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Post by CELS on Mar 19, 2005 8:21:32 GMT -5
CELS' comment: Well, I suppose it's time I posted this. It's been nearly ready for a long time, but I delayed posting it because of the whole ellipsoid atmosphere problem we were unsure about. Now that I've consulted with Destecado and found a solution (large planet, high mass, high rotation, high proximity to the sun), I'm more confident about posting it.
STANDARD REPRESENTATION
M-V - AAE8ACB-D S Hi 502 Im CD(35)
Planet name: Proteus World class: Forgeworld Population: 24,740,000,000 Tech level: 15 / E Tithe Grade: Adeptus Non Aestimare: A45
Orbital distance: 0.18 AU Equatorial diameter: 16,100 km Gravity: 1.275 g Orbital period: 46.67 days, standard Length of day: 11.45 hours, standard Atmosphere: Ellipsoid, standard oxygen-nitrogen mix with pollutant taint Surface atmospheric pressure: 2.2 / 0.4 Surface temperature: 61 degrees Celsius Hydrosphere: 80 % ocean Life forms: Cataclysmic. Few life forms Moons: Two moons, one used for research, another for defense and monitoring.
Planet description The forgeworld Proteus is one of the most ancient and valuable Imperial worlds in the Anargo sector, critical to further conquest and colonisation in the name of the Imperium. The forgeworld is located in the Taranis system of the Proteus subsector, its star orbited by Proteus as its only planet, and by the two gas giants Cian and Melia. Orbiting the planet, two satellite moons, Mephele and Hebe, are covered with ancient fortresses, ever watchful and vigilant.
Life on the surface of Proteus is a harsh one. The large size and mass of the planet, combined with extreme rotational speed and proximity to the sun, has given Proteus a very ellipsoid atmosphere. While both poles are covered by snow and ice, the regions closer to the equator are infernally hot. The planet’s ellipsoid atmosphere, lying thick and heavy over the areas near the equator, preserves the heat from the sun and acts as a lid to the steaming hot oceans. The warm regions of Proteus are constantly covered by layers upon layers with dark clouds, creating thunderstorms of hellish intensity and showering the world with burning hot, polluted water. Most citizens that don’t live on either pole go their entire lives without ever seeing the sun.
Fairly typical for forgeworlds, Proteus’ continents are all but covered in factories, space ports and titanic storage halls. To offworlders, the forge cities are a terrible, yet awesome sight, with cathedral-like constructions stretching far into the cloudy skies, enormous chimneys gusting out toxic waste and massive mag-lev trains sometimes many kilometres long, snaking their way silently across the landscape. Sea forges are an equally impressive sight, as they resist the crushing waves of the Proteus seas, often tens of metres tall. The sea forges are man-made cities at sea, their foundations stretching down to the very bottom of the ocean, and are built to construct warships for fighting on the seas of distant planets.
The constructions on the north and south poles of Proteus are considerably different from the rest of the planet. Rather than endless fields of steel and concrete, the polar landscapes are serene, covered with snow and ice, and the occasional vegetation and wildlife. Here and there, a forge tower spears into the cold blue sky above, where stars can be seen through the thin atmosphere. These forge towers are self-sufficient cities, some stretching over a kilometre into the air, and each the home of a Titan of Legio Lancea. These towers are the oldest constructions of the Cult Mechanicus on Proteus, many of them actually built by the Martian fleet that colonised Proteus millennia ago.
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Post by CELS on Mar 19, 2005 8:22:33 GMT -5
Government Though the forgeworld Proteus, like all forgeworlds, has an Archmagos that is the supreme commander of the world, the Priesthood of Proteus has introduced a form of government that promotes understanding and communication between the different branches of the Cult Mechanicus. Proteus is in fact ruled by a council of five, consisting of elected representatives from four of the major divisions of the forgeworld and the Archmagos Ultima as the council leader. Together, these five individuals form the wisest and most powerful ruling body on Proteus, and oversee everything from management of the population to Imperial relations. The High Council resides in the Tower Adamantine, located on the north pole of Proteus. The Tower Adamantine is the greatest forge tower on the planet, kilometres high and stretching into the very void of space, and is in many ways the head of the planet, an arena where the most influential characters of Proteus gather to discuss matters of global importance, where the most prized artefacts of Proteus are kept and studied, and where legions of Lexmechanics assemble world statistics, planetary research and production reports. The Tower Adamantine also houses some of the planets greatest resources, over two hundred Astropaths who keep a near-constant communion with Mars and nearby forge worlds.
Religion As followers of the Cult Mechanicus, most citizens of Proteus see the Emperor as the avatar of the Machine God, their true god. All citizens are taught to worship the Machine God, and acts of devotion are made daily by all citizens. The religious leaders of Proteus are, of course, the Tech Priests of the Cult Mechanicus, who lead the workers in prayer as well as work. For a faithful worshipper of the Machine God, hymns and blessings of the Imperial cult have no value. Instead, knowledge is considered sacred, and all religious texts in the Cult Mechanicus are closely connected to science.
Needless to say, there is much animosity between the Cult Mechanicus of Proteus and the Ecclessiarchy on Dorvastor because of these religious differences. The Ecclessiarchy is constantly trying to bring more worlds under the Imperial church, but Proteus is protected by the Martian pacts, making it extremely difficult for the Imperial creed to get a foothold.
Society and Law The native citizens of Proteus can be divided into roughly four groups or classes. The first and largest group is the working class, the tens of billions of workers that do everything from piloting the mag-lev trains in the cities of Proteus, to piloting cranes or performing manual labour in the forgeworld’s countless factories. A second group of citizens of Proteus is the members of the Proteus Tech Guard, the forgeworld’s great armies. The soldiers of the Tech Guard are selected at a young age for their physical condition and strength of mind, and are either assigned to the planetary defence force, or to aid in the quests and crusades of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The third group is the Priesthood of the Cult Mechanicus. Recruited mostly from the forgeworld Proteus, but also from the rest of the subsector, the Tech Priests are the ruling class of Proteus. They control the entire governmental, industrial and religious affairs of Proteus. The last of the four groups, is the legions of servitors, which are almost as numerous as the working class of men on the planet. These servitors are mindless slave machines, once the worst criminals of the subsector, whose lives have been sacrificed to serve the Adeptus Mechanicus.
To offworlders, a life on Proteus is a grey and monotone life, with few joys other than that of serving the Imperium. All citizens are given a name consisting of fifteen digits, which is tattooed on the citizens’ throat and five other places of the body. Though it is customary for parents to give their children proper names, these are never used except in social situations.
The working class of Proteus toil through a minimum of twelve hours of work every day, and the rest of the day is usually spent preparing and consuming meals, in prayer to the Machine God, or maintenance of the family’s living quarters. Unlike on most Imperial worlds, citizens of Proteus do not enjoy the luxury of owning their own homes. Instead, they are given small living quarters in the building they work in, and are moved around on the forgeworld as needed.
The working class are paid in the currency of the Adeptus Mechanicus, which has no value on most Imperial worlds, and is used to purchase food and water, clothing, and the occasional recreational item or a visit to one of the world’s very few bars. There are very few private owned services such as bars, vid-theaters or restaurants on Proteus, and the few that do exist are owned and run by offworlders, who make sales in Adeptus Mechanicus currency in order to purchase equipment constructed on Proteus or even servitors, to trade on Imperial worlds. Most citizens of the working class of Proteus never journey off-world, but the few who do, do so by trading Proteus-constructed products with the offworlders who provide transport at the local spaceports.
Proteus is an ancient forgeworld, and this is greatly reflected in its politics and philosophies being so true to the traditions of Mars. Still, the forgeworld was originally colonised by the Adeptus Mechanicus based on what the Tech Priests then called a miracle, a sign from the Machine God. This religious event has greatly influenced the philosophy of Proteus throughout the millennia, something which in turn has affected its politics, and even radical philosophies such as the Reincarnist philosophy are unusually popular on Proteus, compared to other ancient forgeworlds.
The Priesthood of Proteus is also divided by different paradigms, but on this forgeworld, a fairly young paradigm known as the Mikaelists has risen to power, and even spread to other forgeworlds in the nearby sectors. The Mikaelists is the smallest of the four great paradigms on Proteus however, and is dwindling even further in its influence. The Mikaelists differ in that they follow the prophecies of an ancient machine-spirit of Proteus, dubbed Mikael. This machine-spirit was originally intended to aid the Priesthood of Proteus with hyper-advanced calculations by giving it free access to the entire data network of Proteus, and was, according to legend, originally onboard the battleship Proteus that discovered this forgeworld. Over a millennium ago, something miraculous happened, when the machine-spirit suddenly made alarming predictions for the fate of the Imperium. Interpreting data which had been sent to Proteus from thousands of worlds in the eastern fringe, the machine-spirit successfully predicted several major ork Waaagh!s and even the coming of Hive Fleet Behemoth. For centuries, the machine-spirit Mikael attracted more followers from the Priesthood of Proteus, and even from other forgeworlds. The growing belief in the machine-spirit faded however, when three-hundred years ago, it started predicting a great cataclysm that would destroy the Imperium as they knew it. Unable to predict the time nor the outcome of this cataclysm, the ancient machine-spirit would be silent for years or decades at a time, struggling with calculations of incomprehensible complexity. When the machine-spirit did manage to communicate with its Tech Priest followers, it rambled incoherently of mysterious quests that needed to be completed if mankind was to survive. The few errant Tech Priests that remained true to the machine-spirit set out to accomplish these quests; some returned with great treasures and the trophies of defeated enemies, others returned empty-handed, unsure of the purpose of their quest. Over the years, more and more Tech Priests who went on such quests returned without reward, and today very few Priesthood members indeed still value the prophecies and warnings of the ancient machine-spirit.
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Post by CELS on Mar 19, 2005 8:23:31 GMT -5
Technology Typical for Adeptus Mechanicus forgeworlds, energy is abundant in the forge cities of Proteus, thanks to arcane plasma reactors. In the forgeworld’s seaforges however, technology such as tidal power stations and core heat sinks are used, to take advantage of such enormous power sources.
Communication technology on Proteus is also quite high, but restricted. Though the world’s Priesthood benefit from the most high tech communication equipment in the Imperium, with virtually limitless communication abilities on Proteus, and between the forgeworld and its two orbiting moons, communication between working class citizens is restricted to use of Consoles, which communicate through the world’s vast data network, as on most Imperial worlds with average technology. All communication is rigorously surveyed and arbitrated to prevent criminal activity, and no communication to other worlds is usually possible. For the Tech Priest however, communication with the rest of the Imperium is made possible through the hundreds of Astropaths, which are the one resource Proteus is dependent on the Imperium to receive, and one of the most valued resources to Proteus.
Medical technology on Proteus is very advanced, but also very limited. Though the government gives all citizens basic medical treatment, bionic implants and life prolonging treatment is not given unless ordered by the Priesthood.
Transport by land is extremely efficient, as many millions move homes every day, to accommodate the needs of the dynamic industry. Citizens and cargo which is the property of the forgeworld is transported by mag-lev trains in the most productive and densely populated areas, and railroads elsewhere. All movement is rigidly controlled however, and movement outside the city of one’s assigned living quarters is only allowed by order of the Priesthood. Air transport and space transport is very commonly used by the forgeworld, but is generally inaccessible to the working class, the only exception being the services of offworlders.
Trade and Tithes As a forge world, Proteus has a special convention in relation to paying tithes. Supplying the Imperium with invaluable commodities such as super heavy tanks for the Imperial Guard, great ships for the Imperial Navy and tech priests for employment on other Imperial worlds, forge worlds do not pay tithes as conventional Imperial worlds. Among other things, Proteus is not required to supply soldiers to the Imperial Guard even though its Tech Guard ranks are endless compared to other worlds’ planetary defense forces. This special relationship with the Imperium comes from the unique status of the Adeptus Mechanicus in the Imperium, and though many question their independence, few question their value and power. The exports of Proteus are countless, but amongst its most important military productions are the super heavy tanks, plasma support weapons and leviathans for the Imperial Guard; the vast escort and capital ships for the Imperial Navy, as well as any parts required to repair and maintain these ships; and vehicles, weapons and powered armour for the Frost Wraith Space Marine chapter. In addition, Proteus equips and arms its own vast armies of Tech Guard and mighty Titan Legion, the Burning Lances, but these remain under the control of Proteus even when sent to other parts of the Segmentum to aid the Imperium.
Proteus only imports a few goods, as it is mostly self-sustained. As all forge worlds, Proteus is extremely suspicious and defensive, and few ships that do not belong to the Cult Mechanicus are allowed to approach the forge world. Instead, Proteus sends out its own transports, known simply as Forge ships to most of the Imperium, which collect needed goods from various worlds and deliver the products of Proteus. Typically, these forge ships will come looking for criminals sentenced for servitor-dom, to bring back to Proteus, blessed ointments, holy waters and incense from the Ministorum, and astropaths, navigators and other psykers from the Adeptus Astra Telepathica and Navis Nobilite. It is also possible to do trade with these Forge ships outside of Proteus’ normal trade agreements with the Imperium, and many rogue traders are known to dock with the Forge ships and sell alien technology or alien life forms in exchange for the precious goods of the Adeptus Mechanicus. A very few forge ships are also instructed to bring back artifacts of chaos powers if possible, for research by the more radical Technomagi, but this is of course totally unknown to the rest of the Imperium.
Despite their paranoia, the Techpriests of Proteus do allow some rogue traders and a few of the most respected merchant companies to land on Proteus itself, and this is truly a great honour (and profitable arrangement), as it opens endless trade connections, even with the working class of Proteus and, perhaps more importantly, other forge worlds.
Physiology After a life indoor and without ever feeling a ray of sunlight on their skin, the majority of Proteus’ citizens are almost grayish pale. The heavy gravity makes the working class considerably stronger and heavier than most humans, but somewhat shorter. With immigrants having been brought in from all over the sector over the millennia, eye and hair colour varies tremendously on Proteus. However, all citizens except the priesthood are required to shave their heads, and in the orange-lit factories or perpetual darkness of outside, most citizens look alike anyway. The physiology varies greatly amongst the Priesthood, naturally, since they have access to all kinds of physical augmentations and alterations. The lesser height of living on a high gravity world is usually countered by growth-altering chemicals, and Proteus tech-priests are usually at least as tall as the average Imperial citizen.
Psychology The working class and tech guard of Proteus are almost brainwashed from childhood about their duties to the Machine god, learning that they are required to give their lives in service of the forge world without question. As a result of their monotone lives, working class and tech guard come off as simple people with little imagination, and almost incapable of independent thought to off-worlders. The Priesthood on the other hand, are known for their cunning, intellect and cynicism, as all Tech Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Still, the behavior and psychology of Tech Priests depends greatly on their philosophical and political standing.
Language and Dialect The working class and tech guard of Proteus speak a standard Low Gothic, but are characterized by simple language and flat tone. The Priesthood is fluent in both Low and High Gothic, and also speaks a dialect of High Gothic known as Lingua Technis.
Planetary Defense Force Almost one percent of Proteus’ population is recruited into the Tech Guard, the armies of the Cult Mechanicus and defenders of the forgeworld, a force of fourty million well-equipped and trained soldiers. With traditions going back ten millennia, the Tech Guard of Proteus is a well-organised and experienced force with a style of combat that reflects their unique philosophy of war.
Like any planetary defence force, the Tech Guard is under direct control of the forgeworld’s governor, the Archmagos Ultima and the High Council. Though most of the Tech Guard is stationed on Proteus and its two fortress-moons, quite a few regiments are stationed onboard Proteus’ many star ships. As opposed to the Imperial Guard and most other planetary defence forces, the Proteus Tech Guard has a fairly flexible organisation. Often, the tech guard from a region of Proteus will be assigned to a Magos of the Priesthood. Though it is rare for the Magi to act as commander for Tech Guard forces, the Tech Guard assigned to a Magos will follow him wherever he is assigned, should he be transferred to another continent or even to an Explorator star ship.
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Post by CELS on Mar 19, 2005 8:24:22 GMT -5
History During the Age of Strife, the Cult Mechanicus of Mars sent out many fleets which would build forgeworlds in the name of the Machine God. One of these fleets encountered a turbulent current in the warp, and entered the materium several hundred light-years away from its original destination, in the Taranis system. Just as the fleet prepared to enter the warp again and continue its journey, the machine spirit of the fleet’s flagship, the Proteus, launched an escape pod on the planet Taranis Primus. Curious of this malfunction, the ship’s surveyor priests scanned the planet, and found the faint traces of a human civilisation from the Golden Age of technology. Declaring this a sign from the Machine God, the priests sent an expedition to the world’s surface. The citizens of Taranis Prime welcomed the priests of the Cult Mechanicus with open arms, praising them as angels of salvation and showing no resistance to the imposed authority of the priests.
The Tech Priests discovered that the citizens of this world had been all but wiped out two centuries ago when a plague erupted on the only populated continent on the planet. Only a few dozen ships got to sea to escape the plague, and of these only a handful survived the journey across the stormy seas. When the fleet of the Cult Mechanicus arrived, in year 550, M26, the citizens of Taranis Prime numbered only ten thousand. Deciding that the discovery of such a planet had been an act of the Machine God, the Mechanicus fleet began colonizing the planet, renaming it Proteus after its discoverer. Three dozen Cyclops class colonisation ships detached enormous colonisation modules, leaving empty only empty shells of the original ships. Each of these modules deployed on the surface of Proteus, forming a forge tower on the north or south pole of the planet. Of the other ships in the fleet, the fleet’s flagship Proteus deployed on the north pole of Proteus, rebuilding into the Tower Adamantine, and the other ships either deployed as orbital stations or formed exploration and defence groups.
As time passed, each the forge worlds began constructing mines and infrastructure, and before the first century had passed, cities had been built on every continent of Proteus. After two millennia, every continent on Proteus was covered with sprawling cities and factory complexes, leaving only the planet’s poles, both small island groups, relatively untouched.
Since its colonisation by the Adeptus Mechanicus, Proteus has had a stabile growth, both in population and influence. Though the Anargo sector has suffered many invasions and some civil wars, Proteus itself has almost always stayed out of harm’s way.
One important exception is the Age of Apostasy, when the Adeptus Mechanicus and Adeptus Astartes all over the Imperium rebelled against Lord Vandire and the many vicious dictators of that time. In the Anargo sector, Proteus played a key role in defending Imperial worlds from the harsh sanctions of the sector capital. Aided by the Adeptus Astartes, Proteus was able to save hundreds of million lives, until the Meksum and Sargassos subsector finally joined the rebellion. Unfortunately, the Meksum and Sargassos alliance failed because of the corruption of chaos, but the rampaging Imperial armies and fleets were held off long enough for other sectors to send reinforcements. Since the Age of Apostasy, Proteus has only participated in Imperial wars on a few occasions, but never more than absolutely necessary.
The political situation on Proteus over the past few millennia has been reasonably stable. The Methodist paradigm has always been the most powerful on Proteus, but is slowly and silently disappearing. Since the abdication of the last Methodist High Council in M38, the Unionist and Seperatist paradigms have been struggling to fill the void. This conflict is usually a slow and quiet thing, like the crashing of continents, but as when continents crash, there are sometimes earthquakes. Though the Imperial Inquisition is not fully aware of it, there have been civil wars on Proteus, and there have even been separatist saboteurs that have been trying to cut the bonds between Proteus and the Anargo sector. As with all secret wars, there are no victories, only casualties.
Date of preparation: ? World UWP: M-V - AAE8ACB-D S Hi 502 Im CD(35) Diameter: 16800 km Density: 1,02 Mass: 1.992 Gravity: 1.275 Primary Mass (Star): 0.49 Orbit number (Planet): 0 Orbital period (Planet): 46.67 days Rotation period: 11.45 hours Axial Tilt: 47 degrees Orbital Eccentricity: 0.01 Seismic Stress Factor: 1.45 Asteroid Belt Zones: 0 Atmospheric composition: Ellipsoid, polluted taint Surface pressure: 2.2 / 0.4 Stellar luminosity: 0.45 Orbit factor: 836.45 Energy absorption: 0.807 Greenhouse effect: 1.11 Base temperature: 61 Celsius Orbital eccentricity modifier: 0.3 Latitude temperature effects: +24, +16, +8, 0, -12, -24, -36, -48, -60, -72, -84 Axial tilt effects: 10.8 / -18 Daytime plus: 8.865 Nighttime minus: 3.94 Native life: Yes. Single cellular. Life forms imported. Atmospheric terraforming: None. Greenhouse effect terraforming: None Albedo terraforming: None. Temperature terraforming: None. Hydrographic percent: 80 Hydrosphere composition: Liquid water, polluted Number of tectonic plates: 12 Hydrosphere terraforming: Yes. Imported life-forms Terrain terraforming: None Number of major continents: 6 Number of minor continents: 5 Number of large islands: 4 Number of small islands: 2 Number of archipelagoes: 7 Notable volcanoes: 22 Weather control: No Natural resources: Agricultural, Ores, Crystals, Compounds Processed resources: Metals, Non-metals Manufactured goods: Parts, Durables, Consumables, Weapons Information: Recordings, software, Documents Total population: 24,740,000,000 Local customs: Primary cities: 1 (Population circa 1,000,000,000) Secondary cities: 14 (Population circa 500,000,000) Tertiary cities: 292 (Population circa 50,000,000) Progressiveness: Reactionary & Stagnant Aggressiveness: Unaggressive & Neutral Extensiveness: Monolithic & Aloof Representative authority: Charismatic olligarchy World government description: See above Technology: E – 0/-2/-2/0/-1/0/0/0/-2/0/0/-1
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Post by CELS on Mar 19, 2005 8:32:47 GMT -5
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Post by CELS on Mar 19, 2005 8:35:36 GMT -5
Please make any comments you may have in this thread. Thank you
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