Vasalius

"They say our ol' Vasalius weren't always teh heartless witch she is today. That she use'd to be a right beautiful lass wearing green and blue, not teh funeral grey she wears now. Teh kind o' lass that'd pull ye into her ample bussom and encourage ye ta explore her hidden places. HA! Ah, but ye can't be doing that now, not without one of dem home-guard suits...or a death wish. Ye go out there now and teh only thing you'll find thanks to dem frakkin Eldar is death, and radiation."

- Excerpt from a passing conversation with a Vasalien auto-driver by Markus Cantat Verba, Remembrancer Primaris of the Segmentum Pacificus

Once a verdant world of deep green forests and golden seas of grass, blue oceans and white capped mountains, the Vasalius discovered by the Emperor's Expeditionary fleets was a radiation blasted, barren wasteland devoid of life as a result of a cataclysmic event known as the "Razing" that happened just over two hundred years previously. The conditions on the surface are so hostile to all forms of life that the entire population of the planet lives within three massive, densely populated underground hive cities know as The Grave, The Tomb and the Crypt (thus named because of a popular belief that that was the ultimate purpose the cities would serve for the doomed people within.)

Society
Every day for a Vasalian is a battle for survival. So densely populated are the hives and so limited is the available space that the leadership of the cities were eventually forced to make hard choices to insure the survival of the population as a whole. In the hives of Vasalius even being born is considered a privilege, as it means your parent's application for procreation was approved. A hard fought and even harder won right within the densely populated cities where powerful families covet the right to create life, and thus continue their bloodlines. However, just being born isn't enough.

A deep seeded ideology know as the Purechild System, coined by Gregor Purechild over two hundred years ago, dictates that every child born must go through rigorous inspection for any traits considered "impure" by the system. Those found to be impure are disposed of, and the family's right to procreate is removed. Likewise are the elderly removed, pushed out onto the surface to be blasted away by the intense heat generated by the radiation storms that race across the surface, once they've reached a certain age, status being the only safeguard from such a fate.

Food and water are likewise strictly regulated, and the general population is constantly kept just short of starvation, while the powerful and influential elite feast. Besides murder, starvation is the most common cause of death among the general population. The second being radiation poisoning, as many people are forced to drink tainted water to stave off the effects of dehydration.

To further control the population, all crime on Vasalius is punishable by death, from petty theft to murder. Even disrespecting a person of influence can carry a death sentence for the offender if the offended is so inclined.

One would think the conditions on Vasalius would lead to constant crime and rebellion, yet that is not the case. Due to a mandatory enlistment required at the age of fifteen, the people of Vasalius have an unflinching sense of nationalism and survive day to day thanks to a strict military doctrine taught to every Vasalian as they grow. So ingrained is this belief in service of nation that any Vasalian would throw down their life if they believed it would serve Vasalius, and by extension, the Imperium of Mankind.

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