Board Thread:Discussions/@comment-32600226-20190409175558/@comment-32600226-20190428065128

Here's an idea I had for the sector captial.

Name: Turbela

Classification: Hive/fortress world

History: Settled during the Dark Age of Technology, nearly 200 Hive citites are scattered through the world in clusters of ten, boasting a total population of ~90,000,000,000 though the loss of trade for food during the Age of Strife led to a sharp drop in population. The vast areas of land between the clusters are thought to have been originally intended for farmland, but soon became a waste due to the extreme amount of pollution put out by the Hive citites. Before the coming of the Emperor, these Hive citites were ruled by Priest kings who are thought by the modern Imperium to have been psykers of some sort. In the decades leading up to the arrival of the Great Crusade, the Priests began having visions of great armies being led by a magnificent golden god.

When the expedtionary fleets arrived, they were greeted by the Priest Kings of Turbela who inquired of them if they knew of this golden god. After the expedtionary fleet leaders showed them various pict caps and remberancer paintings of the Emperor, the Priest-Kings became convinced that the Emperor was the god they had had visions of and petioned for entery. The Expedtionary fleets, eager to add another world to the growing Imperium offered not only entry, but trade with agri-worlds to help sustain the populations and allow it to grow once more. Their only condition was that the planet adopt the secular Imperial Truth and abandon their god worship. To the Priest-Kings it would mean losing one of their most effective ways of controling the populace to some, and outright blaspheme for others. When they voiced concerns however the Expedtionary fleet merely pointed out that they could easily be replaced and that most of the population called for joining the Imperium. Faced with this threat, the Priest-Kings met in secret and agreed to bide their time for when the Imperium would be more open for religion before publicly agreeing to the terms offered by the Imperium.

When the Imperium and Mechanicus examined more closely however, they found something far more valuable than a source of manpower. Scattered across the surface of the planet, but mostly congregated near hive cities, were large building shaped like geometric objects, (pyramid, cube, etc). Upon examining them, the Mechanicus found to their delight that they were storage depots that had been sealed during the Dark Age of Technology. Many had already been plundered and opening the remaining ones proved difficult. The first one, broken into by forcing the doors, activated a anti-matter bomb trap that not only obliterated the building, but vaporized everything within a seven mile radius. The second one however, in which they drilled through the walls merely activated a complex and deadly security system that took over a year to deactivate. What they found inside however was more than worth; while having been primaraly some kind of food/seed depot, there were still remains of archeo tech reletively intact. After the discovery however, the Arch-Magos in charge of the investigation declared that, in order to avoid risking destroying the sacred treasures within, they would only open further vaults the way they were meant to be opened. Given how the opening mechanisms themselves were complex pieces of archeo tech, this meant it would likely take centuries or even longer. In order to protect their discoveries, the Mechanicus built numerous planetary defense weapons across the planet and even on the planet's four moons (all around a 600 km diameter range). Even by the 41st millennia many vaults remain unopened, each one's opening being the result of centuries of work. After the Volhar tech heresy, it goes even slower as the risk of corrupted machines becomes apparent.

During the Horus Heresy, a copy of the Lectitio Divinatus would somehow make it to Turbela. Enamored with the book and believing it proved their faith was true, the former Priest-Kings hid it and began copying it down in secret, passing it down to their decendants to use to convince the population of Turbela of their faith. After the disappearance of the Primarchs they finnally made their move, distributing the books and delivering impassioned speeches centuries after the plans had been laid. WIthin 3 generations the vast majority of the planet had been converted and the title of Priest-King was taken up once more. When the Temple of the Savior Emperor was founded on Terra, the Priest-Kings were quick to ensure their doctrine aligned with the fast spreading religion. In M41 the Priest-Kings serve as both political and religious administrators, some out a desire for power and control, but many out of genuine faith.