Turmos

Turmos was formerly an Imperial Hive World and is currently the capital of the Turmos Apostasy that it is named after. Since its rebellion, the planet has exploded in population and industry, the hive cities themselves exploding to monstrous sizes as mutants ravage the dark ash wastes.

Pre-Rebellion
Turmos was once an Imperial Hive World. Its mighty hive spires, although relatively small, dotted the landscape, with bleak, boney sand deserts in between the cities in a stark contrast between oppressive, cold city life and the wild anarchy of the outside wastes.

Being within the vicinity of the Forge World Waylark VII, the majority of the planet's business was with the Adeptus Mechanicus. In turn, the majority of the foundries were geared to support the Mechanicus, and both the Imperial Cult and the Adeptus Mechanicus fought for religious power, both in the upper spires and in the lower slums.

The planet knew little of war. Every couple hundred years, an Ork army may have attempted to sack the city in their bloodlusted crusades, or some secular revolutionary may have attempted a rebellion. Yet, the Imperium held an iron grip onto this world, and thus peace reigned predominately for the citizens of these Hive Cities. However, as the storms of war turn ever darker against the forces of the Imperium, even this world would feel the coming of Chaos, however far from darkness it may have been.

Heresy Stirs
On the dawn of the 13th Black Crusade, several heretic servants traveled all across the galaxy in hopes to weaken Imperial defenses by inciting unrest and rebellion. While many of these would-be revolutionaries quickly fell prey to the ruthless eye of the Inquisition, a fallen priest of the Ministorum, named Palafrax Henn, made it to Turmos in time to bear witness to the greatest political scandal in the last thousand years of the world's history, resulting in the then-governor, Kelirian Vex, being deposed from his throne, condemned to be an irrelevant minor noble until the end of his days. Bitter, and eager a way to regain control of the planet, Palafrax had little trouble in persuading the disgraced noble to listen and trust his words, posing as a sagacious pilgrim.

At first, Palafrax's assistance appeared to be purely pragmatic, and tangible. Akin to a secretary, alliances were made and pirates were hired by Kelirian under Palafrax's advice. Kelirian was already a political mastermind, and with this newcomer the pair were unstoppable. With the assistance of one who has travelled a thousand worlds, Kelirian quickly rose his house's power once more. Yet, the throne had never been so far from his hands-- the replacing Governor had just received the blessing of the Imperial Cult; there would be no usurpation without inciting the Ministorum's righteous wrath.

This apparent setback spurred Kelirian down a darker path. As time went on, Palafrax's advice became more sinister. A master of manipulation, the heretic bloated Kelirian's ego, applying to the noble's narcissism, and lead him to commit acts that had long since been outlawed by even the most anarchic of planetary governments. It was here that the idea of the Dark Gods first took shape in the minds of Kelirian and his followers.

Agents of the Dark Gods
At first, Kelirian and his followers were secret in any form of deviation. Though eager to go against the laws of man, they understood full well the dangers of operating in the open, particularly when the Adeptus Mechanicus has an interest in the world's wellbeing. To avoid detection, the majority of Kelirian's lower-class followers were subject to the underhive, where they could operate and recruit undisturbed. Though Palafrax brought the idea of the Dark Gods as a pantheon, the nature of man quickly lead to a tribalistic division in the ranks. Khorne and Nurgle found particular popularity amongst the denizens of the underhive, while Slaanesh and Tzeentch found hosts in the learned and elite class of Kelirian's servants.

This division could not last forever in this state. Kelirian may have not been a preacher, but he was learned enough to understand that eventually his powerbase would tear itself apart, and he would be back to where he started. Thus, he turned his plans towards his end goal, something he would have never considered before hand: violent insurrection.

In this time, his servants' numbers had swelled to the point that he had the largest army of any noble house on Turmos- the majority of it in secret, carving out domains in the underhive where none could challenge him. The group had dubbed itself the '''Hand of Vex. '''As time went on, these groups would organize into gangs and patrol around the lawless parts of the Hive, destroying and raiding what they could in the name of rebellion. These incursions would be covered up with Kelirian's political influence, preventing any wide-scale crackdown on this unrest.

Knowing time was limited before Kelirian had to have made a move, he contacted numerous reavers and smugglers to supply and outfit his supporters with real weapons and armor, as well as to provide them combat training. Spending both his house and his personal fortune in equipping his army, he unwisely bet everything on the success of this insurrection. It had to work, or all would be lost.

After months of preparation, all Kelirian needed was a rallying cry to organize his rebellion around. That call came in the form of Cadia's annihilation.

While the Cadia's fall was heavily suppressed, Palafrax made certain that Kelirian knew of the immense Imperial fleet, and none could stand in the way of Chaos's indomitable march. The heretic urged Kelirian that now was the time to begin his rebellion. He must gather his followers, bring to them this news, and urge them to strike at rebellion while dismay and fear were in the hearts of the enemy lords, who had also received the news one way or another.