The Ultima Tormentius is a warp/realspace wormhole of immeasurable magnitude. It is a realm of madness and dispair, where skies weep blood, ancient stars burn in multicoloured flares and the whims of the Dark Gods of Chaos hold sway.

Synonymous with discord, terror, ancient secrets and insanity, no other place in the Segmentum Tempestus fills the mind with such dread and forebodding. The Ultima Tormentius is the 3rd largest refuge of the followers of the Dark Gods, the birthplace of hideous Daemons: an anarchic abode of monstrous entities who eternally crave for dominance of the material world.

From within its shifting bounds, Traitor Legions and deamons strike forth in their countless raids and forays into Imperial space. Emerging from its tumultuous reaches, armies spill forth to enslave and destroy, in an everlasting war that has been waged for ten thousand years without mercy or abatement.

Constant vigil must be kept, for many times over the millennia have the Emperor's enemies slipped past like assassins in the night, leaving millions dead and worlds ravaged before they slink back to their nightmarish fartresses within the Ultima Tormentius.

The Ultima Tormentius distorts and shatters the psychic beacon of the Astronomican. Surging waves of energy pulse up to a thousand light years from its heart, sweeping whole fleets thousands of light years off course or wiping them from existence in the blinking of an eye. Of all approaches to the Ultima Tormentius, the area around the Realm of Avalon is most navigable, although still treacherous and uncertain. Why this is so cannot be fathomed, but many attribute this effect to the numerous alien artifacts, some larger than worlds, that lie in wilderness space around the region; or perhaps it is the ancient constructions of the Jokaero in the Avalon System that somehow quiet the violent torrents of the Warp.

Known as the Realm of Avalon, this area is one of the most closely guarded of all regions in the Segmentum Tempestus. Orbital stations numbering in their hundreds hang in the depths of space and three thousand watch stations and listening posts can be found in planetary orbits and on otherwise deserted moons and asteroids, every eye and ear searching for some omen, some sign of impending doom and disaster. Nearly 200 regiments of Imperial Guard stand at constant readiness to respond to an incursion and no less than three Space Marines Chapters maintain their fortress monasteries close by to watch for any sign of invasion. Two Titan Legions wait for the call to arms and untold vessels of Battlefleet Tempestus constantly make patrols and sweeps of the many nearby star systems.

And yet, for all this watchfulness, Chaos cannot be held at bay. Lone vessels strike at Imperial shipping; agents slip through to spread their treacherous wisdom and creeds to the unfaithful who will listen; warbands constantly harry the Emperor's forces. Most terrifying of all are the Black Crusades, when a mighty leader rises from the ranks of the Chaos Space Marines, uniting them in their unholy purpose. Ancient covenants and pacts with dark beings are made in blood and Daemons are brought forth by archaic sorceries that would shrivel the mind of the uninitiated. These hosts break through the wards of the Imperium, killing and maiming all that lies in their path, revelling in unholy desecration, wanton savagery and bitter revenge.

For every fleet and army turned back or destroyed, another ten lie in wait, waiting for the time when the vigil lapses, when the guards grow weary and the guns lie at rest. May that time never come - for if it does, it will be the doom of Humanity.

Your faith in the Emperor shields you,

Chief-Librarian Silvanius

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