Vastarian: Lore Summary

The Emergence of Saints (Nikon F2 55mm f2.8 Porta 400).

In the later part of 2023, Between the Bolter and Me created its own setting in the 40k universe and encouraged others to get involved in developing it by making it an Open Invitational. The setting is called Vastarian - Dreams of the Pious, with Vastarian being a major cathedral world that has been thrown into turmoil due to the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum. This has caused a massive psychic awakening amongst the general population and has fomented conflicts between the different religious sects on the planet. The Invitational asks you to create your own Imperial Cult (the more eccentric and deranged the better) and using your favorite ruleset, play some skirmish games to help develop the lore! We have had a series of posts developing the setting, including showcasing two factions (the Church of the Red Athenæum and a faction of Spyreheads) and some artwork showing others, designing a logo with Weirding Way, a battle report within the setting, some sample scenarios to play, and a specialized Adeptus Arbites group functioning on the planet! In addition to the overall Invitational, we also held a contest for people to create their own cults and were amazed by all of the awesome creations by hobbyists from around the world! With the contest over, we are still encouraging people to get involved in the setting and keep the Invitational going. Towards that end, we are building up to a small Inq28 event with friends in November (hosted with Bill Ford of the Mordheim 2022 and Rot of Hondious fame!). With this post, we want to collect all of the major pieces of Vastarian lore into one place, so it is easier for people new to the setting to know what it is about and get involved!

Adherents of the Church of the Red Athenæum (Nikon F2 55mm f2.8 Porta 400).

Ehret Filipovic, Chief Bibliognost, with a sister of the of the Church of the Red Athenæum (Nikon F2 55mm f2.8 Porta 400).

Vastarian setting:

Vastarian is a vast cathedral world located within the Totradus Sector, in the southern region of Segmentum Solar. Although it is on a well-traveled route used by the faithful on their pilgrimage to holy Terra, that fact is not what makes it special. Instead, it accumulated its renown from two particular aspects. The first is its many architectural marvels: massive houses of worship, an expanse of stained glass and minarets, labyrinthian catacombs revering the hallowed dead, and cavernous libraries and repositories of holy texts and religious scholarship. The second, and more surprising aspect, is that in an age characterized by intolerance and persecution, Vastarian welcomes thousands of disparate orthodoxies and splinters of the Imperial Creed, where they all live in relative harmony together. Provided the God-Emperor is venerated above all others and His will is promulgated, the Ecclesiarchy turns a blind eye to minor deviations and differing interpretations of the Lectitio Divinitatus. After all, isn't all of humanity a part of His flock, of His Grand Design? While there are some documented instances of schisms that led to bloodshed, most were limited to internecine disputes and selective purges by the ever watchful Ordo Hereticus.

Adeptus Arbites struggle to contain the fanatical wrath of the Blessed Procession of Abdubel the Redeemed (Fujifilm XT4 55mm F11).

Hypatia Etranzi leads Special Operations Unit Mitsukurina, neutralizing psykers for the Black Ships (Nikon Zf 105mm F10 [Focus Stack]).

But nothing lasts forever and this shining jewel of faith and understanding started to crumble as the 41st millennium came to a close. With the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum and the harkening of the Age of Witches, the inhabitants of Vastarian were wracked by unified dreams, dreams of spectacular derangement and miracles of metastasis and biological dysfunction that offered each dreamer their own personal apocalypse. After months of these collective visions, centered on the ruins of reality, they started to shift and began to be dominated by a radiant light emanating from a figure whose features could not be made out, a being that seemed to pacify the encroaching ruin. The figure’s form was not consistent, as though it was taking on an aspect of the dreamer. These dreams seemed to coincide with an unprecedented psychic awakening, one that touched virtually every religious sect on Vastarian, fomenting zealous conjecture within each denomination that they alone had been touched by the Emperor Himself, birthing a Saint that would rise from the ashes of a burning Vastarian. Finally, after centuries of tenuous peace, the religious tolerance that defined the planet collapsed. The war for the Emperor’s soul had begun, for there could only be one Saint, and the rest false idols and apostates.

A sorry penitent of the Blessed Procession of Abdubel the Redeemed (Fujifilm XT4 55mm F11).

Kirill Blokhin, Church of the Red Athenæum (Nikon Zf 105mm F16).

Vastarian event prompt:

Part I

“But what can be done when you find the apocalypse has a dream of its own?” - Thomas Ligotti


The “Emergence of Saints,” as it would later be called, was a psychic awakening that swept over Vastarian and caused the planet to collapse into bedlam virtually overnight. Overnight indeed, as it was in dreams the panic spread, a euphoric terror spawned from an encroaching darkness–a presence that seeped in from the margins, dripping from the stars as if they were untethering from reality. The rise of “Saints” provided a temporary respite from the tenebrous and suffocating darkness that occupied the minds of all those on Vastarian. These nascent psykers acted as luminous beacons in a fulminous storm that assaulted the inhabitants of the planet. But as blood ran along the cobbled streets and spattered on the colored glass of arched windows, the blackness descended once more as a shroud that haunted the minds of those in dreams. But as though it was metastasizing, that blackness began to leak from the confines of sleep, trapping inhabitants in a liminal space between wakefulness and sleep. During this psychic turmoil, the purifying radiance of the Emperor, the Astronomican, plummeted as if it were a tallow candle guttering in a tumultuous wind. This absence was profoundly felt by those on Vastarian. A palpable unease and anxiety permeated the planet and spurred on new acts of violence and persecution. In desperation, many of the Spyrehead enclaves on the planet pooled their resources and delved deeply into datastacks and crumpling treatises on the nature of astropathic beacons and put into motion a fantastical gambit: fortifying one of the principle lighthouses as a psychic conduit that might amplify the waning Astronomican. So began one of the strangest facets of the chronicles of Vastarian…

- Naewen, savant of Thrax

A procession of Vastarian Spyreheads (Fujifilm XT4 30mm F5.6).

A lone cultist preaching the grace of the God-Emperor for all to hear (Nikon Zf 105mm F11).

Part II

From the outset it was clear that repurposing the Ravachol lighthouse would be no simple task. Massive quantities of rockcrete, adamanitum, and other building materials were required. And these components were trivial compared to more esoteric components, including psychically infused glass to be cut to create a specially attuned Fresnel lens that would sit at the heart of the beacon. But more important was the need for psykers. Only a vast multitude of potent psykers could light and subsequently focus the beacon, piercing the tenebrous darkness enveloping the planet. Although their network was vast, the Vastarian Spyrehead conclaves tacitly understood they could not build and light the beacon themselves. They would need the help of all those receptive, of all the denominations of the Imperial Creed who would put the Emperor first, ahead of petty differences in spiritual practice. It was in dreams that the Vastarian calamity started, so it was in dreams that those Spyreheads with psychic aptitude beseeched all those on Vastarian for help: congregate in Ravachol; take the pilgrimage there, with the resources to construct the beacon that would again illuminate the world, and perhaps even permit travel across the Cicatrix Maledictum. Bring those psychically attuned. But most of all, bring faith. For faith in Him is the bedrock of the Imperium and only it could quell the darkness dwelling in their souls.

Perhaps it was inevitable, a reflection of the fallibility of the human condition, but not all were agreeable to the erection of an astropathic beacon in Ravachol. But everyone did come to the windswept town at the edge of the world…

- Naewen, savant of Thrax

An Adeptus Arbites Exaction Squad hunting down heretic in the streets of a Vastarian city (Fujifilm XT4 55mm F16).

Marcelo Lythgoe, heavy weapon specialist of the Church of the Red Athenaeum (Exakta VX Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f2.8 Tri-X 400).

If you haven’t already, we hope you will get involved in developing Vastarian! Also make sure to follow #vastarian on Instagram to see what others are doing in the setting!

- Eric Wier