Age of Strife - Causes: During the so-called "Dark Age of Technology," Humanity had reached its technological peak. The Standard Template Construct database library, or STC, had been perfected by Human scientists and engineers to allow rapid colonisation of new worlds using the standardised designs for a common suite of advanced technologies held within it. Its invention was followed by an unprecedented expansion of Humanity throughout the galaxy.One of the reasons Humanity was so successful at conquering a large part of the galaxy during the Age of Technology was the development of the artificially intelligent and self-aware humanoid constructs known in ancient texts as the "Men of Iron." These powerful and fully autonomous labour and combat robots won many wars for Humanity, but for some reason turned against their organic masters at the end of the Age of Technology.The war against the thinking machines known as the "Cybernetic Revolt" was eventually won by Humanity, but at great cost. The damage to Human interstellar civilisation was catastrophic and shattered much of Humanity's power across the galaxy. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of Mankind's misfortunes.As Humanity became widely dispersed across the galaxy during the Age of Technology, the ancient Aeldari Empire began its decline; the great success of the advanced Aeldari species had led to decadence and hedonism on a grand scale. Within the immaterial, psychic universe of the Warp, the spiritual corruption of the Aeldari civilisation was reflected in the gestation of a new Chaos God, Slaanesh, which in turn caused massive disturbances in the Warp; parts of the galaxy became isolated by these so-called "Warp storms," making Warp travel and astro-telepathic communication impossible. This cut off many Human colony worlds from one another, including those of the Sol System.Towards the end of the Age of Technology psykers first appeared among Humanity. While persecuted on many backwards, regressive Human worlds as "witches," in enlightened and progressive societies these psykers were at first protected and accepted. Unfortunately, the intolerance shown towards psykers would later seem prescient, as many Human worlds ultimately fell during Old Night to the dominance of Daemons and other Warp entities using possessed Human psykers as gateways into the Materium. Only those worlds which had rigorously suppressed psykers ultimately survived relatively unscathed.The Age of Strife followed the Age of Technology, as Human civilisation collapsed in widespread insanity, Daemonic possession, anarchy and interstellar civil war. Terrible weapons of the golden age of technology were unleashed, devastating many Human colonies and turning once-verdant worlds such as Baal and its twin moons into irradiated desert planets. Many isolated and vulnerable Human-colonised worlds also became prey to hostile alien species, such as the Orks.In a relatively short span of time, the once galaxy-spanning Human civilisation was brought to its knees, and was forced to endure nearly five Terran millennia of anarchy, terror, tyranny, war, genocide and slavery. Other than tales of great suffering, little information has survived this dark time to be known to the men and women of the Imperium.