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

Investigate the Sea?

  • Yes

    Votes: 592 80.3%

  • No

    Votes: 145 19.7%
  • Total voters
    737
Reader mode
Admin Efficiency
3 Bil Thrones per sux, 2 Years per attempt, -5% sux per sux.
1.5 Bil/Year/Sux
60%/76% initial success chance (40+20 or 40+31+5)
Admin:
Efficient until 35% success chance (0.525 Billion vs 0.5 Billion from education)

Rotbart:
Admin:
Efficient until 46% success chance (0.69 Billion vs 0.73 BIllion from education)

Conclusion:
To maximize Thrones income,

Rotbart Admin Effic actions until Base success chance reaches 10%
Everything else Education efficiency.
 
runes said:
We are spending money we don't have and need to earn some as well as Advanced/Exotic Material. What we are producing in job lots is Material, Metal, and Promethium. We need something that will add to our revenue not more cost. Rather than Adminstratum Efficiency and Research/Forges only how about some Economic Focus, farm expansions, and see about some kind of manufacturing and resource expansion for trade and tax increases? Possibly even turn some part of the shipyards to commercial ventures selling merchantmen to Trust traders and repair work for income. If the Admech can release/make a factory type that non Admech can use to turn lots of Material, Metal, and Promethium into Advanced/Exotic Material even if more inefficient than their Temple-Forge we can put the surplus of basic goods into stuff we use. Or even have the Admech themselves just expand their more basic factories rather than focus on ever bigger super factories. Build wider not higher so to say. Hell given our extensive military industrial complex and need to replace lost equipment in daily actions see about setting up a high quality arms industry selling to other worlds. Such they all make their own basic equipment but stuff they'd like but can't or don't want to build factories to produce like Advance Power Armor, higher tiers of personal arms, and the rarer tanks and Super-Heavy's we can sell to the limited amount they want for penny pack local Elite/Special units like a Planetary Ruler's personal guards and dedicated anti-Titan hunters like we bought Baneblade Squadrons off of Atlas.
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  • We actually have a large surplus of AM - part of the problem is that there isn't much demand for it at the moment, although there should be after the timeskip, since the Dragon's Nest will have progressed to the point where they can actually make use of it.
  • Research will also help by increasing the amount of resources we can export, and reducing the amount we need to import.
  • We're already implementing Bloom Bees that will increase our food production by 20%.
  • We already do stuff like manufacturing ships for the Trust.
  • Why would we choose to make a lot of inefficient forges instead of kosher Forge Hives and Cathedrals? The Administratum is already allowed to help produce those.
  • Planets are expected to be as self-sufficient as possible. That includes hive worlds like Midgard producing as much food as they can, and also includes planets having their own domestic industries to support their militaries. If we sell them tanks they can't produce or maintain themselves, that's not much help to them. We've already shared all the tech with them.
Nianque said:
I do agree with him though about cogitators though. Probably more useful than reactors resource-wise.
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I'm not runes :p I'm on board with Shard when it comes to research for the most part, but I agree that cogitators should probably be a top-tier priority along with AM and EM production, with other resources being a secondary priority that we should still try to do if we can.
 
Ptolemy said:
  • We actually have a large surplus of AM - part of the problem is that there isn't much demand for it at the moment, although there should be after the timeskip, since the Dragon's Nest will have progressed to the point where they can actually make use of it.
  • Research will also help by increasing the amount of resources we can export, and reducing the amount we need to import.
  • We're already implementing Bloom Bees that will increase our food production by 20%.
  • We already do stuff like manufacturing ships for the Trust.
  • Why would we choose to make a lot of inefficient forges instead of kosher Forge Hives and Cathedrals? The Administratum is already allowed to help produce those.
  • Planets are expected to be as self-sufficient as possible. That includes hive worlds like Midgard producing as much food as they can, and also includes planets having their own domestic industries to support their militaries. If we sell them tanks they can't produce or maintain themselves, that's not much help to them. We've already shared all the tech with them.

I'm not runes :p I'm on board with Shard when it comes to research for the most part, but I agree that cogitators should probably be a top-tier priority along with AM and EM production, with other resources being a secondary priority that we should still try to do if we can.
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If we dedicate the free Mechanicus action to explorator, 85 years can be acquired:
2 Years Reactor
4 Years Food
4 Years Cogitator
8 Years AM
8 Years Hives
12 Years EM
37 Years Followup
 
@Shard Looking back at your blueprint for the timeskip, I think one possible change to make would be doing the other "Implement Technology" actions. Even if that won't lead to an increase in combat power by itself, it will allow us to plan and budget more effectively for stuff to do in the future.

Then, assuming our food can take the hit, after that we can actually start fully implementing the Avernite Warbeasts, since we know they'll be cheaper. The other alternative is upgrading the PDF more, since those actions are also pretty cheap by our standards, and we actually know what they'll accomplish.
Doomed Wombat said:
So not too much in actual improvements.

Regardless can we all just agree Ahra delenda est.
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Well, a stronger economy allows us to support an awful lot of other stuff besides. And there may be opportunity for research on more shinies, but at the moment balancing out our deficit should probably be our priority. There's no use having loads of fancy research if we're near bankrupt and can't afford to actually implement and use it.
 
Ptolemy said:
Well, a stronger economy allows us to support an awful lot of other stuff besides. And there may be opportunity for research on more shinies, but at the moment balancing out our deficit should probably be our priority. There's no use having loads of fancy research if we're near bankrupt and can't afford to actually implement and use it.
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That's not what my post was, my post was about doing a ton of fundamentals, but not doing anything in those fundamentals.

We've already got several fundamentals we've done, but not done anything they've unlocked.
 
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  • Sidestory
    • Greeting

    The currents of the warp outside of a few unique places were typically completely unnavigable save to those beings that had been born there, at least without technological protections like Geller Fields.

    To traverse it without selling one's soul to the primordial annihilator, one needed an unbreakable will, psychic protection, or some other method of warding off what lurks there. The 13th Great Company sprang to mind as an excellent example. While she lacked the latter, she was most certainly armed with both of the former.

    Creeping through the distorted lanes of the warp, shielded by the blessing of Mystery, Areatha searched for her quarry. In one hand, she held close the divine shard she was given to track her quarry. She wasn't sure what it said about the Eldar, that they had been so rapid in accepting her offer of assistance. Ridcully's bodyguards heard his and her request and immediately contacted their people, and before a week was out, she was in the webway on her first assignment. She certainly wasn't complaining, especially since they had promised to listen to her requests...within reason of course.

    At the time, she'd simply smiled and promised she would only make requests per her deeds. Still, it wasn't as if they were taking advantage of her. She would have been happy to take on their jobs for free had she not wanted something in return. The potential impacts were often truly galactic in scale, so she had thrown herself into them shortly after arriving on the Eldar ship and beholding the immense splendor of Commorragh.

    Although her visit to the Eldar had changed drastically in its content, she still attempted to find time to fulfill her original goal: studying the Eldar's culture, their powers, and history in greater detail than the scraps she had gleaned from legends of the Peoples. It was an ambition her brief time with the warhost that slew Turoq had aided, and was in many ways continuing what she had done on the World for millennia.

    In many ways, just walking around Commorragh, she felt like a child again. Almost every sight fed her new information, improving her abilities in ways she had never even considered, growing her repertoire.

    The only significant pall over the experience was the aura of the city itself. The Eldar had done what they could to purge the influence of the Drukhari from its streets, but their success only went so far. It would take far more than a divine cleansing to remove the stain.

    It was always there in the back of her mind, ignored, but very much present - the echoing scream of tens of trillions of tortured souls.

    She could hear it keenly, but she imagined even most Eldar could not. But even then, it would still be there, barely out of earshot. Perhaps it had even been intentional. A means of subconsciously reminding every Eldar of how far their people could fall. Of the debt they needed to repay to reclaim their mantle as protectors of the galaxy and inheritors of their creators' will.

    Shaking herself from her reverie, she concentrated now upon the section of the warp a pleasure host of Slaanesh was searching through. It was a bizarre forest filled with the monstrous game created by the presence of a shard of the Eldar God Kurnous, the Huntmaster, and husband of Isha.

    The Legion was potent, especially in the warp. Too much for her to face alone in their domain even after her additions. However, she was more concerned about the Avatar she had been sent to reclaim. Once removed from its hiding place, the Daemons would attack, and in its current state it would be defenceless.

    The Daemons at this point were more occupied butchering and gorging themselves upon the creatures of the forest to make haste in their search. It allowed her to deal with them in an appropriate fashion. To suffer the same fate as many many gluttons. A certain beneficial dramatic irony that appealed to her.

    Death's Hand venom indeed was a great thing, a single bite's worth enough to stagger even the highest of the Greater Daemons, as she had seen during the last incursion. A level of psycic death that few materials even came close too. And so she placed some of her most experimental alkhestry within the meal the demons had created, weakening their resistances before she poured a single vial of poison, into their tainted foods.

    Diluted a hundred times and placed stealthily within the feast the Daemons prepared she watched happily as even the legendary resistance of Daemons vanished instantly before the toxin. The Spawn of Slaanesh, so used to guzzling liquid death noticed nothing before they succumbed a moment later, dying an actual death.

    Satisfied, she smiled as her power mutated the toxin as best she could, simultaneously destroying it while giving it the appearance of pox and death. She hoped that any investigators concluded that the real culprit was none other than the God of Plagues, whom the ascendent Prince was already furious with, and maybe increase the pressure upon the Lord of Decay. She doubted that it would work, she was not yet practised at these kinds of misdirection. However, she could at least try as she entered the woods, leaving behind the silently rotting demons.

    The forest itself parted before her passing, the woodland creatures drawing back as she drew heavily on Strength's blessing, bringing the ordinarily passive force to the fore. All the better to reach her quarry faster rather than needing to blast her way in.

    In a glen deep within, she found the Avatar, sitting next to a peaceful stream. It had taken the form of a handsome Eldar man with cloven legs, towering above her, but sitting perfectly still.

    Like the other avatars she had recovered this one was inert, the rituals required for its activation not performed. Instead, it merely sat there, a broken fragment of a greater whole.

    Humming softly she performed a form of the rite of awakening, bringing the Avatar to a flicker of sapience. Not enough to fight, but plenty to follow her through the Forest it had created, carrying the woodland along in its wake. As she guided it towards the Webway gate, she informed the tenders awaiting her return to prepare for it.

    She was somewhat surprised to hear that avatars created small realms around themselves, and brought them with them when returned. In fact, it was usually beneficial for them to be kept within them, letting them recharge themselves between uses. Not to mention the divine realms were generally hotbeds of valuable materials, some that she had even helped extract. Fields of fire and molten metal for Vaul, distorted mirrors and half thought dreams for Lileath, cushioned palaces and extravagant gardens for Ged the Courtesan. All were remarkable in their own way, but only some were simple to care for. Yet it was remarkable that even from their fractured creations spawned complex beneficial ecosystems.

    Squeezing the realm through the Webway gate alone took more time than actually finding the Avatar. Even with the assistance of the keepers on the other side, who already started to lavish care upon the Avatar's form, it was slow. Still, as they imbued strength into the God that had been kept alive within the stomach of Slaanesh only by its own Old One imbued power source, the deed was done.

    Slowly but surely, the Avatar was pulled through the gate while its entourage realm of trees and beasts followed. Areatha relaxed momentarily as the keepers took over for her completely. The task finished the harlequins already started approaching to guide the small group through the halls of the webway, only for her handler to contact her.

    From what she knew of the Eldar, it wasn't normal for them to assign someone so young to her. Maybe to them, it seemed they had felt that someone with experience of Helheim would be best. Or maybe as ever it was a farseer's scheme. But she suspected the real reason for it was to give Kelris hope. The incursion had been her first real test, and in it, she had watched those she had trained alongside be slaughtered. There weren't many who had directly fought an Exalted in its full fury at her age. Even fewer who had survived. It didn't take a genius to see that she was traumatised by it, her spine stiff as a board, eyes dead to the world. Practically an automaton going through the process of training and doing her duties, but barely seeing it.

    The only times she seemed to perk up was when she told her stories of the Ancient One. The knowledge that Exalted could not only be fought but killed, seemed to revitalise her for a moment, revealing a bright mind beneath.

    "Lady Areatha, if you have a moment?"

    Suppressing a sigh at Kelris' stiff and continual use of the term she shook her head.

    "I was going to go back to Commorragh and see if there was anything else I could help in, then go back to studying and my projects."

    Kelris nodded sharply, handing her a small wraithbone plaque from which she could rapidly absorb the information about the mission the Eldar were offering.

    "It's a relative emergency, if Chaos can take this world then they could doom an entire sector and place several promising polities under immense strain. However, there are no forces that can be easily taken from their tasks save for yourself."

    Nodding at the explanation, she flicked through the mental files of the dossier. Karixis III, a hive world in the past, currently occupied by Prioress Meshisma and her Crusade fleet, a powerful servant of Tjapa. Intending to sacrifice the world and its inhabitants, raising herself to Daemonhood and creating a daemon world to form the core of a new Chaos polity. The world itself was located in the centre of a sector flanked by two Astartes polities both currently struggling to deal with waaaghs of varying levels. If they were placed under additional pressure by Chaos as well, then it would mean their assured destruction.

    Looking further, she frowned slightly at their mention of a support asset in case of Meshisma's success, one she was familiar with from her discussion with Lin.

    Looking at Kelris she smiled slightly, nodding and handing back the plaque, asking only a single question.

    "How fast can you get me there?"
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Karixis III, under any circumstances, would not have been an enjoyable world. Thousands of years as a hive world had sucked the planet dry of resources and obliterated any remaining biodiversity. Yet the barren planet had prospered by being the core of a warplane nexus for nearly an entire sector. Trade flourished and flowed through it on a scale that was incredibly rare for humanity in a galaxy after the death of the Astronomican. It was the jewel of the sector, and now that jewel was soiled by Golden Skies.

    A refugee from the Black Imperium who sought to create their own power base to strike back at their former mentor. Then usurp the master's position in the eyes of the Despoiler of Worlds and in the estimation of their Star Father. It was this wretch and all that followed them that Areatha had come to kill.

    In orbit a fleet stood firm, below, billions of slave soldiers backed up by armies of Sororitas, a titan legion, and small Astartes warbands. They worked from five ritual sites, executing 555,555,555 still pure men, women, and children every hour as prescribed by the Canonesses that each commanded a division of the crusade force.

    From a webway gate high in the mountains, Areatha and Kelris emerged at the dawn of a new day. With a slight gesture, she bad her handler remain and guard the gate as she went about her bloody work. So she prepared herself for the slaughter that was to come and readied the contingency that was planned.

    Once before on Helheim, she had attempted a manoeuvre where she overwhelmed the carefully constructed and regulated Abomination ritual and used it for ripping the heart out of the remains of its army. Then it had been a ritual faltering, lasting on only a single site, this one was not nearly in such a state. But back then she was inexperienced fighting the forces of Tjapa and the ritual for all its damage was still backed by the might of an Exalted. Now she knew the Slavelord's absolute counters, and she was much much stronger.

    Her appearance amid the ritual area was met with stunned silence as she took control of the sorcerous pentagram, forcing it into a shape dedicated to a much different god. At the same time, she forced the contained power created from the sacrifice of billions to run rampant, the echoes of the book adding their fury to hers. In the last moment, she channelled a fraction of that power to move the next set of sacrifices to safety, before letting the explosion loose.

    Nearly a billion of the Prioress's elite died in a moment; Astartes, Sororitas, stormtroopers all dead. Coursing with fury she did the deed, sacrificing their souls in kind as justice for those that they had butchered, calling out to the warp for her contingency.

    Fattened on the sudden deliverance of so many blessed spawn, the circle she had constructed exploded with pitch-black tar. A three-headed dragon burst forth from the earth to let loose a chilling roar, the freshly summoned goddess's crimson eyes glaring down at the one who had asked her forth with abject curiosity and minor confusion.

    Areatha looked back and spoke up to the towering creature, her voice amplified by her power to ensure the Goddess heard her.

    "Are you Zahhak?!"

    "I am."

    Leaning down from on high, serpentine tongue flicked out, the Curse of Choice tasted the air, scenting the corruption suffusing it, confused as to the specifics but reaching an understanding of the general situation quickly. Chaos was here, and she consumed Chaos.

    "Great, little time to explain!" All six sets of eyes blinked in unison, surprised into inaction by the unexpected demand, then frowning as Areatha projected the telepathic dossier to the Goddess.

    "Get ready to act in case things go sideways. For now take care of the humans I send your way, I should be good to handle the rest."

    Zahhak tensed for a moment then nodded for now content to let her take centre stage.

    As soon as she did Areatha was gone, teleporting away towards the second, panicking ritual site and destroying it similarly to the first. Thereupon she moved onto the third, however there she encountered some actual resistance. An orbital bombardment and a push from a company of Astartes, led by a reasonably powerful diviner.

    A response that would have blunted most assaults she rapidly adapted to, altering and guiding the trajectories of the Macroshells and refracting the las strikes onto her assailants. As her foes were melted away, she continued to focus upon her work. Leaving behind the crater of the third ritual site, the fourth was where she finally encountered resistance worth speaking of. The power of the destabilizing ritual was skillfully and rapidly placed into summoning a trio of Third Circle Archangyls who lit up with pure fury and fear as she approached. They recognised her as one who had aided in the death of one of their ultimate lords.

    A mere handful of decades ago, she would have been appreciably slowed by their combined assault. Now when she had started the process of improvement seriously, the battle took only a few minutes. The first was obliterated by the Sphere of Annihilation, the second broken into base essence by a barrage of anti-Abomination techniques and the last trapped and fed to Zahhak. With a glance, she saw the goddess growing ever more substantial in the background, fed by the souls of the Gilded Tyrant's slaves that she channelled to her.

    Despite the carnage, she had unleashed the final ritual was not panicking like some of the other sites. This one was commanded directly by the Prioress. Filled with the last of her elite, each blinded by zealotry in their god.

    But for all that they were unseeing, they were not foolish. Within the citadel that had been constructed Areatha could sense the already gathered power starting to be turned to a new purpose, the summoning of a Second Circle. Far from enough to kill her, but maybe enough to delay her sufficient that the Prioress could escape. Thankfully there were many more options she could use to disrupt the ritual than teleporting into the creme of the Hate Monger's force.

    While a sound tactical decision against most opponents, her enemy had decided to create her main stronghold above one of the last remaining aquifers of water on the entire planet.

    Tracing and invoking the true rune of water that aquifer collapsed, splitting the Citadel from top to bottom and shattering the ritual like spun glass. Then she teleported inside, her axe already in motion towards the Prioress's head.

    Every protection available to Meshisma was countered, the blessings that made her a match for an Astartes nullified. The potent sorceries that stood ready to carry her to safety quashed. The war-gear sanctified in the fires of Exterminatus nothing before her killing edge.

    The presumptive Saint's head fell from her shoulders, as Areatha stood over the corpse with disdain and pity. Yet this was no Turoq whose natural inclinations had been fed and tricked down a dark path, this was one that willingly followed the dark gods every step of the way. Her sympathy was likely wasted on them.

    "Well, that was a rather intense display. If I didn't know where you came from I might suspect you were showing off."

    The now very well fed form of Zahhak emerged in front of her like a dark morass, casually devouring the confusing remnants of the force. Even the desperate bombardment from the fleet was lost within her sheer bulk at this stage.

    "Though I must say, I'm feeling rather superfluous at the moment. I appreciate the meal, but I rather doubt that's why you called me, so oh summoner mine, would you mind telling me why you risked calling forth the likes of me?"

    Areatha looked upon her and smiled although she felt that it was slightly awkward all things considered. "Fair enough. First, my name is Areatha, from the World as you so accurately deduced. And with that, can I please ask you to stay around just so I can destroy the fleet in orbit? Then we can talk properly."

    It was interesting watching the goddess in the second she had before she left for the orbit. It was clearly unsure how to deal with her and was rapidly restructuring its personality to deal with someone mighty, who she had right to fear. Yet at the same time was also not immediately demanding things. Best to give her time to figure out her stance as she began to dismantle the fleet. As she started the fragile vessels buckled before the power of a now Alpha Plus who knew millions of different ways to leverage that strength. And let her deal with some of the problems on the planet itself.

    At the end, when the ships were scrap metal, flying towards the purifying rays of the sun, she watched impressed as Zahhak's shadow finished spreading across the world. When it finally it contracted inwards, it left behind a world even more barren, but no longer contaminated by Chaos.

    Zahhak was waiting for her as soon as she landed, compressed down into a mostly human form, with only the black serpents sprouting from her shoulders betraying her nature. Six burning red eyes glaring at her, curiosity visible within her as Areatha landed, with a little wave.

    "Thank you for being patient, but I figured you'd rather not have this conversation beneath a forecast of lasers and macroshells.."

    "Probably falling demons too, don't forget those."

    She couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the image. The likely true image it must be said.

    "Still it's true, I was not expecting this when the Eldar said I might be needed for something." Areatha opened her mouth to speak when Zahhak interrupted her. "I'm not complaining about the free meal mind. However, when the Eldar want people like us to talk it's usually because they want something from us. Or for one of us to help the other."

    She nodded briefly, and with only a little hesitation forged forwards.

    "Some confusion is always the cost of doing business with Diviners. In this case, I've been interested in contacting you for a while, ever since you and Lin met."

    At the mention of the recently dead man, both of them seemed to be distracted, herself looking at the stars, before continuing.

    "Best way I've found to build trust is to trust. So Zahhak the Devourer, my name is Areatha. I've lived on the World for the past 20,000 years maybe a few more. After Ahrah's folly, I decided to actively pursue power to try and help save the galaxy in my own small way."

    Zahhak nodded, her red eyes silently processing the information. "I take it then that I don't need to introduce myself?" She was cautious, the mention of Lin and the knowledge she'd shared with him was crucial to her nature, and she was very protective of it.

    "Lin told me a little about you, but nothing you asked him to keep secret. Patient confidentiality and all. But he did tell me, and he told me of the Concordant you've created. I'll be blunt, I don't trust you in the slightest, in my experience most warp entities are at best capricious and avaricious including the Helheim ones. But, you're also a group that I think could be useful to me and to everyone else. I think we can trust each other in that regard at least."

    She stepped close to Zahhak, for a second allowing the Goddess to see behind the control that bound her power. Then she took from her pocket dimension a small piece of wraith-bone she had prepared for this moment. It wasn't a particularly intricate work, yet it did not need to be emblazoned with a powered True Rune of Power. "Just a little demonstration of what I'm able to offer." Zahhak who took the bone and after a slight hesitation allowed her power to flow over it, gasping as the rush of warp energy contained within invigorated the already well-fed goddess.

    Areatha smiled, taking another few true runes from her pocket proffering them to Zahhak. "I have time before the Eldar need me again, I think. So on this desolate world, surrounded by the dead of Chaos, do you think the Concordant and I can come to an arrangement?"
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Discussions

    A blade whistled through the training yard, Kelris battling with an invisible foe as she watched silently, devoting a fraction of her consciousness to her observations. Much more she delicately manipulated the needles beneath her skin. Branding upon her body and soul the empowering tattoos, binding concepts of strength, power, control, sanctity, permanence, magic, and even attempting to pull upon heroism for even in small amounts these would prove to be a boon to her abilities.

    Yet as she worked, she listened not just to the sound of the youngster practising, but also to the tumultuous song of her soul. A disgusting combination of hope, dismay, and despondency roiled within it and threatened to pour out into a white-hot flame of rage.

    Her work finished for now, as she tested her once again expanding limitations, she floated silently from her workshop. Descending behind the distracted Dire Avenger, taking her frustrations out upon now very battered automated training mannequins, the once-imposing wraithbone automata's collapsing from their damage.

    With a slash she beheaded one last doll as Areatha let her presence be felt. With an instinctive response causing Kelris to turn and swing towards her neck at lightning speed.

    Catching the blade between her fingers, Areatha looked on and sighed as Kelris's eyes widened in horror. She pulled back and bowing, her already tumultuous soul growing darker as she watched, sighing.

    "Enough of that Kelris, come inside. I'll make you some tea, and then we'll have a little talk."

    Handing back the sword and motioning for the youngling to follow her she reentered the small wraithbone abode the Eldar had given her for her extended stay in Commorragh. With a light application of telekinesis, she set about preparing the rich, spicy lizard tea. Watching Kelris from a corner of her mind as the girl stood there awkwardly, stiff as a board.

    Turning back with a pair of mugs in hand Areatha attempted relaxing smile or at least one that had worked in the past upon Peoples. Gesturing for her to sit upon a couple of conjured chairs she passed one of the mugs to her, drinking deeply from her own.

    As she sat down in a chair, Kelris followed suit still with an unnaturally upright posture. Cautiously she took a delicate sip from her cup only to jump in surprise as the searing liquid leapt down her throat like an exploding firecracker.

    "It's quite- ahk." Speaking between coughs, she tried to come up with an appropriate response to the scalding liquid she had been given, "Strong."

    "I know, but trust me it'll relax you. Just have another sip."

    She remembered when the Ancient One had given her her first taste. She'd nearly shot a fireball into the atmosphere from his personal blend. According to him the Lizardmen loved the stuff because as cold-blooded creatures, they extracted heat from every source they could find. That and because the wash of heat soothed away stress and tiredness. Even the Firstborn could feel it occasionally.

    As Kelris took another tentative sip, and though she still spluttered, it was far more controlled than before. By the third, she had started to loosen slightly. By the tenth, she was completely relaxed, muscles that seemed to have been tense for months finally given leave to collapse as she stared blankly into space.

    "Feeling a little better." As a more experienced drinker of Lizard Tea she wasn't quite as affected as the youngster. Yet the memory of the first time was entrenched into her bones. She was well versed in its restorative properties.

    "Maybe."

    The taciturn response had Areatha nodding. Kelris' state was not going to be solved with a cup of tea but was a start she could use to try and help the youngling.

    "A bit better than it was before then. That's good."

    There was silence for a bit until Kelris rapidly asked a question, the words spilling from her mouth speed, almost tripping over herself, but saved by Eldar grace and composure.

    "Are there others like him?"

    Who he referred to was evident in this situation, but others...tapping her chin she thought and shook her head.

    "There are two people on Helheim, including me that he respects to live long enough to be worth his time. Otherwise though? Not really."

    Taking another sip, she thought further and shook her head. "No, even his own people don't have someone to hold a candle to him. The Bane and Lord Ghetu are the closest, and they're younger than I am. Not even close to me, never mind him."

    She paused and shook her head for a moment.

    "Then again, this is Avernus. There's always a bigger fish...though saying that still, the Ancient One is probably beyond most of them as well. Even so there are the Great Ones, the Weapons, the excellent skills of the Guardians. The infinite multitudes of people and animals. And of course, we cannot forget the caverns."

    Kadris sat in silence at her statements, nursing her relaxing beverage occasionally glancing at her with a strange look upon her face. As if mustering up the courage to do something mildly disturbing.

    "Couldyouteachme?"

    She said it all once in a rush, before shaking her head as Areatha surreptitiously rolled her eyes at Aeldari pride. Always present no matter how much the Ynnari attempted to quash it amongst their youngest members.

    Nevertheless, she mirrored Kelris in shaking her head but stopped at her disappointed expression.

    "It's not that I don't want to." She explained as respectfully as she could. "And it's not because I'm bound by an oath, not to either, or anything like that." Awkwardly she scratched her head, smiling bashfully. "I've just proven over and over again that I make for a terrible teacher. Great student, I can absorb knowledge like a sponge, but I just can't teach what I learn. There's no single root cause of this, I just can't communicate what I'm trying to tell people easily. I try to get around this by demonstrations for example, but that has problems as well. Most of the time I tend to make things overly complex, or simply operating on completely unknown principals. Mostly because I tend not to even think about it." She sighed, "The downsides of an intuitive approach really."

    Kelris was not dissuaded if the scowl darkening her brow was any indicator. She rose to her feet, the flames of her pride burning behind her eyes as she pointed down at her.

    "Then I'll be the exception."

    Bemusedly Areatha floated to her feet to sit cross-legged before the young Eldar, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

    "Alright, no time like the present. Let's see if you can understand this?"
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    That the Eldar had summoning chambers specifically designed to contain Chaos entities shouldn't be surprising to most. While there were few more devoted to the battle against Chaos, it was sometimes necessary to bind them into reality. Occasionally it was to eliminate them from the great game, other times to pry information from them.

    In this instance, one of those chambers was being utilised to bring a different foe of chaos to her, through the sacrifice of helpless demons, built up over time as the eldar forgot about them, the next threat requiring them to move on and simply leave them bound.

    A hundred Daemons of Nurgle captured in a psychically reinforced jar, a small number, were summoned, only to be immediately incapacitated and dropped into the blackened maw of Zahhak as she pulled herself from the warp. Supping upon the rotting decay of Nurgle, reducing it to energy that she added to her slowly replenishing stockpiles.

    Standing there, watching Areatha gave her a small wave, before approaching and handing her a real meal.

    A feast in many ways, another True Rune of Power.

    "Glad you decided to accept my summons, even after all that I wasn't completely sure you would."

    Zahhak's form enveloped the rune, draining the pulsating stone of its essence before collapsing on itself. The trembling shadow coalesced into the human shape she assumed when she wished to be diplomatic.

    And despite all the steps she had taken, the introduction, tempting divination and more she was still surprised the paranoid goddess had decided to come here. In fact, her surprise was apparent even to said, goddess.

    "What can I say, I'm willing to give you a chance at trust." Trust may have been putting it slightly generously. She wasn't as skilled as Ridcully or the Eldar at divination, but she knew Zahhak had investigated every facet of their conversation. At least what she could study. Given her known caution surrounding the world, Areatha had been confident that despite everything, she would be turned away.

    Areatha herself nodded slightly and started to float towards the door, Zahhak following behind her until they reached a sealed room where they could talk in relative comfort and significant safety.

    "Alright, let's get down to business."

    She hoped her change in tone would help relax the Goddess. Move this meeting into a more formal style and give the goddess something to quickly latch onto.

    She hoped this was the right way of going about this. Zahhak was used to being the most powerful entity in the room, or at least strong enofgh to give pause to everything in the room. Indeed she had reached that position through time trial and effort. It had given her a safety net when dealing with people like her. Now that was gone, and even though she hoped she'd made a decent first impression, Zahhak's paranoia remained. With good reason too.

    "I'll not blow my own horn, there's very little I can't theoretically do given enough time. For example I'm guessing you want to create a system of Theurgy. I can do that. The hard part is translating it into a version your people can perform." She continued on, trying to control the flow of the conversation for a moment. "As for what I want since you insisted…" She sat silently as Zahhak thought. It was very hard to predict an entity that can change its personality on a whim, but she thought she might have at least a basic understanding of her. For one she seemed unable to accept that she was willing to help her willingly, in spite of her own outspoken suspicion...and with her very engrained perspective, it would be pointless to try and persuade her otherwise.

    "A lot of things truthfully. I was going to ask for blessings, but that's suicidal since I'm already under the effects of three from a different pantheon. Putting that aside for now. I'm interested in knowledge. I'm interested in studying various divinities to aid in a project of my own and insight into the nature of divines, yours especially Zahhak, would be very useful to me. I'm very intrigued about gaining access to Valanar. Maybe some other things if I think of them."

    Zahhak was silent, staring with a mixture of essence deep restlessness and hunger.

    Just buried beneath her sight, Areatha could predict Zahhak's thoughts, paranoia, suspicion and doubt warring within her, as well as genuine fear of her origins and strength. But this was met with the fact that her offer was so tempting. The potential rewards staggering.

    So a trial.

    "It's certainly a big ask, with quite vague ideas on what you could do for repayment...so a little test first."

    "Shoot."

    "Due to various...circumstances, I've found myself in a position where I need to regain my power rapidly. While I've never been one for cults, many are springing up across the galaxy and it would be best to leverage them as best I can. But, I find myself lacking in proper sorcery to do so."

    "And you want me to put together a type of Therugy for you specifically? Done."

    Areatha internally grimaced as Zahhak's suspicious aura grew several-fold at her fast acceptance of the deal, prompting her to shrug.

    "It'll give me something to do while the Eldar reverse engineer the powers they ask me to make. Gotta keep busy"

    Zahhak didn't seem completely happy with the answer, but unable to gainsay it nodded as she turned towards her again.

    "Alright then with permission may I get a look at your spiritual structure? Creating a form of sorcery specific to you without it, it'll be much harder."

    Zahhak was still for a moment, going through the mental gymnastics again before moving to nod before Areatha spoke again. "And just so you know, if you do this, I'll be able to see your thoughts. Lin didn't tell me how you work, but I can feel enough to get an idea. I may not get the full picture, but I doubt I wouldn't see anything. Just so you know."

    Letting loose a strained smile Zahhak nodded "Well you were at least polite enough to ask for permission."

    She wasn't sure if she regretted it as every facet of her being started to be observed and dissected.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Reclimation

    The webway was silent as the Eldar host marched, one of the largest Areatha had ever seen, and although it was much slower than she would have been on her own she had agreed with Autarch Silvermoon to remain with the main host.

    Her abilities as a general might have been growing thanks to lessons and experience, but she knew she was still a novice compared to many in the field.

    So instead she was reduced to snooping around the convoy, watching the different Eldar prepare in their own way until her attention was drawn by a ground that always succeeded in challenging may of the preconceptions held about the Eldar.

    The smiths of Vaul clustered around a strange contraption, their quiet sombre murmuring echoing slightly within the cracked halls of the webway, but one only needed to watch to see their fevered excitement, especially as she'd grown more familiar with them, as she commissioned items from them, and retrieved long lost relics on their behalf.

    "Baharnedor! Anything I can help with?"

    The high priest looked over from his rest and shook his head, gesturing for her to sit within the transport baring their equipment, decorated with the bound flame symbol of Vaul, the wraithbone carvings seeming to dance with invisible flames.

    "Priestly work, not for you, or anyone else for that matter."

    "Ok...alright then, tell me about where we're going then?"

    The Eldar raised his eyebrow, staring dimly at her with cool irritation.

    "You were briefed extensively and if you want stories go to a harlequin. Please sit in silence and leave me to my rest."

    Acting quickly she interjected, hoping to save the conversation and the potential knowledge before it was lost.

    "I know the briefing, but for you and yours, this mission is quite personal as I understand it? I figured it would be best to hear it from the source rather than trust the Harlequins to give me a straight answer."

    That at least prompted a nod as minute as it was.

    "A good policy. Very well, although the tale is quite simple."

    With a click of his fingers a telepathic hologram sprang into being between them, depicting a vast planet city and at its centre a vast temple of metal and gears, filled with an internal light of merry white-hot flames.

    "During the glory of the Empire, Vaulsari was the centre of his priests and there we created wonders, guided by Vaul himself as we worked his sacred flame."

    Then the image turned a dismal orange as the flames turned the colour of freshly spilt blood.

    "Then our lord was enslaved and his priesthood along with him. No more were we to produce artwork and wonders at a whim, only when ordered to by the servants of Khaine, who in an effort to make our subjugation final, perverted the flames, transforming a font of creation into a beacon of destruction."

    "And now both Khorne and Slaanesh want it...typical." Her musing at the end may have been meant for herself, but Baharnedor nodded sadly.

    "Just as we retrieved the means of rescuing and reconstituting it, as well. The tireless experiment of our forebears..."

    Feeling a tug from the Autarch she stood to her feet, Baharnedor going with her, but returning to the priests while she approached the grim Autarch, frowning at the Ranger kneeling before him, the seer councils gazing into future attempting to glean a hint of what is to be.

    "The situation has changed." Ghaithar Silvermoon was a taciturn Eldar at the best of times, exemplified by the massive scar that ran across his throat, the result of a battle with a long-dead Ork warboss that he had never allowed to heal. But compared to when she had first met him, at this moment he was positively bursting with expression. The fearful anticipation of a pessimist.

    "Our scouts have returned, the Exalted leading the hosts on Vaulsari have been recalled by their respective Gods, both leaving behind a trio of subordinates to prosecute the campaign in their stead…but the cause of their retreat is not known."

    She nodded, casting her own vision forward in the style of the Eldar, trying to see if she could detect the cause, but encountered only a shell of shadows so dense that she had no chance of breaking through.

    "It is no matter, we have received no command to return. Focus upon our mission for now."

    The Autarch's voice came to her as if from the bottom of the ocean, as she shook herself back to reality and nodded.

    "The plan has not changed, if anything it should be easier now. Two of each trio is currently trying to distract the other with the majority of the hosts, the other two are trying to break down the protections of the temple of the flame, so far unsuccessfully. Your mission has not changed, react to any breach."

    "And if they appear…"

    "Should Ahrha's unthinking pawns emerge, as we expect they will bring them to us. We shall wring his location from their souls."

    As the soft light of the Webway gate appeared in the distance, she watched as the host went into a further of activity, the wraiths stirring to action, the councils darting to and fro offering last-minute advice, aspect warriors focusing themselves upon their Phoenix Avatar, titans walked with an eerie stillness, and Harlequins danced, weaving an illusion of shadows around themselves.

    She stood next to the Autarch, ready to begin her initial role as he gave the final command and the gate opened.

    In the memories she had been shown Vaulsari had been as much a paradise as any world of Khaine, blackened by industry and war, waged in the bloody-handed god's honour, but now it was practically bare, the skies above crackling with duelling neon pink and crimson red as Khorne and Slaanesh both staked their claim to this barren rock.

    A sea of destroyed Eldar buildings remained, their corpses towering into the sky, as daemons charged within, fighting their most venal enemies with carnal glee, the leaders of the daemonic hosts battling around the centrepiece of it all, a vast obsidian black temple surrounded by chilling haunting wards created by the Eldar god of Crafting himself in a better age.

    The host emerged from the only intact webway gate that was close to it, the belly of the factory, where the slave priests stored raw materials to be transmuted into horrific devices of carnage, any valuable items long since looted or decayed away, but from there they emerged, passing unseen and without trace towards the temple, hidden by the works of the Laughing God, titans and armies marching the long miles towards the temple, invisibly.

    Yet here, near the centre of the Eye of Terror, where Daemons are nearly at their strongest, they were noticed for as ethereal as the Eldar's Titans are, they are still titans.

    The eyes of the Honoured Keeper of Secrets pierced the illusions, but before they could react properly the second stage of their concealment went into effect with a soft pop. Channelling a ritual prepared months in advance through the Jewel of Fantasia and coordinated with the Eldar's Shadowdancers, dozens of Eldar hosts appeared from the shadows, made solid by the jewel, the true force hidden amidst the multitude as the Shadowdancers took command of these hosts, directing the illusory masses towards the Daemons.

    The Damons would see through the deception quickly. Despite the best efforts of herself and dozens of harlequins, the killing illusions were but pale shadows of the hosts they appeared to be. But picking apart a masterful illusion trying to look like an Eldar from actual Eldar calling upon Cheogorath to appear as illusions should sow enough confusion for their ends.

    The priests of Vaul had spent their last few minutes in the webway tuning the key that would grant them access to the temple, bypassing the cruel trials of Khaine that were supposed to bar access to the unworthy. It was a work begun millions of years ago by Vaul's slave priests to subvert the wards of a god, but the secrets had been passed down from smith to smith, craftsman to craftsman, until the Fall and subsequent freeing of the Eldar.

    The souls of these priests were retrieved, interrogated, and the key they had painstakingly designed at last constructed and tuned.

    From the covering Areatha had seen earlier they drew it forth, an exquisite monolith of black Wraithbone, carved with esoteric symbols, crafted by the Avatars of Vaul in person, weighing so much that the twenty strong priests all strained together to carry it as they placed it against the wards which flared brightly against the distorted sky, before changing from the orange of Khaine to the blue-black of Vaul, a triumphant shout issuing from the priest's throats as they communicated exactly what they had done to the force.

    "We've taken back control of the wards, move in!"

    Without hesitation the priests darted forwards, followed shortly by the warhost, as the wards began to light up, firing forth molten fury on the Daemons that swarmed around it, the Honoured ceasing to focus on their rivals, instead of looking towards the citadel.

    As the Eldar took up defensive positions, Areatha split her concentration and body, focusing on the final preparations for nearly a dozen rituals as the Autarch started to move into the main citadel with his elite guard shepherding the Priests for the next stage of the operation, the recovery of the flame.

    Within this Eldar fortress, dormant and lacking in maintenance though it was, they should have been safe against any mortal foe, but they were in the Eye of Terror, the home of Daemons, fighting against six honoured monsters of the Great Gods in ascendence. They couldn't afford to be complacent and neither could she.

    She could not hope to banish the daemons directly, not at this range at least, just as they had little hope of breaching the barrier through direct force without lengthy rituals, or rather they hadn't when they had been busy mostly fighting each other.

    So she activated over a dozen rituals, each connected to a true rune of power inscribed upon wraithbone that projected powers based upon the counter frequencies of Khorne and Slaanesh. Calm, moderation, satisfaction, weakness, peace. These ideas were anathema to Chaos in all their forms and on such a large scale it would not eliminate them, but it would reduce the power of the lesser daemons drastically and prevent their greater kindred from attempting more serious rituals.

    Thus ended the first day of the siege, with the daemons massing and launching attack after attack, while the priests and elites worked their way into the central temple, as the Autarch cursed over the telepathic relay.

    "There are Khainite wraithlords within. They've survived protected by the wards, but they've gone even madder than they were in life and they are impeding us. Revise expected progress by another day."

    The plan originally called for them to be gone in two, now it seemed they would be here for more...problematic, but not yet catastrophic, although they would be pressed closely as both sides mustered and began to call for reinforcements. Opportunistic aspiring daemons descended like a plague of locusts the Honoured barely able to keep their forces from resuming their battle with each other as the strike force hid behind the wall, bringing forth illusions and madness to keep them distracted.

    Buying time with deception and trickery.

    She was at the forefront of it all, weaving illusions that struck at the core of their preconceptions, played on all daemon's innate biases amplified by the Jewel of Fantasia while beneficial coincidences appeared spurred by the rune she bore, which was why she was the first to notice a hole forming in the Khornate lines, as a group of Eldar clad in dark armour with jagged swords charged through.

    Slamming a bleeding icon into the wards the first circle of the barrier shattered, and the Daemon tide surged towards them in the Incubi's wake.

    Areatha was moving towards them the instant they appeared, as the Autarch's voice roared through her mind, their link showing him cutting down the last of the Flame's Khainite Guardians, a skeletal warrior brandishing a sword that bled reality as it passed through it.

    "Kill Arhra's cursed wretches, and bring them to me!"

    Rarely had she seen an Eldar so coldly furious at the mere presence of their most foolish kin, but she accepted his orders gratefully, the Incubi rushing ahead of the Daemons who plodded along slowly behind them, while the Ynnari began an orderly retreat to the second level of the fortress.

    The Incubi moved swiftly as Eldar were wont to do, intending to cut their way through the hordes of Ynnari with the same ease that they had the daemons of Khorne, likely not realising that they were almost certainly dupes yet again. Pawns to be sacrificed for the one known as a God of War.

    Despite centuries strong instincts the Incubi did not see her coming until she was amongst them, having just reached the marble steps that would lead them into the first set of walls. Her axe removed the heads of two of them before they had time to react, while the stone beneath their feet became liquid and the air around their heads solid, dozens of them dying within moments, their souls dragged into an Eldar given spirit stone. To capture them for safekeeping and punishment.

    The handful of survivors charged her as if in hopes that they would be able to overwhelm her through sheer numbers, but if they couldn't even see her coming, what hope did they have of defeating her? The last of their number were dispatched with ease, their fanatical cries and curses issuing from the spirit stone, stained bloody red by their hatred.

    "A pity...they were useful tools, serving a greater master."

    A sonorous voice called over to her as the Daemons of Khorne surrounded her, swords clashing in a brass chorus to welcome their general, a mass of bovine muscle, covered with scars and burns that grinned evilly at her with immense familiarity.

    "Ahhh. The child that fought against my master all those years ago. Do you recognise me I wonder?" She had to cast her mind back, for she had killed many of its kind over the years, but did suddenly remember, recognising the distinctive marks that covered its body…

    "You were with An'ggrath...weren't you?"

    Sweeping its wings to the side, the bust of air forcing the daemons back as they brayed with overwhelming glee the daemon laughed to the heavens.

    "YES! I AM! I AM KHARTHIUS, WHO SURVIVED THE GUARDIANS' ATTACK, WHO SERVED HIS LORD TO THE BITTER END AND WAS REWARDED FOR IT!"

    Lifting its neck she saw with a chill a collar, similar to the one An'ggrath wore all those many years ago the burnished brass and obsidian star shining in the crimson glow. "And now I shall repay you twice ove-"

    The Daemon's words were cut off as she acted, smiling slightly at its surprise and pain from an atomically small blade of sharpened air dug into the base of its spine. At the same time she started to run towards the demon, trusting that its axe would at least be slowed as it dealt with her attack.

    She'd devised many plans for how to deal with Khorne's fighters, especially with her reliance on her powers, but fundamentally they were as vulnerable to most unorthodox applications of powers as anyone else.

    Of course they knew this too and had devised their own countermeasures over their near-immortal lives, but few had ever fought the creatures of the space compressed valley. When one thousand tons of steel, compressed into a ball the size of a pinhead accelerated down a corridor of vacuum to allow it passage, as her pocket dimension shook it loose she simply let what was about to happen happen. The aura of the daemon's collar disrupted her technique, and the steel returned to its proper size...explosively, without slowing down.

    Ready for it as she was, she was on the offensive immediately, but the daemons were blasted backwards by the vast explosion of air as a miniature mountain appeared from seemingly nowhere, while those not directly behind it were crushed.

    The Honoured itself in a grossly improbable move had managed to move its axe and was cleanly slicing through the metal, but it was surprised and that was enough.

    Calmly sliding down the now boiling metal she drew her bow and fired a pair of shots into the demon's eyes, listening to its scream as she blinded it before leaping onto its body. There she began projecting an aura of calm and peace that was antithetical to Khorne, as the daemon wailed in agony, its whip returned to crack dart at her from an impossible angle as she darted across its form, studying the all too familiar collar.

    It was based on the one An'ggrath had used during the first major incursion where she had fought alongside the Guardian penguins, and was nearly as powerful but this daemon was no Exalted. Khorne would not waste its time personally forging such an object for this lesser creature.

    A replica perfect in all ways that count save to a person like her.

    As the daemon extricated itself from the mound of Steel, she clung to it like a spider and struck, her axe writhing with power as she buried it in the fatally flawed area in the back of the creature's neck, pitting her newly enhanced strength and faithful axe against the divinely blessed brass until it was shorn through with a horrific screech, echoed by the daemon itself.

    She was gone before it could mount its counter attack, her powers no longer inhibited by the presence of that damned collar, landing lightly on her feet as the Daemon searched for her, its blood-red eyes alighting upon her in a rage so complete it was practically mindless, charging forward heedless of the fact the stood there utterly unconcerned with its approach.

    She could see why it needed the collar to compensate, for its resistance to psychic abilities seemed weak compared to the norm of Khorne's daemons. Lingering damage from the Penguins she imagined, but all it meant for her was that she needed only to raise her hand and the daemon stopped dead in its tracks, its mind blank...calm.

    At peace.

    Sweat poured down her brow as she finally had the chance to test this technique on a daemon of considerable strength, a counter frequency-based ability that, if she pushed it, could completely break down the strands that kept daemons together, five versions, each for one god. The most efficient way she had of killing their lessers now.

    But this one she had no intention of killing. At least not exactly.

    As the Daemon's essence frayed, she grabbed at it, forcing it towards the essence of Zahhak, while she plunged burning soul fire into its being simultaneously sacrificing and slaying it. In a moment it was reduced from a powerful honoured to one far less...but even she could not kill it fast enough. The last resort of the daemon, allowing the warp to immediately call them home, and this survivor amongst Khorne's court enacted it instantly, fleeing into the warp diminished, bleeding, but still alive.

    For now she had succeeded in throwing Khorne's forces into chaos as Slaanesh's attention briefly turned from the Eldar to press their advantage against their bitter foe, giving her time to recover her strength, drinking a potion of rest and feeling herself rejuvenated to her full capacity as she stepped back behind the second layer of wards, bringing with her the corpses of the Incubi for their disappointed cousins to scour for information on Ahrha.

    The final day dawned a fluorescent pink as the outnumbered servants of Khorne were driven from the battlefield and the power of Slaanesh rose in ascendence, attracting the attention of the deity herself.

    As the Daemons prepared, so too did the Eldar, moving behind a veil of illusions as the final sanctuary was breached and preparations were made, the farseers scrying what would be to their satisfaction, as the priests of Vaul began to chant and sing.

    With a howl of rushing winds, the flame at the centre of the fortress vanished as if extinguished and the wards that it had powered similarly dispersed into nothingness. The Slaaneshi quivered with anticipation as they advanced on gilded feet, their three Honoured leaders at their head.

    Ghostly hands emerged from the ruins to grasp the daemons, tugging at their essence and shocking them in surprise. The ritual of the Spiritsingers, calling back the memory of the Eldar so cruelly devoured by She Who Thirsts, wreaked their vengeance upon her daemons in death. As the spectres pulled free of the ground, the heavens split as three rays of light descended, pure and filled with temperance, moderated to be the opposite of Slaanesh, each of the Honoured writhing in stunned agony before Areatha's ritual. Finally, a river of light emerged, as from the central keep came the Autarch and the priests, carrying upon their backs, bound to them by chains, a brazier of fire whose cheerful lustre scoured the daemons that came towards it from reality, even within the warp.

    As she focused upon it she felt the change that the priests had wrought within it, the murderous essence of Khaine replaced with the tender kindness of Vaul. A tool of making restored from its perversion as an instrument of destruction.

    "FALL BACK TO THE WEBWAY!"

    At his command the Eldar acted, the discipline wrought into their essence commanding them to flight, as all semblance of stealth was abandoned in favour of pure speed. The Eldar gracefully flitted between the buildings, duelling wraiths and daemons towards the hidden webway gate.

    Areatha however, stayed behind, for she was to be their rear guard.

    The action that doomed the fortress that had stood for millions of years was simple. Casual despite its enormity, the mere opening of a lid.

    But, from that lid emerged the apocalypse. The sky turned black as clouds formed, lightning fell as if like rain, and the earth trembled as the world bled before the power of the pandemonium box. Amongst the most awful weapons devised to destroy entire worlds taken by Chaos single-handedly.

    And Chaos saw and cried in fear.

    The weakened Honoured tried to maintain order amongst their craven kind but struck as they were, they found their commands ignored as the Daemons began to route away from the Eldar's path. As the furthest convoy, bearing the sacred flame leapt into the webway, followed by the rest of the warhost as the Honoured abandoned any semblance of maintaining command, choosing instead to marshal what was left of their power to intercept the Eldar before they fled, only to find their way blocked by the defeater of Heartslayer.

    Areatha stood before them on thin air, giving them a cheerful wave as she triggered one last ritual, her final parting gift.

    Space and reality distorted as it contracted in on itself, focusing on a point just in front of the charging Honoured who recognised what they saw in the vastly complex technique, knowing that the world was doomed, whether it be by the technique or the box. They would not die there with it.

    As Areatha stepped through the webway gate, she let the Doom of Vaselith detonate, the ability taxing even her considerable reserves, as the forbidden power of the long-dead Forili of the crushing planes roared forth with white-hot fury, consuming the sad remnants of Vaulsari.

    The webway gate was gone as she looked at the silently jubilant Eldar, who revelled in their victory even as they stoically marched back towards Commorragh, those that passed her giving nods or even bows of respect.

    As she settled her spirit to try and restore her strength Baharnedor stepped up to her, his hands burnt and blackened by flame, but grinning from ear to ear.

    "How are you holding up, Wanderer!"

    "Oh, not too bad...just tired. I take it you could dance on a cloud."

    "Or through a river of lava, or anything else at the moment really. The forge is completed!"

    She was about to ask, but Baharnedor shook his head. "I'll show you once we're back at the city. It'll be a little surprise."

    Intrigued, she stayed with the priest as he retook his place tending the flame, operating a set of massive bellows that kept the flame stable and calm, the rest of the priests lost in the making songs of wraithbone, as they returned it to their kindred, splitting off from the warhost to approach the crafting district. A massive temple to Vaul.

    There they were directed to the centre of it all, with thousands of priests watching them with rapt attention as she stiffened at the scent of divine power wafting off of a singular simple forge.

    As they entered she saw resting upon the floor, the broken form of one of the Eldar's precious Avatars of Vaul, the crippled God seeming to slumber peacefully leaning against an anvil as the procession entered the forge. The group of faithful servants walked towards a great furnace, the wraithbone runes cold and dead as they approached, and Baharnedor spoke again.

    "Once upon a time, our God himself worked with mighty tools with which he could create worlds and smith wonders. But when Khaine," his face contorted in grotesque fury at the mere mention of the name, "Bound him, he bade his servants hide his tools. To ensure that the Bloody Handed one would be denied his best work. Now the final piece has been reclaimed at last."

    As one, their song stopped, and at an unseen signal, physically grasped the flame and fed it into the furnace. The fire leapt with delight as seamlessly moved to manned the bellows and stoked the inferno, as she looked behind and saw the Avatar stirring, moving towards them with a hesitant gait as it stared into the flame with simple joy. It arrived and without a word plunged a hand into the flames, which moved gently around its fingers. A faithful companion greeting a beloved master.

    The Avatar slowly looked towards the assembled priests and though she heard no words pass between them, she could feel the thanks of the avatar communicated at a level only the Eldar truly understood, the usually composed priests trembling at the sheer depth of feeling they experienced in that single instant.

    Then the Avatar turned to her, and she gazed into its kindly, dark brown eyes as it considered her body and soul, before bending its great head down to her level. "Thanks. Expectation. Eagerness. Reward."

    She was so surprised by the sudden offer that for a moment she stood frozen before bowing deeply "Honoured Vaul. There are many things I would wish from you. But, there is only one thing I need from you. I am many things, but what I am not is a warrior. It is not within my character. So I would ask for a mask. One to bring succour my allies and death to my foes."

    The Avatar were silent, then reached forwards picking her up with a single hand before placing her in its palm, considering her again. The sensation of examination returned, although this time even deeper, and she lost herself in it, devoting herself to studying the avatar in kind, while the priests scattered. She allowed the avatar free access, showing it the deepest recesses of her psyche and the hidden aspects of her soul, painfully aware of the potential consequences of hiding what she was in this sorts of craftings.

    Its inspection seemingly satisfied, the avatar reached down and took from one of the offering priests a plaster of purest alabaster wraithbone, which it gently laid across her face to create a mould while behind her the sound of the bellows roared.

    Then with the utmost care the prototype mask was taken from her face with such gentleness she was stunned, the mould taken aside and placed away. Yet her part was not yet finished, as the Avatar laid her across the anvil, while nuggets of dozens of materials rolled within the furnace, blending and mixing, impurities cleansed while positive traits were amplified. At last it was removed with rune embedded tongs, each step a careful, ritualistic dance as the galaxies eldest craftsman surrounded by his faithful assistants, worked his sublime art. Into purest into the purest spring waters, drawn from as close a source to the Eldar's original homeworld it was taken, cooling it just enough that it would not slay her.

    Crawling back to her, the mould was once again placed upon her and then the still molten metal was poured onto it the scorching heat, deflected by the layer of wraithbone beneath it, as the metal was kept in perfect position by its strength. Then the fragment of the smith descended upon her with a hammer and chisel. With one hand it worked the still malleable metal in a frenzy, beating it flat and turning it into armour so strong adamantium would shatter upon it. With the other it embellished it, as she felt it carve runes of power upon it, and decorate it, the structures familiar yet far beyond that of the true runes of the Sirens. Then when it was finished, its greatest work began, acting upon her soul directly, binding the mask to her, drawing forth instincts and ideas that she had long sought buried and binding them to it, to come when she called them and retreat when she demanded.

    At last it was finished, as she stood to her feet, the mast removed by the Avatar who stood silently again, holding the mask in their fingers, before presenting it to her, as she flinched back from it.

    The mask was beautiful.

    As an artistic accomplishment, it was perhaps one of the most impressive items she had ever held, but it was a terrifying beauty. The mask of a conquering dragon, burning civilisations to ash for greed. A vicious warrior goddess commanding legions of warriors to demonstrate the superiority of their lord. A champion who wished for nothing but worthy opponents, its colours inked out in reds and black, creating a kaleidoscope of images and monsters.

    All things that she was not, but she knew were buried deep within her psyche. Hidden away because she feared if she started to indulge them, she might not be able to stop.

    "The mask. Of a Warrior."

    The Avatar spoke haltingly again as one, but this time it was stronger. The recent completion of an artefact and the presence of one of its tools focusing its mind so that or a moment its fragment was closer to the whole rather than the shattered shard it currently was.

    "It is good, to fear it. You will not lose yourself to it."

    Her hands were steady as she took the mask and calmly bowed, shivering. She knew what she could be if she lost herself to it.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Stories

    The Black Library's halls were silent as she perused its shelves, indulging herself in the Eldar's ancient lore coming across and integrating dozens of new ideas and techniques with every pristine scroll and tome she came across, her mind split across hundreds of bodies to try and make a dent in the obscene amount of information in just this one tiny section of the library dedicated to the thousands of ways the Eldar had documented of enhancing one's self.

    She could have mistaken it for paradise, in truth.

    There wasn't the thrill of exploration and adventure that accompanied adventuring across Helheim, and unfortunately for every single new improvement she found, she rediscovered nearly 1000 old ones or inferior ones, or even more commonly techniques that would only spell disaster.

    So she salvaged what she could, adapted them to her...unique nature and integrated them into her personal plan, in this section as she moved slowly in her rounds of the Black Library, moving from section to section, each time her knowledge growing in leaps and bounds, moving from the personal augmentation's section, to techniques.

    And it was there, one of themselves buried in a treatise on unnoticeability that kept on trying to slip out of sight and mind, she noticed something odd.

    A strange speck in the corner of her eye.

    It was gone the moment she noticed it, but her memory did not lie unless something was affecting it.

    So she acted as if nothing was wrong, continuing her rounds until it appeared again and she caught it by surprise.

    Bindings of True Steel appeared around the speck, while everything around it stopped as time and space ground to a still. Enough to ensnare almost anything she had thought, but to her mild surprise it didn't.

    The thing in the corner of her eye appeared, a cloud of black mist that despite understanding she could not copy, her knowledge recognising it instantly as the power of an archetype. It fled through the stopped time in the instant it was turning from fluid to solid, the true steel holdings caught within her own technique, slowing it down as it reformed into a being.

    Corvus Corax, Primarch of the Raven Guard looked impressed as he towered over her, while she in turn raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, as she reformed herself back into a single entity.

    "So...any reason why you couldn't just come over and say hello?"

    The Raven lord smiled, an act which seemed to appear so rarely upon his face that it seemed to contort slightly, unused to the motion, but he nodded slightly as he responded.

    "Force of habit. There have been few in the past millennium who I have not prefered to observe before greeting. In your case I've only stories to go on, and I thought it best to watcha little. You're one of the few people I know who've seen anything wrong with my wraithslip. Even if I wasn't putting much effort into it at the moment.."

    "Well in the future just come up to me...and wait why were you interested in me in the first place? I was going to contact you and your brothers later on, but usually I seek people out, not the other way around."

    She glanced down at her book, again absentmindedly pouring through the information on fulmancy. Rather derivative stuff in truth.

    "Actually, I heard about you from the Governor Rotbart."

    "Oh really? Well, that explains why you were cautious. What did he say? Evil witch, crazy nightmare, or both?"

    "No...well what he said was that you were probably the most skilled and learned psyker he knew of, even if you were infuriating in many ways that he refused to list."

    Ah...evidently she had misjudged him somewhat…

    "Is your relationship with him really that bad?" The Primarch's smile had dropped from his face as he walked towards her, and she in turn moved towards one of the small alcoves the Eldar kept for scholars, dotted frequently across the library.

    "It was worse, but we both made an effort to get over it. Probably a lot more childish on my part if I'm completely honest." She sighed, thinking back to their many disagreements "We just seem able to get on each other's nerves easily, as well as a fundamental inability to see eye to eye on certain topics...but well, we've been more at ease around each other for a while."

    She sat down, dozens of times flitting down to her as she finished with the fulmancy book, itself moving past the Primarch's head to return to its shelf.

    "Mind if I read and talk at the same time? The Eldar aren't giving me too much time here so I want to make good use of it as possible before heading off on my next mission."

    "Not at all. You don't run the risk of vanishing into your own head while working like Vulkan, so it's an improvement all things told."

    "Mmm." She reached for a scroll, detailing the creation of a philosopher's stone, finding to her irritation that it not only was less effective and non-renewable like the ones she could make on Helheim, it also required the sacrifice of sentients. Far less useful than she had been hoping.

    "So, you didn't really answer. Why did you come and look for me? ...In fact, why are you even here in the first place? Aren't there Necrodermis Tyranids you need to finish off or something?"

    He placed his hand on his chin, thinking carefully before responding to her. "I'll answer those backwards, if I may. First, I was returning from visiting Guilliman. I'm helping him reorganise his cult hunting systems to be more efficient, now that Fulgrim seems to have noticed his recovery, and I'm coming through the webway to coordinate with the Eldar on some matters. As for why I wanted to meet with you. Well for one I wanted to see if you lived up to the reputation you've been building."

    "And have I?"

    "So far I've only met you once, although...you've certainly started moving in the right direction. But the other reason was to answer a question I have…" At that she stopped and placed down her book, looking into a face that seemed to have been carved from granite for all the emotion it displayed. "But, I think I will leave it for now."

    She nodded slightly, willing to lie until he brought it up again.

    "That being said, I think I have a third reason to visit you. Avernus? Do you think you could tell me of it?"

    She started slightly as she had begun to return to her book, instead looking up at him.

    "Really? Well I certainly have many tales from there...I'm a bit pressed for time, but what do you want to hear?"

    "Something wondrous?"

    She shot him an amused smile, rolling her eyes. "I'm a bit spoilt for choice there...but let's go back to the very start."

    The library melted away, replaced by an illusion, given a level of stability that was reserved for the greatest of masters. However, Corvus seemed more interested with the scene it depicted, looking at a young Areatha about to dive into the waters of the Azure Isles.

    Taking a breath she moved into the voice she used when telling the Peoples about her travels. If there was any part of public speaking she was confident she had mastered this was it.

    "This was only a few hours after my father died...I focused on doing what the Siren Queen Kshanjasadma told me to do. To try and ignore the pain." The upon the young Areatha's neck gills appeared as she took the plunge into the water. "And then, now able to breathe beneath the waves...I followed her down."

    Without needing to act the illusion followed her younger self, as she swam and just like she had, he gasped in awe.

    "Wonderful isn't it?"

    He nodded wordlessly as he took in the underwater kaleidoscope of the World, as creatures great and small, moved effortlessly through the water, each displaying powers and abilities in fantastic displays, their progress highlighted by the Siren's ethereal music.

    "I'd always been fascinated with Helheim...but this. This convinced me that it was magical, despite the horrors it also harboured. I know it's a place of weapons, but it's also filled with wonders and beauty. And in this moment it turned a childhood dream into a reality and helped me forget what I had so recently lost. It helped me move onwards."

    She felt the telepathic message against her wards, as Corvus himself seemed to shake himself from his gazing, a wistful look upon his face as she dismissed the illusion, standing to her feet and holding out her hand.

    "I hope we meet again."

    Reaching forwards himself he firmly shook and in the blink of an eye, both were gone.

    By now Kelris was used to her appearances from thin air, and did not even start as she handed her, the first mission the Eldar had prepared.

    She certainly had no complaints about killing Drukhari.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    "So...does it work?"

    "Yes! Sort of!"

    Areatha sighed and hopped off the table she was sitting on, floating lazily towards her alchemical laboratory, checking the progress of dozens of potions and reactants that would slowly move her towards the next stage of her upgrades, as the lazy shadows of the demi realm the Eldar had moved her into swirled outside as a headache pounded within her head.

    "Too complicated again?"

    She was frustrated at the moment. But, at this stage it was with herself and her damn headache. She'd thought she'd have had this finished years ago...instead.

    "Yes. Eventually, I got it down, but it's taken excessively more than I expected. I'm still far ahead of schedule though, but your aid's merely cut down the expected project length from multiple centuries to perhaps one to three ."

    The Prophet of Virtue, one of Zahhak's oldest Blackened slid across the laboratory, following her closely as she did so. As the Goddess's expertise with sorcery she was able to almost keep up with her. Most of the time.

    In other words, Areatha created spells and rituals, the Prophet put her immense skill to use to make them usable by the common cultist that they were intended for, and then did the final work of attuning them to Zahhak. It seemed that certain aspects of a God's signature could not be recreated without being bound to them in some way, even by her. In truth it was a more focused version of her assistance to the Eldar think tank, with significantly narrower guidelines for what she had to do, although she had to admit creating so comprehensive a powerset was quite enjoyable, even if it was frustrating that her inability to communicate what she created cropped up again and again.

    "The good news is that I managed to get the 'devouring charms' you demonstrated to work already. It's not as effective as your original versions, but that doesn't really matter; its learnable and effective. It's likely my mistress will scatter them throughout the Concordant's territory to get maximum use out of them. Combined with you feeding her, my mistress is regaining her power at a considerable rate."

    She frowned slightly as Areatha tried to stabilize the conceptual bindings in the unbreakable bone agent, mixing it with the idea of durability to ensure it would not wear itself down.

    She nodded distractedly, trying to manage a complex part of the brewing process. "Happy in general then? Good work, good reviews?"

    "Yes, very. When and if we get this finished we'll have created one of the most powerful anti daemon psycic traditions, save for those of the Elder races. Whether we live long enough to actually complete it and or appreciate it is another matter entirely." The Prophet's voice came from behind her, and her divination told her with a pang that something was about to happen, but she pushed it aside. One of the first lessons the Yinnari taught was one they'd not had to bother teaching her, that knowing the future all the time rarely ended well. They had a list of Farseers who'd paid the price for thinking it made them untouchable.

    "The Shield Maiden's torn about you. As am I."

    For a second Areatha almost stopped at the sudden change in topic, as she had been expecting...well mostly anything else, probably an assassination attempt, turning more of her attention to the Prophet.

    "Well...that came out of nowhere. What brought this on?"

    The Blackened shrugged, "I felt there was no better time after all now your work is done so I feel I can talk about it without harming my mistress."

    Finishing the next stage of body enhancer with a final flourish she set it down next to the its fellow test batches, for further testing and refinement as she finally gave her full attention to the Ancient Alien.

    "Well I guessed the Maiden wouldn't like me given her powerset or rather where I come from." Zahhak's bodyguard not liking her was irritating, but far from the end of the universe. She'd just have to prove that she wasn't a threat despite being from Avernus...but the Prophet.

    "I'm usually really nosy about this kinda thing, but I've not had the time, always something to do. So what I have done to offend o Prophet? We've been working quite well together I thought?"

    The Prophet nodded, but tensed before continuing. "It's less you, and more what you represent. All my peoples were made to be pleasure slaves by depraved humans in their golden age. We were made malformed, without a say in how we function or what our purpose would be, and only with great difficulty have we managed to move away from that. And yet when I look at and hear of Avernus... Helheim, whatever you wish to call it...I just see that amplified for millions of years."

    Araetha nodded silently, moving to tend to the spiteful tomatoes she had to take care of. They needed to never indulge their moniker for the potion she required them for was to be effective.

    "Ok. And I take it you've been to the World long enough to see if it fits your mental pigeonholing?"

    Her response prompted a ferocious hissing noise from the Prophet who reared onto her tail, so she tensed her fingers and stopped her dead with a motion.

    "Let me finish, please."

    The Prophet glared at her from within her bindings, but when she stopped attempting to escape she was released.

    "I know that sounded confrontational, but I'm not in the mood to sugar coat things." She took a deep breath, resisting the urge to banish the pain of her latest transformation, before continuing. "To be honest I don't entirely disagree with you, now that I've gotten to see the wider galaxy. Intellectually I knew most places are not like Helheim, but seeing is another matter entirely."

    She raised a finger to punctuate her statement. "However, for all the tragedy Helheim does inflict you are wrong about it controlling what its peoples can do. The only times the World steps indirectly outside of its experiments are when a People could harm the World itself. Outside of that they are free to experiment and do as they please. The only species that fit your criteria are probably Guardians and Weapons, and even then the World prefers to recruit them from a willing People that fits its criteria."

    She sighed. "So you're not wrong to regard Helheim with horror looking in from the outside, but I fear your specific disgust is misplaced."

    She turned away to continue working on a different project as the Prophet spoke again, a low undercurrent of anger clear beneath her tone.

    "And you don't see how it forces all that live upon it to be weapons? You included? I've only known you a scant handful of years and you've made changes that I would consider...well, frankly excessive. It's a miracle you're still you at all."

    In spite of herself, she laughed softly as the pain in her head at last abated, her new augmentations accepted by her greater consciousness better than she could have hoped. "Honestly I'm barely a third of the way through. I thought I'd be halfway done by now, but the Black Library's expanded what I can do and the effects of what I was already doing and I keep finding more. The advantage of being nearly the complete records of a sixty million-year-old civilisation I suppose."

    The Prophet almost spluttered at her words, which caused her to wave her hand languidly. "As for forcing us to be fighters, if you want to blame the true culprit blame the galaxy for being such a shit show...or perhaps the Eldar for being a bunch of idiots for letting things get this far...or the Necrons for starting this all in the first place."

    "That…"

    She interrupted, speaking over the surprised Blackened. "Is the unfortunate truth of the galaxy, you get ready to fight or you die. I don't know exactly why the World doesn't close the polar gate, I don't think it can for whatever reason. What I do know is that I can list nearly a dozen species that have gone extinct in my lifetime. If all weren't "forced" to be fighters, then I could expand that list a lot more. Likely including me as well."

    She smiled, at the Blackened, although it was a twisted hateful thing. "I'm hardily making excuses, but I do think you're letting what happened to your people blind you to what's actually going on. I think it's needed, but well...what do I know I'm just the person who's ran away from responsibility for over 20,000 years."

    At the end of her speech the Prophet started slightly, her mind passing down obvious paths as Areatha chuckled again. "Don't worry, it's fine. I'm being careful. I'm of little use dead and far too dangerous mad. Even then I promised a friend not to mutilate myself for this. If I didn't care for the consequences I'd have finished a long time ago."

    "What are you planning on doing, matching a Primarch?"

    Areatha nodded succinctly. "At least physically. Psychically however, I want to be strong enough to match an exalted power to power. I can certainly get far closer to this than pretty much anyone else."

    "I don't know whether to call you insane or not…"

    Areatha shrugged. She'd certainly pondered that question long enough not to care.

    "I'm off the world. If there's one thing you can't accuse it of, its lack of overkill."

    The Lamia glared at her momentarily, but eventually moved away towards the ritual circle that had been built into the floor frowning before speaking. "I'll think about what you have said to me."

    Then she started a ritual of summoning, a small tome of chaotic knowledge sacrificed to the ever-hungry maw. Only one creature could come through it, she and the Eldar had made sure of it. Any potential breaches into the webway were treated with absolute seriousness. It was a decent part of why they'd moved her into a demi realm to begin with...that and some of her experiments were starting to get a little dangerous.

    The captured unclean one was devoured in a moment as Zahhak herself stepped from the warp, smacking her lips happily at the meal as she opened her red-lit eyes, horns shining an eerie black light, as she glanced slightly at her frowning Prophet before returning her attentions to Areatha.

    "Very well then...some in the Concordant might be a little bit interested in your services. Shall we get down to business?"

    Gesturing at a table that flew through the air towards them, she sat on the air as Zahhak joined her on a chair of conjured shadows, the Blackened sliding into place behind her, content to be a supportive presence for her mistress.

    Zahhak opened her mouth stopped for a moment before finally starting to speak. "Alright then, the first order of business is an expansion of your contract for me."

    "Some jealous deities I take it?"

    Zahhak shook her head emphatically, trying to disguise the amusement dancing in her eyes. "Of course not, such august beings are beyond such petty emotions." Then seriousness returned with a harsh turn, the Goddess evidently altering their mind rapidly. "Nor are they all beyond sense. They know the benefits of a sorcery system, and my allies have emphasised the benefits of a unified one. I understand that this may extend the project somewhat, but you will have more resources to do it with at least. It also has the benefit of drawing the Concordant closer together as an immediate bonus.

    Nodding, Areatha was already lost creating hundreds of powers and rituals that could be adopted to the nearly dozen gods in the Concordant, as well as being embroiled in the potential that joint ceremonies could create, while Zahhak continued. The advantage of being able to split one's attention developed by a death world was more than enough to let her keep listening to Zahhak's offers.

    "There's two other asks from Gods. The first from Ilfeliare, who wonders if one of your power runes would let her fully activate her spear. The other, well..." Zahhak seemed visibly uncomfortable mentioning this particular being. "It's from Faust."

    That was enough to bring Areatha's full attention back to the conversation. The Goddess of Friendship was probably the deity that most deeply troubled her, even more so than Zahhak if she was being honest. Her incredibly strong mind domination abilities were unsettling.

    Placing her chin on her fist she gestured for Zahhak to continue, the Goddess frowning as she did so. "She lost one of her friends during Nurgle's counter-attack. Auralvic, a young god of law...and, well, in her words she wants you to obliterate the one who did so and burn the world down to the mantle… Can you do that?"

    She'd read the Eldar's report on the situation. She knew what she'd be up against…

    "Tell Faust it will be done."
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Purgation

    The world of Kaiwk was like many plague realms in the galaxy. A place of slow sludge, flies and ceaseless praise of Nurgle. Slowly it moved, for was not stagnation the prefered state of Nurgle? Instead, it sought only to advance its own tepid morbidity and slowly spread the gifts of the Great Grandfather to more worlds and people, so sorely unenlightened.

    But, for the past year...worlds had been disappearing.

    Once there had been 21 worlds in the princedom of Takril...now only Kaiwk remained, alone, desperate and afraid.

    The small fleet of the realm had been dispatched of course, searching for what could possibly be targeting them, but in the week it could take them to arrive they found nought but balls of molten rock, as if subjected to Exterminatus, utterly purged of all life on a fundamental level.

    Yet there was no trace of the one responsible. No messages, no signs, nothing, and no diviner could see the events that had occurred and no daemon would speak of them.

    So did cautious Takril plot and despair, sinking into Nurgle's mire, begging for a sign anything that would give an indication that they might survive, or to bring some assistance from the kindly god of plagues. The buzzing of flies and silence from the God was her only answer.

    So it was that unbeknownst to her, one with ultimate power against Nurgle was lurking upon her world, about to attempt one of the grandest feats of her long life.

    It was an act made possible by her impossible skill and access to a unique component, but it would allow her to complete her contract in the most literal sense possible as she hauled the final corrupted astartes to the centre of the ritual circle, her presence hidden from the usurped domain of law by the blessing of the mystery.

    As she pressed her hands together she formed the symbol she had been taught long ago. One that only she had mastered in the past 15,000 years.

    The symbol of hope.

    The true rune of Nurgle's bane, amplified by a ritual designed to embody the counter frequencies of that God, boosted by true runes of power and water exploded from the maggot infested earth as a silver tidal current, bringing with it a wave of utter purity that washed over the world.

    The entire planet trembled as the bile of Nurgle was blasted away, the force of the banishment so complete and absolute that almost the entirety of Nurgle's taint was boiled to nothingness, the corrupted beings dissolving in the cleansing liquid, until only the bedrock of the world remained, save for one small area surrounding a pox infested keep.

    Here resided the treacherous daemon prince herself, Takril desperately pouring her strength into pulling more plague into reality as she pushed her dearest slave and her most trusted servants through a warp rift to safety in the madness that defined the immaterium.

    Like a marionette with its strings cut Takril fell boneless, her disease ridden from burning as the water caught her and she was pulled down by insubstantial chains that wrapped around her very soul.

    "Be still Talami."

    As her true name was spoken all other thoughts vacated the daemon prince's head as Areatha pulled the now mentally broken daemon towards her, nose wrinkling in disgust.

    She would have killed it now had it not been for Faust's sudden altering of the deal, as a gemstone, grown in an ever changing geometric formation was plucked from her pocket dimension, the daemon's form twisting as she was bound within, by name, by defeat, by binding, and by right.

    Sighing, Areatha looked over her handy work with a grin.

    She was proud of her feats over the past year, the destruction of an entire Chaos polity single handedly and the effective obliteration of a daemon world...she was just glad the Eldar had agreed to help her in this exercise.

    She lacked the power to sever the world from the immaterium, she could already sense daemons moving towards it, each intent on claiming it for themselves.

    From her pocket dimension came the box as she began to drain the cleansing waters, while she activated it to its fullest extent.

    From its open lid came apocalypse as she added to it. Activating rituals and techniques that crushed and cracked the planet open, shattering it until it was little more than space dust, useless even to a daemon.

    And thus her work there done.
    The second chapter is complete just in time for Chistmas :D yaay

    Thank you so much everyone who agreed to look over this, and put up with my general worrywarting and idiocy, including @random_npc @Andres110 @Execute/Dumbo @Shard @Adventwolf and @Swordomatic

    And most importantly of all thank you @Durin for listening to all my questions as I tried to get it down pat, it means a ton to me, and I'm so grateful to you for making a quest where I can try and make things like this.

    Merry Christmas everyone!

    First chapter link
     
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  • Sidestory
    • Merry Christmas to all.
    And I hope you can avoid car accidents unlike me. I am fine but the same can not be said for for the people in the other car. Seat belts save lives.
     
    I hope everything turns alright. My first car accident a few weeks ago was very scary.

    Not helped with my brother recommending I ignore car insurance and pay 10k I don't have out of my own pockey.
     
    Shard said:
    I hope everything turns alright. My first car accident a few weeks ago was very scary.

    Not helped with my brother recommending I ignore car insurance and pay 10k I don't have out of my own pockey.
    Click to expand...
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    Insurance needs their own thread. Germans do not allow cars without insurance on their streets but that only helps if you are not the instigator of the accident.

    On happier terms I wish all of you a great time with your loved ones!
     
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    Durin said:
    So do i
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    Please make sure you take care of yourself, and that you don't feel pressured to put out updates or whatever. While we'd all love it if you did churn out updates rapidly, that's hardly what's important at the moment - you've been through something pretty traumatic, and so your own mental wellbeing ought to be your chief priority. If you weren't going to already, then please make sure that at the very least you give yourself a break until the New Year at the earliest.
     
    Ptolemy said:
    Please make sure you take care of yourself, and that you don't feel pressured to put out updates or whatever. While we'd all love it if you did churn out updates rapidly, that's hardly what's important at the moment - you've been through something pretty traumatic, and so your own mental wellbeing ought to be your chief priority. If you weren't going to already, then please make sure that at the very least you give yourself a break until the New Year at the earliest.
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    We're only the longest quest because durin doesn't burn out. Take all the rest.
     
    Durin said:
    Merry Christmas to all.
    And I hope you can avoid car accidents unlike me. I am fine but the same can not be said for for the people in the other car. Seat belts save lives.
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    Ah. I have some second hand experience with this cause of my sister. ...take all the time you need, Durin. We can wait, and you being okay comes first.
     
    Thank you everyone
    Phisicslky I am fine, mentally I am trying to convince myself that it was not my fault despite my habit of blaming myself for everything. As such expect either a delay in updates or a mad rush.
     
    Durin said:
    Thank you everyone
    Phisicslky I am fine, mentally I am trying to convince myself that it was not my fault despite my habit of blaming myself for everything. As such expect either a delay in updates or a mad rush.
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    I know the feeling, you're doing the right thing.

    Not much I ca do, but continue to offer my support, but rest, relax don't do anything you don't wanna do.
     
    Doomed Wombat said:
    That's not what my post was, my post was about doing a ton of fundamentals, but not doing anything in those fundamentals.

    We've already got several fundamentals we've done, but not done anything they've unlocked.
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    Dedicating the free mechanicus action to research would still leave us with the Fabricator General slot, which would be completely free to implement any improvements to resource production. Equally, if any improvements needed to be implemented by the Administratum, then they could also be prioritised above some of the Education/Admin Efficiency actions, or through Rotbart's personal actions.

    As for not making use of anything with the fundamentals we've done, that's not entirely true, and also isn't the same as the situation here. We have, for instance, begun improving our shipyards after having done research to improve them. There might be other stuff that we've done research on, but other things take priority before it, or it simply isn't cost effective to pursue at the moment. However, none of that applies with these proposed research options, as they're literally about improving our economy, which is our main priority at the moment.
     
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    The Hybrids
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    • The Hybrids

    In truth, it should be of no surprise that there would be unintended consequences to bringing a full database of bioweapons to a bioweapons research planet. It was also well-known that the humans brought onto Avernus were being shaped by the very same bioweapons research planet. Nevertheless, it was still a great shock to many when Avernus deployed experimental hybrid and clearly human warforms against the daemonic incursion.

    Known as Hybrids, this classification actually encompasses numerous sub-species variants. (The Biologis are in debate as to the appropriate naming of the Genus). What they share in common are several traits: They (as far as is known) are able to shift between a standard human form, an Avernite animal (typically a small-to-large size animal; We believe there is a size limit - They predispose to weaker or nonpsychic animals), and a grotesque fusion between the two.

    It's possible similar variants exist for other Avernite Peoples, but definitive evidence of such have yet to be found - Particularly given the existence of other shape-shifting and mimic-type species on Avernus. The Magos Biologis speculate that the new species emerging are a direct consequence of experimentation by combining Grabakr Psychic Genestealers (noted to previously be a vanguard element focused on infiltrating societies) with Avernite Animals and Humans.

    While in their human forms, they appear as humans to all genetic tests, albeit appearing with a predisposition to being a psyker - However, a cursory glance by a Witch-Finder is insufficient to demonstrate their psychic abilities or other-form. A deep analysis must be done, one sufficient enough to detect subconscious and unconscious levels of psychic power. This makes identifying a Hybrid difficult. We believe the same is true when they are in their animal form.

    All of this changes after their first changing into their 'other' form, an event usually occurring in an extreme-stress environment. Known stressors are a nearby chaos psyker, being in the caverns, or recently, a daemonic incursion. In nearly all cases, they go wildly berserk and attempt to kill or destroy the source of their stressor by any means needed.

    Known Animal Hybrids include the Phase-Tiger, Thundabeast, Raptor, Helljackal, Rhinoceros beetle, and others.

    @Durin
     
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    • Shard said:
    The Hybrids

    In truth, it should be of no surprise that there would be unintended consequences to bringing a full database of bioweapons to a bioweapons research planet. It was also well-known that the humans brought onto Avernus were being shaped by the very same bioweapons research planet. Nevertheless, it was still a great shock to many when Avernus deployed experimental hybrid and clearly human warforms against the daemonic incursion.

    Known as Hybrids, this classification actually encompasses numerous sub-species variants. (The Biologis are in debate as to the appropriate naming of the Genus). What they share in common are several traits: They (as far as is known) are able to shift between a standard human form, an Avernite animal (typically a small-to-large size animal; We believe there is a size limit - They predispose to weaker or nonpsychic animals), and a grotesque fusion between the two.

    It's possible similar variants exist for other Avernite Peoples, but definitive evidence of such have yet to be found - Particularly given the existence of other shape-shifting and mimic-type species on Avernus. The Magos Biologis speculate that the new species emerging are a direct consequence of experimentation by combining Grabakr Psychic Genestealers (noted to previously be a vanguard element focused on infiltrating societies) with Avernite Animals and Humans.

    While in their human forms, they appear as humans to all genetic tests, albeit appearing with a predisposition to being a psyker - However, a cursory glance by a Witch-Finder is insufficient to demonstrate their psychic abilities or other-form. A deep analysis must be done, one sufficient enough to detect subconscious and unconscious levels of psychic power. This makes identifying a Hybrid difficult. We believe the same is true when they are in their animal form.

    All of this changes after their first changing into their 'other' form, an event usually occurring in an extreme-stress environment. Known stressors are a nearby chaos psyker, being in the caverns, or recently, a daemonic incursion. In nearly all cases, they go wildly berserk and attempt to kill or destroy the source of their stressor by any means needed.

    Known Animal Hybrids include the Phase-Tiger, Thundabeast, Raptor, Helljackal, Rhinoceros beetle, and others.

    @Durin
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    wait, do these people just show up one day as a +1 or is this basically "and then some people are metamorphagu's?"

    cas the former would be fairly easy to detect in a totaltarian, ultra-police state like the imperium/avernus....just have continuous scans on everyone (can be automated with cameras/cogitators hooked up to a database containing known persons ... and they would have this for this exact reason, but for other spys...this is not even that hard to do either, china is already doing this in RL)

    ...this obviously would NOT work for the latter unless that "deep analysis" is easy enough to do on everyone at least ocassionally which I'm guessing it is not.
     
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    sabreFather said:
    @Dragon_352 we did not take the Panopticon surveillance, so we don't have the kind of coverage necessary.
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    when was this a option?

    also, I'm pretty sure thats probably just getting *better* cameras with *better* coverage...

    cas I find that hard to believe in a police state, that we woulden't have access to cameras in good enough quanitys to spam in at least SOME places...

    keep in mind that china is already doing this and they don't have the eco of billions along with space-tech....and I'm pretty sure that avernus has HIGHER eco-density then china too due to said space-tech....so the idea that we have more area to cover won't out-weigh the MUCH higher eco that avernus has (if only because its also going to be fueled by the moons which won't need as much).

    and I don't recall wh40k decideing that cameras are somehow exceptionally difficult to make.
     
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