+++Cults of the Imperium+++
EMPEROR’S BLADES
One of the oldest Death Cults in the Imperium, the Emperor’s Blades, are only found on the world of Acanon, not far from the Terran system. The legends of the cult claim that it was founded when the Emperor still walked as a man. He fought a great batle against the forces of Chaos on Acanon, and millions died in the conflict. It is supposedly after this battle that the Emperor said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of humanity’s future,” more commonly misquoted as the “seed of the Imperium.” The Emperor’s Blades are the archetypal death cult, revering the use of the blade. They are a hereditary cult, in that no one can be inducted, only those born to cult members can join in their worship,. The cultists themselves use only a sign language to communicate, havng neither speech, nor written word. Their ceremonies of devotion are thus eerily silent, the stillness broken only by the scrape of blade on whetstone and the drip of blod into the offering cups. The assassins of Inquisitor Eisenhorn, Severina and Sevora Devout, were raised by the Emperor’s Blades and exemplify the sect’s values.
HAEMOVORES
To become spiritually strong, one must be physically strong. To be physically strong, one must be at the top of the food chain: the ultimate predator. The Haemovores seek to improve themselves, to gain their rightful positions of power, by consuming those they perceive as powerful. They are cannibals, glorifying in their internecine gluttony, preaching that their unwholesomeacts condense humanity’s magnificence into a few individuals. Many Haemovores have sharpened teeth or metal jaws, most carry marow-spoons and brain forks, whilst the highest-ranking may even have limb-grinders and flesh-strippers fitted directly to their digestive system. Occasionally, a Haemovor may be fitted with additional tanks of bile and stomach acid so that he may consume all the faster (pre-digestion by others is not allowed).
THE FACELESS
Be unremarkable, be average. Don’t stand out in a crowd. The Faceless originally sprang from paranoid fears that swept through the galaxy during the Age of Apostasy and Vandire’s Fraeteris Templars purging whole worlds for perceived heresies. Their philosophy of normalcy perverted over time to the point that they now aspire to become everyone and no one. Ritual brainwashing combines with surgical techniques to remove any evidence of individuality or personality. Physical characteristics are interchangeable, and it is not uncommon for members of the Faceless to have their own skins, eyes and other features removed, to be constantly replaced by those of their victims. Thus the cultist’s face often appears stitched on, stretched or floppy.
GOURDIANS
The Emperor sat at the table and at His right hand the plate with the bread upon it and at the left hand was the gourd brimming with His wine. Upon the eve of battle against the serpent Horus, thus did He sit in quiet contemplation of his fate to come. The Gourdians believe that they own the vessel from which the Emperor drank the night before he faced the traitor Horus and ascended to godhood, his last drink as a mortal. Not content with this, the Gourdians now seek out other relics, first of the Emperor, then of his Primarchs, then Saints, searching further and further abroad for any and all holy artefacts they can find. Their home world is Terra, but their reach stretches far across the Imperium. A network of traders who believe in the Gourdian faith scour the the worlds of the Imperium for anything to add to the immense collection in the Gourdian chapel. The chapel now houses over half a million relics, many of dubious provenance, yet still the Gourdian quest goes on.
THE CREEPING SHADOW
Fear is the key. Terror brings understanding. The Creeping Shadow believe that Mankind should be scared, terrified of what waits for it in the galaxy and beyond. They decry the ignorance perpetuated by the Inquisition and other Imperial authorities, seeing a lack of knowledge as a weakness, forewarned is forearmed, after all. The Creeping Shadow works by spreading discord and panic, believing that any kind of terror is beneficial, that Mankind should be paranoid, afraid and phobic. Sabotage, mass poisonings, terrorism, kidnappuing, nailing dead cas to the front of shrines, mass hysteria and warmongering are all the tools of the Creeping Shadow. The darkness holds the horror, and there are great gulfs of darkness between the stars.
RESURRECTIONISTS
The Emperor shall come again. Once more His mortal shell shall be invigorated by His Divine Will. His great spirti can be brought back from heaven and he shall throw away the shackles of the Golden Throne and step forth once more to finish the Great Crusade to make the galaxy Humanisty’s forever. The Resurrectionists are one of the oldest and most heretical cults, springing from a common foundation in the Holy Inquisition itself. They believe that certain rites and rituals can return the Emperor’s soul to His body, imbuing it with true life again. Such an occurrence, should it ever happen, would be Mankind’s downfall, as a schism of believers oand disbelievers would tear the Imperium apart. The Resurrectionists have powerful allies in the Ecclesiarchy, the Adeptus Terra and even amongst the Inquisition itself.
REDEMPTIONISTS
To live is to sin, and to be a sinner is to be cleansed. Only the fiery wrath of the Emperor, as pronounced and executed by his mortal followers, can save Humanity from destroying itslef in a morass of carnal wantonnes and tolerant servitude to those who have been corrupted. The Redemptionists will bring fire and they will bring death and those who oppose them are sinners themselves for they shield the dark and unholy from the righteous works of the Redemptionists. Repent and join, or be cursed and die
THE DEVOURED
From the blackness of our souls comes the Great Devourer. It is here to purge our sins. Pure in its unending appertite the Great Devourer shall consume us all and we will be reborn into the future in glorious new obdies. Welcome the Great Devourer, feel your soul cleansed as its might shadow pass over us. The chosen of the Great Devourer walk amongst us unseen, worship them as you would worship the Great Devourer itself.
DISCIPLES OF MANDRAGORA
Stagnate and die, revolt and survive. Mandragora, the Ever-Shifting God, shall come from the heavens and nothing will remain the same. All will be changed, adapted and fashoined in his image, to overcome the tribulations of the future. The alignments of the mundane world must be prepared to allow his fraverse from the Realm of Many Faces, the foes of change must be removed to pave the way for the Great Upheaval. Wield his magicks with pride, glorify in the transformation of your physical shell, and bring down his servants so that you might be a host to an aspect of Mandragora.
THE HIDDEN HAND
Upon the pyres of the dead and dying, we shall light a fire to the heavens that the gods themselves might see us once more. Thus spake the found of the Hidden Hand, the Plague Lord. Mankind is a disease, spreading across the galaxy like a stain. The gods have turned from the filth of their presence. It must be cleansed so that the gods will pour their bounties upon Humanity once more, and pestilence and plague shall be the tools for a thief to catch a thief, a plague to kill a plague. Poison the wells, defile the air, pass contagion by touch to all those who pass by. When the corpse outnumber the living, light the fires of purification and pass their souls unto the netherworld to take your pleas and prayers to the gods.
MARTYRS OF THOR
The Martyrs of Thor were a small sect located on the world of San Sebastian in the earliest years of the 38th Millennium. All of them believe themselves to be descended from the mighty Saint Sebastian Thor himself, despite the fact that he was known to be chaste his entire life. The Martyrs of Thor were a suicide cult, who believed that only through the ultimate sacrifice could Humanity be accepted by the Emperor. They believed this so strongly that even unbelieving Imperial citizens would be borne up to Him in the great conflagration they would create. Unfortunately, the cult was a victim of its own success, its founders having killed themselves with a series of suicide bomb attacks only a few years after they had formed. With no one left to carry forward their teachings, the sect simply became another notation in the history books of San Sebastian
