Warhammer 40K: Wrath And Glory Sets The Stage For The Gilead System
Wrath and Glory’s revised book will bring us into the heart of the Gilead System. Come take a look as the stage is set for your next campaign.
The Cicatrix Maledictum is a lot scarier than I gave it credit for, according to the latest art reveal from the upcoming revised Wrath and Glory book from Cubicle 7. With a new book en route, Cubicle 7 is laying the groundwork for a particular corner of the galaxy known as the Gilead System, which is the ‘default system’ of the upcoming game. Though future expansions will take us far away, and explore the various corners of the Galaxy, you have to start somewhere. And that somewhere is a system cut off from the Imperium, let’s take a look.
via Cubicle 7
We get a picture of just how bad things have gotten from the perspective of a hapless Astropath, who has been struggling with the psychic disturbances following in the wake of the great rift tearing open in the middle of the galaxy. The story picks up from the perspective of Miriya, the astropath in question:
The Gods of Chaos have ripped reality. Cicatrix Maledictum, the monstrous Warp rift split the Imperium in two, a portal to the Immaterium through which daemons could walk freely into realspace. In an instant, Miriya lost her sight for a second time. The colossal Warp Storm surrounded the Gilead System, blocking her Astro-telepathic link to the other psykers.
Throughout the Gilead System, the Imperial ships’ Navigators could no longer chart courses. The Emperor’s own Astronomicon — the psychic lighthouse — was hidden by the Great Rift’s darkness.
Cut off from the Imperium and unable to travel through the Warp, the Gilead System was collapsing. No word could reach them of how the rest of humanity fared in the wake of Cicatrix Maledictum. No reinforcements came to battle the daemons that emerged from the tear in the sky above their worlds. Many suspected help would never come; others thought the rest of the Imperium may have been destroyed. The Warp spewed many horrors into the Gilead System, but also one unlikely blessing: Rogue Trader Jakel Varonius. Varonius and his flotilla of Imperial Cruisers did the impossible and pierced the gargantuan warp storm. Arriving with military reinforcements — including a small corps of neoteric Primaris Astartes — Varonius installed himself as guardian of the system. He announced a resurrected Primarch, an Imperium of redoubled strength, and — most shockingly of all — a loose, burgeoning alliance with the Aeldari.
Many regard this new ‘saviour’ with scorn. Though records show his warrant of trade is legitimate — his claims are all utterly ridiculous, and his path through the Warp is impossible to replicate. Even with his added military support, more threats appear every day, and the only Agri world in the system must somehow provide food for eight planets as well as these newcomers.
AdvertisementMiriya can feel the presence of more and more psykers awakening in the Gilead System. She knows the Black Ships will not come.
Right away we get a picture of a world in dire need. The Gilead system is in need of balm, and you are the heroes who must rise up to answer the cry of the Imperium Nihilus. What’s real interesting about this is that we’re getting a “core setting” for Wrath and Glory. And while ‘The Galaxy of 40K’ is already sort of the default setting, having somewhere incredibly specific like this helps to focus the lens of the game.
You don’t have to worry about providing details for every planet in the galaxy, you just need a few worlds in a single system. You can drill down for specifics, build actual stakes, and use the setting to convey what’s going on in the rest of the Imperium Nihilus. For those of you who have played the Dark Tides adventures, this is the same system, but with much more detail. So get ready for a refocused Wrath and Glory.
Happy Adventuring!
