Novaria Prime

Novaria Prime, once a thriving and strategically significant hive world in the Segmentum Obscurus, has become a symbol of sudden and inexplicable ruin. A planet steeped in history, it was a vital cog in the machinery of the Imperium, supporting vast military campaigns with its manufactorums and its legions of conscripts. However, the world’s future was irrevocably altered by a mysterious event known as the Anomaly. This occurrence has left the planet in a state of disarray and confusion, with countless questions lingering and little in the way of answers.

The Anomaly

The event that would come to be known as the Anomaly occurred with no warning. In an instant, the bustling hive city of Aetheris fell silent, it’s inhabitants seemingly vanishing without a trace. Communication with the planet was severed, and the surrounding system was thrown into chaos as Imperial forces scrambled to make sense of the situation. Attempts to contact the planet through astropathic messages were met with disturbing visions or complete silence, and even the most hardened veterans of the Astra Militarum were left baffled and terrified.
The immediate aftermath of the Anomaly saw widespread panic across the planet. Reports from Tertium and Mortuum indicated that the cities had been partially affected, with scattered survivors found wandering the empty streets. These survivors were often in a state of shock or madness, unable to explain what had happened. In some cases, they were found babbling incoherently about shadowy figures or strange lights, but these accounts were dismissed as the ramblings of the traumatized.
Despite the chaos, certain factions sought to take advantage of the situation. In Tertium, the Pit Rats, a brutal underhive gang, quickly rose to prominence, exploiting the power vacuum to expand their influence. The gang’s leaders, including the enigmatic Serok the Exile, established a reign of terror, using the fighting pits as a means to control the population. The city’s governor, overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, was powerless to stop them.
In the days and weeks following the Anomaly, Imperial authorities attempted to investigate the cause of the disaster, but these efforts were hampered by the strange energy signature emanating from Aetheris. This energy disrupted communications and made warp travel to and from the planet perilous. The few reconnaissance teams that managed to land on the planet reported disturbing encounters with warped landscapes and bizarre phenomena, further compounding the mystery.
Novaria Prime, once a symbol of Imperial strength and resilience, has become a world of mystery and fear. The Anomaly has left the planet in ruins, its hive cities empty and its population vanished. In the absence of answers, speculation and superstition have taken hold, and the once-great world now teeters on the brink of chaos. As the Imperium struggles to understand what has happened, Novaria Prime remains a stark reminder of the dangers that lurk in the dark corners of the galaxy, where even the mightiest of the Emperor’s worlds can fall to forces beyond comprehension.

Climate

Novaria Prime’s environment is typical of a heavily industrialized hive world. The planet’s surface is covered in vast urban sprawl, with towering hive cities dominating the landscape. The atmosphere is thick with pollutants, and the sky is often choked with smog, giving the world a perpetually overcast appearance. Despite these harsh conditions, the planet’s population adapted, with extensive recycling systems and agri-domes providing the necessary sustenance for billions of inhabitants.
The world’s climate varies depending on location. The equatorial regions, where Aetheris is located, are warm and humid, with frequent acid rains caused by industrial pollution. The northern and southern poles are colder, with sprawling wastelands of ash and dust where the planet’s ancient mines have long since been exhausted. These regions are sparsely populated, with only a few scattered settlements clinging to existence.
In the aftermath of the Anomaly, the environment of Novaria Prime has become even more hostile. The strange energy signature emanating from Aetheris has begun to warp the planet’s weather patterns, leading to violent storms and erratic temperature fluctuations. The skies above the hive cities are now tinged with an unnatural hue, and the air is thick with an oppressive, otherworldly presence.

History

Novaria Prime’s history is one of industrial might and unyielding loyalty to the Imperium. Initially colonized during the Great Crusade, the planet was identified as an ideal candidate for development due to its rich natural resources and proximity to key warp routes. The world was quickly terraformed and transformed into a hive world, its surface gradually covered by towering cities and sprawling manufactorums.
For millennia, Novaria Prime supplied the Imperium with weapons, vehicles, and troops. Its hive cities, the most notable being Aetheris, Tertium, and Mortuum, were marvels of Imperial engineering, capable of housing billions of citizens. Each hive city had its own distinct culture and function within the planetary economy, with Aetheris serving as the capital and the seat of planetary governance.
During the Age of Apostasy, Novaria Prime briefly fell under the sway of the Thorian sect of the Ecclesiarchy, leading to a series of bloody purges that decimated the planet’s population. The scars of this period are still visible in some of the older districts of the hive cities, where statues of heretical figures were torn down and replaced with towering effigies of Saint Sebastian Thor. Despite this dark chapter, the planet remained a loyal bastion of the Imperium, and its population quickly rebounded, spurred on by the demands of the ever-expanding Imperium.
In more recent times, Novaria Prime played a crucial role in supplying war material for the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, producing countless lasguns, tanks, and other essential war materiel. The planet’s agri-world moons provided vast quantities of food, ensuring that its hive cities could maintain their immense populations. The governor of Novaria Prime was a powerful figure, ruling from the highest spire of Aetheris and commanding a vast bureaucracy that managed the planet’s complex economy.

Key Locations

Aetheris: The capital hive city of Novaria Prime, Aetheris was the heart of the planet’s industrial and political life. It was a sprawling metropolis, with towering spires reaching into the sky and vast underhives extending deep into the planet’s crust. The city housed billions of people, from the lowliest underhive scum to the most powerful nobles. Since the Anomaly, Aetheris has become a ghost city, its streets deserted and its towering spires eerily silent.

Tertium: An adjacent hive city to Aetheris, Tertium was known for its thriving manufactorums and its brutal underhive gangs. The Pit Rats, who controlled much of the underhive, capitalized on the chaos following the Anomaly to seize power. Tertium is now a city of violence and bloodshed, with the gang’s leaders ruling through fear and force. Despite the Pit Rats’ dominance, the city remains haunted by the Anomaly, with strange phenomena reported in the upper spires.

Mortuum: The third major hive city on Novaria Prime, Mortuum was a center of religious devotion, with numerous cathedrals and shrines dedicated to the God-Emperor. The city was also home to a significant presence of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who maintained several forges and research facilities. Since the Anomaly, Mortuum has become a place of dread, with its once-gleaming cathedrals now standing empty and its forges cold. The Mechanicus, always secretive, have retreated to their remaining strongholds, and little is known about their activities since the event.

Type

Planet

Location under

Novarion System

Included Locations

• Aetheris
• Tertium

Owner/Ruler

Governor Alaric Venatus

Owning Organization

Imperium of Man

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