Ryza - Early History: The history of Ryza before the coming of the Imperium is well-documented, for its archivist-magi were supremely diligent in their work. Though the Age of Strife had brought many trials to Ryza and its people, they had weathered them all with a stoicism common amongst the believers of the Cult Mechanicus.From the first colonists who settled the city of Prosperity upon a world once diverse in flora and fauna, a great technological empire grew. When the Great Crusade reached the Forge World, the people of Ryza had travelled the stars for centuries, expanding its borders beyond a single world to the neighbouring star systems, returning with substantial resources for the planet's industry.For the Imperium of Man, the discovery of Ryza was a portentous one, serving to fuel its ambitions of conquering the wider galaxy. Amongst the Mechanicum luminaries of Mars, the method of incorporation Ryza was to be subjected to caused much contention, for some feared the substantial resources and knowledge the Forge World claimed as its own, warning that it might one day rise to rival that of the Red Planet itself.Indeed, the strengths of Ryza were many, and though its productivity was matched by only a handful of known Forge Worlds, their true power lay in both the Legio Crucius, for the guardians of Ryza possessed a level of strength that rivalled even the Triad Ferrum Morgulus, and the unparalleled skills of the local tech-priests.Upon first contact many amongst the Imperium advocated for unity, reasoning that the benefits of peace superseded any hypothetical challenge the world might one day offer. In the end, pragmatism outweighed fearful notions, and when offer of vassalage to both Mars and Terra was brought to Ryza it was met with little discord, the Forge World peacefully falling under the control of the Emperor, easing the worries of many.Some, however, could not shake such thoughts, for while Ryza offered no public dissent towards Mars, many spoke of the world with a level of reverence normally reserved for the Red Planet itself and such actions saw envy fester amongst those jealous of Ryza's prominence within the Mechanicum.It was these bitter individuals who whispered in the ear of the Warmaster Horus and they who assembled a force to assail the world, desperate to claim it as their own.Located within the Ultima Segmentum, Ryza's position at the time of the Horus Heresy's start was secured by its raw manufacturing power and its tactical location that, since Ryza first forged treaties with the Imperium, served to fuel the reach of the Great Crusade eastwards across the galaxy.Above all else, Ryza possessed unparalleled expertise in the engineering and production of Imperial plasma technology thanks to the Omnissiah Igvita, literally the "Life Blood of the Omnissiah," a sect of tech-priests founded upon Ryza and turned towards the study of plasma, believing each drop was the blood of the Omnissiah, gifted to His servants to ensure they crafted new wonders in His name.Working with a dedication bordering on religious fanaticism, under their tutelage the knowledge of plasma technology upon Ryza evolved at a pace unmatched by other Forge Worlds, as numerous innovations were generated within its plasma fanes.