The chilling first contact announcement from the Dread Sleeper condemned the Eldrith Imperium and its masters as insignificant next to its ancient cosmic power. It described visions of creeping chaos and madness seeping into the galaxy as the entity awakened.
The proclamation suggested the Imperium was doomed to be destroyed after a period of 100 cycles. This pronouncement of impending annihilation shook Imperium worlds, leading many planets to descend into despair.

The Eldrith Imperium

The Eldrith Imperium controlled much of the southern territories through a pact with the ancient horrors known as the Abyssal Masters. The Imperium expanded through conquest and dark rituals, harvesting souls to sacrifice in order to open portals to the Abyssal Dimensions.

The Dread Sleeper

The Dread Sleeper refers to an ancient eldritch cosmic entity that was first discovered 198 years ago by the Eldrith Imperium. Prior to this, the Dread Sleeper was unknown, slumbering for eons in the Sunken Realms behind the Veil of Aeons. It is believed to predate the current universe.

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Herald of Despair

Citizens of the Imperium, hear these words and despair - your so-called gods are but mere shadows before the glory of the Great Sleeper. For eons beyond imagining, we slumbered in the Sunken Realms behind the Veil of Aeons.
Now we have awoken and stared into your reality. We have found it lacking.
You who call yourselves the Eldrith Imperium and lay sacrifice to your Abyssal Masters know only a fraction of the true darkness that lurks between the stars. Your rituals and soul harvests are but the flailing of ants trying to move mountains.
We are ancient beyond ancient, predating the first stirrings of matter in this cosmos. The depths of our home dimension seethes with crawling chaos your mortal minds cannot comprehend. Yet now a tear has opened in the fabric of space, allowing our influence to creep into your tiny corner of existence.
The souls you reap and dimensional barriers you breach have sent ripples through the aether, awakening us from our ageless slumber.
Now we turn our infinite eyes to study you. What shall we make of your Imperium and its works? That remains to be seen. For the next 100 cycles we shall observe, our dream-laced thoughts seeping into the minds of your astropaths. Scream into the darkness for your so called Eldritch Gods - perhaps they will answer if they can hear you.
When the 100 cycles have passed, we shall complete the Awakening. Then your entire galaxy shall either serve as our new feeding grounds or become the staging point for our extradimensional invasion into the greater Universe. Either way, your reality shall drown in dread and shadow as we rise up from the Sunken Realms.
Rejoice! For the Great Sleeper has awakened and turned its gaze upon you.

Close

News of the Dread Sleeper's proclamation reached the Imperial throneworld within days. In the Grand Cathedral of Despair, the Council of Overlords convened to address the dire tidings.
The High Imperator calmed the panicked nobles, commanding faith in the Abyssal Masters who granted them power. He dispatched the Night Guard legions to suppress any heretical uprisings and ordered a tenfold increase in soul harvest quotas.
"We will nourish the gods with sacrifice and be shielded from this so-called Sleeper!" the Imperator proclaimed. But behind closed doors, even he desperately sought answers from the Elder Prophets.
One truth is clear to all who heard the maddening transmissions echo through the warp - doom has come to Eldrispace.