I was luckily enough to recently read the first of Isaac Asimov's Foundation books, and with projects being a large jumble of things I found myself kit bashing a Tech-Priest Enginseer. Thinking about the Ad-Mech a few similarities in the stories began to click and gave me a different appreciation of the them.
Although fair warning, I am not a black library reader or wiki editor, so my background knowledge isnt encyclopedic in scope. This is merely the hypothetical rambling of a sci-fi fan and general nerd.
Although fair warning, I am not a black library reader or wiki editor, so my background knowledge isnt encyclopedic in scope. This is merely the hypothetical rambling of a sci-fi fan and general nerd.
At first glance the Adeptus Mechanicus will appear as half machines with numerous mechanical attachments, serving as a sort of engineer and smith caste in empire of the 40th millennium.
Where they get interesting to me, is in how plausible the story of the Foundation would be as an origin story.
The story of Foundation starts with a galaxy-spanning empire in the middle of a golden age, however things go badly and the entire thing crumbles, reverting to barony and petty feudalism leaving especially smaller worlds to fend for themselves or be pillaged or annexed. In this now leaderless small world is left with nuclear power as well as the knowledge and capacity to use, construct and design atom-powered machinery. This is a huge leg-up, as many other worlds have regressed to fossil fuels. This becomes the saving grace of the small colony, for they have something the outside want, but also something they are too reluctant to take by force.
So trade gets initiated to feed the growing infrastructure on the world. But having savvy leaders, the people of the Foundation do not give up their secrets freely. For once their enemies can produce atomic weapons, what chance do they really have? No instead they intentionally cloak their construction and maintenance in superstitious dogma and unnecessary rituals. So while their neighbors now have much of the same technology they are in a state of simply using it, sure everyone can figure out what the part is the trigger and which way to point the gun. But when it comes to repairing them, fixing a broken turbine or doing something so simple as rebooting a computer they can do nothing but to light candles and offer prayers until a certified "priest" arrives to sort it out.
Could this be the same for the so-called Machine Spirit in Warhammer 40k? A superstitious veil meant to obscure the use and maintenance of simple equipment to the layman. For me atleast it clears up the meaning of their purity seals and relic weaponry. If sound metallurgy, engineering and robotics aren't a value the average person can measure the worth of their equipment in, then they are left with superstition. Because if these masterfully engineered armours and weapons are seen through the eyes of the uninitiated, then what are they but actual divine tools, annointed by holymen and blessed by their gods.
The story of Foundation starts with a galaxy-spanning empire in the middle of a golden age, however things go badly and the entire thing crumbles, reverting to barony and petty feudalism leaving especially smaller worlds to fend for themselves or be pillaged or annexed. In this now leaderless small world is left with nuclear power as well as the knowledge and capacity to use, construct and design atom-powered machinery. This is a huge leg-up, as many other worlds have regressed to fossil fuels. This becomes the saving grace of the small colony, for they have something the outside want, but also something they are too reluctant to take by force.
So trade gets initiated to feed the growing infrastructure on the world. But having savvy leaders, the people of the Foundation do not give up their secrets freely. For once their enemies can produce atomic weapons, what chance do they really have? No instead they intentionally cloak their construction and maintenance in superstitious dogma and unnecessary rituals. So while their neighbors now have much of the same technology they are in a state of simply using it, sure everyone can figure out what the part is the trigger and which way to point the gun. But when it comes to repairing them, fixing a broken turbine or doing something so simple as rebooting a computer they can do nothing but to light candles and offer prayers until a certified "priest" arrives to sort it out.
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