High orbital view of Scintilla and her two moons

Scintilla is the jewel in the Calixian crown. It is the second most populous planet in the sector and by far the most productive - although it has only half the population of Malif, it has twice that planet's Gross Planetary Product. Much of this GPP can of course be traced to Scintilla's position as sub-sector and sector capital, but there is still a marked difference - on Scintilla you find none of Malfi's overcrowded hab-ledges where unemployment rates approach near-total levels and people only survive on government vouchers and idle their days away with obscura and petty crime. You'll find plenty of poor Scintillans of course, but they have a planetary heritage of industry and commerce that infuses all levels of society, even down to the lowest layers of the underhive. They also have a deep-seated belief that money can buy anything - Scintilla is one of the most thoroughly corrupt worlds in the Calixis sector. Not corrupt in an entirely wicked sort of way, but corrupt in the sense that if you want something done you should be prepared to pay for it in cash or favors.

Scintilla was, and still is to a certain degree, a temperate planet with near-standard gravity and a breathable atmosphere. Thousands of years of human exploitation has left its mark, however, and the planet's biosphere has been decimated and climate has taken a turn for the worse. The situation has become aggravated under the Imperium - the past millennium has seen nearly a hundred-fold increase in population and an even higher rate of resource consumption...with resultant waste and pollution. The air remains breathable, except for the heavily polluted industrial areas within Hive Sibellus (but here the hab-blocks are sealed from the sky so it's not a problem for the inhabitants).

Planetary history: Scintilla has a settlement that dates back to the Dark Age of Technology. According to Vern it was probably one of those rare garden worlds that humans could colonize with only minor effort - no terraforming and no genetic adaptations required.  Only the world's remote location prevented it from becoming a major colony - by the time it was discovered, classified and settled the main drive to claim new worlds was winding down, and Scintilla received only a small number of settlers. The main site of the original colony was in the area of the now-abandoned Hive Tenebra, with resource extraction being conducted at distant sites rich with raw materials (it is believed that Ambulon, the Walking City, is an artifact from that time).

It is likely that Scintilla's low overall population and abundant resources (in comparison to its small population) enabled it to survive the Age of Strife relatively intact. The Inquisition archives indicate that Scintilla suffered few major psychic incursions during that period; what few incidents took place were dealt with before they could escalate. Steps were also taken by Scintillan scientist to weed out those bloodlines that seemed most prone to this new psychic madness - even to this day the Scintillan population scores somewhat below the average for psychic potential, a legacy of the purges undertaken during the Age of Strife.

Planetray map of Scintilla; Hive Sibellus covers most of the central part of the northern continent

Hive Sibellus: Hive Sibellus is the administrative and political capital (but not the religious or commerical one - that honor belongs to Hive Tarsus) not only of Scintilla, but the Golgenna Reach sub-sector and the Calixis sector. Sibellus was settled by the exodites from Hive Tenebra 'several thousand years ago' - no details of the event are available to the public. Scintilla and Hive Sibellus became the capital of the newly appointed Sector Governor Drusus in 348.M39, due to a combination of central location, good warp routes, and excellent resource potential. Scintilla quickly attracted masses of immigrants, both Segmentum Solar settlers and hordes of Adeptus Terra servants. Today, fifteen centuries later, the small hive that rose along the shores of the ocean has been transformed into a mighty megapolis unmatched in Calixis Sector, except for on Malfi.

Unidentified hab-zone, Hive Sibellus

Hive Sibellus is located on the western coast of the northern continent, at the site where once a mighty river crossed the rich alluvial plains to empty into the sea. Now everything is covered by a mighty urban/industrial sprawl that stretches from Fort Gun/Fort Dusus in the northern mountains, east to Port New Hope, and all the way south past the equator and down to the last remaining tropical wilds on the northern continent. More than half of Scintilla's population live in Hive Sibellus - an aestimated 130 billion people. The highest population density can be found around the western bay area; here multi-layered hab/factorium levels spill across the ground like an iron blanket, while clusters of mighty hive-spires reach up for miles, piercing the smog-clouds to let their noble inhabitants have a taste of real sunlight. Most of the rest of 'hive' Sibellus is a sprawl, although there are lesser satellite hives scattered about (Port New Hope is the most important of those).

Hive Sibellus hosts two important structures - the Sector Governor's Lucid Palace (located offshore on a rocky island) and the Tricorn Palace - the three-spired fortress-complex of the Inquisition Calixis.

Hive Tarsus: Hive Tarsus is a relative newcomer, having been constructed almost entirely by Imperium engineers since the planet was returned to the fold. Its equatorial location was selected as the landing site for the first Imperial forces to reach the world since it would enable good communications with the liberation fleet in high geosynchronous orbit. A long and wide rift valley was selected as the site; facilities were sunk into the rocky walls of the valley and a huge lattice of columns and beams were built, spanning the length and breadth of the valley. The lattice was then filled by the largest logistical depot in Calixis sector, from which the later stages of the Crusade was supplied. Later it became a transshipment point for the expansion of Hive Sibellus - and other locations throughout Calixis sector.

Over time it gradually grew into a Hive of its own - current population is around 75 billion, or closer to 100 billion if sattelite hives are counted in. The lattice was greatly expanded upon, spilling over the edges of the valley and soaring up into the sky, creating a much more compact hive than Sibellus. The lattice layout is also quite unique, at least in Calixis Sector, giving Tarsus a very segmented feel - crossing from one segment or section to the next a traveler gets the feeling that he's entered an entirely new city. Tarsus also retains the position as the transshipment point of Calixis - although much of the actual transshipment takes place in orbit high above the hive, within the confines of the monumental orbital habitats that are counted as part of Hive Tarsus. Because of the commercial activity Tarsus has also become the financial center of Calixis - all the major banking houses have offices here, and it is here that the Administratum Tithe Office is located. Finally Tarsus is the religious capital of Calixis - it is here that the Sector Cardinal has his residence.

Geostationary orbital docks above Hive Tarsus

Hive Tenebra: Hive Tenebra is the old planetary capital and the site of the original colony. It lies in one of the last remaining tropical jungle areas on Scintilla, separated from Hive Tarsus by the great bulk of the Nilhiem Mountains. Hive Tenebra and its inhabitants survived the Age of Strife, thrived even, but something caused several billion people to abandon their homes thousand of years ago to settle on the far side of the planet (leading to the creation of Hive Sibellus). No records exist that give any account of the exodus or the reasons behind it (not records that Vern has access to anyway). Intrepid explorers sometimes mount expeditions to Tanebra (some with permissions from the Administratum, more without) from time to time, but there is little of value left there now - the exodites took most of their possessions with them and most of rest has been plundered long ago.

Gunmetallicus (Gunmetal City): Lying beyond the confines of the Sibellus sprawl lies the Hive known as 'Gunmetal City'. Built entirely within a volcanically active montain it is a small Hive of perhaps 2 billion inhabitants. The reason for its relative fame is the unprecendented productivity of its 'fanes' - in essence vast family-owned production companies utilizing highly trained and specialized serf workers. The fanes of Gunmetal City produces huge quantities of weapons and ammunition for export - it is no boast that Gunmetallicus weapons can be found on every world, in every city, outpost, station and spaceship throughout the sector.

Ambulon: Ambulon is known as the Walking City - it is said never to halt. It is a technological marvel that has somehow survived since the Dark Age of Technology. It is a colossal mechanical beast with multiple legs that slowly walk across the northern continent, searching for raw materials that can be turned into works of art or techno-arcane artifacts by its resident caste of tech-adepts and master craftsmen. Ambulon is so big that several hundred million people make their homes aboard the metal beast, all of which must somehow contribute to the running of the city, resource extraction, production, or trade. Those that fail to meet their quotas or maintain the stringent guild standards are thrown over the side of the city - a most fatal experience. It is believed that more walking cities existed in the distant past - the hulk of one can be found on the southern continent (it is the home of several barbarian tribes that fiercely resist any attempts to reclamate it).

Other sites: Scintilla is also home to several smaller hives scattered across the world, with populations ranging from a few hundred million and into the low billions. None are as important and noteworthy as Gunmetal City/Ambulon. There is also a number of barbarian tribes living in the wilderness areas, espeically on the southern continent. Some have been isolated for so long that they do not even know of the existence of the Imperium!

+++PLANETARY DATA+++

GALACTIC POSITION: 88/23/CS/SW.

CLASS: Hive World, Sub-Sector/Sector capital

SUBSECTOR: Golgenna.

SYSTEM: Scintillan system; regular system with G3 V primary, seven planetary bodies in nine orbits; 1. mined-out irradiated rocky core, 2. rocky asteroid belt (planetary debris), 3. Hive World, 4. interloper gas giant, 5. dispersed icy asteroid belt, 6-9 icy gas giants.

SATELLITES: Two moons; Sothus - restricted Navy mothball area, Lachesis - quarantined by the Inquisition. Massive orbital docks geostationary above Hive Tarsus. Extensive orbital facilities and L-point habitats.

POPULATION: 250,000,000,000.

PLANETARY GOVERNOR: Sector Governor Marius Hax.

ECONOMY: Sub-sector/Sector Capital. Commercial/financial nexus. Religious capital and primary pilgimage site. Gross Planetary Product tied into Sector-wide economy.

PRINCIPLE EXPORTS: Hi-tech goods, especially military hardware and civilian weapons. Exported sector-wide.

PRINCIPLE IMPORTS: Raw materials for the industry; Scintilla has limited natural resources remaining (except in certain areas such as Gunmetal City, and certain commodities like oil and natural gas). Sepheris Secundus is primary supplier of minerals.

Scintilla can feed it's population in an emergency, but typically relies on imports of food from the sector’s agri-worlds to meet the demands of the upper class and upper middle class. The noble class is an importer of exotics and luxuries from across the sector.

MILITARY FORCES: Scintilla has historically been the largest supplier of Guard Regiments in Calixis sector; they are know as being both well-equipped/trained and reliable/loyal. Since the need for Guardsmen has fluctuated wildly since the inception of the Calixis sector there is a tradition for bringing home Scintillan Guard regiments that are no longer actively fighting (it's generally cheaper and easier to maintain them close to the center of things). Here they form a pool of reserves (in 996.M41 there were no such reserve regiments) that can be called up on need or if they are nearing the end of the viable service life that can be dismissed  - with a government-paid pension rather than a frontier land grant if they so desire. Current major deployments include Protasia and Kulth, with another 9 Division-equivalents currently out-sector (believed to be reinforcing garrisons around the Eye of Terror).

Scintilla also has a large good-quality PDF force based around Hive Tarsus (where they are close to both the Department Munitiorum and the Navy). The primary PDF force numbers around 5 million service-men.  The Scintillan PDF has extensive blue sea and aerospace/orbital assets. All hives, Sibellus included, maintain second-line garrison forces as well (around 50 million troops). A third-line militia force composed of former servicemen can also be mustered (this has never happened for real).

The Navy maintains a sizable fleet in-system. There used to be a Green Knights Space Marine Strike Cruise on standby here, but it was replaced a century ago by a Navy/Stormtrooper Rapid Reaction Force. The Inquisition (though not very militant in Calixis sector) maintains a small fleet and Stormtrooper force here.

CONTACT WITH OTHER WORLDS: Major warp routes link Scintilla, Sepheris Secundus and Iocanthos, as well as to all surrounding sub-sectors. Secondary routes connect directly to a number of nearby systems.

Scintilla is one of the planets on the path of the legendary Chartist vessel the Misericord.