Scholastia Psykana
"Beware the insidious temptation of power. Fires that smite your enemies can soon grow and turn on those you would protect."
| |
| Adeptus Astra Telepathica symbol | |
| Parent Agency: | Adeptus Astra Telepathica |
| Headquarters: | Terra |
| Leader: | Lord Prefector (a facility's leader)[7a] |
| Armed Forces: | Black Sentinels[7a] |
| Established: | |
The Scholastia Psykana, also known as the Scholastica Psykana,[2a] is the Imperial organisation that trains and sanctions Imperial psykers.[4a][4b]
Overview
The Scholastica Psykana is one of two divisions of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, the other being the League of Black Ships. The Scholastia Psykana reports directly to the Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica.[1] It is a vast teaching institution with secret locations hidden across the Imperium that are all devoted to the training of young psykers to develop and control their powers, forging them into instruments of the God-Emperor's will.[7b] Psyker recruits are drawn from the tithes collected by the Black Ships; others are handed over by the Inquisition, the Adeptus Arbites, or other channels.[1]
The future of each psyker acolyte depends on their abilities and character. Initial evaluation divides the levy into several groups depending on their innate psychic power, character, and willingness to learn. The youngest are preferred by the Scholastia Psykana, as these are easiest to train and indoctrinate. It is invariably those recruited as children that are given further training to fill important positions in the Imperium (one well known example is the Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor).[1]
Those deemed weak in character or psychic power, too dangerous, or too old are instead sacrificed to the Emperor, their souls leeched from their bodies to sustain the Father of Mankind and power the Astronomican.[1] It also fairly common for acolytes to murder each other and form gangs during their stay. The Black Sentinels patrol the learning facilities, acting with extreme prejudice and brutality, much like the Enforcers of a hive city. Both prison jailers and guardians, the Black Sentinels will readily beat a psyker acolyte to death for the smallest infraction or insult - their specialised black armour granting immunity warp abilities and their equipment tailored to harm and detain their prisoners. The teachers who train the acolytes are known as prefectors.[7a][7b] During a new psyker's first year at the Scholastia, it is just as likely that they will be killed by their training as it is they will be disposed of by a prefector's hand or killed by the Black Sentinels.[7b]
Those psykers who graduate from the Scholastica Psykana tend to look out for one another. Few know the prices paid when going through the Scholastia Psykana's mysterious trials and training.[2a] One discipline that must be mastered is that of mind protection. Those that survive the battery of tests and trials to become a sanctioned psyker of the Imperium often remain haunted by what they have seen looking back at them from the hungry Warp. Those that fail to learn the discipline of mind protection are destined to become fodder for the Golden Throne.[2c]
Training
The teachings and training processes of the Scholastica Psykana can vary depending on the sector or even planet. However, the goal remains universal; to train dutiful psykers to serve the Imperium.[3c] Sometimes Scholastica Psykana training occurs on the Black Ships they were captured and assessed. Those deemed salvageable are taken to a Scholastia Psykana facility.[3d] Many simply assume they are being trained on Terra, as many in the Imperium assume. Psyker acolytes training at a Scholastia facility almost never see the sky or stars over the course of their training, so wouldn't be able to tell.[7b] Some are indeed taken to Terra. Most psykers enter the doors of the Scholastica daily, but many will never leave. A large proportion die an agonising death in their facilities, either alone or during their training, or due to a swift execution if their powers overcome them.[6]
The first ranking of pskyers (referred to as primary psykers) are those whose powers and strength of character are sufficient to resist possession and daemonic corruption under normal circumstances, and are chosen to serve the Imperium in the highest capacities. After receiving five years of basic training at the Scholastia, they are sent for further training and service in another Imperial organisation depending on where their abilities are judged best suited. The very young may be indoctrinated into the Space Marines as Librarians, some may enter the Imperial Guard to begin their training as battle-psykers, and the most talented may become Inquisitors or Grey Knights.[1]
The majority of discovered psykers form the second ranking of psykers. They are trained for service as Astropaths (i.e. astro-telepaths), psykers specialised in interstellar communication, able to send and receive telepathic messages over vast distances. The Astropaths perform one of the vital tasks in the Imperium; psychic communications is the only practical means of communications in the galaxy-spanning Imperium. Some primary and secondary ranking psykers are given over to the Adeptus Astronomica, a smaller organisation in which the psychic recruits continue their training.[1]
Techniques
It is a common misconception in the Imperium that psykers harness their powers by ritual hand gestures. This is untrue as a psyker's power comes from their mind. However, psykers are taught physical gestures that act as a ritual aid to focus and center one's mind.[7c] Alongside meditations, psykers are also trained how to resist psychic assaults on their mind.[7d]
Meditations
- The First Meditation: the Meditation of Silence, the Meditation of Self, the Meditation of the God-Emperor’s Grace. Before a nascent psyker can learn to understand the raging power within them, let alone the God-Emperor’s will for its use, they need to learn simply to observe.[7a]
- The Third Meditation: The psyker focuses on how the light of the Emperor reaches every corner of the Galaxy, searching for a sense of peace. They look for the burning pillar of light that is the Astronomican, and listen for the screaming song of ten thousand tortured souls.[7d]
Quotes
| Speaker | Quote | Source |
| Scholastia Psykana saying | Through the needle's eye, I live or die. | [5] |
| Traditional meditation of the Scholastica Psykana | Power Corrupts? | [3b] |
| Scholastica Psykana aphorism | When you stare into the warp, the warp stares back into you. | [3a] |
| Lady Vorensis, Discipline Master at the Scholastica Psykana M39 |
"Ignore the voices that call to you, spinning tales of eldritch wonders. To listen is to be damned." | [2b] |
| Ecclesiarch Dariya Ule, Lord Prefector of the Scholastica Psykana |
There is a common misconception. Even among the... gifted, that the energies of the empyrean differ in aspect. That the underlying sources of power behind the miracles of the blessed saints and the perverse ravages of heretics and daemons must somehow be inherently, morally separate. Like water from a cistern, power drawn from one focality of the immaterium will sustain and enliven, some believe, while that pulled from another might poison and corrupt. Entire cults and cabals revolve around such misguided tenets, determined – often with obscene focus of purpose – to find “pure” wells from which they might draw without risk.
Even within the scholastica, acolyte, these beliefs are not entirely unheard of, though I have worked tirelessly to suppress such nonsense as heresy. There are no safe havens within the torrent of the warp, acolyte, because there are no incorruptible fragments of the human soul. The immaterium, like all other realms of the universe, holds no innate spiritual predilections at all, and the raw, Chaotic energy of the empyrean can be no more hallowed nor corrupt than a given sea wave or breeze. And yet, unlike the ocean or sky, the fabric of the immaterium is inevitably, inextricably shaped by the moral composure of the souls that access it. And while the source substance might be spiritually indifferent, the resulting symbiosis certainly is not. In the best of cases, the empyrean, accessed by a mind resting at peace within the Emperor’s will, produces wonders unbelievable to behold. In the worst, when given to a mind under torment, that same power takes on another flavour entirely. |
[7a] |
See also
Sources
- 1: Codex Imperialis (Background Book), pgs. 36-37
- 2: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide:
- 3: Dark Heresy: Core Rulebook:
- 4: Dark Heresy: Ascension:
- 5: Blackstone Fortress (Novel), Before
- 6: Deathwatch: Core Rulebook, pg. 181
- 7: Witchbringer (Novel):
