At the beginning of this era, the Sentinel Legion, desperate for allies in the war against the Warp, granted the astral giants power in place of the Creator. Using the Creator's remaining advanced technology, they helped the giants cross the threshold into godhood.
Such power came with harsh duties. Signing the Frontier Pact meant that an almost eternal bond was imposed upon the new gods, born beneath the Creator's radiance.
It was a dreadful responsibility. They had paid for it with a thousand years of bitter struggle and noble sacrifice. Yet the giants were not divine by nature, and each had their own failings. Especially after the brutal fall of Xugok, the God of War, nearly all the new gods had been making preparations in private, with unspoken understanding, to guard against the worst.
In the age when the giants were active, the material world was still a wasteland.
The life that had emerged from catastrophe had yet to grow strong, let alone offer faith to help the giants kindle their divine flames. On their own, they could never break through the limits of demigodhood and godhood. But over the long years, changes in the material world had given the new gods hope. That was especially true after the barbarians kindled Vam's divine flame through their faith in the remains of Xugok. At last, the new gods had found the means of protecting themselves they needed.
If one day the Creator's radiance could no longer light the way for those resisting in the sea of the Warp, if the Creator's power were corrupted by Chaos, then the new gods would take faith from the material world as their weapon and forge for themselves anew the power and weapons needed to withstand the Warp's corruption.
But making preparations in advance was