Lethinus er en sci-fi setting som uofficiel fankanon til Games Workshops Warhammer 40.000 univers. Lethinus ligger langt fra de officielle historier og handlinger, og kendte personligheder optræder derfor ikke i Lethinus.
Baggrundshistorierne til Lethinus findes kun på engelsk. Særlig tak skal lyde til Master Ciaphas, som har skrevet al den indledende baggrundshistorie til Lethinus og provinserne.
Læs mere om provinserne på Lethinus Prime →
The Founding of Lethinus
At the end of the Scouring, when the Sacrificial King’s armies had been driven back from the Throneworld, when their blasted standards had been torn down from the worlds conquered in the name of the would-be usurper, the Imperium knew a period of peace and tranquillity. The Emperor’s praetorian, Rogal Dorn, and his Imperial Fists manned the walls of the Imperial Palace, whilst the mighty armies of the God-Emperor reclaimed the worlds lost in the civil war and indeed in some places went even further, uncovering new systems to incorporate in the nascent Imperium of Mankind.
One such was the binary star system of Lethinus. Discovered by a Mechanicus Explorator fleet under the command of Arch-Magos Arkos Lethin in M32, the sole habitable planet was quickly colonized by the Mechanicus. Arch-Magos Lethin, a man never in doubt of his own worth, named the system Lethinus in his own honour. The planet – Lethinus Prime – had a single moon, which geological surveys revealed had both a respectable amount of promethium lakes in the strata as well a mineral ores which could be exploited by strip mining. Dubbing the moon Lethina, the Arch-Magos took a note in his journal, and after installing the new settlers on the planet with the necessary tools to survive, the Explorator Fleet headed for the Mandeville point and translated into the Warp. Arch-Magos Lethin would never return to the system which bore his name, and his ultimate fate remains shrouded in mystery.
The initial settlers quickly made the most of the meagre resources the Explorator fleet had bequeathed to them. Ever miserly accountants, the priests of Mars had carefully calculated the exact amount needed to ensure the success of the colonization effort; no more and no less had been given. After all – only in adversity could true faith in the Omnissiah and the God-Emperor thrive. The efforts of the settlers were to prove sufficient for the survival of the mission. The ecosystem on Lethinus Prime was amiable to human existence and within a few decades, mankind had spread across the primary continent. Major transits were established between the villages and later cities, infrastructure was created to support the Lethinus colonists and the planet prospered. The arboreal valleys and rolling hills provided plenty of food, the oceans were teaming with fish and Baleanidaic mammels and the crystal clear artic north provided a special export commodity known as Ice Gems; crystals whose properties made them especially well-suited for use in psionic artefacts.
With the success of the mission, the Adeptus Administratum soon appeared, demanding tithes for the Imperium – payment for the resources left behind a century before. With the accrued interest on the “loan”, the Lethinus system was practically indebted to the Imperium for the rest of time. The tallymen of the Adeptus, at least, would make sure that the ledgers would forever be in the favour of the Emperor of Mankind, and the Ecclesiarchy would sermonise that order and obedience was paramount…and that the tithes should flow. Soon the coffers of both the Administratum and the Ecclesiarchy, was overflowing with riches.
And so the decades turned to centuries and the centuries turned into millennia. Lethinus evolved under the guidance of the various adepta of Terra, its economy prospered, the tithes were duly paid and sufficient was left over to commence the establishment of a well-equipped and reasonably well-trained Planetary Defence Force.
The Fruits of Success
At its inception, reign over the Lethinus colony had been entrusted to a council of Aldermen, who had guided the growth of the colony in its formative centuries. With the coming of the Adeptus Administratum, this system had been deemed to be inefficient, and the council was disbanded, its members dying relatively quickly following a series of fatal, freak accidents. The mantle of rulership was passed to the head of the Pargest family, Severian Pargest. Under his dynamic rule, Lethinus saw its production capacity doubled… and the wealth of the Pargest family more than quadrupled, as members of the dynasty were installed in lucrative and powerful positions across the planet, ensuring that the reins of power forever were firmly grasped by the Pargests.
Old Earth had a maxim that “power corrupts” – and though considered a heretical statement by the Adeptus – it proved a truism on Lethinus. Having held power so completely, for so long, Tullius XIV Pargest, planetary governor of Lethinus, ruler of the Westfold Marches, Plenipotentiary Lethinus, started to argue for an expansion into the rest of the Lethinus system and a commencement of terraforming of the fifth and sixth planetoids.
When Tullius approached the Mechanicus to demand their assistance in this grand endeavour, he was brusquely rebuffed. The Adeptus Mechanicus, supported by the Administratum’s legal scribes, presented plenty of briefs on the jurisdictional ramifications of a planetary governorship, which actions were within the purview of said position, and which actions would be considered illegal or secessionist, as well as a long list of the legal remedies available to the Adeptus Administratum. Grossly insulted by the rebuff, Tullius XIV Pargest began to feel resentment towards the servants of a distant Emperor, and rancour started to fester.
Over the following years, Tullius started to feel ever more trapped and restricted in his position of planetary governor. What he now desired was not a prosperous and blissful planet, but rather the position of system governor. Clearly, the Adeptus Mechanicus were hindering the greater glory of Lethinus – and setting themselves above and beyond him, their rightful lord.
Once the weed of ambition had taken hold of Tullius’ heart, the downward spiral began. At first, the actions taken were minor obstructions of the Administratum’s dealings, obfuscation of documentation for paid tithes and rerouting of finances to the private coffers of the Pargests and their allies within the Lethinian nobility and ruling circles.
As time passed, and Tullius grew ever more resentful towards the Imperium, he became more and more open to suggestions from the counsellors of his Inner Circle. One such advisor was the mysterious T’Zek who had arrived but a few months after Tullius initial disillusionment with the Adeptus Administratum. Inveigling his way into a position of confidence, he started to pour poison into the mind and soul of Tullius.
Into the embrace of the abyss
Matters came to a head in M40, when the Ork Space Hulk “Masta Death-Killa” entered the system. The Orks had systematically destroyed their way towards Lethinus, and their last victim had revealed the planet as a bulwark of Imperial power and an unassailable bastion. Eager to prove that they were both tougher and stronger than the weak humans, Warboss GuzzMek of the Deathskull Clan led the way to Lethinus. Alongside him, in an uneasy and precarious alliance, were the scheming and conniving bosses of the Goff Clan and Evil Sunz clan, Ulrok the Kunnin’ and Zoggrub Zodgrot. With the Orks inbound, Tullius panicked; having studied what xeno races he could, he was well aware of the awesome destructive power represented by the foul Orks. Turning to his closet advisors, T’Zek was quick to offer a solution: calling on the Imperium now would be to reveal weakness; rather he should call on other allies, who would be willing to aid his bid for independence from the Imperium. All they would want in return would be a few thousand men to aid them in future campaigns of liberation against the Imperium. Grateful, Tullius instructed T’Zek to do what needed to be done to bring such erstwhile and honest crusaders to the aid of his planet.
Within a few days, T’Zek had prepared a gate of black iron and cold steel, daubed in runes which hurt the eyes of the uninitiated. When all was ready, T’Zek spoke words of primordial power and the words slashed open reality and unleashed the abyss. Through the gate stepped the feared Lord Haearn, flanked by armoured giants adorned with skulls of their slain enemies and sigils of unholy power. Pleased with his work, T’Zek bowed to the arrivals, and stepped through the opened gate, vanishing. Governor Pargest, who had been in attendance during the ritual, fell to his knees upon sighting the Lord of Sieges. Knowing in his heart that he had made a terrible mistake, with tears streaming down his cheeks, Tullius resigned himself to his fate as Haearn approached him. Those with knowledge of the warp, claim to be able to hear the piteous cries of a man in abject agony. What ultimately became of Tullius after his encounter with Haearn is unknown to the Imperium.
Knowing that the Orks were inbound, Haearn quickly had his sorcerers send a summons to war to old – if slightly untrustworthy – allies. Calling upon favours given and services rendered in the past, Haearn was fortunate enough that he succeed in calling to his side Lord Bulmetheus of the Plague and the renegade, Urkabhor Kusalax the Blessed. With their aid, he would repulse the Orks and enslave the planet of Lethinus.
The ritual invoked by T’Zek had not gone unnoticed, however. From the Spire of Voices, the collected savants of the Adeptus Telepathica sent out the cry of distress. The servants of ruin had come to Lethinus and only the Angels of Death would have the strength to reject them from the Emperor’s domains. Already in pursuit of GuzzMek’s Orks, the Dark Angels of Supremacy Force Vendetta aboard the Strike Cruiser Vox Lionius were quick to send a reply: “Vengeance is coming”. As the Vox Lionius sped through the immaterium, Codicier Ardashir finished reading the Emperor’s Tarot. The tidings were grim. On Lethinus the Dark Angels would be beset by foes on all sides. This was not a campaign that the First Legion would be able to win on their own; rather they would have to call for reinforcements. Quick and first to answer the call to arms was the Imperial Fists. Led by Captain Vlad Nietsrac, the 3rd Company would honour the legacy of Dorn and lay waste to the enemies of the Imperium.
With the coming of the Lords of the Abyss, civil order crumbled on Lethinus. Shocked by the appearance of the Chaos Space Marines, and unsure of the intentions of the Angels of Death who were rapidly entering the system, the Planetary Defence Force rallied around Lord Commander Mikhail Kutuzov. His defeat during the Kloistan Sector War had seen him shaken and embittered. Not only had he physically been mauled, but the men and women under his command had suffered greatly. Perhaps that was why he was swayed by the charismatic overtures of Tullius Pargest to support him – or perhaps there were darker seeds of ambition within the Lord Commander. Whatever the reason, with the disappearance and assumed death of the Planetary Governor, Kutuzov proclaimed himself Supreme Commander and acting Governor of Lethinus. With a force of hardened Vostroyan Veterans, supported by the 9th regiment of Planetary Defence Force under the command of the firebrand Lord Commissar Ulrich von Strassen, and the 3rd Gubernatorial Armoured Guard, Kutuzov was sure that he could repel the many invaders coming to Lethinus. Above all, he was confident that the level-headed leadership of Colonel Bartholomew Julianus Hogenmille of the 3rd Guards would prove an invaluable asset.
As the myriad forces drew near Lethinus Prime one thing thing was clear. The fates were in flux and there would be only war!