Editing Setting:Brighthammer 40,000/1st edition (section)

== Background ==

In the Noble Brightness of the 41st millennium, there is only HIGH ADVENTURE!

Beginning after the ascension of the Eldar that created the Order God of Love Slaanesh some 10,000 years ago, the Emperor of Mankind appeared to ensure the noble rule of humanity as the galaxy began to make a turn for the better. In an act of supreme devotion, his most favored son Horus and several of the Emperor's noble princes, or primarchs, sacrificed their mortal form to become princes of Order within the Warp.

Since then the Emperor has ruled for 10,000 years from the Golden Throne on Terra, bringing peace, enlightenment, and joy to all mankind. There is clearly no better time to be alive.

Now the last vestiges of the Eldar go forth to ensure the joy and prosperity of other races before the last of them finally ascend, lead valiantly by the Bright Eldar. Opposing them are the dark forces of Eldrad, and these the Eldar found too impure to ascend. To this day Eldrad's convoluted schemes are a constant source of pain and discontent for the people of the Imperium of Mankind.

Across the galaxy the noble green-skinned Orks are being brutally oppressed through a volatile combination of misunderstanding and a failure to communicate.

In the distance the battle cry "For the Lesser Evil!" echoes through the lands of the eastern galaxy. The dark and chaotic empire called the Tau have formed a brutal fascist empire utilizing mind control, genocide, and cannibalistic troops just as the norm. Despite the amoral and often savage methods used to expand their domain, the Emperor believes they can be redeemed.

Hidden beneath the surface of countless worlds, the immortal Necrontyr awaken to spread the knowledge of ancient technologies to man. They spread the unheard of message that prosperity is possible without the Lords of Order, yet wherever they are found, entire worlds spring to life as if into a new genesis.

The Tyranids, the most visible member being the Zoats, parlay with the Squat homeworlds, a civilization of noble miners and proud warriors. Though negotiations take many years, the Squats eventually accept the offer of assimilation and join with the hivemind, and both groups leave the galaxy.

In the Warp, the Lords of Order are the gods of hope and compassion, Nurgle, who loves even the smallest of creatures, Tzeentch, god of knowledge and the magic of wonder, Khorne, the noble warrior king, who is the newest form of the former god of the Eldar, the savage Khaine. He is a warrior without bloodlust, sitting upon his throne of helms. Finally, the newest and for now most powerful of the gods, Slaanesh, god of love, art and joy.

Across the Imperium not all is well, however. It is a vast empire, and planets fall out of the sight of the Emperor. Corrupt politicians seek to subvert the Democratic order and ways of the Imperium. Dark tyrants seek to rise up and rebel, oppressing their people brutally. Though the Lords and Princes of Order work with the Emperor to bring civilization to all mankind, the universe remains a strange and beautiful place, filled with HIGH ADVENTURE!