Hi!
While work has been busy, and at times needlessly and inexplicably stressful of late, I thought I'd spend a bit of time looking at my evolving Farpoint setting and try to make some sense of where its going and what I could do with developing...
The Farpoint Sector is located at the north western rim of Imperial space in my own re-imagined Imperium. Chaos and the Warp isn't a thing and instead of being stuck in a technological dark age and beset by foes on all fronts, there is no GRIMDARK in my setting (not that I don't appreciate it but my painting style and figures just don't lend themselves to it).
Space travel is much more secure these days with the discovery of the Tannhauser Gate, a gigantic space station that opens wormholes between far flung planets that does away with the warp and all the chaotic madness that can be found within. Ships also have FTL drives which will allow for interplanetary travel too but the Tannhauser network is at the core of the system with the core worlds having one in each system and each frontier sector having one located in the sector capitol world.
The Imperium is in a Renaissance of sorts with lost technology and ideas being rediscovered, new and long forgotten planets, clusters and secrets long lost being explored by a new wave of Imperial might. Brave expeditions are being launched out from the core systems and humanity is going back into the dark wilds beyond the frontier!
Similarly, the obsession with the Emperor isn't there, the Golden Throne doesn't have a corpse sat on it on ancient Terra. There is currently an Empress, Lionstone who is a force to be reckoned with and decidedly mercurial and Machiavellian but a generally just ruler.
Instead of the cult of the Emperor (or in this case Empress), the Greek Gods are still worshipped. These iconic manifestations of some of humanity's oldest creeds are very real and as with the gods of old, love to meddle in human affairs. They have their heroes and demi-gods, avatars of faith and all manner of other interesting manifestations can be found in the galaxy at large. It will also give me the excuse to integrate some of the mythological characters, locations and monsters into things.
Imagine Ulysses 31 meets 40k with a bit of British Empire thrown into the mix...
Farpoint itself is a frontier sector and as such, there is lawlessness and opportunity to be found in equal parts. The sectors previous Governor was Baron Alexandr Vosk, a venal and corrupt individual who made himself immensely wealthy by shamelessly taking bribes, theft and essentially running the place like a personal fiefdom.
Unfortunately for Vosk but fortunately for the rest of the sector, the Empress has got word of his injustices, and the reduced revenues from Imperial tithes has seen her unseat Vosk and replace him with Laars von Dorn, a loyalist and rather incorruptible sort who she's tasked with bringing the sector to heel and profitability.
While Vosk has lost his position, he has enough clout and blackmail amongst the levers of power within the Imperium that by greasing quite a few palms with bribes, he's avoided official sanction and has retreated to his expansive estates to plot and intrigue to dispose of von Dorn and reclaim his lucrative position.
As such there is a secret war taking place across the sector as von Dorn and loyal Imperial units fight shadowy skirmishes with Vosk operatives, criminal organisations and various alien warlords who want to use the upheaval to settle scores or reclaim lost territories.
There's a patchwork of alliances, rivalries and vendettas forming between the assorted lesser houses of the sector with sides being chosen and old grudges being settled. Be it the Longmyres siding with von Dorn or the crimelord Lucius Goldberg supporting Vosk from the shadows.
It's proving to be an interesting mash up of a setting and slightly a somewhat bewildering prospect to try and shape and navigate!
A few years ago I put together some articles on different elements of the reimagined Imperium and I think I need to re-investigate it as well as making some dossiers on my assorted characters and their backgrounds and exploits as it gets a bit confusing (I've at various times called Laars von Dorn and van Dorn for example!).
As such, I think that I'm going to begin by trying to dig into the background and setting to give my characters and factions something to stick to and take a bit of a look at the systems within the sector and begin trying to stitch it all together into a more unified whole.
I've been influenced by all sorts over the years so do expect to see some elements pulled from all over as its my setting and I want to make it a fun experience!
Expect to see all sorts of random posts over the coming months as I try to integrate and flesh out all the elements I've got in my head ranging from the Space Marines being normal humans for the most part, not superhuman psychos, droids and AI being a thing in the Imperium, slightly civilised Orks, resurgent Eldar, sinister cults of the Titans and so much more!
Hopefully I'll have some more stuff to post over the next few days and will keep you updated but in the meantime, All the best!
