as a beacon along these paths, and therefore of utmost strategic importance.

Well-charted and guarded by forces of both the Forge World, the Administratum World and the fleets of Hallowed Calhall, it is regarded as one of the safest routes in all the sector. Vast armadas of civilian vessels cross through the system on this route every day, and the warp of this region is said to be dominated by the imperial astropathic choir as to calm the sea of souls for the navigators.

## Faith's domain

Hallowed Calhall is dominated by its dedication to the imperial faith. Numerous unique sacral cults and thousands of lesser orders maintain their seat of power in the light of this blessed sun. Added to them are the uncounted souls from other worlds, coming to Calhall to share in its worship of the God-Emperor of Mankind, all bringing with them their own customs and tradition.

As such, Hallowed Calhall is, perhaps more than any other world, a crucible of all cultures of the sector. Nowhere is the word of the Emperor spoken and written in as many different languages and dialects, nowhere take the worship so many different forms as on these worlds of the pilgrims.

The dominating force is, in its interpretation and conveying of the Emperor's Will, of course, the Adeptus Ministorum. Its decrees and word, however, branch out in so many different ways and forms, that it is hard to have made out the true word come from Holy Terra. Truth is claimed by the faithful, and disagreements frequently cause tension and debate. At the same time, on imperial days of worship, such as the Sanguinala, Harvest Supper and the Terran Fair, the many voices of faith align, coming together as one angelic choir, proclaiming their devotion to the undying Emperor.

## History

As the early history of Sector Gondwana and any ages preceding the advent of the Imperium are lost to oblivion, little is known about the fate which befell the Star of Calhall and caused its singular cycle of renewal. It can be only said with some certainty, that it is no natural phenomenon, but the relic of a much older manipulation of incomprehensible age.

The first habitation of the worlds orbiting Hallowed Calhall dates back to the Dark Age of Technology, and many artifacts of those early colonies yet remain. Most famous of all are the techno-monoliths of Calhall Sacrosanct, the arcane protection mechanism shielding the planet safely against the plasma storms of the star's eruption.

These mechanisms allowed a human population to survive the age of strife on this world when it was cut-off by the Vioaceus Nebula from those few star-faring fiefdoms which would have been able to reach them.

The enlightenment of the feudal society which had survived on Calhall Sacrosanct, named only Calhall Maioris at the time, was then the foremost mission of the Adeptus Ministorum when it first reached out to the sector. This was a resounding success, leading within just a single century to a civil transition of the local pantheistic cults into faithful worship of the God-Emperor of Mankind.

The feudal society of old has since been completely dissolved on Calhall Sacrosanct and replaced by the innumerable cults of the Imperial Faith. With the blessed gifts of the Emperor of Mankind, his enlightened knowledge, lore of the cosmos and the technology to bend the universe to humanity's will, the faithful denizens of Calhall soon claimed all worlds of the system, making it into the thriving monument of human civilization to which it has grown by the time of the forty-first millennium.