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The Lost Primarch Quest
- Thread starter Daemon Hunter
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The greatest irony here is that for all of Lion's talk about how everyone just needs to fight for Imperium and humanity he doesn't actually give a damn about humans. With it likely being largely due to being one of the Primarchs most detached from humanity. To the point that he doesn't seem to comprehend the simple fact that the reason that many humans oppose the Imperium is due to how horrible it treats the vast majority of humans. Worse is that there is no real solid plan from the Emperor or other higher ups to make things better for humanity in general.
Which is not remotely helping his case that a being so detached from humanity should be leading it in anyway. Especially considering that the Lion is one of the Aspects of the Emperor.
TinyGladiator
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This update, on The Lost Primarch Quest, we witness the legendary type 2 Primarch Interlude. Will wonders never wonder? Can anything? Only by delving into the words can any answers be achieved.
It's incredible to witness Lion El'Jonson having actual character development, now he does understand and relate with mortal humans on one big issue. They do have a point! He's even quoting them! Amazing work as always, the mysteries of TLPQ (The Lost Primarch Quest) never disappoint.
With that said, I find it amazing how in this quest the Imperial Army is actually being viewed with appropriate respect that such a powerful and vast force would actually be considering its numbers, armaments and sheer scale compared to anything else of the Imperium. Being beaten by greater things, inside and out, but the sheer cost and potential of all that it holds can change the very face of the galaxy. Time to see what the future holds for them, and their supposed masters.
So Leman just called him 'Forest'. That's a nice name, honestly.
Fulgrim would have a lot to say. According to canon lore stuff, Fulgrim has indeed married before (multiple times). He'd have a ton of advice for Leman. Another brother to tease and share insight with than Ferrus, truly a blessed occasion for the Phonecian. Sure, those were mostly political marriages but still! Now Fulgrim can truly talk lovey-dovey to the wolf man. (Only on TLP, haha.)
It's more than understandable that Fulgrim is feeling like this. With the above link, whether he's telling the full truth about how he really felt about those he was wedded with or just putting on a tough front to hide away those 'imperfections' of love and care in the face of duty, the sheer weight of responsibility and reaching up to expectations and, most importantly of all, in truly trying to help people all hangs heavily over the Son of Chemos. He's a saviour who truly believes in getting people to be their best, the common man to rise up as they did on his
homeworld. Things were supposed to be better, the dream his father had enacted was meant to save people.
And now? The cracks that have started a long time ago, small and big, are widening. The Emperor of Mankind had never intended for the Imperium of Mankind to be the answer or to help everyone. It was merely a stop-gap, a stepping stone, the desperate means to gather everyone and everything to reach the real answer, the Webway, and fight off against anything that would threaten such a plan. It wasn't meant to last, built on quick and uneasy foundations, but now its shaking sooner than planned.
This is all coupled with the obvious extra ingredient that this is all a great falling out for the family. What happened with the Second Primarch and Lorgar Aurelian were tragedies, even if Fulgrim never really liked the former, but even so those were smaller and more understandable. This? So many of his brothers are willingly going against the Emperor of Mankind, the Imperium as it exists in its current state, and those who still stand by as 'Loyalists' to the current status... and Fulgrim isn't even able to fully blame them!
There are so many moving pieces and elements to this, and it all came so suddenly after fighting a horrific nightmarish god of decay representing humanity's fall of a previous golden era. That is like having a fistfight with a monolith of subtlety that shanks you with a knife mid-battle.
Also, yeah, the Emperor's Children wouldn't help for a serious talk. They are both super loyalists in general, minus a certain Master of the Apothecarion who would go anywhere he wants, and all treat Fulgrim as the greatest thing ever who can do no wrong. Fulgrim doesn't need a crowd of yes-men and worshippers at the moment.
But, well, it's not certain how things will go. Perhaps things will turn out for the better, perhaps not. Time to put the work in and figure it out!
Kesar Dorlin's recognition of his brother's amazing talents paved the road for the Warsmith of Olympia to do incredible feats. The Castellan of Cadia, who broke the efforts of the Word Bearers Legion with such fortifications that should have been impossible to have been raised in such quality for that time. The War-Marshal of the Maelstrom, who stared down the Chaos Gods and won a victory beyond almost any other for humanity as a whole.
But the Lord of Iron is more than just a man of siege, defence and warfare. The beauty he could enact with that granted world of ice Kesar found a while back, that sadly had to be put on the backburner. The effort he went to create the Arx Coventus, that would be a place where the fate of what the Emperor's efforts would be decided and properly discussed (unlike the clown show court that was the canon Council of Nikaea). These aren't the dreaded 'Corpse Grinders' from before, they are builders of a better future.
Or at least that's the idea that they're going for. Emotionally charged decision or not, to follow his brother Kesar Dorlin even into this decision that Perturabo thinks is an insane choice (which is par for the course, but still circumstances are different) is where this road is going and he's not getting off now.
I love the self reflection and comparison here. The Hammer of Olympia seeing himself, and actually seeing himself instead of the self-wallowing that led him to madness and his fall (with help from the Word Bearers), is an incredible sight and contrast to canon. He was recognised, so now he can pull back and see his own self and see the faults and similarities with others in a way that is... positive is a strong word. Enlightening? Understanding?
Pessimism notwithstanding, let's hope the future of iron is an unbreakable one.
The hellish training arc is off to a pleasant start, haha.
She's one of the oldest too, born around 3000 AD. Extremely experienced, and has met both the Emperor of Mankind and Malcador too. Probably the most successful Perpetual aside from the other two I just mentioned. She is beyond dangerous, and possibly the greatest asset or enemy Jaghatai Khan will face (perhaps both). Also, anyone who can effectively manage and direct ten thousand worlds is a colossal threat in general. Probably the biggest empire of humanity other than the Imperium or Mechanicum in the galaxy.
Sidenote: Kesar Dorlin indirectly saved her life and her empire, as the 'fate never claimed its due' was because Kairos Fateweaver was planning to deal with her until a bad case of permanent death inflicted that two-headed 'best oracle ever' and solved that issue.
It's fascinating that Leman Russ, the Emperor's Executioner, is so hesitant and uncertain. Indeed, he owes a lot to Kesar Dorlin (who helped trigger such a big response out of the Loyalists) such as a favour that could have gotten around 80% of the Space Wolves ready to help with a war if Kesar was inclined to ask about it. Yet now they're on opposite sides.
I've said it before, along with others on the Discord server, but it is truly amazing how much most of the Primarchs have developed from before or compared to how they would go on to be in canon. I wouldn't see Leman so full of doubt like this, not unless it was after the Emperor died. And that's not all...
This is very heartwarming to witness. The years that their relationship developed, as Zunia repeatedly does the impossible and acts as a miracle workers that has without a shadow of a doubt saved Leman's realm from destruction, mundane corruption and wallowing against being able to develop. She managed to be on the level of a Primarch's efforts, well beyond some actually as few engage on this level of diplomacy and administration at the same time, and after all the built something incredible with the Wolf Lord of Fenris.
And I am totally here for this. Hell yes. Best part of the update, honestly.
Honestly, like Lion El'Jonson, Rogal Dorn has gone through a lot and, similar to Lion, he has developed and changed and it's not in positive ways in-universe (although out of universe I absolutely love how things have turned). The Praetorian of Terra has fallen heavily since the massacre the Imperial Fists faced on the world of Cadia, and while Lion El'Jonson has genuinely helped and also become a better person with the help of Rogal the whole situation and relation is heavily tinted with, uh, Lion's... everything.
Lion El'Jonson and Rogal Dorn are masters in the fields of war, with Rogal Dorn having built his own empire before he was found by the Emperor of Mankind in canon, but in this case they are not suited to enacting such ideas at such a wide scale while thinking they know the true risks and capabilities of the Imperial Army. It is not a good idea to underestimate what they're up against, and that is humanity.
They're gonna learn, one way or another.
The billion hybrids were created by Dark Age of Technology humans who worked on a gene splicing experiment, supported by Pre-Fall Eldar data they got, and only four-hundred years ago did it work! And last century, they figured out Slaanesh existed and that their souls get tormented by that thing in death! They are also rather stable-ish psykers, seem like they can turn into Astartes and also could help work on Runes? Lotta potential.
This isn't to be confused with the Anath world that Fulgrim got this turn, which also involved an experiment where humans were mixed with Eldar stuff.
And yet, even compared to his canonical fate, the Apothecary known as Fabius dwarfs even that madness and cruelty through the sheer bottomless desire for more. The Primogenitor is the man who semi-accurately claimed the Chaos Gods had nothing to offer him. Konrad Curze has reached the pinnacle of fear, and yet there are still worse things that can manifest. It's good that Konrad can see the darkness in himself, and know that there are lines he will not cross.
The Night Lords have changed significantly from the band of thieves, murderers, torturers and mad criminals that the Lord of Nostromo swore to go against when he first rose up. Now they... sorta are becoming more like his true dream. Justice finds a way, I suppose.
But the Orks part is especially important. For those who aren't on the Discord server, or need a refresher, due to the Blood and Thunder War, the great conflict between pretty much all Khornate daemons including Khorne itself against pretty much all Orks including both Gork and Mork, has had a lot of major effects. Too many for me to remember and list at the moment!
Ullanor, which is pretty much the capital world of the majority of all Orks at the time, is probably more fortified and harder to hit by x100 compared to canon. Urlakk Urg, the leader of Ullanor and 'Undergod' to Gork and Mork, surpassed the Emperor of Mankind in strength and skill around before the Maelstrom war occurred? Urlakk Urg also surpassed The Beast of canon, due to repeatedly fighting Khornate Exalted daemons. The planet is also becoming an Attack Planet to enter the Warp directly and join the proper war, which is taking Khorne's personal intervention to stop.
There's been quite a few Attack Moons and another Attack Planet made by the Orks, actually. Most have been stolen by the Khornates, as seen by that one encounter Horus Lupercal recently had as he witnessed one Ork Attack Moon fight a Khornate Attack Moon.
The galaxy has also massively felt a big effect with the Bloody Laughter, which happened when Khorne and Gork and Mork felt a critical level of joy and rage that it rippled into causing the galactic corruption resistance requirement for psykers to not immediately self-explode with their powers by five points. Which was enough to burn Commorragh, kill pretty much most of the Skaven psykers, effect countless worlds, and explode most of the Alpha psykers the Imperium had (which meant about three died).
It's not all bad, though! Scrapworld Gorro, a giant amalgam of extremely advanced Ork tech in canon which ended up becoming the first Attack Planet in The Lost Primarch Quest ended up being taken by Khornates. Which means the Mek who ran the place, who genuinely nearly beat the Emperor of Mankind in direct combat, died. Gharkul Blackfang, who would have defeated Horus Lupercan, Rogal Dorn and Mortarion and their three Legions if the Emperor hadn't personally arrived to end him, has also died by the hands of a Phoenix Lord (who is now considered a Warboss metaphysically speaking, and leads a relatively small horde of Orks himself.
Orks in general are still massively empowered as a whole and probably the biggest danger, but thankfully they aren't focusing anywhere else than the Blood and Thunder War at the moment.
The co-ops that Ferrus is creating is a massive project, planned to have a 100 billion at the start but was so popular and amazing to average citizens and workers of the Imperium that instead its already begun with 100 trillion instead. Due to actually being paid at a level that approaches reasonable, rather than horrifically low as possible so they can barely survive, and additionally being able to own their workspace, their land and other such things?
Quotas are said to be crushed by what Daemon Hunter said, as they're based off of the current model of work which leaves people sick, starving, injured to the point they can't continue and otherwise without much motivation at all. Now that'll all be sorted out, and better conditions and experience will keep developing further as things keep getting better. Ferrus Manus is going to personally investigate after twenty years just to figure out what the hell is happening, and realise just how shit the previous system was and how good his idea really is.
Despite all this and the similarities with some of Vulkan's reforms, albeit based off of cold pragmatism instead of warm humanitarian belief, this isn't actually that good for the reformists in the short term. In the future, it's very likely to be much better and free advertisement as people at the top and bottom go 'yeah more of this would be great actually'. Although, the future is always uncertain. Can't catch a chicken when the cats are around.
May the Revenant of the Twelfth Legion find respite, and the future of those who followed in his agony be a better one.
Yeah, it's been a wild time for the Ultramarines recently.
Only this time, he's not focused on Magnus. He's focused on his true target, the Emperor of Mankind.
He won't join Chaos to go against the great ruler of the Imperium, he's seen the results of that with Lorgar Aurelian and wont fall for the lie or be betrayed by a tempted Typhon. Not even his hatred of witchcraft will get in the way, because he's now found... friendship is way too strong a word, but an understanding with his brother Magnus the Red. No, he'll join hands with the Mechanicum, with the common man, with his brothers and their ideals. He'd even genuinely help them out if he can, if it helped benefit his mission, but let's make no mistake.
Mortarion is 100% focused on ensuring that the Emperor will fall. To death is preferred, but so long as he continues to rule as he does he is nothing more than an enemy of the Pale King of Barbarus.
He's hunted Overlords before. He missed one at the end, but the Reaper of Men does not falter in the name of death and the instruments thereof. One way or another, even if the galaxy is burning, the Emperor will die.
Hopefully it won't come to that.
This is one of the most phenomenal parts of not only the update, but of The Lost Primarch Quest as a whole. This years long journey of plots, settings, characters and other parts of this galaxy has been an incredible series of things small and great. Especially with how the Primarchs have developed in such interesting ways, from Leman Russ's relations with his brother Magnus the Red or Zunia to Corvus Corax's bizarre adventures in divine studies that somehow keep getting weirder as the sadomasochistic battle maid dark elf goth pirate lord girlfriend he has helps him heist a goddess so he can interview a clown and, of course, Horus Lupercal admitted that everything he held up is flawed.
He is flawed. His father has made grave mistakes. His Imperium of Mankind is dysfunctional in its current state. Things need to change, they can't keep going on like this. It was a tragedy how he slew the Polaris members that decided to go with him, to try to change things for the better, but in their deaths they have proven their point as though it was hammered by a giant into the ground. All the innocent deaths, destruction and callous nature of the Great Crusade are running up against a cost that cannot be paid.
Things are falling, and it's time to stand up and change it or else things are doomed.
...
Which is amazing! To see Horus Lupercal organically go through a rebellious mindset without Chaos being behind it at all, at least not in a corruption sense, is fucking phenomenal. To stand as a pillar to the rebels, yet not the main fixture as that's absolutely Vulkan, and speak to everyone honestly about how messed up everything is?
The words of Horus Lupercal, the Favoured Child, the First Found, the Breaker of Tyrants, the Lord of the Luna Wolves have been spoken. And they speak a truth against the Emperor of Mankind, with the support of several of his brothers and the Fabricator-General of Mars.
In-universe and out, this was a golden moment that's been the culmination of years that will ripple across for years more. To everyone who heard this, this is the most important speech by far.
Having Mortarion, the Witchslayer, the Master of Death who's hatred of psykers is so well known that the psyker fearing Fractured Conclave, a civilization that existed in Magnus's domain that Kesar Dorlin went to fight, knew about Mortarion and wanted him to come to support them? Having him agree with Magnus, support him and healthily debate the proper merits and demerits of this? That's beyond impossible to imagine for most people prior to this meeting. If you suggested that the two would get along to do this, you'd either be laughed out the room or someone would ask to double-check if you actually knew who they were.
It's also wonderful for the general discussion on Orus and image for the reformist party in general, in that Mortarion and Magnus are somewhat putting aside their differences to work together and focus together on this massive issue. The fact that they're specifically talking about psykers and the treatment of psychic powers, and agreeing, is even crazier for everyone involved.
Also, it's heartwarming in a way to see Magnus being able to talk in a council about matters like this and not be dragged through attack after attack against him. Much better than that whole Council of Nikaea nonsense.
At the end of the day, whatever good or bad happens, those on Vulkan's sides are, at least in addition to their other goals, working on making the galaxy a better place than it was before. Uh, for humanity at least.
It's time to be better.
After already having done a lot, including making a divine artefact that can unlock a lot of stuff both physically and metaphysically, the initial heist was rolled and the vault rolled a natural 100 and immediately pulled the 'no u' on the Skeleton Key, as one thing it really can't easily unlock is other divine stuff. Thus, the vault (or Shell) became a container for Venus the goddess. So now he has to work on unleashing a goddess too.
I would like to again point out, this is all still to just get that fucking interview. (All the effort Corvus has put did make Cegorach decide to give a longer, proper interview in exchange. So that's something.)
It's gotten to the point that, with confirmation that this can indeed happen, people semi-joke that the best way to fight against one of the Chaos Gods, or even the two Ork Gods, is to get them to somehow absorb Lorgar and thus also absorb the malus except it'd apply to everything. Conversely, this would also happen if the Emperor of Mankind for some reason decided to re-absorb Lorgar's essence into him, so it'd also be technically one of the best things Chaos could do against him if they managed it.
Yeah, it's genuinely impressive how colossally he fucked up. I can't even list out all the major failures and their repercussions, because there's too many and they're still going on as we speak! The death of Kairos, the death of the Changeling, the entirety of the Maelstrom War are just the peak of a massive iceberg of congealed ineptitude that goes all the way to the abyssal floor.
The first was a history lesson on the galaxy, including the War in Heaven and other such major events. Colossal lore-dump that only the Laughing God can provide to another, with the help of the Black Library of Chaos.
The second was an artefact of divine power, a crystal eye of Cegorach that Magnus can use as a one-time super boost as the Eldar god acts through them to sort out whatever caused the Crimson King to use it.
The third was a massive supply of Wraithbone, that super psychic material the Eldar use that's just plain awesome in every way, that was integrated into the Eye of Magnus, the massive Dark Age of Technology super ship that was found mostly ruined (but with the descendants of the original crew, very experienced in partially fixing and maintaining it) that's bigger and stronger than even a Gloriana battleship.
The fourth was... undetermined! Magnus the Red decided to save it up in-case of an emergency, such as potential civil war or the Blood and Thunder War breaking up and heading to the galaxy. Tentative ideas for other stuff he could get are either him asking for the knowledge from Isha that the Black Library has, especially after Eldrad became an Exalted of Isha (in addition to an Exalted of Cegorach), to help work on curing the Flesh Change properly in addition to the other benefits that'd have.
Or to ask for a Satellite Realm/Sub Realm within the Webway, as that works as a hideaway for if any apocalyptical war happens and (as canon proves) work to ward off the Flesh Change with or without the Emperor directly blocking its influence. Be great for most psykers to safely use and train their powers, actually.
Anyone have any ideas as what else Magnus could ask for, if he ever cashes in that final favour?
It certainly makes sense. As revealed before, Cegorach knows both that the Primarchs of the Alpha Legion are gods (as due to Ahriman healing Omegon, the former caught a glimpse of the latter's soul and noted a divine element) and that there's two of them (due to how they knew for a fact that Alpharius couldn't be Omegon as the latter would need to be healing from Ku'Gath's attack and that they were in two places at once).
And the Twins know that they know, so... the only option that isn't full war (which risks a lot, especially with how they know info about the Alpha Legion that not even the Chaos Gods are aware of, not to mention how important Magnus the Red is to the Webway Project and whatever or whoever else the Eldar are involved in), or to properly meet and move on from there.
There's a lot of potential in any form of alliance, at least against a common foe who threatens both sides. The Twins might think they're hotshots who kept doing the impossible, ascended after finding the Well of Eternity, stole two domains from Tzeentch and then got a third one purely on their own, and- uh, well, okay they're absolutely hotshots. But Cegorach is a trickster nearly as good as Tzeentch in many ways, and utterly surpasses them in retaining focus and having a definite mission.
The library deals are better too, albeit not by much for just those that are visiting.
This is another incredible moment that is similar to Horus Lupercal's denouncement of the Emperor of Mankind and what's branched out from him into the diseased tree known as the Imperium of Man for its faults, in more ways than one actually. Where Horus speaks still out of love and emotion, for indeed he loves his father and wants to pull him back from the yawning abyss he has seen, the Twins have a far more colder relation to him and a far warmer one to the Regent of Terra.
Malcador warmed up to them, as well as Kesar, and the Twins were trusted with far more secrets and tasks due to their nature, doubly so when they ascended into godhood. Their anger when the Emperor showed how far he had fallen in his distant ways, to the point that he fought with his closest friend, was palpable. The rage that can stoke the two serpents is not to be underestimated.
An eye was taken from Malcador the Sigillite. An eye for an eye is a very old saying. It still hasn't been forgiven, not yet. That was a wound that came at a time where the Regent directly went against what the Emperor suggested, calling him a fool, and is a stark reminder of that failure on the man who leads the Imperium at the very top.
A lot of things have led up to this. The Emperor has pulled himself more to humanity since then, by such a small amount, yet still he is distant and his mistakes have proven great and looming over the galaxy. He took his friend's eye, because said friend tried to stop a stupid divide that is so much like what's happening now.
Omegon's idea isn't a bad one, and yet it's perhaps more dangerous than even the rest of the rebellious few combined. The poisonous hatred of Mortarion, the alliance of the Aeldari with Magnus the Red, the crazed hunting of Kesar Dorlin, the disillusion of Horus Lupercal, the sheer will behind Vulkan and the justice that Konrad Curze envisions. Yet it is Omegon who directly says to the greatest subordinate of the Emperor that the man who would die as a god on the Golden Throne is not fit to rule.
And the Sigillite can't disagree.
Betrayal might not happen with this idea, indeed there's no telling how things can go or how either the Emperor or Sigillite will react, but this is beyond huge. The fact that this idea isn't tossed aside immediately speaks volumes of how serious this issue is, that it isn't even dismissed hammers in how wide the fault lines of the Imperium have cracked open.
The Imperium of Mankind was not meant to last. It is cruel, cold and contaminated not out of necessity, but out of how its design was meant to cut every single corner in the name of speed. The Emperor is on a quest to save mankind, and he is speedrunning that vision because the idea of risking humanity's fate for any reason outside of his designs is something he will not accept.
The man has been pushed to the brink by the nightmares and difficulties he has witnessed at the fall of mankind's greatest era, the Old Night of horror and destruction, and to the very Great Crusade he wages for his ultimate plan. He spent years of his time just to pump out more ships as production of naval assets fell by terminal degrees. He has macro-managed planets to the detriment of quadrillions, because he cannot think to afford more time in the fact of everything.
It was meant to be justified by saving the rest of whoever lived through this 'relatively brief' period of struggle, known by many as the Imperium or the Emperor's sovereign rule, to reach the Webway. Save the souls of all that live and would go on to live. Mankind able to prosper again, and the Man who became Emperor allowed to pull back from the maddening task of leading all of this. It nearly happened in canon, as he crowned a Warmaster so he could focus on his work, but it didn't happen then and it's not working now.
The costs are racing higher than the results. Rebellions are spiking at record highs. The economy is in shambles. The Imperial Army is losing all motivation. Most of the Primarchs aren't on the Emperor's side, and those that aren't have actual reason that cannot simply be swept aside.
Chaos may have fallen from the peaks they began at, but that just means there's more time. The Orks are an ultimate threat if they succeed, either them or the armies of Khorne, and the Aeldari seem to have a nightmarish amount of influence over parts of the Imperium, including the Primarch meant to sit on the Golden Throne to be the key of the Webway Project.
Due to all this, and his drained humanity, Omegon's suggestion cannot be denied. Maybe it wouldn't happen as I said, but I must stress this again: Malcador can't deny that it's a good idea to overthrow the Emperor.
This is why I love The Lost Primarch Quest. Such brilliant moments and culminations of its characters and stories, out-of-context insane but in-context make perfect sense. Years crystallising in scenes like this, where you can point at and say 'this makes sense' and 'this is brilliant' (which I have).
What a ride it's turned out to be, can't wait to see what's next on this journey.
Partly due to writing all of the above, and partly due to Malal being in sleepy land for 78 years or so, I'll pick the +5 to a roll of the GM's choice.
With that said, can't wait to see the future prove me wrong and have Malal somehow show up again way sooner due to... Cegorach binding them or something.
Ah, the classic eldest child getting angry at the weird shit the younger siblings are pulling. Only, uh... expanded to a giant galactic political drama. (And I am totally here for it.)
It's incredible to witness Lion El'Jonson having actual character development, now he does understand and relate with mortal humans on one big issue. They do have a point! He's even quoting them! Amazing work as always, the mysteries of TLPQ (The Lost Primarch Quest) never disappoint.
It's hilarious reading this in hindsight of what Ferrus would go on to do later on in this very update, haha. Glad he's working on the problem, after identifying it!
With that said, I find it amazing how in this quest the Imperial Army is actually being viewed with appropriate respect that such a powerful and vast force would actually be considering its numbers, armaments and sheer scale compared to anything else of the Imperium. Being beaten by greater things, inside and out, but the sheer cost and potential of all that it holds can change the very face of the galaxy. Time to see what the future holds for them, and their supposed masters.
While obviously I could say this is a great view and piece of insight into Leman Russ, I am so happy Zunia is with him and oh my gosh what happens later is phenomenal, but I have point out that Lion El'Jonson translates to 'The Lion, Son of the Forest.'
So Leman just called him 'Forest'. That's a nice name, honestly.
Also, I think this is supposed to be 'Whispers'? Not sure.
It is a cruel shame that Fulgrim comes before Leman numerically, I am so looking forward to when he reacts to what Leman just did with 'figuring out romance' after Orus. That might definitely brighten his dreary day.
Fulgrim would have a lot to say. According to canon lore stuff, Fulgrim has indeed married before (multiple times). He'd have a ton of advice for Leman. Another brother to tease and share insight with than Ferrus, truly a blessed occasion for the Phonecian. Sure, those were mostly political marriages but still! Now Fulgrim can truly talk lovey-dovey to the wolf man. (Only on TLP, haha.)
Even from ashes, a phoenix rises up again. Fulgrim, the mythical water-bringer and giver of life that was the Third Primarch's namesake, knows this well. But there might not even be ashes at the end of this.
It's more than understandable that Fulgrim is feeling like this. With the above link, whether he's telling the full truth about how he really felt about those he was wedded with or just putting on a tough front to hide away those 'imperfections' of love and care in the face of duty, the sheer weight of responsibility and reaching up to expectations and, most importantly of all, in truly trying to help people all hangs heavily over the Son of Chemos. He's a saviour who truly believes in getting people to be their best, the common man to rise up as they did on his
homeworld. Things were supposed to be better, the dream his father had enacted was meant to save people.
And now? The cracks that have started a long time ago, small and big, are widening. The Emperor of Mankind had never intended for the Imperium of Mankind to be the answer or to help everyone. It was merely a stop-gap, a stepping stone, the desperate means to gather everyone and everything to reach the real answer, the Webway, and fight off against anything that would threaten such a plan. It wasn't meant to last, built on quick and uneasy foundations, but now its shaking sooner than planned.
This is all coupled with the obvious extra ingredient that this is all a great falling out for the family. What happened with the Second Primarch and Lorgar Aurelian were tragedies, even if Fulgrim never really liked the former, but even so those were smaller and more understandable. This? So many of his brothers are willingly going against the Emperor of Mankind, the Imperium as it exists in its current state, and those who still stand by as 'Loyalists' to the current status... and Fulgrim isn't even able to fully blame them!
There are so many moving pieces and elements to this, and it all came so suddenly after fighting a horrific nightmarish god of decay representing humanity's fall of a previous golden era. That is like having a fistfight with a monolith of subtlety that shanks you with a knife mid-battle.
Also, yeah, the Emperor's Children wouldn't help for a serious talk. They are both super loyalists in general, minus a certain Master of the Apothecarion who would go anywhere he wants, and all treat Fulgrim as the greatest thing ever who can do no wrong. Fulgrim doesn't need a crowd of yes-men and worshippers at the moment.
But, well, it's not certain how things will go. Perhaps things will turn out for the better, perhaps not. Time to put the work in and figure it out!
It's amazing how Perturabo both has changed and hasn't changed over the course of the quest.
Kesar Dorlin's recognition of his brother's amazing talents paved the road for the Warsmith of Olympia to do incredible feats. The Castellan of Cadia, who broke the efforts of the Word Bearers Legion with such fortifications that should have been impossible to have been raised in such quality for that time. The War-Marshal of the Maelstrom, who stared down the Chaos Gods and won a victory beyond almost any other for humanity as a whole.
But the Lord of Iron is more than just a man of siege, defence and warfare. The beauty he could enact with that granted world of ice Kesar found a while back, that sadly had to be put on the backburner. The effort he went to create the Arx Coventus, that would be a place where the fate of what the Emperor's efforts would be decided and properly discussed (unlike the clown show court that was the canon Council of Nikaea). These aren't the dreaded 'Corpse Grinders' from before, they are builders of a better future.
Or at least that's the idea that they're going for. Emotionally charged decision or not, to follow his brother Kesar Dorlin even into this decision that Perturabo thinks is an insane choice (which is par for the course, but still circumstances are different) is where this road is going and he's not getting off now.
I love the self reflection and comparison here. The Hammer of Olympia seeing himself, and actually seeing himself instead of the self-wallowing that led him to madness and his fall (with help from the Word Bearers), is an incredible sight and contrast to canon. He was recognised, so now he can pull back and see his own self and see the faults and similarities with others in a way that is... positive is a strong word. Enlightening? Understanding?
Pessimism notwithstanding, let's hope the future of iron is an unbreakable one.
For people who aren't aware, and here's a link to the world list for this turn to bring you up to speed, Khan basically rolled high four times which got him an amazing reward and he just so happened to need to roll high four times to get the Exiled Terran Raven Guard plus leader (Or Terran Raptors/Ashen Raptors now). He didn't need to get all four at one turn, it was an additive thing, but he got them immediately.
The hellish training arc is off to a pleasant start, haha.
To explain to those who don't know, the Shadow Queen is a Perpetual. One who was so skilled, and did so well across the Age of Strife to now, that she actually got a roll to ascend into a goddess with the domain of stealth (which didn't pass, but the fact it happened at all speaks volumes).
She's one of the oldest too, born around 3000 AD. Extremely experienced, and has met both the Emperor of Mankind and Malcador too. Probably the most successful Perpetual aside from the other two I just mentioned. She is beyond dangerous, and possibly the greatest asset or enemy Jaghatai Khan will face (perhaps both). Also, anyone who can effectively manage and direct ten thousand worlds is a colossal threat in general. Probably the biggest empire of humanity other than the Imperium or Mechanicum in the galaxy.
Sidenote: Kesar Dorlin indirectly saved her life and her empire, as the 'fate never claimed its due' was because Kairos Fateweaver was planning to deal with her until a bad case of permanent death inflicted that two-headed 'best oracle ever' and solved that issue.
meanwhile, mister phoenix man with two foam fingers and a shirt that says 'KISS HER, YOU WOLF!' yelling out in the crowd. everyone goes wild. they still don't understand.
oh god this is too relatable i have so many things to do and i really should make a schedule but there's just so much- uh, I MEAN...
It's fascinating that Leman Russ, the Emperor's Executioner, is so hesitant and uncertain. Indeed, he owes a lot to Kesar Dorlin (who helped trigger such a big response out of the Loyalists) such as a favour that could have gotten around 80% of the Space Wolves ready to help with a war if Kesar was inclined to ask about it. Yet now they're on opposite sides.
I've said it before, along with others on the Discord server, but it is truly amazing how much most of the Primarchs have developed from before or compared to how they would go on to be in canon. I wouldn't see Leman so full of doubt like this, not unless it was after the Emperor died. And that's not all...
YES, IT HAPPENED! LOVE CAN BLOOM EVEN BETWEEN A GIANT VIKING WOLF MAN AND AN ELEGANT LADY DIPLOMAT!
This is very heartwarming to witness. The years that their relationship developed, as Zunia repeatedly does the impossible and acts as a miracle workers that has without a shadow of a doubt saved Leman's realm from destruction, mundane corruption and wallowing against being able to develop. She managed to be on the level of a Primarch's efforts, well beyond some actually as few engage on this level of diplomacy and administration at the same time, and after all the built something incredible with the Wolf Lord of Fenris.
And I am totally here for this. Hell yes. Best part of the update, honestly.
dorn... dorn no, dude, this is the worst fucking idea. you couldn't be able to try to make this a worse one unless you openly paraded this and tried to spin this as a good thing.
Honestly, like Lion El'Jonson, Rogal Dorn has gone through a lot and, similar to Lion, he has developed and changed and it's not in positive ways in-universe (although out of universe I absolutely love how things have turned). The Praetorian of Terra has fallen heavily since the massacre the Imperial Fists faced on the world of Cadia, and while Lion El'Jonson has genuinely helped and also become a better person with the help of Rogal the whole situation and relation is heavily tinted with, uh, Lion's... everything.
Lion El'Jonson and Rogal Dorn are masters in the fields of war, with Rogal Dorn having built his own empire before he was found by the Emperor of Mankind in canon, but in this case they are not suited to enacting such ideas at such a wide scale while thinking they know the true risks and capabilities of the Imperial Army. It is not a good idea to underestimate what they're up against, and that is humanity.
They're gonna learn, one way or another.
You'd think that Rogal Dorn would know better than to think that Magnus the Red, the Psyker Primarch, the Sorcerer Lord of Prospero, might not do something foolish. In fact, for this world of half-human and half-Eldar he is in fact literally going to do something foolish... for the Harlequins.
The billion hybrids were created by Dark Age of Technology humans who worked on a gene splicing experiment, supported by Pre-Fall Eldar data they got, and only four-hundred years ago did it work! And last century, they figured out Slaanesh existed and that their souls get tormented by that thing in death! They are also rather stable-ish psykers, seem like they can turn into Astartes and also could help work on Runes? Lotta potential.
This isn't to be confused with the Anath world that Fulgrim got this turn, which also involved an experiment where humans were mixed with Eldar stuff.
Speaking of the Anath, which Fabius is over the moon about having gone there and realised the implications of what and who he found, I love this look into Fabius and the contrast between him and Konrad Curze. In canon, the terror known as the Night Haunter was without a doubt becoming a true monster without more than a shred of reason behind what he was doing.
And yet, even compared to his canonical fate, the Apothecary known as Fabius dwarfs even that madness and cruelty through the sheer bottomless desire for more. The Primogenitor is the man who semi-accurately claimed the Chaos Gods had nothing to offer him. Konrad Curze has reached the pinnacle of fear, and yet there are still worse things that can manifest. It's good that Konrad can see the darkness in himself, and know that there are lines he will not cross.
The Night Lords have changed significantly from the band of thieves, murderers, torturers and mad criminals that the Lord of Nostromo swore to go against when he first rose up. Now they... sorta are becoming more like his true dream. Justice finds a way, I suppose.
This little section tells a lot. Indeed, as evidenced by a lot of things lately, there is risk of civil war. But the exact type and composition of how that'd work would be unknown. The classic Primarchs and Emperor versus other Primarchs. Or the snazzy Imperial Army mass rebellion, which can indeed happen and be quite devastating to go against for the Astartes Legions and anyone on their side. The Mechanicum civil war too, as wow the Empire of Mars is powerful indeed.
But the Orks part is especially important. For those who aren't on the Discord server, or need a refresher, due to the Blood and Thunder War, the great conflict between pretty much all Khornate daemons including Khorne itself against pretty much all Orks including both Gork and Mork, has had a lot of major effects. Too many for me to remember and list at the moment!
Ullanor, which is pretty much the capital world of the majority of all Orks at the time, is probably more fortified and harder to hit by x100 compared to canon. Urlakk Urg, the leader of Ullanor and 'Undergod' to Gork and Mork, surpassed the Emperor of Mankind in strength and skill around before the Maelstrom war occurred? Urlakk Urg also surpassed The Beast of canon, due to repeatedly fighting Khornate Exalted daemons. The planet is also becoming an Attack Planet to enter the Warp directly and join the proper war, which is taking Khorne's personal intervention to stop.
There's been quite a few Attack Moons and another Attack Planet made by the Orks, actually. Most have been stolen by the Khornates, as seen by that one encounter Horus Lupercal recently had as he witnessed one Ork Attack Moon fight a Khornate Attack Moon.
The galaxy has also massively felt a big effect with the Bloody Laughter, which happened when Khorne and Gork and Mork felt a critical level of joy and rage that it rippled into causing the galactic corruption resistance requirement for psykers to not immediately self-explode with their powers by five points. Which was enough to burn Commorragh, kill pretty much most of the Skaven psykers, effect countless worlds, and explode most of the Alpha psykers the Imperium had (which meant about three died).
It's not all bad, though! Scrapworld Gorro, a giant amalgam of extremely advanced Ork tech in canon which ended up becoming the first Attack Planet in The Lost Primarch Quest ended up being taken by Khornates. Which means the Mek who ran the place, who genuinely nearly beat the Emperor of Mankind in direct combat, died. Gharkul Blackfang, who would have defeated Horus Lupercan, Rogal Dorn and Mortarion and their three Legions if the Emperor hadn't personally arrived to end him, has also died by the hands of a Phoenix Lord (who is now considered a Warboss metaphysically speaking, and leads a relatively small horde of Orks himself.
Orks in general are still massively empowered as a whole and probably the biggest danger, but thankfully they aren't focusing anywhere else than the Blood and Thunder War at the moment.
This is big. This is huge. This is probably one of the biggest things that have happened in the update, and definitely the biggest thing Ferrus has done aside from getting a snake Necron construct fighter buddy that's gonna lead him on a gauntlet against other Necron fighting stuff (this is not a joke, this is happening as well).
The co-ops that Ferrus is creating is a massive project, planned to have a 100 billion at the start but was so popular and amazing to average citizens and workers of the Imperium that instead its already begun with 100 trillion instead. Due to actually being paid at a level that approaches reasonable, rather than horrifically low as possible so they can barely survive, and additionally being able to own their workspace, their land and other such things?
Quotas are said to be crushed by what Daemon Hunter said, as they're based off of the current model of work which leaves people sick, starving, injured to the point they can't continue and otherwise without much motivation at all. Now that'll all be sorted out, and better conditions and experience will keep developing further as things keep getting better. Ferrus Manus is going to personally investigate after twenty years just to figure out what the hell is happening, and realise just how shit the previous system was and how good his idea really is.
Despite all this and the similarities with some of Vulkan's reforms, albeit based off of cold pragmatism instead of warm humanitarian belief, this isn't actually that good for the reformists in the short term. In the future, it's very likely to be much better and free advertisement as people at the top and bottom go 'yeah more of this would be great actually'. Although, the future is always uncertain. Can't catch a chicken when the cats are around.
The first true command that the Red Angel, the Child of the Mountain, Lord of the Red Sand, Angron of the World Eaters has ever given his Legion. Without the Butcher's Nails to sing violence and corruption into every single thought, he grants the tormented sons he was forced to lead that which he always fought for in life. Freedom.
May the Revenant of the Twelfth Legion find respite, and the future of those who followed in his agony be a better one.
To those who haven't clicked the second link, after Tumultus (a hellish sapient psychic world with the power of an Old One fortress attached to the planet both physically and spiritually, a planet that was probably the most powerful necromancer in the galaxy that theoretically be strong enough to bring back the Old Ones and make Warp-based copies of the C'tan if it wasn't dealt with in time which thankfully it was) Aeonid Thiel went to a planet to fight... an undead god monster made out of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Yeah, it's been a wild time for the Ultramarines recently.
As Targutai Yesugei said in canon, after the Council of Nikaea, it was Mortarion who managed to kill the Librarian program for the Astartes and bring about the censure of Magnus the Red's ways. People see him as a hateful brute, but Mortarion is powered by spite more than any of his brothers, barring Angron, and it's coupled with the ability to laser focus and see exactly how to dismantle an opponent in a political field.
Only this time, he's not focused on Magnus. He's focused on his true target, the Emperor of Mankind.
He won't join Chaos to go against the great ruler of the Imperium, he's seen the results of that with Lorgar Aurelian and wont fall for the lie or be betrayed by a tempted Typhon. Not even his hatred of witchcraft will get in the way, because he's now found... friendship is way too strong a word, but an understanding with his brother Magnus the Red. No, he'll join hands with the Mechanicum, with the common man, with his brothers and their ideals. He'd even genuinely help them out if he can, if it helped benefit his mission, but let's make no mistake.
Mortarion is 100% focused on ensuring that the Emperor will fall. To death is preferred, but so long as he continues to rule as he does he is nothing more than an enemy of the Pale King of Barbarus.
He's hunted Overlords before. He missed one at the end, but the Reaper of Men does not falter in the name of death and the instruments thereof. One way or another, even if the galaxy is burning, the Emperor will die.
Hopefully it won't come to that.
Before his corruption it would have been impossible for the man known as Horus Lupercal to say any of this, and even when he was at his most deluded in the vile touch of the Dark Gods he would not have said many elements of this (partially out of insane pride, but still).
This is one of the most phenomenal parts of not only the update, but of The Lost Primarch Quest as a whole. This years long journey of plots, settings, characters and other parts of this galaxy has been an incredible series of things small and great. Especially with how the Primarchs have developed in such interesting ways, from Leman Russ's relations with his brother Magnus the Red or Zunia to Corvus Corax's bizarre adventures in divine studies that somehow keep getting weirder as the sadomasochistic battle maid dark elf goth pirate lord girlfriend he has helps him heist a goddess so he can interview a clown and, of course, Horus Lupercal admitted that everything he held up is flawed.
He is flawed. His father has made grave mistakes. His Imperium of Mankind is dysfunctional in its current state. Things need to change, they can't keep going on like this. It was a tragedy how he slew the Polaris members that decided to go with him, to try to change things for the better, but in their deaths they have proven their point as though it was hammered by a giant into the ground. All the innocent deaths, destruction and callous nature of the Great Crusade are running up against a cost that cannot be paid.
Things are falling, and it's time to stand up and change it or else things are doomed.
...
Which is amazing! To see Horus Lupercal organically go through a rebellious mindset without Chaos being behind it at all, at least not in a corruption sense, is fucking phenomenal. To stand as a pillar to the rebels, yet not the main fixture as that's absolutely Vulkan, and speak to everyone honestly about how messed up everything is?
The words of Horus Lupercal, the Favoured Child, the First Found, the Breaker of Tyrants, the Lord of the Luna Wolves have been spoken. And they speak a truth against the Emperor of Mankind, with the support of several of his brothers and the Fabricator-General of Mars.
In-universe and out, this was a golden moment that's been the culmination of years that will ripple across for years more. To everyone who heard this, this is the most important speech by far.
While I love Magnus the Red's sections here a lot, these parts specifically I bring up because it shows how much both Magnus and Mortarion have developed since the start, especially towards each other. Along with how deadly the pair are when they work together on this, as in a discussion of psychic matters it's one thing to have the Sorcerer Lord describe the myriad ways of the 'Great Ocean' and its benefits.
Having Mortarion, the Witchslayer, the Master of Death who's hatred of psykers is so well known that the psyker fearing Fractured Conclave, a civilization that existed in Magnus's domain that Kesar Dorlin went to fight, knew about Mortarion and wanted him to come to support them? Having him agree with Magnus, support him and healthily debate the proper merits and demerits of this? That's beyond impossible to imagine for most people prior to this meeting. If you suggested that the two would get along to do this, you'd either be laughed out the room or someone would ask to double-check if you actually knew who they were.
It's also wonderful for the general discussion on Orus and image for the reformist party in general, in that Mortarion and Magnus are somewhat putting aside their differences to work together and focus together on this massive issue. The fact that they're specifically talking about psykers and the treatment of psychic powers, and agreeing, is even crazier for everyone involved.
Also, it's heartwarming in a way to see Magnus being able to talk in a council about matters like this and not be dragged through attack after attack against him. Much better than that whole Council of Nikaea nonsense.
Vulkan's whole section here truly is a tragedy, showcasing what drives him to go all the way he has despite knowing the risks and hardships he has to endure just to get to where he is now (much less towards actually reaching his goals).
At the end of the day, whatever good or bad happens, those on Vulkan's sides are, at least in addition to their other goals, working on making the galaxy a better place than it was before. Uh, for humanity at least.
It's time to be better.
Okay, I'd like to point something out before anything else. Most of the above, minus the assassin thing, is tangled with Corvus Corax trying to just get an interview with Cegorach and been sent out with the 'simple' task of retrieving a Shard of Khaine that's hidden on Venus.
After already having done a lot, including making a divine artefact that can unlock a lot of stuff both physically and metaphysically, the initial heist was rolled and the vault rolled a natural 100 and immediately pulled the 'no u' on the Skeleton Key, as one thing it really can't easily unlock is other divine stuff. Thus, the vault (or Shell) became a container for Venus the goddess. So now he has to work on unleashing a goddess too.
I would like to again point out, this is all still to just get that fucking interview. (All the effort Corvus has put did make Cegorach decide to give a longer, proper interview in exchange. So that's something.)
I don't have the exact numbers, I think it's a -10 in general for tactical stuff but can get worse for some situations, but Lorgar Aurelian was a monument to failure across The Lost Primarch Quest that he got traits relating to failure. He failed almost every single roll, and the ones he did succeed in mostly just ended up being bad for him and those around him in the long run or even the short and long run.
It's gotten to the point that, with confirmation that this can indeed happen, people semi-joke that the best way to fight against one of the Chaos Gods, or even the two Ork Gods, is to get them to somehow absorb Lorgar and thus also absorb the malus except it'd apply to everything. Conversely, this would also happen if the Emperor of Mankind for some reason decided to re-absorb Lorgar's essence into him, so it'd also be technically one of the best things Chaos could do against him if they managed it.
Yeah, it's genuinely impressive how colossally he fucked up. I can't even list out all the major failures and their repercussions, because there's too many and they're still going on as we speak! The death of Kairos, the death of the Changeling, the entirety of the Maelstrom War are just the peak of a massive iceberg of congealed ineptitude that goes all the way to the abyssal floor.
After placing a special ritual upon Slaanesh itself (to both secretly energy drain and spy on a Chaos God), by going through their whole domain to reach them by following a path laid out by Scafrir the Defiant, Magnus the Red managed to get out (with an incredibly powerful trait that increases how many traits they can get in the future, combined with immense self-awareness) and receive four favours from Cegorach.
The first was a history lesson on the galaxy, including the War in Heaven and other such major events. Colossal lore-dump that only the Laughing God can provide to another, with the help of the Black Library of Chaos.
The second was an artefact of divine power, a crystal eye of Cegorach that Magnus can use as a one-time super boost as the Eldar god acts through them to sort out whatever caused the Crimson King to use it.
The third was a massive supply of Wraithbone, that super psychic material the Eldar use that's just plain awesome in every way, that was integrated into the Eye of Magnus, the massive Dark Age of Technology super ship that was found mostly ruined (but with the descendants of the original crew, very experienced in partially fixing and maintaining it) that's bigger and stronger than even a Gloriana battleship.
The fourth was... undetermined! Magnus the Red decided to save it up in-case of an emergency, such as potential civil war or the Blood and Thunder War breaking up and heading to the galaxy. Tentative ideas for other stuff he could get are either him asking for the knowledge from Isha that the Black Library has, especially after Eldrad became an Exalted of Isha (in addition to an Exalted of Cegorach), to help work on curing the Flesh Change properly in addition to the other benefits that'd have.
Or to ask for a Satellite Realm/Sub Realm within the Webway, as that works as a hideaway for if any apocalyptical war happens and (as canon proves) work to ward off the Flesh Change with or without the Emperor directly blocking its influence. Be great for most psykers to safely use and train their powers, actually.
Anyone have any ideas as what else Magnus could ask for, if he ever cashes in that final favour?
Ah, the legendary cooperation between the Twin Heads of the Hydra along with the Great Harlequin of the Aeldari Pantheon. Together, they make up a nightmare against Chaos that not even the dreaded Kesar Dorlin, Daemonsbane and Anathema, could reach. Well, not yet at least.
It certainly makes sense. As revealed before, Cegorach knows both that the Primarchs of the Alpha Legion are gods (as due to Ahriman healing Omegon, the former caught a glimpse of the latter's soul and noted a divine element) and that there's two of them (due to how they knew for a fact that Alpharius couldn't be Omegon as the latter would need to be healing from Ku'Gath's attack and that they were in two places at once).
And the Twins know that they know, so... the only option that isn't full war (which risks a lot, especially with how they know info about the Alpha Legion that not even the Chaos Gods are aware of, not to mention how important Magnus the Red is to the Webway Project and whatever or whoever else the Eldar are involved in), or to properly meet and move on from there.
There's a lot of potential in any form of alliance, at least against a common foe who threatens both sides. The Twins might think they're hotshots who kept doing the impossible, ascended after finding the Well of Eternity, stole two domains from Tzeentch and then got a third one purely on their own, and- uh, well, okay they're absolutely hotshots. But Cegorach is a trickster nearly as good as Tzeentch in many ways, and utterly surpasses them in retaining focus and having a definite mission.
The library deals are better too, albeit not by much for just those that are visiting.
Another thing to mentioned with what I said previously for Alpharius's section is that Omegon is starting to become far more distinct and have differing opinions. Aside from being more open to working with the Aeldari, due to saving their life from horrific nightmare death of diseased agony, there's this shit.
This is another incredible moment that is similar to Horus Lupercal's denouncement of the Emperor of Mankind and what's branched out from him into the diseased tree known as the Imperium of Man for its faults, in more ways than one actually. Where Horus speaks still out of love and emotion, for indeed he loves his father and wants to pull him back from the yawning abyss he has seen, the Twins have a far more colder relation to him and a far warmer one to the Regent of Terra.
Malcador warmed up to them, as well as Kesar, and the Twins were trusted with far more secrets and tasks due to their nature, doubly so when they ascended into godhood. Their anger when the Emperor showed how far he had fallen in his distant ways, to the point that he fought with his closest friend, was palpable. The rage that can stoke the two serpents is not to be underestimated.
An eye was taken from Malcador the Sigillite. An eye for an eye is a very old saying. It still hasn't been forgiven, not yet. That was a wound that came at a time where the Regent directly went against what the Emperor suggested, calling him a fool, and is a stark reminder of that failure on the man who leads the Imperium at the very top.
A lot of things have led up to this. The Emperor has pulled himself more to humanity since then, by such a small amount, yet still he is distant and his mistakes have proven great and looming over the galaxy. He took his friend's eye, because said friend tried to stop a stupid divide that is so much like what's happening now.
Omegon's idea isn't a bad one, and yet it's perhaps more dangerous than even the rest of the rebellious few combined. The poisonous hatred of Mortarion, the alliance of the Aeldari with Magnus the Red, the crazed hunting of Kesar Dorlin, the disillusion of Horus Lupercal, the sheer will behind Vulkan and the justice that Konrad Curze envisions. Yet it is Omegon who directly says to the greatest subordinate of the Emperor that the man who would die as a god on the Golden Throne is not fit to rule.
And the Sigillite can't disagree.
Betrayal might not happen with this idea, indeed there's no telling how things can go or how either the Emperor or Sigillite will react, but this is beyond huge. The fact that this idea isn't tossed aside immediately speaks volumes of how serious this issue is, that it isn't even dismissed hammers in how wide the fault lines of the Imperium have cracked open.
The Imperium of Mankind was not meant to last. It is cruel, cold and contaminated not out of necessity, but out of how its design was meant to cut every single corner in the name of speed. The Emperor is on a quest to save mankind, and he is speedrunning that vision because the idea of risking humanity's fate for any reason outside of his designs is something he will not accept.
The man has been pushed to the brink by the nightmares and difficulties he has witnessed at the fall of mankind's greatest era, the Old Night of horror and destruction, and to the very Great Crusade he wages for his ultimate plan. He spent years of his time just to pump out more ships as production of naval assets fell by terminal degrees. He has macro-managed planets to the detriment of quadrillions, because he cannot think to afford more time in the fact of everything.
It was meant to be justified by saving the rest of whoever lived through this 'relatively brief' period of struggle, known by many as the Imperium or the Emperor's sovereign rule, to reach the Webway. Save the souls of all that live and would go on to live. Mankind able to prosper again, and the Man who became Emperor allowed to pull back from the maddening task of leading all of this. It nearly happened in canon, as he crowned a Warmaster so he could focus on his work, but it didn't happen then and it's not working now.
The costs are racing higher than the results. Rebellions are spiking at record highs. The economy is in shambles. The Imperial Army is losing all motivation. Most of the Primarchs aren't on the Emperor's side, and those that aren't have actual reason that cannot simply be swept aside.
Chaos may have fallen from the peaks they began at, but that just means there's more time. The Orks are an ultimate threat if they succeed, either them or the armies of Khorne, and the Aeldari seem to have a nightmarish amount of influence over parts of the Imperium, including the Primarch meant to sit on the Golden Throne to be the key of the Webway Project.
Due to all this, and his drained humanity, Omegon's suggestion cannot be denied. Maybe it wouldn't happen as I said, but I must stress this again: Malcador can't deny that it's a good idea to overthrow the Emperor.
This is why I love The Lost Primarch Quest. Such brilliant moments and culminations of its characters and stories, out-of-context insane but in-context make perfect sense. Years crystallising in scenes like this, where you can point at and say 'this makes sense' and 'this is brilliant' (which I have).
What a ride it's turned out to be, can't wait to see what's next on this journey.
Also, uh, I should pick a reward!
Partly due to writing all of the above, and partly due to Malal being in sleepy land for 78 years or so, I'll pick the +5 to a roll of the GM's choice.
With that said, can't wait to see the future prove me wrong and have Malal somehow show up again way sooner due to... Cegorach binding them or something.
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Yeah, you would think Thrawn making his sons like fools would drill that in his thick as a wall skull.
I'm more curious on what Ceggy and Eldrad would do considering Lion just unintentionally let Dark Eldar loose on desistants, would be a massive backlash against Loyalists if the Imperium finds out what Lion actually did and by what means.
I can't fucking wait for the next update with everything that is happening.
Project:Thautam Part 1 (non canon)
Redleo
Slaaneshi Men Of Iron
- Location
- Eye Of Terror
Project:Thautam Part 1
There was nothing living on this dwarf planet which was one of just a hundred factors that allowed it to be the breeding ground of their next project..breeding ground was an interesting word for this an apt one.
"Lord Primarch the two hundred Librarians from the Thousand Sons have arrived on planet." The custodian said to Kessar
"Thank you Custodies...I never asked you name sir would you mind telling me at least the first name?" Keser said with a smile.
"Apicius I was the Emperors private culinary."
"Your his cook." The silence following could fill the void of space.
"Yes sir ordinarily I would be aboard his ship however my understanding of food stuff and agriculture is why I am here. For now at least."
"Very well tell me has Magnus arrived yet." He said as a thousand son approached them as they stared at the broken Runes on the ground.
"I can answer that lord Primarch my father has unfortunately run into a complication involving a massive Whaagh of Ork Psykers that's taking his time away from the project he apologizes but this is important."
"Fill me in please how dangerous is the situation?" That was worrying.
"The Warp has been reverberating with Waagh energy as of late thanks to a massive war between the blood god and the twin ork gods as a result the energy had began to manifest in new Ork phenomenon."
"A new Ork god?"
"Not that we can tell more so some Orks have become…..Daemons possibly of the twin Ork gods my lord." Again the silence after could fill the void of space.
"How many Custodian's are here on planet?" He turned back to Apicius.
"One hundred with half being Librarians. They know what is at stake."
"Good I was able to secure three hundreds assorted Astarte Librarians and over a hundred Rune experts besides." Kessar said turning back to the broken primitive Squat Runes.
"Which means it's time to began we already have finished the Runes to show the new arrivals, once their done examining them we can began with the project." He said tossing the thousand son a copy.
"My lord the Sculpting Arrays have arrived and are being fit onto the ships." Said a Stormpriest.
"Good then let's gather the men Project Thautam officially begins." He took one last look at the massive if primitive runic array and smiled this would not be quick, easy or without interruption. Good thing they brought weapons.
Notes
50 Custodians
550 Librarians (Custodes 50, 300, Assorted Legionary, 200 Thousand sons)
100 Rune experts
1 Custodian Chef
Thautam is a Dwarven god of Magic in dnd.
There was nothing living on this dwarf planet which was one of just a hundred factors that allowed it to be the breeding ground of their next project..breeding ground was an interesting word for this an apt one.
"Lord Primarch the two hundred Librarians from the Thousand Sons have arrived on planet." The custodian said to Kessar
"Thank you Custodies...I never asked you name sir would you mind telling me at least the first name?" Keser said with a smile.
"Apicius I was the Emperors private culinary."
"Your his cook." The silence following could fill the void of space.
"Yes sir ordinarily I would be aboard his ship however my understanding of food stuff and agriculture is why I am here. For now at least."
"Very well tell me has Magnus arrived yet." He said as a thousand son approached them as they stared at the broken Runes on the ground.
"I can answer that lord Primarch my father has unfortunately run into a complication involving a massive Whaagh of Ork Psykers that's taking his time away from the project he apologizes but this is important."
"Fill me in please how dangerous is the situation?" That was worrying.
"The Warp has been reverberating with Waagh energy as of late thanks to a massive war between the blood god and the twin ork gods as a result the energy had began to manifest in new Ork phenomenon."
"A new Ork god?"
"Not that we can tell more so some Orks have become…..Daemons possibly of the twin Ork gods my lord." Again the silence after could fill the void of space.
"How many Custodian's are here on planet?" He turned back to Apicius.
"One hundred with half being Librarians. They know what is at stake."
"Good I was able to secure three hundreds assorted Astarte Librarians and over a hundred Rune experts besides." Kessar said turning back to the broken primitive Squat Runes.
"Which means it's time to began we already have finished the Runes to show the new arrivals, once their done examining them we can began with the project." He said tossing the thousand son a copy.
"My lord the Sculpting Arrays have arrived and are being fit onto the ships." Said a Stormpriest.
"Good then let's gather the men Project Thautam officially begins." He took one last look at the massive if primitive runic array and smiled this would not be quick, easy or without interruption. Good thing they brought weapons.
Notes
50 Custodians
550 Librarians (Custodes 50, 300, Assorted Legionary, 200 Thousand sons)
100 Rune experts
1 Custodian Chef
Thautam is a Dwarven god of Magic in dnd.
- Location
- Elsewhere
I just want you to know that I liked this post so much that I bookmarked it for my own use later. And on that note, as the vote is pretty much decided, I shall now close it!
- Location
- United states
One of the things that I definitely think needs to be addressed is decentralizing power and making sure that the entire structure of the Imperium is not based around solely one man. As Sanguinius pointed out the Emperor is the sole/main pillar of the Imperium. Which is really horrible when you consider that if anything happened to the Emperor mankind is essentially screwed due to the severe over reliance on the Emperor on multiple levels.
This is especially poignant as shown in canon where things went to complete shit once the Emperor was put out of commission. It also runs into the issue of treating questioning the Emperor on anything as inadvisable which has numerous problems on it's own. It's especially counter intuitive to the Emperor's goals of humanity being lead by normal humans if he isn't actually willing to take any criticism and advise from normal humans. Especially bad since even his own sons and transhuman soldiers means that even if he is taking advice and council from others it's only for other transhumans and god like beings who arguably aren't even human themselves.
This is especially poignant as shown in canon where things went to complete shit once the Emperor was put out of commission. It also runs into the issue of treating questioning the Emperor on anything as inadvisable which has numerous problems on it's own. It's especially counter intuitive to the Emperor's goals of humanity being lead by normal humans if he isn't actually willing to take any criticism and advise from normal humans. Especially bad since even his own sons and transhuman soldiers means that even if he is taking advice and council from others it's only for other transhumans and god like beings who arguably aren't even human themselves.
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This is actually going to be somewhat addressed by Kesar this turn, and in the background there is an ongoing discussion about the creation of a High Lords system with Malc at the head and a possible permanent seat for Primarchs (with a rotation) but this still all being worked on OOC and in-universe.
The core issue remains the problem of finding humans that are capable of keeping up with the non-human elements, but thankfully TLP has a few instances of pure humans such as Zunia or Skullface that are able to not only keep up but excel in their respective fields. Granted, we still have a long way to go but we are thankfully in a much better position than canon.
If the blood and thunder war doesn't kill him yes
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More like straight out hypocrisy, his 'Imperial Truth' is about eradicating the very concept of gods yet he wants everyone to treat him like a god in everything but name, no wonder why Imperial Cult became wide spread when he got stuck on his golden toilet in his totally-not-golden-heaven kingdom references with all religious vocabulary and architecture.(seriously, for a supposed atheist government they like to make everything look like churchs and use words like 'mortal', 'angel' and of course 'heresy)
The problem with Emps and how he tries to tell people not to treat him like a god or the Primarchs continues to be an issue because perception clashes with the assigned narrative. It's been mentioned, time and time again in the omakes, that the average person has trouble distinguishing any trans or post-human entity as not being something "above" baseline in terms of ever reaching their level.
It doesn't help that Emps surrounds himself with Custodies and Sisters of Silence, basically celestial beings due to their look and feel, and lives in a continent-sized golden palace, his appointed steward has never aged, and his sons are demigods who command legions of super-humans, and who has effectively created the greatest galactic empire since the Age of Strife. Oh yeah, and the weird cyborg men are calling him the living avatar of their god.
One of those "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims and flies like a duck..." moments that the average human is going just to assume because trying to explain it any other way doesn't make sense. Like, really, the Emperor of Mankind is just some man that is just really, really, really, really, really, really good at everything?
It doesn't help that Emps surrounds himself with Custodies and Sisters of Silence, basically celestial beings due to their look and feel, and lives in a continent-sized golden palace, his appointed steward has never aged, and his sons are demigods who command legions of super-humans, and who has effectively created the greatest galactic empire since the Age of Strife. Oh yeah, and the weird cyborg men are calling him the living avatar of their god.
One of those "If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims and flies like a duck..." moments that the average human is going just to assume because trying to explain it any other way doesn't make sense. Like, really, the Emperor of Mankind is just some man that is just really, really, really, really, really, really good at everything?
Flashpoints: Ravenloft II
Flashpoints: Ravenloft II
Daughter of the Holy Blood…
No Venusian had left their homeworld in over 300 years now. Venus was now their final resting place—a tomb for an empire that survived the Long Night and was finally brought low by a Terran Warlord but also their greed and hubris. All surviving Venusians were "pardoned" and left to rot on the surface of what was once paradise.
After all this time, developing a grudge was to be expected. In another time and place, the Venusians would have gone done a much darker path after being offered a chance for revenge by one of the traitorous sons of the Warlord.
Instead, one of the Primarchs requested the presence of their holiest priestesses—an otherwise absurd ask. The Imperials had brought ruin to Venus. No amount of forgiveness would ever allow the Venusians to forget it. But the one called Lockcraft bore an amulet of Venus and knew the rites. Their traditions were all the Venusians had left now. So they honor such a call.
Their most devout and pious was sent. Suraia, Seventh of the Holy Blood, for her line, had been blessed by the Most Beloved in ancient times hence why she maintained some semblance of beauty even into her old age.
Suraia had been skeptical about this meeting. Her children begged her not to go while her husbands claimed it was a trap. However, the laws were clear, and this Lockcraft promised a safe visit and return. Even the Warlord refused to kill a man under guest rights.
A promise was made to return her in one month. Suraia was escorted off-world and soon arrived upon the flagship of the Primarch. After the initial pleasantries and explanation, the reason for her being here was laid out. One of the Warlord's spawns, Corvus Corax, bluntly asked for her people's aid in resurrecting her goddess.
Beyond the surprise of such a statement was anger. Suraia almost screamed at how because of his Father and the Imperium, her entire world and civilization were brought to ruin in the first place. Their goddess was gone, likely killed or having forgotten her people. There was no hope for the Venusians.
To that end, Suraia blamed the Primarch and his Imperium for all their woes. Yet rather than even attempt to appear apologetic, the Primarch simply rebuked her statements and sharply explained that while her people didn't deserve to be so harshly punished, it wasn't unwarranted. The Centuries of Fear and Blood they brought upon Terra, and others caused unprecedented misery and death during a time when billions barely survived.
"By all rights, your people had the opportunity to help others, but your leaders sought only to fill their coffers via raids and slavery. Misery begets only further misery. Yet we can put both our worlds back on the better path."
Suraia hated that he was right but refused to admit it. Damn, the Sultan and his ambitions. The Venusians only elevated a male to leadership if the Sultanas prophecied one. Sultan Aphosion had brought Venus to greatness and ruin within the same century. A gifted statesman and general, Aphosion foolishly believed Venus was untouchable with the Stoneshaper Orders and the Jannissary Brotherhoods.
He had one of Sol's largest and most well-equipped armies, but even they couldn't stop the Golden Soldiers and Astartes when the time came. More than that, the Warlord sought fit to bomb Venus from orbit before landing his forces. Their fate was sealed before then, though.
Venus had failed to uphold their alliance with the Selenar of Luna. A century of cooperative defense, but Aphosion despised the gene-cults and figured that the Warlord would be weakened after such a bloody campaign and willing to negotiate.
When Suraia explained this to the Primarch, he didn't seem surprised. "My Father never takes half-measures. Your Sultan was a fool in more ways than one, and that is saying something after having to tolerate the literal congregations of fools in my lifetime."
Regardless, the Primarch succinctly explained that Venus had been killed at some indeterminable time long ago but that a "seed" of Venus had been found, and the possibility of resurrecting her was possible. Far be it for Suraia not to believe in the case of Venus returning, she asked the obvious question.
"Why do you seek to revive a goddess? You care not for the Imperial Truth, but why seek the return of Venus?"
The Primarch frowned, "Because if I don't, someone else might or worse. Neither of us will want to see such come to pass. If the gods are to return, I shall endeavor to ensure they are allies to humanity beyond all else."
Such lofty but unrealistic goals. Suraia wasn't convinced, even when Corvus explained that he had some success in this "Esoteric Metaphysics," "Celestial Ontology," or whatever designation or title this man wished to assign the divine. The man's arrogance in taming such a thing was almost admirable. Even when she saw an actual relic of divinity, one that he helped make, Suraia found herself unwilling to change her mind.
Only after she was brought in to see the Shell on her last day did something in her soul cause her to stay. It was almost like cold water poured over her when Suraia saw how wrong the Shell felt and looked. Corvus claimed that these Deorums worshipped Venus in her likeness?! There was nothing similar at all to their most holy scriptures!
When she voiced her displeasure, the Deorum priest in charge confronted her and claimed that their historical knowledge was accurate, reminding her that Venus first appeared on Terra tens of thousands of years ago. Yet Suraia then educated these fools that Venus had taken on another form sometime after the Age of Strife began.
This debate got the attention of the Primarch, who asked how the Venusians knew that when the Deorums had dozens of instances similarly depicting her. Comments like this made Suraia curse the blasted Terrans for wanting to make everything about their history and mythology.
It took Suraia the better part of six hours to explain the Venüs İnançları and how during the Time of Unyield Night, a wounded Venus appeared and gave the ancient settlers the knowledge to shape the glass, metals, and stones of their homeworld to make Golems and how to use the very energies of Venus to revive their world.
Upon finishing the story, Primarch Corax looked pensive momentarily, "Then she will most likely be quite different upon her return as well. A foreign influence might have changed her, especially during her revival in either case. The Shell will be her body in this reality. I don't care what she looks like, but we are trying to ensure it is up to par with holding a godspeed. As I said, your people's aid would be beyond useful."
Suraia was given the night to make her decision. If she agreed to help, it meant that all her fellow Sultanas and people would do everything in their power to aid in developing this Shell and join Ravenloft. To that end, the Primarch was offering a rather lucrative deal. They would be free to leave Venus and start anew elsewhere.
Her people heard that promise before. When the Warlord defeated them, offering all those that swore allegiance to his Imperium they would be allowed to leave Venus; otherwise, all would be denied the ability to leave their homeworld. None bowed before him. They were defeated but not unbroken. If they were to die, they would do so in their homes.
Such lofty defiance resulted in them having to live in underground enclaves. The Imperials living in the orbitals had taken to "hunting" down witches and traitors. Sometimes those soulless women came and killed a Sultana or two, taking down the entire enclave with it. All of which was to say that the Imperium barely tolerated their continued existence.
Facing extinction was never more real than in these last two decades. But the Venusians would not beg for salvation. Instead, the opportunity presented by the Primarch seemed palpable enough to warrant consideration. The ability to leave unmolested, restarting elsewhere, and with their goddess supposedly revived?
Perhaps for some, there was dignity in taking the outreached hand, especially when it implied that it needed one's help. Suraia wanted her children to have a better life than simply tending to their future tombs. If that meant leaving Venus to the Imperials and restarting elsewhere, so be it.
Worse case, Suraia would be the only one to blame for selling out her people. The next morning before leaving, she agreed to the terms of the Primarch and promised to aid in the development of this Shell with everything the Venusians still had left. If for no other reason than to perhaps let her people see one miracle before they left their home forever.
Build a god workshop…
What was the purpose of a body for a god? A divine being existed beyond most mortal comprehensions. Philosophers and scientists would have called it "a higher plane" of being because such an entity had no need or want to be chained to the Materium. Such creatures would be free of physiological concerns such as breathing, sleeping, eating, etc.
The irony, of course, was that such creatures ultimately yearned for the ability to feel what most living things need to survive, if only just to savor the moment. Others, like daemons, simply desired the emotional "taste" of materium beings. All of which was to say, they wanted it but didn't need these things.
Gods, however, feel into a different sort of category. Ravenloft hypothesized that gods could nominal enter the Materium and stay inside thanks to Divine Matter, but that at a certain point of obtaining power, the energy/matter cost to remain inside the material realm made it difficult to do exactly that.
This, ultimately, proved a rather paradoxical set of circumstances. More power meant being unable to stay in the materium, but faith was the only way to gain more power. Ancient religious texts portrayed the divine as frequently partaking in the pleasures of materium living. It was almost like one of the aspects of divinity required you to interact directly with mortals. One of the many aspects of faith that Ravenloft was investigating these days.
Regardless, creating a god's body was a novel and untested concept. The creation of the Anathymia Division was deemed necessary by Ravenloft's leadership, especially as the impending acquirement of Venus required an equally unique solution to resolve. This was untested waters, so to speak, but an exciting opportunity.
All of this led to the next question, how do you make the body of a god without the use of divine matter?
You find substitutes.
When Corvus asked his brother Fulgrim to make a "Doll" of his lover, the Phoenician created a beautiful sculpture of the woman described by the Lord of Ravens. Cut from marble and fused with ivory from the pillars of an ancient empire's mighty fortress, chiseled with a staggering level of detail and care.
In more ancient times, it would have eclipsed even the great statue of David. Instead, the Doll was nothing more than a gift done on the side by the Foppish Primarch. When viewed through those eyes, it made breaking the Doll less appalling.
The Doll wasn't nearly enough to act as the Shell for Venus. Instead, it would serve as the final cover for what lie beneath. The Anathymia Division would "build" the Shell from the ground up using various materials and techniques. All of this meant that their process had to be meticulous.
A small company of artificers, engineers, artists, priestesses, psykers, and magi were assigned to work in tandem. Ravenloft had grown considerably in this time, but even Corvus stretched his resources to ensure the proper facilities, training, and materials were available for this undertaking. It required asking the Eldar and Polaris to help, along with the Lord of Gears and his people.
As such, the first trail came with creating the "skeletal frame" of the Shell. The body of Venus would be larger than an Astartes, mainly because Fulgrim made the Doll that big, but Ravenloft was thankful for this "oversight" as it meant more room for the materials to be fitted. Every single centimeter of the Shell would be needed for this.
Overlaid on this barest of bones was a working nervous and endocrine system, designed to simulate or at least mimic that physiological structure of humanity—an approximate, built on science and faith. Such wondrous but equally disturbing creations were born from this endeavor. Nano-fiber arteries, veins, and capillaries were grafted to a heart born grown from the mind and hands of a Drukhari Homunculus who had been paid with the genetic code of the extinct Venusian Mermen, setting forth a series of changes that would be felt only thousands of years later—a necessary trade.
Upon the completion of that stage, next was completing the Ceremite frame. This section required fusing a combination of Verdigris and Venerianite, then Timeless Ash made from the core of the Last Guardian, the only working War-Golem left on Venus and overlaid with synth-muscles.
Next came the head of the Shell. An equally difficult and outlandish process. First was High-Priestess Suraia, who spent nearly a month weaving a series of Venusian plant fibers into a close approximate of raven black hair, which shined with an almost abnormal violent and green color, hinting that it was something much more.
That, however, paled in comparison to the "brain" created for this experiment. This device required the marriage of the new and old, science and ritual, in one. Rather than purely organic materials, the Anathymia Division used a cortex-implant, a cybernetic fused with a vat-grown brain.
But they didn't stop there. The Lord of Gears used his power to bless the implant, ensuring Venus could recall her memories and legacy upon embracing her new Shell. The Dravaxian created a series of algorithms to allow the machine interface to accept the mind of a god, and Ravenloft provided a series of materials from a daemon world called Aquisgranum obtained via Polaris operatives.
This last contribution caused much contention as the Eternium and Corpse Crowns were somewhat tainted. A fear that they could be used as a vector for Chaos corruption was deemed an acceptable risk to the benefits. The Venusians offered a measure of security, combining the materials from Aquisgranum with those found on Venus—an ancient crown of coral and obsidian.
All agreed it was an acceptable solution. Fusing such materials took over eight months, but it worked. The Crown of Venus was placed upon the head of the Shell. With that, the head and body were mostly finished. Now it was time to put everything together.
Legends spoke of how Venus had been born from foam and water, and the Anathymia Division found it fitting that it would be necessary to use a cellular composite "bath" to naturally fuse all components back with the "skin" of the Doll. The Venusians contributed in the form of water from the now-parched seas of Venus.
In one of the few instances of direct aid from the Eldar, a substance known as "Kei-Ton" was sent over. This "Kei-Ton" was once again a miracle of science in any other instance, for it seemed to be an incredibly powerful and psy-reactive bonding agent, breaking down and rebuilding matter to fit into a particular shape or removing visual mistakes and errors.
Purely for cosmetic purposes, but it would ultimately provide the final touch that would turn the Shell from a work of art to be one of the first instances of mortal hands capturing the visage and motif of a goddess.
The Shell was, beyond a doubt, a beautiful object. The Doll had been almost lifelike, but the Shell was. In some ways, it was almost like the Shell was asleep.
Corvus and Lockcraft would later learn that the final step to creating the Shell was a lackluster affair. Everything went according to plan; no issues were detected, nor any psychic backlash, but this still caused both to assume that something had to have happened.
And they were right.
Because they soon learned that the Shell had a heartbeat. This act of life was impossible as the heart and body hadn't been activated yet, at least not intentionally by Ravenloft. Even more, worrying was when the Crown generated brainwaves like an individual dreaming.
The Shell was alive…and asleep. A goddess was dreaming in their midst. Neither alive nor dead.
I Heard, You Heard…
When leaders are stressed and worried about things, they tend to latch onto any suggestion from a peer, especially if it is good. Uncertainty was a killer in most instances, and in the Imperium, that was becoming a problem. The fear of tomorrow was more prevalent than ever.
As such, everyone tried to devise solutions or plans to improve their current predicament. The Loyalists found themselves in a bind—too many unquantifiable issues and variables and insufficient data or answers. True, the Primarchs were working on this, but a hundred plans made by a genius in isolation were only as good as one plan made by fools in cooperation.
Lion would eventually lead the charge, but he had been called away to handle problems back on Terra. This period left the other loyalists focusing on their projects while the rebels gathered and plotted elsewhere. Leman Russ would later remark how the first months were a period of "sitting and waiting for orders."
Corvus saw an opportunity. While he had no reason to support the loyalists or rebels, the Lord of Ravens needed a sizeable distraction for his operations on Venus. Thus he came up with a solution that would provide that in spades.
The Primarch arranged a meeting with his brother, Dorn, and after casually discussing the state of affairs, Corvus would remark, "Is Sol able to defend itself?" The question was phrased like a throwaway line mentioned in frustration and shared disdain over the state of things.
But such a question resonated with a mind like the Praetorian. Corvus knew it as well. He hoped it would sit and percolate in his brother's mind. A rather uncomfortable but necessary method to get the ball rolling. If nothing else, such a question would've been asked regardless later on, so why not do it now and when it served the Lord of Ravens?
And Corvus was right. After the meeting, Dorn spent hours thinking of the defense of Sol, pouring over the data he and his sons collected and what the Tyrant could provide. When Dorn returned to Sol, he made a beeline to Saturn, Luna, and Terra to review all collected data and information on current defenses.
Two months of reviewing later, Dorn saw that Sol severely lacked sustainable defenses that didn't rely on Astarte's support. True, the current defenses were well maintained, but the Lord-Commander of Sol had kept otherwise low-quality or renowned troops as the garrison's core. Any notable or capable regiments had been sent to other fronts.
This discovery was already an issue in any other instance, but this garrison was frankly a bad joke to Dorn. The idea of these leftovers having to fight other Space Marines made it clear to the Praetorian that, in any instance, Sol would be unable to defend itself long-term against traitor forces led by Astartes.
Reviewing the Imperial Armada at least gave Dorn a bit more hope. The fleets were, however, relatively disorganized in terms of command structure, save for the Saturn Navy Fleet Command, but if a war broke out, they would be easy prey for the Night Lords.
Dorn knew that their Father and his personal armies would take to the field in the worst case, which would almost certainly give the defenders a significant edge. However, the destruction, death, and shame it would bring upon all might as well be the greatest defeat to the defenders.
There were many things that Dorn could stomach, but failing to uphold his duty and letting the Last Wall fall under his watch would be too great an indignity for the Primarch. Something had to be done about the defense of Sol, and fast.
It didn't take Dorn long to reach out to his brothers, calling for a meeting within two months and using his co-authority alongside the Lion, making this a priority for all. As expected, all arrived in orbit at Terra within the allotted timeframe, but Dorn could see their patience was frayed.
"The defenders of Sol are miscreants, novices, and the untested. Far be it for any man to judge another when his leaders have failed even to begin to sample their abilities and limitations. We must rectify that immediately. I open the floor to suggestions to achieve this."
Corvus, of course, sprang into action. "I propose a series of wargames among those seeking to defend Sol. It would be a good experience for all."
Fulgrim spoke up, "A good suggestion, Corvus. Our sons can also seek to reaffirm ties with their kin and cousins. Perhaps even a celebration after would be warranted?"
"Aye." Leman nodded, "A feast could go a long way also to help the regular men and women of the Imperium to feel a bit more comfortable with us. Especially if any regiments prove themselves."
"Dorn, we could use this to test your Stonecutters and my Reapers." Sanguineous suggests with a smile, "Leman also has his Huskarls, I'm sure they'd be eager to try out in a mock battle against our own."
As the brothers started expressing their approval for this idea, Corvus went in for the "kill" on this, "Might I suggest we perform these games on Venus? The orbital habits should make for a nice stay for us all, and the world's surface is still littered with the remains of the Compliance from two centuries ago. No one lives down there, so we should be able to engage in full doctrine warfare without issue."
Ferrus spoke, "I approve of this suggestion—less interference and complaints for the locals. The Mechanicum won't be hounding us either, nor will anyone attempting to desert last long on the world's surface. The environment will also be good for training purposes."
"I have no objections." Leman shrugged while the others voiced similar affirmations. Seeing no disagreement, Dorn readily approved this decision. A series of wargames would be held on Venus within the next few years. Everything was in order then to start addressing the issues of defending Sol.
Corvus Corax leaned back into his seat, seemingly satisfied with the results. One piece was put into motion, and none were the wiser.
---
Alright, this feels more like a flashpoint omake. @Daemon Hunter
tl;dr
1) Ravenloft makes contact with the original Venusians and gets their help
2) The Shell for Venus is completed
3) Corvus orchestrated a series of wargames to be enacted on Sol as a cover to help move the Venusians off-world
Daughter of the Holy Blood…
No Venusian had left their homeworld in over 300 years now. Venus was now their final resting place—a tomb for an empire that survived the Long Night and was finally brought low by a Terran Warlord but also their greed and hubris. All surviving Venusians were "pardoned" and left to rot on the surface of what was once paradise.
After all this time, developing a grudge was to be expected. In another time and place, the Venusians would have gone done a much darker path after being offered a chance for revenge by one of the traitorous sons of the Warlord.
Instead, one of the Primarchs requested the presence of their holiest priestesses—an otherwise absurd ask. The Imperials had brought ruin to Venus. No amount of forgiveness would ever allow the Venusians to forget it. But the one called Lockcraft bore an amulet of Venus and knew the rites. Their traditions were all the Venusians had left now. So they honor such a call.
Their most devout and pious was sent. Suraia, Seventh of the Holy Blood, for her line, had been blessed by the Most Beloved in ancient times hence why she maintained some semblance of beauty even into her old age.
Suraia had been skeptical about this meeting. Her children begged her not to go while her husbands claimed it was a trap. However, the laws were clear, and this Lockcraft promised a safe visit and return. Even the Warlord refused to kill a man under guest rights.
A promise was made to return her in one month. Suraia was escorted off-world and soon arrived upon the flagship of the Primarch. After the initial pleasantries and explanation, the reason for her being here was laid out. One of the Warlord's spawns, Corvus Corax, bluntly asked for her people's aid in resurrecting her goddess.
Beyond the surprise of such a statement was anger. Suraia almost screamed at how because of his Father and the Imperium, her entire world and civilization were brought to ruin in the first place. Their goddess was gone, likely killed or having forgotten her people. There was no hope for the Venusians.
To that end, Suraia blamed the Primarch and his Imperium for all their woes. Yet rather than even attempt to appear apologetic, the Primarch simply rebuked her statements and sharply explained that while her people didn't deserve to be so harshly punished, it wasn't unwarranted. The Centuries of Fear and Blood they brought upon Terra, and others caused unprecedented misery and death during a time when billions barely survived.
"By all rights, your people had the opportunity to help others, but your leaders sought only to fill their coffers via raids and slavery. Misery begets only further misery. Yet we can put both our worlds back on the better path."
Suraia hated that he was right but refused to admit it. Damn, the Sultan and his ambitions. The Venusians only elevated a male to leadership if the Sultanas prophecied one. Sultan Aphosion had brought Venus to greatness and ruin within the same century. A gifted statesman and general, Aphosion foolishly believed Venus was untouchable with the Stoneshaper Orders and the Jannissary Brotherhoods.
He had one of Sol's largest and most well-equipped armies, but even they couldn't stop the Golden Soldiers and Astartes when the time came. More than that, the Warlord sought fit to bomb Venus from orbit before landing his forces. Their fate was sealed before then, though.
Venus had failed to uphold their alliance with the Selenar of Luna. A century of cooperative defense, but Aphosion despised the gene-cults and figured that the Warlord would be weakened after such a bloody campaign and willing to negotiate.
When Suraia explained this to the Primarch, he didn't seem surprised. "My Father never takes half-measures. Your Sultan was a fool in more ways than one, and that is saying something after having to tolerate the literal congregations of fools in my lifetime."
Regardless, the Primarch succinctly explained that Venus had been killed at some indeterminable time long ago but that a "seed" of Venus had been found, and the possibility of resurrecting her was possible. Far be it for Suraia not to believe in the case of Venus returning, she asked the obvious question.
"Why do you seek to revive a goddess? You care not for the Imperial Truth, but why seek the return of Venus?"
The Primarch frowned, "Because if I don't, someone else might or worse. Neither of us will want to see such come to pass. If the gods are to return, I shall endeavor to ensure they are allies to humanity beyond all else."
Such lofty but unrealistic goals. Suraia wasn't convinced, even when Corvus explained that he had some success in this "Esoteric Metaphysics," "Celestial Ontology," or whatever designation or title this man wished to assign the divine. The man's arrogance in taming such a thing was almost admirable. Even when she saw an actual relic of divinity, one that he helped make, Suraia found herself unwilling to change her mind.
Only after she was brought in to see the Shell on her last day did something in her soul cause her to stay. It was almost like cold water poured over her when Suraia saw how wrong the Shell felt and looked. Corvus claimed that these Deorums worshipped Venus in her likeness?! There was nothing similar at all to their most holy scriptures!
When she voiced her displeasure, the Deorum priest in charge confronted her and claimed that their historical knowledge was accurate, reminding her that Venus first appeared on Terra tens of thousands of years ago. Yet Suraia then educated these fools that Venus had taken on another form sometime after the Age of Strife began.
This debate got the attention of the Primarch, who asked how the Venusians knew that when the Deorums had dozens of instances similarly depicting her. Comments like this made Suraia curse the blasted Terrans for wanting to make everything about their history and mythology.
It took Suraia the better part of six hours to explain the Venüs İnançları and how during the Time of Unyield Night, a wounded Venus appeared and gave the ancient settlers the knowledge to shape the glass, metals, and stones of their homeworld to make Golems and how to use the very energies of Venus to revive their world.
Upon finishing the story, Primarch Corax looked pensive momentarily, "Then she will most likely be quite different upon her return as well. A foreign influence might have changed her, especially during her revival in either case. The Shell will be her body in this reality. I don't care what she looks like, but we are trying to ensure it is up to par with holding a godspeed. As I said, your people's aid would be beyond useful."
Suraia was given the night to make her decision. If she agreed to help, it meant that all her fellow Sultanas and people would do everything in their power to aid in developing this Shell and join Ravenloft. To that end, the Primarch was offering a rather lucrative deal. They would be free to leave Venus and start anew elsewhere.
Her people heard that promise before. When the Warlord defeated them, offering all those that swore allegiance to his Imperium they would be allowed to leave Venus; otherwise, all would be denied the ability to leave their homeworld. None bowed before him. They were defeated but not unbroken. If they were to die, they would do so in their homes.
Such lofty defiance resulted in them having to live in underground enclaves. The Imperials living in the orbitals had taken to "hunting" down witches and traitors. Sometimes those soulless women came and killed a Sultana or two, taking down the entire enclave with it. All of which was to say that the Imperium barely tolerated their continued existence.
Facing extinction was never more real than in these last two decades. But the Venusians would not beg for salvation. Instead, the opportunity presented by the Primarch seemed palpable enough to warrant consideration. The ability to leave unmolested, restarting elsewhere, and with their goddess supposedly revived?
Perhaps for some, there was dignity in taking the outreached hand, especially when it implied that it needed one's help. Suraia wanted her children to have a better life than simply tending to their future tombs. If that meant leaving Venus to the Imperials and restarting elsewhere, so be it.
Worse case, Suraia would be the only one to blame for selling out her people. The next morning before leaving, she agreed to the terms of the Primarch and promised to aid in the development of this Shell with everything the Venusians still had left. If for no other reason than to perhaps let her people see one miracle before they left their home forever.
Build a god workshop…
What was the purpose of a body for a god? A divine being existed beyond most mortal comprehensions. Philosophers and scientists would have called it "a higher plane" of being because such an entity had no need or want to be chained to the Materium. Such creatures would be free of physiological concerns such as breathing, sleeping, eating, etc.
The irony, of course, was that such creatures ultimately yearned for the ability to feel what most living things need to survive, if only just to savor the moment. Others, like daemons, simply desired the emotional "taste" of materium beings. All of which was to say, they wanted it but didn't need these things.
Gods, however, feel into a different sort of category. Ravenloft hypothesized that gods could nominal enter the Materium and stay inside thanks to Divine Matter, but that at a certain point of obtaining power, the energy/matter cost to remain inside the material realm made it difficult to do exactly that.
This, ultimately, proved a rather paradoxical set of circumstances. More power meant being unable to stay in the materium, but faith was the only way to gain more power. Ancient religious texts portrayed the divine as frequently partaking in the pleasures of materium living. It was almost like one of the aspects of divinity required you to interact directly with mortals. One of the many aspects of faith that Ravenloft was investigating these days.
Regardless, creating a god's body was a novel and untested concept. The creation of the Anathymia Division was deemed necessary by Ravenloft's leadership, especially as the impending acquirement of Venus required an equally unique solution to resolve. This was untested waters, so to speak, but an exciting opportunity.
All of this led to the next question, how do you make the body of a god without the use of divine matter?
You find substitutes.
When Corvus asked his brother Fulgrim to make a "Doll" of his lover, the Phoenician created a beautiful sculpture of the woman described by the Lord of Ravens. Cut from marble and fused with ivory from the pillars of an ancient empire's mighty fortress, chiseled with a staggering level of detail and care.
In more ancient times, it would have eclipsed even the great statue of David. Instead, the Doll was nothing more than a gift done on the side by the Foppish Primarch. When viewed through those eyes, it made breaking the Doll less appalling.
The Doll wasn't nearly enough to act as the Shell for Venus. Instead, it would serve as the final cover for what lie beneath. The Anathymia Division would "build" the Shell from the ground up using various materials and techniques. All of this meant that their process had to be meticulous.
A small company of artificers, engineers, artists, priestesses, psykers, and magi were assigned to work in tandem. Ravenloft had grown considerably in this time, but even Corvus stretched his resources to ensure the proper facilities, training, and materials were available for this undertaking. It required asking the Eldar and Polaris to help, along with the Lord of Gears and his people.
As such, the first trail came with creating the "skeletal frame" of the Shell. The body of Venus would be larger than an Astartes, mainly because Fulgrim made the Doll that big, but Ravenloft was thankful for this "oversight" as it meant more room for the materials to be fitted. Every single centimeter of the Shell would be needed for this.
Overlaid on this barest of bones was a working nervous and endocrine system, designed to simulate or at least mimic that physiological structure of humanity—an approximate, built on science and faith. Such wondrous but equally disturbing creations were born from this endeavor. Nano-fiber arteries, veins, and capillaries were grafted to a heart born grown from the mind and hands of a Drukhari Homunculus who had been paid with the genetic code of the extinct Venusian Mermen, setting forth a series of changes that would be felt only thousands of years later—a necessary trade.
Upon the completion of that stage, next was completing the Ceremite frame. This section required fusing a combination of Verdigris and Venerianite, then Timeless Ash made from the core of the Last Guardian, the only working War-Golem left on Venus and overlaid with synth-muscles.
Next came the head of the Shell. An equally difficult and outlandish process. First was High-Priestess Suraia, who spent nearly a month weaving a series of Venusian plant fibers into a close approximate of raven black hair, which shined with an almost abnormal violent and green color, hinting that it was something much more.
That, however, paled in comparison to the "brain" created for this experiment. This device required the marriage of the new and old, science and ritual, in one. Rather than purely organic materials, the Anathymia Division used a cortex-implant, a cybernetic fused with a vat-grown brain.
But they didn't stop there. The Lord of Gears used his power to bless the implant, ensuring Venus could recall her memories and legacy upon embracing her new Shell. The Dravaxian created a series of algorithms to allow the machine interface to accept the mind of a god, and Ravenloft provided a series of materials from a daemon world called Aquisgranum obtained via Polaris operatives.
This last contribution caused much contention as the Eternium and Corpse Crowns were somewhat tainted. A fear that they could be used as a vector for Chaos corruption was deemed an acceptable risk to the benefits. The Venusians offered a measure of security, combining the materials from Aquisgranum with those found on Venus—an ancient crown of coral and obsidian.
All agreed it was an acceptable solution. Fusing such materials took over eight months, but it worked. The Crown of Venus was placed upon the head of the Shell. With that, the head and body were mostly finished. Now it was time to put everything together.
Legends spoke of how Venus had been born from foam and water, and the Anathymia Division found it fitting that it would be necessary to use a cellular composite "bath" to naturally fuse all components back with the "skin" of the Doll. The Venusians contributed in the form of water from the now-parched seas of Venus.
In one of the few instances of direct aid from the Eldar, a substance known as "Kei-Ton" was sent over. This "Kei-Ton" was once again a miracle of science in any other instance, for it seemed to be an incredibly powerful and psy-reactive bonding agent, breaking down and rebuilding matter to fit into a particular shape or removing visual mistakes and errors.
Purely for cosmetic purposes, but it would ultimately provide the final touch that would turn the Shell from a work of art to be one of the first instances of mortal hands capturing the visage and motif of a goddess.
The Shell was, beyond a doubt, a beautiful object. The Doll had been almost lifelike, but the Shell was. In some ways, it was almost like the Shell was asleep.
Corvus and Lockcraft would later learn that the final step to creating the Shell was a lackluster affair. Everything went according to plan; no issues were detected, nor any psychic backlash, but this still caused both to assume that something had to have happened.
And they were right.
Because they soon learned that the Shell had a heartbeat. This act of life was impossible as the heart and body hadn't been activated yet, at least not intentionally by Ravenloft. Even more, worrying was when the Crown generated brainwaves like an individual dreaming.
The Shell was alive…and asleep. A goddess was dreaming in their midst. Neither alive nor dead.
I Heard, You Heard…
When leaders are stressed and worried about things, they tend to latch onto any suggestion from a peer, especially if it is good. Uncertainty was a killer in most instances, and in the Imperium, that was becoming a problem. The fear of tomorrow was more prevalent than ever.
As such, everyone tried to devise solutions or plans to improve their current predicament. The Loyalists found themselves in a bind—too many unquantifiable issues and variables and insufficient data or answers. True, the Primarchs were working on this, but a hundred plans made by a genius in isolation were only as good as one plan made by fools in cooperation.
Lion would eventually lead the charge, but he had been called away to handle problems back on Terra. This period left the other loyalists focusing on their projects while the rebels gathered and plotted elsewhere. Leman Russ would later remark how the first months were a period of "sitting and waiting for orders."
Corvus saw an opportunity. While he had no reason to support the loyalists or rebels, the Lord of Ravens needed a sizeable distraction for his operations on Venus. Thus he came up with a solution that would provide that in spades.
The Primarch arranged a meeting with his brother, Dorn, and after casually discussing the state of affairs, Corvus would remark, "Is Sol able to defend itself?" The question was phrased like a throwaway line mentioned in frustration and shared disdain over the state of things.
But such a question resonated with a mind like the Praetorian. Corvus knew it as well. He hoped it would sit and percolate in his brother's mind. A rather uncomfortable but necessary method to get the ball rolling. If nothing else, such a question would've been asked regardless later on, so why not do it now and when it served the Lord of Ravens?
And Corvus was right. After the meeting, Dorn spent hours thinking of the defense of Sol, pouring over the data he and his sons collected and what the Tyrant could provide. When Dorn returned to Sol, he made a beeline to Saturn, Luna, and Terra to review all collected data and information on current defenses.
Two months of reviewing later, Dorn saw that Sol severely lacked sustainable defenses that didn't rely on Astarte's support. True, the current defenses were well maintained, but the Lord-Commander of Sol had kept otherwise low-quality or renowned troops as the garrison's core. Any notable or capable regiments had been sent to other fronts.
This discovery was already an issue in any other instance, but this garrison was frankly a bad joke to Dorn. The idea of these leftovers having to fight other Space Marines made it clear to the Praetorian that, in any instance, Sol would be unable to defend itself long-term against traitor forces led by Astartes.
Reviewing the Imperial Armada at least gave Dorn a bit more hope. The fleets were, however, relatively disorganized in terms of command structure, save for the Saturn Navy Fleet Command, but if a war broke out, they would be easy prey for the Night Lords.
Dorn knew that their Father and his personal armies would take to the field in the worst case, which would almost certainly give the defenders a significant edge. However, the destruction, death, and shame it would bring upon all might as well be the greatest defeat to the defenders.
There were many things that Dorn could stomach, but failing to uphold his duty and letting the Last Wall fall under his watch would be too great an indignity for the Primarch. Something had to be done about the defense of Sol, and fast.
It didn't take Dorn long to reach out to his brothers, calling for a meeting within two months and using his co-authority alongside the Lion, making this a priority for all. As expected, all arrived in orbit at Terra within the allotted timeframe, but Dorn could see their patience was frayed.
"The defenders of Sol are miscreants, novices, and the untested. Far be it for any man to judge another when his leaders have failed even to begin to sample their abilities and limitations. We must rectify that immediately. I open the floor to suggestions to achieve this."
Corvus, of course, sprang into action. "I propose a series of wargames among those seeking to defend Sol. It would be a good experience for all."
Fulgrim spoke up, "A good suggestion, Corvus. Our sons can also seek to reaffirm ties with their kin and cousins. Perhaps even a celebration after would be warranted?"
"Aye." Leman nodded, "A feast could go a long way also to help the regular men and women of the Imperium to feel a bit more comfortable with us. Especially if any regiments prove themselves."
"Dorn, we could use this to test your Stonecutters and my Reapers." Sanguineous suggests with a smile, "Leman also has his Huskarls, I'm sure they'd be eager to try out in a mock battle against our own."
As the brothers started expressing their approval for this idea, Corvus went in for the "kill" on this, "Might I suggest we perform these games on Venus? The orbital habits should make for a nice stay for us all, and the world's surface is still littered with the remains of the Compliance from two centuries ago. No one lives down there, so we should be able to engage in full doctrine warfare without issue."
Ferrus spoke, "I approve of this suggestion—less interference and complaints for the locals. The Mechanicum won't be hounding us either, nor will anyone attempting to desert last long on the world's surface. The environment will also be good for training purposes."
"I have no objections." Leman shrugged while the others voiced similar affirmations. Seeing no disagreement, Dorn readily approved this decision. A series of wargames would be held on Venus within the next few years. Everything was in order then to start addressing the issues of defending Sol.
Corvus Corax leaned back into his seat, seemingly satisfied with the results. One piece was put into motion, and none were the wiser.
---
Alright, this feels more like a flashpoint omake. @Daemon Hunter
tl;dr
1) Ravenloft makes contact with the original Venusians and gets their help
2) The Shell for Venus is completed
3) Corvus orchestrated a series of wargames to be enacted on Sol as a cover to help move the Venusians off-world
Failure Turned Opportunity
- Location
- USA
Here is an omake about Auro dealing with the first daemon incursion and not letting a research opportunity slip by. Also note that Auro has a rather massive gap between his internal and external appearance for other people and himself.
"Incursion 0001, plague aligned, banishment begins." Throth twisted violently as the cold, emotionless words entered his reinforced overwatch position, turning to see the forming warp rift tainted with what felt like disease to his eyes. Auro, his old student simply stepped back from the forming rift and waited without even a flicker of muscle movement. A still, implacable wall of flesh, his armor ready to serve even as he held the Mythril Blade at the ready.
From the rift a Plaguebearer entered into the materium, he wished to assist, but Auro had been absolute about limiting contamination in the tests. Preferring to be the only psyker near the Nechronal Engine during its functional times. It was a form of paranoia that was odd, but with a shrug Throth accepted for it was after all Auro's project, he was but a watcher and note taker, along with assisting Auro where his skills were needed.
Regardless, it was always a concern when a daemon entered the material, Throth stared at the creature noting just how truly awful the things were. Yet, as it took its first step, it crashed to the ground unmoving. Auro had not gestured, he had not shifted, his entire body absolutely perfectly still, a mark of control that many of the Thousand Sons could not match. Few could so perfectly wield their power without the aid of mnemonic gestures.
Throth could see the pragmatic and cruelty inherent to his old student's attack. The daemon was bound in chains of gravity, the floor below parted to bind it twice more in metal and energy. Chains of power wrought from the material anchoring it to the ground in the most absolute of senses. Then came the worst, over the course of eight hours, Throth watched in distant horror as Auro carefully and methodically dissected the daemon.
Layers of warp energy being shaved off in microscopic intervals, the very flesh of a daemon being torn apart by flensing knives forged from atoms. Even the daemon gurgled in pain as its corrupted fortitude began to fail.
Its skin was slowly, ever so slowly removed across its back revealing malformed organs and more imbedded within. Auro shifted for the first time, his head tilting down as what Throth knew to be an empty datapad manifested in his hand. "Daemon designation 0001, type plaguebearer, power average for type. Dissection possible. Skin seventy six point seven eight layers deep, flensing process completed at T 00201 minutes post daemonic incursion. Beginning bone and organ dissection, estimated to take three hours with variance of seven point two three one percent." The cold and emotionless words from Auro were almost the worst part, it was clear that his old student saw nothing of value beyond what he could learn from the daemon and that it would be a toy until it lost its hold on reality.
Throth knew that feeling pity for a daemon was the height of folly, but as he watched, he could not help the comparison of Auro to Konrad forming in his mind. He had never met Konrad in person, but had seen the vids of his work and the only true difference between those and what was occurring was skill and passion. Konrad gloried in the torture and mutilation, Auro was passionless and emotionless. But beyond those differences, the similarities were obvious, the flensing of bone and organs of the daemon were done slowly painstakingly to ensure that nothing was missed.
The data pad was slowly filled with notations in a cypher that he could not understand, the daemon writhing in pain as its material form was carved apart. Corrupted organs were carefully removed from the daemon and brought to eye level all so that Auro could better dissect them, the daemon forever bound waiting for its death chained under the eternal weight of gravity.
The urge to vomit began to grow as Throth watched Auro carefully unravel the organs and the structure of the daemon. It was viscerally unpleasant, there was nothing pleasant to see fitting for a daemon such as this, but even so it was hard for him to stand by and let this torture continue. Auro spoke once more, seeking his words to be saved twice over and to provide Throth with a reminder to focus, in his watching room, he wished that Auro had not spoken again, but he listened all the same. "Bone dissection and removal proceeding as predicted, organ dissection time frame expanding, reason extra organs detected within plaguebearer. Will commence with secondary organ removal at this point." The cold unfeeling words were a shock to his system.
Throth could not understand his old student, psykers were emotional that was something he had always known. There was a simple joy in using what they had, there was wonder in wandering the great ocean even with all its dangers. Even the insane were energetic, how could one not be when the immaterial realm was the source of all thought and dreams. Yet, when he looked upon Auro in the warp he saw not a roiling soul of power, nor did he see a soul blazing with power rarely seen, to his eyes he saw a soul bound with an infinity of chains its power all but crippled.
Nothing could enter and nothing could leave, ever since he had met with Auro he had found his soul changed and now truly he saw just what it was. Where the chains were, now his soul bore a new form. A sphere of absolute order, a construct of purest math, there was nothing that did not conform to the rules of logic within his soul. It was a horror to Throth and he watched as the one who had all but begged for him to teach him the ways to manipulate real time, carefully and methodically bent time to extend the existence of daemonic flesh to better understand it.
There was nothing kind to Auro, there was no emotions to him, it reminded him of the Scarab Occult in a way. He had once seen them in a fight, cold and uncaring using their powers to the best that could be expected, but there was life to them. Even in the middle of battle, he could tell that they had thoughts and wisdom of their own. As he now looked upon Auro, he knew that without the sight granted to him via the great ocean, he would think he was looking upon a blank.
There was no emotion to his old student, there was no expression, every movement perfectly controlled, every action decided upon minutes before hand. The pile of data slates ever growing as Auro slowly unmade the daemon that had interfered with his tests, there was no humanity in the astartes he watched.
The Khan had called the Scarab Occult automatons and Ferrus; robots, but compared to Auro below, they were positively lively in battle. What would those august beings think of the one before him? Throth wondered sickly as the daemon finally died, the last of its flesh being rendered away from its form such that Auro could perceive it and catalog its nature.
"Daemon incursion 0001, resolved. Data beneficial, daemon survival confirmed, possibility of reoccurrence 35.918%, will process data shortly. Returning to Nechronal Infusion test array." Auro spoke clearly as he simply walked over the ground where the daemon had been, restoring what he had broken and silently inserting a new test pellet with a dataslate in hand to record the effects of the system. There was no further mention as Throth waited for some response, but none ever came as he slowly worked on the other tests. He eventually could not hold his peace any longer, for even if his old student worried him on a fundamental level he could not stand by and let him risk himself needlessly, activating the auditory system he spoke, "Student Auro, doing such actions will engender a greater response from the tides of the immaterial ocean beyond. Be prepared for greater resistance if you stay this path." With a final sigh, he turned off the system even as Auro continued his robotic actions with the device.
Eventually Auro spoke once more in response, "Information understood, analysis confirms statement. Conclusion obvious in retrospect, realigning future plans. Vivisection of daemons will occur only at points of safety with greater than 81.9178% of success."
Throth could not shake the feeling that he worked with a broken person, as he slumped slightly at those final words, but it was his duty to aid him in this project until Magnus recalled him.
From the rift a Plaguebearer entered into the materium, he wished to assist, but Auro had been absolute about limiting contamination in the tests. Preferring to be the only psyker near the Nechronal Engine during its functional times. It was a form of paranoia that was odd, but with a shrug Throth accepted for it was after all Auro's project, he was but a watcher and note taker, along with assisting Auro where his skills were needed.
Regardless, it was always a concern when a daemon entered the material, Throth stared at the creature noting just how truly awful the things were. Yet, as it took its first step, it crashed to the ground unmoving. Auro had not gestured, he had not shifted, his entire body absolutely perfectly still, a mark of control that many of the Thousand Sons could not match. Few could so perfectly wield their power without the aid of mnemonic gestures.
Throth could see the pragmatic and cruelty inherent to his old student's attack. The daemon was bound in chains of gravity, the floor below parted to bind it twice more in metal and energy. Chains of power wrought from the material anchoring it to the ground in the most absolute of senses. Then came the worst, over the course of eight hours, Throth watched in distant horror as Auro carefully and methodically dissected the daemon.
Layers of warp energy being shaved off in microscopic intervals, the very flesh of a daemon being torn apart by flensing knives forged from atoms. Even the daemon gurgled in pain as its corrupted fortitude began to fail.
Its skin was slowly, ever so slowly removed across its back revealing malformed organs and more imbedded within. Auro shifted for the first time, his head tilting down as what Throth knew to be an empty datapad manifested in his hand. "Daemon designation 0001, type plaguebearer, power average for type. Dissection possible. Skin seventy six point seven eight layers deep, flensing process completed at T 00201 minutes post daemonic incursion. Beginning bone and organ dissection, estimated to take three hours with variance of seven point two three one percent." The cold and emotionless words from Auro were almost the worst part, it was clear that his old student saw nothing of value beyond what he could learn from the daemon and that it would be a toy until it lost its hold on reality.
Throth knew that feeling pity for a daemon was the height of folly, but as he watched, he could not help the comparison of Auro to Konrad forming in his mind. He had never met Konrad in person, but had seen the vids of his work and the only true difference between those and what was occurring was skill and passion. Konrad gloried in the torture and mutilation, Auro was passionless and emotionless. But beyond those differences, the similarities were obvious, the flensing of bone and organs of the daemon were done slowly painstakingly to ensure that nothing was missed.
The data pad was slowly filled with notations in a cypher that he could not understand, the daemon writhing in pain as its material form was carved apart. Corrupted organs were carefully removed from the daemon and brought to eye level all so that Auro could better dissect them, the daemon forever bound waiting for its death chained under the eternal weight of gravity.
The urge to vomit began to grow as Throth watched Auro carefully unravel the organs and the structure of the daemon. It was viscerally unpleasant, there was nothing pleasant to see fitting for a daemon such as this, but even so it was hard for him to stand by and let this torture continue. Auro spoke once more, seeking his words to be saved twice over and to provide Throth with a reminder to focus, in his watching room, he wished that Auro had not spoken again, but he listened all the same. "Bone dissection and removal proceeding as predicted, organ dissection time frame expanding, reason extra organs detected within plaguebearer. Will commence with secondary organ removal at this point." The cold unfeeling words were a shock to his system.
Throth could not understand his old student, psykers were emotional that was something he had always known. There was a simple joy in using what they had, there was wonder in wandering the great ocean even with all its dangers. Even the insane were energetic, how could one not be when the immaterial realm was the source of all thought and dreams. Yet, when he looked upon Auro in the warp he saw not a roiling soul of power, nor did he see a soul blazing with power rarely seen, to his eyes he saw a soul bound with an infinity of chains its power all but crippled.
Nothing could enter and nothing could leave, ever since he had met with Auro he had found his soul changed and now truly he saw just what it was. Where the chains were, now his soul bore a new form. A sphere of absolute order, a construct of purest math, there was nothing that did not conform to the rules of logic within his soul. It was a horror to Throth and he watched as the one who had all but begged for him to teach him the ways to manipulate real time, carefully and methodically bent time to extend the existence of daemonic flesh to better understand it.
There was nothing kind to Auro, there was no emotions to him, it reminded him of the Scarab Occult in a way. He had once seen them in a fight, cold and uncaring using their powers to the best that could be expected, but there was life to them. Even in the middle of battle, he could tell that they had thoughts and wisdom of their own. As he now looked upon Auro, he knew that without the sight granted to him via the great ocean, he would think he was looking upon a blank.
There was no emotion to his old student, there was no expression, every movement perfectly controlled, every action decided upon minutes before hand. The pile of data slates ever growing as Auro slowly unmade the daemon that had interfered with his tests, there was no humanity in the astartes he watched.
The Khan had called the Scarab Occult automatons and Ferrus; robots, but compared to Auro below, they were positively lively in battle. What would those august beings think of the one before him? Throth wondered sickly as the daemon finally died, the last of its flesh being rendered away from its form such that Auro could perceive it and catalog its nature.
"Daemon incursion 0001, resolved. Data beneficial, daemon survival confirmed, possibility of reoccurrence 35.918%, will process data shortly. Returning to Nechronal Infusion test array." Auro spoke clearly as he simply walked over the ground where the daemon had been, restoring what he had broken and silently inserting a new test pellet with a dataslate in hand to record the effects of the system. There was no further mention as Throth waited for some response, but none ever came as he slowly worked on the other tests. He eventually could not hold his peace any longer, for even if his old student worried him on a fundamental level he could not stand by and let him risk himself needlessly, activating the auditory system he spoke, "Student Auro, doing such actions will engender a greater response from the tides of the immaterial ocean beyond. Be prepared for greater resistance if you stay this path." With a final sigh, he turned off the system even as Auro continued his robotic actions with the device.
Eventually Auro spoke once more in response, "Information understood, analysis confirms statement. Conclusion obvious in retrospect, realigning future plans. Vivisection of daemons will occur only at points of safety with greater than 81.9178% of success."
Throth could not shake the feeling that he worked with a broken person, as he slumped slightly at those final words, but it was his duty to aid him in this project until Magnus recalled him.
Years 41 - 45 Part 7 - The Last Openning Speeches
- Location
- Elsewhere
[X]Plan: Mutual Benefit
-[X] Focus on appealing to the Emperor
-[X] We cannot have a man missing their soul in charge of the Imperium. How can a being only partly whole rule properly?
-[X] The Primarchs cannot be left in the dark on matters like this. The Emperor should not hoard information such as how they were made.
-[X] More effort is needed in reducing avenues for subversion. For Chaos finds it much easier to convert the downtrodden than the well-off.
-[X] Increasing production for the Imperium so that the Primarchs can be less beholden to the Imperium's government for resources
-[X] Kesar shall take over the Maelstrom for Vulkan (Vulkan does expect you to do this based on prior conversations with him)
-[X] The Imperium must move away from a dictatorship. Horus' comments on oversight have made it clear how a single man is always fallible.
-[X] Angron, Primarch of the Twelfth Legion, must be executed by the Emperor of Mankind's personal hand. Show to everyone that even at the highest level of the Imperium, accountability will be upheld. A great mistake admitted, a tortured soul laid to rest.
-[X] Focus on appealing to the Emperor
-[X] We cannot have a man missing their soul in charge of the Imperium. How can a being only partly whole rule properly?
-[X] The Primarchs cannot be left in the dark on matters like this. The Emperor should not hoard information such as how they were made.
-[X] More effort is needed in reducing avenues for subversion. For Chaos finds it much easier to convert the downtrodden than the well-off.
-[X] Increasing production for the Imperium so that the Primarchs can be less beholden to the Imperium's government for resources
-[X] Kesar shall take over the Maelstrom for Vulkan (Vulkan does expect you to do this based on prior conversations with him)
-[X] The Imperium must move away from a dictatorship. Horus' comments on oversight have made it clear how a single man is always fallible.
-[X] Angron, Primarch of the Twelfth Legion, must be executed by the Emperor of Mankind's personal hand. Show to everyone that even at the highest level of the Imperium, accountability will be upheld. A great mistake admitted, a tortured soul laid to rest.
After Magnus and Mortarion finished speaking, and providing Kesar much to think about, the Second Anathema stood up and began to speak. "I agree with most of the points brought up today." Nodding towards Magnus and Mortarion, he began by first supporting their ideas, "Magnus is easily the greatest psyker I've ever met, and based on everything I have seen, they do need more training."
Walking towards the center of the room, he continued to speak, "It's difficult to explain my reasoning for it, for it resides in an area the Emperor has deemed unknowable to all. And it is for these reasons that I call on him to divert more attention to this unknowable area." It was at times like this that Kesar truly detested the Archdaemons. So dangerous were they that to simply know of them was to risk falling, and thus he was forced to speak in circles. "It is for these reasons that I find myself supporting Vulkan's own ideals. Based on my considerable experience in the subject, and my own discussions with the Emperor and the Sigillite, I believe that reducing general feelings of unhappiness among the general population will ensure the safety and well-being of the Imperium at large."
Taking a few steps, Kesar segwayed into his next topic. "Furthermore, after holding considerable discussions with multiple parties, I have a request for the Emperor. As the most qualified Primarch for the task, I believe that my presence in the Maelstrom is not only critical but necessary to help resolve the Imperium's budgetary shortfalls. While I mean no disrespect to Vulkan," he took a moment to nod at the Primarch in question, "it is clear that when it comes to warp matters, I am both more qualified and experienced. Additionally," Kesar paused with a frown, "additionally, I do wish to have a more relaxing assignment for a time." Oddly enough, Kesar found he meant it. Killing daemons was simple, at times easy. Trying to deal with politics among family … that was stressful.
"Thirdly, while I'm unsure how to approach the topic, the Imperium does need to increase production in general. Specifically due to current shortage of guardsmen. I believe Guilliman may have some ideas, and I hope that a general plan is put in place to avoid the Imperial Army running out of men." That was likely the topic Kesar was most uncomfortable with. As it was an issue that he himself didn't know the solution for. It was easy to call out a problem and demand it be fixed, but doing that was simply adding to the issue rather than attempting to resolve it.
"Fourthly," the Second Anathema gestured towards Mortarion, "it is clear that the Emperor has demonstrated a notable lack of judgment in recent years due to missing a portion of his soul. And I find myself unwilling to accept the Emperor as the ruler of the Imperium until that is resolved." Kesar began to slowly pace once more, "For I ask of you, how can half a man rule an empire?" The Daemonsbane continued to pace. "Additionally, I believe this is how the Emperor made the lapse in judgment of not trusting his sons with critical information about a variety of topics, most importantly being how we were born." Kesar chuckled, "I imagine any child would demand to learn of their parents, in the case of the Primarchs, I imagine it's little different." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Magnus perk up, clearly interested.
"Furthermore," Kesar gestured towards Horus, "my brother Horus raises an excellent point, but a dictatorship is prone to issues due to a lack of oversight. As such," he took a breath, "as such I put forward the suggestion that a council of some sort replaces the Emperor as the ruling party. While I would suggest utilizing the Primarchs for the topic, I understand that including some humans would be a notable improvement in governmental design."
"And lastly," the Second Anathema sighed, finding it slightly difficult to get the words out. "It is clear that Angron has erred greatly. He has harmed the Imperium, ruined the lives of countless trillions, and yet remains unpunished." Glancing at his brothers, Kesar was a bit surprised to see Mortarion looked almost gleeful at his words, he thought his brother would be a bit more somber on the topic. "As such, in accordance with the Imperium's own laws, I demand his execution."
Kesar stood there for another moment, chewing his lip. "Raising Angron in the first place was a mistake," he eventually spoke up. "It is time to put right the sins of the past and lay the dead to rest."
Slowly, the XIth Primarch forced himself to relax in his seat. Now that all the Primarchs had spoken, Lord General Militant Ramcus took the floor. Kesar let out a breath, releasing yet more tension. He hadn't talked to Ramcus personally, but even then, he doubted that the mortal could add anything that the Primarchs had not already covered.
"I would like to thank the Primarchs present. Vulkan, Horus, Magnus, Kesar, Konrad, Guilliman, and Corvus, the seven of you have my thanks." And the moment of relief was gone as Ramcus glared at Mortarion, who responded with a disinterested expression.
"You will note that I have excluded one of the Primarchs present from my thanks." Ramcus now had the attention of everyone in the room, calling out a Primarch in public was simply not something that was done. "I have good reason for this." The mortal let the words rest for a moment before he drew attention back to himself. "As the commander in charge of the Desolation, it is my professional opinion that Lord Primarch Mortarion's actions only caused unnecessary death and destruction. Furthermore, the level of hostility among the population has reached a point of unsustainability. As such," Ramcus clapped his hands, ensuring his point was punctuated, "as such, I demand a full withdrawal of all Imperial troops, material, and presence from the area of the Desolation."
Kesar scratched his chin, thinking over the human's words. While the hostility towards Mortarion was unwarranted, he could understand the reasons for the withdrawal. But after spending so many resources bringing the Desolation to heel, he couldn't see the Imperium allowing it to simply leave. "After a decade of warfare and destruction, the Imperial Army no longer holds the belief that the Desolation is salvageable. All that can be done is let the fire of rebellion burn itself out. And from the ashes, new growth can arise." It was a dark metaphor, all but saying that the rebels would die at their own hands.
"But, at the same time, there is blame to be shared." Ramcus grabbed his insignia and held it within his fingers. "The first to blame is myself, for not realizing the Desolation was damned to the Delta factions years ago." He threw the insignia to the ground, then ground the metal under his boot. "As such, I publicly tender my resignation from the Imperial Army." Ramcus took a moment to look at his handiwork, frowning at having only achieved a slight bending of the insignia. "Second to blame is Angron, may he fucking rot." The former guardsman all but growled when he mentioned the Red Angel's name.
"Third to blame is Mortarion for killing trillions in a foolish attempt to drive the starving masses away from food." At those words, the Death Lord audibly scoffed, causing Ramcus to visibly twitch in anger.
"And last to blame is the Emperor, for even appointing the mad dog Angron to a leadership position." Ramcus audibly sighed. "That was such a blatantly idiotic decision that if the Emperor was within the Imperial Army's hierarchy, he would immediately be shot for incompetence." He glanced at Kesar, then at Horus. "If you want to create a new government for the Imperium, following up on that would be a good start."
"Interesting words brother," Konrad quietly uttered, causing Kesar to twitch in surprise, having been deep in thought over Ramcus' words.
"Mine or his?" Kesar instinctively asked, gesturing at the Lord General Militant who had been ambushed by an inquisitive Horus.
"Both," Konrad bluntly stated looking oddly interested in the Daemonsbane, "but I'm here to ask about your words."
"I meant every word," the Primarch in question responded. "All of this needs to happen, and I hope the Emperor can see reason. Or failing that, Malcador talks him into the right path."
"All good requests," the Night Haunter almost looked bored by Kesar's words. "Yet, not what I care for." A dull click drew Kesar's attention to Konrad's chest, where a lightning claw had tapped against it. "It's your words on the Red Angel that intrigue me." Konrad suddenly leaned forward. "Why do you think he deserves death?"
"I don't think he deserves to die so much that Angron had it coming. It's rather he is due his rest." Kesar began to explain. "In a way, he is already dead."
Konrad frowned at his brother's words. "A shame, I was expecting … more from you." Kesar frowned himself, gesturing for Konrad to go on. "You speak of justice for Angron, but what of justice for his victims?"
"The two are not separate in this case," the Second Anathema explained, seeing that the Night Haunter was angling for something. "Angron's life came to an end on Nuceria decades ago. Dragging him back into this world in that way was cursing him to suffering, and it only birthed more suffering for those around him in turn."
The Night Haunter smiled, showing his teeth like a vampire about to feed. He lifted his hand to his face, tapping a few claws on his chin as his grin only widened. "Good, excellent reasoning."
"Have you seen his death?" Kesar realized, remembering how Konrad had capabilities of divination. "How … how is it?"
The expression on Konrad's face slowly vanished, an unnatural disturbing sight being replaced by the mundane emotion of humor. "Which one?"
"I walked into that one," Kesar muttered to himself. "What would be your reasoning then, if you would demand for such a thing?"
The Night Haunter raised an eyebrow. "Mine? You wouldn't want to know that. I know more about this than I'd like, than even I'd have expected with what I see..." Konrad hummed a haunting melody. "...I'd have asked for more than you did, I can say that much. Not a bad thing on your end, you just haven't seen the full picture."
"I only asked what was necessary," the Daemonsbane explained. "And will I ever see that full picture?"
"Only after the paint sets," Konrad whispered just barely loud enough for Kesar to hear.
"Have you been talking to Fulgrim recently?"
The Night Haunter squinted at Kesar, clearly displeased. "Why do you ask?"
"You sounded just like him for a second …" the Daemonsbane trailed off, his eyes slightly tinged with mirth. "Do I have to worry about you looking like him as well?"
Konrad shivered in disgust for a moment, "never suggest that again." He said seriously.
Kesar laughed, "Alright, then I won't." The Night Haunter clearly didn't believe him, so the Primarch of the Wardens clarified, "at least not today."
"... I don't think I enjoy this side of you." Konrad truthfully spoke. "Sometimes I forget the serpents shadow you closely."
"They've taught me well."
As the conference momentarily paused in order for the various parties to spread out and converse, Konrad approached Kesar and they had a short talk. After which Kesar had time for another two conversations.
Pick 2
[] Corvus - The Raven is in the middle of an awkward talk with Konrad. He appears to be trying to disengage from the discussion, but the Night Haunter is clearly unwilling to let Corvus do so. Perhaps Kesar should give him the opportunity to leave.
[] The Leaders - Guilliman and Vulkan are currently deep in a heated conversation that has been going on for several minutes now. Perhaps Kesar should see what is going on? It does seem rather important.
[] Mortarion - The Death Lord seems to be periodically glancing at Ramcus, with the mortal in question occasionally glaring back. Perhaps Kesar should talk to Mortarion about how he felt concerning Ramcus' strong words?
[] Ramcus - The Lord General Militant is currently sitting on his lonesome, and thus far has only been approached by Magnus who has since left. Talking with the man may prove useful for the Maelstrom at least.
[] Magnus and Horus - The Cyclops is currently in a talk with Horus concerning aspects of the telepathica. Kesar may be able to contribute to the conversation himself.
GM Note: 12-hour moratorium. Special thanks to a number of people on the discord for several great quotes I included in the update: @Ruirk, @TinyGladiator, @JAMalam, @NicholasBrooks, @Crake[/hr]
[] Ramcus - The Lord General Militant is currently sitting on his lonesome, and thus far has only been approached by Magnus who has since left. Talking with the man may prove useful for the Maelstrom at least.
I think this is a good option to take now. Ramcus clearly likes at least some of what we said, and getting a human's perspective on this whole mess could help a lot when it comes to making sure what Kesar's doing actually helps everyone in the Imperium.
[] Mortarion - The Death Lord seems to be periodically glancing at Ramcus, with the mortal in question occasionally glaring back. Perhaps Kesar should talk to Mortarion about how he felt concerning Ramcus' strong words?
This looks to be an important character moment for Mortarion. Showing some support for him here could go a long way towards ensuring that Mortarion isn't affected negatively by Ramcus' words and that he actually learns the right lesson here.
Edit: I would also like to emphasize here that Kesar basically hasn't talked to mortals since Otto died. Getting a mortal's perspective on this matter would really help Kesar's position a lot here.
I think this is a good option to take now. Ramcus clearly likes at least some of what we said, and getting a human's perspective on this whole mess could help a lot when it comes to making sure what Kesar's doing actually helps everyone in the Imperium.
[] Mortarion - The Death Lord seems to be periodically glancing at Ramcus, with the mortal in question occasionally glaring back. Perhaps Kesar should talk to Mortarion about how he felt concerning Ramcus' strong words?
This looks to be an important character moment for Mortarion. Showing some support for him here could go a long way towards ensuring that Mortarion isn't affected negatively by Ramcus' words and that he actually learns the right lesson here.
Edit: I would also like to emphasize here that Kesar basically hasn't talked to mortals since Otto died. Getting a mortal's perspective on this matter would really help Kesar's position a lot here.
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J.I.M.S
BookWyrm
- Location
- Latveria
Glorious, I love that demon killing is a relaxing time for Kesar. I imagine everyone in the room giving Kesar the side eye lol.My votes are for
[X] Mortarion - The Death Lord seems to be periodically glancing at Ramcus, with the mortal in question occasionally glaring back. Perhaps Kesar should talk to Mortarion about how he felt concerning Ramcus' strong words?
[X] Ramcus - The Lord General Militant is currently sitting on his lonesome, and thus far has only been approached by Magnus who has since left. Talking with the man may prove useful for the Maelstrom at least.
I echo being there for Mortarion and touching base with normals.
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- Location
- USA
[] Ramcus - The Lord General Militant is currently sitting on his lonesome, and thus far has only been approached by Magnus who has since left. Talking with the man may prove useful for the Maelstrom at least.
[] Mortarion - The Death Lord seems to be periodically glancing at Ramcus, with the mortal in question occasionally glaring back. Perhaps Kesar should talk to Mortarion about how he felt concerning Ramcus' strong words?
[] The Leaders - Guilliman and Vulkan are currently deep in a heated conversation that has been going on for several minutes now. Perhaps Kesar should see what is going on? It does seem rather important.
[] Mortarion - The Death Lord seems to be periodically glancing at Ramcus, with the mortal in question occasionally glaring back. Perhaps Kesar should talk to Mortarion about how he felt concerning Ramcus' strong words?
[] The Leaders - Guilliman and Vulkan are currently deep in a heated conversation that has been going on for several minutes now. Perhaps Kesar should see what is going on? It does seem rather important.
This was a tough call as Guilman and Vulcan will have impressive insights that are tough to pass up.
In the end, I will go with:
[X] Mortarion - The Death Lord seems to be periodically glancing at Ramcus, with the mortal in question occasionally glaring back. Perhaps Kesar should talk to Mortarion about how he felt concerning Ramcus' strong words?
[X] Ramcus - The Lord General Militant is currently sitting on his lonesome, and thus far has only been approached by Magnus who has since left. Talking with the man may prove useful for the Maelstrom at least.
Mortarian and Ramcus make so much sense together.
If I have to choose one, Ramcus would be it.
In the end, I will go with:
[X] Mortarion - The Death Lord seems to be periodically glancing at Ramcus, with the mortal in question occasionally glaring back. Perhaps Kesar should talk to Mortarion about how he felt concerning Ramcus' strong words?
[X] Ramcus - The Lord General Militant is currently sitting on his lonesome, and thus far has only been approached by Magnus who has since left. Talking with the man may prove useful for the Maelstrom at least.
Mortarian and Ramcus make so much sense together.
If I have to choose one, Ramcus would be it.
[X] The Leaders - Guilliman and Vulkan are currently deep in a heated conversation that has been going on for several minutes now. Perhaps Kesar should see what is going on? It does seem rather important.
- Location
- 47° 09′ S, 126° 43′ O
[X] Mortarion - The Death Lord seems to be periodically glancing at Ramcus, with the mortal in question occasionally glaring back. Perhaps Kesar should talk to Mortarion about how he felt concerning Ramcus' strong words?
[X] Ramcus - The Lord General Militant is currently sitting on his lonesome, and thus far has only been approached by Magnus who has since left. Talking with the man may prove useful for the Maelstrom at least.
[X] Ramcus - The Lord General Militant is currently sitting on his lonesome, and thus far has only been approached by Magnus who has since left. Talking with the man may prove useful for the Maelstrom at least.