Into the Tarantula

By Commediante, in Fan Fiction

Here's how things look like in my fictional expanse - The Tarantula Nebula.

It is located on the edge of a known galaxy in the southernmost part of the Segmentum Ultima. It is one of the densiest spaces in the Milky Way and the greatest cradle of stars in the whole galaxy. It consists mainly of young stars, giant clouds of Helium and Hydrogen and is expanding rapidly.

The worlds within it are bathed in light. On many planets nights are so bright, that vertical things cast shadows. It was supposed to be a "New Ultramar" of mankind - place free of chaos scourge, with agri and paradise worlds for the most deserving imperial citizens. Unfortunately contact with the Nebula was lost in 799M41 (My players start campaign in 999M41). Whether it was due to a single warp storm or a series of them - nobody knows. This region was of minor concern for Terra. It wasn't supposed to create arms, so the Empire could afford to forget it. The greatest part of the Nebula is called The Archipelago of Worlds. It is a birthplace of the greatest empire of mankind since Emperor's death... Or so says it's leader, called Basileos, or Basil.

The Eastern Empire developed during wars between rogue traders that were cut off from the rest of the Imperium by the warp storm. The strongest of them, Alexios I, turned out to be not only a great admiral, but also excellent colony builder and diplomat. He centralised the power and tied other rogue traders to their planets, naming tchem "despots" and ordering to govern them in the name of Basil. In his new domain only one thing was illegal - orthodoxy. In one day he nullified 100 000 000 000 imperial decrees, laws and codices that kept the man kind in tact and in obedience to Terra. He also stated, that there is only one law in the Archipelago and that is: "Pay tax and be loyal to your emperor".

Whole Archipelago went rabid at first. Uprisings were breaking out in every place where two imperial lawmen could meet. Unfortunately for them, the thirst for peace - outcome of recent wars for a lead in Tarantula - could not allow for an outbrake of another - civil - war. Cut off from the Ultramar, the conservators (called "servators" by the Easterns, the word they will soon use for every Western Imperial) were beaten in the space battle at Spider's Nail - a group of binary worlds in one of the Tarantula's "legs".

Edited by Commediante