Navigators in the Unification Period

[EdT]

 

Thanks to the FW books and the Horus Heresy novels, we now a fair bit about most of the major institutions of the Imperium in M30/31. However, something which we've seen nothing on whatsoever are the various Navigator Houses that make up the Navis Nobilite. This seems to be a bit of a shame, especially as what we know about the organisation in M40 indicates that things must have been set up very differently before the Great Crusade, and that the period must have been one of cataclysmic change for the whole sub-species.

 

As far as I can tell, we only know three certain things about the Navis Nobilite in the Heresy period;

• Navigators as a sub-species predate the Imperum by about 8000 years, having first emerged, probably as a result of genetic manipulation, in M22.
• The Navis Nobilite as an organisation also predates the Imperium by "a few thousand years".
• The role of Paternoval Envoy had already been established by the time of the Heresy, and its holder sat on the Council of Terra.

We know a fair bit more about the Navigators ten thousand years later. In M41, the Navis Nobilite are divided into an indeterminate number of Great Families or Houses, apparently all based on Terra, who are constantly jockeying for political position. Each House will have allies amongst the Imperium's other institutions and the more prominent ones will get the plumb jobs, while the minor Houses get the donkey work. Presumably a certain tithe of Navigators are also parcelled out to the various institutions of the Imperium that require their services in the same way that Astropaths are.

 

Competition between the Great Houses is bewilderingly complicated and rather vicious, with endlessly shifting alliances and rivalries. Intermarriage between Houses is necessary for the continuation of the Navigator mutation and is also embraced as a form of diplomacy, alongside less savoury tactics like blackmail, intimidation, sabotage and (occasionally) assassination.

 

The Navigator Houses elect a Paternova from amongst their number. Their Envoy is a High Lord of Terra but the Paternova himself never leaves the their Palace because they have a more important role to play; somehow he/she acts as an amplifier to boost the abilities of Navigators, especially those related to their bloodline. If the post of Paternova is left vacant, Navigators across the Galaxy find it more difficult to use their Warp Eye, some even losing the ability entirely.

 

What's interesting about this M41 setup is that if was in existence by the time of the Horus Heresy, it can’t have been in place for very long. It doesn't make any sense for Pre-Unification Terra to be stuffed full of Navigators who never left the planet, so where were the Great Houses (if indeed they existed), and how exactly did the Navis Nobilite function in the pre-Imperial galaxy?

 

From now on it's just my speculation, obviously, but hoopefully it fits the facts that we do have about Navigators.

 

Given the clannish nature of Navigator society in M41 and their unique nature and talent, I assume that before the beginning of the Great Crusade the Navigators were almost exclusvely space-borne and scattered across the Galaxy in family groups, the forerunners of the later Great Houses. Presumably some of these Houses were nomadic, while others served particular areas of space either as trading families or as allies of whoever was in control; I guess they probably enforced their monopoly on warp travel pretty zealously when rival Houses turned up and tried to muscle in on their territory.

 

As the Navis Nobilite existed in the pre-Imperial period then presumably it must have been a very loose organisation; given Navigators' evident pyschic need for somebody to fill the role of Paternova, I'm guessing it did very little apart from provide a forum to elect a new one every millennium or so. This opens up a lovely image though; the idea that every three or four generations Navigators from across the galaxy felt strangely compelled to take their ships and congregate in an area of deep space between the stars that somehow they instintively knew where to find. I'd imagine these to be really weird festivals full of politicking, gossip, trade and intermarriage, climaxing in the election of a new Paternova, at which point everyone goes back to their travels for another thousand years. We know that the Emperor left Terra at least once in the pre-unification period, to go to Molech; I bet he was a regular attendee at these events to keep tabs on what was going on in the wider galaxy.

 

Which brings me neatly on to the Imperial Period. The Great Crusade would have been impossible without the Navis Nobilite, so presumably the Emperor would have needed to have gone to the Paternova and got him on board; or more likely, I think, vice versa. We know Navigators can navigate without the Astronomican, but it is the biggest psychic beacon in the galaxy; so I suspect that when it was turned on, a whole galaxy of Navigators simultaneously went "woah, what's that?" and immediately set out to find out. I'm sure one of them would have been the Paternova, and, assuming that there hadn't already been a secret treaty signed hundreds or thousands of years earlier in preparation for the day, this would have been the point that the Navis Nobilite would have been incorporated into the Imperium. One condition of this treaty would almost certainly have been that Navigators had to base themselves on Terra, and this would have been when the Great Houses began to coalesce; a pretty massive societal shift.

 

What interests me about this is that for Navigators of the Great Crusade, they've just seen a massive cultural upheaval; a transition from a nomadic existence to something far more settled and regulated, in some cases the dramatic loss of favour or in others a massive accumulation of power. Presumably quite a few of the Navigator Houses would have refused compliance and been destroyed, others would have been unwillingly brought to heel and a few would have stubbornly retained their old ways and headed off back out into the void. I can quite imagine some of the more bitter or ambitious houses backing Horus, either as a way of reviving their own lost glories or in the hope of returning to a period where the navigators could play off rival human factions against each other.

 

Anyhow, this turned into a bit of an essay, but what do people think; anything I've missed?

[lokkorex]

Seems really good to me, your ideas are really freaking good!

 

Now i just hope black library makes a novel about something like this.

 

Would the paternova really only need to be chosen every thousand years?

 

I know humans in 40k, and propably 30k too, live a LOT longer than today, but a thousand years seems far-fetched even for augmented humans.

[Conn Eremon]

The only thing is that I wonder if the Paternova existed prior to its Imperial integration, as you have it, or if the office was formed afterwards, as Imperial presence enforced solidarity and a representative became required.

 

The Houses have a very Game of Thrones set in Menzobarrenzan feel (I looked it up to see if I worked it right. Oddly proud that I did) to them, and I have always been of the mind that these political "games" are meant as stand-ins for actual combat. The way I thought of it, and this really is just my own mind filling in the blanks, this behavior and interaction between Houses came about with the advent of the Imperium, which needed these Houses unified in their service. And so they are, now, under the Paternova, but the bloodshed and warfare is replaced with political maneuvering and manipulation of cat paws, all in the name of the security of the bloodline.

 

Edit: As for age, I would say definitely not. One of their closely guarded secrets is the degeneration and mutation of their navigators as they advance in age, hiding them away from outsider eyes. I sincerely doubt they would have their most visual navigator remain in office anywhere near long enough to reach that point. Maybe a century at the max, if the subspecies is longer lived than mortal humans or if this degradation can be postponed by augmentation or juvenat treatments.

[Black Cohort]

My understanding is that the Paternova isn't so much elected as all elders who want the new position get together and the winner leaves with his life and the title, all the others are dead.

[Daemon2027]

Very interesting, it's probally an area that will not get to much attention in official sources, unless we get some sort of BFG style game.

 

What you have written makes sense to me. I would guess that the Emperor would have been in contact with the likes of the Paternova probally before he started the conquest of Terra. One thing to consider is Mars. They sent out fleets to find their lost colonies during the chaos of Old Night.

[EdT]

Interesting thoughts, thanks. The reason I assumed there would have to be a Paternova before the Imperium is simply that if Navigators find their powers severely curtailed without one, it seems unlikely that they managed without in the 8000-odd years of their history before the Great Crusdae. I assumed that whatever it is the Paternova does (and I assume for maximum irony value it involves sticking him in some sort of golden throne, thereby massively amplifying his psychic potential) it was hardcoded into Navigator DNA by whoever created them back in M22, perhaps as a means of controlling the sub-species. As for their lifespan, I'm going off Lexicanum referencing the original WD article; I guess Navigators are pretty long lived compared to humans anyway. Of course, as Navigators get weirder as they get older, a thousand-year old one would be very gribbly indeed; and this is probably one of the reasons why there needs to be a Paternoval Envoy and the Paternova himself can just float quietly in his tank growing new tentacles.

 

I think Cormac's point regarding the rivalry between Houses seems entirely sensible, and the idea of all the wannabe Paternovae entering a room and only one leaving is brilliant; makes it even more like a Papal Conclave on steroids. Interesting point too re Mars. Did they actually use proper directed Warp Travel in the period? Given the way that Forge Worlds were scattered all over the place and needed to be brought back into the fold, the impression I got was that they either went more for the sleeper ship approach or blind warp jumps. There's also the various Saturnine polities to consider; the latest FW book implies that they were quite a Space Power before becoming part of the Imperium.

[Cactus]

What's the source for the Paternova amplifying the capabilities of all navigators? I don't recall ever reading that before.

[EdT]

What's the source for the Paternova amplifying the capabilities of all navigators? I don't recall ever reading that before.

 

Apparently (I'm relying on Lexicanum and a couple of other pllaces where the fact is mentioned and the source is quoted) it's WD140, as part of the original article that introduced Space Fleet as a game and set down a lot of the space-based background of 40k, including Navigators.

[spu00sed]

I believe that it is also in one of the inquisitor sources.

 

Can't remember which one though.

[Cactus]

What's the source for the Paternova amplifying the capabilities of all navigators? I don't recall ever reading that before.

Apparently (I'm relying on Lexicanum and a couple of other pllaces where the fact is mentioned and the source is quoted) it's WD140, as part of the original article that introduced Space Fleet as a game and set down a lot of the space-based background of 40k, including Navigators.

OMG! I have that issue, and I vividly remember reading it over and over again for the Golden Demon and WFRP portions. Somehow I had forgotten this whopping eleven pages of juicy 40k background material. Thank you.

Edit: I've uncovered a few more details from WD140. The institution of the Navis Nobilite is "approximately 30,000 years" old. Navigators in general "can live for three or four hundred years" and the Paternova "may live for up to a thousand years."

The most powerful (often also the oldest) navigators are the Heirs Apparent. When the Paternova dies the Heirs Apparent fight each other until only one remains to become the new Paternova. There's no indication where this occurs, or over what period of time.

And then it starts to get weird...

Some navigators physically change as they age, growing "more massive" and developing "internal gills" within their chest cavity. This becomes more pronounced in the Heirs Apparent during the period after a Paternova dies. The gills fully develop and allow them to survive in a vacuum, underwater and in toxic environments. As they kill each other off the survivors change even more until the eventual Paternova is "vastly changed and extremely powerful".

I think there may have been Paternovas during the Age of Strife, just not necessarily resident in a palace on Terra. If there weren't, the reduction in power the navigators suffer would have compounded the direct effects of the warp storms but not necessarily made all navigated warp-travel impossible.

I expect the Navis Nobilite was no harder for Horus to subvert than the Mechanicum or the Army. He plays a few factions against each other, grants favours to his friends and quietly blocks their enemies. When the time comes half of them are his to command.

[spu00sed]

I wonder which side had the paternova?

 

That would help in the movement of troops.

[SteelPaladin]

Now this is the type of thread that I love. Discussions on the more fringe elements of 40k. 

 

Unfortunately, I don't have much to add, but EdT, your ideas on pre-unification navigators are now going to be my personal cannon. 

 

I seem to remember AD-B saying that one of his dream BL projects would be Romeo and Juliet: Navis Nobilite edition. Personally, I would love to read that. 

[RolandTHTG]

Ok, my interesting theory time. 

 

What is the Saturine Fleet was the base of the Paternova/Navis Nobilite before the Imperium? 

 

Now, we know that the Saturine Fleet was one of the Naval Powers of the Solar system, rivaling the fleets of Mars. From the rapid expansion after unification, they likely had many warp-capable ships already. Yet we also know that Warp travel from Terra was extremely dangerous. Mars attempted to send out fleets, but most others abandoned it as to dangerous. So why would a fleet keep so many Warp capable ships? What if they had a more reliable way of passage? What if the Paternova was based on a ship or one of the moons?

 

Many of the Clans could be out among the stars as EdT postulates above. But the Paternova stays in the Home System, and the first test for Heirs Apparent is navigating back through the warp storm to reach Terra? Not just a test of strength and psychic power, but one of ability. 

[Daemon2027]

Gill chests? That is some crazy ass stuff.

 

It would be intresting to see if the Emperor had to deal with Saturn for their fleets, and to gain the support of the Paternova.

[Conn Eremon]

The Saturnyne Ordos become the first Solar Auxilia, and later the template for future regiments of Solar Auxilia.

 

Don't seem like there could be a connection, to be honest.