# where was the emperor during the dark age of technology



## Emperorguard500 (May 5, 2010)

where was he during the DAOT...... in fact what was he doing before the great crusade? was he on terra, was he somewhere else?


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## locustgate (Dec 6, 2009)

Emperorguard500 said:


> AOT.great crusade?


Shrug. Getting ready for the GA. Leading it for a few years then on Terra putting the finishing touches on the Imperial Webway.


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## hailene (Aug 28, 2009)

We knew he was on Earth sometime in the Middle Ages...we know he was on Earth some 800 years before the Great Crusade started.

Between that? Who knows.

For all we know he was in the Webway teaching the Eldar how to party for a few thousand years.


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

I'm forgetting the novel, perhaps The Outcast Dead, but it mentions a super-high power type of psyker and how Terra fell under the control of a group of them sometime during the DAOT. A mysterious character arose and removed all of these nefarious psyker types... it's pretty obvious from the book the mysterious character is the Emperor... just like the Golden Knight who pens the C'tan shard on Mars.


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

hailene said:


> For all we know he was in the Webway teaching the Eldar how to party for a few thousand years.


 Hate the Xenos!! Idiots can't hold their liquor.


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## acaoshes (Nov 20, 2013)

I always wondered why he didn't stick a spare STC behind the couch.


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## HonorableMan (Apr 15, 2012)

Maybe he was letting humanity weaken itself so that he could show up and save it all, put himself at the head of the race.


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## acaoshes (Nov 20, 2013)

And then whip out his spare STC and light a fire under the Crusade.


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## Old Man78 (Nov 3, 2011)

I reckon the emperor was keeping a low profile growing in strenght or dodging other equally powerful psykers with less altruistic goals, the emperor had to fight unification wars on terra with the thunder warriors which means people fought against him, only another powerful psyker or group psykers could manage to get people to fight against such a force. Had the emperor been all powerful from the start or the only psyker of that level he could have just united all humanity during the golden age of technology where man was better tech wise than anything the mechanicum has ever made, and knife fork spoon we all live happily ever after.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

acaoshes said:


> I always wondered why he didn't stick a spare STC behind the couch.


Maybe he did, but then lost the keys to his apartment....?


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## AshArtKing (Nov 27, 2013)

Playing Pokemon with Khorne or something..


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## emporershand89 (Jun 11, 2010)

I'm going to say this once; and once only. READ LEXICANUM!!! Most of the Emporer's back story is on the main page, and gives a somewhat-accurate (and up-to-date) portrait of his life prior, during, and post-Great Crusade. This link below is the one you need refer to....

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/The_Emperor


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## acaoshes (Nov 20, 2013)

Thanks for link. Had read this before. I'm curious why the Emperor with his formidable psychic might could not foresee what the Eldar far seers could foresee in terms of the coming Age of Strife (as it affected humans). All he had to do was keep an STC in storage safely somewhere and when he emerged at Unification all he had to do then would be a la Scotty "STC build me a .... as I need to unify humanity and kick some xenos ass".


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Even a psyker as powerful as the Emperor cannot foresee _everything_. There is always a limit.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

acaoshes said:


> Thanks for link. Had read this before. I'm curious why the Emperor with his formidable psychic might could not foresee what the Eldar far seers could foresee in terms of the coming Age of Strife (as it affected humans). All he had to do was keep an STC in storage safely somewhere and when he emerged at Unification all he had to do then would be a la Scotty "STC build me a .... as I need to unify humanity and kick some xenos ass".


Maybe he did attempt to secure a complete STC...


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## emporershand89 (Jun 11, 2010)

I reckon he was at the bottom of a bottle in a Pub in the local town. Then he got his arse kicked and decided to do something about it :biggrin:


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## acaoshes (Nov 20, 2013)

Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> Maybe he did attempt to secure a complete STC...


Looks like he talked to a fella who knew a fella who mailed him a url link to an STC torrent that ended up being a malware trojan.

I'm just shocked that the Emperor who has been planning the future of humanity for thousands of years - when living in the Golden Age when technology is at its highest and its power is utterly undeniable - does not think to secure a complete STC (which are as common as muck in every backwater colony) just in case.

Even when the Age of Strife happens and everything goes to pot why wouldn't the Emperor not seek to secure all valuable tech and top of his list is a visit to the STC factory.


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

You're operating on the assumption that the Emperor is omnipotent and omniscient. He is neither. Where the former is concerned, we know that his life could be in danger in actual combat - Horus saved his life during the Ullanor Campaign. Where the latter is concerned, he didn't see the Heresy coming. In either case, neither his incredible intellect nor his hitherto-unmatched power was enough to win the Siege of Terra.

Given this context, are we seriously stumped by the fact that he was unable to secure an STC at the time when human civilization completely fell apart? Consider the cataclysmic levels of violence this would entail, I'm hardly surprised.


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## acaoshes (Nov 20, 2013)

He's the most powerful psyker in the galaxy and for thousands of years the most serious opposition to the powers of Chaos (the anathema?). I don't find it credible that when Slannesh is born the Emperor doesn't sense this pivotal moment and appreciate the implications for the warp and warp travel. 

Also the fall of civilization is not immediate, it's a slow and steady decline for some and quicker for others. Local travel is viable within star systems. Again it's not credible that no source for an STC can be found on Terra, Mars etc. the administrative system of a galactic empire.

He has thousands of years of experience and planning under his belt. He must see the implications of the coming Age of Strife and secure all useful tools immediately or within the first 100 years when it's obvious there's no easy way back. Top of the strategic list has to be an STC. Once this is secure all he needs to do is sit back and bide his time. When the time is right all he needs is political hegemony over raw materials and labour- the STC will take care of everything else.


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

Slaanesh's birth _ended_ the warp storms around Terra. The loss of the technology we're discussing occurred prior to this, during the Age of Strife.

Where the fall of civilization is concerned, you're arguing hypotheticals. No details exist as to how it all went down.

Finally, how can you be so sure that he saw the Age of Strife coming? To what extent did he foresee the Heresy, Horus' corruption, Lorgar's religious conversion, or the subversion of half of his Legiones Astartes? He didn't, and that's because - as we well know by now - he's not omniscient and Chaos was able to withhold information from him.

Here's the bottom line, though: I'm presenting an argument that would explain how an incredibly intelligent, insightful, and powerful being could conceivably be left without the technology needed to ensure an optimized human empire millennia later. Your argument is based on the idea that this same being somehow simply failed to do so. Given the fact that we both agree the Emperor to have been incredible, what do you think is more likely? A catastrophic collapse of a sort that made it impossible to secure intact, complete STC technology, or the Emperor simply not being on his game?


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## acaoshes (Nov 20, 2013)

You're right on Slannesh and looking at canon more closely the collapse was sudden and violent.

(Hope I'm not breaking rules by linking to external content)
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Age_of_Strife

(Convenient quotation to suit me)
"Eventually, an immensely powerful human leader and psyker known only as the Emperor of Mankind divined that the final birth of the new Chaos God Slaanesh was nearing, as well as the effect this birth would have on the turmoil afflicting the galaxy and he began to accelerate his preparations for this history-changing event. From the beginning of the Age of Strife the Emperor had no longer been content with guiding humanity from the shadows under a myriad of different historical identities, some of them quite well-known even in the 41st Millennium. The Emperor had come to believe that If his species was to survive, he would have to take charge himself, openly and without subterfuge. "

Not sure the ultimate source for this (codexes, novels, company etc) but this canon suggests the Emperor was making preparations from the beginning of the Age of Strife. Local travel within the Sol System was possible. Technology and the Men of Iron conquered the galaxy the first time and the Emperor was a witness to the power of technology. It's a shocker of an oversight that the Sol System at the beginning of the Age of Strife didn't have any boxed up STCs awaiting shipment to some dirt ball of a colony and the Emperor didn't prioritise their acquisition.

(Still laughing at my quotation of canon on Saturday morning at 2am when the kids are going to be wrecking my head at 7am)


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## acaoshes (Nov 20, 2013)

Any other opinions out there on the matter of STCs?

Anyone willing to defy agents of the Inquisition and their message of "the Emperor knows best" and "trust in the Emperor"?


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## Reaper45 (Jun 21, 2011)

Phoebus said:


> You're operating on the assumption that the Emperor is omnipotent and omniscient. He is neither. Where the former is concerned, we know that his life could be in danger in actual combat - Horus saved his life during the Ullanor Campaign. Where the latter is concerned, he didn't see the Heresy coming. In either case, neither his incredible intellect nor his hitherto-unmatched power was enough to win the Siege of Terra.
> 
> Given this context, are we seriously stumped by the fact that he was unable to secure an STC at the time when human civilization completely fell apart? Consider the cataclysmic levels of violence this would entail, I'm hardly surprised.


So what exactly are his powers? can he only clear storms and make pretty lights? 

Most psykers we read about are fully capable of using their powers in combat why not him?

Perhaps there's a third element to this we don't know about, like maybe a perpetual omega level blank.


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

Maybe, or maybe it's just that he's not perfect. Maybe Horus saving the Emperor at Ullanor was simply the father testing the son, to see if he would save his life. Or maybe the Ruinous Powers had a hand in clouding the Emperor's abilities long enough for the ork warlord in question to get his claw around the Master of Mankind's throat.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Phoebus said:


> You're operating on the assumption that the Emperor is omnipotent and omniscient. He is neither. Where the former is concerned, we know that his life could be in danger in actual combat - Horus saved his life during the Ullanor Campaign. Where the latter is concerned, he didn't see the Heresy coming. In either case, neither his incredible intellect nor his hitherto-unmatched power was enough to win the Siege of Terra.
> 
> Given this context, are we seriously stumped by the fact that he was unable to secure an STC at the time when human civilization completely fell apart? Consider the cataclysmic levels of violence this would entail, I'm hardly surprised.


Horus supposedly saved the Emperor's life on Gorro, not during the Ullanor Campaign. :wink: But I agree with the crux of your point.

I think others are misunderstanding or underestimating the scale of the Age of Strife. If we assume that the Emperor was on Terra, he would have been cut off from the remainder of the galaxy (and thus the vast majority of the STC templates). We know that Terra quickly devolved into barbarism and war, and suffered the rule of witches and corrupted psykers. It's not crazy to suggest that the remaining STCs were fought over and ultimately destroyed by petty warlords and witches. 

It is probable that the Emperor would have tried to secure as much ancient knowledge and technology as was possible at this point (Malcador secured the Rosetta Stone after all). But remember, he didn't have the resources of a galactic empire behind him, nor even that of a single world. He was one psyker, and thus his options would have been limited. Remember, it took him a long time and the strength of the Thunder Warriors and proto-Legions to finally conquer Terra (and even then, not completely) during the Unification Wars, there is only so much he could have done by himself during the height of the Age of Strife when Terra was consumed by volatile psykers and powerful warlords. As _P_ said, he wasn't omnipotent or omniscient.


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## Old Man78 (Nov 3, 2011)

One of the H.H novels cannot remember which, has malcador saying the emperor expected the possibility of a rebellion just not the way it happened and this is after magnus fucked up the webway so the E was busy trying to sort shit out. 
Also the E may not have fully understood chaos 100%, he bans the use of psykers at the council of nikea even though they the best way to deal with deamons, in his final confrontation with horus he asks "why" horus done what he has done, was the E wondering if horus was the puppet or puppet master, in another H.H novel possibly false gods, when horus is shown the primarchs being scattered, we see the E asking "who" is in his sanctum wrecking his work.
I think too many people are working on the assumtion that the E knew everything and is all powerfull in the 
ultimate sense, this cannot be the case otherwise the E would have ruled since the golden age of mankind and everything would be happy ever after and our 40k universe would never have existed


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## acaoshes (Nov 20, 2013)

Ok. I agree with many of the points raised. The outcome suggests that the transition to Age of Strife must have been so sudden & violent that there must have been good reasons for losing access to STC tech.

And of course it's a necessary plot requirement for the 40k universe - so the Emperor must have tried and failed.

In spite of him being the most powerful psyker in the galaxy who could command every psyk resistant Word Bearer to kneel and who could level a fortress with psyk lightening.

Things must have been very bad indeed. Bet he regretted those piña coladas on the beach when the local STC was popping out standardised beach chairs.


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## Old Man78 (Nov 3, 2011)

acaoshes said:


> In spite of him being the most powerful psyker in the galaxy who could command every psyk resistant Word Bearer to kneel and who could level a fortress with .


If you do not like the answers you are getting then do not ask for peoples opinions and spare us the sarcasm, the emperor clearly was not the only massively powerful psyker who knew all otherwise he would not have to gone through the whole saga of unification wars and great crusade, he would have led humanity from the start and the 40k universe would not exist as he could have prepped for every eventuality and we all live happily ever after,


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## acaoshes (Nov 20, 2013)

Oldman78 said:


> If you do not like the answers you are getting then do not ask for peoples opinions and spare us the sarcasm


I thought it was clear I appreciated and accepted the logic of the many answers. Thanks everyone. As to my "sarcasm" I guess my brand of humour has no place in the grim future of 40k.


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