Mars’s forge cities are the industrial heart of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the tech-priesthood that keeps the Imperium running. The whole planet is a single forge world, and it’s the greatest store of technical knowledge humanity still has.
What Mars’s forge cities actually are
Mars is the fourth planet of the Sol system and the principal forge world of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It’s their headquarters, their holy ground, and their biggest factory complex all at once.
The surface isn’t one city so much as a sprawl of forge cities, temple-workshops, and manufactorums joined together. Void-lifts haul trillions of tons of cargo up to orbiting manufactorums and back down again every day.
It’s also the Segmentum fortress for Segmentum Solar, and home port to Battlefleet Solar, the mightiest fleet the Imperium has.
Who lives there, and who rules
Martian society is heavily stratified. At the bottom are unaugmented human menials doing simple labour in enormous numbers. Most of them hope to climb by joining the Skitarii, which earns them their first bionics.
Above the menials and soldiers sit the tech-priests, and above everyone sits the Fabricator-General. The ruling body is the Synod of Mars, also called the Great Synod, which governs the forge world and the wider Cult Mechanicus.
Natives tend to be taller than the human baseline, with delicate bones lengthened by millennia of low gravity. That goes for vat-born Martians too.
Why Mars matters so much
Mars is the linchpin of the Mechanicus and the Imperium’s greatest repository of technical knowledge. Lose it and the Imperium loses the machinery that holds it together.
It’s also a major military asset in its own right. Several Titan Legions call Mars home, including the Legio Ignatum.
- Forge world and Mechanicus headquarters
- Home of Battlefleet Solar and the Segmentum Solar fortress
- Base of several Titan Legions, including Legio Ignatum
- Ruled by the Fabricator-General through the Synod of Mars
- Population around 20 billion
A short history
Mars was the first planet humans terraformed, back in the early 22nd century. It grew into the first hive world and a centre of industry and science, and during the Dark Age of Technology Mars and Earth coexisted peacefully.
That changed in the Age of Strife, and the Mechanicum’s later union with the Imperium shaped everything that followed. After the Horus Heresy, Mars stayed the Mechanicus heartland it is in the 41st millennium.
Rumours and oddities
There’s a persistent rumour that the C’tan known as the Void Dragon sleeps deep under the Martian surface. Another claims Ferrus Manus survived Isstvan V and lives on Mars, which the Iron Hands flatly reject.
Neither is confirmed. Treat both as in-universe gossip rather than established fact.
Key facts
- Mars is the fourth planet of the Sol system and the Adeptus Mechanicus’s principal forge world.
- It’s ruled by the Fabricator-General through the Synod of Mars.
- Population is roughly 20 billion, with a strict hierarchy of menials, Skitarii, and tech-priests.
- It hosts Battlefleet Solar and serves as the Segmentum Solar fortress.
- Several Titan Legions are based there, including Legio Ignatum.
FAQ
Is Mars a forge world or a hive world?
It’s classified as a forge world, the principal one of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It was humanity’s first hive world historically, but its current status is forge world.
Who rules Mars’s forge cities?
The Fabricator-General leads, with the Synod of Mars (the Great Synod) as the ruling body over the forge world and the wider Cult Mechanicus.
How many people live on Mars?
Sources put the population at around 20 billion, split between unaugmented menials, Skitarii, and the tech-priest order above them.