Warhammer 40K Lore: The Imperium Knows How To Handle Psykers
There might be a psychic awakening throughout the galaxy, but fret not loremasters, the Imperium knows how to deal with Psykers.
The harrowing tales of psykers whose souls are so corrupted by the ruinous powers that they become daemonhosts, or those who are driven mad by the whispers of the empyrean, or who turn their gifts away from the Emperor’s light for their own foul ends, seeking to carve out their own empires; psykers are a fearsome threat. Now, with rumors of a psychic awakening spreading to every corner of the galaxy, we’re here to reassure you, the Imperium knows how to properly take advantage of an uptick in psychic abilities.
The Ordo Hereticus (known colloquially as Witchhunters) is one of the three major orders of the Inquisition. Their specific role is protecting mankind from itself, by combating such internal threats as treason, mutation, heresy and witches. They are aided militarily by the Adeptus Ministorum‘s Sisters of Battle. Because of its vast jurisdiction and mission, the Ordo Hereticus is the largest of all the Inquisition’s Ordos.
Although originally concerned with monitoring the Ecclesiarchy, the Ordo Hereticus has expanded its jurisdiction to encompass the other internal threats to the Imperium: witches, mutants, heretics, psykers, traitors and other deviants among mankind. Hereticus Inquisitors are the most feared members of the Inquisition, as their focus is on Mankind itself. The arrival of an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor on a world is met with fear and awe, as no one but the Inquisitor himself knows where his attentions will fall.
Or for those more dangerous psykers, there is of course the Culexus Temple:
The Culexus Assassins are the most sinister, feared, and hated of all Imperial Assassins. They are null-entities in the warp, and their unnatural lack of a presence inspiring a sense of unease even in non-psykers. To psykers their mere presence is terrifying, invoking panic. In the confusion caused by this fear, the assassin can move in on its target and eliminate them. To purely psychic entities like daemons, they are invisible.
The Culexus Assassins possess the “Pariah Gene”, making them for all intents, “soulless,” accounting for their lack of warp-presence. This gene manifests itself very rarely, in a single individual among a billion, or more. This extreme rarity, coupled with the inevitable losses during training, makes the Culexus assassins the rarest of all Imperial assassins. The Culexus temple is known to hunt down and recruit these Pariahs but also to vat-grow them. Due to the nature of being parentless, combined with the pariah gene making them seem soulless, these Culexus struggle with social interaction. Whilst able to mimic predictive human behaviour of a character they are playing as part of a mission, they may not actually feel emotions.
The location of the Culexus temple is a closely guarded secret, said to be located on a planet which orbits no sun, and which is beyond the reach of the Astronomican. The Eldar, whose leaders are usually psychics, fear the Culexus greatly. Farseer Alladrios Kulcassian of Craftworld Alaitoc coordinated a centuries-long effort to locate and destroy this temple. Somehow he discovered the location and dispatched the Legacy of Eldanesh, a Shadow-class cruiser. However, using his precognitive powers, he discovered to his amazement that the temple’s destruction would lead to the Annihilation of Alaitoc. Choosing the lesser of two evils, he re-called the cruiser home.
Then of course there’s the Anathema Psykana: an ancient, anti-psychic militant order. They are the militant arm of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica during the Great Crusade, that were internally referred to as the organization’s Departmento Investigates. The Sisters of Silence have a long history, originally operating from the Somnus Citadel on Luna. They were an all female order, in much the same way as the Adepta Sororitas; the major difference is that the Sisters were all Blanks. Recruited from Untouchable stock, the Sisters were anathema to psykers. Their very presence disrupts psychic activity and they are presumed to have been immune to most forms of psychic assault. The main purpose of the Sisters of Silence is therefore to seek out and apprehend psykers. As warrior-investigators they were involved in all aspects of the capture and transportation of psychic individuals and still are found among the crew of the Black Ships.
Speaking of the capture of psychic type individuals, a move best left to individuals of a dark nature, once the psykers have been captured, the Imperium can put them to excellent use.
The Golden Throne is an ancient and arcane device located in the Imperial Palace on Terra. It currently houses and sustains the remains of the Emperor of Mankind.
After the Heresy, the Emperor became interred within the Golden Throne and required increasing numbers of Psyker sacrifices to maintain the Astronomican. Today, the Astronomican is powered by ten thousand psykers trained by the Adeptus Astronomica. The omnipotent will of the Emperor constantly directs this energy across around fifty thousand light years of the galaxy. Although the Emperor does not provide the energy of the beacon, only he has the psychic power to handle such immense energy and direct it across the galaxy. The psykers who power the Astronomican are recruited into the organisation through the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. They are initiated into the Adeptus Astronomica as Acolytes, and taught how to use their powers, philosophy, the meaning of their lives, and the Lore of the Astronomican. Some achieve a mystic state, gaining the status of Chosen. It is these Chosen who are eventually called to serve in the Chamber of the Astronomican. Here they fuel the Astronomican beacon with their psychic energies; as their powers are drained the Chosen slowly fade and die. Up to one hundred Psykers die each day powering the Astronomnican.
So worry not about psychic awakenings… the Imperium has handled them for years, and it seems doubtless that the Imperium will ever embrace this foolhardy pursuit.
