vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Age of the Imperium - Birth of the Astronomican (ca. M30): Following the successful conclusion of the Unification Wars, the Emperor first ordered the construction of the great psychic beacon known as the Astronomican on Terra, which would enable His forces to expand the Great Crusade to the stars beyond the Sol System. Huge numbers of Tech-priests were brought from Mars to oversee the project and the majority of the Terran population were drafted to construct the towering machine-buildings needed to support this labour. At the time the Astronomican was the single largest artifice on Terra, and the entire device was merely a focus through which the Emperor could direct His fathomless psychic energies to generate a partly self-sustaining telepathic signal through the Empyrean (although few were aware of this fact at the time). The psychic navigational beam the Astronomican generated was able to propagate through the Warp and those attuned to its unique frequencies and modulations, the Navigators, were able to use it as a beacon and pole star when plotting journeys through the Immaterium. By this beacon the Warp could be travelled by Human starships at speeds and with a margin of safety that had been unprecedented, although the risk, of course, could never be fully mitigated. The Astronomican was an incalculable boon to both the Great Crusade and the fledgling interstellar domain of Mankind that it was creating. In a similar way, the Emperor was able to shut down the Astronomican or interrupt the beam at will.Only a handful of individuals knew that the great signal was actually powered by the Emperor's psychic powers, and they lived in fear that should He be disabled or killed, the galaxy would be plunged into a new Age of Strife. Such was the Astronomican's effect that even in that distant age of the Imperium's first founding some referred to it as the Divine Light, or the Emperor's Light, often without fully realising the literal truth of those words. The sacred duty of powering the massive psychic beacon would eventually be shifted to a great choir of 10,000 Imperial Sanctioned Psykers after the Emperor was interred within the Golden Throne, heralding the birth of the Imperial Adepta that would become the Adeptus Astronomica.
Age of the Imperium - Great Crusade (ca. 798.M30 - ca. 005.M31): The Emperor emerged from the anarchy of sundered Terra and lead the massive interstellar campaign to reunite Mankind. The Great Crusade was spearheaded by the newly formed Space Marine Legions, who were armed by the recently allied factories of Mars. Battles unnumbered were fought and the myriad Expeditionary Fleets of the Space Marines, supported by the regiments and starships of the newborn Imperial Army, proved unstoppable. Aliens and Warp creatures were driven back, planets were reclaimed and the missing Primarchs were discovered to have been scattered through the Warp to Human-settled worlds across the galaxy.The Emperor preached three great truths in His reconquest of the galaxy: genetic corruption must be sought out and eradicated as he had done on Terra; psykers were to be rooted out, kept under control, and handed over to Imperial agents for evaluation; and destructive aliens were to be rendered powerless. The Great Crusade lasted for over 200 standard years, into the early years of the 31st Millennium, and brought many long-lost star systems into the fold of the newborn Imperium of Man. Under the command of the War Council of the Emperor and His rediscovered Primarchs, vast Expeditionary Fleets comprised of the Imperial Army and the twenty Space Marine Legions fought back aliens, feral Human tribes, petty Human dictators and the Warp-tainted forces that had gained control of large portions of Human-settled space during the Age of Strife. Once a Human-settled world had been pacified, it was brought into "Imperial Compliance" by a new Imperial Planetary Governor chosen by the Emperor. Part of this process included the rooting out of any superstitious or religious beliefs of the population with a respect solely for reason and the measured advancement of science and technology, an atheistic belief system known as the Imperial Truth.It was often occupied by a unit or units of the Imperial Army that were left behind to complete the integration of the planet into the Imperium while the Expeditionary Fleet, led by Astartes, moved on to its next target. As the Primarchs took control of the Space Marine Legions that had been crafted from their gene-seed, the Great Crusade separated, moving in many directions and reaching far across the galaxy. The Emperor eventually returned to Terra following the Ullanor Crusade against the Orks, leaving the Warmaster Horus, foremost amongst the Primarchs and the most beloved son of the Emperor, to finish off the great drives of Human expansion. It is these deeds and countless battles that truly created the Imperium of Man in the minds and hearts of Humanity across the galaxy.
Age of the Imperium - Horus Heresy: The Age of Darkness (ca. 005-014.M31): The Great Crusade ended with the nightmarish Imperial civil war known as the Horus Heresy. The Warmaster Horus, the greatest among the Primarchs and the leader of the Luna Wolves Space Marine Legion as well as the most favoured son of the Emperor, fell under the influence of the Ruinous Powers of Chaos largely as a result of his own growing jealousy and resentment towards his genetic father.In an attempt to usurp his creator and take his place as the Master of Mankind, Horus took control of a third of the entire Imperium's armed forces (including fully half of the Space Marine Legions, four Titan Legions and an untold number of formations from the Imperial Army and the Dark Mechanicum) and marched towards Terra where his forces laid siege to the Imperial Palace. It proved to be a bitter and destructive civil war that lasted for nine standard years; across space and upon many planets, brother fought brother. Immortalised by many later Imperial legends, the Battle of Terra and the Siege of the Imperial Palace marked the epic climax of the Heresy, with countless heroic actions and notorious deeds to mark the end of the founding era of the Imperium.Horus was ultimately slain aboard his own flagship, the Battle Barge Vengeful Spirit, during a daring assault by Loyalist Astartes forces led by the Emperor, but the Emperor was mortally wounded in the final battle and was forced into a state of semi-consciousness by His mortal injuries and interred within the ancient cybernetic life-support system and psychic amplifier known as the Golden Throne. The Imperium was left leaderless and at the very brink of collapse following the Heresy.
Age of the Imperium - Great Scouring (ca. 014.M31 - Unknown Date.M31): The Great Scouring, or simply "The Scouring," was the Imperium of Man's great counteroffensive against the Traitor Legions. It began immediately after the end of the Horus Heresy following the death of the Warmaster Horus and the failure of his assault on the  Imperial Palace during the Siege of Terra in 014.M31.It succeeded in driving the forces of Chaos from Imperial space into finding a refuge in the permanent Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror. Before actually being confined for all time within the life support mechanisms of the Golden Throne, the Emperor had pronounced judgment on the Traitors: He declared them Excommunicate Traitoris, and determined that they were to be driven into the Eye of Terror, which would hold them for all eternity.All records and memory of the Traitor Legions were to be expunged from the Imperial archives. Worlds such as Istvaan V and Davin would be scoured clean of all life because of their corruption by Chaos.The Traitor Legions' associated troops from the Dark Mechanicum, the Titan Legions or the Traitor regiments and starships of the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy that had turned to Chaos were to be destroyed or driven into the Eye alongside their leaders. It would be as if the Traitor Legions had never existed to sully the Imperium with their betrayal.After the death of Horus, those Traitors who had not been slain outright during the Siege of Terra fled before the vengeful wrath of the Loyalist forces. Many made good their escape into unexplored space or disappeared into the Eye of Terror or other, lesser-known Warp rifts such as the Maelstrom.Fighting continued for solar decades after the Heresy had ended before the Traitor forces were wholly destroyed or exiled into the Eye of Terror. Many Chaos-corrupted star systems were cleansed and placed under the watch of the newborn Inquisition.The Emperor's dream of a new age of enlightenment, a time when Mankind was freed from superstition and ignorance, would turn into something far different. The Great Scouring would be followed by the true start of the ten-millennia-long era known as the Age of the Imperium.
Age of the Imperium - The Second Founding (ca. 021.M31): In the midst of the Scouring campaign, the Second Founding occurred. In order to prevent a single person from controlling as much military power as Horus had amassed and eliminate the risk of another large-scale civil war, numerous reforms were enacted at the hands of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines to reshape the Imperium of Man's political and military structure.In this way the men and women of the Imperium could face the new post-Heresy realities of an interstellar government where the Emperor was no longer capable of carrying on the day-to-day tasks of ruling the galaxy.The remaining 9 Loyalist Space Marine Legions were divided to form the far smaller 1,000-warrior organisations known as Chapters, each along with their own supporting spacecraft and planetary fiefdoms in accordance with the established dictates of Guilliman's magnum opus on military strategy and organisation, the Codex Astartes.In the wake of the Horus Heresy and the Emperor's "ascension," Guilliman had become the ruling Lord Commander of the Imperium, the first among equals among the Senatorum Imperialis that now ruled the Imperium in the silent Emperor's name.A portion of the Space Marines, now collectively known as the Adeptus Astartes, maintained their parent Legions' original names, badges and colours whilst the remaining Chapters took on new names and heraldry. The majority of these Second Founding Chapters still serve the Imperium today.The Imperial Army was divided into the land-based forces of the Astra Militarum and the space-based forces of the Imperial Navy, each with a separate chain-of-command structure and bureaucracy.Resistance from several Space Marine Legions to Guilliman's order to break up their Legions, particularly among the Imperial Fists, nearly brought the Imperium to another crisis, until the scions of Rogal Dorn suffered through the battle of the Iron Cage and Dorn relented after the V Legion was only saved by the intervention of Guilliman's Ultramarines.The Imperium suffered a great blow when Guilliman was mortally wounded at the Battle of Thessala in 121.M31 by the Daemon Primarch Fulgrim and was placed in stasis in the Temple of Correction in the fortress-monastery of the Ultramarines, the Fortress of Hera, on Macragge. It became a major pilgrimage destination for believers of the Imperial Cult over the next 10,000 years.
Age of the Imperium - The Time of Rebirth (ca. M31 - ca. M32): During the era remembered as the Time of Rebirth the Imperium of Man slowly recovered from the Horus Heresy, economically, politically and even technologically. The myriad wars of the Great Scouring were fought in the years immediately after the end of the Horus Heresy and the death of the traitorous Warmaster.In a lengthy campaign explored above, the Imperium's forces hunted and banished the remaining Traitor Legions from the occupation of Human space. Eventually the Chaos Space Marines and the Ruinous Powers' other followers among the forces of Chaos found refuge in the massive Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror as the Emperor had planned. For a time the Imperium knew peace from the corrupted followers of the Chaos Gods.At the same time, many alien races that had been fought during the Great Crusade reappeared in Human space to take advantage of the disruptions caused by the Horus Heresy and plagued the vulnerable worlds of Man.
Age of the Imperium - 1st Black Crusade (781.M31): In 781.M31, Abaddon the Despoiler, the Chaos Lord of the Black Legion, made his first attempt to launch a new offensive against the Imperium of Man following the Horus Heresy. He initiated the campaign known as the 1st Black Crusade, which opened with the conflict remembered as the First Battle of Cadia.The 1st Black Crusade also marked the start of the Chaos Space Marines' ten-thousand-year-long attempt to throw down the Imperium that they named the "Long War."Abaddon had made many blood pacts with the Dark Gods in the wake of Horus' defeat during the Horus Heresy. Following this deadly incursion, the Ruinous Powers granted Abaddon the means to further increase his already formidable power.After the First Battle of Cadia was won, the forces of Chaos under Abaddon's command plunged the worlds of the Segmentum Obscurus into a terrible conflict that ravaged hundreds of worlds for several solar decades.At the end of that time, on the world of Uralan in the Eye of Terror, Abaddon recovered the Daemonsword Drach'nyen after battling his way through a haunted labyrinth to the great inner chamber where the blade had languished in stasis for millennia.The howling sword contained the bound essence of an ancient and dangerous Warp entity who had once been defeated by the Emperor Himself during the Horus heresy and had the power to rend reality apart wherever the weapon strikes.After the recovery of the malefic sword, Abaddon's power swelled to inhuman proportions much like his predecessor Horus, and he was recognised by the Chaos Gods as Horus Lupercal's true successor amongst the Traitor Legions, the new Warmaster of Chaos Undivided.
Age of the Imperium - Rise of the Adeptus Ministorum: The Emperor, always an object of veneration, only increased His following after being joined to the Golden Throne, an act remembered by his followers as His "ascension." Many Imperial cults arose over the following centuries, the majority of which were united into a larger body known as the Ecclesiarchy led by the largest cult, the Temple of the Saviour Emperor.This powerful church gained momentum and a following across the galaxy until, in the 32nd Millennium, it was granted the status of official state religion of the Imperium and the title of Adeptus Ministorum within the Adeptus Terra.It is only a few centuries later that Ecclesiarch Veneris II received a seat amongst the High Lords of Terra, and after 300 Terran years, the seat reserved for the Ecclesiarch, the church's high priest, was made permanent. The political power of the Ecclesiarchy only continues to grow as the centuries pass and the people of the Imperium's faith in the God-Emperor becomes ever more intense.
Age of the Imperium - The Beheading (546.M32): The byzantine politics of the Imperium took a calamitous turn in 546.M32 in the wake of the War of the Beast in an event remembered as The Beheading.The High Lords of Terra, the successors of the Council of Terra that had been established to administer the day-to-days affairs of the Imperium and now ruled in the Emperor's name, were slain to a man on the orders of Drakan Vangorich, the Grand Master of Assassins and veteran political manipulator.A Space Marine retribution force drawn from the Halo Brethren, Imperial Fists and Sable Swords Chapters tracked the Grand Master to an Officio Assassinorum temple. The commander of the Astartes strike force was assassinated as soon as he made planetfall, but the remaining Battle-Brothers carried out the attack without him.Inside the temple they were attacked by 100 Eversor Assassins. Only a single Space Marine survived to reach Grand Master Vangorich and end his life with a Bolter. The Imperium descended into anarchy for several years as new High Lords rose to power under the aegis of the Adeptus Astartes.
Age of the Imperium - The Forging (ca. M32 - ca. M34): The Forging is sometimes called the "Golden Age of the Imperium" by Imperial historians because during this period the Adeptus Terra brought the most important Human-settled star systems of the galaxy that had not been reached by the Great Crusade under Imperial control and expanded the interstellar borders of the Imperium.Internal stability was gained with the establishment of astropath choirs on countless worlds, with major communications hubs established on the best-garrisoned Imperial worlds, including Armageddon, Bakka and Macragge.This allowed a reliable network of interstellar superluminal communication to function using the power of an astropath's astro-telepathy to send and receive messages across light years.This period also saw a slowing in the decline and stagnation of the Imperium's technology and the growth of the interstellar economy due to the rediscovery of a valuable Standard Template Construct (STC) database from the Dark Age of Technology in the Cana System as the Imperium expanded.Once more the Imperium repelled the forces of Chaos Renegades, Heretics and aliens alike across the galaxy and reclaimed countless lost and rebellious regions for the Human race.During this period, the Emperor, always an object of veneration, only increased His devoted following of worshippers after being joined to the Golden Throne.Many Imperial cults dedicated to the worship of the Emperor as the God of Mankind arose over the following centuries, the majority of which were united into a centralised religious body called the Temple of the Saviour Emperor.This powerful church gained momentum until, in the 32nd Millennium, it was finally granted the status of the official state religion of the Imperium and the title of Adeptus Ministorum, though it was more colloquially called the "Ecclesiarchy."It was only a few centuries later that Ecclesiarch Veneris II received a seat amongst the High Lords of Terra, and after 300 standard years, the seat reserved for the Ecclesiarch was made permanent within the ranks of the Senatorum Imperialis.
Age of the Imperium - 2nd Black Crusade: In 597.M32, the Warmaster of Chaos, Abaddon the Despoiler, launched his 2nd Black Crusade against the Imperium of Man and initiated the 2nd Black Crusade. This time, Abaddon placed a terrible curse upon the worlds of the Belis Corona Sector, infusing them with the touch of the Warp.Meanwhile, his Black Fleet attacked the sector's Imperial shipyards, destroying dozens of Imperial Cruisers being constructed or repaired. Before the Imperium could muster its strength to fight back, the Despoiler retreated into the Eye of Terror, his works complete.
Age of the Imperium - Restoration of the Senatorum Imperialis: In 646.M32, Agnathio, the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, united over 50 leaders from other Chapters of Space Marines and arrived upon Terra. Such a show of power and faith put an end to the squabbling for the contentious seats of the High Lords of Terra that had consumed the differing factions since The Beheading.In locked council with the mightiest of Mankind's warriors, such matters were quickly sorted out. None know exactly what was done or said, but when the Space Marines departed back to their far-scattered missions, there once again sat twelve High Lords of Terra. If there was further dissension, none dared speak it aloud.
Age of the Imperium - Astropath Wars: In 888.M32 the Imperium was consumed by the event known as the Astropath Wars. There is no further information on this conflict available in Imperial records.
Age of the Imperium - 3rd Black Crusade: Abaddon the Despoiler launched his 3rd Black Crusade in 909.M32, sending the Daemon Prince Tallomin against the Cadian Gate in a reckless and bloody frontal assault.The daemonic horde that followed in Tallomin's wake accounted for the destruction of millions of lives and drew in Astra Militarum regiments and Space Marine Chapters from across the Segmentum Obscurus.Eventually, warriors of the Space Wolves managed to send Tallomin howling back into the Warp.Under the cover of the attack, Abaddon led a dedicated strike force to desecrate the Shrine World of Gerstahl, breaking the ancient seal on the tomb of the Imperial Saint Gerstahl and utterly destroying his remains whilst the Imperium's attention was directed elsewhere.This was done to forestall a prophecy which claimed that the saint would rise again when the "Eye of Darkness opened for the last time" and stem the tide of the treacherous.
Age of the Imperium - The Firestorm: In 910.M32 the event known as The Firestorm unfolded. There is no further information on this conflict available in Imperial records.
Age of the Imperium - War of the Confessor: At some time in the 33rd Millennium, the War of the Confessor unfolded when in a particularly violent display, the Adeptus Ministorum exerted its newfound political strength in the wake of the War of the Beast. Many key Shrine Worlds were added to its holdings during this first of many Wars of Faith to come.
Age of the Imperium - Usurs' Explorations: In 265.M33, Admiral Usurs of the Imperial Navy was cast down by the High Lords of Terra for becoming too ambitious. However, he was still too politically powerful within the Navy to be executed without initiating a costly civil war, so he was instead despatched on an Explorator mission to the intergalactic gulf beyond the Milky Way.For the following solar decade, Usurs' reports reached Terra by astropath, detailing the conquest of new star systems for the Emperor. After two decades, these reports finally ceased. Contact was never reestablished with the star systems Usurs mentioned in his reports.
Age of the Imperium - Siege of Eternity's Gate: In 313.M33 the Siege of Eternity's Gate unfolded.
Age of the Imperium - The Blade of Infinity: In 615.M33 the Blade of Infinity, a pre-Heresy Cruiser, emerged from the Warp, its re-entry signature suggesting that it had left realspace over 20,000 standard years before. This period predated even the Warp-Drive's invention in the Age of Technology and suggested a radical time stream disorder.Vox transmissions picked up the from the vessel suggested that the Blade of Infinity was trying to communicate some type of warning, but before much could be deciphered, the ancient starship disappeared once again into the Warp.In its wake arrived an invasion fleet of Heretic Astartes Traitor Legions, the Archenemy of the Imperium who wreaked much havoc. The Blade of Infinity reemerged from the Warp several more times in subsequent years, always as a harbinger of further incursions into Imperial space by the forces of Chaos from the Immaterium.
Age of the Imperium - Year of the Ghosts: In 831.M33, during what became known as the "Year of the Ghosts," the honoured dead rose up in the Segmentum Solar to drive back the terrors of the Warp.
Age of the Imperium - 4th Black Crusade: The 4th Black Crusade, also known as the "El'Phanor War," was launched into Imperial space from the Eye of Terror by Abaddon the Despoiler in 001.M34, his Black Legion besieging the great Citadel of the Kromarch.Abaddon led the charge against the adamantium gates of this famously unbreachable citadel upon the world of El'Phanor. Only one in ten of Abaddon's spearhead reached the gates before they were trapped by Heavy Bolter fire.Utilising his Daemon Sword Drach'nyen, the gates of the citadel proved harder than diamond, but they split apart like cordwood before Abaddon's dolorous blow.In an orgy of violence, the Traitor Legions and their daemonic allies fall upon the Kromarch, the Imperial Commander of El'Phanor and his kin, extinguishing their ancient line forever and weakening the defences of the Cadian Gate for future Chaos assaults.
Age of the Imperium - The Pale Wasting: Sometime during the early years of the 34th Millennium a great threat to the Imperium arose beyond the Ghoul Stars. Even today, its true nature remains suppressed. The ravages are said to cause the extermination of a score of Space Marine Chapters and souls unnumbered.Much of the extant evidence relating to this threat has been censored or purposely destroyed by the Inquisition, but there are contradictory indications which describe the nature of the threat as both a "star-spawned plague" that swept away scores of worlds and to "Nightmare Engines" that slaughtered the populations of whole sectors. This threat is remembered only as the "Pale Wasting."A stele mounted within the Imperial Palace on Terra recognises the services of the Novamarines for their action against the Pale Wasting. This artefact praises the Chapter and credits their work for having "unmade that which cannot die." This campaign was where the Novamarines earned some of their earliest recorded battle honours.Those partial records which have been uncovered suggest that the threat was xenos in nature and that more than one Space Marine Chapter may have been completely destroyed in the course of the conflict.The Novamarines took part in the campaign to quell the threat of the Pale Wasting, and though this is one of the Chapter's earliest recorded battle honours, the Chapter's own chronicles are curiously empty of any reference to this conflict. Were it not for such prominent recognition, the incident might be completely forgotten.
Age of the Imperium - The Howling: In 401.M34 the terrible crisis known as "The Howling" unfolded. Black Templar Space Marines ended the Catelexis Heresy by executing the Cacodominus, an alien cybernetic psyker whose formidable powers allowed it to psychically control the populace of thirteen hundred star systems.Unfortunately, the Cacodominus' death scream was amplified by the Warp and burned out the minds of a billion Human astropaths while it also distorted the beacon of the Astronomican.Millions of starships were lost in the resulting upheaval and entire Sub-sectors of the Imperium slid once more into barbarism without the dictates of the Adeptus Terra to guide them. It proves a terrible price to pay for victory.
Age of the Imperium - The Nova Terra Interregnum (ca. M35 - M36): The Nova Terra Interregnum is also known as the "Time of the Twin Empires" and was a troubled period in Imperial history when the Imperium of Man fractured for a time into warring factions for over 900 standard years during the early 35th through the early 36th Millennium. During this period the rebellious Ur-Council of Nova Terra dismissed the authority of the High Lords of Terra and claimed separate rule over the Imperium's Segmentum Pacificus.
Age of the Imperium - Moirae Schism: The Adeptus Mechanicus was also affected during this Interregnum by division and internal warfare brought about by doctrinal differences and competing centres of power. One of the most discordant of these conflicts was the Moirae Schism which occurred sometime in the 35th Millennium, a dogmatic battle between the Martian Orthodoxy of the standard Cult Mechanicus and a far more radical creed based upon the prophetic writings of a triad of tech-mystics from the minor Forge World of Moirae.The Moirae Schism was one of the most divisive and widespread doctrinal conflicts to afflict the Adeptus Mechanicus since the Horus Heresy. Moirae was eventually blasted into dust, but not before heretical writings from that world spread like wildfire through the domains of the Mechanicus even after Moirae was reduced to a cinder by the Fabricator-General of Mars' rectification fleet.Despite these efforts, the schism spread throughout the Cult of Mars, the Titan Legions and several Space Marine Chapters with close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus such as the Iron Hands. Over 2,000 Terran years more of bloody internecine strife within the Mechanicus pass before the baleful doctrine is considered purged.
Age of the Imperium - Cataclysm of Souls: After almost a millennium of low-grade civil war and political maneuvering, the "Cataclysm of Souls" in 975.M35 reunited the Imperium. In that year, the Ecclesiarchy tried to transform the Imperium into a theocracy where political differences would be submerged by usurping the power of the rest of the High Lords of Terra and uniting all Humanity beneath a new theocracy.Their efforts ended only in stirring up massive religious civil wars against the Ur-Council of Nova Terra who were denounced as Heretics who stood in defiance of the will of the God-Emperor when they rejected the Ecclesiarchy's attempts to increase its power over the state.This religious rebellion on many worlds of the Segmentum Pacificus ultimately overthrew the Ur-Council and restored the rule of the High Lords over the entirety of the Imperium's territory, though billions died in these religious wars and the power of the Ecclesiarchy had been increased throughout the Imperium to a dangerous level as a result, helping to set the stage for the events of the Age of Apostasy which followed in the 36th Millennium.
Age of the Imperium - Hrud Rising: In 980.M35 the galaxy suffered from the onslaught of the massive "Hrud Rising."
Age of the Imperium - Cursed 21st Founding: In 991.M35, the 21st Founding, later known as the Cursed Founding, occurred. The Cursed 21st Founding was the largest Founding of Space Marine Chapters since the Second Founding following the Horus Heresy. It had taken place in the 35th Millennium shortly before the start of the Age of Apostasy.Upon the world of Inculaba, a secret geno-lab was the site of the secret project known as "Homo Sapiens Novus," where Mechanicus Genetors attempted to perfect and remove the existing, identified deficiencies in flawed Astartes gene-seed, and ultimately begin the production of new and improved Primarch-like Space Marines.But their project was doomed to failure as the Genetors proved far less skilled in the genetic sciences than the Emperor of Mankind, and their efforts resulted in the development of seriously flawed gene-seed that was used to craft the organ implants for the new Chapters.Worse still, some of these Chapters developed unexpected genetic idiosyncrasies, mutations that strained the tolerance of the Inquisition and threatened the Chapter's survival.The most seriously afflicted Chapters suffered the wrath of the Grey Knights after they were called in by the Inquisition to expunge the threat. Some escaped this fate and fled, eventually turning Traitor and swearing themselves to Chaos.
Age of the Imperium - War of Recovery: In 104.M36 the War of Recovery unfolded when patchy reports of technological wonders on the planets of the Mortuam Chain reach Mars. Hoping that it might be possible to recover new STC databases, the Adeptus Mechanicus launched an expedition which began an escalating war that lasted for over a standard century. Aided by the advanced weaponry they recovered, the forces of the Mechanicus freed the Human colonies of the region from xenos occupation and several first generation copies of STC databases concerning certain individual technologies were returned in triumph to Mars.
Age of the Imperium - The Age of Apostasy (M36): Foreshadowed by the deep political divisions of the Nova Terra Interregnurn, a new age of dissent and power struggles consumed the Imperium in the 36th Millennium. Zeal eclipsed reason, and misrule reigned supreme. The word of the Emperor was subverted wholesale by corrupt ideologues, each struggling to usurp total control of the Emperor's realm for themselves.This era is known as the Age of Apostasy, a time of brutal Imperial civil war, and is considered to be one of the bloodiest times within the Imperium's history after the Horus Heresy.
Age of the Imperium - Reign of Blood: Around 200.M36, the Age of Apostasy is marked by the "Reign of Blood", when the High Lord Goge Vandire, an insane tyrant, became both the Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum and the Master of the Adeptus Administratum through bribery, blackmail, coercion and murder.During Vandire's Reign of Blood, multiple Wars of Faith were fought as Vandire attempted to gain full control of the Imperium. The Reign of Blood lasted for 70 Terran years before a messenger delivered the news that heralded its end. On the world of Dimmamar, a man named Sebastian Thor and his reformist sect of the Imperial Cult, the Confederation of Light, denounced High Lord Vandire as a traitor to the Emperor. As an accomplished orator, Thor was able to sway billions to his cause. Eventually Vandire was besieged on Terra by several Space Marine Chapters and several Astra Militarum regiments.The Space Marines' fleet unleashed a massive orbital bombardment which caught most of the Traitors in the open. Lord Vandire was killed by his bodyguards, the Brides of the Emperor, who were convinced by the actions of the Adeptus Custodes that they had been tricked into betraying the Emperor by Vandire.In the aftermath, the Ecclesiarchy was reformed, and the Brides of the Emperor were transformed into the Adepta Sororitas, the Sisters of Battle, the armed forces of the Ecclesiarchy and the Chamber Militant of the Inquisition's new-formed Ordo Hereticus.The Ordo Hereticus was intended to root out the internal enemies of the Imperium, watch over the Ecclesiarchy and prevent the emergence of another Goge Vandire who sought to serve his own selfish ends rather than the will of the Emperor.Sebastian Thor was named the new Ecclesiarch in the wake of the Reign of Blood, and his Confederation of Light's theology replaced the old orthodoxy of the Imperial state church with its emphasis on the need for political control over the Emperor's realm. However, many of those "old believers" went underground, forming a heretical sect known as the "Temple Tendency" that would plague the frontier regions of the Imperium for millennia to come.
Age of the Imperium - Plague of Unbelief: In 310.M36, the event known as the "Plague of Unbelief" unfolds and is also considered part of the Age of Apostasy of the 36th Millennium, although it occurred several decades after High Lord Goge Vandire's death and Sebastian Thor's ascension to the position of Ecclesiarch. Many false prophets appeared throughout the anarchic Age of Apostasy, some little more than madmen leading rebel armies, others spiritual demagogues who commanded entire worlds and sector-spanning armies.The most powerful of these was the Apostate Cardinal of Gathalamor, Bucharis, whose heresies reached such proportions they became known as the Plague of Unbelief, not to be confused with the Curse of Unbelief, a potent arcane disease spread by servants of the Chaos God Nurgle in the 41st Millennium and better known as the Zombie Plague.The Plague of Unbelief came to an end after the heroic sacrifices of the Imperial Saint known as the Great Confessor, Dolan Chirosius, who willingly martyred himself on Gathalamor. Chirosius' example proved so potent a display of faith in the Emperor that the entire population of the world rose up and cast down Bucharis, restoring Imperial rule and the orthodox faith of the God-Emperor.
Age of the Imperium - 5th Black Crusade: Abaddon the Despoiler launched his 5th Black Crusade out of the Eye of Terror in 723.M36, one of his infamous incursions into the realms of the Imperium of Mankind. The campaign is also remembered as the "Tide of Blood," "the Scouring of Elysia," and the "Black Crusade of Doombreed." Abaddon's forces scoured the Elysia Sector, raiding hundreds of worlds and causing untold death and destruction.On the world of Tarinth, the Despoiler lured the Warhawks and Venerators Chapters of Space Marines into the ruins of the ancient Imperial city of Kasyr Lutein where he trapped them between the daemonic hordes of Khorne and the Heretic Astartes forces of the Black Legion.In a bitter last stand, both Loyalist Chapters were utterly destroyed, their skulls taken by the ancient Daemon Prince Doombreed, whose existence precedes that of the Imperium itself, to be mounted upon the mighty throne of Khorne.
Age of the Imperium - Web of Intrigue Disaster: In 754.M36 the Imperium was struck by the "Web of Intrigue Disaster." There is no further information in Imperial records concerning this event.
Age of the Imperium - 6th Black Crusade: The 6th Black Crusade launched out of the Eye of Terror in 901.M36 was the sixth massive incursion by the forces of Chaos into Imperial space by Abaddon the Despoiler. During this campaign, Abaddon visited his wrath upon the treacherous warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Sons of the Eye.The Sons of the Eye were a splinter warband of the Black Legion, founded and commanded by the Chaos Lord Drecarth the Sightless, the Blind Butcher of Irridous VII. Drecarth was a former Battle-Brother of the Sons of Horus who had fought alongside Abaddon during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy that followed.Always jealous of the Primarch Horus' favour for the Despoiler, the Sons of the Eye considered Abaddon an usurper when he took command of the XVI Legion following the Slave Wars in the Eye of Terror. Abaddon aided the Sons of the Eye in an assault on the Forge World of Arkreach during the 6th Black Crusade, the Black Legion fighting side-by-side with them until the Adeptus Mechanicus defenders were finally crushed.The triumphant Abaddon then slowly killed Drecarth, impaling him with the Talon of Horus, even as the Despoiler made his victim watch every member of the Sons of the Eye bow before their new master.
Age of the Imperium - The Hunger of the Throne: In 989.M36, as the Eye of Terror and other Warp rifts across the galaxy visibly expanded, the Tech-priests servicing the Golden Throne demanded an increase in the number of psykers needed to fuel the Emperor's growing appetite for psychic power and maintain the extant reach of the Astronomican.The Black Ships were increased in number as was the frequency of their voyages to collect their tithes of psykers from across the Imperium. According to some records, after this date, four times the number of psykers are sacrificed daily to maintain optimal levels of power to the Golden Throne and the beacon of the Astronomican.
Age of the Imperium - The Age of Redemption (ca. 010.M37 - ca. 034.M38): The Age of Redemption marked the era when the Imperium recovered from the sins of apostasy unleashed in the prior millennium in a rain of blood and tears. The Imperial Cult grew in zeal as never before.Heretic pyres burned night and day on a thousand Imperial worlds as the people of the Imperium sought to mortify their sins against the God-Emperor through the scourging of the flesh of others.Imperial Crusade after crusade was launched by the Adeptus Astartes and other Imperial military forces to recapture the lost wealth of the Imperium and push back the hordes of Chaos, Orks and other alien threats to Humanity.This religious fervour eventually peaked in an orgy of fanatical devotion to crusading in the Emperor's name and thousands of worlds were left with inadequate defences as sector fleets of the Imperial Navy, Space Marine Chapters and Astra Militarum regiments were drawn into longer and more terrible crusades spurred on by this religious fanaticism.
Age of the Imperium - Wrath of the Chaos Sun: In 010.M37 the Wrath of the Chaos Sun fell upon the Imperium when the red giant star at the heart of the Maxil Beta System exploded in an expanding cloud of Warpflame. The inhabitants of every world for hundreds of light years were either mutated beyond recognition or possessed by the denizens of the Warp.In response, the High Lords of Terra ordered the mobilisation of whatever Imperial forces were close at hand. So it is that the Grey Knights were joined by a dozen other Chapters, countless Imperial Guard regiments and the nascent Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas.The resulting battle did much to heal the remaining wounds in the Imperial body politic that had been opened by Goge Vandire's treachery during the Reign of Blood.
Age of the Imperium - Great Cull: In 020.M37, the High Lords of Terra, in their mercy, began a systematic and deadly purge within the ranks of the Adeptus Terra's bureaucracy and on many worlds across the galaxy to ensure that such a corruption of faith as occurred during the Reign of Blood could never happen again. This purge becomes known as the "Great Cull."
Age of the Imperium - Abbysal Crusade & Occlusiad War: Among the most devastating of the conflicts unleashed during the Age of Redemption were the Abyssal Crusade and the Occlusiad War.The Abyssal Crusade of 321.M37 began when Saint Basilius found thirty Space Marine Chapters wanting in their devotion to the Emperor.The guilty embarked upon a crusade into the Eye of Terror to earn their salvation and purge those Human-settled worlds stolen from Mankind by the birth of Slaanesh.The Occlusiad War of 555.M37 started when the northwestern fringe of the galaxy was ravaged by the Heretics known as the Apostles of the Blind King, rogue Tech-priests who viewed Humanity's very existence as an utter affront to the Machine God.The Apostles had uncovered wondrous artefacts from the Dark Age of Technology that made possible the transformation of ordinary stars into supernovae. The constellations of the galaxy were changed forever when the Apostles purged the outer Segmentum Obscurus of Human life using these weapons.War raged for a solar decade until the Navigator Joyre Macran discovered the palace-warship of the Blind King hidden in a fold of the Warp. Escaping with this crucial intelligence, Macran guided the Imperial Navy's Emperor-class Battleship Dominus Astra to the palace's location.The Blind King was killed and the genocide ended when the Dominus Astra 's Lance batteries pierced the palace-warship's hull and without his psychically prescient leadership the Apostles were swiftly overcome and their weapons hidden away in the vaults of Mars.
Age of the Imperium - Benedictine War: The Benedictine War was a War of Faith that targeted the Benedictine Sub-sector in the 37th Millennium. It was led by the Black Templars Chapter and five Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, though it included many other armies dedicated to the faith of the God-Emperor.During the campaign, several Aeldari worlds were captured and in the ensuing conflict two Black Templar High Marshals were slain in rapid succession.Due to these losses, the Ecclesiarch himself declared an end to the war, claiming that the Imperial forces had achieved enough in the Emperor's name.However the new High Marshal of the Black Templars Constantine continued the campaign regardless and the Black Templars alone successfully purged the remaining worlds of the sub-sector of the xenos assaulting them.
Age of the Imperium - Lost Crusade: By 754.M37, on thousands of planets, menials rebelled against their dreary drudgery with wild-eyed leaders espousing a better way of life -- a galaxy of tolerance. The movement proved especially popular amongst the youth of the Imperium, earning it the title of the "Children's Crusade."Billions of earnest pilgrims were lured to seek transport to Terra; some were waylaid by pirates, but the majority disappeared into the Warp. They became known collectively as the "Lost Crusade."
Age of the Imperium - 7th Black Crusade: The 7th Black Crusade, also remembered informally as the "Ghost War," was a Black Crusade against the forces of the Imperium led by the infamous Chaos Lord Abaddon the Despoiler and his Black Legion, launched out of the Eye of Terror in 811.M37.  At this time, the forces of Chaos spewed forth from the great Warp rift past Cadia and then disappeared.This event is what earned this conflict its informal name of the Ghost War. The following years saw a game of hide-and-seek played between the forces of Chaos and the Imperium of Man which spread confusion, paranoia, disinformation and deceit across the galaxy.Raids became commonplace in far-flung areas but eventually the servants of the Dark Gods returned to the Eye of Terror, having caused enough trouble but having proven unable to significantly degrade Imperial defensive capabilities at that time.
Age of the Imperium - Heavenfall Massacres: In 956.M37 the Heavenfall Massacres unfolded. Little else is known about them in the Imperial records.
Age of the Imperium - 8th Black Crusade: In 999.M37, Abaddon the Despoiler launched the 8th Black Crusade of Chaos out of the Eye of Terror into Imperial space.During this incursion into the realms of Mankind, Abaddon completed a complex series of ritualistic massacres known as the "Skullgather" in the name of Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways.On worlds throughout the Segmentum Obscurus, Imperial citizens were slaughtered in precise numbers using esoteric rituals.Only when the Inquisition finally broke the code of damnation was the Imperium able to bring an end to the Black Legion's rampage across the segmentum in time with these mysterious attacks, but not before countless worlds had been saturated in death and Abbadon's true aim -- to gain access to the favour of Tzeentch -- had been achieved.
Age of the Imperium - Abyssal Crusade Returns: Having purged more than 400 worlds within the Eye of Terror, the survivors of the Abyssal Crusade returned to Imperial space in 112.M38.Without pausing to claim the honours due for such a successful and protracted Imperial Crusade, Chapter Master Konvak Lann of the Vorpal Swords declares the now-ancient Saint Basillius a false idol and adoration of him tantamount to betrayal of the Emperor.In less than a standard year, every known sepulchre and shrine dedicated to the false saint is destroyed. After his execution, his bones, along with countless relics, books of doctrine and thousands of living worshippers, are placed on a derelict bulk-freighter and launched directly into a nearby star.
Age of the Imperium - The Waning (ca. M38 - ca. 744.M41): With the Imperium's military forces in every branch utterly exhausted by the continuous Imperial Crusades of the prior Age of Redemption, star system after star system fell to Ork invasion, Chaos insurgence, xenos infestation or sheer rebellion.Anarchy throughout many sectors of the Imperium was rife during a dark period in Imperial history that is now called "the Waning."Ever more star systems were turned over by the Administratum to direct rule by Space Marine Chapters to preserve stability as only the Astartes possessed the inviolable military strength required to restore Imperial control in the more lawless regions of the galaxy.To combat the spreading anarchy, the Adeptus Terra imposed ever-stricter rules, doling out ever-harsher punishments. Portents of doom were both incessant and relentless. The prescient foretold of great ripples in the Warp, like a swell in the water disturbed by some colossal but unseen menace.
Age of the Imperium - 9th Black Crusade: The 9th Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler and his Black Legion launched out of the Eye of Terror in 537.M38. Intending to bring about the demise of the naval fortress of Cancephalus, Abaddon led his forces against the heaving populations of the nearby world of Antecanis.The seventeen-standard-year-long war that ensued robbed both Antecanis and Cancephalus of their most precious resource -- manpower. Without the fleets of Cancephalus to stop him, Abaddon was able to ravage the rest of the sector at will , and his Sorcerers were free to conduct the rituals required to weaken the walls of reality in that region of space with impunity.
Age of the Imperium - Grim Harvest: During the "Grim Harvest" in 666.M38, a great armada of misshapen space hulks drifted out of the Warp near Terra. Some of the twisted and fused starships could still be identified as transports carrying pilgrims from the Lost Crusade.The Lost Crusade had begun in 754.M37, when, on thousands of planets, menials rebelled against their dreary drudgery with wild-eyed leaders espousing a better way of life -- a galaxy of tolerance. The movement had been especially popular amongst the youth of the Imperium, earning it the title of "Children's Crusade."Billions of earnest pilgrims were lured to seek transport to Terra; some were waylaid by pirates, but the majority disappeared into the Warp. They became known collectively as the "Lost Crusade."The Inquisition worked feverishly to cover up the Grim Harvest fleet's existence and its cargo of mutant and daemon-possessed abominations.