The Imperial Tithe supports the overall economy of the Imperium by redistributing resources where needed, usually to shore up one region of the Imperium where conflict is raging by drawing resources from more peaceful sectors. These resources go to the service of the Astra Militarum and the Imperial Navy, the armed forces which keep the Imperium united and safe. The Imperium is primarily an interstellar tribute empire, allowing its member worlds to largely govern themselves as long as they recognise the authority of the Emperor and His servants and support the state religion, the Imperial Cult, which holds the Emperor to be the one, true God of Mankind.Įvery world of the Imperium must also pay the Imperial taxes levied on them in the form of troops and materiel that is known as the Imperial Tithe. However, most Humans in the galaxy have little day-to-day contact with the government of the Imperium unless they serve in one of its Adepta or run afoul of its various protectors, such as the Inquisition or the Adeptus Arbites. Consequently, an Imperial planet might be separated from its closest neighbour by hundreds or even thousands of light years.Īs a stellar empire, the size of the Imperium cannot be measured in terms of contiguous territory, but only in the number of planetary systems under its control. The Imperium is the largest and currently most powerful political entity in the galaxy, consisting of at least 1,000,000 Human-settled worlds dispersed across most of the Milky Way Galaxy. Were it to pass into nothingness, so too would the Human species, destroyed by enemies uncountable, to the braying laughter of the Dark Gods. In its name, terrible wars are fought and desperate sacrifices made, yet even this river of carnage and blood is a small price to pay, for the Imperium is the guardian of Humanity.
Its territories encompass untold millions of stars and countless more Human lives. It is a place where you are but one amongst billions and, no matter how heroic your death, you will not be missed.Ī truly vast domain, the Imperium is spread amongst the many stars of the galaxy. To be alive in the 41st Millennium is to know that the universe is a terrifying and hostile place. The peoples of the Imperium live in a galaxy where Daemons are real, mutation is frequent and death is a constant companion. For 10,000 Terran years it has been ruled by the deathless Emperor, a being of almost limitless psychic power, to whom thousands of souls are sacrificed daily to provide Him the psychic strength to maintain the Imperium's lines of communication and transport. The Imperium of Man is a war-torn stellar empire, teetering on the brink of collapse. The Senatorum Imperialis is currently led by the Emperor's genetic son, the Primarch Roboute Guilliman, who chairs the council and directs Imperial policy as the lord commander of the Imperium and Imperial Regent. However, His badly damaged body is interred within the cybernetic life support mechanisms of the arcane device known as the Golden Throne following His mortal wounding during the ancient interstellar civil war of the Horus Heresy.īecause of this terrible fate, the Emperor is incapable of interacting with others on a day-to-day basis and has left the basic governance of His Imperium to the Senatorum Imperialis, an oligarchic ruling council of the most powerful noble lords and adepts in the galaxy. The Emperor continues, at least nominally, to rule the Imperium as both its political master and its primary religious figure. The Emperor founded the Imperium over 10,000 Terran years ago in the late 30th Millennium during the Unification Wars on Old Earth following the terrible period in Human history known as the Age of Strife. The founder and ruler of the Imperium is the god-like Emperor of Mankind, the most powerful Human psyker ever born. However, there are other humanoid species classified as Imperial citizens, mainly mutant offshoots of genetic base-line Humans who are known as Abhumans and include such Human sub-races as the Ogryns, Ratlings and Squats. It is ruled by the living god who is known as the Emperor of Mankind. The Imperium of Man is a galaxy-spanning interstellar Human empire, the ultimate authority for the majority of the Human species in the Milky Way Galaxy in the 41st Millennium A.D. Astra Militarum Navis Imperialis Adeptus Astartes Adeptus Mechanicus Collegia Titanica Militarum Tempestus Questor Imperialis Legio Cybernetica Adepta Sororitas Adeptus Custodes Adeptus Arbites Sisters of Silence