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The Long Night Part One: Embers in the Dusk: A Planetary Governor Quest (43k) Complete Sequel Up
- Thread starter Durin
- Start date
- Location
- Berkeley
All of our current heroes gain the trait (and I think that itself might not be fully accurate--Syr and Parnell after all weren't there for it). But we don't know if Henry's replacement will be given it. Plus, what if we end up losing another hero in a decade--will their replacement get it? They gained the trait now, nothing is said about if new ones will gain the trait later.
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Soon, but not yet.
I'm more interested in whether or not we will get a third research action
Helms Deep - Negligence or Heroism?
Valkur
The True Valkyria, Valkur!
- Location
- Fólkvangr
Omake Helms Deep - Negligence or Heroism?
------------------------
Location: Dis Court of Military Justice
Time: 2 months after the War of the Pink Skies
"All rise for the honorable Major General Patrick Kaw, Major General Lennon Black, and Major General Shane Horlon."
The court of military officers stood on the orders sharply upon the order of the Sergeant at arms. Today would go down in the books of the Avernite military as a trial to place trust upon Lt. General Samantha Khol or imprisonment for crime gross incompetence. The battle at Helms Deep had been an important objective for the Daemons who broke down the gate and their attempts to devour the settlement whole. It was the men and women of Helms Deep's Garrison that stood in the line of duty and fell to claws, teeth, sorcery, and Emperor knows what else upon those soldiers. Normally, this wouldn't be a topic for discussion in the court because everyone knew that casualties would be high no matter what. Defenses were expected to be overrun and desperate hand to hand combat expected across the board once the enemy was recognized.
However, Helms Deeps garrison was without a doubt obliterated with only one regiment intact. An estimation of around 1200 men remain ready for duty with 540,000 casualties, of which the number continued to rise as people died in hospital beds or executed for "brain damage". If the prosecution is believed, the Master Mind was Lt. General Samantha Khol herself who refused to withdraw troops in order to keep the Daemons from rushing the rest of the city. While noble and a well meaning strategy the costs of it were some of the highest since the war for Fjol IV and the costs for damaged equipment even higher as the Adeptus Mechanicus demanded just compensations for the new demands of equipment.
"This court room will now be in order. I, Major General Black alongside my colleagues will be determine the charges against Lieutenant General Samantha Khol for the following: Wasteful use of military assets, refusal to listen to advice, inability to set up proper care for wounded soldiers under her command, and gross incompetence.
How does the defendant plea?"
"Not guilty your honor" said Khol.
"Very well. I trust that the prosecution is ready?"
"Yes sir!" said Captain Ibraham Mal.
"Your opening statements please" responded Black as the Judges prepared to listen to the arguments for this case.
He turned to the court room "Ladies and Gentleman, today we are here to identify within General Khols actions. Were they reasonable or needed? No one woudn't be here if we didn't think they were as reasonable as a Daemon is kind. The General was quoted many times over Vox communications to belaying calls for withdrawal, setting up additional defences to withdraw too, and even allowing repeated danger close artillery strikes. All of this followed by sending even more soldiers to the fray to take the place of those decased fighters who put their lives on the line protecting everyone in Helms Deep.
I am here to ask for her to be stripped of command and replaced. We are not the Imperium of old that can throw people into a grinder like some Greenskin warboss. The lives of the Emperors children are too valuable for such indecency."
"Compelling arguments and I assume the facts are in place" asked Kaw.
"Of course sir, In fact we have a written confession from the defendant herself."
Rumbling starts up in the court room as people are awed by the gravity of the situation. For it to have accelerated this quickly is without a doubt is to lead to the replacement of Khol. All along though Samantha Khol sat still with no visible emotions as she looked on at the Judges and the Prosecutor.
"I wish to speak more about those confessions.
First, yes it is very true that I sent possible a million soldiers to the grave but I am not the only general to have done this. At Helms Deep I planned to hold the wall using artillery and aircraft to break up enemy attacks and stop any Daemons from breaking through the walls. That failed due to the numbers game and portals being opened up by a Keeper of Secret's that led the attack. For ever, one that died 10 more would take their place. An their ferocity was unbreakable because they did not fear death.
Some time later the walls were broken as somehow a traitor and Deamon made a pact to sabotage the walls for reasons still under investigate. The way for the Daemons were open and they plunged in killing anyone in the area. I was able to cordon off the section but more parts of the wall were taken down because of my divided attention. At that point, yes I thought about scorching the earth and withdrawing to more defensible locations for my men but.."
A pause in her speech abruptly stopped the serious tone.
"..I wouldn't be able to get enough civilians out. The areas contested were orphanages that were still under evacuation by the nuns and militia despite my support. As such I continued send men to hold the line to give enough time to evacuate the civilians. Only then did I withdraw them but I would find myself seeing the same situation again, this time with promethium storage facilities and a refinery within the city.
An again I cordoned off the area to move the material out."
"What you are saying," began Mal "Is that these men all died because wanted to save other assets."
"No, I sent them to fight to protect our people and their way of life." responded Khol.
"You can twist whatever way you want but you have outrightly said that you could have saved many of these men with better tactics. Of which, your record PROVES that you can." Mal exaggerated. "I, of course, speak of the WAARGH! that invaded Avernus. The one you helped defend against."
"That was a different scenario altogether. I knew at the time and now that Helms Deep was important for the Avernus Spine not only as a strategic asset but one for communities also. We can rebuild our numbers and salvage equipment. We can pay for whatever we can't get because no matter how you scratch it the Military is allowed to exceed the budget when it suffered from an invasion. These are terms General Drago and Prefectus Henry agreed on years ago and are still in effect as law.
The lives of those soldiers were well lived and died tragically that I agree on but I refuse to acknowledge that I could have done better or they could have fought harder. Daemons were at the gate and I responded with all of the force I could muster to protect the people and our Government." She finished enunciating that last phrase.
The court abuzzed again with small chatter.
"General Khol, I, and many others are aware of your past struggles. Did they have any impact on your rational mind? asked General Horlon.
"No sir, As I have said it was for the good of our people that the Helms Deep Garrison fight the way they did."
"Very well," said General Black "We shall begin our Judiciary investigations and analysis. The court is hereby retired and will be notified to return at the leisure of Justice."
-------------------------------
~Sometime later~
Lieutenant General Samantha Khol is deemed worthy of her post by the Court of Military Justice but was seen to indeed be wasteful of lives. Details could have been seen through to save men and women but were not addressed they accurately enough. As such, she was sentenced to 1000 hours of remedial strategical training at the academy and written letters to deceased families. Upon failure to complete those two directives she would be stripped of command for 'failure to improve'.
------------------------
Location: Dis Court of Military Justice
Time: 2 months after the War of the Pink Skies
"All rise for the honorable Major General Patrick Kaw, Major General Lennon Black, and Major General Shane Horlon."
The court of military officers stood on the orders sharply upon the order of the Sergeant at arms. Today would go down in the books of the Avernite military as a trial to place trust upon Lt. General Samantha Khol or imprisonment for crime gross incompetence. The battle at Helms Deep had been an important objective for the Daemons who broke down the gate and their attempts to devour the settlement whole. It was the men and women of Helms Deep's Garrison that stood in the line of duty and fell to claws, teeth, sorcery, and Emperor knows what else upon those soldiers. Normally, this wouldn't be a topic for discussion in the court because everyone knew that casualties would be high no matter what. Defenses were expected to be overrun and desperate hand to hand combat expected across the board once the enemy was recognized.
However, Helms Deeps garrison was without a doubt obliterated with only one regiment intact. An estimation of around 1200 men remain ready for duty with 540,000 casualties, of which the number continued to rise as people died in hospital beds or executed for "brain damage". If the prosecution is believed, the Master Mind was Lt. General Samantha Khol herself who refused to withdraw troops in order to keep the Daemons from rushing the rest of the city. While noble and a well meaning strategy the costs of it were some of the highest since the war for Fjol IV and the costs for damaged equipment even higher as the Adeptus Mechanicus demanded just compensations for the new demands of equipment.
"This court room will now be in order. I, Major General Black alongside my colleagues will be determine the charges against Lieutenant General Samantha Khol for the following: Wasteful use of military assets, refusal to listen to advice, inability to set up proper care for wounded soldiers under her command, and gross incompetence.
How does the defendant plea?"
"Not guilty your honor" said Khol.
"Very well. I trust that the prosecution is ready?"
"Yes sir!" said Captain Ibraham Mal.
"Your opening statements please" responded Black as the Judges prepared to listen to the arguments for this case.
He turned to the court room "Ladies and Gentleman, today we are here to identify within General Khols actions. Were they reasonable or needed? No one woudn't be here if we didn't think they were as reasonable as a Daemon is kind. The General was quoted many times over Vox communications to belaying calls for withdrawal, setting up additional defences to withdraw too, and even allowing repeated danger close artillery strikes. All of this followed by sending even more soldiers to the fray to take the place of those decased fighters who put their lives on the line protecting everyone in Helms Deep.
I am here to ask for her to be stripped of command and replaced. We are not the Imperium of old that can throw people into a grinder like some Greenskin warboss. The lives of the Emperors children are too valuable for such indecency."
"Compelling arguments and I assume the facts are in place" asked Kaw.
"Of course sir, In fact we have a written confession from the defendant herself."
Rumbling starts up in the court room as people are awed by the gravity of the situation. For it to have accelerated this quickly is without a doubt is to lead to the replacement of Khol. All along though Samantha Khol sat still with no visible emotions as she looked on at the Judges and the Prosecutor.
"I wish to speak more about those confessions.
First, yes it is very true that I sent possible a million soldiers to the grave but I am not the only general to have done this. At Helms Deep I planned to hold the wall using artillery and aircraft to break up enemy attacks and stop any Daemons from breaking through the walls. That failed due to the numbers game and portals being opened up by a Keeper of Secret's that led the attack. For ever, one that died 10 more would take their place. An their ferocity was unbreakable because they did not fear death.
Some time later the walls were broken as somehow a traitor and Deamon made a pact to sabotage the walls for reasons still under investigate. The way for the Daemons were open and they plunged in killing anyone in the area. I was able to cordon off the section but more parts of the wall were taken down because of my divided attention. At that point, yes I thought about scorching the earth and withdrawing to more defensible locations for my men but.."
A pause in her speech abruptly stopped the serious tone.
"..I wouldn't be able to get enough civilians out. The areas contested were orphanages that were still under evacuation by the nuns and militia despite my support. As such I continued send men to hold the line to give enough time to evacuate the civilians. Only then did I withdraw them but I would find myself seeing the same situation again, this time with promethium storage facilities and a refinery within the city.
An again I cordoned off the area to move the material out."
"What you are saying," began Mal "Is that these men all died because wanted to save other assets."
"No, I sent them to fight to protect our people and their way of life." responded Khol.
"You can twist whatever way you want but you have outrightly said that you could have saved many of these men with better tactics. Of which, your record PROVES that you can." Mal exaggerated. "I, of course, speak of the WAARGH! that invaded Avernus. The one you helped defend against."
"That was a different scenario altogether. I knew at the time and now that Helms Deep was important for the Avernus Spine not only as a strategic asset but one for communities also. We can rebuild our numbers and salvage equipment. We can pay for whatever we can't get because no matter how you scratch it the Military is allowed to exceed the budget when it suffered from an invasion. These are terms General Drago and Prefectus Henry agreed on years ago and are still in effect as law.
The lives of those soldiers were well lived and died tragically that I agree on but I refuse to acknowledge that I could have done better or they could have fought harder. Daemons were at the gate and I responded with all of the force I could muster to protect the people and our Government." She finished enunciating that last phrase.
The court abuzzed again with small chatter.
"General Khol, I, and many others are aware of your past struggles. Did they have any impact on your rational mind? asked General Horlon.
"No sir, As I have said it was for the good of our people that the Helms Deep Garrison fight the way they did."
"Very well," said General Black "We shall begin our Judiciary investigations and analysis. The court is hereby retired and will be notified to return at the leisure of Justice."
-------------------------------
~Sometime later~
Lieutenant General Samantha Khol is deemed worthy of her post by the Court of Military Justice but was seen to indeed be wasteful of lives. Details could have been seen through to save men and women but were not addressed they accurately enough. As such, she was sentenced to 1000 hours of remedial strategical training at the academy and written letters to deceased families. Upon failure to complete those two directives she would be stripped of command for 'failure to improve'.
Last edited:
Valkur
The True Valkyria, Valkur!
- Location
- Fólkvangr
I'm hoping that the omake above to give Khol a boost of somekind. I felt that if she lost so many men but kept so much infrastructure/civilians alive that she could be put to trial. In the end, it was needed but no one likes losing so many much in under a week. An no one likes Khol at all to my knowledge. Maybe the Frozen Regiement but I don't know what their story is.
EDIT: Whoops! Frozen Remnants is the name of that unit.
EDIT: Whoops! Frozen Remnants is the name of that unit.
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Na her ice princess trait upgraded to ice queen which gave her a boost to moral among other things.
She is liked, just cold.
Valkur
The True Valkyria, Valkur!
- Location
- Fólkvangr
Ya but no one likes her 'stay far from danger and command' style. If you look at her character sheet I think it's listed as 'Command from the back' or something. That gives morale penalties but helps not getting assassinated.
Plus again, who liked a boss that they can't read the emotion from? She's literally neutral faced all the time. Even if she's angry she'll probably still have that neutral face. Oh an she has no people skills at all. I doubt she can go to a cocktail party without stomping everyone toes
@Alex pears
Plus again, who liked a boss that they can't read the emotion from? She's literally neutral faced all the time. Even if she's angry she'll probably still have that neutral face. Oh an she has no people skills at all. I doubt she can go to a cocktail party without stomping everyone toes
@Alex pears
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Nope she has no trait like that.Ya but no one likes her 'stay far from danger and command' style. If you look at her character sheet I think it's listed as 'Command from the back' or something. That gives morale penalties but helps not getting assassinated.
Plus again, who liked a boss that they can't read the emotion from? She's literally neutral faced all the time. Even if she's angry she'll probably still have that neutral face. Oh an she has no people skills at all. I doubt she can go to a cocktail party without stomping everyone toes
@Alex pears
The person your thinking of is Hye Richards.
And yes probably
No, she doesn't have a "command from" trait.
Ice Queen and Proven Commander give her +15, and Ruthless Pragmatist gives her -5, for a total of +10 morale for troops under her command.
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
- Location
- Somewhere, Maybe
and IIRC, the Frozen Remnants don't suffer from that malus and instead gain a +5 morale bonus when she commands them, for a total of +20.
Valkur
The True Valkyria, Valkur!
- Location
- Fólkvangr
huh could have sworn she had that trait. Oh well.
Again, she still can't go to any cocktail parties. Or smile.
She does have negative diplomacy though.
Like seriously 7
Again, she still can't go to any cocktail parties. Or smile.
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Well she does have the unique trait
That would explain part of it.
Valkur
The True Valkyria, Valkur!
- Location
- Fólkvangr
The ultimate angst!
Jokes aside she's still my favorite general for character purposes and I do favor her alot even when I shoudn't (I ADMIT TO BIAS!). That said, she is, by the numbers at least, the second best general when you account for Martial and Combat together. Only Shwartz is better in both of those fields, an thats mostly because he's basiically your grandpa from world war 1 and 2 rejuvenated to being a kick ass commander.
Everyone else only beats her in one either martial or combat alone. An not by that wide a margin too.
So, any criticisms?
Jokes aside she's still my favorite general for character purposes and I do favor her alot even when I shoudn't (I ADMIT TO BIAS!). That said, she is, by the numbers at least, the second best general when you account for Martial and Combat together. Only Shwartz is better in both of those fields, an thats mostly because he's basiically your grandpa from world war 1 and 2 rejuvenated to being a kick ass commander.
Everyone else only beats her in one either martial or combat alone. An not by that wide a margin too.
So, any criticisms?
- Location
- Australia
@Skewfiend, in your Duet omake you used the same font colours that In the Beginning (also known as "Warp God Waifu Simulator") used for the Emperor and Ynnead. Was this intentional?
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
- Location
- Alice Springs, Australia
A New Normal (or Tamia Jameson and the Price of Success)
- Location
- Berkeley
So, omake in celebration of Tamia's coming promotion!
A New Normal (or Tamia Jameson and the Price of Success)
Today, Tamia Jameson was feeling exhausted. Between the work she was doing in hunting for chaotic psykers and cultists, the time she needed to spend on her administrative duties (which included the backlog that had accumulated during the course of the Incursion and the hectic few weeks which followed), and the supplemental training she was receiving--"to make sure that she didn't backslide and lose the edge she had cultivated during the Incursion, as well as to prepare you for your new duties"--Tamia did not feel like she'd had a minute to herself.
Then there were the nightmares. As she had feared, memories of many of the actions she had been forced to take had begun to bubble up. She did not regret them--not for one minute--as they had all been necessary to protect that which she held dear. But even the bone-deep knowledge that she did the right thing was little help when she remembered those she could not save and the many whose minds she had crushed.
Still, Tamia had the resilience of a true Avernite. While she knew she would likely carry the burden of her actions for years to come, she had slowly adjusted to it. She found too that she could use the nightmares themselves to throw herself whole-heartedly into her work, and her work, in turn, calmed the nightmares. It helped that intense though the pace was, it did not even compare to what it had been like during the Incursion actual.
Despite her preoccupation with her own efforts, Tamia had noticed quite a few oddities. People recognized her and pointed her out in the transit ways. Everywhere she went, she heard whispers and the occasional person looking at her in awe. Of course, Tamia was used to being somewhat important--within Unseen University she was viewed as being quite powerful and Gerald Xavier's protege--but never before had she been subject to this level of attention. Especially from non-psykers, who generally had little to do with their warp-touched brethren.
Today, though, she had finished up her assignment early. The cultists in question had shown remarkably little resistance to her siren song, and interrogations before their inevitable execution had gone smoothly. While she should probably continue to work her way through the backlog of paperwork she had accumulated, right now she was NOT in the mood. Besides, she'd worked her way through most of the current stuff, so what was left was almost exclusively pre-Incursion, almost all of which had been mooted.
No, she had an hour or two of free time, and she was going to spend it doing something enjoyable, to help her relax before her next training session. Returning to her chambers, she prepared herself to sing again.
Unlike before, there was no direct purpose to her song. Unlike when she was learning it as a hobby, she followed no set meter or tune, nor did she desperately convert it into a weapon and amplifier for her powers as she had during the Incursion. No, this was just letting her voice and body follow where her spirit willed them, and touching the edges of her power to feel it resonate too. True, she might gain some benefits, as it would inevitably help to familiarize her with how her power and song interacted, but this was not about that. This was about the chance to once again immerse herself in music for a time.
Finishing up, she turned once more for the door. She would have to hurry a little bit to avoid running late for her tutoring with Gerald. But as she approached the door, she saw that was unneeded. He had gone and snuck into the hallway outside of her quarters with his blasted sneakiness--she conveniently ignored the fact that it was a public area and that she had been so throughly distracted that he could have tap danced up and she wouldn't have noticed. Still, though, he looked a bit more relaxed than he had for the last couple of weeks (Henry's death had hit him especially hard, as he had blamed himself for it. As far as she could tell, he was, in fact, the only one who did). He even had a small smile half concealed. "So, I see that even after going going and becoming famous for saving a city, you still dodge responsibility and steal some time every now and the to enjoy your singing?" he asked, half-teasingly.
"I would have you know that I finished the tasks for today, and would have gotten to my tutoring appointment in plenty of time, mister can't-carry-a-tune-in-a-bucket. Also, I know for a fact you enjoy sneaking around and nearly giving the soldiers heart attacks when you get bored" she replied. Truly, she was glad he was feeling enough better to rib her over this, but that didn't mean she wouldn't give as well as she got. "Besides, I needed to decompress. All the pointing and whispering was getting to me. And I hate the reminders--a lot of my 'heroics' involved mind controlling and killing fellow Avernites corrupted by the touch of Slaanesh or mind-numbing terror on my part. Really, I can't wait for them to get over it. I did really enjoy getting to burn a LOT of daemons to ash though..."
"Heh, 'get over it'. Little chance of that, I'm afraid. You're the Desert Witch, the Hero of Salem now. Welcome to the big leagues." Gerald said, shaking his head. "And on the topic of being reminded of things you wish you hadn't had to do, may I remind you that I'm well known for burning down the Hive of Manavik, complete with its entire population?" Suddenly serious, he looked her in the eye. "Don't treat this as a temporary thing. Like it or not, you are now one of the big names in all of Avernus. People will depend on you, look up to you. Right now there's probably more than a few girls playing 'Tamia Jameson' as they pretend to roast foul hordes of daemons. In this case, the cost of power is responsibility. From now on, people will notice what you do and, to some extent, try to follow your example." Relaxing a bit, he continued, "In private, of course, you can be who you want. Did you know Governor Rotbart generally feels uncomfortable with his publicity and really prefers things to stay as informal as possible? Or that Saint Lin would really rather be running an orphanage somewhere if he wasn't so needed here?"
"I guess I understand. And I had totally forgotten about Manavik--I had no intention of throwing that in your face. Anyway, what are we going to be working on tonight?"
"Well, as far as high-level stuff goes, I'd say your pyromancy is lagging a little bit behind. That and your daemonology. I was thinking you could choose exactly what you wanted to cover there--but remember, this is mainly going to be theory. We'd need to head out quite a ways to really cut loose with our power levels, and the guards are stretched thin enough as is."
"Well, I've got a fair bit of aggression built up towards daemons, and I heard you burnt out a Daemon Prince's soul. Why don't we start on how you managed that--I thought it was quite hard to actually burn out the soul of a daemon due to their robust nature and ability to slip back into the warp upon disincorporation. Plus, given the number of daemons we've had summoned here recently, I thought I might get to practice soon."
"Alright, reasonable topic choice. First, I would like to caution you not to do it like I did. The situation I was in made my actions quite risky, and while satisfying standard disincorporation banishes them from the materium long enough that there is no functional difference. Now, the trick to this is twofold. First, you need to keep them from retreating. The best way to handle that is through daemonology. While it's likely that you would be able to keep all but the strongest from departing through telepathy, that's not a good method for this for reasons we will get into soon. Once you've got them pinned, the process of burning out the soul is very similar to how it's done against other foes. However, there are two differences. First, it requires significantly more power--something on an order of magnitude larger than that which would be needed against another creature with a similar warp presence--and second, they cannot be allowed access to the Warp. If the connection isn't suppressed, their soul will be passively reinforced through it, substantially increasing the difficulty of the technique. That's why the daemonology element is important--telepathic control does not affect the connection. There are several caveats to the technique. First, it is both time consuming and draining, leaving you vulnerable to attack by other sources as well as your target during the start of the technique. Furthermore, it..."
A New Normal (or Tamia Jameson and the Price of Success)
Today, Tamia Jameson was feeling exhausted. Between the work she was doing in hunting for chaotic psykers and cultists, the time she needed to spend on her administrative duties (which included the backlog that had accumulated during the course of the Incursion and the hectic few weeks which followed), and the supplemental training she was receiving--"to make sure that she didn't backslide and lose the edge she had cultivated during the Incursion, as well as to prepare you for your new duties"--Tamia did not feel like she'd had a minute to herself.
Then there were the nightmares. As she had feared, memories of many of the actions she had been forced to take had begun to bubble up. She did not regret them--not for one minute--as they had all been necessary to protect that which she held dear. But even the bone-deep knowledge that she did the right thing was little help when she remembered those she could not save and the many whose minds she had crushed.
Still, Tamia had the resilience of a true Avernite. While she knew she would likely carry the burden of her actions for years to come, she had slowly adjusted to it. She found too that she could use the nightmares themselves to throw herself whole-heartedly into her work, and her work, in turn, calmed the nightmares. It helped that intense though the pace was, it did not even compare to what it had been like during the Incursion actual.
Despite her preoccupation with her own efforts, Tamia had noticed quite a few oddities. People recognized her and pointed her out in the transit ways. Everywhere she went, she heard whispers and the occasional person looking at her in awe. Of course, Tamia was used to being somewhat important--within Unseen University she was viewed as being quite powerful and Gerald Xavier's protege--but never before had she been subject to this level of attention. Especially from non-psykers, who generally had little to do with their warp-touched brethren.
Today, though, she had finished up her assignment early. The cultists in question had shown remarkably little resistance to her siren song, and interrogations before their inevitable execution had gone smoothly. While she should probably continue to work her way through the backlog of paperwork she had accumulated, right now she was NOT in the mood. Besides, she'd worked her way through most of the current stuff, so what was left was almost exclusively pre-Incursion, almost all of which had been mooted.
No, she had an hour or two of free time, and she was going to spend it doing something enjoyable, to help her relax before her next training session. Returning to her chambers, she prepared herself to sing again.
Unlike before, there was no direct purpose to her song. Unlike when she was learning it as a hobby, she followed no set meter or tune, nor did she desperately convert it into a weapon and amplifier for her powers as she had during the Incursion. No, this was just letting her voice and body follow where her spirit willed them, and touching the edges of her power to feel it resonate too. True, she might gain some benefits, as it would inevitably help to familiarize her with how her power and song interacted, but this was not about that. This was about the chance to once again immerse herself in music for a time.
Finishing up, she turned once more for the door. She would have to hurry a little bit to avoid running late for her tutoring with Gerald. But as she approached the door, she saw that was unneeded. He had gone and snuck into the hallway outside of her quarters with his blasted sneakiness--she conveniently ignored the fact that it was a public area and that she had been so throughly distracted that he could have tap danced up and she wouldn't have noticed. Still, though, he looked a bit more relaxed than he had for the last couple of weeks (Henry's death had hit him especially hard, as he had blamed himself for it. As far as she could tell, he was, in fact, the only one who did). He even had a small smile half concealed. "So, I see that even after going going and becoming famous for saving a city, you still dodge responsibility and steal some time every now and the to enjoy your singing?" he asked, half-teasingly.
"I would have you know that I finished the tasks for today, and would have gotten to my tutoring appointment in plenty of time, mister can't-carry-a-tune-in-a-bucket. Also, I know for a fact you enjoy sneaking around and nearly giving the soldiers heart attacks when you get bored" she replied. Truly, she was glad he was feeling enough better to rib her over this, but that didn't mean she wouldn't give as well as she got. "Besides, I needed to decompress. All the pointing and whispering was getting to me. And I hate the reminders--a lot of my 'heroics' involved mind controlling and killing fellow Avernites corrupted by the touch of Slaanesh or mind-numbing terror on my part. Really, I can't wait for them to get over it. I did really enjoy getting to burn a LOT of daemons to ash though..."
"Heh, 'get over it'. Little chance of that, I'm afraid. You're the Desert Witch, the Hero of Salem now. Welcome to the big leagues." Gerald said, shaking his head. "And on the topic of being reminded of things you wish you hadn't had to do, may I remind you that I'm well known for burning down the Hive of Manavik, complete with its entire population?" Suddenly serious, he looked her in the eye. "Don't treat this as a temporary thing. Like it or not, you are now one of the big names in all of Avernus. People will depend on you, look up to you. Right now there's probably more than a few girls playing 'Tamia Jameson' as they pretend to roast foul hordes of daemons. In this case, the cost of power is responsibility. From now on, people will notice what you do and, to some extent, try to follow your example." Relaxing a bit, he continued, "In private, of course, you can be who you want. Did you know Governor Rotbart generally feels uncomfortable with his publicity and really prefers things to stay as informal as possible? Or that Saint Lin would really rather be running an orphanage somewhere if he wasn't so needed here?"
"I guess I understand. And I had totally forgotten about Manavik--I had no intention of throwing that in your face. Anyway, what are we going to be working on tonight?"
"Well, as far as high-level stuff goes, I'd say your pyromancy is lagging a little bit behind. That and your daemonology. I was thinking you could choose exactly what you wanted to cover there--but remember, this is mainly going to be theory. We'd need to head out quite a ways to really cut loose with our power levels, and the guards are stretched thin enough as is."
"Well, I've got a fair bit of aggression built up towards daemons, and I heard you burnt out a Daemon Prince's soul. Why don't we start on how you managed that--I thought it was quite hard to actually burn out the soul of a daemon due to their robust nature and ability to slip back into the warp upon disincorporation. Plus, given the number of daemons we've had summoned here recently, I thought I might get to practice soon."
"Alright, reasonable topic choice. First, I would like to caution you not to do it like I did. The situation I was in made my actions quite risky, and while satisfying standard disincorporation banishes them from the materium long enough that there is no functional difference. Now, the trick to this is twofold. First, you need to keep them from retreating. The best way to handle that is through daemonology. While it's likely that you would be able to keep all but the strongest from departing through telepathy, that's not a good method for this for reasons we will get into soon. Once you've got them pinned, the process of burning out the soul is very similar to how it's done against other foes. However, there are two differences. First, it requires significantly more power--something on an order of magnitude larger than that which would be needed against another creature with a similar warp presence--and second, they cannot be allowed access to the Warp. If the connection isn't suppressed, their soul will be passively reinforced through it, substantially increasing the difficulty of the technique. That's why the daemonology element is important--telepathic control does not affect the connection. There are several caveats to the technique. First, it is both time consuming and draining, leaving you vulnerable to attack by other sources as well as your target during the start of the technique. Furthermore, it..."
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- Location
- Australia
So with how it was decided (way back when) that we had to withdraw from the Bayou due to high warp contamination rates, are there any regions that we'll have to leave after the Incursion?
- Location
- Alice Springs, Australia
no, not even Mirkwood strangely enough
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
- Location
- madison
That's proalby the least shocking trick the local ecosystem has pulled. Heck, it might not even be worldmind shenanigans, psychic powers are common enough in the local wildlife that it's possible that there are some creatures that can eat warp contamination.