After centuries of warfare, the Groznost Crusade burned itself out in the Tartorsky Hinterlands, a region of vicious Warp storms and Daemon-infested worlds that came to mark the boundaries of the Tungusk Sector. The conquered space was divided into Voivodates – groups of systems gifted by a grateful Czar to various noble families, ostensibly for their service during the crusade, but more likely as a result of elaborate political scheming. The Voivodates were intended to be military governorships – maintaining semi-autonomous military garrisons to defend the Imperium’s holdings – yet many newly-appointed Voivodes swiftly claimed as much power over their new domains as was safe to claim. With their garrisons raised, Voivodes laid claim to entire planets as their property and declared the populace of their holdings to be serfs. With the great organs of the the Administratum, Arbites, Ecclesiarchy and Mechanicus unwilling to intercede so long as the Voivodes met their various requirements – which most did – the Czar was forced to cede a considerable portion of power to the Voivodes.