[MarcoSkoll]

I hope you don't mind, Vale, but I've started this thread here, as I normally keep to the (not very well documented) tradition of the IC section being just for in-universe material and any linked discussion being put in a parallel OOC thread.

It seemed silly to say -- here is an experienced and respected Inquisitor, Ollanius Vale, a notable scholar, four hundred years old. The reason you've never heard of him before is... I don't know, because he's rather shy!

Honestly, we retcon characters, factions, planets, etc in all the time.

If you tell me Vale is an ancient and famed scholar, I'm perfectly prepared to play as if my characters have heard of him before (as appropriate). For example, Lyra Rhodes has yet to meet him personally*, but certainly remembers the old paper he published in 881.M41 about the legacy of Cardinal Ysolent's martyrdom and how it resulted in the formation of the Church of the Red Grave. It was somewhat before her time, but she found a copy archived in the Second University of Theklae around 993.M41 and it proved very useful during her investigation of the then-current Pontifex.

* Although it is entirely possible to work with other players to build a history going back years. Koval and I have interlaced together the backgrounds of several of our characters on a fairly deep level.

Edit -- modified to remove prayers addressed to a saint directly as I have no evidence of such a thing in 40K.

The Imperial cult is hugely, hugely varied.

As long as you ultimately worship the Emperor and don't worship Gork, Khorne or Isha, the Imperium itself doesn't care. The Machine Cult was subsumed by the de jure (if not necessarily de facto) acceptance of the Emperor as being the Omnissiah, sun cults can be folded in as long as the sun can be seen as an embodiment of the Emperor.

Take Christianity, Islam and Judaism, which all worship the god of Abraham (variously called Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, God and a few more). These then divide down into many sects - Christianity breaks down into Western and Eastern branches, the Western Branch into Catholics and Protestants, the Protestants divide into Lutherans, Anglicans and Calvinists. Calvinists break down into Presbyterians and Baptists...

Now imagine what the scope of the entire Ecclesiarchy must be like.

I personally guarantee you that there are at least 3,697,122 denominations of the Imperial cult which pray directly to saints.

[Inquisitor Vale]

Thank you -- for what it's worth Cardinal Ysolent, the Second University of Theklae and the Church of the Red Grave have been quietly docketed away and will make their appearance! I'm a rather erratic worker, so expect these odd gouts of writing.

The Sector has been ditched as, as Marco says, a character can be easily integrated into the Carthax Sector. I am also worried that it follows too closely John Blanche and others' excellent -- really incredible -- Pilgrymme work (though I actually came up with the Pilgrimage in my story, before I adopted his spelling, because I live near the fascinating Mediaeval pilgrim-town of Tain, which was devoted to St Duthac). Kris Kuksi's sculptures, too, remain an inspiration for the Gothic-on-Gothic look, the true look of 40K which modern art often abandons, captured best in John Blanche's illustations.

[Zephon]

I personally guarantee you that there are at least 3,697,122 denominations of the Imperial cult which pray directly to saints.[/quote]

My theory for how the Imperial Creed maintains its massively diverse worshipping practices without them conflicting theologically is basically this. Each cult can pray however they want, and if the new Cardinal complains about all that degenerate music, it's because Saint Elvis likes rock n' roll.

[MarcoSkoll]

To an extent, but there's still a smorgasbord of inter-faith conflict within the Imperium.

It's limited to some degree by warp travel hardly being an everyday commodity, so many planets are insular and ignorant of their neighbours' heathen practices, but events like the Age of Apostasy or Plague of Unbelief happen on a smaller scale constantly.

(Religious civil wars are one of the best excuses for intra-Imperial conflict, although I'm also a fan of monumental bureaucratic cock-ups).