Gehenna

Containing three habitable planets, the Gehenna system is a jewel in the Mercia subsector.

Gehenna

This large world is largely temperate, with brisk storms and large icecaps caused by a swift rotation. Gravity is slightly over 1G, but the world is otherwise comfortable for human habitation. First colonised in M32, Gehenna has a long and cultured history, and is the birthplace of Marius von Marion, who rallied the Administratum of the sector during the Scribe Wars. The world was invaded by orks of the Blakk Kuttaz Goff tribe in mid-M39, and despite the heroic defiance of the Imperial Guard – including the Mercian Lancers and Lap'Lan Regulars – was lost to the Imperium in the conflict known as the Onslaught of Gehenna. Human resistance is beleived to have continued in the scrublands of the equator and the polar reaches until at least M40, but if these guerilla tactics ever proved successful in the long-term, no contact has since been made. The orks of the planet launch occasional sallies against Mercia Prime, and their piracy has proven a menace to shipping.

Lap'Lan

This ice-bound rock was famously described as 'hideous, craggy and useful for nothing more than forgetting' by Rear-Admiral de Borg. The only permanent human habitation is a penal colony, and the wicked winds scourge the shifting iceflows of this snow-bound world unmercifully. The planet has a faintly unpleasant aura, and rumours of warp-taint have long been associated with it, culminating in the ambush of Captain Mabaloso's White Consuls during a rescue mission for a crashed shuttle – events that proved to be the first shifting rocks in the avalanche that was the Onslaught of Gehenna.

Mercia Prime

A civilised world, Mercia Prime provides a strong Imperial presence in the sector, and it has grown in influence since the loss of Gehenna. Mercia Prime is the anchorpoint for Battlefleet Mercia, and guards the safe passageways into and out of the subsector.