Geography: Planet-wide industrial plains entirely consumed by immense, kilometers-tall hive cities; heavily polluted and toxic atmosphere.
Population: Approximately 50 Billion (Hive denizens, vast cohorts of factory serfs, ruling noble houses, administrative masses).
Tithe Grade: Exactus Prima (Heavy Manufactures, Precision Components, Massed Labour Levies, Planetary Defence Force Conscripts).
Government Type: Theocratic Hive World Governorship, dominated by an aristocratic lineage and managed extensively by Adeptus Administratum functionaries.
Planetary Governor: Lord Hierarchus Vorn XXII (Rules from the highest spire of Hive Orin).
Adept Presence: High (Adeptus Administratum, Adeptus Arbites Precinct-Fortresses, Ecclesiarchy).
Military: The Orinoca Scutarii (Planetary Defence Force), heavily armed local Gendarmerie, and extensive orbital defense arrays.
Trade: Finished heavy goods, industrial components, bulk machine parts, and conscripted Imperial Guard regiments (Orinoca Hivers).
"We are not blessed by nature, nor are we favoured by the light of Sol. We are made, forged in the heat of ceaseless toil. The black smog is not a curse; it is the exhalation of our industry, the breath of the Imperium itself."
– Chief Enginseer-Secundus Haxley, High-Midhive Maintenance
Orinoca is a colossal Hive World located within the volatile Thule Sub-Sector of the Askellon Sector. The planet functions as a pivotal World of the Processional, leveraging its position along the sector’s primary stable Warp routes to maintain continuous commerce and logistical supply across numerous star systems. Orinoca is characterized by its sheer, daunting scale and the total consumption of its natural geography. It is now a domain of kilometers-tall metallic spires, vast metropolitan complexes that rise into a perpetual sky heavy with industrial smog, requiring specialized filtering even for the air consumed in the upper levels. While the Adeptus Administratum classifies Orinoca as a hive world alongside others, once inside the immense metallic spires, its inner workings prove to be wildly distinct, defined by unique local cultures and a specific obsession with its mandated industrial output. For the tens of billions confined within these spires, life is dominated by unrelenting production quotas, feeding the Imperium's insatiable hunger for materials and manpower.
Orinoca exists in a state of political instability due to the precarious situation governing the Thule Sub-Sector. The entire region is currently without a duly appointed Sub-Praefect, as the previous officeholder was violently assassinated by a previously unknown psyker cult calling itself the Brothers of Celestial Enlightenment.
This vacuum of authority places critical duties directly upon the planetary commander, Lord Hierarchus Vorn XXII, and the local Adepta missions. Historically, the Sub-Praefect was charged with coordinating two primary Imperial directives: the smooth rendering of tithes and the mandatory culling of psyker populations. The violent death of the previous Praefect at the hands of witches underscores the immense threat posed by uncontrolled psychic talent, which can bring doom upon an entire world if not kept in check. Consequently, the local Adeptus Arbites and the Adeptus Astra Telepathica presence must redouble their efforts to scour the massive populace for any individual showing the taint of psychic abilities to prevent potential daemonic possession or Warp breaches. The planet must also ensure its production continues uninterrupted, as any logistical failure could cripple other systems reliant on its heavy manufactures.
The social geography of Orinoca follows the strict, vertical hierarchy of all hive worlds, but with a particularly dangerous flavour of aristocratic decadence at the top. The immense population residing inside the hive cities is highly stratified, with resources becoming scarcer and danger rising the farther one descends from the apex spires.
The Highborn: The ruling aristocratic classes, often referred to simply as the Highborn, live within the highest reaches of the spires, ruling from crystalline windows far above the polluted masses. They are raised apart from the struggling ranks of Mankind, groomed from birth to rule and navigate the deadly paths to power. Their luxurious indolence and constant pursuit of status mean they are perpetually involved in deadly politics and ancient feuds, wherein murder, treachery, and blackmail are commonplace, used to protect or garner power.
Spiritual Danger: This existence of unimaginable luxury and idle excess makes the Orinoca nobility, like many highborn across the sector, highly susceptible to excess, transgression, and depravity. These vices can easily ensnare their souls in the embrace of Slaanesh, the Dark Prince of Chaos. The high population and density of the powerful elite provide fertile ground for hidden cults devoted to excess, constantly undermining the moral and spiritual integrity of the planet from its highest reaches. The Highborn are content to shield themselves in privilege, focusing solely on the internal conflict against rival noble houses rather than the existential threats facing the Imperium.
Orinoca’s continued survival is entirely dependent on the efforts of the specialized Adepta divisions stationed on the world, overseeing its function as a planetary engine.
The Adeptus Administratum maintains an exceptionally large and critical presence on Orinoca. This great bureaucracy governs the world’s resources, processing vast quantities of information to ensure that the tithes of men and materials are paid to the Emperor. Every world must have thousands of officials devoted to this oversight, and on a massive Hive World like Orinoca, the sheer number of Adepts required to catalogue its holdings and process its tithes is staggering. The Administratum is fundamental to keeping the Imperium structured; without it, the sector’s organized existence would dissolve into chaos.
Enforcement of Imperial law falls to the Adeptus Arbites. These stern, unyielding Arbitrators maintain heavily fortified Bastion-Precincts within the hive city. They are concerned only with crimes against the Imperium, such as those that threaten the Imperial tithe, or, crucially on Orinoca, the failure to identify and cull the massive numbers of suspected psykers. They ensure that those showing the taint of psychic ability are taken aboard the Black Ships of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, either to be trained for service or sacrificed to sustain the Emperor’s life force, a terrible necessity given the psychic instability in the Thule Sub-Sector.
Furthermore, the Adeptus Mechanicus oversees the ancient infrastructure and technological mechanisms vital for life support. These Tech-Priests are essential to maintain the air-scrubbers, aquafiltration systems, and heating and cooling systems that keep the metallic city from becoming a vast tomb. The Adeptus Ministorum also has a significant presence, with its priests overseeing flocks of citizens and reinforcing faith in the Emperor through the Imperial Creed, often adapting local superstitions—such as the inherent spirit of the hive itself—into their dogma to ensure loyalty and obedience.
Orinoca is a major source of manpower for the Imperium's military forces. Hive worlds routinely contribute immense numbers of conscripts to both the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy. The sheer density of population ensures that there is a constant supply of recruits for the Orinoca Scutarii (the Planetary Defence Force) and the Imperial Guard regiments raised from the world.
The character of those born in the crowded depths of Orinoca is distinctly shaped by their harsh environment. Those who grow up in the hive are accustomed to dense populations and the pervasive industrial stench and are highly perceptive, forced to navigate the lawless and dangerous lower levels where resources are scarce. These Hivers, if they choose to escape the hive's crushing conformity, often take the path of the Outcast, seeking their fortune in the underhive or even offworld, often becoming involved in criminal elements and illegal enterprises to survive outside structured society. This constant source of robust, if morally flexible, manpower ensures Orinoca remains an indispensable asset, providing millions of souls to fight the Emperor’s endless wars across the galaxy.