Warhammer 40K: Dark Heresy Introduction

[Vardaen]

It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the
Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a
million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly
with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a
thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.

Yet in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battle fleets cross the
Daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the
Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in his name on
uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bioengineered
super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless
planetary defence forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus
to name but a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present
threat from aliens, heretics, mutants'€"and worse.

To be a man is such times is to be one amongst untold billons. It is to live in the cruellest and
most bloody regime imaginable. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been
forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim
darkness of the far future, there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of
carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of the thirsting gods.

---

'œThe greatest resource our Holy Imperium possesses is the fathomless multitudes
of humanity itself. No power is mightier and no force more dreadful when turned
to a single purpose. By human hands alone we have remade stars in our image.
By this token the wise know that true power lies in the mastery of blood and
bone, in the very meat of mankind.'
'€"Quastor General, Brantus Hurst, Departmento Munitorium
Penitential Command.

[Vardaen]

Why Dark Heresy?

Dark Heresy is a roleplaying game based upon the universe of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000. The setting of Warhammer 40,000 is a dark, gothic future where the Imperium of Man is beset by dangers within and without. In Dark Heresy players take on the roles of Acolytes of the Inquisition, aiming to uncover and combat the enemies of mankind, be they aliens, heretics or mutants!

[Vardaen]

In January 2008, the Dark Heresy roleplaying game will be born
in a hail of bolter fire and the cleansing pyres of the unclean. For
the first time, the worlds of the tumultuous 41st Millennium will
be made available for pen and paper roleplaying, where you can
take up your force sword, strap on your bolter, and root out heretics,
burn mutants with the liquid death of your flamer, and battle xenos
as they seek to contaminate the worlds of mankind with their foul
views and fouler natures. With so much in need of killing in this
dark and grim future, there's no reason to wait, and with this special
preview, you have a taste of the darkness arrayed against you and a
chance to do your part to keep the sprawling Imperium safe against
its many and varied enemies. So take up your laspistol, make ready
your chainsword, and say a quick prayer to the God-Emperor, for in
the 41st Millennium, there is only war'¦.