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The Imperial Aquila

The Imperium of Man is a vast interstellar empire, the ultimate authority for the majority of the Human species in the Milky Way Galaxy in the 41st Millennium.

Within the Imperium, entire worlds are devoted to the pursuit of agriculture and the growing of food, providing the necessary sustenance for the people of more specialised worlds elsewhere in the galaxy. These so-called Agri-worlds can grow a variety of food in many different ways, from the ill-tempered livestock known as Grox that provide meat to so many across the galaxy to simple wheat for bread.

On some Agri-worlds, entire continents have been cultivated for the growth of foodstuffs. The most standard type of food grown on most Agri-worlds and distributed to feed the peoples of the Imperium is processed corn. This variety can produce confusion when Imperial cultures mix; in one recorded instance, Tona Criid, a native of Vervunhive on Verghast, mistook camouflage paint for a type of food-paste supplied to the 1st Tanith Regiment.

Space Marines have been known to subsist on triglyceride gel and amino-porridge, as well as local wildlife hunted during their deployments. Some Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes have their own particular diets. The Dark Angels, for instance, are known to consume nutrigruel, carboloafs and vitamead.

Below is a list of known Imperial Food and Drink that includes examples of ingestibles from across the Human-settled galaxy, but with a particular focus on the worlds of the Calixis Sector, for which the most information is available.

Drinks[]

Alcoholic Beverages[]

  • Amasec - Amasec is a popular alcoholic drink distilled from wine. It can range from lesser brews barely fit for use as firebombs to well-aged and flavourful brands suitable for only the finest of the Emperor's servants.
  • Dammassine - An alcoholic beverage that has a sweet herbal taste with a hint of almond.
  • Estufagemi Wine - A pungent alcoholic beverage brewed on the Agri-world of Iesta Veracrux.
  • Fenrisian Ale (Mjød) - An extremely potent concoction distilled from the fermentation of the native plants of Fenris. Highly alcoholic and toxic, it is one of the very few beverages that can actually intoxicate an Astartes, managing to bypass their impressive bioengineered resistance to such toxic substances as alcohol. The Space Wolves Chapter are deeply fond of the drink, and consume large amounts of Mjød during their boisterous feasts, often competing against one another to determine who can drink the most Mjød before passing out.
  • Gleece - Gleece is an expensive alcoholic beverage that can be served both hot and cold. It is distilled from the fruits of the Glest tree and is extremely popular on the moons of Paragon where these trees originated. Gleece comes in various degrees of quality, with the best brands typically reserved for the members of the different industrial clans that govern Paragon.
  • Gorsk White Gyn - Originating from the Fenksworld hive of Magnagorsk and distilled from modified engine coolant (hence its name), this caustic, ice-cloudy spirit is an extremely powerful brew and favoured by those with a taste for something with a bigger kick than even triple-stilled Amasec can provide. As well as making you feel as if your head has been staved in, Gorsk White, as a dilute measure, can also mitigate the effects of some tainted water and foods. Such "gyn mixes" are popular in the Metallican Infernis, the rookeries of Solomon and in the Soot Warrens of Tranch for this reason, though the Gorsk White remains the most infamous.
  • Neoscotia's Distillarius Superior - An expensive aromatic drink favored by Commodore Eloise Athagey.
  • Old-Foiz - A popular alcoholic beverage enjoyed throughout the Imperium.
  • Raenka - Raenka is a highly prized brandy made from fermented Ploin juice and crafted through careful distillation in used Amasec barrels. On several Feudal Worlds, it is a main export and secures a great percentage of yearly revenues. Prized for its rich, dark yellow hue and subtle bouquet, Raenka connoisseurs eagerly watch for news each season on the stages of ageing and which areas are releasing their vintages. Many traders make a small but tidy profit carrying barrels by special request from fermentation yards to impatient buyers willing to circumvent the normal flow of the liqueur.
  • Rotgut Booze - Alcohol comes in many shapes and sizes throughout the Imperium, and most cultures are noted for at least one kind of fermented liquid. The catch-all term for these more basic brews (especially by travellers) is rotgut booze.
  • Sacra - A strong alcoholic beverage that was distilled on Tanith. With the destruction of that world, knowledge about it is only found among the members of the Tanith First and Only. Believed to be a descendant of the concept of sacrificial wine used in religious ceremonies.
  • Spirit Tonic - Originating from the planet of Munsk in the Josian Reach, Spirit Tonic is an alcoholic brew produced mainly on the northern continent. Its ingredients are not widely known; there are rumours the corpses of the small rodents dominating that area of the planet may be the primary ingredient, however, such whispers have yet to be proven. Regardless, Spirit Tonic is infamous for its wretched flavour, inspiring many theories about just what exactly is in it. Known to its detractors as "Coward Juice," consuming a measure of this foul fluid inspires a degree of "courage" to the imbiber. The natives of Munsk believe a swig can dull the pangs of fear and thus nearly all warriors drink the fluid before hunting, waging war or confronting their spouse.
  • Theosophist's Philtre - The Theosophist's Philtre is a heady, thick liquor of the planet Archaos, forbidden by ancient law upon that world. It is said to give a drinker depth and clarity of thought, and though this is likely no more than the mystique that attends any forbidden item, this rare intoxicant is prized as a sign of culture and wealth amongst sophisticates of the Calixis Sector.
  • Tranq - The term "Tranq" covers an array of artificial, alcoholic chem-distillates made by the low-hive masses of the Golgenna Reach in the Calixis Sector. The techniques for producing Tranq have been carried throughout the Calixis Sector by crew-scum, criminals, and Imperial Guardsmen. Drinking Tranq numbs the body and mind, a very different feeling to being drunk on rotgut, Amasec or other spirits. Though similar in end result, the effects of Tranq are unpleasant, depressive, and an acquired taste.
  • Vlod - Vlod is a fine but potent alcoholic spirit favoured by the natives of Valhalla.
  • Wild Snake - Wild Snake is a rare and potent liquor brewed out in the badzones in the underhive of the Hive World of Necromunda, where it commands a price to match. If they can find some it is not uncommon for an Outlaw gang to get tanked up on Wild Snake before a fight -- "Snake Courage" as it's called.
  • Wine of Quaddis - Although Amasec may be the most popular fine spirit across the Calxis Sector, and many local ales and vintages hold sway where they are made, the most sought-after alcohol is the wine of Quaddis. The Garden World of Quaddis is considered by most to be nothing more than a myth, or perhaps a place that once did exist but is now long gone to dust. Regardless, the wines produced by its viticulture are valued above all others and almost preternaturally potent. Many hive city nobles and guilders pay huge sums for them and, in some cases, plot, murder and steal to attain them; seeing them both a mark of ultimate opulence and good taste. Three such wines are listed here: the first, the Sorrowful Vintage, is widely regarded as a pale imitation of the real thing (but still highly desirable), the second, the Golden Tokay, is perhaps the most accessible "true" Quaddis wine, while the last, the Kataline Malmsey, is the stuff dreams are made of -- hugely valuable and, legend holds, capable of killing an over-indulgent drinker with pure pleasure.

Non-Alcoholic Beverages[]

  • Styger Milk - The Styger is a beast of burden found on Fervious. Shortly after a Styger gives birth to a whelp, it produces a viscous fluid on which its young feeds. So thick is this vile substance that when a human consumes it, the milk coats the throat, windpipe and stomach for up to a day after being ingested. As well as being full of nutrients and proteins, the people of Fervious have found that the milk engenders resilience to poisons and toxins. The Styger milk is so effective at neutralising toxins that all Fervious' nobles, as a matter of course, drink it before eating. This has led to substantial trade for Styger dairy farmers who, before the discovery of the milk's benefits, were nothing more than peasants. Now the dairy farmers have grown rich and powerful in their own right, fighting amongst themselves in the hopes of gaining a monopoly.
  • Ploin Juice- A common non-alcoholic beverage popular with many voidship crews as it combats many common illnesses brought on by the habitual poor diets most find in space travel. Made from the lopsided ploin fruit, it is rich in many vitamins and has an extended shelf life. It can be added to most poor quality distillations for much-needed flavour, or even used as the basis for its own strong drink commonly known as "Wobble" (as this is both what the fruit does when set upright, and what most users do after imbibing a few shots).
  • Recaf (Caf)- Recaf, also sometimes called Caf, is a popular hot beverage, made from crushed and brewed leaves. The composition can vary from planet to planet, but most blends have a stimulant such as caffeine as a basic release agent.
  • Solian Tea
  • Tanna- This leafy plant is native to Valhalla. The leaves are used by Valhallans to brew a tea, also called Tanna (sometimes Tanna Tea or Tanna Leaf Tea). The beverage is quite popular with Valhallans, to the point that Chimeras in Valhallan Imperial Guard regiments normally have samovars installed so Tanna can be prepared and drunk en route. It is less popular among other humans; Commissar Ciaphas Cain is one of the few non-Valhallans known to enjoy it.

Foods[]

Meats[]

  • Ambull - A subterranean insectoid predator native to the desert Death World of Luther Macintyre IX. Their meat is said to resemble that of Grox. Many attempts were made to domesticate Ambulls, but their ability to burrow made them impossible to confine.
  • Belly-Churn - Popular with nomadic peoples, the belly-churn is an animal stomach filled with milk, sewn shut and then flung over the side of a riding beast to slowly curdle. The resulting cheese is regarded as a delicacy and also keeps “fresh” a remarkably long time, making it the ideal ration for a lengthy journey.
  • Catachan Face-Eater - A hostile lifeform native to the planet Catachan that can suffocate its prey when it wraps its muscle-like body over its victim and digests it. On the world of Mundus Chasmata, the creature was regarded as a rare delicacy among the ruling elite.
  • Devil Fish
  • Grox - Grox are large, fast and aggressive reptilian animals originating from the Solomon System. When that star system was absorbed into the Imperium, it was discovered that this native herd animal possessed many useful traits, such as the ability to survive in almost any environment and to thrive on even the most indigestible food. Grox meat itself is also extremely palatable and nutritious, and nearly every single part of the beast is edible.
  • Hetelfish
  • Horn-Head
  • Snow-Ox

Other Consumables[]

  • Amino-Porridge - A nutrient-dense synthetic food eaten by Space Marines.
  • Birri Truffles
  • Caba Nuts
  • Cottleston Pie
  • Crispbread - A type of bread eaten on Hydraphur.
  • Daggerfruit - A breakfast fruit eaten on Hydraphur that is used to cleanse the palate.
  • Gantha-Root Rollup
  • Marsh-Rice
  • Nafar Biscuits
  • Palovine Pastry
  • Protein Grain - A grain similar to marsh-rice, only thicker and with a higher nutritional content.
  • Soylens Viridians - A synthetic nutrient usually created from a form of green algae. It can also be considered a form of "corpse-starch" when its base is also mixed with recycled Human bodies and other dead animal and plant tissue.
  • Salma Kedgeree
  • Triglyceride Gel - A gelatinous, high-calorie foodstuff consumed by Space Marines.
  • Vorder Leaves

Non-Human Foods[]

It is known that some xenos foods, such as that of the Aeldari, are edible by the Humans of the Imperium of Man.

During the time of the Great Crusade, Aeldari food was consumed by the Space Marines of the Emperor's Children Legion, which may have been possible because of the enhanced nature of the Astartes' physiology, because the Aeldari knew what was palatable to Humans, or because Aeldari physiology is similar enough to that of Mankind that their food meets Human taste and nutritional requirements.

Xenos-cultured forms of wheat have also been consumed by the populations of Imperial worlds, especially in times of famine, though this is illegal under Imperial law, as is the possession of all other xenos technologies or cultural artefacts.

Sources[]

  • Codex: Space Marines (3rd Edition), pg. 48
  • Dark Heresy: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 148-149
  • Dark Heresy: Inquisitor's Handbook (RPG), pp. 105, 129, 165
  • Necromunda: Outlanders (Supplement), pg. 57
  • Rogue Traders: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 141-143
  • Rogue Traders: Into the Storm (RPG), pg. 134
  • Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (1st Edition), pp. 212-213
  • Fulgrim (Novel) by Graham McNeill
  • Deathwatch (Novel) by Steve Parker
  • Eisenhorn Trilogy by Dan Abnett
  • Fire Warrior (Novel) by Simon Spurrier, Ch. 6
  • For The Emperor (Novel) by Sandy Mitchell, Chs. 3, 7
  • Grey Knights (Novel) by Graham McNeill
  • The Last Ditch (Novel) by Sandy Mitchell
  • Necropolis (Novel) by Dan Abnett
  • Knightsblade (Novel) by Andy Clark, pg. 155
  • Nemesis (Novel) by James Swallow
  • Priests of Mars (Novel), pg. 88
  • Shadowsun (Novella), pg. 28
  • Caves of Ice (Novel) by Sandy Mitchell
  • The Greater Good (Novel) by Sandy Mitchell
  • The Unforgiven (Novel) by Gav Thorpe, Part 2 - Penance
  • Gaunt's Ghosts: The Founding (Omnibus Novel) by Dan Abnett, Necropolis (Novel), Ch. 10
  • Deathwatch (Novel) by Steve Parker, Act 1: The Call, Ch. 12
  • The Lords of Silence (Novel) by Chris Wraight, Ch. 6
  • Throne of Light (Novel) by Guy Haley, Ch. 16
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