Chaos - Age of the Imperium: Over one hundred centuries ago the all-powerful Emperor of Mankind was interred in a huge stasis crypt called the Golden Throne in the bowels of the Imperial Palace on Ancient Terra. He has not moved or spoken in thousands of standard years, but his legacy lives on in the vast Imperium he helped to forge through an era of violence and conquest.In the intervening span the Imperium has slowly crumbled, battered by wars from without and dissension from within, but it remains unbelievably powerful. A million worlds united in the name of Mankind; monotheistic, xenophobic, paranoiac, and fuelled by war. With its vast fleets and uncounted armies the Imperium remains probably the single most powerful entity in the galaxy of the 41st Millennium.The adepts of the Adeptus Terra, the Priesthood of Earth, cling to power ferociously, ruling on in the name of the undying corpse on the Golden Throne despite the Emperor's millennia-long silence. They hold the worlds of the Imperium in a constant state of terror, proselytising their zealotry and feeding the fears of the populace to keep them cowed and malleable. An Imperial citizen is raised from birth to believe that unseen forces are gathering to attack them and that their way of life could be destroyed at any moment, and that only the God-Emperor stands between them and damnation.Under the guise of protection whole populations are held hostage to authoritarian controls; searches, seizures and summary executions are routinely justified under the banner of omnipresent threat. The Imperium thrives on war and oppression. Its weapon factories and orbital shipyards run night and day, arming its forces, and faceless conscripts by the billion are hurled into conflicts they cannot win. Imperial citizens are indoctrinated from birth to hate and fear outsiders, particularly intelligent alien species, and at any given time the Imperium is fighting dozens of genocidal conflicts.This perpetual state of war and fear has served the Imperium well over its many Terran centuries of existence, reinforcing its self-righteous declaration of itself as defender of Humanity while driving a wedge between itself and the other intelligent starfaring species of the galaxy.The Imperium's ponderous, gargantuan military grinds relentlessly forward, seeking new wars to embroil itself in, driven by its own momentum and blind arrogance. Some Imperial citizens darkly joke that an outbreak of peace would be the greatest disaster that could ever befall the Imperium, but in truth the adepts of Terra are quite able to find enemies in their own ranks.Planets groaning too loudly beneath Imperial tithes are quickly branded as "Traitors" or "Heretics" and just as quickly feel the iron heel of the Imperial military on their necks. On Loyalist Imperial worlds witch hunts are actively promoted by the authorities; in particular mutants and psykers are mercilessly singled out and hunted down. Mutants are killed out of hand on many planets amidst calls for "genetic purity," but in places where they are too numerous and too vital to the economy to wipe out they are pushed into an underclass despised and feared by "normals" or "mundanes".Psykers have the crueller fate by far in the Imperium. The Imperium lays claim to any individual showing the slightest psychic ability. Periodically, often solar decades apart, the ominous Black Ships and the agents of the dreaded Inquisition come to each Imperial world to demand its crop of psykers for processing on distant Terra. The slightest flicker of potential is enough for the Inquisitors, and their holds are filled with thousands, young and old.All but the tiniest fraction of those who enter the Black Ships are never heard from again. Legends abound of their eventual fate; some say that their souls are fed to the Emperor and that a thousand are sacrificed every solar day just to keep his guttering life-spark vital and the psychic beacon of the Astronomican bright. Others say the psykers are blinded and castrated in both their bodies and powers, and that once diminished they are joined to a great choir that endlessly chants mindless praises to the God-Emperor into the uncaring void.Whatever the fate of the psykers may be, the coming of the Black Ships is a great terror for any world, and their appearance frequently triggers rioting and rebellions from peoples unwilling to give up their own family members to feed the Imperium's voracious appetite. Such resistance is ruthlessly crushed by whatever means necessary.The Imperium is said to encompass a million worlds but accurate numbers are impossible to gauge. In the time taken for reports to cross the galaxy conquered worlds are regained and new ones are lost more quickly than Administratum scriveners can update their ponderous data stacks.The worlds of the Imperium include every conceivable type, from isolated colonies to thriving Hive Worlds, from mono-culture Agri-worlds to vast orbital forges; wherever Humankind has made a place for themselves in the galaxy they stands beneath the shadow of the Imperial Aquila.As has been proven in the past, if the forces of the Imperium could ever be unified and set to a single purpose there is nothing they could not achieve. Fortunately for the other inhabitants of the galaxy, Human endeavour has been thwarted by the unthinkable distances involved in their sprawling empire, internal dissension, and inter-departmental rivalry.Even with the illusion of centralised control given by the Adeptus Terra, parts of the Imperium tens of thousands of light years apart can do little to support one another in practical terms. Instead rulership often devolves down to loosely aligned sub-sets of the most influential worlds colluding to exploit their immediate neighbours under the guise of Imperial authority.The Imperium has been far more successful in creating a common cultural and philosophical centre by dominating science, education, and the arts on worlds from one side of the galaxy to the other. The history and viewpoints of the Imperium change drastically, depending on whom you ask. To some, the Imperium of Man is a bulwark against the tides of darkness, a brutal but necessary defence against forces that would rip Humanity asunder.To others, it is a harsh, crumbling monolith, lashing out with blind fury against those who want to save Mankind and lift them to their true potential. It is an obstacle, and one that must be overcome at all costs.Which is correct? Both, and neither. All depends on one's point of view. A champion of the Imperium such as a Space Marine Brother-Captain or Puritan Inquisitor likely takes the former view, or perhaps holds the Imperium in even higher regard. On the other hand, a Chaos Champion of the Ruinous Powers (perhaps a member of one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines) almost certainly takes the latter view. Needless to say, the following account is penned from the viewpoint of the Disciples of the Dark Gods, those who fight against the Imperium of Man, and the forces of Order in all their forms. Is it correct? That is for the reader to decide.