+++Adeptus Astra Telepathica+++The Adeptus Astra Telepathica is dedicated to the recruitment and training of psykers for service throughout the Imperium. The headquarters of the organisation is on Earth9 but its spaceships travel the Imperium and its offices extend over most of human space. Its chief responsibility is to train psykers to serve as Astropaths.
HUMAN PSYKERS IN THE IMPERIUM Most humans do not have psychic powers, although it is generally accepted that all humans have at least a limited potential for psychic activity. A small but growing minority of humans develop tangible powers - these people are called psykers. Psykers are dangerous individuals whose powers can only be tolerated when safely harnessed within the Imperial organisation. After all, the psychic universe is the universe of Chaos and therefore perflous. It is a universe inhabited by daemonic aliens that care nothing for living creatures and wish only to use and destroy humanity. All psykers, even the most powerful, offer these aliens a potential means of entering and affecting the material world. Every world in the Imperium is bound by law to control its psychic population. Persecutions or witch-hunts are an everyday part of life on most worlds. The same laws oblige rulers to set aside a levy of young and relatively promising psykers for transport to Earth by the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. It is from this levy that the Adeptus Astra Telepathica divides those who will live and serve from those who will be sacrificed to the Emperor.
THE ORGANISATION OF THE ADEPTUS ASTRA TELEPATHICA The institution is divided into a teaching and a recruiting body, called the Scholastia Psykana and the League of Blackships respectively. The two are united under the Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica and his advisory council consisting of several hundred senior officials from the main divisions.
THE LEAGUE OF BLACKSHIPS The League consists of a substantial fleet based throughout the Imperium. The ships travel around a huge circuit, visiting each world every hundred years or so. As the fleets approach their destination, the ruling Imperial Commander is instructed to prepare the customary levy. Once the levy has been collected the Blackship Captains make an initial evaluation of their cargo before proceeding to the next world in their circuit. When the holds are full, the Blackships turn towards Earth. It is common for Inquisitors to travel on board these ships, as this gives them a good opportunity to investigate a planet's potential for psychically-based corruption.
THE SCHOLASTICA PSYKANA The Scholastia Psykana is a vast teaching institution dedicated to the training of psychics. Most recruits are drawn from the psychic levy collected by the Blackships, but a minority of recruits are handed over by the Inquisition, the Judges or through other channels. The role of this institution is to teach young psychics how to develop and control their powers. The future of each psyker depends on his abilities and character. Primary Psykers Those whose powers and strength of character are sufficient that they can resist possession and daemonic taint under normal circumstances. Primary Psykers are chosen to serve the Imperium only if they are young, intelligent and willing to learn. After five years of basic psychic training in the Scholastia Psykana they are ready to join any of the Imperial organisations in a suitable capacity. The very young may be indoctrinated into the Space Marines as Librarians, the most talented of all may become Inquisitors or Grey Knights. Primary Psykers are not invulnerable to daemons and other psychic aggressors, but their training gives them a fighting chance against all but the most potent of these creatures. Astropaths Astropaths are selected from the second ranking of psykers, those whose powers are considerable but inadequate to resist the dangers of possession or daemonic corruption. Like Primary Psykers, they must be young, vigorous and willing. Astropaths undergo basic psychic training before they assume their role of telepathic communicators throughout the Imperium. They are taught how to use the Emperor's Tarot, how to cast horoscopes, and the practices of cheiromancy and augury of all kinds. Once they have been prepared in this way they undergo the unique Binding Ritual which gives them a little of the Emperor's strength. The Adeptus Astronomica Some Primary and Secondary Psykers are reserved for the Adeptus Astronomica. They are handed over to complete their training under the auspices of that organisation. Sacrifices The psychic levy inevitably harvests many whose powers are to4 random and their minds too vulnerable. If left unrestrained tiw~y would soon perish, and their doom would lead to further deaths and maybe even to the destruction of entire worlds. In a teeming universe their loss is of no great matter, but even in death they can serve - for the Emperor must feed upon raw psychic energy if he is to survive as the protector of humanity. These sacrifices are fed into the Emperor's Golden Throne so that the Emperor and the Imperium itself can continue. The Tainted Thanks to the vigorous checks of the Blackship Captains few tainted psykers get as far as Earth. Those who do are weeded out and destroyed on account of the daemons they harbour or the destructive powers they possess. Yet despite these vigorous precautions a few of the Tainted do get through. In the past important members of the Imperium, even High Lords, have been psykers of this kind. Who knows how many individuals have slipped past the checks and become important officials without their true nature being discovered?
ASTROPATHS Astropaths are extremely important within human society because they offer the oflly means of communicating over interstellar distances. Astropaths are capable of sending telepathic messages across space and they can receive messages sent by other Astropaths if their minds are correctly attuned. Telepathic messages travel through the warp and so travel faster than light, although not instantaneously. The need for Astropaths is enormous. They are a common sight in the Imperium and are easily distinguished by their green robes. Astropaths serve in the Fleet as ship-board and shore-based communicators. They serve in the Imperial Guard, the Inquisition, the Adeptus Ministorum, the Space Marines and throughout the Adeptus Terra. The Imperial Commanders of distant worlds must have Astropaths if they are to communicate with the rest of the Imperium. Similarly, Astropaths are an essential part of civilian life, working for commercial shippers and anywhere where interstellar communication is needed. This vast body makes up a network covering the entire Imperium thus facilitating the transfer of information from one end of the galaxy to the other.
THE SOUL BINDING No ordinary psyker could transmit a message through the warp, nor could he receive a telepathic message over such vast distances. Astropaths only gain this ability as a result of their many years training, culminating in a special ritual which combines some of the Emperor's own power with their own. This ritual, known as Soul Binding, brings the mind of the psyker close to the psychic greatness of the Emperor. In the Process, some of the Emperor's vast energy is transferred to the Astropath. The transference of energy is traumatic for the psyker - not all survive despite years of preparation, and not all those that survive retain their sanity. Even the survivors suffer damage to the sensitive nerves of the eyes, so that almost all Astropaths are blind. In fact their increased psychic skills tend to make up for this loss of sight, so that they would not appear blind were it not for their distorted, sunken and empty eye sockets. Soul Binding is said to affect Astropaths in other ways, and it is commonly claimed that once an Astropath's mind has touched that of the Emperor he gains a new understanding and insight into the nature of the universe.
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