Planets

From Warhammer 40k

Contents 1 Types of Planets 1.1 Feral and Feudal Worlds 1.2 Forge worlds 1.3 Hive worlds 1.4 Cardinal, Cemetery & Shrine Worlds 1.4.1 Cardinal Worlds 1.4.2 Shrine Worlds 1.4.3 Cemetery worlds 1.5 Pleasure worlds 1.6 War worlds 1.7 Dead worlds 1.8 Agri-worlds 1.9 Civilized worlds 1.10 Death worlds 1.11 Mining Worlds 1.12 Developing Worlds 1.13 Quarantined worlds 1.14 Frontier worlds 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Types of Planets

[edit] Feral and Feudal Worlds

These are worlds into which the Imperium has not seen fit to introduce most modern technology, although medical technology is often an exception. Feral worlds are defined by a population living in hunter-gatherer societies and having technology equivalent to Earth's Stone Age or Bronze Age societies. Medieval worlds are somewhat more advanced, having progressed as far as to discover gunpowder, and having more widespread farming. Generally, worlds of either of these classes will have little interference from the Imperium and low planetary tithes.

Governors of feral and feudal worlds will generally live on a space station in orbit, only descending to the surface to deal with heresy and mutation.

Feudal Worlds

These planets are populated by folk who have lost access to all but the most basic of technologies. Farming, simple machines such as pulleys, windmills and the like are known, but propelled flight, automatic weaponry and even powered vehicles are likely to be rare or non-existent. These worlds are often said to be the most politically harmonious of all the planets of the Imperium, because their peoples know their place.

For examples see: Fervious, Sisk.

Feral Worlds

These worlds are populated by tribal peoples largely living without the assistance of maintained technology. This may be due to a failed colonisation project, religious preferences, cultural choice, environment or some other reason. They may be aware of the Imperium in some fashion but are unlikely to know much more than something about a large group of distant people living in the stars. These planets are frequently unsuitable for later colonization, either due to the circumstances which drove the natives feral or because the natives themselves actively resist new people settling on their lands. People of feral worlds can range widely in culture, from Grox-hunting tribes of ancestor worshipers to wild-eyed, post-apocalyptic road warriors, fighting endlessly amongst the toxic, sand-strewn ruins of their civilization.

Many Space Marine Chapters prefer to recruit from feral worlds, since such environments tend to produce warrior-quality men.

For examples see: Dusk, Fedrid, Volonx.

[edit] Forge worlds

Forge world is a term for the numerous worlds that are directly controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus. All have in common that they are completely dedicated to the manufacture of the various machines of the Imperium, the pursuit for and preservation of (ancient) knowledge and the worship of the Machine God. Because of the Adeptus Mechanicus' monopoly on technical knowledge and expertise, the forge worlds are the Imperium's primary source of all kinds of hardware: from farming equipment to war machines such as tanks, fighters, or even Titans. Ancient pacts between the Adeptus Mechanicus and other worlds and institutions of the Imperium oblige the various forge worlds to supply other worlds and the various military arms of the Imperium, such as the Imperial Guard.

The surface of a forge world is normally completely covered in massive factory complexes that stretch across the horizon. Its ecosystem has been completely destroyed. The air is saturated with toxic gases and rivers flow with toxic runoff from factories. In many cases, even seas and oceans have been dried up to make room for more factories. However, the sheer output benefits the Imperium as a whole.

While there are hundreds of forge worlds in the Imperium, one of the best-known is Mars, home of the Adeptus Mechanicus' political and spiritual head, the Fabricator-General of Mars; and the Imperium's first forge world. Other forge worlds include Ryza, known for its advanced plasma technology; Gryphonne IV, home of the Legio Gryphonnicus; Agripinaa, a primary supplier of Cadia; Phaeton, home of the Leman Russ MBT; and Urdesh, major forge world within the Sabbat Worlds. Of all the forge worlds only Trebor caters exclusivly to Cadia. One of the most sought after creations from Trebor is it's version of the Vanquisher Cannon, which is the most powerfull of all the vanquisher cannon variants. During the Dark Age of Technology, the two empires of Terra and Mars co-existed, to the mutual benefit of both. Trebor was colonized from survivors of both Terra and Mars after they were lost during a Warp Storm. This forced both colonies to combine thier knowledge and build the most powerful of all forge worlds. Trebor was discovered by Commissar Yarrick during The Second War for Armageddon. As a result Trebor has sworn it's alligence only to Commissar Yarrick and Cadia.

Forge worlds are mostly independent from the rest of the Imperium and have their own armed forces. Each of these worlds is home to one of the Titan Legions, supported by legions of Skitarii, the Adeptus Mechanicus' cybernetically enhanced soldiers.

For examples see: The Lathes, Belcane and Fortis Binary

[edit] Hive worlds

The Imperium’s most populous worlds are its hive worlds. The populations of these planets are so high that the people live in huge cities, truly immense many-layered structures that reach high into the sky, each housing billions of individuals. Hive worlds often provide much-needed labour, their manufactoria producing mountains of war material and other goods to meet the Imperial tithe demands. Most hive worlds started out as relatively hospitable places but have become severely polluted, the areas outside the hives reduced to ash wastes or radioactive desert by the never-ceasing industry of the great cities. Equally dangerous can be the hives themselves. The crime-ridden, poverty-stricken areas, almost always found in the most polluted and decrepit lower levels of the under-hive, are home to violent gangs, criminals and assorted scum as well as mutants and heretical cults who hide there from the authorities. It has been said that the sacrifice of over a million soldiers is worth "one day's hive world production" in weapons and armour.

Population

Perhaps even more valuable is what at first glance seems to be a byproduct of the monolithic city's design. The population of any given world approximately doubles every 100 years. With each hive housing between 10 - 100 billion people and 5 - 20 hives per planet the sheer number of citizens is staggering. And each of those citizens is a potential soldier for the Emperor's already unmatchable vast armies. Hives manufacture far more than mere steel and silica, they are vast factories for the most useful possible resource: people. Almost every recruit will already know how to handle a gun. Hive worlds also serve to populate newly discovered planets. Imperial citizens are gathered from various hive worlds (willingly or unwillingly) and shipped off to distant colonies.

In common with most other Imperial worlds, hive worlds are often based on a very obvious class system, with a ruling class and a working class, although with populations so tightly packed there develops a lower class that become violent street gangs. As can be expected, the upper classes are situated in the affluent upper areas of the hive, whilst the middle classes are situated in the middle areas, whilst the worker classes are packed together in the lower areas. The very bottom sections are often areas where the underclasses and criminals are sent to be forgotten about and obviously anarchy rules.

Some extensively developed hive worlds do not even simply consist of various enclosed arcologies surrounded by wasteland, jungle, ice, or plains. These hive worlds are completely urbanized and stacked with hundreds of layers of arcologies, covering the entirety of the planet, effectively being an Ecumenopolis. Holy Terra is an example of this "super hive world".

For examples see: Scintilla, Baraspine, Fenksworld, Malfi, Prol IX, Tranch, Vaxanide, Medusa V, Armageddon, Holy Terra (where the whole planet is one hive), Necromunda and Verghast (from the Gaunt's Ghosts novels).

[edit] Cardinal, Cemetery & Shrine Worlds

[edit] Cardinal Worlds

Cardinal worlds are planets ruled directly by the Ecclesiarchy and are completely dedicated to the worship of the Immortal Emperor according to the tenets of the Cult Imperialis, with sanctuaries potentially covering entire continents. Aside from being a center of the Ecclesiarchy's power and a destination for countless pilgrims, they also serve as a base of operations for many orders of the Adepta Sororitas. One example is Ophelia VII, whose spiritual significance is second only to that of Holy Terra.

[edit] Shrine Worlds

These worlds are dominated by religion and acts of devotion. It may be that these places saw the birth of a famous saint or formed the battleground for a particularly important war. Often studded with temples and shrines, these worlds are frequently controlled by the Ecclesiarchy and may form training grounds for members of their Adepta.There are also the dark mirrors to these places of Imperial devotion - fallen worlds where the inhabitants offer up ceaseless prayer to the Dark Gods. These places of obscene sacrifices and bloody rites are not suffered continued existence for long. A shrine world can also be considered to fall into another category, for example Hagia is an agri-world while Herodor is a hive world. They will have a strong relationship with the saint in question, such as being the world of his/her birth or death or the site of a major miracle.

For examples see: Drusus Shrine World, Hagia and Herodor.

[edit] Cemetery worlds

Somewhat akin to shrine worlds are the cemetery worlds, where large areas of the planet are given over to care for the dead. Cemetery worlds may mark the site of a huge battle, or they may be covered in gigantic mausoleums each dedicated to a particular Imperial noble. In contrast rare cemetery worlds may be covered in fields of endless modest plots containing the remains of the inhabitants of a nearby hive world.

[edit] Pleasure worlds

Otherwise known as paradise worlds and sometimes as garden worlds. These holiday worlds are the playground of the Imperial nobility. They tend to be of outstanding natural beauty and the population of such worlds are dedicated to pampering the important visitors they receive. Pleasure worlds are often very cultured places, and many have sections of their populace dedicated solely to producing works of art or music. Casino complexes, opulent restaurants and huge ballrooms are often found on such worlds. There is a darker side to pleasure worlds, particularly those who cater to the tastes of the more depraved guests they receive. Some pleasure worlds contain large developing cities and other major settlements.

For examples see: Reth.

[edit] War worlds

There are a great many worlds in the Imperium that can be classed as war zones. The Imperium is constantly at war and in those wars whole planets can burn. Massive campaigns can envelop dozens of systems and hundreds of worlds, many of which are utterly devastated by orbital bombardments and artillery in planet-spanning battles that last decades. Long-term war zones are hellish places where death comes quickly. The Imperium can field truly immense armies of millions of men, grinding their way across a devastated planet and reducing cities to rubble. Mercenaries flock to such places, hoping to leave soon after with their ships loaded with pay. Deserters and escaped prisoners form bands of pirates, preying on any ships unable to defend themselves or roam the war-torn planets in feral packs stealing and killing. The Administratum sends colonists from overcrowded worlds to populate war-torn worlds after the fighting has ended but the wheels of the Imperium grind slowly and a world can lie devastated for centuries before any effort is made to resettle it. These places can be some of the most ghastly in the Imperium, with ravaged environments, cracked planetary crusts, burnt-out cities and plains covered in the bones of the fallen.

[edit] Dead worlds

These worlds have minimal, even non-existent, life traces. This results from ecological catastrophe, devastating internecine war, Imperial or alien intervention or no attributable cause. Dead worlds occur naturally, as the unforgiving conditions of the universe mean the majority of planets are uninhabitable. Some, however, have been created in the long history of the Imperium by catastrophic events, including an exterminatus or a successful Tyranid invasion.

Ironically, some planets classified as dead worlds have been settled by various groups specifically for their properties. For example, several Space Marine fortress-monasteries are located on dead worlds because of their harsh conditions, desolation and defensive opportunities.

Tomb Worlds

Tomb Worlds are worlds that have Necron stasis tombs located on them. Such worlds are often devoid of all life, the only known exceptions being Lorn V and Kronus.

Dead Worlds that appear to be natural are often Tomb Worlds for the Necrons.

For examples see: Klybo.

[edit] Agri-worlds

Many planets in the Imperium, such as forge worlds and hive worlds, are completely incapable of sustaining the people who live and work on them. To feed these people, as well as the vast armies of the Imperial Guard, many planets have been completely transformed into giant farms. Most of these planets have populations of less than 100 Million with only a few major cities. These farming planets, in their own way, are as vital to the Imperium as its hives. These planets are given over entirely to the production of food, which hive worlds cannot produce in sufficient quantities to keep their huge populations from starving. Many a world has whole continents given over to livestock or fields of crops. Some agri-worlds are covered in oceans teeming with fish and a few are far stranger - worlds covered in edible fungus, scoured by swarms of nutritious insects or gas giants home to flocks of flying creatures. A few planets are used solely to provide clean water to nearby hive worlds. Agri-worlds are sometimes ruled directly by the Administratum, to help ensure that their produce is grown and harvested with maximum efficiency.

For examples see: Iocanthus, Dreah, Orbel Quill, Siculi, Spectoris.

[edit] Civilized worlds

A civilized world is a planet whose development has been allowed to happen (for some time) "naturally", without any specific purpose to fulfill. These worlds are generally self-sufficient in terms of food-supply and have varying manufacturing and industrial capabilities. Many may be equivalent in culture and population levels to 20th Century Earth.

For example see: Gudrun and Volistad

[edit] Death worlds

Planets which are too dangerous to support widespread human settlement. Types vary from world-wide jungles that harbour carnivorous plants and animals to barren rockscapes strewn with volcanoes and wracked by ion storms. These worlds are near-impossible to colonize, Nonetheless, many of these worlds have large human settlements. Notable for the strength and self-reliance of their people. Many of the people of these worlds are inducted into the Imperial Guard, or recruited by the Space Marines, a fact which is often the sole reason for the continued habitation of those worlds. Some harbour rich mineral, vegetable, animal or gaseous resources.

Death worlds and the Tyranids

It has been theorized by Imperial biologists that many death worlds are the result of seeding by ancient advance fleets of the Tyranids. Many of the monstrous creatures inhabiting these worlds, such as the Kraken of Fenris and the Catachan Devil have many features in common with Tyranid organisms, and may in fact be descended from them.

For examples see: Karrik, Catachan and Fenris.

[edit] Mining Worlds

These worlds are rich in one or more of the raw materials required by the Imperium's manufactoria and forge worlds. The people here are likely to be slaves or penal workers who live out their lives mining and transporting massive quantities of metallic ore, rock, minerals, frozen gases or some other useful or precious substance. Mining worlds tend to be rather inhospitable places, and many do not even possess a breathable atmosphere, though a few may support a greater variety of life and support developed cities and even hives.

For examples see: Sephiris Secundus, Landunder, ND0/K4, Soryth.

[edit] Developing Worlds

These worlds are split into geographical areas with widely varying levels of advancement and culture. Depending on the prevailing governments, these might be countries, states, power blocks or tribal homelands. It may be the case that higher levels of technology and wealth are concentrated around original colonisation sites. Other planets might exhibit gross variations in culture due to environment, with areas weak in natural resources being similarly weak in terms of military power, economic muscle and so on. Some planets preserve a great divide due to ancient tribal taboos, religious notions or plain old-fashioned habit. A great many worlds of the Imperium fit into this broad category, but no two are alike in the way they realise these divides.

[edit] Quarantined worlds

The existence of these planets is rarely made obvious but there are many of them throughout the Imperium. Travel to these worlds is forbidden except for the most well-informed and heavily armed expeditions, and even then only with a very good reason. Death worlds, alien empires or planets where the creatures of the warp have broken through into realspace are all examples of quarantined worlds, as are planets wracked with plague. Some worlds are quarantined because no one can fathom the origins of what has been found there, be it mysterious artifacts or ancient cities - it is thought better to live in ignorance of what lies on such worlds than risk it becoming a threat. Other worlds are quarantined because every expeditionary mission there has failed to return. Planets are often quarantined by the pronouncements of Inquisitors, especially if they have uncovered some warp taint or xenos infestation that cannot be cleansed. Many quarantined worlds possess great resources that would be extremely valuable to the Imperium if they were properly explored and exploited, but there are enough tales of ancient horrors awoken on sinister alien worlds that few adepts would try to defy a planetary quarantine.

[edit] Frontier worlds

These worlds have only recently been discovered by the Imperium and are home to a relatively small number of colonists. The Administratum may not have even had sufficient time to fully explore the world and set up government. Frontier worlds can be a refuge for those who want to escape from the repressive Imperial regime (for a time at least), though they can also be a destination for those who want to escape its justice too, and have a reputation for lawlessness as a result.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Wh40k starmap Up-to-date map of the Warhammer 40k universe

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Planets_of_Warhammer_40,000". The primary authors of that article are: Achnash, Pak21, CABAL, Shrumster, SAMAS, Rogue 9, Localzuk, Wiki-Ed, Nonagonal Spider, SmackBot.