Imperial Palace - Inner Palace: Ultimate Wall - The Ultimate Wall is the wall that surrounds and protects the Inner Palace complex and serves as the divide between the Inner and Outer Palaces. It is known as the Indomitus Bastion in the 41st Millennium. It is composed of several different wall sections, including the Saturnine Wall Section which is part of the southern portion of the Ultimate Wall and also contains a shortcut into the Inner Palace for those who know the way. Other wall sections of the Ultimate Wall include the Exultant, Sanctus, Europa and Adamant Sections.Ultimate Gate - The Ultimate Gate is the fortified gate which separates the Inner and Outer Palace complexes, located to the north of the Lion's Gate.Eternity Gate - The Eternity Gate is the final gateway into the symbolic heart of the Realm of Man, the Sanctum Imperialis, the most sacred place for Humanity in the whole of the galaxy. This is the fortified gate which grants entry into the Sanctum Imperialis. Beyond this massive portal is where the Emperor resides upon the massive prosthetic device known as the Golden Throne. Thousands of unfurled banners line the mile-long grand hallway that leads to the Eternity Gate. These are the ancient and tattered banners of the greatest and most valiant armies to have fought for Mankind; illustrious heroes such as Dorn the Unwavering, Lord Solar Macharius, Malcador the Hero -- the list goes on -- as well as famous Astra Militarum regiments and banners of the various Space Marine Chapters. Just as these loyal servants have honoured the Emperor with their valour and sacrifice, He returns such honour. At the end of this long passageway stands the massive double-doors of the Eternity Gate itself, standing inviolable and unbreakable, forged of tempered adamantium layered with thick ceramite. The outer face of the Eternity Gate is sheathed in shimmering gold. Carved upon its surface is an ornate mosaic of the Emperor Himself, at the height of His glory during the Great Crusade, with shield and sword in hand, standing triumphant over a great serpentine beast, the embodiment of evil. Two immense Reaver-class Titans of the Legio Ignatum flanked the great archway that leads onwards, serving as columns, one blood-red, one royal purple. High over the archway, carved in obsidian, a massive Palatine Aquila, the wide winged double-headed eagle of the Imperium, was mounted. The bowed carapaces of these giant combat walkers sustained golden mosaic roofing in which were buried the heavy Macrocannons and multi-launchers of the Titans, just as their great armoured feet were locked under the floor. Purity Seals and devout banners dangle everywhere. By each side of the archway sags a Titan's gargantuan Power Fist which could seize and crush to liquid any unpermitted interloper. The other jointed arm of each Titan terminates in a massive, poised defence laser. Inside the jutting armoured head of each Titan, rotations of warrior adepts of the Collegia Titanica have posted on honour-guard during the last ten millennia. For thousands of standard years these two Titans have stood as columns, immobile, statuesque, awing all who approached. Yet in an ultimate emergency their plasma reactors can power up rapidly from standby mode. The electrically-motivated fibre bundles that serve these war engines as muscles could tear their heaviest weapons free from the roof, bringing tonnes crashing down as a blockade. The god-machines could then wrench their feet free and open up on any invader with devastating fire. Even on standby, the Titans' Power Fists sometimes flex and pluck a body from the floor if the devotees in the Titans' vast metallic heads see fit to demonstrate their power.Sanctum Imperialis - The Sanctum Imperialis is the heart of the Inner Palace, the Hall of the Golden Throne, deep within the Inner Palace past the Eternity Gate where the Emperor of Mankind resides, His dying and decaying body interred within the arcane mechanism of the Golden Throne in stasis. The actual Hall of the Golden Throne is located deep under what was once Mt. Everest many millenia ago. Only the members of the Adeptus Custodes and a few select Imperial servants are allowed to pass through the Inner Palace's Eternity Gate and enter the presence of the Emperor of Mankind. Those that do become known as Auditorii Imperator, one of the few living mortals who have had a personal audience with the Emperor of Mankind since the end of the Horus Heresy. Here, in serried ranks of unbroken valour, stand the Three Hundred -- the elite of the Adeptus Custodes, the Emperor's bodyguard, called the Companions. They stand eternal vigil over the Master of Mankind, while the rest of their fellow superhuman warriors stand guard throughout the continent-spanning complex of the Imperial Palace. Although billions of people work in the Palace complex, very few have ever had the honour of stepping within the holy chambers of the Hall of the Golden Throne uninvited, one of these select mortals being the Inquisitor Jaq Draco in the 38th Millennium.Senatorum Imperialis - The Senatorum Imperialis is the current governing body of the Imperium. Comprised of 12 of the most powerful members of the various Adepta that are the cornerstones of the Imperium, this council makes up the High Lords of Terra. The Senatorum Imperialis meets within the sacred chambers of the Senate located within the Imperial Palace. It is there that the High Lords are tasked with interpreting the Emperor's will and enacting His rule across the largest empire the galaxy has ever known.Great Chamber of the Senatorum Imperialis - This massive, domed meeting chamber is where the Imperial elite hold their "parliament," and is best known as the meeting place of the High Twelve, the High Lords of Terra.Tower of Heroes - Amongst the thousands of minarets, towers and spires that rise from the Imperial Palace and breach Terra's ever-thinning cloud cover, one, and only one, of these towers stands out from its gold and marbled kindred as it is coloured jet black. It is called the Tower of Heroes. The summit of this looming structure is capped by a bell tower. The belfry itself is the size of a cathedral and houses a single bell forged of unassuming, commonplace metals, marked by the stains and patinas of time's eroding touch. This lone bell is the size of a Titan, and attended by hundreds of men, women and Servitors whose existence is entirely devoted to maintaining the sacred instrument's function. This is the Bell of Lost Souls, a colossal iron bell that is as massive as a building and adorned with dark runes. The Bell of Lost Souls tolls only when the greatest of the Imperium of Man's heroes perish and can be heard by millions of people across the face of Terra. It rarely rings, but when it does, all resident Imperial Palace servants must be evacuated and sealed within reinforced shelters to prevent the annihilation of their eardrums and subsequent death through lung rupture and embolism. Among its many legends is the holiest of all; that when the bell rings, the Emperor hears the sound even in His long slumber upon the Golden Throne, and sheds a single tear.Column of Glory - The Column of Glory is a massive crystalline pillar of multi-hued metals rising half a kilometre high, under a vaulted dome so lofty that clouds form to obscure its frescoed arcs. Studding the Column are hundreds of shattered suits of power armour belonging to Blood Angels, White Scars, and Imperial Fists Space Marines, who died defending the Imperial Palace 10,000 thousand years ago during the Siege of Terra. Within these shattered suits of war plate, the bones of these valiant Astartes still hang. Their skulls stare out with rictus grins from open faceplates. The Column of Glory stands as an eternal testament to the sacrifice the Angels of Death made in defence of the Emperor of Mankind and the homeworld of Humanity. This is a sacred place of pilgrimage, where crowds of young psykers, robed as acolytes, pray under the watchful gaze of their instructors. Soon these psykers are led onwards to be soul-bound, agonised and blinded, and consecrated for service to the Emperor. Squads of helmeted Adeptus Custodes stand to attention vigilantly, armed with their Guardian Spears, gilded hybrids of halberd and firearm, black cloaks aswirl around ancient, ornately carved golden power armour. The air is full of cloying, reeking incense and dissonant music -- gongs and harps -- which boom, twang and ripple, matching the pulse of ancient, adored machinery.Pillar of Bone - The Pillar of Bone is believed to be a monument raised on Terra to the Imperial Fists' courage in an unnamed campaign. In reality it is actually a sacred relic to those privy to the truth within the Imperial Fists. The Pillar is the last remnant of the once-great Imperial Fists fortress-monastery on Terra. It was destroyed during the Horus Heresy in the midst of the Siege of Terra, but, to most of the huddled masses of the Imperium, the Heresy is now no more than a legend and few would dare to openly claim that the forces of Chaos had ever set foot on the sacred ground of Terra. In the holes torn from the column by the Bolter fire of the Traitor Legions were the scrimshawed hands of Imperial Fists Battle-Brothers. Part of the sacred duties given to Imperial Fists Chaplains was to bring new relics of the Chapter to the Pillar, but at times they would also recruit those pilgrims who came to Terra from all across the galaxy into the Chapter if they were deemed worthy of becoming Aspirants. It was at this sacred site that future-Captain (and Imperial Fists' hero) Darnath Lysander was recruited after he had survived multiple misfortunes, including the slaughter of his entire family, to make it to the holy soil of blessed Terra. It seemed to the Imperial Fists' Chaplain that recruited him that the young pilgrim surely had the blessings of Rogal Dorn upon him. Such intuition would be proved right again and again during Captain Lysander's glorious career.House of Weapons - The House of Weapons is the ancient formidable armoury of the Imperial Palace. The Adeptus Custodes and the Imperial Fists Chapter are known to store their arms and armour there. Within the arming chambers of the lower levels, servitors and penal slaves ritually plate squads of Astartes, anointing them with oils and whispers as they lock each piece of armour in place. As solitary beings, the Custodes do not surround themselves with slaves and Servitors, aides and handservants. They prefer to armour themselves, alone, pragmatically and without ceremony.Tower of Hegemon - This tower is where the Custodes keep their office of watch. Within the tower lies the Watchroom -- the nerve-center for security operations for the Adeptus Custodes and the Imperial Palace complex. The central cogitation consoles stream constant divergent data elements and run comparison/contrast programs. The Watchroom's codifier assembly trawls and pans the global data sea and the Unified Biometric Verification System, grouping together reams of disparate elements, making connections and following traces. With this elaborate security system set in place, every day, a billion clues and a million secrets are analysed and examined by the Custodes watch, sifted with acute, painstaking precision through the ever-shifting, fluid levels of Terra's information sphere for any internal threats to the Emperor's personal security. Every sixty minutes, the Watchroom prioritises a dozen of the most sensitive findings for special attention. The Tower of Hegemon is primarily manned by the serfs of the Adeptus Custodes, proud, unaugmented Humans who wore the bones of their ancestors upon their person in homage to their sacred duty. They served in their positions for life, and upon death their offspring would add their remains to those of their forebears. Following the fall of the Bhab Bastion during the Siege of Terra, the Tower of Hegemon briefly became the acting command centre for the small numbers of remaining Loyalists engaged in the final defence of the Inner Palace.Blackstone Prison - An adjacent fortified building that serves as an annex of the Tower of Hegemon, the Blackstone Prison is a part of the Tower of Hegemon complex that was built from blackstone mined on Cadia and is used to hold dangerous psykers. The blackstone used to build the prison is negatively charged and so prevents the rogue psykers kept there by the Custodes from using their powers.Forbidden Vault - The "Forbidden Vault" is a name Explorators and agents of the Inquisition use to refer to an ancient vault with adamantium gates locked by stasis fields located deep beneath the Golden Throne. The seal of the High Lords of Terra is required to enter. This chamber contains secret knowledge collected by Mankind since the dawn of time. The knowledge stored in it can drive an individual insane. Among the many secrets stored within is a visual record of a Necron attack.The Shrouds - The Shrouds was the name given to the secret chamber located deep within the confines of the Inner Palace that served as the headquarters of the Officio Assassinorum. It was the primary meeting place of the various masters of all six Assassin Clades and was overseen by the Grand Master of Assassins. During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras, this post was held by Malcador the Sigillite.Bhab Bastion - The Bhab Bastion was an ancient place of counsel and refuge for warlords and tyrants since before the Age of Strife. Following the Unification Wars, this ancient structure was absorbed into the growing complex of the Imperial Palace. During the Horus Heresy, the Bhab Bastion, alongside the Phalanx, the massive capital ship of the Imperial Fists Chapter, acted as the command centre of the Primarch Rogal Dorn while he oversaw the construction of the defences for the Sol System as the Warmaster Horus' Traitor Legions closed on the Throneworld.The Dark Cells - Formerly known as the Vaults of Rython, the Dark Cells are a particularly sequestered and forbidden subdivision of the deep levels below the Imperial Palace complex on Terra. It is here, where the specialised Shield Host of the Adeptus Custodes known as the Shadowkeepers stand eternal vigilance over rune-locked portals which contain terrible things locked away for all time -- eldritch terrors from the depths of Old Night that could annihilate the Imperium -- for the Dark Cells hold such horrors at bay that Mankind's sanity would not survive their release. Though neither sight nor sound can escape the forbidden cells, the air of those corridors is charged with dread. A perpetual menace thickens the shadows and makes them crawl. Even the superhumans of the Adeptus Custodes are forever on edge in those dark oubliettes, for the sense of unspeakable threat never wanes. For ten thousand years the Shadowkeepers have performed their duty, yet the coming of the Great Rift changed everything. With the power of Chaos spilling raw and seething into the spaces between the stars, new abominations have come to light. Worse still are the cells that stand suddenly empty, the entities and artefacts once contained within spirited away by some unholy force to curse the galaxy once more. Fearing the consequences of such dread remnants of the Age of Strife falling into the wrong hands, the Shadowkeepers at last sent warriors out into the galaxy. These jailers must trammel that which should not be, slaughtering all who seek to impede them, before returning their foul prizes to the cells where they belong.