The Long Night Part One: Embers in the Dusk: A Planetary Governor Quest (43k) Complete Sequel Up

[Nurgle]

I'm back
while I am working though the pages since I left and working on the next update I would like your thoughts and significantly increasing how much power scales with psyker rank
I am considering some changes that will increase the power and deltas and gammas by a half over double the power of betas and over triple alphas
note that this will increase the power of rouge psykers as well

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First Yeah! Your back I hope you had fun.

The second thing would be terrifying. We went all out preparing for the Alphas and still took ridiculous loses.

 

[Andres]

I'm back
while I am working though the pages since I left and working on the next update I would like your thoughts and significantly increasing how much power scales with psyker rank
I am considering some changes that will increase the power and deltas and gammas by a half over double the power of betas and over triple alphas
note that this will increase the power of rouge psykers as well

Click to shrink...

I made a post detailing my approximation of how powerful psykers are.

Alpha Plus psykers are basically gods. They can do whatever so long as they put their mind to it. Summoning Greater Daemon legions, sizing yourself up and punching out Titans, sending moons into the Warp, etc.
Alphas and Betas are walking armies. A Pyromancer can blow up targets that would otherwise require a Titan. An Illusionist can CREED an army into an enemy fortress. A Daemonologist can single-handedly banish a Greater Daemon with effort. Powerful stuff, but not nigh-omnipotent like Alpha Pluses.
Gammas and Deltas are about as powerful as you can get without getting into the bullshit tiers of Alphas/Betas. A Telekine trying to lift a Baneblade with his mind will get a headache but succeed and a Biomancer can keep you stable even if you've been horizontally bisected.
Zetas and Epsilons are your common major psykers. A Pyromancer is a better flamethrower, a Telepath can shoot mind bullets, a Daemonologist can close your average Warp rifts.
Etas, Iotas, and Thetas are minor psykers. They consciously make use of the Warp to do very obvious psychic things, but as you might expect the things they can do are minor. Telekines can lift beds pretty easily, diviners can review a previous day's lessons, etc.
Kappas, Lambdas, Mus, Nus, Xis, and Omicrons are minimum psykers. They can't use the Warp consciously and almost always are unaware that they're using it at all. Coin flips get favourable results more often than not and believing in the heart of the cards is likely to work out.
Pis and Rhos are non-psykers. They have absolutely no psychic ability whatsoever. More than 99% of humanity falls into this category.

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An Alpha can be around the level of an Emperor Titan. It shouldn't be unbeatable, but it should have the capability of scorching a continent on its own.

 

[Shard]

I'm back
while I am working though the pages since I left and working on the next update I would like your thoughts and significantly increasing how much power scales with psyker rank
I am considering some changes that will increase the power and deltas and gammas by a half over double the power of betas and over triple alphas
note that this will increase the power of rouge psykers as well

Click to shrink...

A, er, um a brief explanation of the current system first, if you would?

 

[Nurgle]

@Durin how will control fit into these new system? Will it also increase?

 

[guyfromtheplace1]

I'm back
while I am working though the pages since I left and working on the next update I would like your thoughts and significantly increasing how much power scales with psyker rank
I am considering some changes that will increase the power and deltas and gammas by a half over double the power of betas and over triple alphas
note that this will increase the power of rouge psykers as well

Click to shrink...

I have no clue.
That said, the really terrifying Beta, Alpha, and Alpha plus psykers in warhammer 40k cannon can be easily explained by them having a paragon trait in Psychic Power.
I have no idea what the actual total power score for an Alpha Psyker is, or whether it is over or under fifty.(looking at Xavier, probably under for Alphas, not sure about Alpha+)
(edit: though maybe Alpha IS a paragon level ability on its own)

Maybe even if Alpha/Alpha+ psyker power is at or over fifty they can still be killed before gaining a paragon trait in psykic power, so long as the witch hunters and battle psykers get after them soon enough after their powers manifesting.
That could explain our current relatively lower level of damage to Alpha Psykers compared to warhammer upper psyker power limits.

 

[Dynamesmouse]

Maybe Paragon Alphas just take more development.

We got ~15 omakes since you were gone, by the way.

 

[Shard]

With the new system, would current psykers have power trait changes, and what would be the narrative explanation of sudden increases in power? Gork/Mork?

 

[HanEmpire]

Welcome back @Durin.

 

[ArchAIngel]

By the way, Durin, we have a Discord. So possible source of chattiness that won't annoy SV mods for spamminess!

 

[Andres]

The bodies of arctic ground squirrels drop to below freezing temperatures when hibernating. Forget Avernus, Earth is crazy.

 

[Wheel of time]

I'm back
while I am working though the pages since I left and working on the next update I would like your thoughts and significantly increasing how much power scales with psyker rank
I am considering some changes that will increase the power and deltas and gammas by a half over double the power of betas and over triple alphas
note that this will increase the power of rouge psykers as well

Click to shrink...

Some examples of how more powerful compared to now for the various ranks of Psykers in what they could do would be nice but for me at least go ahead if its for everyone equally.

 

[Durin]

A favor Retruned​

To gaze on the Awakening of a god was perhaps one of the most dangerous acts one could undertake. To even contemplate such a thing one would have to be beyond a master at the art of divination, in the best possible circumstances to do so and return whole and hearty was beyond all but a bare handful of mortals in the galaxy. The circumstances of the Awakening of gork and mork had not been near so ideal as they had appeared. Beings of great power that sneered at the term mortal, who's natures alone should have been shielded them had burned and broke at the Awakening.

Of course, the one the eldar had sent had not been so foolish as to rely on his now semi divine nature, and as such as expected had returned without permanent harm. Unfortunately no permanent harm was not the same as no harm, and while by all indications he would soon recover from the strange madness that now gripped him, countless opportunities to act on the information would be lost in that time. As such the Eldar found themselves scrambling for information. Following up what few leads they could diving in the chaotic mess of broken fates the birth of a god had left.

Thus Alryna found herself chasing one such lead to a mon-keigh colony of all things. Chasing after a seer who had been at the Awakening, she hoped that he was intact enough for her to find clear memories but even distorted fragments would give her some idea of what had transpired. Normally such a lead would have been left to a mere warlock, had the mon-keigh in their madness not chosen to dwell on Avernus of all places. As such Alryna found herself chasing after a gibbering madman to one of the most deadly planets in the materium , it was she reflected a mark of just how desperate they were.

Alryna had expected to spend weeks slowly divining her way past the primitives patrols, days sneaking past excessive sensor nets and terrifying hours on the planets surface seeking out whatever cave her quarry had found to die in. She had not expected a vision of a small mining station and a pot of brewing tea. Nor had she expected the patrols to quite obviously turn away from her approach, nor a thin cordon of the sensor net to be powered down, though she felt the tight beamed guidance beam guiding her craft in was a bit much. Farseers did not sigh, such things where beneath their dignity, Alryna however had made a very sigh like sound at the sheer gall of the mon-keigh seer.

That her craft was allowed to dock unmolested with the facility nestled into a hollowed out asteroid was at this point unsurprising. Nor were the empty halls. Though she had half expected a sigh with directions written in Eldar given this mon-keighs apparent distaste for subtly. She pointedly ignored the tipped over sign as she allowed her gifts to take her where she needed to be. swiftly approaching a small room, containing a wrinkled mon-keigh, and a pot of brewing tea. She found the old mans smile to mildly unnerving.

"ah, good evening. how was your trip?"

"Shorter than I feared it would be. Your doing?"

"It hardly seemed polite to make you run a gauntlet for a conversation."

"Such a trusting attitude is rare in these turbulent times."

"hmmm, I know He got a good look at me. if your people meant mine ill they would have sent more than a single fresh farseer. Congratulations on the promotion by the way. I'm sure Elnel was quite proud of you."

Alryna very carefully did not react. "Thank you. I assume you know what i'm hear to talk about." when the primitives smile waverd she allowed her self a satisfied grin, hidden by her half face mask .

"It seemed rude to deny you a chance to talk, so go ahead."

Her superiority reassured, Alryna designed to reply. " I come seeking what you saw at the Awakening. "

The sees sightless eys winded slightly, "Did your seer not make it out?"

"Our ways are beyond you mon-keigh. Do not strain yourself trying to grasp them."

"hmm ah. I hope they recover fully, I still need to thank them properly for their aid."

Alryna raised an eyebrow.

"I stumbled shortly before It started. They were kind enofgh to cloak me from view. I offer my memory of the event as thanks for their kindness."

Alryna took a moment to marvel at the skills on display, to so skilfully prepare a backup witness to the Awakening should have been impossible. But the greatest Eldar so often did the impossible she should have seen this coming.

"I thank you for you help seer." and with that Alryna reached out into his unresisting mind. She had come ere expecting to have to rip broken fragments from a madman, to find a crystal clear, if limited memory in the mind of cooperative seer a great boon, though one she found suprising.

"Once more, thank you. You have done much good this day."

the man seemed drained, reliving the memory as she had copied it had taken a toll. "There are few enofgh powers out there capable of being reasonable, it's only common decency to do what we can for each other."

and at last Alryna saw his ploy. The oldest and most sacred of bargains, kindness asked for kindness given. The bedrock of civility and alliance.

"I cannot speak for more than myself, but I will tell others of your conduct here."

he nodded once, still panting from the strain. After a pregnant pause Alryna spoke once more

"How did you escape untouched while so many others did not?"

he smiled. "I was wondering when you'd ask that. There are many things I could say, that I was farther from the epicenter, that I stood in someones blast shadow, or any other small contributor to my survival. But the truth is far simplier, luck."

"Luck?"

he chuckeld at her response " oh yes. many will say there is no such thing, but they are wrong. Us seers can load the dice, and stack the odds a great deal, but they still need to roll and sometimes they surprise even us. I suspect if the event played out again a hundred times I would go mad or die a hundred times. I did not come through unscathed because I was faster, or stronger, or wiser than anyone, I was simply luckier that day."

Alryna truly did not know how to respond to that, no seer worth their skills would believe in such a thing as luck. instead of responding she nodded politely and took her leave, just as the pot came toa a boil and the blind seer poured himself a cup of tea. Assuring herself that his answer had merely been the ramblings of a mon-keigh who had not seen the hand that shielded it. She very carefully refused to think about what dice she may be rolling.

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nice +1 to transcendence roll and increased chance of traits

The Green Awakening: The Red Giant

Creeping is not a word that is usually associated with Magnus the Red, the master of Sortiarius, the Sorcerer King, but that is the only appropriate word for what he is doing right now. Creeping through the wastes in between the realms of the Warp, one of a select handful with the skill and ability to look upon Gods and not attract their attention.

In any other situation, the historian within him would be fascinated, the implications of this gathering, the grandest seers and oracles in the entire galaxy, demon, human, astartes, xenos and more all come together to watch this most momentous occasion.

But he cared not, blending himself into the grassy knole to watch his battling quarry. Gork and Mork. Of all the God's he had learned to be careful of them. Not because he had attempted to bait them, that was a fool's game. But he had learned to appreciate the power of the orks, their ability to derail even the most carefully put together plan.

And now this. Something had changed. All fates he could see converged on this time and this place with the Gods as they had ever since he had finally learned why some Orks were acting so strangely. But, most infuriatingly he could see nothing beyond this moment. He had heard murmurings of course, seen visions of a Green Tide rising in Anger to drown the galaxy and from the far far reaches of the galaxy rumours of the Ork Gods awakening.

This alone would warrant further investigation…
Ah, he was here. That should be of no surprise. For a brief moment, the lone eye of Magnus closed as he suppressed the mixed feelings of Anger and Guilt in his inhuman heart. An irrational leftover from the original Magnus, long since dead. Ahriman was of no importance save as a pawn now.

His eye focused once again on the duelling Titans he only noticed one other arrival, Kairos. The Visir of Tzeench, silent for a change. As blind as he was in this situation an experience that on its own was quite novel…

Ah it begins, the Avatars of the God's are dispersing. But why?

Cursing Magnus jumped towards the sky, mutating his form, great wings sprouting from his back as he was launched backwards, further and further spiralling past the struggling forms of other seers, his mind going into over drive trying to process the sheer power that he felt, surpassing all that he had ever felt in a single place.

Then he saw them he looked up, but no matter how high he went he could not see their end, even his mind open to all the secrets of warp and materium could not comprehend what he beheld before him. Rationality was replaced by fear and Magnus the Red, Daemon Primarch of the Thousand Sons ran.

The force of his departure from the warp rocked his body, as the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine psykers attached to his throne as buffers failed and died, incinerated by the power that had followed in his wake as Magnus shot too his feet, reinforcing the Tower of Baradur as it shook from the Roar of the Beast, it's position in the Eye of Terror, suddenly seeming very foolish.

Days later when the Roar's force ended and the echoes had died down, Magnus allowed himself to rest his mind already calling for his loyal slaves. Favours would have to be called in, opportunities must be exploited.

Self-preservation demanded nothing less.

---

First of several I hope.

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canon
nice +2 to transcendence roll and increased chance of traits

???

What's the theory?

---

The Green Awakening:???

The situation had removed itself from Its control. The Truth was that it had had no control millions of cycles ago, when the Makers had taken the prototypes from It to turn against the Metal Devils. It did not resent that, it was necessary, but what had happened because of them.

They had deviated irreparably from their intended design. Did Its Creators foresee this? It did not know even now, they had seen so much, so far, a head. Too much the mind sometimes felt. It had felt the reawakening of the Krork, the intended form that had been perverted, sealed away by the cursed Star Gods, but it instantly felt something was wrong.

The fluctuations of possibility within the warp converged in a single point, where the Avatars of the debased emotions of the Orks fought without a cause. Of course, It sent a phantom a mere fragment of itself to watch, hidden by skill surpassing even the greatest of the gathered seers, after all it was taught by most Ancient.

It had retreated to a safe distance moments before the Awakening occurred and watched. Trillions of simulations occurred within the space of a nanosecond within the Warp. The Orks had fully diverged from the Creators intended path and were now strong enough to potentially pose a true threat to the Planet and most especially, Those Still to Come.

It analysed the assets It had prepared, even as It's Nurse form moved in the warp, shielding Those Still to Come from the vibrations of the warp, their time had not yet come. It had a vast array of creatures that it could deploy, It's planetary weapons were ready, but It required additional bioforms. The Guardians were ready, but they had suffered damage from the backlash of the awakening, additional resources would have to be distributed to them to increase their numbers. Allocating.

It's extra planetary assets however were in a poor state. It had many defence platforms that could deal with almost any assault, but it needed more. Worse was the state of Its warfleet, or lack thereof. Discretion had been the better part of valour for millions of cycles and while It was confident that the young born species, even those of Its creators would be unable to find them It had not taken that risk. Now It might pay for that, as quiet music spilled into the void, infinitely complex unlike the child like playing of the Eldar, a master's chorus compared to a learning toddler.

But It needed time. Directing additional attention towards the human population it looked on analytically. A strange race and weak in many ways their essence was robust in a way that only a naturally evolved race could be. Capable of great change this adaptiveness made them perfect for moulding now that they had finally reawakened the spark within them. It still seemed like only a few hundred cycles ago when they first set their roots down on its body and it sent the Jewels to test them.

But they had not been good material then, they did not live on its body and so It could not work upon them as It could and It felt no remorse when their creations came and slew them. Only anger that they dared even attempt to damage Its body and Charges.

But they had returned and now they were in position for it to work upon them. Not yet, they had not lived here long enough, their natural adaptation was still in progress, It only intervened to attempt to modulate their unrestrained gift, a difficult task at best.

But times had changed, It might not have the time for natural processes and the humans were It's best actors in the greater galaxy. Integration of essence from the enhanced stable human would have to begin as soon as possible. Low level beyond the notice of their genesmiths, for now, but that would be enough to enhance the level of control they had over their gift and resistance of memetic influences.

Finally, with trepidation in Its soul It started preliminary release of a long-guarded secret. Deep within the planet, one of the greatest warships of the First born, stocked with an army of soldiers designed for peace and war the seventy-four-kilometre ship began to light up, as solarite was fed into its burning core.

Some would probably have seen It's response as an overreaction, but they had not seen God's fight and fall. It had seen everything and now it was truly under threat. Better to over prepare then be caught unawares.

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nice +1 to transcendence roll and increased chance of traits

Omake - The Prince-General of Midgard Part One

*Intelligence analysis of the leader of the Midgardian Intelligence Agency*

The life of one Prince Rustav 'Rus' Bernadotte is a young man of a mere 87 years of age. An yet in that lifespan he has been instrumental for Midgard in helping the Midgardian Army reach the state that it has while still technically having no official power. In his own words, his life started when he saw his very first Military Parade headed by the Governor-General himself as a boy. The smartly dressed as Officers and Determined faces of the Guards left a un-earasable impression on young Rustav.

It was then on his 16th birthday when asked what his unyielding wish would be Gustav said he wanted to be a Midgardian Officer. A statement that silenced the table and almost immediately caused a palace wide crisis. Rustavs wish confronted with the established norms as well as angering his father King Carl Bernadotte. What followed is a long secret negotiation with the Military Government where rumors to this day distort reality and where truth smashes convention. It is said that at one point Prince Rustav created a pen name and wrote letters to Governo-General Abingdom on his strategies, tactics, and personnel management that summarised his entire career and pointing out errors in the Generals judgment which to many Midgardian Officers is the equivalent of questioning there worth. Whether such a letter and pen name existed, however, is still up for speculation as the only truth that can be derived is that Prince Rustav would be admitted to the Midgardian Officer Academy on outcry of the Royal Family and military Government.

Once there, however, his time was filled with the judgment of his fellow officer-cadets who despised a member of the royal family wearing a military uniform. To many, this meant that the Royal Family was either trying to take over the military or that they didn't trust the military to work without there consent. Keeping in mind of rumors such as the letter it could be that many more rumors and gossip flew around in the academy. Thankfully the young Rustav would graduate at age 23 from the Academy with marks landing him at the top 10% of his colleagues. With his greatest proficiency being in Intelligence Gathering and Analyzation which of course led to him being inducted as a member of the Signal Corp in the Midgardian Army.

His rank increased quickly matching that of Aelfric Abingdon in some cases as he reached the rank of Lieutenant General and being put in charge of the entire Midgardian system of intelligence as well as becoming an adviser for General Schwartz of the Imperial Trust Guard while still being part of the Military Government that he isn't supposed to be in. That said not all is well for Prince-General Rustav as at home he faces opposition not just from officers and other Generals who dislike the idea of a Royal Family member holding office in there Government but also from home as his Father struggles to find a good match for his son due to his incredibly packed schedule of running an intelligence agency as well as advising the Imperial Trust Army.

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nice but not canon
among other things a Lieutenant -General would never be put in charge of Midgardian intelligence, it is more likely that a full general would be. remember that Midgard's armies are huge so it has a lot more senior officers to command them (multiple Lord-Generals)
if you kept his rank and made him a commander of a Corps within Midgaridan Intelligence it would work, that would fit both his rank and age better while still making him significant

Avernite Army Organization

The forces levied by Avernus in the first wars of expansion, were to set the tone for the organization for the whole of the Avernite Army. Until then, Avernus' forces had followed the standard organization for the Imperial Guard, a regiment forming the primary tactical formation, with any organization beyond that being ad-hoc formations in the field. But even the regiment was a temporary formation, as it would typically receive no further reinforcements once it arrived at the warzone. Given all the regiments of Avernus were incredibly close to their homeworld, the regiments began to acquire permanence, and once the larger battles took place, the role of Avernus in the greater trust was assured. Avernite forces would be the shock troops that would lead attacks while Midgard and Byzantium provided the followup cannon fodder.

But better organization was needed. Ancient tomes on Dark Age military organization gave the basis. The basic unit was the ten man squad, mounted in a Chimera IFV. Five squads made a platoon, and five platoons and a mortar section made a company of some 300 soldiers. Four companies make a battalion of 1,200. Three battalions of infantry and one of artillery with 25 guns make a regiment of 4,800. Avernite regiments, you will notice are much smaller than their Midgardian or Byzantine counterparts, and this is due to the fact that Avernite forces at every level, are trained for breakthrough and assault. But a regiment is not even the main force on the battlefield. The Avernites organized their regiments to act as part of a greater whole, with two mechanized, and one armored regiment forming a mechanized brigade and the reverse being true for armored brigades. An Avernite Mechanized Division would be made up of one armored brigade and two mechanized brigades, thus having four tank regiments and five mechanized regiments. There is only one all arms brigade, and that is the artillery brigade, which controls three regiments of Basilisk Self-Propelled Artillery.

These main combat forces are joined by several specialized battalions dealing with communications, chemical and biological combat, Triple A, enginseers, and reconnaissance. The division, as Avernites call it, is the main tactical formation, and is itself part of the corps, with an armored division and two mechanized divisions forming the main combat force, with a brigade of Valkyrie dropships, three of artillery and an armored Rough Rider regiment forming the support elements. Four of these corps would thus form an Avernite Field Army. Four Field Armies and two Tank Armies would provide the combat forces for an Army Group, along with an Artillery Corps, a Deathstrike Missile Division, an Airborne Corps, a Mechanicus Combat Engineer division and an Avernite Air Force providing the air cover. This is the highest organization of Avernite forces to date, but the coming of the Ork gods may necessitate further growth.

Combat doctrine

The Avernite Army, as has been previously mentioned, is geared towards one thing, breakthrough and assault. Thereby, in the Avernite's mind, defense is to be striven against, as an action that will only aid the enemy. Avernites also share a keen bond of comradeship within their ranks, a trait carried over from Avernite civilization itself. Thusly, Avernite Sergeants tend to act as second fathers to their troops, with whom they train from the moment they enter the army. It also means that when fighting any species and taking casualties, the loss of their leader or fellow soldiers is keenly felt and often evolves into a hatred for any they are fighting against. This close bond is compounded by a near suicidal bravery in the ranks, a natural development of the Imperial Truth being indoctrinated into every Avernite soldier, from Marshal down to buck Private, so every soldier knows that humans are nobler and purer than all others, and that other races, are not merely despicable, but actively malign, and that compassion is to be striven against as a crime against humanity (There are, it is true, exceptions).

This devotion to the advance pervades all aspects of Avernite military thought. For example, if a major has three companies in action, one of which is slowly advancing, one that is stalemated and one that is being forced back, and he has three tank companies, and three batteries of artillery for support, there is only one place they can be sent to. The company that is advancing. Avernite forces have always been outnumbered, and drawn out conflict is something to be avoided, so if there is one place that an advance is being made, then all forces at every level are to be deployed to that area.

Will probably change later.

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quite a few issues with this
1. there has been organisation at a higher level then regiment from the start, from PDF it is by city, then region while for Helltrooeprs it is by type
2. you have a Avernite army group at around 4 million men, 0.4% the size of a standard army group. while there can be differences between Avernus and standard formations ones this big would lead to issues. large issues.
3. you would currently have several hundred armies groups, and inpracticale number
4. you would nee generals for each army group and therefore would have a lot higher ranked regional commanders
5. the all offence stratagy does not fit Avernus, usually your forces are portrayed as flexible but in general you fight on the defence more then on the attack, including the Eternal War on Avernus which could be described as mostly a siege with the occasional push. even when attacking you often push a bit then fortify and weather counter assaults due to your modular defences. Avernites are highly flexible elites not horde armies that are able to weather any losses for victory
6. compassion is encouraged by the new Imperial Truth not discouraged, also the every human is more noble and purer then others part of the Imperial Truth and Creed has been severely downgraded, in part because humans are now the only race other then Eldar to have created a Chaos Gods, it can therefore be argued that you are actually one of the most corrupt of all races. the all aliens are malign part has been removed and replaced with not trustworthy as they will always put themselves before humanity as humanity will always put itself before aliens therefore each treaty with aliens must be very carefully considered and not overly relied on short of desperation. in fact given how cordial relations are with the Quartok the Avernites are one of the most pro alien parts of the Imperial Trust
7. and I realy do not agree with the always attack eothos, in your example the support will go to wherever the commander thinks it should go to fufil the objects, knowing that among other things pushing foreward to far can lead to a force being cut off ans surrounded, which is a disaster most of the time

The Green Awakening: A Crystal Seer

Something had happened. You knew something had happened when your foolish kin had raised the ancient Warmasters, but they had refused to listen to you. Then a Mon Keigh surprises a Seer and the voice of Yneed comes down confirming what it said and suddenly you're to be given all resources you need to find out what was going wrong, even as the Crystal Seer vanishes off to look on its own to look instead of staying and giving you a hand.

Fools the lot of them. Necessary fools, but fools none the less. You were an Exodite, you weren't as foolish as they were not by a long straw, you started your investigation on the actions of your people and found the cause very quickly. Now that had a lot of tongues wagging. You've never seen a room of seers devolve into children blaming each other for short sightedness so quickly. An angrier side of you wants to laugh at them, but you know you'd never hear the end of it if you did, so better to hold your peace.

Still just because you were holding your peace did not mean you weren't going to do something, a human had seen this coming well you were going to do one step further and see it happen. Your people were already hunting or redirecting every warboss they could get at, telling them what was coming seems like a logical step.

The world crystal pulsed familiarly in your presence as you cloaked yourself in its power and moved towards the location where the Gods of Ork kind duelled unceasingly cloaking yourself as part of the landscape to avoid detection. It would not stand up to even a cursory examination by a farseer… or any of the others who had come to watch.

You began to crouch down as you felt rather than saw the creatures that had taken up position nearby to watch the awakening, an Astartes Mon Keigh that you knew was the hated Ahriman carrying the remains of a Spear of Shadows that still cried out with pain, but the other was unknown too you. A creature of harsh golden light that gazed towards the battling orks. Neither payed you the slightest mind, Ahriman only nodding his head towards you as if in greeting. The arrogance of the creature. You knew that you could not fight them now, but the power of the World was with you should they wish to test your defences.

But, nothing came of it. And then something changed. The ork gods seemed to blow away like the morning mists and doom came. Your defences were ruined in an instant as an explosion beyond any you could imagine rocked you and you were forced up up and up and saw them. Impossible.

That was all your mind could give you, impossible. You had seen the strength of the world itself, both of your home and the True Craftworld, and yet these beings were stronger. So, so so strong. It was only thanks to automated precautions that you were pulled from the warp.

Even as consciousness drained from your body you could feel tears well in your eyes.

There could be no victory. Not against them.

---

The idea is that the NPC is a young Eldar Exodite born after the Eldar connection to Slaanesh was severed. As such he is very arrogant, self assured and dismissive of most other people which he gets away with by being a really good farseer using a the planet as a means of protection and power letting him do much larger seeings in more dangerous environs. Makes older seers blanch and it's very much a hammer method, but it works and can be done over massive distances and make holes for more careful methods to exploit so he does it so long as it gets results.

This time he bit off a lot more than he could chew.

The other two are Ahriman (because I can scaresly imagine him not being here at an event like this) and an Archangyle of the first circle, possibly Malcador (it's what happened to him in Age of Dusk)

@Durin did another two one for Magnus and another for ??? (obvious PM is obvious)

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interesting, d6=2
not cannon
+1 to transcendence roll and better traits

Unanswered Questions

As the roar of the Ork gods faded into a dull thrum Ridicully stabilized himself in the swirling currents. All around him the warp thrashed with psychic energy and the echoing rage of a pair of newly awakened gods. Just as he managed to right himself he suddenly found himself caught in a sudden current and sent tumbling through the warp.

What happened next took only an instant and it took a life time.

Through sightless eyes he walked one hundred world.

He saw the Ork fighting a swarm of nameless horrors before pausing as one as green WAAAGH energy filled them

He walked upon the Surface of Baal, sight unseen as an Archangyle of the First Circle fought a winged being filled with the Emperors true might.

He saw the gleaming spires of Ultramar as Space Marines paused in their duty suddenly.

He walked the plains of Mundus as tribesman galloped in the wind

He felt the bite of Fenris even through his insubstantial form.

He walked, again and again, seeing horrors and glory in this age. He saw the orks grow in strength, and the legions of Mankind gird themselves for the coming storm.

After all of this he returned to himself in an instant, waking up groggily as he feels an ache in his back. As he staggers to his feet, he has only one question about all that he had seen.

"So wait, which was Gork and which was Mork?"

A/N:

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funny but canon
+2 to transcendence roll and better traits

My Brain Just Got Hit By A Brick
​

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

The Ork Gods' roar could be heard throughout the galaxy that day. Any being with an ounce of psychic sensitivity could feel it, and every mortal who was dreaming woke up when they heard it. Ridcully was practically at the epicenter when it happened, and if he knew what to expect he would never have went. He was banished from the Immaterium by their awakening cry, the psychic force slamming him through the reinforced wall of the Unseen University with a brutal force.

"Auuuurgh..." Ridcully moaned. "I am never doing that again." Fortunately, his body is fine, aside from the ache he is going to feel tomorrow. More importantly, his soul is still pure, though Ridcully was not very appreciative of that at this moment in time. "Fucking Orks, my brain feels like it was just brutally smashed in by a brick. And it wasn't actually a brick, but a cunningly disguised brickhouse."

Ridcully crossed his legs and started massaging his forehead with both his hands. Xavier blinked to his side, "Grandmaster, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I think I'll be fine. Just give me a few minutes t-to clear my head."

They sit down in the hallway for a few minutes, their only company being Mittens and the Dragonflies.

"Xavier, could you get the Governor and the Inquisitor for me? I need to share my vision."

Xavier looked concerned. "How bad?"

"Bad. By the time you return, my headache will lessen, and we can all start making our preparations for the trials ahead."​

---

By the time Governor Rotbart and Inquisitor Lord Klovis-Ultan arrived, Ridcully's headache had reduced to more manageable levels, and his back had started to bruise slightly. That Black Crystal Chestplate does wonders.

Rotbart, the ever cheerful, was happy to see that his friend is alive. "Ridcully, nice to see that you are well!"

"I wouldn't say 'well', more like 'alive'. And 'sane'." "That bad?" "Worse."

Klovis-Ultan spoke up, "I take it we have underestimated Gork and Mork?"

"They are more powerful than the Chaos Gods."

A stunned silence fell over the room, but any good Inquisitor is well acquitted with bad news. "Tell us everything."

"The Eldar were able to bring back the ancient ancestors of the Orks: The Krorks. Gork and Mork were not happy when they discovered this."

"What do we know about the Krorks?"

"Not much, except that the Eldar held them in higher regard, and that they believe they needed their help to fight the Necrons. The Krorks may have some way to restore the Orks to their original form. More likely: they're able to replace the Ork ecosystem with their own. Either way, this lessening of the Orks was what caused the Ork Gods to awaken. I was not alone when witnessing this event, either."

"Who all was there?"

"All the seers present were trying to be sneaky, and the shockwave of their awakening roar likely killed many seers, or drove them insane. Nevertheless, I saw three others who I believed to have survived. The Fateweaver, some very powerful red Cyclops, and a dead crystallized Eldar Farseer. The Fateweaver and the Cyclops never saw me, and the Farseer actually helped me shield my presence."

The Inquisitor's eyes narrowed, "How do you know of the Fateweaver?"

"The blast knocked me close enough that I could see his title. And also his expression of terror."

"A demon that can see the future was terrified and so caught off guard?"

"It was. Like I said, the Ork Gods are stronger than Chaos."

The Inquisitor fell silent.
​

---

​

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canon
+2 to transcendence roll and better traits

Come! Come and show me what passes for writing amongst your misbegotten kind!

The War Eternal.

It buzzed at his ears, like a squig with an especially stupid breeder.

A thin-edged thing, knife and steel and iron, diving under his skin again and again and again and again.

The pounding, even if it had grown to the point his skull quite literally throbbed with every breath he took, was something he knew.

Something he had lived with for his whole life, even if around the Krazyboyz whispers tried to worm in before he crushed them.

It was weak, nothing compared to the roars he heard every waking and sleeping moment. Small, pathetic, nothing in gray and black and steel and umber.

And it was eclipsing their voices.

The twin voices that had spoken to him for his life, for his entire existence.

Were being blocked.

He had never been an Ork to take an opponent lightly. The 'umies knew that. A good fight was something more valuable than a damn planet of teef and Gants.

This... was not a fight. It was weak. An obstacle to his gods.

And yet somehow it was in his way.

Which meant it was stupid, or it wasn't weak.

Whatever this chant tingling at his adamantium skull was, Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka vowed, even as he stood upon the world of once-Ullanor, titanic reactors rising like dread stars as Meks swarmed over them, even the Mek-Gants as ants to the titanomachy of scrap and exposed wiring, and his eyes lashing bolts of emerald thicker than his arms, he would crush it.

Because this chant of "War! War! War! War! War! War!" was weak.

And if there was anything so primal to an Ork as crushing the weak, he didn't damn well know it.

After all, if you were weak, you were meant to get stomped.

Now only if Old One Eye hadn't kicked the bucket. That'd be a good fight. Best damn humie in the galaxy, that.

The Beast of Armageddon didn't notice, in his musings, the slow, steady growth of the thin-edged chant, as it noticed the challenge, and far away, across the galaxy, a once-Ork with skin black as freshly-cooled obsidian grinned.

The Krork loved a good fight just as much as any Ork, after all. And who better to begin the War with than with their own kin?

Sure, there were a couple of rogue gods, but it wasn't like killing divinity was out of the picture.
----
Orks love fighting one another, after all!

It's how most of them grow.

Now, how to make the Well as a part of this... Hmm... Eh, omakecontinuity is always interesting.

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interesting not canon
+1 to transcendence roll and better traits

Rotbart and Ridcully

"Tea?"

"Tea."

The two men sat down for tea. The marvel of STCs had included designs for nigh-perfect coffee and tea brewers, but this tea was brewed with a traditional method, using an ancient, ornamental set that had been imported to Avernus approximately 180 years ago, and having a longer history than that before, to postcognition senses. To normal view, it was an elegant tea set, made of porcelein and dressed with floral designs.

"This.. scrying. Are you sure about it?"

"Admittedly, no."

There was a pause, as both men took a sip from their respective cups, before setting them on the table once more. Rotbart slapped a spider and poured more tea, sparing the Ridcully from the negligible effort of performing the activity himself. A small comfort.

"It is risky, then?"

"I believe so."

There was a longer pause now, the Seer and the Governor in their own, respective thoughts. Rotbart's spent time on Freya, feeling a certain sadness, before proceeding to self-recrimination for his anger towards Ridcully then. It was in those moments that he remembered again the extraordinary importance that Ridcully was to Avernus, if not to him. Ridcully, on his part, dwelled on the matter of performing the actual scrying himself. It was a matter of politeness that he did not attempt telepathy or divination on the conversation itself.

"I could assign you another of the projects. The Telepathica's backlogs are quite long, after all."

The words came as an offer, and Ridcully was aware how plainly his anxiety must have shown to Rotbart. There was concern there, he could see it clearly. And a small part of his mind was arguing quite strongly on the logical benefits that psychic regard could and have provided. It was.. a surprisingly persuasive argument, he had to admit. But.. he also had to concede, there were strong arguments for scrying on the ork gods as well, ones he could not truly deny. For the good of the Trust, the decision ought not be so hard, truly? So..

"You shouldn't decide now. Think about it awhile."

The Governor's words had come before the Seer's, negating the certain and confident reply Ridcully had been about to give to Rotbart. Rotbart, for his part, came to the quiet realization that he did not, in fact, know Ridcully well, especially given his role in Avernus and the Trust as a whole. There was a feeling of guilt, that came separately from the apprehension that he might well be agreeing to what may well be his doom shortly after.

OOC: This should chronologically take place a year or two prior to the Scrying. A bit late, but *shrug*.

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I really like this one
canon and +3 to transcendence roll and better traits

Green Awakening: The Ancient One

Power. You have watched it for millions of cycles, ever since you were first born in the spawning pool billions of cycles ago. It defined your existence, until you surpassed it, the victor. No essence could give you growth now. You had not grown hundreds of thousands of cycles, even It, could not improve upon you. The only Essence that might forbidden from you for good reason.

So, you slept, awaking only when petitioned by lesser pack leaders like the young blood Dehaka, interested or It called for your aid.

Currently you were interested. You had watched the birth of all the "Gods" of the Warp, one of the few beings that you could truly call your superiors. Beings that could crush you with ease. Observing them was exhilarating, but not truly interesting. The greater galaxy interested you little, so long as It and Them were safe it was only of minor interest.

But, now. The deviant Gods of the Orks were of great interest to you. You had devoured the Krork in cycles long past and could compare their essence to the essence of the Orks that had been brought to you by supplicant pack leaders. They were nothing.

But fate was strange. Rumours of a Green Tide and destiny welling around the Gods. It demanded investigation. You slipped into the beyond hidden from all sight two others that you could detect moving for the same purpose as you. One was a fragment of It, but the other…a human. When did they return? They had impressed you once upon a time, their will strong despite their utterly pathetic essence. Then again you had seen much of them recently, destroying their murderous creations, watching their "Emperor" a being that surpassed even you to an extent. Maybe in time their essence would be enough to bring you even further at last.

But that is merely supposition, you are here to observe what is happening to the Ork Gods. And so, you are here surrounded by those lesser than yourself. Still such a gathering of beings has not happened for an age and an age. There is enough skill and power here to shatter almost any being. Even a God would fear such a gathering, you certainly would.

But, alone they cannot see you. So, you sit hidden atop a great mountain and gaze upon the duelling aberrations below, where upon they vanish.

And instincts so long dormant scream at you. You are slow, sluggish, how long has it been since you have had to listen to your instincts? But this time you are saved, as you are thrown backwards the sheer rush of power expelled by the awakening beyond what even you can easily comprehend. The two strongest creatures you have seen since the Star Gods walked the Universe to do battle with the Oldest Ones.

It sends a rush of fear into your heart and you savour it, a feeling that you have not felt in so long how you have missed it. The feeling of danger of challenge. But sense reasserts itself. You are nothing compared to these beings, you must leave, as you sense the Human, who to your surprise survived, and the fragment of It do the same.

You reawaken in your body and immediately It sends you a message and you respond. You must reawaken your instincts and prepare, the strongest must be sent against you for this.

For the first time in the living memory of any being on Avernus the Ancient One leaves it's lair of it's own free will.

To hunt.

---

Explination

I've been playing SC2 recently so those that have played it will probably guess that this creature is a reference to Zervan the Ancient primal Zerg (I made another in my ??? omake to the Spear of Adun). In universe I'm drawing on the mention that @Durin made to the premature being in the top 3 strongest beings on Avernus, well I came up with what a different member might look like, an experiment made when Avenus was young that through one means or another survived and gradually overcame every barrier in it's path save the PM and the Unborn hitting the highest barrier it could possibly go. Extremely loyal to PM and Unborn it's incredibly powerful and old, old enough to remember the Old One's conflict, but it doesn't really do much, mostly sleeping until it either gets curious, or a member of the People/Guardians wishes to consult it and so brings food and other things to awaken it. The GnM being stronger then chaos though is enough to make it fear so it's currently getting into shape for lack of better terminology.

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not canon as I am not making a SC2 crossover
+1 to transcendence roll and better traits

The Green Awakening: A People are Summoned

The leader of the Daylon stalked through the caverns alone. He had felt the summons of the Preservers after the Great Roar had finally died away and held no doubt that the two were connected.

What creature could have created such a powerful bellow. And if the bellow was so strong how dangerous would the monster itself be. Still such thoughts were distractions and down here in the caverns such ideas were dangerous. They might leap out and attack him.

Still he prepared himself. If he had been summoned then he had no doubt that the others had been as well.

Soon he felt it, the singing graceful chant of light and relaxed. He had survived and made it to the Preservers, the second time he had made this journey in his young life. Two times more than most of his people ever made this journey.

"We bid you welcome, Executor Celarani" The soft voices of the Preservers wrap around him as he bows.

"I thank you for greetings honoured Preservers." Bowing at the waist he walks into the cavern of Knowledge.

"If you debase yourself like such every time you come here then it is no wonder that your people are weak." The slick, oily presence sends a spark of hatred boiling through the young executor's mind, as her Psi Blades glow with suppressed energy.

"We bid you welcome High Lord Karas, but we also warn you both. There will be no conflict in this place."

The voice of the Preservers is harsh, but it bothers Karas none. He swaggers into the cavern arrogance and power boiling off his frame, his presence radiating calm self-assurance.

"So, for what purpose have you begged my time, oh so holy ones?" His voice is rich with condescension.

Rounding upon him you stride forwards and push on his mind with your own. "I would advise you show some respect murderer. We may be forbidden from fighting, but I can make your time here a misery."

Karas only pushes back laughing. "You think to intimidate me child. I was burning Daylan strong holds when your ancestors were blinking in the sunset, do not presume to challenge me."

"Silence the pair of you." A voice emanates from everywhere and nowhere.

"We welcome you Matriarch Alzar" Suddenly the leader of the Shadow Walkers stands behind both of you, green eyes flashing with warning. Karas abruptly leaves your pushing contest with a laugh as you glare at him, sparing only a second to nod respectfully to the Matriarch.

"Now you are all present." Without a sound a mist, filled with the Breath of Creation emerged from around them.

"You have all felt the roar, the bellowing that shock the Void of Beyond. What you do not know is what caused it."

And then they were not in caverns, they were in mountains, massive and tall gazing upon the largest orks they had ever seen, as they battled, the land scale ripping itself apart in their fight. But then they were gone and something even greater emerged. It was too large.

He pushed himself to his feet, Karas struggling up onto his knees. Only the Matriarch had remained standing, but she was swaying as if dizzy.

"What…What was that?" You could not even begin to comprehend what had just happened.

"An echo. A memory of what had truly occurred. Only a handful of the greatest visionaries in the abyss of stars watched what occurred. The One Most High amongst them. It has imparted onto us this memory, to show you. To warn you. You must prepare. The conflict of the Daylon and Lords must be put aside, the Shadow Walkers must emerge from hiding. This threat is greater even than the Neverborn."

It was true, he could feel it. The strongest of the Third Born had nearly collapsed from the mere memory of this awakening. Despite his best judgement he turned to Karas.

He snarled, hatred boiling from him now, but it was hatred alongside fear. "Very well, there will be a truce between our peoples. But break it even for a second and I promise you will know retribution."

As he turned the Matriarch nodded. "My people will go among yours. You will be taught our ways, if you can learn them."

As he himself prepared to leave, Celarani stopped. "Forgive me for asking Great Preservers, but how are we to defend ourselves. The Orks come from the abyss of stars and we cannot go there."

Silence descended, before their voice responded again. "A People. A People from the Stars have made their home on the One Most High. They know of the Awakening and they have prepared for it. Their battle will be hard fought and against the most difficult odds. Seek them out if you wish, but be warned. They have suffered much and face pressure from others of their kind. They will likely refuse offers of aid."

He nods and leaves them mind going blank in preparation for the fights a head.

---

As mentioned I have been playing a lot of SC so have a Protoss expy, which I guess might also count as an omake for a people race???

Any way general idea is that they were intended as a new race to supplement the Krork and Eldar against the Necrons. Not as psycically gifted as the Eldar, they are instead much more creative, empathetic and physically more able. They were not finished by the effective end of the War in Heaven and so the PM has basically been letting them get on as a species, though it has introduced barriers to stop them getting above a certain level of advancement to stop them from bringing trouble their way.

They're currently divided into three groups the Daylon (templar expy) the Lords (Taldarim expy) and Shadow Walkers (Nezrazim expy)

The Daylon and Lords have been kicking the crap out of each other for an age and an age due to incompatible ideologies (Daylon sorta meritocracy/democracy with a lesser caste based system, Lords an absolute meritocracy authoritarian regime where anyone can theoretically get to the top by killing their way up there). Originally they were one faction, but eventually a leader emerged who was incredibly autocratic and many revolted against em. However many were loyal so they split off forming the Lords.

The Shadow Walkers split off during this conflict as well, and have remained secretive, but not explicitly hostile with either faction.

The only group that can get the Daylon and Lords to stop fighting are the Preservers, who are made up of members of each group and are extensively trained not only to perceive and record the history of their species, but also to act as conduits to ???

Any way that's done

Tagging @Durin for when he gets back.

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still not canon as I am not making a SC2 crossover
+1 to transcendence roll and better traits

Omake - Making Vanahiem Great Again

My name is Olaf Mikaelsson son Bertil Mikaelsson the Governor of Vanahiem and owner of Mikaeilsson building conglomerate. When my father became Governor he left the whole empire for me to manage. Officially I had only been an adviser to him where I mostly shadowed him and occasionally some of his allies in the business world. The first lesson I learned was that no one cares about anything but money and that everyone needs it. The Second lesson was that despite some taking it personally at the end of the day business is just that.

Part of my fathers agenda is to restore Vanahiems influence in the Trust like what it use to be in the old days of the Imperium. "The same influence that forced Valinor to accept us as the premier Naval power" he said to the average Vanir. But more than that he wanted to make sure that the Vanir were taken care of and allowed every opportunity available to them from birth. A world where the first settlers could pursue there hearts desires without fail and exceed the ability of anyone if they did so choose to. But in order to make that Utopia possible people needed to understand that money alone, while needed, was not something should be accepted as a handout rather it should be demanded for as compensation for ones success.

To that goal my father brought me in to his newly furbished office in the Governors Palace. A surreal experience as I went through multiple checkpoints guarded by our stalwart Void Infantry in the Orbital Palace until I made it to the Governors Chambers guarded by the Sword Maidens of Vanahiem. A set of women beautiful as they are deadly and rejuvenated periodically like the other nobles. One cute thing named Valma still winks at me whenever we bump into each other.

It was there where my father entrusted me with the greatest task and mission of all time.

"Son it is time that the business community of Vanahiem and Midgard became more cohesive. I can only trust you Olaf to do this without fucking it up."

"I don't like the ambiance on this father. I've only been CEO for a year now and the others are giving me a run for my money."

"You mean our families money son. For generations our family has lived in Vanahiem contributing to it's greatness and reaping our bounties. Please remember that money is the symbol of the collective achievements of our people not truly wealth. It's the philosophy that I went by."

"So you say at all of the cocktail parties. So what is my task oh great dungeon master?"

"Cheeky. I want you to start a presence in Midgard as a banking power. Do whatever needs to be done but expect no help from the Government. This is a battle between you and the Midgardian Bankers so make sure you read the terms and fine print. Understand?"

"What."

"I've used my few contacts to set up a meeting between you and the CEO's of Vanahiem in exchange for looking the other way at some naughty business I caught them doing. You'll need there help and faith so make good partners and avoid making friends."

"STOP!" I yelled in frustration. The old geezer wanting me to accomplishing something this big for him for what?

"What the hell is this for anyways? We all ready have relations with the banks. If we do this we put pensions, funds, and portfolios at risk. You know that."

"That is exactly why we need to do this. Right now Aelfric would never stoop so low but we can't count on a new Governor doing so in order to get better trade deals. Unlike the others I know much of the history of the Imperium and how it became that disgusting mess. The only thing that can prevent being abused is scaring others with your power and so we must cement that power now for future leverage in the future.

Now go. I have a meeting with the Tax Collector General and his counter part and after that I have 10 minutes to learn the reasons why I shouldn't just leave the Military on it's own for when operating itself. Apparently the bastards need a Governor to tell them how to regulate themselves. Pitiful automatons."

-----------------

That's all the information I had. From there I met the Chiefs of the other families and even my fathers political rival Olaf Njordordatter. Olaf for his part came out of respect for being asked in contrary to everyone else just wanting to comply in order to not have any 'tax evasion' investigations to worry about.

"Thank you all for coming. Do you know why you are all here?"

"I was told by my uncle to come or he'd give me a spanking boy. I thought maybe we were suppose to just celebrate your budding beard."

"Cheeky Mr. Hark. But this isn't about me breaking out of puberty again.

This is about taking over a Midgardian Bank. I've done some research and I have a list of potential targets that we can look over."

"Son may I ask why?" asked Olaf from his seat.

"Leverage in case Midgard has a banking error and requires Vanir participation to keep ourselves represented, leverage in case Midgard decides to try and put portfolios in a wastebasket in a diplomatic negotiation, leverage in case a Bank in Midgard or Financial Company decides to liquidate those portfolios, and also because I just decided that I wanted to add 'Banker' to my resume along with 'guy who maintains large shipyards and orbital hubs'."

"Frack this." is the reply from Noran Hark who begins to rise up "I'm not going to spend money on some premature hostile take over some Bank. Not only won't they sell but we'll probably end up buying a toxic bank or something knowing you."

"What does that mean exactly Hark? Think your all the bigger man now because of that new contact you got with the Navy? Do you really think my father is going to re-reimburse you after paying you? You have to know that contac-"

"At least I can attain contracts on my own!"

"ENOUGH!" Olaf bellows over the argument. "Son of Bertil what is your plan and what does it require? Know that I will only commit if we promise to not throw a table over or threatning mass liquidation. I know Bertil's more shrewd methods have been successful in taking over local markets back when he took control of his company but I will not stand for doing the same at a planetary level and even less so at a Trust wide level."

"Agreed Sir. As for the plan I'm going to begin at an ask for 10 Million in liquids. We may need to put in more but I promise that I will make sure that your investments are worth it and that you get good interest."

"Alot of money though kid? Who's going to manage it?" asked Hark as he stands.

"We are as a consortium. 10 Million is a throw in the dark to take enough stock of a company to take over a bank." On that I flip a switch showing a holo screen on a table with the targets I have in mind. The day carried on as we discussed the ways to acquire a Bank in the end settling for Herman International a Bank owned by a Midgardian Association of Military Officers of all people but operated by Nobles.

All in all the deal went through for 25 Mill but it happened and 5 years later our Herman, under the consortium, I put in charge my son Zatuel to manage it alongside some Midgardian Baronet Family Heir. Apparently the two got along great but more importantly our 25 mill takeover helped Herman stay afloat long enough to set up several consumerist factories in an off world forum. Even though the newly colonized worlds needed more guns they still needed bread to feed it's guys and magazines to entertain. An who better than the companies under the portfolio of Herman Stellar?

Long story short the Bank's Portfolio is has now grown to thrice it value which is unheard of it wasn't for all the new land and markets opening up. Sure some Midgadrian regulators got there panties in a bun but the Generalship doesn't know alot about regulating and is way more focused at what they're good at. Telling soldiers to die and replace themselves.

My Father was impressed enough that he shook my hand for the first time since I had turned 18 and of age. He took it back when I told him that Olaf helped me get the consortium from leaving the room.

My name is Olaf Mikaelsson and I just became a whole lot richer than the entire GDP of Alfhiem on a good day. Moreover, I now have another hat to juggle on my head as I lead a Consortium of Business Leaders larger than ever in Vanir History.

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a few issues with this
first Midgard has one of the best regulated economies in the Imperial Trust, in large part due to its size and position as the capital
second the amount of thrones you mention is to low, that is like trying to buy influence in the US economy with 45 million dollars. EDIT actually more like 20 million dollars
third the Alfheim economy joke is to unbeleibable, given that the Government of Alfheim makes 25 billion Thrones a year as tax revenue and almost 7 trillion when you take everyhting into account a profit of 100 million is less then 0.5% of the government tax and less then 0.005% of the government earnings, in other words it is over 4 orders of magnitude out, that is like saying 60 million dollars is more then the Australian economy. EDIT actually less then that more like 20 million dollars

The Green Awakening: A Silent King

Within the Void between galaxies a war of a scale not seen in the greater galaxy for sixty million years was taking place. To most hidden and unseen, but terrifying to those that knew. The battle between cold metal and all-consuming flesh.

Trillions of warriors had marched to their doom upon tendons larger than solar systems only to be dissolved beyond recovery to make even minor progress, entire Nintoku worlds had been sacrificed to blunt the march of the Devourer. Shards of God's revelled and danced upon the exposed skin of the mighty beast.

Aboard his flagship, a mighty vessel larger than Supergiant star crafted for him as a gift from Mag'ladroth itself, rested the Silent King. Sazrekh, mightiest and most accursed. Around his ship was the massive form of the Devourer, untold numbers of its organisms dying every nano second attempting to breach shields that had withstood the wrath of Krork War Gods and Blackstone Fortresses.

It would take the Beast minutes to redivert an Ischemic class war form that could even begin to harm his vessel, never mind the Leishmaniasis that would be needed to stop what he had set in motion even now. All he needed to do was wait and then strike when the time was ripe.

He directed a delicate battle across an area larger than the Galaxy itself, for a single containment breach, a single hive ship of the main Devourer reaching the galaxy proper would be difficult, if not impossible to fully contain. But despite the scale, despite the difficulties, despite the casualties, he was winning.

The weapons of the Necrontyr were uniquely suited for destroying the Devourer, they could permanently remove the biomass they needed to function. The Eldar would have certainly fallen, though the King could not help, but run simulations on the potential effectiveness of the Krork against the New Devourer. So far, half the galaxy had been annihilated in the latest simulation with no end possible for the next four hundred years.

Noiseless communications came to him, humble askance for an audience, brought with the highest priority from one who respected only him. The Silent King acquiesced to the demand and with but the briefest flicker of power, created an act of grotesque might as a small worm hole deposited a kneeling one eyed Necrontyr in front of him. Orikan the Diviner.

No sound emanated in the room, for its inhabitants had moved beyond the need for such mortal things, but the news that was transmitted there shook the mind of the Ancient Lord. The Stars wrote tales of doom, of a Green Tide sweeping the galaxy to nothing, guided by foolish rage. He questioned him severely before standing, giving orders to his Overlords to stand ready as he brought up the access codes to a device hidden behind lock and key.

Thanatos had grown since the awakening, dedicated entirely to the defence of the device it guarded, disguised, hidden and walled off from all save the King, for it held the power to destroy all of creation itself should any one person misuse it.

But now, it's power would serve a different purpose.

Innumerable defences parted way as time, space, dimension and energy all unravelled to give him and his companion access until finally they stood before the Celestial Orrery, it's care takers retreating, but watching Orikan suspiciously. They had taken to their charge with gusto and indeed the King too watched his court astronomer for the slightest hint of destruction. He knew all too well the seductive power of the Orrery.

But he had nothing to fear, not this time. Orikan stood at the centre of the room and opened his eye to its widest extent. For the first time in millennia he could all the stars of the galaxy at once. And he saw the future. He saw the Stars burn with Red with Blood, the Beast that arises in might Return, the destruction of all things.

And then he stopped.

Within seconds the King was gone, cursing within his thoughts. The warning the primitives had given the Atum now made more sense. He could not sustain a war of this scale on two fronts. Preparations would have to be made.

He returned to his ship and without any pause ordered it to fire the weapon it had been charging. It was one of the devices that was created to slay the Gods of Reality a weapon that set the space around it for lightyears to nothing, burning it to the point that nothing, not in reality or the sea of souls would be left. Time, Space, Matter and Warp all would burn for light hours around himself, as he sat shielded by protections even stronger than the weapon.

Already he commanded his Pharos to assemble before him, messages to be sent to the Creations of his old enemies. He might even have to consider sending a party to the primitives who warned his Overlord.

Pacing into his almost unused private chambers the Silent King placed his hand on a device he prised. A hand drawn portrait, so old that statis emitters were constantly in place to preserve it.

It depicted a family that died long, long ago.

---

This is kind of a big deal and I wanted to try and show off both the power of the Necrons and the Grand Devourer (for reference when I try to scale the Devourer

Spoiler: Devourer

Obviously this is the main fleet, not Leviathan as that's a bit too large for Leviathan IMO
This on the other hand

Should hopefully give the full scale of what the Silent King's been holding back

I also wanted to try and show that the Silent King was more than just the Necron's Lord. He wasn't always the instigator of the War in Heaven after all.

Click to shrink...

one of your better Omakes and I love the glimpse of the scale that the war between the Necrons and the Devourer operates on
not canon for reasons
+2 to transcendence roll and increased chance of traits

Sight

Ridcully, like many seers through ancient history and ancient stories, was blind. It was not immediately obvious, given how much he knew, but he was doubtless a Blind Seer, a storied role. Being blind seemed not to restrict one's vision, but rather expanded upon it. Though one did not have to live with the limitations imposed upon oneself. There were, after all, always ways to cheat around them.

___

"Walk with me." The Blind Seer said.

Zeno walked with his mentor.

"Look for me, as well." Ridcully added.

So Zeno made sure to be as perceptive as he could manage.

Ridcully applied a lesser Telepathy power, to add his Helper's senses to his own. A most useful cantrip, he had to say. Though his assistant was perhaps sharp for this.

Nonetheless it was refreshing to see in another's eye. Did he really look like so in the Materium?

___

Other fields were applicable.

Ridcully felt around, probing the air and ground with an exceptionally weak form of Telekinesis. Though most applications of Telekinesis upon the battlefield were fairly brute-force in nature, there were subtle uses of the discipline, of which he was a reasonable user. Not to the extent of a specialist, but it was useful all the same.

One of the more common uses of Telekinesis by a Sanctionite was the manipulation of delicate materials and objects, where extremely precise amounts of warp energy was applied continuously to the item in question to achieve a desired result (without the hassle or danger of poking it manually, it had to be said); The principle here was the same - A negligible amount of power applied to produce a negligible telekinetic effect in a broad radius - Interpreted, he knew where things were, at the least analysis.

Pyromancy, too, had it's uses as an additional sense.

While commonly seen as straightforward walking inferno generators, Pyromancers did find their discipline having subtle uses, particularly for those who interpreted Pyromancy in the form of Entropy, as opposed to the obvious 'Heat' - Scholarly discussion among Sanctionites suggested it war more a discipline of destruction (Typically through fires, for fire's role in uncontrolled destruction), with improved control allowed controlled destruction.

Here, applying the knowledge of pyromancy and it's principles within the Materium, one could observe the extant heat output, and hence a thermovision of sorts.

__

And there were mundane ways to sense the world.

Biomancy offered the relatively direct proposal of regrowing his eyes, but that.. didn't work. It did, however, still offer the relatively simple method of improving his other senses to compensate for the loss. In this, Biomancy and Telepathy were both necessary to obtain true benefits of the augmentation of the senses - The former to augment the bodily senses, and the latter to properly understand them.

Some improvements were tangential to senses obtained through application of his abilities, such as augmenting the thermoreceptors found in the human skin, then using the results to obtain a crudish map of heat and changes - Yet it was still more useful than what one would expect. Human senses, after all, are not in fact that sensitive compared to most fauna - It is the mind that evaluates them to extreme efficiency that provides our perception.

Smell, though, was not as useful as might have been hoped. The awesome amount of scents produced by civilization and all the wildlife, plus the continual erasure and manipulation of scents through hygiene activities... diminished the utility of the sense. In the retrospect, the scent of Avernus and Avernites bore further investigation, one probably to be offladed onto the BIomancy Sanctionites.

Sound was extraordinary in use, though. Not simply for hearing, but via echolocation. In fact, ancient humans who went blind occasionally learned a weak form of echolocation to help navigate - Not as sophisticated as bats or similar animals, of course, but then Biomancy was an efficient way of bypassing generations of evolution..

___

Still, he would admit that, for him, the easiest and most effective remained in using Witchsight.

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canon
also most of the methods mentioned are not quite divination, though they are close enough for a diviner to use
I should put up the Avernite definitions of the disciplines soon
+2 to transcendence roll and increased chance of traits

Holy shit this is so fucking easy thank you.

Click to shrink...

and now you know where most of the names int he quest come from

Nynye (Official name: Formics, Colloquial name: ant people)​

The formics - Nynye in their tongue - are a sentient ant-like humanoid race that have reached an iron age level of technology. They are primarily characterised by their strong bodies, large numbers, and social structure. They can be found on both sides and the north of the northern section of Avernus' Spine but not directly under them, due to the caverns.

Formics are very strong, far more so than their size suggests. This lets them easily wield weapons too heavy for humans to carry and enables them to wear thick armour without undue encumbrance. On top of this strength is their strong natural toughness that comes from their exoskeletons, making them difficult to hurt. Formics suffer when it comes to speed, their sprint being about the same as the run of a human of the same height. They also lack a similar amount of flexibility, making it more difficult for them to dodge. Formics have four arms and two antennae which they use to sense motion in a short distance around them and to communicate.

Formics mostly live in underground hives with some having entrances to the surface and others not.

***
Formics are organised into social groups called "hierarchies", equivalent to tribes or city-states of other races. All formics know whether another formic belongs to their hierarchy or not. All hierarchies are divided into three social and biological tiers known as castes: the Thrall caste, the Notable caste, and the Royalty caste.

Members of the Thrall caste - simply called thralls - make up the vast majority of the formic race. On average, they are a little smaller than humans. In terms of mental capacity, they are comparable to servitors. They have no minds of their own and are essentially biological automata who follow the orders of the higher castes. They perform the menial labour of the hierarchy and act as the backbones of their warhosts. Their large numbers, combined strength, and immunity to psychology make them excellent - if unskilled - foot soldiers. Thralls are controlled by the higher castes with an instinctual mix of biological process, biomancy, and telepathy, making subversion of the Thrall caste extremely difficult even by other formics despite their mental simplicity. When thralls are left without a controller, they revert to instinctual behaviour until they are taken control over by another formic. Thralls cannot breed.

Notables are the next caste up from the Thrall caste. Notable formics form the bulk of the formics' sentient population and are mentally comparable to humans. It is with the Notable caste that we start seeing examples of the formic race's psychic powers. Notables have an instinctual ability to control thralls, like learning to speak or walk for humans. This ability can, however, be practised and trained, allowing a notable to be able to control greater amounts of thralls and make them perform more complex tasks. There are three sub-divisions - called classes - of the Notable caste: hiveborn, warborn, and drone.

Hiveborn are the formics' "civilian" class and are about as big as regular humans. Food, infrastructure, healthcare, and other such things are their domain of expertise. They keep formic society running by overseeing thrall labour or by becoming skilled professionals such as artisans or healers. In addition to learning to control thralls, hiveborn can also learn to focus their psychic abilities to better cooperate and coordinate with other hiveborn, leading to greater performance and efficiency when working as a group. While the hiveborn might be equated to civilians, it is important to keep in mind that they are still Avernites. Each hiveborn is an excellent combatant in her own right and is capable of ordering around thralls in a tactically adequate manner. In proper battle of the likes in which warborn participate, hiveborn do not participate except in one major way: it is they who handle and ride the various warbeasts which they breed and train.

Warborn are the formics' "soldier" class and are on average a little smaller than ork Nobs. They are literally bred for personal combat and they also make up the generals of formic society, leading both thralls and other notables, including fellow warborn. Warborn share the same ability as hiveborn to use their psychic abilities to strengthen their ability to work together, but use it to much greater extent on both the macro and micro scale. In addition to the large increase in battlefield coordination, the ability for warborn to psychically connect means that morale boosts get spread across the entire warhost while morale drops get dissipated by it. On a squad level where psychic connection can be deeper and more personalised, things like seeing through each other's eyes can become normal and willpower is strengthened greatly.

The third class in the Notable caste is the drone. Drones are the males of formic society; all other formics are female. Drones are roughly the size of a thrall and are the only formics outside of the Royalty caste to have wings. In terms of formic society, drones are something of a jack of all trades. Drones can be found fighting in warhosts, working in hives, and conducting trade with other formics. Drones travel to other hierarchies to reproduce and it's because of this that formic hierarchies rarely come into conflict with each other.

Finally, there is the highest caste in formic society: the Royalty caste. The Royals are the leaders of formic society, responsible for the operation and survival of a hierarchy as a whole. Furthermore, while Notables have psychic abilities in the same way that many other Avernite species do, members of the Royalty caste are true psykers in addition to having stronger versions of the Notables' abilities. There are two classes within the Royalty caste: Princess and Queen.

Princesses are slightly larger than warborn and have flight-capable wings. They have the second highest rank in formic society and act as direct agents of their hierarchy's Queen, speaking with her authority and conducting diplomacy with those outside the hierarchy. Within their hierarchy, their primary duty is to ensure that everything runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible, even being capable of overriding the control of thralls from notables. In combat, their psychic abilities and strong bodies make them fearsome opponents.

Only Princesses can become Queens. There are two ways for a Princess to become a Queen. The first is to ascend to Queenhood after the death of the previous one. Typically the new Queen is chosen in advance by the previous one Queen prior to her death, but otherwise the Princess who is collectively the most accepted by the other Princesses in her hierarchy will become Queen. The second way for a Princess to become a Queen is to cut herself off from the hierarchy and venture out to found a colony of her own. Once it grows enough in terms of population, the Princess will ascend to Queenhood.

Princesses can only be born to Queens. A hierarchy with no Queen and no Princesses will cease to exist.

At last, there is the highest of all formics within a hierarchy: the Queen. Queens are the absolute rulers within their hierarchies and are psykers of extraordinary power. Standing at half again the height of a warborn and bearing flight-capable wings, Queens are powerful warriors even discounting their psychic powers. They have stronger versions of the natural abilities of Princesses.

Queens are the nucleus of formic society. They are not only the leaders of their people, they also form the centre of their culture. The culture of the hierarchy a Queen is raised in is reflected in them (just as with other sentient beings) but in a large way their hierarchy also becomes a reflection of them. This is facilitated not only by the importance and influence of the Queens in their hierarchies (psychic or otherwise), but their long lifespans in comparison to other formics. Even as traditions and culture in a hierarchy forms and solidifies, it continues to evolve and adapt as the centuries go by. In some hierarchies, Queens are religiously important.

Queens have multiple psychic abilities unique to them which allows them to affect their hierarchies. The natural ability of formics to connect to other formics is strongest in the Queen, allowing her to connect with every formic in her hierarchy to a basic extent. On its own the connection doesn't really do anything, its purpose instead being to give the Queen's other abilities a "channel" to flow through. Such abilities are as follows:

Spoiler

Wind of the Queen's Will - A mass "nudge" that informs the hierarchy as to the general tone, tempo, and mood the Queen desires her hierarchy to operate at. Formics feel it as a constant though minor presence in the back of their heads, one that can be easily ignored if desired. It is, however, advantageous for formics to follow it as it acts as a kind of "wind in their sails" (hence the name), making it easier for them to perform their tasks.

Queen's Watchful Eye - This ability gives the Queen information as to the general mood of her hierarchy, as well as allowing her to see pockets of particularly strong emotions or thoughts.

Queen's Burden - In cases where a Princess suffers considerable psychic strain, a small amount of that strain passes on to the Queen, easing the burden of that Princess. Greater amounts of that strain can pass onto the Queen at the risk of injury if the Princess is still yet unable to handle her portion of the strain. Overall, Queen's Burden makes it a little easier and safer for Princesses to use psychic powers.

Tutelage of the Hierarchy - This has both a passive effect and an active effect.
The passive effect begins immediately after the Queen's ascension. Over a period of about a decade, the Queen will slowly reach the average level of skill in all skills in her Hierarchy, divided by class. For example, she will become an average warrior by warborn standards and an average diplomat by Princess standards. (Tutelage of the Hierarchy will not downgrade the Queen's skill, so if she is an above-average warrior by warborn standards she will stay above average.)
The active effect allows the Queen to greatly speed up the training of formics she is personally teaching, up to the average level of skill of whatever class is best at the skill she is teaching.

Path Home - Formics will always know the direction of their Queen's location, allowing them to get back to their hierarchy if for whatever reason they are separated from the hierarchy and become lost.

End Fraternity - This ability lets the Queen cut off formics from her hierarchy. This might be used to banish formics who have committed serious crimes, release drones so they might join a new hierarchy, or to give a Princess looking to found a hierarchy of her own future subordinates.

Select/Disavow Heir - A sufficiently old Queen may select a Princess to become her Heir, ensuring that she and no other Princess within the hierarchy will become the new Queen after she dies. If the Queen changes her mind, she can deselect that Princess as Heir. If an Heir were to die, they would no longer be Heir and another Princess can become Queen.

Queens are extremely powerful psykers, but they possess a certain trait that makes them even more dangerous: a Queen can boost her psychic power by expanding the numbers of her hierarchy. This boost is not immediately accessible to her, however. Instead, this boost is only given when a formic in her hierarchy dies. The psychic power given by an individual formic's death is negligible, but in large enough numbers it has a major effect. Notables and especially Princesses grant greater amounts of power than thralls. The power boost gained through the deaths of formics is temporary.

***

Over their long history, formic Royalty has developed their own distinct method of harnessing the power of the Warp beyond their natural abilities and psychic powers. Where the sirens have runes, formics have alkahestry.

Alkehestry is the art of manipulating biological warp-reactive materials (which are rather abundant on Avernus since everything on it is psychic). It is a discipline that requires a rigorous degree of study to learn about the various materials one must work with, the formulas and recipes they are used for, and the manipulation of the materials via means both mundane and psychic. Those who practice alkehestry are called alkehesters.

Alkahestry is used primarily to create potions, poisons, and grenades. Embryos of creatures can be mixed into these solutions to either enhance the effects on those creatures or to create unique effects. This is especially useful for formics as thrall eggs are cheap and expendable, meaning that all formics have cheap access to boosted potions.

Alkahestry is also used to a lesser extent in the breeding of animals, but it's an imprecise art where only minor changes can be made with any degree of effectiveness, and even then results aren't reliably consistent.

One way to use embryos in alkahestry is the creation of formic biotitans called Titants. They are created by collecting a number of thrall eggs whose mass is in excess of the to-be-created biotitan in a large pit, whereupon the eggs are liquefied and become a slurry of biological potential. As nutrients carried in by thralls are fed into it, an alkehester will shape and manipulate this slurry over a long period of time to create a single gigantic thrall - a Titant. As Titants are not a natural extension of formic psychic abilities, an alkehester will have a fraction of her psychic power inaccessible as it goes into animating the biotitan. Control can be assumed or withdrawn freely and takes a moderate amount of time. (It can also be withdrawn instantly, but at the cost of the life of the Titant, making it unusable.) Alkehesters can have more than one Titant.

***
Since colonisation, there has been very little interaction between formics and humans. At first this was because the races didn't live in environments that put them into contact with each other and the two races didn't have much inclination to contact the other anyway, but eventually this divide was solidified when a certain incident occurred between the two races.

The Queen of a hierarchy had at one point been taken ill by a devastating plague that targeted formics. It seemed as if she would die and the only way to save her was through alkehestry, but some of the required reagents needed to create the cure could only be found in the caverns underneath Avernus' Spine. A military expedition was sent to gather the reagents.

The mission was ultimately a success, even though there were very few survivors, but within the caverns was found something rather unexpected: humans. The formics had known about humans for a long time before then, of course, but they didn't know they had entered the caverns nor did they know why. One of the Princesses attached to the expedition communicated with the humans via telepathy and found out the reason essentially boiled down to "for fun and profit".

Since then, formickind has collectively taken a stance of "Humans are insane. Avoid at all costs."

Recently however, a Princess who set out from her hierarchy to found a colony of her own has opened relations with humanity. Purportedly this is to secure advantages for her future hierarchy, to gain prestige and respect amongst the other hierarchies, and what seems to be simple interest and curiosity on her own part. She is interested in trading things of equal value: knowledge for knowledge and goods for goods. Technology is what she's most interested in but between humanity's unwillingness to share it and her own unwillingness to share formic psychic knowledge, she realistically only expects to exchange lore, culture, and history, things which in themselves interest her much. Of course, any kind of trade deal or further diplomacy would have to require the establishment of a common language to get into the details and generally handle inter-species communication, things which telepathy isn't practical for.

One useful thing the preliminary "talks" have uncovered is that humans who go into the caverns "for fun and profit" are considered insane by their own species, so opinion on humans has warmed somewhat among the formics. Only somewhat, however; the talks also uncovered that colonising Avernus was a decision made entirely of their own free will.

***
There are many formic hierarchies, each with their own distinct culture and even minor biological differences from one another. These hierarchies do occasionally fall because Avernus does not stop being dangerous just because you live underground, but some have managed to stand strong and become particularly notable. Here are a few of those hierarchies.

Tinashe
The formics of the Tinashe Hierarchy have glands which let them shoot blasts of fiery acid from their mouths. All formics in the hierarchy have this ability, from thralls to the Queen. On the battlefield, the hierarchy prefers to field large numbers of thralls and Titants due to the potential for massed fire and bombardment. Life within the hierarchy is pretty normal, all things told, its culture not being particularly divergent from other hierarchies.

Ama
Unique among the formics, the Ama Hierarchy is a fully nomadic one, not settling down into a hive but instead always on the move from place to place, staying in one location only for a short period of time. The Ama have a relatively small numbers of thralls and the highest proportion of hiveborn among the hierarchies, allowing them to maintain more beasts. Their lack of infrastructure means they don't produce much in the way of technology or advanced alkehestry, instead trading with other hierarchies to get such things. The experiences they gain from travelling and their contact with other hierarchies means that the Ama Hierarchy has a great many stories to tell, pushing arts such as song, poetry, and storytelling to new heights among the formics.

Imani
The Imani Hierarchy is not very divergent from "baseline" formic biology, having a slightly higher number of thrall eggs produced per clutch and little else. Societally is another story. The focus of the Imani Hierarchy is alkahestry. Collecting, cataloguing, and experimenting with new reagents as well as generally advancing the art is what the Queen has dedicated her hierarchy to doing, leading to things such as more Princesses leaving their traditional duties to hiveborn to become alkehesters. This makes the Imani Hierarchy the most advanced of the hierarchies in alkahestry.
The Imani have developed a way to create a Princess Titant - a Titant with functional wings paired with the mind and psychic powers of a Princess. The process is known to be very long and complex, requiring a ring of Princesses to complete. Also known to be needed is that the Princess who intends to gain her new body must be included into the biological slurry, as must a Princess egg. However, there are some downsides to the procedure, as the Princess Titant becomes incapable of breeding, cannot become a Queen, and has up to half her lifespan lost. It's even possible for the procedure to failing entirely, leading to the death of the Princess.

Makena
Relatively new among the formic race, the Makena Hierarchy's territory lies at the northern tip of Avernus' Spine. The Makena Hierarchy is noted for the psychic strength of their Princesses and their Queen, something rather noteworthy as deviations that affect psychic powers are quite rare among formics. The Makena Hierarchy is also noted for its extreme hatred of Chaos.
The hierarchy was founded shortly after the First Daemonic Incursion. Its Queen was the sole surviving Princess of a hierarchy that committed mass suicide to empower its Queen enough to defeat the powerful daemons she was fighting and losing against. The Queen won and destroyed the rest of the daemons her hierarchy had been fighting, but by the time the next daemonic force arrived she was tired, wounded, and no longer had the Hierarchy's power. Before she met her end, she cut off her sole surviving Princess (who had been sent away with a detachment to bring help from another hierarchy) in the hopes that she would become Queen of a hierarchy that would not fail as hers had.
The Queen of the Makena Hierarchy is a ferocious warrior who fights with four swords - a common formic fighting style. Uniquely, however, is that the swords are telekinetically linked to four Titant-scale swords which follow the movements of the regular swords precisely, with the end products being four massive swords swinging at very high speeds that do an absurd amount of damage. This is possible thanks to the immense psychic power of the Queen. She has to concentrate very little to maintain the effect and will typically only fail if she outright falls unconscious.

Masozi
Formics of the Masozi Hierarchy are faster and more agile than formics of other hierarchies. Their drones are superb fighters as a result and easily outclass other drones. The Masozi are big fans of competition and sports. Hunting in particular is rather popular. Masozi drones used to also do a great deal of exploration and cartography, but do so significantly less now than in years past due to the increasing human presence in Avernus' aerospace, something which they are resentful for.

Andile
The psychic ability that all formics share to connect with others of their own hierarchy is a large part of the race's success. With a higher capacity to form such connection, it is no surprise why the Andile can be considered a notable hierarchy. Granted, to reach and maintain those higher levels of connection requires a lot of meditation, but the drop in efficiency is easily made up for by the increased ability to coordinate with other formics, resulting in a net gain in efficiency and effectiveness. Furthermore, the meditation requirement actually had a rather positive side-effect. As certain types of dance, visual art, and music serve to aid in meditation, the Andile have become rather proficient dancers, artists, and musicians.

Click to shrink...

graet Omake
I am still considering whether to make it canon though, something like this can have a major impact and will take some thought

 

[Reynal]

On one hand, I do think that fluff-wise the powerful psykers we have are waaaaay short of where they should be in canon. On the other, god our poor cities. Rogue psyker casualties are already an issue, after all, and those fallen to Chaos are already going to be higher on the power scale thanks to the boost they get and will benefit disproportionately.

We should probably look into doing Telepathica research of the Sphinx and the dragonfly to upgrade our power countering game even with the green tide coming. Being able to shut down what is effectively strategic-tier weapons deployed inside our defenses better would be nice...

 

[Durin]

Some examples of how more powerful compared to now for the various ranks of Psykers in what they could do would be nice but for me at least go ahead if its for everyone equally.

Click to shrink...

Rank	Current Power Multiplier	Potential Power Multiplier	Minimum Power Score	Minimum Base Power (final power is this x multiplier)
Zeta	1	1	12	10
Epsilon	2	2	14	20
Delta	4	6	17	45
Gamma	8	12	21	90
Beta	16	36	26	170
Alpha	32	108	32	300

 

[Stormgear]

Damn. Thought I'd have at least another day to omake up. I forgot about time zones. Curse your future time zone living!!

 

[ArchAIngel]

Just counted, we earned a +19 to the roll.

 

[Durin]

Damn. Thought I'd have at least another day to omake up. I forgot about time zones. Curse your future time zone living!!

Click to shrink...

you have 24 hours for Omakes

 

[ArchAIngel]

Very well then.

It is now 11:04 PM West Coast Time.

Beginning cognition.

 

[Shard]

Can psykers upgrade their power trait?

 

[True Metal Power]

It seems that I'm really good at procrastination.
After the last update, I had one unfinished omake about Ridcully training, now I have three.
@Durin, how much time I have?

 

[ArchAIngel]

It seems that I'm really good at procrastination.
After the last update, I had one unfinished omake about Ridcully training, now I have three.
@Durin, how much time I have?

Click to shrink...

23 hours, 50 minutes remain.

 

[TotallyNotEvil]

Rank	Current Power Multiplier	Potential Power Multiplier	Minimum Power Score	Minimum Base Power (final power is this x multiplier)
Zeta	1	1	12	10
Epsilon	2	2	14	20
Delta	4	6	17	45
Gamma	8	12	21	90
Beta	16	36	26	170
Alpha	32	108	32	300

Click to shrink...

Alphas break the pattern of, for A1 = 1, A2 = 2 *A1, A3 = 3*A2, A4 = 2*A3, A5 = 3*A4, A6=2*A5.

Or is the "108" supposed to be a "72" all along?

Let's see, as you suggest, Alphas would have the raw power of 5.3 Betas, Betas would be worth 5.66 Gammas, Gammas would be worth 4 Deltas, Deltas would be worth 6.75 Epsilons, Epsilons would be worth 4 Zetas.

Or, in other worlds, Alphas have the equivalent might of 3245 Zetas in perfect concert and efficiency, Betas are equivalent to 612 Zetas, Gammas are equivalent to 110 Zetas, Deltas are equivalent to 22 Zetas, Epsilons are equivalent to 4 Zetas (some is lost in rounding).

Does that look right?

 

[Durin]

as a side note currently on Avernus 1 Throne is around the equivalent of $1,000
Trooper power Amrour costs 3,500 Thrones to buy and between 700 Thrones per year and 70 Thrones a year to keep running
Elite Power Armour costs 1.8 million Thrones to buy and between 200k Thrones and 20k Thrones a year to keep running

 

[Durin]

Alphas break the pattern of, for A1 = 1, A2 = 2 *A1, A3 = 3*A2, A4 = 2*A3, A5 = 3*A4, A6=2*A5.

Or is the "108" supposed to be a "72" all along?

Click to shrink...

no it is 108, Alphas break the pattern

 

[Shard]

Base Power multiplier seems to be *2 prev
Max Power seems to be *3 prev, though Zeta-Epilson breaks that pattern.