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  1. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nabterayl View Post
    (for those who don't know, every sanctioned psyker in the Imperium, from the most potent Grey Knight grand master to the lowliest astropath, undergoes a ritual called the "soulbinding" in the Presence of the Emperor, after which the psyker has a resistance to the Warp that he did not have before; many also receive visions during the ritual).
    This is not exactly true - only those psykers too weak to withstand the warp on their own are soulbound. Soul-bound psykers become astropaths. The soul-binding ritual destroys the optic nerves and often other nerves as well and so all astropaths are blind and many are deaf or lack the senses of smell or touch.

    "...only a tiny proportion of the very best are judged strong
    enough to survive without some form of psychic protection. So psykers
    can be found throughout the Adepeus Terra, the Inquisition, the
    Legiones Astartes, the army and the fleet. However, over 90% of
    psykers in imperial service are members of the Adeptus Astra
    Telepathica, known commonly as Astropaths. Astropaths are created
    from those who have considerable powers. but who are not
    individually strong enough to withstand the attentions of psychically
    attuned warpcreatures. Were they simply allowed to develop without
    interference they would quickly find themselves in serious trouble
    endangering the rest of humanity as well as themselves. However
    the Imperium has a use for them. An Astropath is an Astro-telepath,
    an individual capable of communicating with others of his kind over
    vast interstellar distances. In the Age of the Imperium, where worlds
    are lightyears apart, this is the only practical means of communication.
    for this reason the network of Astropaths is very important to the
    Imperium, and every spacecraft, research station, outpost, etc., has
    its own Astropath. Even small planets need hundreds of these useful
    servants, while large worlds may have thousands and Earth itself is
    home to tens of thousands.
    All Astropaths undergo a special process which moulds their powers
    and at the same time strengthens them against psychic danger. This
    is called the soul-binding ritual and only the Emperor has the power
    to perform it. It takes place in the great palace where the psykers
    are led before the Emperor one hundred at a time. Knelt before the
    Emperor they must endure several hours of agony whilst the Emperor
    uses his powers to reshape their minds - mingling a little of his
    immeasurable power with their own. Unfortunately, the Emperor's
    mind is so powerful that not all candidates survive the ritual. Some
    are driven insane. and all have their personalities altered to some
    extent. The raw energy of the Emperor's will also has another effect.
    So powerful are the forces involved that many of the more deIicate
    nerves can be damaged, especially the optic nerves. Consequently all
    Astropaths are blind, whist many may also lack any sense of smell, touch or hearing.


    pp147-8 WH40K Rogue Trader

  2. #22

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    Oops, I was thinking of a passage in the Dark Heresy book that I apparently made up Thanks for the correction!

  3. #23
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    Inquisitor Jago Spoke with the enthroned Emperor in Ian Watson's Inquisitor series. Alright, the book suggests an unreliable author and the emperor's consciousness was fragmented (not providing his undivided attention in any event) but there was direct telepathic linguisitic communication.

    That is the only example of 'diret' communication, I have come across in the fluff, from the Emperor. There are plenty of instances of religious signs / visions etc associated with the emperor but these do not have direct dialogue.

    See the thread about the greatest secret in 40k - good stuff.

    If any one can reference another example, I would be grateful to hear about it. I am wading through the Inquisitor rule book for radical etc interpretations of the Emperor's current state.

    I like the increasing references to the emperor stepping down from the golden throne (Scourge the Heretic by Sandy Mitchell) but this all jars with the famous Abnett leak that the Emperor was always just a physical husk (even in the early days referred to in Legion), burnt out by his immense psychic power.

    The guy is an old one anyway.


    Re: why not a dreadnought suit - the golden throne modifications were drawn by the emperor in his own blood after being wounded by Horus, if he'd had a pen and paper, who knows what modifications he would have made...!

  4. #24
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    I think the Golden Throne is a perfect example of the problems the Horus Heresy books are creating.

    Don't get me wrong-- I think I lot of the books are interesting and great fun. When the long-ago Heresy was lost in the distant past, though, shrouded in mysteries and half-legends and hearsay, it didn't matter as much when you had contadictory stories or things didn't quite match up on a timeline. Now that the HH books are establishing so many facts about what happened, it's making a bunch of holes very apparent as well.

    Writer A tries to patch the holes with a fact-filled story, but the patch contradicts writer B's fact-filled story. So C comes in with a third story that resolves everything. Except for that one little thread. Which means they need to...



    "So, the Emperor was almost killed by Horus so they had to put him on the Golden Throne to keep him alive?"

    "Yep. And now he's there serving as the guiding light of the Astronomican."

    "What? I thought they did that all on their own, and there were, like, mini-Astronomicans on some planets like little lighthouses."

    "Nope, it's all the Emperor."

    "So how did people travel in warp space before the end of the Heresy?"

    "Oh. Well, he actually built it before the Heresy."

    "But... but before the Heresy he was up and doing his thing. Running, jumping, climbing trees, conquering worlds, and all that."

    "Well...right. He didn't need to be on the Golden Throne until Magnus the Red ripped a hole in warp space around the Earth at the start of the Heresy. You remember that, right, when he tried to warn the Emperor about Horus?"

    "...yeah..."

    "Well, because Magnus didn't really know what he was doing, he tore a hole in warp space that would let demons pour out over the Earth. So the Emperor has to sit on the Throne to keep the warp breach closed."

    "..and be the guiding light of the Astronomican."

    "Right."

    "...while it keeps him alive?"

    "Exactly."

    "But that still doesn't manke sense. The Emperor was fighting during the Heresy. There's that whole story of him facing down Horus in their final battle."

    "Right. Which is why he has to sit on the Throne."

    "Which he'd already built and planned to sit on for all eternity anyway?"

    "Well... sort of..."

    "But how'd he fight Horus without all the demons getting through and destroying Earth?"

    "Oh. Well, someone else sat on the chair for him. This guy... ummmm, Malcador. Like the tank. He sat on the throne for the Emperor so the big guy could go fight Horus."

    "So anyone can sit in the Golden Throne and do the job?"

    "Well... no. Only psykers."

    "Don't they sacrifice like a thousand psykers to the Emperor every day anyway?"

    "Well, yeah, but... Malcador was really powerful."

    "But if all they need is powerful psykers, doesn't that mean they could free the Emperor at any time?"

    "Look, kid, are you going to buy the #&%@*ng codex or not?!?"
    Exitus Acta Probat
    http://thegrimcheapness.blogspot.com/

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