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File:Seeken.png|[[Seeken]], Mercenary Navigator{{Fn|16d}}
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====Origin====
[[Image:Rogue Trader Shedding Light - Navigator.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Navigator{{Fn|53}}]]
The origins of the Navigator gene are shrouded in mystery and rumour,{{Fn|2f}}{{Fn|5}} even among Navigators themselves,{{Fn|6}} but firmly placed within the [[Dark Age of Technology]];{{Fn|2f}}{{Fn|5}} various sources date their introduction to [[M10]],{{Fn|7}} [[M15]],{{Fn|5}} [[M19]],{{Fn|8b}}{{Fn|68}} or [[M22]],{{Fn|9}}{{Fn|21b}} in most sources predating the re-emergence of [[psyker]]s in Mankind.{{Fn|5}}{{Fn|8b}}{{Fn|Note 1}} It is unknown whether they evolved on their own, or were manufactured by genetic engineering;{{Fn|2f}}{{Fn|10c}} even if the consensus pointed to the latter,{{Fn|7}}{{Fn|11}}{{Fn|68}} either would appear to either coincide with{{Fn|68}} or be a response to Mankind’s need to perfect [[Warp travel]].{{Fn|2f}} It is of note that in M41 many held a belief that Navigator gene originated from the time just before [[the Great Crusade]] which took place between late [[M30]] and early [[M31]], and geneticist responsible for the Navigator-Gene was [[The Emperorof Emperor of Mankind]] himself,{{Fn|2f}} developed through centuries of secret work.{{Fn|68}} Indeed, the first Navigators belonged to him and were under his protection.{{Fn|68}} Some Ordos amongst the [[Inquisition|Holy Inquisition]] suspect that the ancient stasis vaults beneath the mansions of the [[Navigator's Quarter]] on [[Terra|Holy Terra]] contain records of the true origin of the Navigator gene.{{Fn|3e}}
====Navigator Houses====
The arranged marriages between Houses are influenced by the webs of inter-House politics. Even those married off to another House, taking on their name, will more than likely return to their birth-House to be interred in their bloodline's crypts. Other Navigators might make a formal announcement renouncing their former house, fully embracing the one they married into in order to abandon a failing House they were born into.{{Fn|69}}
Few Navigators are ever bred easily, and their children are incredibly precious commodities — being the currency with which to purchase the future and prosperity of their House. After a century or two of service, a Navigator will typically be called back to their House's holdings to be married off — being shuttled off for pairing in order to breed for the good of their Paternova's financial empire.{{Fn|1a}} The selection of these pairing pairings can be end up being very carefully chosen, taking into account any number of various factors such as genetics of their bloodlines, political manoeuvring, business deals or transactions, alliances between Houses,{{Fn|1a}}{{Fn|69}} even consulting [[Imperial Tarot]] readings,{{Fn|69}} all with the goal of maximising the profit or profits, genetics , and overall success of the noble House.{{Fn|1a}}
===Biology===
The Navigators are different from other [[Human]]s in a number of ways: they posses possess a superior lifespan (even without [[juvenat]] treatments one can easily live up to around three or four hundred years),{{Fn|7}} they are never born as [[Psyker]]s (although classified as psykers in some instances, they can't possess any standard psionic gift, inherently lacking any [[The Assignment|psy rating]]). However , the the most distinctive and primary trait of a Navigator is their pineal eye, also known as their [[Warp Eye]], nested in a socket on their forehead.{{Fn|3a}} Homo navigo are a borderline sub-species of Homo sapiens.{{Fn|1a}}
[[Image:Dark Heresy The Lathe Worlds - Navigator's skull crossection .jpg|thumb|right|250px|Navigator's skull crossection, showing how the pineal eye connects to the brain{{Fn|52}}]]
While this third eye perfectly fills the sensory function as either of his normal eyes do, it is also able to open a miniscule [[Warp gate]] within itself from which stems all the Navigator’s powers. Although Navigators may open their third eye in an unremarkable way, the term “fully open” is used to describe the state required for its more extraordinary application. During the opening of this gate, a Navigator is able to glimpse the Empyrean in its true state,{{Fn|2f}} although their mind converts this image to a more mundane approximation; only with age does this comforting illusion recede, leaving apparent the true horror of the [[Warp]].{{Fn|2b}} Nonetheless, the ability to observe the Warp is crucial in their function as navigational officers, allowing them uniquely to have some semblance of assurance of their position within it.{{Fn|2f}} Indeed, it is the third eye that sets them as a race apart: where mankind was trapped within the cycle of the [[Warp]], feeding it until thier their destruction, with their third eye the Navigators gaze upon the insanity of the warp itself without fear, read it's movements, hear its infinite echoes and endless preterbationsperturbations, and in effect break the cycle. Though their resistance to [[Chaos]] is not perfect, and thousands of years of [[Warp Exposure]] has taken a toll.{{Fn|68}}
While the eye always appears within a genetically pure newborn, in some cases it is located deep within the skull, requiring trepanning surgery and/or a cybernetic shutter for it to be brought to its proper spot. These surgeries commonly occur during a Navigator's adolescence.{{Fn|2f}} If, even with both of the parents being Navigators, a newborn has his Navigator Gene dormant, and no Third Eye to speak of, they are called a [[Typhlotic]]. Even if the child is a barren fruit of the line, they aren't known to be harmed, and are kept around, although the specifics of their role in the house are unknown.{{Fn|13b}} Notwithstanding the Navigators' toleration of their unfortunate typhlotic kinfolk, the appearance of them within a lineage is considered a threat to the house's survival. Across their history there were a few known houses who slowly but surely lost the ability to produce purestrain genestock, and at some point not even spending their whole fortune on [[bloodbroker]]s and unsound marriage arrangements is able to save the house from falling back into baseline Humanity, without any such useful abilities as their ancestors possessed.{{Fn|3f}} The Navigator Gene is easily lost through its recessive nature, and can only be saved for future generations through intermarriage. It is lost when bred with ordinary humans.{{Fn|7}}{{Fn|10c}}
Due to unspecified reasons Navigators normally keep their Third Eye hidden, covered with a bandana or any other decorative piece.{{Fn|7}} It is noted on one occasion that a Navigator only kept her Third Eye hidden when outside the safe haven of the spaceship, freely unveiling it while stepping aboard, with the notion of doing so only speculated by her peers to come with familiarity of this environment.{{Fn|14a}} In stark contrast, Navigators of the [[Elutrian Confederacy]] proudly flaunt their third eye, instead covering their mundane eyes, considering them to be of no importance to their status.{{Fn|3l}} While the most prominent of the Eye's powers is known to be extremely lethal, it is under full conscious control of the Navigator, being utterly harmless on its own without the Navigator's decision to otherwise be.{{Fn|2f}} When the Navigator dies, with their third eye inner warp gate open, the gate is maintained for an indefinite time, although whether natural decay factors in is unknown and extracted Warp Eyes can become a weapon in the hands of those careful of its danger.{{Fn|45}} Psychically inclined individuals however can still sense the eye even if covered, although no one but the most powerful of psykers notes the effect,{{Fn|15}} and most baseline humans often doubt the existence of this mythical eye, until in a rare occurrence they are given a chance to see it.{{Fn|7}} It however is often met with disappointment as it ends up being an unimpressive peculiarity,{{Fn|14a}} if not a reason to brand and detest them as a mutant on the first occasion of noticing the eye.{{Fn|14c}}
While rare it isn't impossible for a [[Chapter|Space Marine chapter ]] to make a Navigator into a full-fledged Marine, an idea not foreign to Ultramarines, who denoted one of their Navigators as too old to undergo the full initiation.{{Fn|44}} Uniquelly Uniquely the [[White Scars]] Space Marines chapter is noted for possessing high numbers of Navigators turned into full brethren. Those These Navigator Space Marines are rarely committed to battle.{{Fn|16c}}
====The Curse of the Misborn====
Wider Imperial society generally shuns the [[abhuman]]s within their midst. While it's true that many are able to find their niche outside the scornful gaze of common men, the Navigators alone enjoy not only acceptance (albeit often begrudged), but nigh universal wealth among the [[mutant]]s of any kind.{{Fn|4b}} Many factions, political, commercial and private, strive to secure a deal with one of the noble houses of Navis Nobilite.{{Fn|2e}} Some are fortunate enough to enjoy complex bonds of honour, debts and patronage, like the [[Imperial Navy]] or naval aristocracies.{{Fn|20b}} [[Rogue Trader]] dynasties are often tied for generations to specific Navigator dynasties, creating lasting bonds of familiarity.{{Fn|12d}} Even if [[Warp Travel|Warp travel]] is vaguely possible without Navigators,{{Fn|2l}} their contracts are often one of the most valuable commodities after the spaceship, and a few mercantile powers of [[Imperial Commercia]] are known to maintain relations with some Nobilite families.{{Fn|2e}}
Due to their status as a mutant, many Navigators lead sheltered lives, which their high status can allow.{{Fn|20a}} While some commoners react with hostility to the presence of Navigators,{{Fn|14c}} others respond either with amusement{{Fn|12c}} or indifference. This uncertainty leads many Navigators to try to hide their nature from the public,{{Fn|14a}} and even if the Imperium might tolerate them, those who don't are found in every corner of Imperial space.{{Fn|4b}} Some [[Space Marine]] chapters such as the [[Black Templars]]{{Fn|21a}} and [[Red Scorpions]]{{Fn|22b}} openly loathe contact with their Navigators; these intolerant groups would be directly opposed to the mutants' inclusion aboard their ships if it were not entirely necessary.{{Fn|21a}}{{Fn|22b}} This behaviour is exhibited even among common men of the Imperium, and while many Navigators get a perverse pleasure from strolling down the corridors of ships on which they serve, on other vessels Navigators seclude themselves to their private spires, choosing not to interact with others;{{Fn|23b}} there is at least one instance of Navigator being forced to do so by overtly xenophobic crew.{{Fn|24}}
Notwithstanding the stigma of the mutant, the protégés of noble houses called [[Navis Scion]]s revel in attention, as it is their trade to be an approachable face of their lineage, and by truth or lie to improve the social connections with Imperial society, though often restricted to its higher echelons,{{Fn|12c}} with the intent of gaining reputation and thus more wealthy and influential clientele.{{Fn|3j}} In legal matters the whole Nobilite relies on the protection of the Paternova whose word is held in high esteem, often against that of any member of the Holy Orders of the Inquisition.{{Fn|3e}} As long as the Paternova does not brand a Navigator or their whole house as renegades,{{Fn|2g}} they may feel as safe as any high ranking noble within the Imperium can. While many Inquisitors hesitate to persecute even a single Navigator,{{Fn|4b}} some more radical Inquisitors{{Fn|4a}}{{Fn|25}} or [[Adeptus Ministorum|Ministorum]] members{{Fn|4b}} in their zeal to eradicate the heretic, the mutant and the witch are known to indiscriminately exterminate even those most vital to the workings of the Imperium.{{Fn|4a}}{{Fn|4b}}{{Fn|25}} Nonetheless, even if the ship's captain is found guilty of treason against the Emperor, the Navigator is granted immunity from any capital punishment that will be incurred on the rest of the crew in their shared guilt.{{Fn|26b}}
|source = – [[Kokabiel Grigoris]], rogue Navigator and Ipsissimus of the [[Cyclopean Congregation]]{{Fn|67}}
|}}
Many [[Chaos]]-affiliated fleets and [[corsairpirate]]s continue to use Navigators in order to circumnavigate the Warp. This leads them to actively seek out and enslave Imperial Navigators wherever they may be found.{{Fn|65a}} Chaos Space Marines might utilize an Imperial Navigator and their ever-inscreasingly increasingly mutated descendants. Navigators in the service of Chaos may have been driven mad and heavily mutated, but nonetheless willingly serve their masters.{{Fn|66}} Other Chaos fleets, particularly those closely linked with the [[Gods of Chaos]] will forego Navigators and instead utilize [[Sorcerer]]s and [[Daemon]]s to navigate the Warp.{{Fn|65b}}
==Abilities==
===Warp Eye===
{{QuoteBox
|quote = '''''"These eyes represent the Imperium’s most finely honed genetic advances into harnessing and navigating the warp. These eyes have gazed upon the realm, perhaps even the very faces, of the [[Dark Gods|gods]] themselves. And what do their owners do with that blessing? They move [[voidship|starships]] around."'''''
|source= — [[Radimir Niklov]], [[Chaos cultist]] & [[sorcerer]]{{Fn|50a}}
}}
====Warp Navigation====
[[Image:Rogue Trader Edge of Abyss - cover.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Navigator consulting a map{{Fn|26a}}]]
The only use to the Imperium of the Navigator's pineal eye is its aid in Warp navigation, however it also possesses qualities that are rarely exploited in practice, able to summon powers that although powerful rarely outweigh the risk of losing a Navigator by forcing them into perilous situations that would require them. On its own the eye does nothing, Navigator's extra optical apparatus, and still some find it unsettling to look at,{{Fn|2f}} especially psykers, who can see its Warp gate even when it's closed.{{Fn|15}} However when the Navigator chooses to open the inner gate, or even accidentally glimpses at someone when having it inadvertently opened, it unleashes the power of the Warp in its cone of vision. Young Navigators, the least experienced in handling their bizarre anatomy, can only unleash the full potential of the Warp - '''Lidless Stare''' - while reported that some can survive its blast for a split second, unprepared or found wanting perish all, their mind driven mad and evaporated in an unmeasurably minuscule time.{{Fn|2h}} It is however an instant death, which when provided with worse alternatives is able to be perceived as merciful.{{Fn|40}} Other times, it can be an excruciating death where one drowns on imperceivable tides, suffocating on the unknown and their own blood.{{Fn|1b}} One of the few survivors described it as if the sea of warp, distant, yet all-encompassing bubbled to the surface of the materium to swallow him with its paradoxical nature, dismayed as to how the barrier between the worlds in that very moment was as thin as the lens of an eye.{{Fn|40}} It is the main reason why enmity of a Navigator or in the worst scenario,{{Fn|41b}} a possession of one by a daemon is an extremely hazardous ordeal.{{Fn|41a}} For there is nothing stopping that creature from unleashing this highest of the horrors upon one's soul, fracturing its fleshy vessel in an instant.{{Fn|41b}}
Stories of how Navigators can kill with their third eye circulate both within and without the Navis Nobilite Houses. These stories also tell of how killing with their eye attracts [[Daemon]]s. It is true that if a Navigator takes a life with their third eye it is like a beacon flash in the warp, attracting both daemons and many lesser warp-things, such as the warp echoes and the spirits of the recent dead. This may also cause the Navigator's third eye to bleed, as well as the eye to be in notable amount of pain or discomfort.{{Fn|1b}}
If the Navigator chooses to hone their eye's power, they are able to modulate its output to the point where it can be used as a non-lethal tool, the third eye is thus able to utterly immobilize any creature its sight falls upon. It is especially useful against psykers, additionally debilitating them against the use of their powers. Daemons still are damaged by it, loosing coherence in this sight, slowly deteriorating back into Warp energies they were formed with.{{Fn|2h}} Further lesser emanation can simply shock, or otherwise stupefy a person, inflicting upon them visions of dread forcing them to either flee or suffer a severe melt-down.{{Fn|12f}} Only those who learned to more amiably manifest the warp eye are allowed to enter into a Navigator duel, requiring for Warp eye to not deal a lethal blow, which due to the readiness of the youth to be chosen as a representative combatant of a house, implies this ability to be taught relatively early in life.{{Fn|3j}}
Of physical unique abilities, most are concerned with the individual mutation, although they all share the ability to offset the fatigue of their bodies and put away the need to sleep. Although it isn't absolute, and Navigators must eventually sleep, otherwise risking falling into a comatose state, it still allows them long vigils during Warp traversals, forcing the captain to swap them in their duty within relatively longer intervals than others of his crew.{{Fn|12f}} Notably elders who transformed into Heir Apparents are invariably able to breathe in water, toxic gas or even vacuum of space with their gills.{{Fn|7}} Multijointed Navigators all are contortionists, able to perform feats of extreme body elasticity and acrobacy, those whose digits hardened to claws or whose teeth are naturally sharpened are getting small benefits of always carrying some sort of weapon other than their third eye.{{Fn|2i}}
The Third Eye of a Navigator is a powerful warp conduit, as such, it makes for a powerful componant in obscure [[sorcery|sorcerous]] rituals. Some rituals utilise several of these Navigator warp eyes to attract titanic [[List of Warp Creatures|warp creatures]] that can destroy entire worlds.{{Fn|50a}}
==Notable individuals==
<gallery mode="nolines" heights=200 widths=200>
NavigatorArt.jpg|Navigator{{Fn|49}}
Rogue Trader Fallen Suns - Navigator.jpg|Navigator with a mask uniquely not hiding his third eye{{Fn|54}}
Zelak Mazara.jpg|Navigator [[Zelak Mazara]] after survivng a [[Valkyrie]] crash and mutiple fights for survival.{{Fn|70}}
</gallery>
</center>
**{{Endn|1a}}: Chapter 5
**{{Endn|1b}}: Chapter 14
**{{Endn|1x1c}}: Chapter 19
*2: [[Rogue Trader: Core Rulebook]]:
**{{Endn|2a}}: pg. 18-19
*{{Endn|49}}: [[Collected Visions]], pg. 9
*{{Endn|50}}: [[Rites of Passage (Novel)]], cover art
**{{Endn|50a}}: ''Preparations''
*{{Endn|51}}: [[The Complete Games Workshop Catalog and Hobby reference - The 2004-05 Edition]], pg. 982
*{{Endn|52}}: [[Dark Heresy: The Lathe Worlds]], pg. 123
*{{Endn|68}}: [[The Citadel Journal 18]], pgs. 26-33 – ''Navigators''
*{{Endn|69}}: [[Rites of Passage (Novel)]], ''Azariel's Wake''
*{{Endn|70}}: [[Wrath & Glory: Darktide Extraction]], pg. 76
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