Editing Imperium Asunder (section)

=Atlas=
[[File:Imperium_Asunder_Map.jpg | 500px | thumb]]
Important new planets in the Imperium Asunder Timeline go here.

==Dark Imperium==
===Unholy Terra===
Terra is a twisted, abominable reflection of its former glory. How humans can even survive on this twisted demon capitol in the heart of the swirling Eye of Terra is perplexing. Its been suggested that Terra is anchored partially in realspace by some powerful force; Whether this is the will of the divine Emperor as a true ascended god, or simply psychic echo, a vestige of his colossal psychic might that won't let Terra slip fully to chaos, it is impossible to tell.

Home to the [[Judgement Bringers]].

===Warmaster's Domains===
Think [[1984|Airstrip One]]

===Chaos Marches===

The bulk of the Dark Imperium, the Chaos Marches are vast swathes of space comprising most of Obscurus and Pacificus outside of those areas claimed by the main Chaos Legions. No one power claims command of this areas, instead hundreds of not thousands of separate forces vie with one another for control of small fractions of the Marches.

There are many who believe that these warp twisted worlds are unlivable, however, there are many that find human life on it. These worlds are separate the chaff from the grain, especially those worlds who were originally deathworlds, find their new twisted and malformed landscapes to bring out the toughest in warriors and inhabitants.

===Dark Worlds===
''Main article:'' [[Dark Worlds]]

The Dark worlds are a truly terrifying sector to behold now that the Emperors light shines no more. The cluster, heavily reliant upon Imperial aid even before the great collapse, as secessionists, heretics and renegades were a constant threat. Loyalists were barely holding ground before, so it comes as no surprise that when the aid stopped arriving, many worlds fell, leaving few stranded worlds left.

The Dark worlds now are a Broken collection of petty states, Daemonic holdings, and renegade kingdoms, held together loosely by their collective hatred of anyone who wishes to invade the dark worlds. Woe befall those who wish to travel through this lawless section of space.

Home to the [[Behemoth Guard]]

===Second Sons===
Like how their homeworld, Lorrentia, was once a verdant world and had been rich in natural resources,
the territory of the Second Sons are blasted hellscapes. Many of these worlds were used as agriworlds before the Second Sons came. 

Currently many of these worlds have large laboratories which churn out chemical, biological and nuclear weapons for the Second Son's warmongering. As a result, the species that remain on these worlds after toxins have seeped out or after the Seconds Sons have used these toxins to conquer planets are twisted and horrific. There who dare to leave any walled cities to explore these awful landscapes. 

Any planet that surrendered peacefully and does not have a laboratory struggles to feed the rest of the sector.

===Archeotect Collective===

==Crusader States==
===Storm Kingdoms===
The Storm Kingdoms are a union of systems and planets under the rule of the Storm Hammer Legion, organized into a feudal system not unlike that of the former Imperium of Man. The Storm Kingdoms encourage self-reliance of their planets, ensuring that Kingdoms are able to defend themselves in times of need. While they each have a sizable level of independence, the downside is a certain amount of infighting amongst the various political factions and nobles. The Storm Kingdoms field vast armies of human soldiers which are expected to fight alongside the Storm Hammer Legion. These armies are under the control of the various planetary lords but are expected to show deference and loyalty to the Legion, which maintain both human and Astarte advisers (especially Librarians) in multiple levels of the chain of command. All worlds pay tithe to the Storm Hammers and the Legion commander who is the symbolic head of all the Storm Kingdoms. The non-Astartes miltiary forces of the Storm Kingdom include 'Imperial' soldiers and exiled Mechanicum Skitarii as well as Knightly Houses. Because the Storm Kingdom has few, if any Titans left, it relies more extensively on the Knights.
* '''Lostregia:''' Home world of the Storm Hammers. The planet remain a radioactive hell-hole where people live inside radiation-shielded fortresses. It remain one of the primary recruitment world of the Legion.
* '''Augustine''', '''Stormport''' and '''Lithios''': Called 'the trinity', these three fortress-worlds are the primary military bases of the Storm Kingdoms.
* '''Dendrobium''': The 'technological' capital of the Storm Kingdoms and under direct supervision from the Storm Hammers. Primarily ran by descendants of the Adeptus Mechanicus affiliated with the Legion during the Crusade days.

===Jade Empire===
The domain of the [[Sky Serpents]].

===Imperium Minorum===
"The precedence of the Imperium Minorum is a common view in the Imperium Minorum, but one must know that the foundations of the Jade Empire also date back to the crusade era. Now, Minorum was a pre-extant domain during the Dark Age, so whether or not we can really count it as a founding or if Alexios merely inherited a pre-extant domain can be disputed. On the other hand, the foundations of our own state are wholly distinct and spring forth clearly from the union of worlds conquered and forged into an empire by our own illustrious primarch."
--from The Decline and Fall of the Western Empire by Eouddar Gibzon of the Jade Empire, M38

New Constantine isn't actually Alexios' homeworld, it's the first world his expeditionary fleet came across which refused peaceful compliance. He decided to make an example of them and burned their world to ash, rebuilding it as his own new Imperial world. He could easily have been discovered in Segmentum Solar, or western Ultima segmentum, or anywhere really.

How about this: Alexios's pod lands on Alexandria, a world in central Pacificus. Alexandria was a world of libraries, deep vault ships launched from Terra long ago brought library records as a sort of time capsule, seeking to conserve the knowledge of mankind as best they could, should something terrible happen to Terra. Alexios rose quickly among the clerk-priests of Alexandria, and soon he ruled the planet as Master of Relics. One night Alexios has a dream of a golden angel, coming in the clouds like a great beacon. The next day, his dream proved prophetic as the Emperor of Mankind, Beloved by all, came to Alexandria. Compliance was swift and welcome. Alexios was given command of his XIIth legion and the 99th Expeditionary fleet. Alexios chose to lead his expedition deeply through the warp to expand his father's realm, and found hmself in the far east of Ultima Segmentum. Many worlds knelt to Alexios as he had knelt to the Emperor, but eventually one stood defiant. The name of that world was expunged from all records of the 99th Expedition or the XIIth legion. All of the inhabitants of the world were purged, the seas boiled away, and the mountains bulldozed with massive constructor fleets. The planet was rebuilt with Imperial colonists, and named Constantine. Alexios made it his formal seat, establishing a military bureaucracy in the great basilicas of his golden city. From there, the Angels conquered many more worlds in the name of the Emperor of Mankind, Beloved by All.

Angels of Light

===Forge Space===
The domain of the [[Fists of Mars]].

gigantic space stations and forges surrounded by moons hollowed out and use as reactors, tethered to what they orbit by numerous sky hooks these our some of the more simple  designs incorporated into the forge spaces grandiose machine, each factory a cog which helps the mechanism function. the bulk of the forge spaces population have never set foot on a natural planet and instead inhabit vast space ecologies and floating cities that meander through real space not dissimilar to an asuryani craft worlds. orbital docks feed endless factories dirtside and if any army were to invade these fortresses they would likely become lost in their labyrinthine generators and smelters or drowned by a tide of servitors

===Unyielding Vigil===
The domain of the [[Undying Scions]].

==Independent==

===Oathsworn===
Found among the gene-wrights of Luna, the Primarch of the Hospitaliers and eventual Oathsworn was named Faustus after the Lunar archetype of doctors and sages. The young child grew in seclusion and raised to master every aspect of the flesh and form from the greatest minds on Luna in order to important every facet of gene forging into the rapidly growing boy. Through this harsh education the youth became a man in years, and soon after the leader of Luna itself. Heralded as the manifestation of their occult faith in the flesh, the gene masters propped him as both a holy symbol and a paragon of knowledge. Yet in his heart Faustus knew he was still mortal, and carried in secrecy a burgeoning love for all of mankind even as his foster parents taught him to despise the weak and inefficient. It was under their care and his command that Luna once more was united into one world just as Terra itself finished doing the same.

The Emperor, there seeking to tame the gene-wrights and their arcane sciences, sent for the Legiones Astartes under the rule of the future warmaster. His spies were omnipresent, and heavily sabotaged 
the initial defense of Luna. The first found Primarch almost captured the moon within six hours of the first gunshot, yet by Faustus' expertise and mastery of all things biological the Terran saboteurs were repelled and peace talks forced. Though every mortal on Luna felt fear in their heart for the Eyes of Luna as they were now called, Faustus himself would not be so easily broken. What was intended to be a declaration of defiance became a matter of annexation however when upon the delegations arrival Faustus met with the Warmaster and Emperor. The words that passed between them have long been lost, but legend recalls of terse words and labored dealings to secure his people's freedoms. In the end though, all acknowledge that the Primarch bent his knee to the Emperor, and became the head of the IXth legion.

===The Kor Protectorate===
Anders Kor and his Paladins reside in the Kor Protectorate to the galactic East, among the Exodite worlds of the Eldar.  They preach tolerance and peace among all peoples, and allow anyone who wishes to live a fulfilling life to become a citizen.  The Paladins of Kor police the Protectorate's worlds, and the Errant Paladins venture outside the borders to assist those who need their help.  The Paladins are shock-troops that operate under heavy artillery support and work very well with any ally they may have.  This includes xenos and peaceful heretics as well as Loyalist forces, which angers some of Anders' more conservative brothers.

==Contested Territory==

===Tempestus Gap===
The Tempestus Gap is the region dividing the Chaos Marches from the Crusader States, where the firewall comes to an end in the Tempestus Segmentum. The Chaos Marches and the Crusader States  do not directly border each other here. Rather, the two are divided by a wide region of space which has no overall ruler. Millennia of warfare and raiding have reduced the Tempestus Gap to a cesspit of anarchy and misery. The continuous back-and-forth between Chaos warbands, Xenos pirates, and Crusader State expeditionary forces have gradually destroyed most infrastructure and nearly all governance. The average world of the Gap is helpless, with no knowledge of what happens beyond its system's boundaries and no navy or ground forces capable of holding off any but the most anemic raider. 

On the Chaos side of the gap, the primary force is the Iron Hearts, who rule the line of fortress-worlds that forestall any attempt by the Crusader States to launch a raid through the gap into the Dark Imperium itself. On the far side, the Unyielding Vigil and the Forgespace maintain similar lines of defensive works. However, forces from all over the galaxy can make their way into the gap, lured by promises of glory, plunder, and blood, contributing even more to the utter anarchy.

The forces of Chaos and the Crusader States both occasionally attempt to establish a foothold here, but they rarely last. Such footholds almost inevitably attract attacks once they are discovered; even if one attack is beaten off, or two, or three, there will always be more, until the strongholds are reduced to dust. Planets which seek out some greater patron often meet the same fate; assuming, of course, that their patron doesn't have its own horrible fate in store for them. (This is more a Chaos or Xenos thing than a Crusader State thing; but I would be lying if I said that the loyalists had no atrocities to their name at all.)

For more information, some of the forces operating in the Gap have been detailed in [[Realm Guard and Mercenaries]].

===The Hunting Grounds===
As the Iron Hearts, Forgespace, and the Unyielding vigil face off across the Tempestus Gap, so too do the Storm Kingdoms and the Bloodhounds face off across the Hunting Grounds. 
Above the Storm of the Emperor's Wrath, where the Firewall 'begins', there are the Hunting Grounds. This is a very different environment than the Tempestus Gap, despite the similarities in astrography. First, it's simply less dense than the Gap; further out on the galactic rim, stars are further apart, journey times are longer. Second, the temperament of the Bloodhounds are very different from the temperament of the Iron Hearts. Where the Iron Hearts are (relatively) content to keep to their fortress-line and leave the fighting in the gap to lesser warbands, the Bloodhounds regard the Hunting grounds as their personal, well, hunting grounds. The majority of Chaos forces operating in the Grounds are therefore either the Bloodhounds themselves or their direct vassals, affiliates, franchisees, and subordinates. 

Which is not to say the Bloodhounds ''rule'' the grounds, of course. No; they ''cultivate'' it, as a game warden cultivates a hunting ground. A rapidly industrializing and militarizing world might be left alone for decades or centuries, so that it develops into a worthy and entertaining fight. Another might suffer relatively light yearly raids, to keep the population sufficiently cowed without ever dropping below sustainable levels. A third might be carefully goaded, calculated indignities heaped upon one another to encourage dreams of revenge- and an eventual fall to Khorne. Each warband has its own preferred methods and prey, and conflicts often arise when one poaching warband strays onto another's turf. Like cultivating bonsai, but with more chainswords and screaming. 

In response, the Storm Kingdoms also have a generally higher level of activity in the Hunting Grounds than the Unyielding Vigil or Forgespace do in the Gap. Despite the sparsity of stars, direct Astartes-on-Astartes combat is commonplace in the Hunting Grounds. Which is just how the Bloodhounds like it- you will find little worthier prey than Astartes.