The Ways of Fate: A Primarch Quest

Late Childhood

Alekandors was almost five years old when Ma told him to pack his most important belongins and leave what been their home since forever. He had realized for a while it would have been inevitable, even if he didnt require training to safely make use of his psychic talents. By now it had become apparent to his environment that he was not normal. The people of Tenus lived in tight-knit communities in the underground- and cave-districts of their cities and villages and considered him and his Ma as one of them. Still, they were wary of Psykers and you when taking glimpses of their minds he could see that many harbored suspicions against him, but Ma appeared to serve as a counterbalance. She was trusted and so kept any suspicions for themselves. No witchhunter would ever knock at their doors and try to take him away. It saddened him, feeling their distrust of psykers and witches, but Alekandros had experienced first hand how entity from beyond the veil tried to claw its way into reality using him as a gateway. It explained the deep rooted fears, but it also meant he had to work twice as hard to prove them wrong. The district they lived in had tried its best to accomendate Alekandros, but by now the teachers at the district schola had nothing left to teach him. He had grown increasingly frustrated at the lack of opportunities to allow him to continue learning, improving, perfecting his understanding of the world, while another part of him never wanting to leave. Going deep into himself however, he managed to disentangle these conflicting feelings. His psychic potential had developed to a point where his presence was a danger to those around him, excluding maybe Ma. His drive to master these powers smashed against this reality, bringing forth the realization that he would require outside help, that this was not a problem he could solve himself.

So they had to leave.

The cities of Sargell were connected by underground railroads arduously dug over decades into the hard rock to facilitate trade and connect the various city states together. Transport of goods had largely been replaced by transport of people, as transporting bulk cargo had moved to promethium or nuclear-powered, leviathan-sized cargo vessels, that could withstand the turbulent seas of Tenus, over the last decades. Moving was as easy as buying a ticket for tram. There were some odd looks when security checked his credentials. Alekandros was a four year old, looking like a nine year old with some kind of growth disfunction, standing as tall as his Ma and taller than the two officers checking their tickets. Convincing them otherwise was as easy as carefulling reading their surface emotions and using the right words telling them it was merely some kind of mixup. Ma could have probably taken care of the problem somehow, but he was ocasionally driven by the urge to show her he could talk yourself out of difficult situations, that some things things could be done his way.

She did not comment and moved on.

Travel was uneventful. Apparently things were heating up in the south and the Coalition had moved one of her carrier battlegroups into contested waters as a show of force and support to an allied nation in the region. The young Primarch knew from his history and geography teachers that the equator had become contested in recent times as the geography allowed for limited open air-agriculture. Before the war, Sargell and Solimin had peacefully traded their industrial goods for agricultural produce from the equatorial nations to feed their growing populations, until Solimin had sought to annex these territories as part of their imperial expansion.

It was clear to him this could not have been the whole story, but seeking the truth of the matter, the other perspective, would have to wait. What also was clear was that another war in the region would affect everyone on Tenus. Food was rationed since forever in the Coalition, the cultural effects of which had managed to root deep. People occasionally threw angry glares at him, seeing his size and the developing musculature of his adolescent, superhuman body as a sign of excess and waste, not that he could help it. His ma had pulled some strings so he was granted a food ration card for teenagers, but he beyond that did not get any special priviliges. Stubborn as he knew he was, he had rejected it at first, but his mother had been rather insisted on the matter.

He also knew it was smart to listen to her, so had relented.

Their journey took them north, away from the brewing conflict. Tenus northern polar regions where characterized by unpreditable and quickly changing periods of heavy snowfall and melting periods and only very few people lived in these parts, except the few settlements that had sprung in the protective wind shadows of mountains, their primary trade being logging of the planet's mighty iron oaks, one of the few species of plants that thrived in the hostile weather and served as the basis for Tenus' sparse ecosystem, providing shelter from wind and weather.

Reaching the endpoint of the tram part of their jorney, they continued even further north. Alekandros was unsure if a normal human could have made this voyage, marching through the terrible storms of icy shards as big as knifes and through the sudden shifts to seering hot weather, even with the cover of the iron oaks. He felt his young superhuman body pushed beyond what he had been been forced to experience so far, but he marched on without complaint. Food was scarce, but Ma didnt seem to need to eat anyway and he discovered much to his surprise that his body could gain nourishment from the bark of iron oaks.

Hundreds of kilometers into the deepest, most hostile wilderness they drew close. Alek could feel his presence long before they actually arrived. It was…intruiging, different, powerful. The souls of humans were sparks, embers or small fires, flickering, inconsistent, but this one was a consistent, white-hot glowing piece of metal, smelling like discipline, control, with something alien. The presence refused to budge or respond when he tried reaching out, waiting for him to draw closer to arrive.

Finally, they reached a cave opening in the middle of nowehere, protected from the weather and in the middle of nowhere, and the source of the presence. A single man lived in these caves, clad in strange armor, sitting on a smooth piece of rock and throwing dice onto the smooth surface beneath him. The cave around him illuminated by feintly glowing crystals. Alek knew this could only be the Eldar his mother had mentioned, but his alien nature only became clear as they approached closer. Long, pointy ears, slender and refined features, humanoid, but not human.

"You are late, Outsider." He said as they drew close, dusting off snow from their heavy coats, Alek flinching at the aliens tone, elegant, arrogant and confident. His presence did not change, betraying not a single hint of his emotions.

"I like to keep a low profile." Ma responded, throwing a few logs of iron oak into the primitive fireplace and snipping her finger to set them aflame.

"Something you do very successfully, the runes had told me your arrival would be soon, but not by how much." Finally, he moved, picking up the runestones in one smooth motion before standing up in am inhumanly graceful manner. This refined, cold face turned to Alek, examining him. "Is this the Mon'keigh you spoke of."

"I think this is a redunant question." She took off her gloves and rubbed her hands in the fires warmth. "And his name is Alekandros."

He huffed. "I am aware. The boy soul is a raging fire I could spot since you left the last Mon'keigh settlement, very easy to read."

The remark triggered a burst of shame flickering up inside him which he tried to surpress, wanting to make a good first impression on his teacher, arrogant as he may appear. "I believe this is why I am here."

"That you are indeed." He nodded and moved forward a probing mental finger of psychic energy towards Alek, condensed and focused, speaking into his mind. "I can already feel you will be a troubling student, but I will do what is within my power. The runes suggest it would not be ideal to leave one with your monstrous potential untrained, unchecked, open to the lure of the ruinous powers. My name is Anvarian Shaie, Farseer of the Craftworld Alaitoc, Alekandros Bourgh, remember it well."

"How did you-" Alek took an involuntary step back.

"Focus and training, young one, something you have lacked so far. I can feel you have a primitive understanding of the projection of emotions, but none of language or ideas. You are raw power in a chalice, the slightest disturbance spilling it over the edge."

"My ways have brought me this far without indicent, Anvarian. I am aware I am in need of teaching, am willing to learn, but you will need to convince me of the superiotiry of your ways, not insult my person."

"Any discussion I should be a part of?" Ma asked, sitting at the fire and making some iron oak pine tea in a metal pot.

Anvarian further impressed Alek by answering while contuning to talk in his mind simultaniously, while making his way outside into the growing snowstorm. "I am merely having a discussion with your foundling, Outsider. No need to include yourself. Concern yourself with matters of this realm and make some hot water for me too."

"This shall be your first lesson then. Emotions are what attracts the Warp predators. Control them well, steel your mind in iron chains. Follow me outside."

Alek followed behind him into the brewing ice storm lightly illuminated by the north lights above them. The Eldar did not seem to care much, the ice shards seeming to never hit him as he strode through the knee high snow, staff in hand.

"Do not call me an Eldar. That is a mon'keigh term. We are Aeldari."

"Its what your kind is called in my tongue." Alek shouted to try and communicate thrugh the storm. "Call us humans and I will call your kind Aeldari."

"Hm, a fair trade young one." He mused, allowing a sliver of amusement to be visible through his presence. "This if far enough. Your guardian would do me great harm if something happened to you. So if you start to feel the cold, we will take a break." He moved his hands and the snow blew aside for him to sit down. "Sit, close your eyes, breathe."

"How is sitting in the cold supposed to help me again?"

"Are you telling me this little snow is too much for you?"

"It is not", Alek answered, knowing full well Anvarian was appealing to his stubborn side, probably preparing fur a future lecture on not leeting others try to let his emotions dicate his actions and plopped down into the snow. The wind and icy shard felt like tiny daggers in his face, but he would show his teacher he could do it.

"Good, now, empty your thoughts. I see you imagine souls as flames. A primitive comparison, but I guess a fiting one. You are currently a raging inferno, try to smother these flames until you are but a large field of simmering embers."

Alek did as he told, forcefully trying to keep his emotions in check, breathing carefully, sitting on the freezing ground even as he was threatened to turn into a small hill of snow. It seemed like an impossible task, there was just so much. Maybe he was thinking too much. He needed to think about nothing first. How did one think about nothing.

"Let go, young one. Do not force the issue. It is a long walk, not a sprint."

"How about you let me try my way first." He reponded, the first instance of the effects of the cold siphoning into his voice. "If I succeed I have learned it myself, if I dont we can still try your way. It is a long walk after all, is it not."

Luckily for him, the weather shifted. The storm travelling elsewhere and the temperature rising, snow melting over the next few hours. By now he had managed to force his being down to glowing coals, not as much as he wanted. The temperatures now began to grow uncomfortably hot, even though it was night. His teacher appeared to be unaffected by the environment, his being gleaming with a constant, measured source of power. Sweat was running down his body, because of the heat and the mental exhaustion.

"We will stop for today, Young One." The voice of his teacher disturbed the hot silence. "I feel like if I don't end this sooner, your Guardian will smite me."

Taking a deep breath he turned around, seeing his Ma stand not far from them, invisible to his mental eye as always.

"You are a creative one, but I must warn of botteling up your emotions like you tried to do. It does work, but also leave them building pressure like volcanoes over time. Be aware of your emotions, but do not let them control you."

This ended their first session. Over the next few years Anvarian taught him in all manner of ways, usually involving the harsh environment as a crucible to forge his being. Much to the frustration of his teacher, he did turn out to be a feisty student, willing to spend a great time frustrating upon a particular lesson until he had mastered it to his own satisfaction. Much to the delight of his teacher however, he turned out to be a smart and attentive student, quickly learning whatever dicipline or lesson Anvarian had in store for him.

His teacher was aware the Aeldari way was only partially applicable to humans, but he still tried to instill the basics of their paths onto him, taught him about the Fall, about She Who Thrists and the Ruinous Powers and their never ending personal battle to control their emotions. By the end of the five years of training in the wilderness, Alek had grown even further. He had matured, mastered all diciplines his teacher had been able to teach him. His being was now an iron star, dense and hot yet indrecibly stable. His mind could reach far, much farther than he would ever had anticpated. He could see the little connections in the environment, how it was all connected. It was all so fragile, a single of his thoughts could have swept it away, shattered the mighty trunks of iron oaks but why should he. This world, harsh as it was, was beautiful and ancient in a way he felt hard to put into words.

He had physically matured as well. The years having formed his body into a exemplary specimen of humanity. His body burst with lean, powerful muscles that enabled him to shatter rocks with his bare hands, his physique an expression of the growing strength of mind as well. At ten years old he had seemed to reach the end of his physical growth turning into a…(Vote for one)

[]Tall Man (Comparable to Alpharius)
[]Towering Presence (Towards the Middle over all other Primarchs)
[]Gargantuan Behemoth (Towards Vulcan)

Both teacher and mother agreed he should take up at least something from the concept of Aeldari Paths. Anvarian argued it would be a good outlet for his emotions, something to anker his mind, to steel his resolve. Ma thought him having a hobby would be nice. Alek normally would have just done things his way, but for once they seemed to agree on something. It would not be the Aeldari paths, but his own, personal, Way. A particular aspect to focus his development on appealed to him. (Vote for one)

[]Way of Biomancy
All living things, except your Ma, are overflowing with life force, residual psychic energies. It takes only little effort to pull on those threads, closing wounds, healing flora and fauna alike, spawning them to grow stronger. Mastering this part of his abilities would be his Way.

[]Way of the Seer
The future is uncertain, but glimpses can be gleamed via way of the Immaterium, the closer the more accurate. Knowing the future is a powerful tool, but his mother warned of this Way, telling him that knowing the future could come at a terrible cost.

[]Way of Prowess
Alekandros is stronger, faster, more durable than the average man. From Anvarian's and Ma's tellings is clear that the Galaxy is a hostile place and his Way is ripe with blood. He will strive to become profiscient in all forms of combat, focusing his mastery of his psychic talents upon this aspect.

[]Way of the Mage
The Immaterium is a place of power that can be drawn upon for destruction. Ones thoughts are only required to send forth roaring infernos, destructive waves of force, bolts of lighting and creating indomitable shields. Mastering this aspect of destruction would be his Way.

[]Way of Mind
Souls are easily influenced and tricked, it requires a great deal of effort to pull someone strings of mind, to weave a perfect illusion. This would be his Way.

[]Way of the Artisan
Why use psychic powers to destroy or harm, when you can use them to create. Being an artist or artisan is already putting a part of oneself into ones work. This would be his Way.

Furthermore, as their time together drew to a close. The Aeldari actually surprised Alek, providing him with a boon, a token of respect for his powerful pupil. Teaching him the Aeldari Language. It was difficult, Anvarian often chiding him for his crude proncounciation and barbaric butchering of grammar, until he finally succeeded.

His training finished, they parted ways, unknowing if Fate would make them ever cross paths again.

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