Warhammer 40K: The Star Child – The Emperor’s Last Hope
Legends say that a part of Warhammer 40K’s Emperor still travels the warp and will one day be reborn. Who is the Star Child? Let’s take a closer look!
Loremasters, today we delve into the Mystery of the Star Child. We’re reaching way back to into the two Realm of Chaos books for these stories and also from the different Inquisition War books.
What Is The Star Child
The Star Child is a mysterious entity said to represent the soul of the Emperor of Mankind. It is also known as the Numen, and the Chaos Child.
Over the millennia since the Emperor’s interment upon the Golden Throne, the link between his body and soul has become increasingly tenuous. As the the Emperor’s spirit drifts through the warp, much of its energies have been dissolved, except for a tiny core which remained whole. So long as this portion of the Emperor’s soul survived, there remained hope for humanity, for just as the New Man was born of the collective souls of the Shamans, so to may the Emperor’s soul be reborn one day. This potential was merely a child awaiting birth, the Star Child. The Star Child also represents the human portion of the warp.
The Star Child is also suggested (by a fragment of the Emperor’s mind) as being the compassion which the Emperor cast from himself in order to destroy his most beloved Primarch-son, Horus. Inquisitor Jaq Draco believed that Shining Path upon which the Numen may be born originates within a special node of the Webway, known as Uigebealach, where time flows backwards. He believed that by visiting this special crossroads, and achieving a triumph by resurrecting a lost soul, he may accelerate the birth of the Numen. However, upon his death, he had instead achieved Apotheosis, becoming a tiny part of the Numen as a diffuse hydrogen atom in the void will one day condense into a star.
The Children of the Star Child
The Sensei are the immortal, true sons of the Emperor, sired during his early life amongst humanity. Whereas the Chaos Gods possess their own champions, the Sensei act as the champions of the Star Child. Likewise, just as a Champion of Chaos may be blessed by the gifts of one or more Chaos Gods, the Star Child gifts the Sensei with the Mark of the Star Child, which allows them to draw upon the energy of the Star Child.
In 997.M41, Inquisitor Fortez reported that he and his colleagues Alexio and Credo had discovered a cult known as the Cult of the Star Child, led by self-proclaimed Sensei claiming to be the Emperor’s sons. However, Inquisitor Fortez rejected the notion that they are the Emperor’s sons on the basis of their affiliation with abhumans and Eldar. The Inquisitor instead suspected it may be a Tzeentchian cult, with the Architect of Fate masquerading as the Star Child. The cult and all but four Sensei were killed.
Psychic Awakening & The Star Child
Due to the Psychic Awakening, the legend of the Star Child seems to have been rekindled. A few years into the Indomitus Crusade, visions of a golden infant interspersed with flashes of a radiant being rising from a throne of light began to be reported across Astropathic relay networks, beginning in Segmentum Solar. Over time the images became clearer, and many began to interpret this with the legend of the Star Child. These visions caused great upheaval in the Imperium, leading many to investigate the truth of the matter. Others, including servants of Chaos such as Kor Phaeron and Tenebrus, seek to stop the awakening of the Star Child
New Man And The Sensei-Emperor
The Illuminati await the birth of the Star Child and the second coming of the New Man in the form of the Sensei-Emperor. The Illuminati gather the Sensei, to establish a Long Watch of Sensei Knights to await the final battle against the forces of Chaos. However, this is merely a trick, as the Illuminati instead seeks to sacrifice the Sensei to the Emperor at the moment of his death, just as countless psykers are sacrificed to the Emperor. When this occurs, the Illuminati believe the Sensei-Emperor, the second coming of the New Man will arise.
One legend states that once the Emperor dies, his soul will be freed to go into the warp. Here it will neutralize the Chaos Gods, causing the physical universe to fight one last bloody conflict against itself for the control of the galaxy.
Learn More of the Star Child, The Sensei, and the Emperor
