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Description
The emblem of the Imperial Corps of Iterators, and by extension, the Imperial Truth, the “civil religion” of the Imperium.

The Imperial Corps of Iterators is a secular priesthood that enforces the Imperial Truth. They were not mere demagogues, but a blend of rhetoricians, philosophers, propagandists, and educators. Iterators are a ubiquitous aspect of Imperial society. They move among the people to promote the Imperial Truth and ensure greater alignment with Imperial ideals.

Often recruited from the most quick-witted, educated, and charismatic Imperial civilians, Iterators were the bulwark against superstitious regression. As first contacts with newly discovered human civilizations, they often explain to them what Imperial systems entail.

Iterators acting as diplomats delivered planets and star systems to the Imperium through persuasion. In other instances, recalcitrant populations considered them nothing more than tools of a tyrant and a warmonger. Their words empty bombast, and their promises meaningless. When speeches fail, the Legiones Astartes worked to bring enlightenment through bolter and blade.

=][=

    The Iterator Corps also had a clandestine branch known as the Elucidators. These ruthless censors were embedded with Iterators without their knowledge. They collected enormous quantities of data upon the work of Iterators and applied it where needed. This ranged from what language an Iterator should use to intelligence briefings on exploitable cultural touchstones.



    While the Elucidators focused on intelligence, their true purpose was to suppress all faiths with extreme prejudice. Thus, the history of the Elucidator Order is one rife with murder and bloodshed. Extreme actions were taken in secret to wipe out dangerous occult sects, secret societies, and fanatical criminals. Even petty spiritualists such as witch doctors, shamans, and cunning folk were not above the scrutiny of the Elucidators. Given their careers and the level of data modeling they undertook, they considered any judgments made to be well-informed and based on solid statistical projections.



    The existence of these secret police was not known and discredited by their Iterator counterparts. But they existed. Their terrible actions were not only state-sanctioned but deemed the necessary, if bloody, cost of the Imperial Truths ascendancy.

=][=

On the Imperial Truth

The Imperial Truth is the name given to the secular ideology created by the Emperor of Mankind. It is a secular form of ancestor veneration that focuses on venerating exemplary humans, serving as a civil religion of the Imperium.



The Imperial Truth has its origins with the Emperor of Mankind. For thousands of years, the Emperor was a staunch secularist. Religion was a tool His enemies, the Chaos Gods, used to influence and feed on humanity. The Emperor changed his position after the Terran Unification Wars.



He realized that it was impossible to suppress faith. Nor can it exist in a incorruptible form. He concluded that humanity needed to be weaned off religion while satisfying that need. The Emperor created the Imperial Truth with the help of Uriah Olathaire, the Last Priest of Terra.

At the heart of the Imperial Truth is the Guardian Paragon system. Figures of extraordinary status, titled Guardian or Paragon, are revered but not worshipped. The idea is to have a god or saint equivalent viewed as a role model to follow and venerate.

At the top of this system are the Guardians, a title given by the Emperor. They have the power and duty to serve humanity in near perpetuity. Malcador, Uriah, and the Primarchs are Guardians. They form a secular pantheon with the Emperor as a human godhead.

Under the Guardians are the Paragons. Humans prove themselves paragons of the values the Imperium embraces. For example, the Nipponese scholar and statesperson Sugawara no Michizane became a Paragon of learning. These figures are not to be worshipped but used as an example and serve as a saint equivalent.

A school could serve as a shrine to Michizane. The closest modern equivalent would be Catholic hospitals dedicated to a particular saint. The goal for Paragon Shrines is to remove the religious part and have it be secular institutes dedicated to that Paragon.

The chief aim of this pseudo-worship exemplar humans being is to the worship and devotion to the human spirit.

Description
The emblem of the Imperial Corps of Iterators, and by extension, the Imperial Truth, the “civil religion” of the Imperium.

The Imperial Corps of Iterators is a secular priesthood that enforces the Imperial Truth. They were not mere demagogues, but a blend of rhetoricians, philosophers, propagandists, and educators. Iterators are a ubiquitous aspect of Imperial society. They move among the people to promote the Imperial Truth and ensure greater alignment with Imperial ideals.

Often recruited from the most quick-witted, educated, and charismatic Imperial civilians, Iterators were the bulwark against superstitious regression. As first contacts with newly discovered human civilizations, they often explain to them what Imperial systems entail.

Iterators acting as diplomats delivered planets and star systems to the Imperium through persuasion. In other instances, recalcitrant populations considered them nothing more than tools of a tyrant and a warmonger. Their words empty bombast, and their promises meaningless. When speeches fail, the Legiones Astartes worked to bring enlightenment through bolter and blade.

=][=

    The Iterator Corps also had a clandestine branch known as the Elucidators. These ruthless censors were embedded with Iterators without their knowledge. They collected enormous quantities of data upon the work of Iterators and applied it where needed. This ranged from what language an Iterator should use to intelligence briefings on exploitable cultural touchstones.



    While the Elucidators focused on intelligence, their true purpose was to suppress all faiths with extreme prejudice. Thus, the history of the Elucidator Order is one rife with murder and bloodshed. Extreme actions were taken in secret to wipe out dangerous occult sects, secret societies, and fanatical criminals. Even petty spiritualists such as witch doctors, shamans, and cunning folk were not above the scrutiny of the Elucidators. Given their careers and the level of data modeling they undertook, they considered any judgments made to be well-informed and based on solid statistical projections.



    The existence of these secret police was not known and discredited by their Iterator counterparts. But they existed. Their terrible actions were not only state-sanctioned but deemed the necessary, if bloody, cost of the Imperial Truths ascendancy.

=][=

On the Imperial Truth

The Imperial Truth is the name given to the secular ideology created by the Emperor of Mankind. It is a secular form of ancestor veneration that focuses on venerating exemplary humans, serving as a civil religion of the Imperium.



The Imperial Truth has its origins with the Emperor of Mankind. For thousands of years, the Emperor was a staunch secularist. Religion was a tool His enemies, the Chaos Gods, used to influence and feed on humanity. The Emperor changed his position after the Terran Unification Wars.



He realized that it was impossible to suppress faith. Nor can it exist in a incorruptible form. He concluded that humanity needed to be weaned off religion while satisfying that need. The Emperor created the Imperial Truth with the help of Uriah Olathaire, the Last Priest of Terra.

At the heart of the Imperial Truth is the Guardian Paragon system. Figures of extraordinary status, titled Guardian or Paragon, are revered but not worshipped. The idea is to have a god or saint equivalent viewed as a role model to follow and venerate.

At the top of this system are the Guardians, a title given by the Emperor. They have the power and duty to serve humanity in near perpetuity. Malcador, Uriah, and the Primarchs are Guardians. They form a secular pantheon with the Emperor as a human godhead.

Under the Guardians are the Paragons. Humans prove themselves paragons of the values the Imperium embraces. For example, the Nipponese scholar and statesperson Sugawara no Michizane became a Paragon of learning. These figures are not to be worshipped but used as an example and serve as a saint equivalent.

A school could serve as a shrine to Michizane. The closest modern equivalent would be Catholic hospitals dedicated to a particular saint. The goal for Paragon Shrines is to remove the religious part and have it be secular institutes dedicated to that Paragon.

The chief aim of this pseudo-worship exemplar humans being is to the worship and devotion to the human spirit.