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Posit for a Moment: A relatively well-off, upper class individual on a Civilized World....

You know what? Let's make him the Son of the Planetary Governor just to drive home a point.

So our Son of a Planetary Governor is about to start receiving his lessons about the most glorious Imperium of Man and its history.........

........so what do you think he gets to learn about?

Yes yes, I know - God-Emperor, Evil Horus, etc. etc. Some version of the Horus Heresy is undoubtedly taught to the boy. Maybe a few Primarchs a highlighted for their sacrifices (Sanguinius anyone)...

But once we move Past the Horus Heresy phase - what do you think our dear future Planetary Governor gets to learn about?

Is Goge Vandire up there as an example of treachery at the highest levels of the Imperium? Or is he conveniently swept under the rug?

Will the boy get to learn about the conquests of Solar Macharius?

What Crusades get Highlighted as being Important ? Will they talk of failed ones as well?


In real life, whether your living in the US, Europe, Saudi Arabia, heck even North Korea - a history is usually taught showing the Heroes and Villains and important people of an age or era.

So....who ends up in the Patriotic History of the Imperium, despite it probably being a heavily censored field?

I would say the Macharius' saga would be a good start, without the grievous heresy in which the crusade ended up. Macharius has become a saint and a Hero of the Imperium for this campaign, it is fair imo to give him an Imperium-wide celebrity.

After this, I would bet for Ciaphas Cain or Yarrick. Perhaps Calgar in the Ultima Segmentum. ..?

Indeed. The Horus Heresy will be extremely vague and sanitised; you can mention rebellion, for example, but not daemons.

The educated masses talk about daemons in the context of religion - the Fede Imperialis (essentially 'the lord's prayer' of the Ecclesiarchy) has a line about protecting the speaker from the temptation of daemons - but the truth that the chaos gods are real and daemons can and do manifest in reality is the 'big secret' the Ordo Malleus kills people to preserve.

The primarchs, and the fact that they fought each other and some were killed is definitely covered. The two Imperium-wide religious festivals are the Feast Of The Emperor's Ascension/Candlemass (essentially Christmas/New Year) and the Sanguinalia (essentially Easter) commemoration "Sanguinius' sacrifice".

Crusades, definitely - successful ones, anyway. Heroes of the Imperium like Macharius, or (if nearby) Caine or Yarrick are likely studies.

Goge Vandire.....yes. Because whilst they may not want to talk in depth about him, Sebastian Thor, his opponent is an (arguably 'the') important imperial saint. More importantly, our prospective gubernatorial sprog's education needs to cover the political structure of the imperium.

One of the most important bits of that (for him) is the Conclave of Mount Amalath - which happened at the end of the Age of Apostasy - and which laid out how the Administratum (including planetary governorships) and Ecclesiarchy were to be reformed, much like the Army and Astartes were reformed after the heresy. The Planetary Governor's oath of office is called the "Amalathian Oath".

You'd cover 'nearby' crusades - successful as well as failed - although the latter heavily redacted, because the crusade which established the sector he's growing up in will have laid the foundations for the worlds which exist nearby, which world is the sector and subsector capital, and the heritage of some of the noble dynasties he'll have to interact with, and the warzones which may threaten his domain and to which he'll be obliged to supply troops and resources. Not to a tactical level, but "ork savages over here, they be xenos scum" level.

He would NEED to know about the Emperor (not everything, not psychics, not Black Ships, not Horus Heresy). Just enough to venerate the Emperor.

He would need to know Xenos BAD. Very BAD.

Everything else is mutable. His family's glorious history, who's good and who's bad on his home planet. Who to trust, who to fear, who to hate who to screw over. Maybe the exploits of his homeworld Imperial Guard Legions. Everybody loves martyrs.

And, of course, the power of the Ecclesiarchy, it's role in his world, the Arbites, and to fear Inquisitors and the Tax Man.

It's little wonder Imperial hierarchy (and especially aristocracy) are so ignorant of dang near everything.

In the Imperium, the more you know, the more dangers you attract. Ignorance is not only bliss, it's survival. Curiosity kills the curious Accidentally or purposely learning the wrong thing could lead to the death or yourself and your family.

If our subject was the child of a planetary governor, he'd quite possibly have to learn a lot more about the local, planet/system-specific history. With the ability for aristocracy to live 2-300 years, grudges must be ridiculous.

But getting on to the original point, I can see him learning a lot with maybe a chosen example or so. Again, most of these examples would quite possibly be "local" hero's, but I think Macharius and Thor are two good examples, as the pinnacle of the Imperial Guard and the Ecclesiarchy respectively.

Other heroes I think it would be safe to be taught about: Dante, Yarrick, Celestine, Calgar maybe.

No idea what they'd tell him about the Inquisition. Anyone with any sense would be very polite in talking about them, but Planetary goveners and sense don't seem to be the best of friends generally, and aristocrats probably resent people snooping/barging around in their business.

With regards to the heresy, Sanguinius is a safe bet. He does have a holiday named after him after all. He'd possibly also learn a little of the codex.

Mudrat wrote:
If our subject was the child of a planetary governor, he'd quite possibly have to learn a lot more about the local, planet/system-specific history. With the ability for aristocracy to live 2-300 years, grudges must be ridiculous.

Agreed, but i was more interested in what gets passed around as being "universally known" by those with the opportunity to achieve some level of knowledge about how the IoM works.

A certain level of common culture is necessary for people to actually be willing to fight/die for an idea. The Imperium is an Idea - so what are the nuts/bolts that holds together that idea in the minds of the ruling elite aside from belief in the God-Emperor?

So things like Macharius and Sebastian Thor make sense to me because they have such a large effect on the history of the Imperium.

Depending on where we are in the timeline, Yarrick makes sense (esp. after the Armageddon business), because it makes sense for the propaganda divisions of the Imperium to prop up his accomplishments.....same with Cain.

Any of the Living Saints would probably be known (reinforcing faith in the Emperor).


I'm actually not sure about the Space Marines though. I mean, aside from knowing that they exist, just how much does an adult Planetary Governor know about them aside from the ones working in his sector?

Calgar might be the exception because he's also the Political Leader of Ultramar/Lord of Maccragge.

And i'm assuming with that idea that on the well-connected Civilized worlds - people know something about Ultramar aside from the fact that it exists and that the Ultramarines runs the place...

just how much does an adult Planetary Governor know about them aside from the ones working in his sector?


Depends on the Chapter. Aside from the Lord Sector and the Inquisition, very few people in the Calixis sector know that the Storm Wardens' homeworld is within their sector boundaries.

By comparison, the Astral Claws basically ran the Maelstrom sector prior to the Badab War.

locarno24 wrote:


By comparison, the Astral Claws basically ran the Maelstrom sector prior to the Badab War.

Hmm.. that reminds me...

Are there any other non-First Founding Chapters that ever ran a whole sector like the Claws/Tyrant of Badab?