Warpsurges

“Rogue Traders once nicknamed the Caligari Sector “The Beast with a Thousand Eyes”, and the name stuck – not surprisingly, since it’s an accurate description of both the nature of the Immaterium in this vast region and the huge number of dangerous areas where the unwary might find doom. The Sector is plagued by fierce Warpsurges, which are slightly different manifestations of the dreaded Warp Storms. These are unique to the Caligari Sector for reasons that still haven’t been answered despite the fervent research of the Navigator Guilds and the dedicated Adeptus Mechanicus groups in the local systems.

Warpsurges, as their name implies, are relatively small Warp Storms, but they appear frequently, mostly without any warning and they can last for an indeterminable amount of time. These surges are always confined to specific Warp-routes: they will cut off systems, in extreme cases even a large chunk of a subsector, but they will never engulf the whole sector. Warpsurges sometimes disappear in mere days, but occasionally they linger for decades or even longer. There are also unique regions in the Sector, which are prone to the manifestations of Warpsurges – these are the so-called “storm zones” –, while there are areas where the Warp always remains untainted. Obviously these safe regions became the hubs of Imperial presence over the millennia. It also means that a huge number of systems get cut off from the Imperium regularly, occasionally for  a substantial amount of time, which affects the progress on the planets which frequently become the hotbed for heretic cults and also attract unwanted attention.

All in all, the Warpsurges of the Caligari Sector made this region the ideal hunting ground for the Inquisition: there are simply too many backwater worlds with various twisted interpretations of the Imperial Creed, not to mention the cut-off systems left unattended for centuries, ripe for Chaos infestation and heresy – plenty of work to do in the name of the God-Emperor.”