Editing Al-Sherar (section)

==History==

Modern logis describe the rise and fall of Al-Sherar as having been dictated, in a complex fashion, by the waxing and waning of Mars itself.  Their arcane theories are rarely comprehensible to a mortal mind, but the essential wisdom can perhaps be understood.  The success of the Mechanicus fostered many great worlds, but only one could be master.


===Foundation and early expansion===

Al-Sherar was settled early in the Age of Strife by one of the first colonist fleets dispatched by the Cult Mechanicum.  The world the colonists found was rich in mineral resources and had a biosphere adequate for the development of the manufactoria and temples of the techpriests' civilisation.  Though the young Forge World was often menaced by Amatteir raiders, the slaver-race had no stomach for the fight required to utterly subdue a planet guarded by a Titan Legion.  Al-Sherar prospered, developing its own industry and looking to nearby worlds for expansion.

The other planets of Al-Sherar's system, as well as the larger moons, were soon converted into subsidiaries of the Forge World.  Rather than set up new Forge Worlds proper, the Alim (tech-priests) determined to establish their colonies as Industrial Worlds with specialist tasks in mineral extraction and processing.  This pattern would eventually be extended far beyond the Al-Sherar system, with the older colonies graduating from extraction to refining as their own mineral reserves were exhausted.  The Forge World itself focused on assembly and the highest, most sophisticated tasks of industry.

Careful observation of the warp currents around the nearby stars showed a few navigable corridors.  The most significant would be the lanes to the Iteru.  The Knight World was wealthy enough in its natural resources, but more important were the warrior households; House Sobek, the Maryannu Brotherhood, and the [[Order of Bahri]].  These three maintained ancient martial traditions and held priceless STC fragments.  The Diyanet's deliberations on Iteru were extraordinarily brief, with the decision to secure the world being made in less than a second.  Most of the discussion between Al-Sherar's Kazi-alkudar focused on the make-up of the invading force and, in particular, who would have the honour of leading it.  Eventually the decision was made to entrust Al-Sherar's Titan Legion, Legio Antsar, with the foremost role.  Ameer Ibn Allas was given command in recognition of the promise he had shown against the Amatteir.

The Knights of Iteru were not easily overcome, but they lacked the might to withstand Legio Antsar.  Ibn Allas was forced to destroy House Sobek, but the Ameer brought the Maryannu Brotherhood into Al-Sherar's service under a lenient version of the Sidon Protocols and subdued and enslaved the Order of Bahri.  The warriors of these surviving Houses would feature prominently in Al-Sherar's later campaigns.

===Rediscovery===

Hundreds of years cut off from Mars saw Al-Sherar's beliefs diverge from the Martian orthodoxy.  Language drifted.  Questions were raised in the conclaves, especially over the nature of alien technology and the doctrine of the Omnissiah.  By the time that Gaspard Lumey's Fifth Legion rediscovered Al-Sherar, during the [[Al-Sherar Sector War]], these differences had become profound - if not quite enough to constitute Tech Heresy.  As a result the Kabeer Al-Mufteen (high priest of the Al-Sherar) refused to recognize Fabricator General [[Kalkas Tygian]] of Mars as his spiritual superior when the question was first broached in the ninth decade of the Great Crusade.  The Diyanet (Al-Sheraran Parliament) was well aware that Mars had spent huge sums of blood and treasure to subjugate Forge Worlds that had broken with the fundamental tenets of the Machine Cult, and gambled that Kalkas Tygian would not have the resources to enforce his will upon a world that differed on less critical matters.  It is likely that Gaspard Lumey's early experience with the debate over [[Werkerde]] conditioned the Primarch's advice to Al-Sherar here, with the lord of the Fifth Legion perhaps believing that the Emperor would intercede again to calm tensions and make a compromise.

To the dismay of Al-Sherar and her allies, the Fabricator General began ordering forces into striking distance of the Al-Sherar Sector.  This none too subtle threat brought the Diyanet to the negotiating table at Stygies VIII in 899.M30, accompanied by [[Antoine Antonelle]] of the Fifth Legion.  The Kazi fought hard to retain significant independence and won a partial success.  In so-called '''Stygies Accord''', Al-Sherar made two ambiguous concessions to Mars; that the eldest Forge World was ''primus inter pares'', and had the right to speak on behalf of the techpriests as a whole.  This position left neither side entirely satisfied, but it persisted long into the Reformation.

Throughout the Great Crusade, the leaders of Al-Sherar pursued a policy of close alliance with the Space Marines of the Fifth Legion.  Their own forces, such as the mighty Titans of '''Legio Antsar''' were often to be found alongside in support of Gaspard Lumey's men.  The Alim also pursued their own objectives, subduing lesser Forge Worlds of the Segmentum Pacificus and settling a broad strip of Industrial Worlds.  The network established over a century of military conquest, diplomacy, and colonisation gave Al-Sherar tremendous political and economic influence.

===Ascendancy===

At the time of the Heresy, the Kabeer Al-Mufteen was '''Ibn al-Haytham''', who arose to this exalted position through the ranks of the Logis. His astute calculations and impartial rule over the Diyanet gave Al-Sherar great stability. Together with the material might assembled in the Great Crusade, Ibn al-Haytham's policies laid the foundation for the Forge World's brief ascendancy after the Martian Civil War. In a parallel to Gaspard Lumey's fortunes, Al-Sherar could claim to be above suspicion while their old rivals on Mars struggled to reclaim the prestige lost during the Dark Mechanicum's rebellion. Alim would be found as envoys to Forge Worlds far from the Segmentum Pacificus, even going into the Segmentum Solar itself.

This ascendancy would be fleeting. Mars may have been battered and greatly reduced by rebellion, but in the centuries following the Imperial Reformation she recovered her material superiority over Al-Sherar. The Kabeer Al-Mufteen's position became much less secure. A series of theological debates were carried out, and though Al-Sherar's spokesmen were often eloquent they were gradually forced to retreat from their positions under the threat that the doctrine of the al-gine implied that humans could "convert" xenos technology. (Perversely, while the political battle was won by Mars and Al-Sherar brought to heel, the use of certain alien technologies in the Imperium suggests that the Pacificus Forge World's al-gine doctrine may have been quietly accepted.)