Mutants - History: The Imperium of Man greatly fears mutation. First off, many such growths are physically alarming, causing natural revulsion in those who witness them. Beyond simpler signs of mutation are grotesqueries such as insectoid claws, tentacles or fanged maws where no mouth ought to be.Rampant growth of meat and bone can create twelve-foot-high monstrosities whose fists are capable of bending plasteel, and whose mass can absorb bolt shells that would fell an ordinary person. There have also been many recorded instances of mutants whose flesh has melded with machinery or other inorganic technology, often through the reality-warping power of Chaos.Yet it is not just the appearance or abilities of mutants that rankles the right-minded citizens of the Imperium, for those whose physical forms are marred by Warp energies often harbour deviant intent, spreading bloodshed and mayhem. Worse still, the most afflicted become willing pawns of the Dark Gods, foul agents of Chaos corruption actively dedicated to spreading ruin and overthrowing the Imperium.As deadly as those physically mutated are, Humans exhibiting mental mutations are more dangerous still. Known as "psykers," these individuals can accomplish seemingly impossible things by opening their minds to the power of the Warp, such as glimpsing the future, moving objects through willpower alone or reading people's thoughts. Because of their connection to the Immaterium, psykers are more susceptible to the seductive power of Chaos, and might even unwillingly open a gateway to the Warp through which Daemons will spill into reality.It is easy to see why Imperial citizens are trained to treat even those that carry the least of mutations without any mercy, the Imperial Creed demanding they be captured and turned over to higher authorities as part of one's divine duty to the God-Emperor.Strangely enough, those mutations that are caught early enough and deemed to be controllable are seen by the Imperium as blessings instead of curses. Without this class of "trainable" mutants, Humanity could not hope to rule the stars. But for every sanctioned mutant that serves the Imperium -- whether as a member of the stable Abhuman divisions of the Astra Militarum, the Navigators that guide Mankind's starships through the Warp by the Astronomican's light, or even Sanctioned Psykers -- there are a thousand lesser mutants that are slain outright, and another thousand that dwell hidden in the shadows, rightfully afraid to reveal themselves.In search of acceptance or protection, many mutants join Chaos Cults or seek out their own kind, huddling together in the catacombs and undersumps beneath Imperial metropolises or surviving in the wastelands of radiation-ravaged worlds. Some stow away or earn passage on starships bound for the fringes of the Imperium, where they can start a new life on a world untouched by the tyranny of intolerance.With the opening of the Great Rift in the Era Indomitus, huge waves of mutative Warp storms washed over the galaxy, carrying the seeds of the Dark Gods' corruptions. Some of those seeds sprouted immediately in the form of mutation outbreaks, Zombie Plagues and worse.Others lay  dormant, as if awaiting the right moment to blossom into new horrors; indeed, many of those voidships lost in the Warp during the blackness of the Noctis Aeterna emerged having been deeply -- and often unknowingly -- changed by the Empyrean's transmutative tides.