Thorianity

What a tragedy that so many millions of true men should have died under the evil eye of that cruel regime. To the Adepts of Earth it must have seemed that the Emperor has deserted them and the end had finally come. The screams of the innocent rent the night as men were dragged from sleep and taken into the pits of the Assassins.
The Adeptus Astartes held aloof and looked to their own councils, unsure what course history would take. Even the Tech-Priests turned away from the High Lords. The damned Purge of Vandire divided man from man and tore at the Imperium like a wounded beast that claws its own vitals in its agony. What hope was there left for men bereft on the Emperor's love. Yet of all the men of Earth at least one servant had the faith to say In The Emperor's Name Enough!

That man was Sebastian Thor.

- Ecclesiarch Deacis IX

The Thorians trace their origins to the Age of Apostasy, and the overthrow of Lord Vandire by Sebastian Thor. To some Inquisitors it was evident that Thor moved with a divine purpose, and was instilled with some of the power and charisma of the Emperor Himself. It is their belief that the Emperor walks among us. Having been shorn from the physical realm by the wounds inflicted by Horus, he once again must choose vessels to do His work, as he did so before the Age of Strife. The flesh maintained in the Golden Throne is not the Emperor, for he travels abroad, tending to His Divine Will, instilling His power into those who have been chosen. But these are frail, mortal bodies which can possess only a fraction of the Emperor’s power, and are ultimately destined to die of injury or old age. But what if the Emperor could be granted a body that does not wither and die, that could be His vessel for all eternity to come? The Thorians believe that such a thing is possible, that the Emperor yet waits for His new body to be found or created.

In essence, a new Emperor will be created to lead Mankind to its destiny and conquest of the galaxy. The Thorians seek ways that energy and consciousness interact with the warp, and their transferal from one to the other. They delve into the secrets of possession and manifestation by daemons and other warp entities, trying to decipher what rules govern the relationship between the Warp and the material universe. It is their dream that one day they shall find a host suitable for the Emperor’s magnificence, and through prayers and ritual be able to guide His spirit into His new body, allowing the Emperor to once again walk amongst His people.

The Thorians can mostly be found amongst the ranks of the Ordo Malleus, where they can study the power of warp-based creatures in the material realm, gleaning understanding about the Emperor’s abilities to manifest His Divine Will in our universe. A fair number can be found inside the Ordo Hereticus, where the course of their duties allows them to find out as much as possible concerning Sebastian Thor and other such gifted Saints in the Ministorum’s long history. There are quite a number of Resurrectionist cults and factions within the Ecclesiarchy, and these create a very useful network and provide foot soldiers for Thorian Inquisitors. Relatively few are found in the Ordo Xenos, though there are some who believe the answer to achieving the Thorians’ aims can be found in the sophisticated psychic technology utilized by the Eldar and other ancient races.

The Thorians’ opponents claim that even if it were possible to resurrect the Emperor into a new mortal body, it would cause a schism across the Imperium more dangerous than any heresy or civil war that has gone before. Believers in the resurrection and unbelievers would violently clash, and a large part of the Imperium would be destroyed in a massive war of faith. Even if this does not happen, nobody knows what changes the Emperor’s power underwent upon His Ascension, and whether he would lose them were he once more confined to a physical shell – most importantly, how would the Astronomican work were the Emperor able to move around freely once more?

It is the risk to these very foundations of the Imperium that opponents to the Thorians find most worrying, and many believe that they are risks not worth taking. The Thorians claim that to take Mankind onto the next phase of evolution, the Emperor must be able to lead His people, both physically and spiritually.