-
Going forward, links to content from Twitter (now X) will no longer be embedded. Pre-existing links should not be affected.
The Long Night Part One: Embers in the Dusk: A Planetary Governor Quest (43k) Complete Sequel Up
- Thread starter Durin
- Start date
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
Oh dear.
- Location
- Earth
Wait, where was this mentioned?
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
IIRC isn't corruption d1000+500?
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Presumably one of the sheets.
I hope it isn't panic worthy, as it isn't a holy number (for example the Khorne incursion had corruption at 888), but its still cause for concern.
No holy number, although the largest increase in cultists was in Nurgle cultists.
It could just be chaos generally flexing its muscles after Khorne's thing to try and dissuade him, but I still want to be able to pick up Rids and get him into orbit ASAP just in case.
datasheets at the patreon pages
the roll was 500 + 808, the 808 is what worries me but since it is not a strait 888 I am not to worried but still something to worry about.
Last edited:
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
I suspect the true odds of an incursion is something more like 1~2% per turn, depending on what can proc an incursion - The things which can proc incursions are probably expanding along with Chaos' power. (More like ~5% TBH after considering that Durin's dice are happily married to drama. Maybe a bit lower since incursions aren't the only source of drama, Alpha+s can do it as well.)
- Location
- madison
maybe khorns avatar will show up, and we get to despratly try not to die while the PM bags itself a God.
- Location
- United states
Not sure if Khorne is willing to step foot on Avernus considering that even he would see it as suicide. Not to mention that realistically anyone that had the resources would probably not use it on one single planet and Avernus at that. Throw in the fact that Avernus itself likely doesn't have anything to make the risk worth it to Khorne personally.
- Location
- The United States
I mean, there is that one mysterious continent of ours that Choas tries to invade during every incursion.
Maybe something lies there that Khorne would be willing to risk himself for.
- Location
- United states
Yeah but IIRC most incursions aren't actually major ones meaning that chaos has a reason for not doing those. Avernus is one of the few places that has things that can perma kill daemons and the planet may be holding back the big stuff if chaos pushes too far.
Actually there is plenty of things Khorne would like on Avernus
1 Saint Lin
2 Ridicully
3 those psyker that Andreas created don't remember the name
4 what ever on the hidden continent
5 what is behind the beast that can wipe out most of the galaxy
6 the old ones mistakes also hidden away
7 old one artifacts.
- Location
- Australia
Huh? Everything on Avernus is a psyker.
Did you not write a omake about a bunch of powerful psyker people? You brought them up during the last incursion.
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
It's also a great place for a fight.
- Location
- Australia
The landuins? That omake was made well after the second daemonic incursion. And yeah they're powerful psykers but hardly worth a daemonic incursion on their own. They were quite explicitly failures. Hell they failed so hard that they got demoted to People. They're not important at all.
Even Further Beyond
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Even Further Beyond
Through the undergrowth she went, leaving no footprints for any tracker to spot as she ran. Her eyes darted left and right, scanning for her ever illusive hunter, playing the game that they had begun at her insistence, despite his protestations that she would learn little from the experience.
Well he was wrong. She was getting better, every time she failed she learned from the experience. She grew. It might have been embarrassing at times, but what did she care about that? It might have been frustrating, but she had the patience of stone. It might have been repetitive, but she would not give in to simple boredom.
Standing stock still she waited next to the Forever Bloom, letting it become used to her presence before she continued on lest she be trapped eternally in the dreams that it created. She waited, feeling the seconds tick by.
Then she was free and crossed the field, hoping that would slow her hunter down long enough for her to hide. She continued to scan for him, searching not with her mind, but with her eyes and instincts trained by millennia of exploration and discovery.
So their game continued, but such a game would always end this way. Perhaps not exactly in this way, but the ending was assured nonetheless
Pressed against the back of an Ironbark tree, ignoring the sleeping Forest Dragon, she felt a sharp sting on her left shoulder as she leapt back, dodging the second strike from an improvised leaf blade. Vlad the Explorer stepped forth, his camouflage impeccably blending him into the forest as he smiled and shrugged.
"Better than last time Areatha, better than I expected all things considered, but you're not really creating your own style, you're just copying me and you're not going to be able to do the things I do..."
Sighing and absentmindedly healing the wound, she simply directed a smile his way. "Well I've got to get good enough to have my own style before that don't I? And while your standards may be extremely high my improvements are already bearing fruit. Did you know Rotbart sometimes cooks in his underwear?"
At that Vlad started for a second before shaking his head in the manner of someone utterly confused by what they had just heard and were attempting to shake it from their ears.
"I'm sorry how on earth do you know that?"
"Saw him through a window when I was testing my newly acquired sneakiness with my powers. I was creeping around the outside of the palace and spotted him through a window."
If anything that made him more bemused.
"And you were at the Governor's palace, sneaking around in a totally not weird fashion, spying on people through the windows because…"
"I told you, because I was learning to combine my powers with the skills I'm learning? Who else in the nearby regions is more constantly on the lookout than the Own...well except for the Vault guards. I'll test it on something better when I leave, but for now they do good work. The number of times they've seen me when I'm not using my powers has gone down a lot."
Vlad simply sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'd tell you to knock it off, but I've done that enough times. Just don't drive them insane and it should be good for the pair of you."
Flashing him a quick thumbs up she gathered her power to step to the University as Vlad called out to her again.
"Going to see Zeno?"
She stopped turning back to him, surprised that he had known. It wasn't like she was hiding that she was visiting Zeno, but equally she wasn't advertising the fact, just in case he learned about it and took the opportunity to gloat.
"Yeah? He's good at what he does so I decided to ask him to tutor me when he had some time available. Only every once in a while, but it's better than nothing."
Vlad just frowned and walked up to her stopping leaning in close to examine her.
"There something wrong with you?"
She stared into his eyes, feeling him trying to decipher what had changed within her, why she was focused so hard on training herself when usually she was content to learn and experiment with whatever caught her fancy. But she'd ceased to do that for some time now, save to dedicate herself to examining the frequencies of Chaos, working with Munstrum on his projects, and handling Rotbart's occasional requests to vanish.
Of course to most her actions would seem perfectly normal. Coming and going to places nobody knew was normal for her as far as most were concerned, but others saw deeper than that.
Vlad had figured it out, but he wasn't certain exactly what he had figured out yet...so she'd redirect him.
"I'm just increasing my training. After hearing of Ahrah and how that went down...well I've got some holes in my arsenal. Figured I'd work on closing them. Shouldn't be that strange, no?"
Vlad continued to stare at her, eyes seeming like they were trying to burn holes through her head and gaze at her soul, but she remained unphased. She'd told the truth. Not the whole truth, but it was all Vlad needed to know for now.
She'd apologise later if she had to, but for now she wanted to keep her plan a secret. To try and keep it from leaking to him and the argument that she feared would be inevitable.
He scowled and stepped back, seemingly satisfied with her answer for now cracking his neck to relieve the stiffness that must have built up hiding as a tree, before casually dodging the suddenly falling meteor fig, which embedded itself in between them.
"Well for now keep doing the exercises I gave you and you should keep getting better while we're not having our little sessions."
She nodded as he bent down, killing the fruit with a quick jab of his leaf blade and began to extract it for later eating. As she turned to leave at last she heard him speak again.
"But, if there's something bothering you, then you can always come to me. We can talk."
"Thanks. I think I'll take you up on that. For now though I have a date to keep."
In the blink of an eye she was no longer within the forest, but was submerged beneath the comforting presence of academia, the hopes and dreams of students whistling around her mind like so much confetti in the wind, the heady smell of concentrated psycic energy permeating the air around her. She had gone trusting that Vlad would be able to return on his own. It wasn't like there was much in these regions that could hope to threaten him assuming he didn't do something stupid.
She appeared right in front of Zeno, Ridcully's almost perpetually overworked and worried assistant, the only man in the University able to manage the Grandmaster's paperwork. The one man army in an eternal battle against an eldritch multi dimensional horror that only he could fight and best alone. Only rarely did his team of trained of auditors, bureaucrats and civil servants to handle this monumental task for if they tried too frequently they would quickly lose their minds.
"On time exactly, good. Now we can restart our lessons from where we left off, this is form 2512425-2O, it is for…"
She had to give him credit. She really did. He was unflappable and his strict attitude was able to keep her engaged in what he was teaching despite her near instinctive desire to curl away from it in boredom. She was more than capable of keeping herself focused of course, but there was something about the intricate network of forms, requisitions, administrative techniques, quotas, and more that set her teeth on edge and made her mind want to leap from her body and check on her other projects while she devoted only the minimal amount of attention to Zeno. But she refused.
There would be no gain, no improvement without her paying the cost and in this case the cost was her and Zeno's time and she was determined not to waste it, even as he started to gnash his teeth at her questions and curse her as a female version of Ridcully. Questions which she thought were reasonable at the time. Or when he gasped in horror when he discovered she had managed to create a bureaucratic impossibility within one of the forms.
It didn't stop her absent mindedly checking that time had not been slowed down by some outside force though, as the hours seemed to drag on for eternity, minutes stretching on for eons as she processed each and everyone one of Zeno's tips, tricks, and techniques for the effective and efficient desk jockey.
At last it seemed Zeno's break was over, heralded by the bearded head of Munstrum emerging bristling from the door, head unerringly turning from him to her, thick bushy eyebrows furrowing.
"Zeno, it seems I've made something of a mess of a file. Could you please intercept it before it goes out?"
At that Zeno's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates before springing from his chair like a Kickstart Elk and darting out of the door, Ridcully silently stepping out of his way and shutting it as he passed.
"That was rather cruel you know."
He shrugged, stepping over to the now unoccupied and pre-warmed seat and settling himself.
"I did actually make a mistake, just not as serious a one as I may have let him believe. It should keep him occupied long enough for us to have a little chat."
Internally she sighed. Vlad was good, impossibly so in so many ways, but he wasn't nearly omniscient like Munstrum could be when he was curious about something. And unlike Vlad she worked alongside him, even visited him just to talk and have fun. He'd have spotted her changed behaviour quickly if she was any judge. Why he'd waited until now to tell her she could not even begin to fathom. Maybe he'd seen that this was the best time to do whatever it was he intended to do...maybe he had simply needed time to gather the information, after all his time and sight was an extremely valuable commodity.
"And I take it this is when you try to dissuade me?"
Her voice was cold. Devoid of what she hoped was her normal warmth. She'd set her mind on this, a goal more absolute within her mind than she had had in the last few millennia.
He would not dissuade her from her path no matter how much it would hurt the both of them.
His head dropped as he stroked his beard, the one sign of agitation that he occasionally let bleed into his form before finally he stood up and began pacing, finally turning violently to look at her.
"Do you have any idea what this will do to you?! Any idea of how it will affect you once you are done?!"
"No Munstrum, in case you're forgetting I helped figure out what they are in the first place. I've watched you every step of the way and looking back in hindsight I've met people like you before. I've seen them lose themselves and some I've even see go through it and come back on the other side. So no, I don't know what I'm getting into, I don't know how it will effect me. All I know is that I'm very good at what I do and I'm not going to let myself get twisted so easily that it won't be worth it."
If anything her answer instead of reassuring Munstrum only made him more agitated, practically prowling up and down, as his soul form gazed into the future and the now, before finally stopping.
He was standing there, grim faced, brooding like a bushy storm cloud, his empty eyes seeing further than she could likely ever see in her entire life. He'd gone beyond the bounds of the galaxy and through the realm of souls to see the faces of Gods and returned changed, but stronger for the experience.
She knew what he was doing, searching every future he could see with his impossible skill, looking for the one where he managed to convince her otherwise. To abandon the mad scheme that she had conceived.
But she stood her ground. She would weather his concern even as she cringed from his stark stare. He would understand in the future. He probably understood now or it wouldn't be Ridcully standing before her now,it would be Seamus in full wroth, bearing down on her.
Stepping up to him she embraced him, feeling him tense around her arms as she held him close.
"Stop, Munstrum."
She was whispering into his ear, her own eyes tight shut as she did so.
"You won't find a way to talk me out of this...my mind has been made up and as selfish as it might be I won't be shifted from my course, friend."
He knew that. Seeing something so close to the future would be childsplay for Ridcully, silent and helpless. His mortal weakness, to know so much, but to be bound both by his own inability to know what to say and by the archetype bearing down upon his psyche. The latter he could resist, but the former...the former was a weakness centuries in the making that was so much harder to dispel.
"But...if you'll entertain one more selfish request...along the way I would like some company. And I hope you wouldn't mind some as well."
Sluggish he returned her embrace, nodding silently as they both chose to simply stand there.
Two friends, one young and one old. One already burdened with immense responsibility and the other...the other preparing to claim a charge. To shoulder a duty, one that had been implicit from birth.
Slowly they separated from one another as she prepared to leave. To return to the home she had built for herself, Ridcully continuing to watch her, until finally turning to leave, intending to intercept his loyal and irritated assistant before he was located and Zeno began to harangue him about the importance of filing his paperwork on the piles he was creating for now rather than the ones intended for the next decade.
"Before you go...please don't tell him."
She wasn't certain if she was pleading or begging, but she wanted to forestall the inevitable as long as possible.
"I'm afraid that's out of my hands. He already knows. Or at least suspects."
Turning away, she departed without a word, allowing her mind to flare outwards towards Dis, where she knew she would find Seamus's presence, as his light burned within the warp.
At the moment he was not heading towards her, but she knew that this would change in the not too distant future. She might not be as skilled a diviner as Ridcully, but she was still more than potent enough to see that his attention was flickering to her, as anger boiled within his usually calm soul. It seemed that all her planning and hiding were for naught.
Very well, she would wait.
So as not to make it hard upon him, she moved her hut close to the outskirts of Dis so that he would not be forced to trek and place additional strain upon his body. Simultaneously she busied herself with the work she had started after she learned of the Bloody Ritual.
Busying herself checking and rechecking vials and formulas, manipulating arcane circles of runes into alignment. Consulting ancient caches of knowledge and collected recipes that she had stored away across the world until she decided they were needed to ensure that she had the finest ingredients. All this she did silently within her abode as trillions of calculations whirled within her mind drawing her ever closer to her goal. Marching to the beat of her power towards the conclusion that she sought.
Then she felt him begin to move. His bright light heading in her direction along with the soldiers assigned to him, his Saint Guard in close formation around him. An unneeded gesture. The presence of a psyker of her power was enough to ensure they would be unbothered, to say nothing of the wards she had created discouraging any unwanted visitors, wildlife or sapient.
Still they came, the armour clad mass of humanity, their eyes darting in all directions desperate to find the danger to their holy charge before it appeared. All for naught, as he marched right up to her door.
"It's open."
She spoke before he knocked, not bothering to even look up from her work. If she had she knew she would see a harsher golden light than his normal comforting radiance, the manifestation of his anger.
With a firm hand her door was thrust open and in marched Saint Lin, illuminated by the light of the afternoon sun and his own bright aura.
Old he may have become, but he was no less proud, walking straight with the assistance of his rod and the wraith bone support skeleton, the devices contained within, linked into his very soul, working almost at their limit to keep his unbridled power from crushing his soul like fine spun glass.
"Areatha. By the name of the Emperor what are you thinking?!"
"What I must do. I realise that now."
He stepped forward into the room, any shadows that remained within blasted away by the flare of light as his voice boomed through her small cabin, echoing within and rattling its very support structure, physical and mystical.
"Need to do! In what possible way is mutilating yourself, your humanity further what you need to do?!"
"Because I can't do what needs to be done!"
She felt herself letting power seep into her, enhancing her voice to match the Saint's own as his fingers tightened around the rod, golden light flowing through it at an even higher intensity, blasting a hole in her wards and floor.
She breathed, calming herself, recovering her composure as Seamus did the same, glowering at her from across the room, eyes passing over a hundred lifetimes' work of collecting interesting items and substances, stored within this house.
"You can't be serious?"
Instead of responding she just shook her head willing to let Seamus take control of the discussion for now, something he rapidly proceeded to do.
"Areatha you are one of the most powerful beings we've encountered on Avernus. You may be flighty, but you can do practically anything you need to do."
He raised his arm and gestured around her home, at the tinctures, agents, and circles that dotted it.
"There must be a thousand different ways for you to increase your power, a hundred thousand for you to do this without resorting to...to that, if you are so certain that you need greater strength. I know that just by looking at what you and Lulana did with Jacob. But, mantling an archetype. To discard who you are for power, it isn't like you. "
She couldn't help it. She started to laugh.
"You...you think I don't have other means. Oh Seamus you're phenomenally intelligent, but you underestimate just how many I have access to."
A slight tug of her will had a vial sail from its stand into her hands, dug up at last from the ancient bones of the primal dragon she had buried it within, the prismatic contents drained in a split second as the phenomenal essence flooded her body, the ancient concoction at last being put to its use as it bound with her forever.
"I put that together 7000 years ago Seamus. I used the most potent regenerating creatures and healing reagents that I could find in the world and I've let it mature for all that time. Want to see what it does?"
Without hesitation, as Seamus looked on in curious fear, she raised a hand to her neck and extended a blade of pure force, cutting through her flesh like so much butter, her head neatly falling to the floor…
But, not a single drop of blood came forth.
For a split second she had no physical sight, no mortal hearing, but then it had returned to her, a new head emerging from her neck without any effort from her powers, probably faster than it could have if she had.
"I have so many ways of improving myself Seamus."
She spoke with new mouth and lips, the man standing there calmly, but beneath the surface she could see that he was rattled. Not by her display, but by what it represented.
"Fifteen thousand years ago I created a ritual that could let me absorb the strengths of Avernite creatures. I didn't use it then, but I've improved on it now with the knowledge of the Primal Warp. I'm going to go find a Therondy Dragon, kill it and absorb its power, then I'll track down as many other of Avernus' most powerful beings and do the same. A Bunyip will be child's play by the time I reach it."
She stepped forward, letting her power run wild for the first time in centuries, the power of she who had journeyed all over the world crashing behind her eyes.
"A more recent one I came up with is using a wraithbone compound I created to replace my skeleton and nervous system. I know a lot of psychically amplifying materials Seamus and with wraithbone I can do more than I ever could before."
"Stop it."
She ignored him, her whispering continuing on feverishly.
"What about the rune etchings, something I know you don't know how to do, but I do! I know a siren who can etch the true rune of Luck upon me, I can do the true runes of Strength, Power and Stability myself."
"Stop it!"
He was speaking louder now, a fear igniting within his eyes, a fear not for himself, but for her. But all that made her was even more determined to make him understand.
"Don't you get it Seamus, I've had millennia living in the most advanced psychic lab in the entire galaxy. I've got enough influence with the Gods that live in this world to grant me a blessing equal to yours in every way if not more so. You've learned a vast amount, but even that is a fraction compared to the knowledge I possess. I can improve myself in so so many ways and yet...and yet."
She turned away from him, her voice trailing off, looking away from him.
"It won't be enough."
She felt his hand upon her shoulder as he turned her around, to look at him. To look him in the eyes.
"What do you mean not enough. Areatha please, tell me what happened. Let me understand."
"What happened? You know what happened, Ahrha's ritual happened."
"And you realised that you wouldn't have been strong enough to help."
"HAH! Got in one. Or at least partially."
"So what this is some infantile attempt to puff yourself up? Or maybe more like a midlife crisis given your advanced age. You are not the strongest in the universe Areatha. Perhaps this is a strange realisation for someone who's always had all the strength they could possibly need. Frankly it seems like you're just overreacting. You still have more strength than most beings could possibly need. Why do you think you need to earn more to fight these battles? Why do you think you need to resort to such extreme measures?"
Areatha merely looked at him, mouth slightly agape. "Seamus...rarely have you ever been so right and so wrong at the same time."
"Well then tell me what is really going on."
"Fine. I'm not acting out because I've suddenly realised I'm not the strongest. I've never the been the strongest, I live on Helheim, there is always a bigger fish, even now..."
She raised her arm and pointed towards the south. Towards that jungled nightmare where her ancient teacher resided. "There's someone who could kill me by accident and he isn't even a Weapon or Great One.
"I'm doing this because I must. Because my best has always been enough, but now it isn't anymore. I spent an entire day killing a single honoured bloodthirster. At the same time two more of its kind were rampaging across your lands and one of them nearly killed Ridcully. To say nothing of the Exalted that went straight for the Sakarian empire and succeeded in carving its heart out because it was offended, a threat that I know if I faced I would almost certainly lose barring a practical miracle."
She was getting agitated now. "I need to get stronger. To become more so that I can fight things like the Exalted and win. And I need to be able to win with ease, every single time. Because if I don't then there may not be a next time. Until I can stand on battlefields like Margtageth and be worth a damn. It's all very well saying I'm overreacting, but how can you say that when you know just how dark the galaxy is already and how much darker it's going to become. It's time for me to change. It's time for me to do what I was always meant to do. I've had a long childhood Seamus. I've had time to play, to learn, live, and love without fear, and now it's time for me to pay that chance back to the galaxy and the world. For giving me that chance."
Seamus was silent. For once it seemed like he did not know what to say. She could see his nature warring within. The eternal conflict of those touched by the stain of the old Imperium, tempting them to choose the greater good, the pragmatic choice, fought by his eternal idealism, determined never to give anything up because it was the easier way.
"If it makes it easier for you, just think of it as me finally fulfilling the purpose I was born for."
"What?"
"Don't be naive, Seamus. I was created to be a weapon. My father made me with love, but my existence was bought and paid for with military funds, to be an ultimate weapon against the Men of Iron. I looked back you know. I used the foci to see what he was doing when he wasn't with me. He was trying to replicate me. To mass produce me. He was doing it so that they wouldn't take me to the front lines. I know that, but it doesn't change it. I am still a weapon. That weapon may have changed hands, but it doesn't change that fact that it is what I was meant to be."
"Fine, but that doesn't change that an archetype is a step too far. You think you can make all these alterations to yourself without twisting your personality and nature, so be it. But why this, why start walking the path of ascension?"
"Because there's always a point of diminishing returns.
"Seamus I've made no modifications to myself in all my life, I never had any reason too. As you said, I've always had enough power and adding more to myself was never needed even as I conceived of hundreds of thousands of different ways of doing it on my own and learned of hundreds of ways other beings could do it for me as well to complement it. But eventually it will stop being as effective and this is the next level. The next stage...to go even further beyond."
Seamus turned and sat down in one of the few pieces of furniture she kept in her hut, a wicker chair, regarding at once disapproving and frustrated, but also understanding. In so many ways like a disappointed parent.
"Areatha, you really are a child in so many ways. For all your intelligence you are brash, keep stupid secrets from those who would normally help you, and do foolish foolish things seemingly with no regard to the consequences...but I am glad you are...growing up. In an odd way."
"Like a furious grandparent? Disapproving of the choices those stupid youngsters are making, but wanting to support them anyway and hoping that it doesn't cause them too much damage."
He chuckled softly under his breath.
"More like the supportive priest and friend, distraught at the idea of one of their flock abandoning salvation and leaving the herd for the wolves. And worse without telling him. Without letting him try and dissuade her from something so foolish. In fact I think I'll turn this into a parable."
She couldn't help herself. She started to snicker.
"You do that Seamus, by all means. I'm happy to try and educate young minds."
She could hear Seamus snickering himself...before stopping.
"Just one question. What archetype do you intend to mantle. So I can...prepare myself for what may happen." He was so hesitant. The anger had bled away, a short burst from a man for whom such an emotion was not in his nature, but the worry and care remained.
"Oh Seamus. I'm not doing the ritual now. I'm not going to be doing it for a very long time."
"Ah? I thought...I thought you had already prepared it what with your abilities and knowledge."
She shook her head.
"No, this is the kind of power that I can't just snap my fingers and master, and even then I need to implement all those augmentations I was talking about. I'm designing the ritual and when they're done...then I'll do it. But, that might not be for a century, assuming I don't experiment with something, like integrating anti-Chaos frequencies, or trying to take the two archetypes I'm closest to."
"Yes, speaking of which."
"Funny you should mention those. I designed a ritual based on the research you did. I can give you my notes, but I fear it's far too keyed to me to be used for someone else. It let me see the archetypes I was connected to and the ones I had the strongest connection to."
She cast her head up thinking.
"Lets see which of these surprise you."
"The Archer."
"No surprise."
"The Hermit."
"Again, expected."
"The Magical Girl."
"The what now?"
She grinned. She knew that one would surprise him, it certainly surprised her.
"Yeah, no idea what that involves. From what I could see it seemed to entail love, dreams, and the power of friendship."
"That...doesn't sound especially powerful."
"Well the power of friendship seems to be giant energy beams, so I guess it's got more oomph to it than it sounds. Friendship has always had power in the warp."
"But...ultimately there was really only one that called out in the proper way to me. The Witch. I...wasn't really expecting it, but it fits more than any of the others."
"Even the Hermit? I'm surprised. I'd have thought that would have been more appropriate given your wanderings over the past 20,000 years."
"No...the Hermit is too isolated. I don't shy away from people like it implies, and Archer while a major part of myself, I certainly don't define myself by it. And...well, Magical Girl I think you can see the problem with such a major unknown."
"But the Witch. A mistress of powers beyond imagining. Someone who knows the secrets of the world, who can heal and curse in equal measure, who can go wherever they need to in order to learn and do what they need to do...yes, I think that fits me more than any other."
Once again silence descended, she standing and him sitting, strangely...exhausted even though her body was filled with energy. It was always strange how tired the outpouring of emotions could make a person.
"And after? After you've made your...alterations and performed your ritual?"
"I'll probably split my time in two. Aiding the Eldar, going across the galaxy killing Chaos. I think I'll be pretty good at that. Hopefully I'll get some influence with them and cash it in to get stronger. The other half I'll spend on the World doing the same thing, but also trying to strengthen the Peoples. They'll need it to weather the storm that's coming.."
"I take it that's why you're visiting Richards and Jane?"
"Yes, they're the best teachers in this region and I've got some powers I can combine it with...but also I'm learning from them as well. Richards is teaching me how to command and Jane it trying to improve my combat style...or really we're just sparring and she's giving me tips, but it's better than nothing."
"Very well. I can see you won't be dissuaded from your foolish course...but in that case please come to see me. I can at least impart some wisdom into your…"
At that he forced himself to his feet, walking forward and tapping her on the head with his rod.
"Utterly thick head."
Rubbing where he wacked her with a smile she nodded.
"Just give me time. I'll be there, I promise. No more hiding. And I'm sure you'll try to dissuade me from this path as well as try to convert me to boot."
The familiar glow started to return, the glow of the man she knew, full of kindness and gentleness, not harsh and wrothful.
"Indeed I will. I've learnt a lot of new tricks arguing with those lizards."
He paused as he began to walk towards the door. "Like talking to a self righteous brick wall," he said. "Got any suggestions?"
All she could do was shrug.
"My first contact with them was kidnapping a Saurus who I did not realise was the Eldest at the time and then getting trained by him. That's kinda coloured their interactions with me...although if you could get him on board then the Saurus would probably be done and dusted...perhaps the Skinks too. He's probably the only being both sides respect enough or are too afraid to anger to listen to without the normal cold blooded calculus."
He nodded and opened the door, letting the star filled sky bleed into the little hut. It was strange. She knew that it had been the afternoon when he had arrived.
"Do you want me to go with you to Dis?"
She had gathered her axe and had exited her hut. Lin may need to sleep, but for her it was more of a pleasant suggestion.
"No, you run along to your lesson with Richards...although I may have let slip to Rotbart about your newly found interest in generalship."
She froze…she should have expected this, but she had had faith in him. That he wouldn't sell her out like this.
"He was very interested when I told him that particular piece of information. He said he would design some scenarios and send it back to Richards to…'aid' your education."
At that moment you didn't need to see his aura to tell he was containing his mirth and his guards were uncomfortably trying to keep in their own merriment.
She held up her arms and grinned, taking his gesture in good humour like it was meant to be. After all it was still good for her education, even if she imagined beating Rotbart's so called scenarios was going to be more an exercise in trial and error more than anything.
"Very well Seamus, very well. I'll see you soon."
She was gone, emerging in General Richard's after hours class at the Avernus Officer Academy, cloaked in an illusion only the general would be able to see through as to not alarm the students.
Settling in she began to pay attention to the lecture, noting down the various tactical manoeuvres and stratagems with a dedicated drive.
At last pushing herself, even further beyond.
Brain fart that went somewhere.
My eternal thanks to @random_npc @Stormgear @Swordomatic @ArchAIngel and @Andres110
@Durin
For your inspection.
Through the undergrowth she went, leaving no footprints for any tracker to spot as she ran. Her eyes darted left and right, scanning for her ever illusive hunter, playing the game that they had begun at her insistence, despite his protestations that she would learn little from the experience.
Well he was wrong. She was getting better, every time she failed she learned from the experience. She grew. It might have been embarrassing at times, but what did she care about that? It might have been frustrating, but she had the patience of stone. It might have been repetitive, but she would not give in to simple boredom.
Standing stock still she waited next to the Forever Bloom, letting it become used to her presence before she continued on lest she be trapped eternally in the dreams that it created. She waited, feeling the seconds tick by.
Then she was free and crossed the field, hoping that would slow her hunter down long enough for her to hide. She continued to scan for him, searching not with her mind, but with her eyes and instincts trained by millennia of exploration and discovery.
So their game continued, but such a game would always end this way. Perhaps not exactly in this way, but the ending was assured nonetheless
Pressed against the back of an Ironbark tree, ignoring the sleeping Forest Dragon, she felt a sharp sting on her left shoulder as she leapt back, dodging the second strike from an improvised leaf blade. Vlad the Explorer stepped forth, his camouflage impeccably blending him into the forest as he smiled and shrugged.
"Better than last time Areatha, better than I expected all things considered, but you're not really creating your own style, you're just copying me and you're not going to be able to do the things I do..."
Sighing and absentmindedly healing the wound, she simply directed a smile his way. "Well I've got to get good enough to have my own style before that don't I? And while your standards may be extremely high my improvements are already bearing fruit. Did you know Rotbart sometimes cooks in his underwear?"
At that Vlad started for a second before shaking his head in the manner of someone utterly confused by what they had just heard and were attempting to shake it from their ears.
"I'm sorry how on earth do you know that?"
"Saw him through a window when I was testing my newly acquired sneakiness with my powers. I was creeping around the outside of the palace and spotted him through a window."
If anything that made him more bemused.
"And you were at the Governor's palace, sneaking around in a totally not weird fashion, spying on people through the windows because…"
"I told you, because I was learning to combine my powers with the skills I'm learning? Who else in the nearby regions is more constantly on the lookout than the Own...well except for the Vault guards. I'll test it on something better when I leave, but for now they do good work. The number of times they've seen me when I'm not using my powers has gone down a lot."
Vlad simply sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'd tell you to knock it off, but I've done that enough times. Just don't drive them insane and it should be good for the pair of you."
Flashing him a quick thumbs up she gathered her power to step to the University as Vlad called out to her again.
"Going to see Zeno?"
She stopped turning back to him, surprised that he had known. It wasn't like she was hiding that she was visiting Zeno, but equally she wasn't advertising the fact, just in case he learned about it and took the opportunity to gloat.
"Yeah? He's good at what he does so I decided to ask him to tutor me when he had some time available. Only every once in a while, but it's better than nothing."
Vlad just frowned and walked up to her stopping leaning in close to examine her.
"There something wrong with you?"
She stared into his eyes, feeling him trying to decipher what had changed within her, why she was focused so hard on training herself when usually she was content to learn and experiment with whatever caught her fancy. But she'd ceased to do that for some time now, save to dedicate herself to examining the frequencies of Chaos, working with Munstrum on his projects, and handling Rotbart's occasional requests to vanish.
Of course to most her actions would seem perfectly normal. Coming and going to places nobody knew was normal for her as far as most were concerned, but others saw deeper than that.
Vlad had figured it out, but he wasn't certain exactly what he had figured out yet...so she'd redirect him.
"I'm just increasing my training. After hearing of Ahrah and how that went down...well I've got some holes in my arsenal. Figured I'd work on closing them. Shouldn't be that strange, no?"
Vlad continued to stare at her, eyes seeming like they were trying to burn holes through her head and gaze at her soul, but she remained unphased. She'd told the truth. Not the whole truth, but it was all Vlad needed to know for now.
She'd apologise later if she had to, but for now she wanted to keep her plan a secret. To try and keep it from leaking to him and the argument that she feared would be inevitable.
He scowled and stepped back, seemingly satisfied with her answer for now cracking his neck to relieve the stiffness that must have built up hiding as a tree, before casually dodging the suddenly falling meteor fig, which embedded itself in between them.
"Well for now keep doing the exercises I gave you and you should keep getting better while we're not having our little sessions."
She nodded as he bent down, killing the fruit with a quick jab of his leaf blade and began to extract it for later eating. As she turned to leave at last she heard him speak again.
"But, if there's something bothering you, then you can always come to me. We can talk."
"Thanks. I think I'll take you up on that. For now though I have a date to keep."
In the blink of an eye she was no longer within the forest, but was submerged beneath the comforting presence of academia, the hopes and dreams of students whistling around her mind like so much confetti in the wind, the heady smell of concentrated psycic energy permeating the air around her. She had gone trusting that Vlad would be able to return on his own. It wasn't like there was much in these regions that could hope to threaten him assuming he didn't do something stupid.
She appeared right in front of Zeno, Ridcully's almost perpetually overworked and worried assistant, the only man in the University able to manage the Grandmaster's paperwork. The one man army in an eternal battle against an eldritch multi dimensional horror that only he could fight and best alone. Only rarely did his team of trained of auditors, bureaucrats and civil servants to handle this monumental task for if they tried too frequently they would quickly lose their minds.
"On time exactly, good. Now we can restart our lessons from where we left off, this is form 2512425-2O, it is for…"
She had to give him credit. She really did. He was unflappable and his strict attitude was able to keep her engaged in what he was teaching despite her near instinctive desire to curl away from it in boredom. She was more than capable of keeping herself focused of course, but there was something about the intricate network of forms, requisitions, administrative techniques, quotas, and more that set her teeth on edge and made her mind want to leap from her body and check on her other projects while she devoted only the minimal amount of attention to Zeno. But she refused.
There would be no gain, no improvement without her paying the cost and in this case the cost was her and Zeno's time and she was determined not to waste it, even as he started to gnash his teeth at her questions and curse her as a female version of Ridcully. Questions which she thought were reasonable at the time. Or when he gasped in horror when he discovered she had managed to create a bureaucratic impossibility within one of the forms.
It didn't stop her absent mindedly checking that time had not been slowed down by some outside force though, as the hours seemed to drag on for eternity, minutes stretching on for eons as she processed each and everyone one of Zeno's tips, tricks, and techniques for the effective and efficient desk jockey.
At last it seemed Zeno's break was over, heralded by the bearded head of Munstrum emerging bristling from the door, head unerringly turning from him to her, thick bushy eyebrows furrowing.
"Zeno, it seems I've made something of a mess of a file. Could you please intercept it before it goes out?"
At that Zeno's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates before springing from his chair like a Kickstart Elk and darting out of the door, Ridcully silently stepping out of his way and shutting it as he passed.
"That was rather cruel you know."
He shrugged, stepping over to the now unoccupied and pre-warmed seat and settling himself.
"I did actually make a mistake, just not as serious a one as I may have let him believe. It should keep him occupied long enough for us to have a little chat."
Internally she sighed. Vlad was good, impossibly so in so many ways, but he wasn't nearly omniscient like Munstrum could be when he was curious about something. And unlike Vlad she worked alongside him, even visited him just to talk and have fun. He'd have spotted her changed behaviour quickly if she was any judge. Why he'd waited until now to tell her she could not even begin to fathom. Maybe he'd seen that this was the best time to do whatever it was he intended to do...maybe he had simply needed time to gather the information, after all his time and sight was an extremely valuable commodity.
"And I take it this is when you try to dissuade me?"
Her voice was cold. Devoid of what she hoped was her normal warmth. She'd set her mind on this, a goal more absolute within her mind than she had had in the last few millennia.
He would not dissuade her from her path no matter how much it would hurt the both of them.
His head dropped as he stroked his beard, the one sign of agitation that he occasionally let bleed into his form before finally he stood up and began pacing, finally turning violently to look at her.
"Do you have any idea what this will do to you?! Any idea of how it will affect you once you are done?!"
"No Munstrum, in case you're forgetting I helped figure out what they are in the first place. I've watched you every step of the way and looking back in hindsight I've met people like you before. I've seen them lose themselves and some I've even see go through it and come back on the other side. So no, I don't know what I'm getting into, I don't know how it will effect me. All I know is that I'm very good at what I do and I'm not going to let myself get twisted so easily that it won't be worth it."
If anything her answer instead of reassuring Munstrum only made him more agitated, practically prowling up and down, as his soul form gazed into the future and the now, before finally stopping.
He was standing there, grim faced, brooding like a bushy storm cloud, his empty eyes seeing further than she could likely ever see in her entire life. He'd gone beyond the bounds of the galaxy and through the realm of souls to see the faces of Gods and returned changed, but stronger for the experience.
She knew what he was doing, searching every future he could see with his impossible skill, looking for the one where he managed to convince her otherwise. To abandon the mad scheme that she had conceived.
But she stood her ground. She would weather his concern even as she cringed from his stark stare. He would understand in the future. He probably understood now or it wouldn't be Ridcully standing before her now,it would be Seamus in full wroth, bearing down on her.
Stepping up to him she embraced him, feeling him tense around her arms as she held him close.
"Stop, Munstrum."
She was whispering into his ear, her own eyes tight shut as she did so.
"You won't find a way to talk me out of this...my mind has been made up and as selfish as it might be I won't be shifted from my course, friend."
He knew that. Seeing something so close to the future would be childsplay for Ridcully, silent and helpless. His mortal weakness, to know so much, but to be bound both by his own inability to know what to say and by the archetype bearing down upon his psyche. The latter he could resist, but the former...the former was a weakness centuries in the making that was so much harder to dispel.
"But...if you'll entertain one more selfish request...along the way I would like some company. And I hope you wouldn't mind some as well."
Sluggish he returned her embrace, nodding silently as they both chose to simply stand there.
Two friends, one young and one old. One already burdened with immense responsibility and the other...the other preparing to claim a charge. To shoulder a duty, one that had been implicit from birth.
Slowly they separated from one another as she prepared to leave. To return to the home she had built for herself, Ridcully continuing to watch her, until finally turning to leave, intending to intercept his loyal and irritated assistant before he was located and Zeno began to harangue him about the importance of filing his paperwork on the piles he was creating for now rather than the ones intended for the next decade.
"Before you go...please don't tell him."
She wasn't certain if she was pleading or begging, but she wanted to forestall the inevitable as long as possible.
"I'm afraid that's out of my hands. He already knows. Or at least suspects."
Turning away, she departed without a word, allowing her mind to flare outwards towards Dis, where she knew she would find Seamus's presence, as his light burned within the warp.
At the moment he was not heading towards her, but she knew that this would change in the not too distant future. She might not be as skilled a diviner as Ridcully, but she was still more than potent enough to see that his attention was flickering to her, as anger boiled within his usually calm soul. It seemed that all her planning and hiding were for naught.
Very well, she would wait.
So as not to make it hard upon him, she moved her hut close to the outskirts of Dis so that he would not be forced to trek and place additional strain upon his body. Simultaneously she busied herself with the work she had started after she learned of the Bloody Ritual.
Busying herself checking and rechecking vials and formulas, manipulating arcane circles of runes into alignment. Consulting ancient caches of knowledge and collected recipes that she had stored away across the world until she decided they were needed to ensure that she had the finest ingredients. All this she did silently within her abode as trillions of calculations whirled within her mind drawing her ever closer to her goal. Marching to the beat of her power towards the conclusion that she sought.
Then she felt him begin to move. His bright light heading in her direction along with the soldiers assigned to him, his Saint Guard in close formation around him. An unneeded gesture. The presence of a psyker of her power was enough to ensure they would be unbothered, to say nothing of the wards she had created discouraging any unwanted visitors, wildlife or sapient.
Still they came, the armour clad mass of humanity, their eyes darting in all directions desperate to find the danger to their holy charge before it appeared. All for naught, as he marched right up to her door.
"It's open."
She spoke before he knocked, not bothering to even look up from her work. If she had she knew she would see a harsher golden light than his normal comforting radiance, the manifestation of his anger.
With a firm hand her door was thrust open and in marched Saint Lin, illuminated by the light of the afternoon sun and his own bright aura.
Old he may have become, but he was no less proud, walking straight with the assistance of his rod and the wraith bone support skeleton, the devices contained within, linked into his very soul, working almost at their limit to keep his unbridled power from crushing his soul like fine spun glass.
"Areatha. By the name of the Emperor what are you thinking?!"
"What I must do. I realise that now."
He stepped forward into the room, any shadows that remained within blasted away by the flare of light as his voice boomed through her small cabin, echoing within and rattling its very support structure, physical and mystical.
"Need to do! In what possible way is mutilating yourself, your humanity further what you need to do?!"
"Because I can't do what needs to be done!"
She felt herself letting power seep into her, enhancing her voice to match the Saint's own as his fingers tightened around the rod, golden light flowing through it at an even higher intensity, blasting a hole in her wards and floor.
She breathed, calming herself, recovering her composure as Seamus did the same, glowering at her from across the room, eyes passing over a hundred lifetimes' work of collecting interesting items and substances, stored within this house.
"You can't be serious?"
Instead of responding she just shook her head willing to let Seamus take control of the discussion for now, something he rapidly proceeded to do.
"Areatha you are one of the most powerful beings we've encountered on Avernus. You may be flighty, but you can do practically anything you need to do."
He raised his arm and gestured around her home, at the tinctures, agents, and circles that dotted it.
"There must be a thousand different ways for you to increase your power, a hundred thousand for you to do this without resorting to...to that, if you are so certain that you need greater strength. I know that just by looking at what you and Lulana did with Jacob. But, mantling an archetype. To discard who you are for power, it isn't like you. "
She couldn't help it. She started to laugh.
"You...you think I don't have other means. Oh Seamus you're phenomenally intelligent, but you underestimate just how many I have access to."
A slight tug of her will had a vial sail from its stand into her hands, dug up at last from the ancient bones of the primal dragon she had buried it within, the prismatic contents drained in a split second as the phenomenal essence flooded her body, the ancient concoction at last being put to its use as it bound with her forever.
"I put that together 7000 years ago Seamus. I used the most potent regenerating creatures and healing reagents that I could find in the world and I've let it mature for all that time. Want to see what it does?"
Without hesitation, as Seamus looked on in curious fear, she raised a hand to her neck and extended a blade of pure force, cutting through her flesh like so much butter, her head neatly falling to the floor…
But, not a single drop of blood came forth.
For a split second she had no physical sight, no mortal hearing, but then it had returned to her, a new head emerging from her neck without any effort from her powers, probably faster than it could have if she had.
"I have so many ways of improving myself Seamus."
She spoke with new mouth and lips, the man standing there calmly, but beneath the surface she could see that he was rattled. Not by her display, but by what it represented.
"Fifteen thousand years ago I created a ritual that could let me absorb the strengths of Avernite creatures. I didn't use it then, but I've improved on it now with the knowledge of the Primal Warp. I'm going to go find a Therondy Dragon, kill it and absorb its power, then I'll track down as many other of Avernus' most powerful beings and do the same. A Bunyip will be child's play by the time I reach it."
She stepped forward, letting her power run wild for the first time in centuries, the power of she who had journeyed all over the world crashing behind her eyes.
"A more recent one I came up with is using a wraithbone compound I created to replace my skeleton and nervous system. I know a lot of psychically amplifying materials Seamus and with wraithbone I can do more than I ever could before."
"Stop it."
She ignored him, her whispering continuing on feverishly.
"What about the rune etchings, something I know you don't know how to do, but I do! I know a siren who can etch the true rune of Luck upon me, I can do the true runes of Strength, Power and Stability myself."
"Stop it!"
He was speaking louder now, a fear igniting within his eyes, a fear not for himself, but for her. But all that made her was even more determined to make him understand.
"Don't you get it Seamus, I've had millennia living in the most advanced psychic lab in the entire galaxy. I've got enough influence with the Gods that live in this world to grant me a blessing equal to yours in every way if not more so. You've learned a vast amount, but even that is a fraction compared to the knowledge I possess. I can improve myself in so so many ways and yet...and yet."
She turned away from him, her voice trailing off, looking away from him.
"It won't be enough."
She felt his hand upon her shoulder as he turned her around, to look at him. To look him in the eyes.
"What do you mean not enough. Areatha please, tell me what happened. Let me understand."
"What happened? You know what happened, Ahrha's ritual happened."
"And you realised that you wouldn't have been strong enough to help."
"HAH! Got in one. Or at least partially."
"So what this is some infantile attempt to puff yourself up? Or maybe more like a midlife crisis given your advanced age. You are not the strongest in the universe Areatha. Perhaps this is a strange realisation for someone who's always had all the strength they could possibly need. Frankly it seems like you're just overreacting. You still have more strength than most beings could possibly need. Why do you think you need to earn more to fight these battles? Why do you think you need to resort to such extreme measures?"
Areatha merely looked at him, mouth slightly agape. "Seamus...rarely have you ever been so right and so wrong at the same time."
"Well then tell me what is really going on."
"Fine. I'm not acting out because I've suddenly realised I'm not the strongest. I've never the been the strongest, I live on Helheim, there is always a bigger fish, even now..."
She raised her arm and pointed towards the south. Towards that jungled nightmare where her ancient teacher resided. "There's someone who could kill me by accident and he isn't even a Weapon or Great One.
"I'm doing this because I must. Because my best has always been enough, but now it isn't anymore. I spent an entire day killing a single honoured bloodthirster. At the same time two more of its kind were rampaging across your lands and one of them nearly killed Ridcully. To say nothing of the Exalted that went straight for the Sakarian empire and succeeded in carving its heart out because it was offended, a threat that I know if I faced I would almost certainly lose barring a practical miracle."
She was getting agitated now. "I need to get stronger. To become more so that I can fight things like the Exalted and win. And I need to be able to win with ease, every single time. Because if I don't then there may not be a next time. Until I can stand on battlefields like Margtageth and be worth a damn. It's all very well saying I'm overreacting, but how can you say that when you know just how dark the galaxy is already and how much darker it's going to become. It's time for me to change. It's time for me to do what I was always meant to do. I've had a long childhood Seamus. I've had time to play, to learn, live, and love without fear, and now it's time for me to pay that chance back to the galaxy and the world. For giving me that chance."
Seamus was silent. For once it seemed like he did not know what to say. She could see his nature warring within. The eternal conflict of those touched by the stain of the old Imperium, tempting them to choose the greater good, the pragmatic choice, fought by his eternal idealism, determined never to give anything up because it was the easier way.
"If it makes it easier for you, just think of it as me finally fulfilling the purpose I was born for."
"What?"
"Don't be naive, Seamus. I was created to be a weapon. My father made me with love, but my existence was bought and paid for with military funds, to be an ultimate weapon against the Men of Iron. I looked back you know. I used the foci to see what he was doing when he wasn't with me. He was trying to replicate me. To mass produce me. He was doing it so that they wouldn't take me to the front lines. I know that, but it doesn't change it. I am still a weapon. That weapon may have changed hands, but it doesn't change that fact that it is what I was meant to be."
"Fine, but that doesn't change that an archetype is a step too far. You think you can make all these alterations to yourself without twisting your personality and nature, so be it. But why this, why start walking the path of ascension?"
"Because there's always a point of diminishing returns.
"Seamus I've made no modifications to myself in all my life, I never had any reason too. As you said, I've always had enough power and adding more to myself was never needed even as I conceived of hundreds of thousands of different ways of doing it on my own and learned of hundreds of ways other beings could do it for me as well to complement it. But eventually it will stop being as effective and this is the next level. The next stage...to go even further beyond."
Seamus turned and sat down in one of the few pieces of furniture she kept in her hut, a wicker chair, regarding at once disapproving and frustrated, but also understanding. In so many ways like a disappointed parent.
"Areatha, you really are a child in so many ways. For all your intelligence you are brash, keep stupid secrets from those who would normally help you, and do foolish foolish things seemingly with no regard to the consequences...but I am glad you are...growing up. In an odd way."
"Like a furious grandparent? Disapproving of the choices those stupid youngsters are making, but wanting to support them anyway and hoping that it doesn't cause them too much damage."
He chuckled softly under his breath.
"More like the supportive priest and friend, distraught at the idea of one of their flock abandoning salvation and leaving the herd for the wolves. And worse without telling him. Without letting him try and dissuade her from something so foolish. In fact I think I'll turn this into a parable."
She couldn't help herself. She started to snicker.
"You do that Seamus, by all means. I'm happy to try and educate young minds."
She could hear Seamus snickering himself...before stopping.
"Just one question. What archetype do you intend to mantle. So I can...prepare myself for what may happen." He was so hesitant. The anger had bled away, a short burst from a man for whom such an emotion was not in his nature, but the worry and care remained.
"Oh Seamus. I'm not doing the ritual now. I'm not going to be doing it for a very long time."
"Ah? I thought...I thought you had already prepared it what with your abilities and knowledge."
She shook her head.
"No, this is the kind of power that I can't just snap my fingers and master, and even then I need to implement all those augmentations I was talking about. I'm designing the ritual and when they're done...then I'll do it. But, that might not be for a century, assuming I don't experiment with something, like integrating anti-Chaos frequencies, or trying to take the two archetypes I'm closest to."
"Yes, speaking of which."
"Funny you should mention those. I designed a ritual based on the research you did. I can give you my notes, but I fear it's far too keyed to me to be used for someone else. It let me see the archetypes I was connected to and the ones I had the strongest connection to."
She cast her head up thinking.
"Lets see which of these surprise you."
"The Archer."
"No surprise."
"The Hermit."
"Again, expected."
"The Magical Girl."
"The what now?"
She grinned. She knew that one would surprise him, it certainly surprised her.
"Yeah, no idea what that involves. From what I could see it seemed to entail love, dreams, and the power of friendship."
"That...doesn't sound especially powerful."
"Well the power of friendship seems to be giant energy beams, so I guess it's got more oomph to it than it sounds. Friendship has always had power in the warp."
"But...ultimately there was really only one that called out in the proper way to me. The Witch. I...wasn't really expecting it, but it fits more than any of the others."
"Even the Hermit? I'm surprised. I'd have thought that would have been more appropriate given your wanderings over the past 20,000 years."
"No...the Hermit is too isolated. I don't shy away from people like it implies, and Archer while a major part of myself, I certainly don't define myself by it. And...well, Magical Girl I think you can see the problem with such a major unknown."
"But the Witch. A mistress of powers beyond imagining. Someone who knows the secrets of the world, who can heal and curse in equal measure, who can go wherever they need to in order to learn and do what they need to do...yes, I think that fits me more than any other."
Once again silence descended, she standing and him sitting, strangely...exhausted even though her body was filled with energy. It was always strange how tired the outpouring of emotions could make a person.
"And after? After you've made your...alterations and performed your ritual?"
"I'll probably split my time in two. Aiding the Eldar, going across the galaxy killing Chaos. I think I'll be pretty good at that. Hopefully I'll get some influence with them and cash it in to get stronger. The other half I'll spend on the World doing the same thing, but also trying to strengthen the Peoples. They'll need it to weather the storm that's coming.."
"I take it that's why you're visiting Richards and Jane?"
"Yes, they're the best teachers in this region and I've got some powers I can combine it with...but also I'm learning from them as well. Richards is teaching me how to command and Jane it trying to improve my combat style...or really we're just sparring and she's giving me tips, but it's better than nothing."
"Very well. I can see you won't be dissuaded from your foolish course...but in that case please come to see me. I can at least impart some wisdom into your…"
At that he forced himself to his feet, walking forward and tapping her on the head with his rod.
"Utterly thick head."
Rubbing where he wacked her with a smile she nodded.
"Just give me time. I'll be there, I promise. No more hiding. And I'm sure you'll try to dissuade me from this path as well as try to convert me to boot."
The familiar glow started to return, the glow of the man she knew, full of kindness and gentleness, not harsh and wrothful.
"Indeed I will. I've learnt a lot of new tricks arguing with those lizards."
He paused as he began to walk towards the door. "Like talking to a self righteous brick wall," he said. "Got any suggestions?"
All she could do was shrug.
"My first contact with them was kidnapping a Saurus who I did not realise was the Eldest at the time and then getting trained by him. That's kinda coloured their interactions with me...although if you could get him on board then the Saurus would probably be done and dusted...perhaps the Skinks too. He's probably the only being both sides respect enough or are too afraid to anger to listen to without the normal cold blooded calculus."
He nodded and opened the door, letting the star filled sky bleed into the little hut. It was strange. She knew that it had been the afternoon when he had arrived.
"Do you want me to go with you to Dis?"
She had gathered her axe and had exited her hut. Lin may need to sleep, but for her it was more of a pleasant suggestion.
"No, you run along to your lesson with Richards...although I may have let slip to Rotbart about your newly found interest in generalship."
She froze…she should have expected this, but she had had faith in him. That he wouldn't sell her out like this.
"He was very interested when I told him that particular piece of information. He said he would design some scenarios and send it back to Richards to…'aid' your education."
At that moment you didn't need to see his aura to tell he was containing his mirth and his guards were uncomfortably trying to keep in their own merriment.
She held up her arms and grinned, taking his gesture in good humour like it was meant to be. After all it was still good for her education, even if she imagined beating Rotbart's so called scenarios was going to be more an exercise in trial and error more than anything.
"Very well Seamus, very well. I'll see you soon."
She was gone, emerging in General Richard's after hours class at the Avernus Officer Academy, cloaked in an illusion only the general would be able to see through as to not alarm the students.
Settling in she began to pay attention to the lecture, noting down the various tactical manoeuvres and stratagems with a dedicated drive.
At last pushing herself, even further beyond.
Brain fart that went somewhere.
My eternal thanks to @random_npc @Stormgear @Swordomatic @ArchAIngel and @Andres110
@Durin
For your inspection.
Last edited:
- Location
- England
Witches are what burn hundreds of millions of our citizens every year. Are you sure we want her embodying that?
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Wrong witches
That one's typically spelt with a y for some reason.
- Location
- Australia
No, right witches. Wyches are dark eldar people.Wrong witches
That one's typically spelt with a y for some reason.
EDIT: Maybe archetype of the White Witch?
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
No that falls down the Narnia rabbit hole.
Damn giantess ruined that one.
As for wych Witch...eh I don't think it matters too much.
This is witch in its old sense, much like how magic means nothing to an Imperial, the archetype of a witch would cause them to be confused unless they were well studied like Lin.
- Location
- England
Life in the imperium has probably made up the bulk of human experiences. I imagine that their views on witches would seriously impact any human god of witches, which Areatha would be.
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Pah, the archetypes were set in stone millions of years before humans got to the stars.
10,000 years of imperial garbage isn't going to shift them.