Volhar Dredgeworlds

"...firmanent test Yaldabaoth-2A succeeds all established parameters, Great Changer be praised. Prepare invocation of Phase Secundus..."

- Intercepted Vox-Communique, Source Unconfirmed

The Volhar Dredgeworlds is the official designation that both the Vigilius Departmento Astrocartographae and Battlefleet have saddled upon the Daemon Worlds sporadically spat out by the Volhar Rift; remnants of the once populous Sub-sector twisted beyond all recognition. As the Rift waxes and wanes, perpetuated by the nightmare engines of the fallen Forgeworld that birthed it, new horrors emerge from its depths to test the defences of the Volhar Perimeter- some for a few days, others for years on end- before being swallowed up once again.

As of 910.M41, the emergence of Dredgeworlds has become alarmingly regular, with some even postulating that the Volharian Hereteks are growing closer to weaponizing the very maelstrom they inhabit...

History
In the wake of the Volharian Tech-heresy, the corrupted Mechanicum made the Imperium's victory to a pyrrhic one by effectively rending the Eastern quadrant of the Sector apart. In their last moments, the loathsome darktech that festered at the core of the Forgeworld was thrown into overdrive, separating Vigilius from the neighbouring Ultramar Sector and leaving a vast empyric scar upon the stellarscape. Dozens of planets drowned in the stuff of the Warp, governments and societies that had existed since the Great Crusade snuffed out in the blink of an eye, and even those worlds only caught in the Rift's fringes were subject to intense scrutiny and mass-sterilization by the Emperor's Inquisition.

However, as verified by the Vigilius Navis Nobilite and sanctioned proxies of the Ordo Malleus, the threat posed by the newborn Volhar Rift was far from over. Whatever technomancy had spawned the Warp Storm seemingly continued to sustain its existence, causing it to fluctuate, swelling in size one year and shrinking the next. It was a unique aberration: a self-perpetuating hurricane, a flood with no end, and short of delving into its turbulent depths de-activate the hideous apparatus at its core, no easy solution to its existence presented itself.

Then, circa 638.M37, the tides of the Rift receded to reveal an unknown celestial mass, barely more than planetoid, and yet which radiated such palpable malice that citizens across the Sector reported sudden and inexplicable instances of mass sleep paralysis and hysteria. Later labelled Noknika, this unearthly beacon would persist for less than a Terran Week before being reabsorbed into the Rift, but its mere existence was but a harbinger of events to come.

To this day Battlefleet Vigilius still maintains naval cordons at the "Perimeter Line" of the Sector's eastern quadrant, their navcomputers synced to a series of long-range augurs known as the Pharite Markers, serviced and operated courtesy of the Vigilius Mechanicus of Ivaldi Primus and Magna Cupal. Should a new Dredgeworld emerge, monitoring and intercepting the potential moral threat becomes paramount, though recently these flotillas have been critically undermanned in the wake of Waaagh! Morkdred. This, combined with recent emergences becoming an almost an annual event, has prompted the Senatorum Vigilius to draft several potential battle-plans should the next Dredgeworld prompt a full-blown invasion by the Ruinous Powers.

Classification
When a new Dredgeworld emerges from the Rift, it is automatically categorized by the Pharite Beacon cartographae cogitators with a specific designation. Typically these labels begin prefaced "ED" (Emergence Date), followed by the exact year fraction in accordance with the mainline Imperial Calendar. After initial surveyance is concluded the Navy will assign a "Moral Threat Level" (MTL) on a scale of 1 to 5, with a 1 easily containable and a 5 being in need of direct Inquisitorial intervention. To date, there has never been a Level 5, though some fear in the wake of recent events it is only a matter of time before this threat rating ceases to be theoretical.

As the Dregeworlds have essentially become part of the Vigilius Sector's cultural mythos (despite the best efforts of many an Imperial Adepta), certain planets will often be saddled with names synonymous with the mystery and terror they inspire.

Notable Emergences
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 * ED-638.M37 (Noknika) - Level 2 - The first recorded Dredgeworld. A small, irregular planetoid, long range scans indicated its composition was mostly ferrous and highly psy-reactive (hence its widespread psychosomatic effect on the Sector populace). Has remerged several times, its appearance in the night sky becoming an almost folkloric harbinger of misfortune.
 * ED-502.M39 (Ophiuchus) - Level 1 - A roughly Terran-sized celestial mass composed of a hyperdense sphere of fluorescent gas, surrounded by twelve satellite bodies, each orbiting in an irregular fashion and yet never once colliding. When viewed with the naked eye, it resembled nothing less than a macro-scale atomic diagram.
 * ED-779.M39 (Scyllan) - Level 4 - Initial observations categorized this particular Dredgeworld as roughly analogous to an Ocean World, though further investigations revealed a disturbingly organic mass nestled within the planet's "core". All further surveys were terminated following the fate of the Sword-Class Frigate Anchorite, severely damaged after continent-sized pseudopod emerged from the waves to strike it in high orbit. Immediate reinforcement was called for and the planet subjected to cyclonic bombardment.
 * ED-294.M41 (Oblate) - Level 4 - A supermassive geoform that emerged perilously close to Volhar Perimeter, its gravitational pull alone causing moderate tectonic disturbances on several nearby planets. Before any comprehensive scans could be completed, Oblate seemingly released a squall of "psychotronic white noise", disabling the guiding light of the Astronomican in nearby star systems for but a few precious seconds before seemingly undergoing some form of accelerated heat death, reducing to its component atoms in a matter of hours. Those few seconds of blankness, however, proved highly disruptive to local interstellar traffic. In the wake of the incident several catastrophic Warp Drive malfunctions were reported, as well as several more Navigator suicides or suicide attempts.