The Noctis Aeterna, also called the Blackness, was the period of galactic darkness that followed the birth of the Great Rift at the end of the 41st Millennium. With the Astronomican’s light blocked and astropathy dead, the Imperium was cut into isolated pockets, and Chaos poured through the gaps.
What caused it
When the Great Rift tore across the galaxy, it didn’t just split the Imperium in half. It drowned the Warp in turbulence, which blocked the Astronomican’s beam and made astropathic messages impossible to send or receive.
Without the Astronomican, Navigators couldn’t steer safely and fleets couldn’t coordinate. Warp travel turned into a gamble, and many ships simply never arrived.
What happened during the darkness
Worlds went dark one by one. Some held out, some fell to riots and cult uprisings, and some were simply never heard from again. Daemonic legions, Chaos Space Marines and their cultist allies rode the storm into realspace and hit whatever they could reach.
The length of the blackout varied wildly. On Terra it lasted thirty-three days, ending in a daemonic assault on the Imperial Palace. Elsewhere it ran for months, and some regions may never have fully emerged from it.
- The Battle of Lion’s Gate, fought on Terra itself.
- The Siege of The Rock.
- The Legion of the Damned appearing on over a hundred worlds, including Baal and Armageddon.
- The White Consuls’ homeworld of Sabatine devastated, though the Chapter survived.
- The Sky Sentinels wiped out by the Thousand Sons under Magnus the Red.
- Chaos forces attacking every Eldar craftworld, with two craftworlds unaccounted for.
The cost
The Imperium paid for the Noctis Aeterna with blood and silence. Slightly under half of the thousand Space Marine Chapters were unaccounted for, and at least twelve Chapter homeworlds were destroyed during the darkness and the campaigns that followed.
Time itself got strange. In some regions it slowed, in others it sped up, which is part of why modern Imperial records are so hard to date accurately.
| Effect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Astronomican | Blocked; thirty-three days of disruption on Terra |
| Astropathy | Rendered impossible across the Imperium |
| Warp travel | Extremely hazardous due to massive Warp storms |
| Space Marine Chapters | Just under half unaccounted for |
| Chapter homeworlds | At least twelve destroyed |
How it ended
The Warp eventually calmed enough for communications to be re-established in some regions and for Warp travel to become less suicidal. The Indomitus Crusade did the rest, pushing back the Chaos tide and reconnecting scattered worlds to Terra.
It wasn’t a clean recovery. The Imperium that emerged was smaller, more paranoid, and split by the Great Rift. But the worst of the darkness passed.
Key facts
- The Noctis Aeterna followed the formation of the Great Rift at the end of the 41st Millennium.
- It’s also called the Blackness, the Great Blackness, or the Days of Blindness.
- The Astronomican was blocked and astropathy became impossible, cutting off Imperial worlds from each other.
- On Terra it lasted thirty-three days and ended with a daemonic assault on the Imperial Palace.
- Just under half of the thousand Space Marine Chapters were unaccounted for afterwards.
- The Indomitus Crusade helped restore order once the Warp calmed.
FAQ
How long did the Noctis Aeterna last?
It varied by world. On Terra the Astronomican was disrupted for thirty-three days, while other planets endured days, months, or possibly longer. Some regions may still be affected.
What’s the difference between the Noctis Aeterna and the Great Rift?
The Great Rift is the physical Warp scar splitting the galaxy. The Noctis Aeterna is the period of darkness and isolation that followed its creation, caused by the Rift’s disruption of the Astronomican and the Warp.
Did the Noctis Aeterna end?
Largely, yes. The Warp eventually settled enough for communication and travel to resume in many regions, and the Indomitus Crusade restored a measure of order. Some areas, though, never fully recovered.