Miscellaneous Warhammer Thread

{Deus Machinarum}I first floated the idea a ways back, but to elaborate on it somewhat: My fanfic draws on the notion of sentient emotions and beliefs giving rise to deities in the Warp that come to embody them, as is the case with the Imperial Cult sustaining the Emperor of Mankind or the turbulent state of the Galaxy fueling the Dark Gods of Chaos. However, my interest lies in the other, more “theoretical” beings who’d arise from this process — namely, the Machine God so fervently worshipped by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

The Adeptus Mechanicus is as old as the Imperium itself — and their faith even older, what with the Tech-Priests of Mars practicing the Cult Mechanicus before the Emperor came along and conscripted them to his cause in exchange for being allowed to retain their faith. At present, there exists an uneasy syncretism between the Imperial Cult and the Cult Mechanicus. However, even ignoring the Tech-Priests’ continued reverence for the Machine God (and the Emperor as more of a “Machine Jesus”), the ubiquitous (if not enthusiastic or innovation-happy) use of technology and pervasive belief in Machine Spirits throughout the Imperium provides a basis for a new, long-gestating Warp God to finally awaken.

Come the 42nd Millennium, and Psykers and Tech-Priests across the Galaxy are hit by a “thunderclap” of psychic energy as what began as occasional sightings of new “machine daemons” and skirmishes with elusive, but technologically advanced warships of consistent design and capabilities becomes an onslaught when a host of new Warp Storms open. A new player has entered the Great Game, and when the Fabricator-General of Mars renounces the Emperor as a “False Omnissiah” and pledges fealty to the newest God of the Warp, so, too, does most of the Adeptus Mechanicus. A Second Schism is now underway, but the reign of Deus Machinarum — “God of the Machines” — has only just begun.

Despite its recent emergence, the Machine God of the Warp is known by many titles: Deus Machinarum, the Great Gear, the Machine in the Warp, the Omnicog, the Orthodox Omnissiah, and a hundred-thousand other epithets spoken by Tech-Priest and Heretek alike across the Galaxy. As these names imply, it is the Warp God of machines, industry, and technology — ranging from simple mechanisms like gears and pulleys, to Dark Age marvels like STC constructs and Men of Iron. It also claims domain over the various disciplines that led to their invention, with the subjects of mathematics, engineering, and scientific discovery and innovation falling under its sway — much to the alarm and paralyzing panic of Imperials, Mechanicus loyalists, and neutral tinkerers the Galaxy over.

* Like its rival deities, the Machine God has its own residence in the Warp that reflects and gives visual quality to the fields in which it claims domain. It dwells in the middle of the Foundry-Scape, an endless expanse of factories, power plants, and giant gears whose size and productive capacity put the likes of Mars to utter and fatal shame. But much like the Forge Worlds of Realspace (who are but pale imitations reserved for the Great Gear’s mortal servants), its assembly lines work ’round the clock to mass-produce armies of mechanical daemons — known as “Warpbots” — who act as the Machine God’s disciplines and foot soldiers in the Materium, easily being a match for the Necrons and C’tan Shard super-weapons in direct combat. Indeed, many have noted the Warpbots’ strange resemblance to the long-defunct Men of Iron of ages past, with some going so far as to theorize that even before fully awakening, the Machine God had unconsciously triggered the Cybernetic Revolt that saw mankind’s machines turn on them and resulted in the outlawing of Abominable Intelligence throughout the Galaxy. In any case, it remains a theory for now, though many fear the fully awakened Machine in the Warp may perform even worse feats of technological terror than that as the 42nd Millennium rages on.

Even though it lacks a physical form or appearance comprehensible to mortal minds, the Machine God is best visualized as a colossal mass of gears and sprockets held together by metal chassis and dotted by computer terminals, conveyor belts, and mechanical tendrils that flow out from its body. In the middle of its gargantuan central cog is a single red eye that focuses in and out on whatever the Machine God has turned its gaze to, much to the consternation of beings on the receiving end. In short, imagine it as a roughly planet-sized Klingklang with a color scheme of Martian gold, red, and rusted grayish-brown — as well as numerous other machines attached and appended to its physique — and that is the Machine God, dubious visual qualities as a Warp entity notwithstanding.

While its emergence was felt by all and its role to play in galactic affairs profound, the Machine God’s reception throughout the Materium has been mixed. Its most obvious devotees include the bulk of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who have defected from the Imperium and pledged themselves to the newly emergent Machine in the Warp. Unfortunately, this has produced a Second Schism on a scale not seen since the Horus Heresy, which — as cribbed from some ideas put forth by Bassoe right here — has split it into an Orthodox Mechanicus loyal to the Great Gear, an Imperial Mechanicus that remains loyal to the Emperor, and a Draconic Mechanicus that venerates the recently awakened Void Dragon of Mars, now in direct competition with the Machine in the Warp for the title of “True Machine God”. More schismatic still are the numerous “heterodox” cults in the margins, ranging from a minority that believes the true Machine God is neither a C’tan nor a Warp deity, to sects of the Dark Mechanicus who seek to create their own “Dark Omnissiah” in the Warp to act as the Chaotic rival to the Orthodox Omnissiah in much the same way as Unicron is the equal and opposite of his brother Primus in the Transformers franchise.

However, for all the “mixed” reception the Machine God has received in the Materium, it pales compared to the dissonant reactions it has received in the Warp. Chief amongst these is the Dark Gods of Chaos, who fear the newest arrival as an all-too-powerful interloper and Second Great Force for Order alongside their longstanding archnemesis, the Emperor of Mankind. The Machine God has caused them considerable trouble on the ground, as well, what with the mass-conversion of Chaotic Tech-Priests to the Orthodox Omnissiah and resultant “Scrapcode Wars” in which Chaotic machinery (such as Daemon Engines) has become increasingly vulnerable to “disinfectant cleansing” by the Great Gear, turning them from rickety demonic constructs into well-oiled mechanical wonders used by the Orthodox Mechanicus. Its relations with more “material” gods fare no better, as the Void Dragon — once the “original” Machine God whom the originators of the Cult Mechanicus mistook for divine and made their god of choice — must now compete with the Machine in the Warp for followers, with the consequent clashes between the Orthodox and Draconic Mechanicus — as well as Imperial Mechanicus loyalists — proving especially fiery and baleful. But perhaps most ominous of all are the tiny, but growing sects of the Dark Mechanicus who’ve drawn twisted inspiration from the emergence of an “orthodox” Machine God and seek to create one of their own as their Chaotic rival in the Warp — laying the groundwork for the emergence of a Fifth Chaos God who, if born, will unleash a galaxy-spanning, techno-theological apocalypse to make the Horus Heresy, Age of Strife, and War in Heaven look insignificant in scale.

This is what the Coming of Deus Machinarum hath wrought. And as the Galaxy is wracked to its very core by the Second Schism, endless Warpbot incursions, and the arrival of the Orthodox Omnissiah in the 42nd Millennium, an age-old adage becomes more relevant than ever: “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.”