Ixaniad Sector pt 4: History
While the Calyx Expanse was but a line on the map, Ixaniad was already an Imperial sector. Founded long ago, it was one of many regions won during the Great Crusade but ‘lost’ in the immediate aftermath of the Horus Heresy. It was here that men and women fought valiantly to eke out an existence back in the days when Mind Eaters and other fell xenos still prowled the stars. Ichabarr often claims lineage from the early colonies of humanity, but its distance from Holy Terra makes this assertion fanciful – though admittedly, it is also impossible to disprove.
Only one record remains from this early period; the Aegisine War, whereby a human separatist faction known as the Hecuban Conformity was forced to surrender, eventually becoming an integral part of the Mandragora Subsector. The region was one of those conquered by Vatale Gerron Terentius and suffered heavily from the war that followed his failed rebellion against the Imperium.
Had today’s scholars knowledge of its existence, perhaps some would also speak of the ancient Hellion Sector – a realm now thought engulfed by the Warp Storms on the trailing edge of the sector. Those that do know tales of the distant past have shown no intention of disclosing it and it is likely that the relevant sector authorities would prefer such secrets remain lost to time and space.
The precise date of Ixaniad Sector’s return to the Imperial fold is not known, nor is its precise alignment within that conflict. However, it is likely that given its location, the sector kept more or less kept to itself. While remembrancer records mostly claim staunch loyalty (as they would), there were many places that chose to branch off on their own after the Emperor’s near-death. The Great Crusade may have conquered many worlds beyond the sector, but with its collapse came a great tide of xenos invasions to reclaim much of what was lost.
By the time the first attempts were made to retake the area now known as the Calixis Sector in the 36th Milennium, Ixaniad already possessed its collection of nobles and sycophants and had remained vigilant against rimward incursions for millennia. It was from here that much of Calixis was taken through the Angevin Crusade, though at a significant cost. Much of the lore of these times is shrouded in mystery but some details are remembered by those knowledgeable in the region’s lore. There were fourteen great and noble families that held power after the wars against heretics and daemons following the Horus Heresy.
Through force of arms or perhaps some more sinister means, they expelled the Xenos and Chaos cults that took advantage of the end of the Great Crusade and built up great fortresses along the sector’s northern border. From this point until the Age of Apostacy, the sector was self-governed (for all intents and purposes) by a council of the Houses, each ruling in turn, with a single representative for the worlds that managed to retain their independence during its sporadic and brutal inter-house wars.
Conquest and Consolidation
Eventually, the period of conquest and plunder of the current Calixis Sector began. During this time, money was often brought back into the Sector, feeding the wealth of the landed gentry, even as its populace dwindled from mass migration and increasing tithes. It was in this period that the Meratis Settlement was established – the region that would later become the epicentre of the Meratech Clans. The Angevin Crusade brought with it a second wave of plunder and war, though this time, most of the funds expended in producing weapons for the Imperium in this sector.
High Admiral Vaakkon’s contribution to the Crusade from Ixaniad was crucial to its success but no sooner had the war been won when Orks and Chaos descended upon the region. What was previously thought a one-time expense became a regular payment to the Calixis worlds on top of existing Imperial Tithes to keep the Imperium’s newly-won borders secure As the Imperial grasp on the region strengthened, this became reduced, but the people of Calixis have ever since then considered themselves deserving of support from a sector they claim to protect.
Remaining quiet during Drusus’ Crusades, Ixaniad continued to find itself embroiled in internal strife as others shouldered the weight of its former external concerns. The influx of migrants into Calixis from further afield resulted in trade increasing on worlds lying on the major warp routes out of the sector, but also diluted the power and control Ixaniad once had on regional trade, as more and more people began routing their vessels through Scarus Sector instead. With imbalances in power and drained resources came squabbling and bitter disputes, with revenge plots sometimes spanning centuries as each House sought prominence above all others. Those vulnerable to these shadow wars that could soon fled, boosting the population of the Meratis Settlement and the newly-won Calixis Sector.
Most recently, the Ixaniad Sector has gained something of a fell reputation. Firstly, there was the emergence of heretical factions both within the Inquisition and the Mechanicus, which later spread to neighbouring regions and helped instigate the brutal Meritech Wars, an incident that wiped out the previously promising Merates Cluster.
Second, a succession crisis within the Crassan Subsector led to the simmering tensions between noble houses to boil over for the first time in centuries, resulting in a bloody civil war that soon expanded into the Ptolemaic Reach. Known as the Slighting Wars, they were eventually ended by a combination of Inquisitorial purge and agreements reached between the houses to end it.
Most recently, the Mandragora Subsector again fell prey to rebellion and heretics, leading to the first and second Aegisine Crusades to restore it, amidst a series of warp storms emanating from the Aegisine Tempest. War reportedly rages on Gladius Prime due to the activation of Necron artefacts, but for the Sector as a whole, it is hoped that the darkest days have already passed.
