The Mechanicus Priesthood of Ferraeus
You can find many common notes about the Machine Cult on the Adeptus Mechanicus page.
Four Facts About the Priesthood of Ferraeus
- They worship the Emperor-as-Omnissiah. The Priests of Ferraeus worship the Emperor-as-Omnissiah as a single entity something that has made them more closely meshed with their usual opposition in the Imperial Cult. The ultimate example of this is Saint Nongentae of Ferraeus who straddled both faiths to the point she was canonised by the local Imperial cult and has been embraced by a faction of Priests who straddle both cults, known as the Nongentist Omnicult.
- The are warlike in their nature. Secutors are more common amongst the Priesthood on this world thanks in part to its foundation by their ancestors who accompanied the Titans of the Legio Ferraeus during their history as a nomad fighting force.
- They prefer brutalist, efficient designs. The Magi of Naximus are not fans of ornamentation, their weapons, their technology follows the most basic practical appearances their world is one of vast boxy superstructures and their bionics bulky but effective.
- They are more traditionalist then other Mechanicus in the Sector - compared to the isolationist Naximans, and the colourful collective of Mechanicus Explorators who ply the ruins and frontier worlds of the Prosperitas Sector, the Ferraeans are far more conservative and obedient to the traditions of the Machine Cult despite the presence of the Nongentist Omnicult.
The Mechanicus Ferraeus
The Priesthood of Ferraeus are considered the most orthodox of the Three Forges of the Prosperitas Sector - their Forgeworld taken from Heretek forces in the early years of M.41 by the Prosperitas Crusade, they were founded not from the a colony-seed planted by the ancient Mechanicum but rather surplanted the original rulers of their new homeworld who had turned traitor and given aid to the heretics of the Regency from the Tech-Priests who had formed the support structure of the Legio Ferraeus while it had been a nomad Legion.
Considered blinkered and orthodox even by the standards of the Adeptus Mechanicus the Priesthood of Ferraeus have shown little to no interest in adopting new patterns of technology or ideas that stray from the scientific canon of Mars. This has, ironically, produced a greater-than-average number of Explorators from this Forge World than many others as a goodly number of young Magi chafe at the conservative attitudes of their superiors on this world and see the Explorator fleets as a way to escape its confines or are 'encouraged' to work off their unorthodox tendencies amongst their ranks as a form of exile. An odd symbiosis exists between those that were otherwise rejected by the orthodox Priesthood and the Priesthood of Ferraeus as the fleets often have to rely on Ferraeus' shipyards to repair their vessels before heading out beyond the edges of the frontier sector - meaning that Ferraeus often gets first pickings of discoveries the fleets bring back it feels it wants - such as verifiable STCs.
Because of its origins in the militant service of the Legio Ferraeus, the Priesthood of Ferraeus produces an above-average number of Secutors, the Priests-Militant of the Machine Cult, who accompany many of its forces when they go to war alongside the Prosperitas Crusade. For this reason it is generally considered that they are, while Orthodox, quite an aggressive Priesthood. Something that has caused considerable friction in its dealing with the Priesthood of Naximus Prime but most significantly with the Priesthood of Castellum who it has threatened to invade on several occasions not least because it considers the Castelli Priesthood to be traitors to its Forge for emancipating the former Research Colony from Ferraeus' control.
This predisposition for violence manifests in Ferraean society as a whole with violent bloodsports being a popular pastime teams of Ferraean Tech-Priests perfect their weapons engineering talents by sending heavily augmented Combat Servitors to battle in vast arenas for both weapons testing and public entertainment purposes while senior Magi watch on judging the creations of their junior peers on style, control, damage and aggression. This 'sport' is popular enough that it is often distributed as holovid entertainment to the wider Prosperitas Sector that gather around projectors to see these augmented gladiators tear eachother apart in the blasted industrial wastelands beneath the forge's polluted orange skies.
There is however a considerable number of Priest who have combined their loyalty to Mars with their loyalty to the God Emperor, observing a fusion of the Imperial Faith and Machine Cult these so called Nongentists follow the teachings of Saint Nongentae of Ferraeus and demonstrate a fanatical attitude considered by many of their peers of unacceptably emotive compared to the machine-like ordered society promoted by the Machine Cult, choosing to embrace their emotions rather than excise them Nongentists go about their duties with a fanatical fervour, singing loud hymns as they work. This is to the consternation of many Priests who do not follow their sects and if it weren't for the efficiency they continue to demonstrate, they might well have been suppressed long ago.
Rank and Organisation amongst the Ferraean Priesthood
The structure of Ferraeus closely follows the traditional or 'Martian' hierarchy system copied by many other Priesthood around the Imperium. It does however forgo the use of a Fabricator Locum as a single entity, Archmagos Myrioi-513 the Fabricator-General of Ferraeus occupies the entire upper echelon of Forge command. The Archmagos operating several independent digital facets of their personality by spreading their biological compotents amongst multiple host armatures that act to give it a distributed command network over Ferraeus.
Beneath Myrioi-513 the standard structure persists, with Magi controlling most of the functions of society with their Menial and Servitor labour-forces arranged beneath them in service to the mighty industrial machine that is the Forge.
The surface of Ferraeus is organised into severan 'Forge Fanes' each assigned one of the host-armatures of the Fabricator General who oversees operations while a Magos Senioris is ultimately responsible for the day to day business of operating the region. The output of each Forge-Fane changes on a regular basis as the needs of the Prosperitas Sactor, and the Crusade become apparent. Forges are constantly being rebuilt for other functions while Menials are shipped in massive mass-conveyors to whatever Forge Fane requires their particular labour talents that day.
Naming Traditions of the Ferraeans
Generally alpha numeric designations are used by the Priests of Ferraeus often combining ancient characters along with a string of numbers, such as 'Alpha-123' for example. Some Ferraeans have a different first name that is not a character but an actual Imperial-sounding name followed by a numeric string, these individuals are usually those born outside of Ferraeus who have been inducted into the priesthood and are thusly required to sacrifice their family name in honour of their new choices in life.
The annexation of Castellum has seen an influx of Tech Priests with equally strange naming traditions. These puritanical-like names are taken from the vast scientific canon of suppositions, theorems and other sacred lines of text worshiped by the Mechanicum and chains them together into vast hyphenated first names followed by fairly 'Imperial' surnames. Examples can include; Continuity-For-All-Delta-There-Exists-Some-Epsilon-Such-That-If-Y-Lies-Within-Epsilon-Of-X-Then-F-Of-Y-Lies-Within-Delta-Of-F-Of-X Witherick or Every-Simply-Connected-Closed-Three-Manifold-Is-Homeomorphic-To-The-Three-Sphere Lockwood
Notable Priests of Ferraeus
Archmagos Myrioi-513 is the Fabricator-General of Ferraeus, and is a truly immense augmented being with little flesh remaining upon their bones. The Archmagos has augmented and expanded their neural capacity to ridiculous levels, forgoing a Fabricator-Locum for operating several independent digital facets of their personality and spreading their biological matter amongst multiple host armatures. Considered highly conservative by their peers, the Archmagos enjoys a close relationship with Crusade High Command and the Sector Government as the most closely Imperial-loyal Forge in the sector, and the only Forge with a full Titan Legion at its command.
Chief Princeps Leks Koenig leads the Legio Ferraeus Titan Legion. A formidable warrior, he is notably arrogant and ambitious. From the control throne of the Warlord Deus Imperatrix he rules like a petty God-King of ancient times; often overstepping his place in the order of battle to issue orders to allies outside his command chain, he is considered disruptive by many Crusade officers.
Fabricator-Locum Continuity-For-All-Delta-There-Exists-Some-Epsilon-Such-That-If-Y-Lies-Within-Epsilon-Of-X-Then-F-Of-Y-Lies-Within-Delta-Of-F-Of-X Witherick was previously loyal to the once-independent leadership of the Forge Fane of Castellum (annexed in 593.m41) and was previously concerned themselves with the day-to-day running of the manufactoria, orbital shipyards and Skitarii regiments of Castellum, and is known as an efficient and ruthless logistician. Following the annexation of Castellum they exploited the power vacuum left by Every-Simply-Connected-Closed-Three-Manifold-Is-Homeomorphic-To-The-Three-Sphere Lockwood entering voluntary exile rather than serve under Ferraean masters to be appointed the Archmagi of Castellum and become an obedient agent of their new Masters.