Dark Age of Technology

2016-05-17T21:11:18Z

2601:542:C100:1010:B830:2E03:1FE1:B1B6:

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The '''Dark Age of Technology''' (or just the '''Age of Technology''') is a period of history dominated by the human civilisation that flourished before the [[Imperium of Man]]. It takes place shortly after the discovery of the [[Warp]] drive and the [[Navigator]] gene.

Thanks to Warp travel and the [[Standard Template Construct|Standard Template Constructor]], [[humanity]] is able to spread far and wide, settling millions of planets and driving out the [[xenos]] before them. The result is something of a golden age for humanity, with technological wonders (beyond even the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]'s ability to <s>recreate</s> comprehend) being constructed.

The Age of Technology ends because humanity becomes dependent on their technology and on Warp travel. They lose the former with the rebellion of the [[Men of Iron]], and they lose the latter as the increasing incidence of [[psyker]]s and [[Fall of the Eldar|Eldar partying too hard]] causes Warp storms, Enslaver plagues, and close encounters of the [[daemon]]ic kind on settlements and spacecraft (think "Event Horizon"). With humanity disrupted by these losses, the aliens that they had managed to put down come back with a vengeance, and humanity falls into what is later called the [[Age of Strife]].

The "Dark" in "Dark Age of Technology" comes because, after the Age of Strife, the wars of the [[Great Crusade]] and [[Horus Heresy]], and then the long millennia of the Age of the [[Imperium]], almost no records remain of this age -- it is "dark" because it is almost entirely unknown, and the closest thing we can know about how Humanity lived during this Age was the [[Interex]] that was more advanced than the Imperium but was unfortunately wiped out by [[Erebus]]. It is also called a "Dark Age" because it was a spiritual dark age compared to the "glorious modern age" because humanity [[Adeptus Mechanicus |worshiped their own creations in pride]], rather than the [[God-Emperor of Mankind]]. The irony of this is lost on every human in the setting. The only remnants are some of the technological wonders of the age, called "archeotechnology" or "archeotech," which the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] furiously seeks. Some, like the [[STC]], could be the Imperium's salvation; others, like the [[Men of Iron]], are best left alone (or better yet, destroyed). Good luck getting a [[tech-priest]] to not poke around the possibly-dangerous ancient technology, though.

Although sources differ and generally argue, most point to human technology in this time being roughly equivalent to (if not surpassing) that of the pre-Slaanesh Eldar. Highlights of the few hints we've been offered include still-pristine warships with bridges made of solid light, what seem to be time-weapons, and a cloud of sentient nanomachines that kill you by making your blood explode. Dark Age humanity wasn't nothin' to fuck with.

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[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Imperial]]

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Dark Age of Technology