Just switch out Abdul for Maticus, then. She can have a beta psyker over there. Clearly she's not expecting us to engage in a dialogue on the world with the animals versus the planet that has a civilization.
The Lost Primarch Quest
- Thread starter Daemon Hunter
- Start date
- Location
- Elsewhere
The issue there is that she thinks that make the cat front be undermanned. And that it'd still be overkill compared to just having the majority of psykers in the wardens handle it.
And put the blame on the Eldar.
Chroniqler
Naught but a simple wanderer
Specifically on the Harlequin Suiracairo.
Cegorach’s Charming Clever Comedic Civil Cat-Catching City Campaign or: ‘How A Plan Involving Dream-Eating Cats That Live In the Warp Will Help The Eldar, The Newly Reborn Venus Cherital, The Eternal Wardens, The Webway And The Maelstrom Crusade’.
TinyGladiator
Just another SVer
- Location
- I move alot.
Hiya! Decided to make an omake on one of Kesar's red threats this turn, the large amount of non-Chaos Warp Xenos to be precise. After a lot of talk and idea-making on the Discord server there was a realisation that a lot of things happening right now can line up disturbingly well to make the mad plan below a reality.
-----
Cegorach's Charming Clever Comedic Civil Cat-Catching City Campaign or: 'How A Plan Involving Dream-Eating Cats That Live In the Warp Will Help The Eldar, The Newly Reborn Venus Cherital, The Eternal Wardens, The Webway And The Maelstrom Crusade'.
The Webway stretched beyond the comprehension, with wonders and nightmares of its own unique nature compared to either the Materium or Immaterium.
It was one not realm, it was countless tunnels and nodes that were united in nature. Time and space only held an arbitrary, fluid meaning that could be shaped or shifted or removed entirely. The potential of the Warp merged with the logic of reality, more a programmable universe than a mere pocket dimension.
To have the power to truly manipulate the realm that laid so deep in the Sea of Souls, to truly own and command even a portion of it, was near impossible. Cegorach, the Great Harlequin of the Aeldari Pantheon, was the true master of the Old Ones' wondrous legacy.
The Laughing God knew all the secrets, paths and uses of the Webway. Each satellite realm and hidden tunnel. The First Fool possessed the keys and could hand them out as freely as they liked, could potentially teach one the means to craft their own realm if they had enough power and skill.
The section here was a vast realm that appeared to be barren, an isolated corner without much creation inside. The air was faint, the light was just slightly brighter than pure darkness, a strange mist wreathed around the borders. It was the foundation of something that could have been, from a port-city to a hidden estate or the beginning of a new realm.
It could become anything.
With a lot of time and effort.
"Sorry," Venus spoke as she glanced at her potential housing, or rather the lack of it. "But I think I'll have to decline. There's a lot more space compared to my previous home, certainly well-protected, but I don't quite fancy being stuck in such an empty place."
"Aha," the Master of the Webway laughed, for laughter was their nature. "I figured you might bring that issue up. I had hoped in vain to make this a surprise, but I shall reveal that I had an idea on how to really… spruce the place up, in a way I think might change your decision."
"Oh?" the interest from the Lady of Love and War sparked up at that, always ready to enjoy a new source of amusement. "And what might that be?"
"Cats."
A moment of silence passed. The newly reborn goddess briefly wondered if she heard right, if it was an ancient Aeldari word. Yet the other memories she inherited didn't provide anything to explain.
"Cats?" she eventually asked.
"Yes," Cegorach patiently clarified. "Cats."
"Like… like the animal? Felines?"
"Cats."
A flicker of distinct Khaine-based annoyance flashed over the goddess's visage, brought forth through the timeless frustration the Bloody-Handed felt towards the Laughing God's trickery. It was squashed down as the hybrid goddess attained a thoughtful expression.
Being an old deity of humanity left one rather accepting of strange occurrences, divine deals or other such situations.
"I mean, I prefer doves and snakes. Felines were more for Diana and Libertas, or the likes of Bastet."
"Sorry," the Great Harlequin shrugged. "It's gonna take a bit more time for any divine snakes to be at my disposal right now. Not sure if real doves still exist, haven't heard of 'em in a while. It'll have to be cats for now."
Trickery was an old friend, one that would warrant caution from whole pantheons even if old gods were typically too foolish or bored or arrogant to take heed of its warnings. Venus had certainly missed such things, they were always such great fun to enjoy.
"Cats are pretty nice too, I suppose. Clean and eaters of pests. Always nice for a temple to have a few cats around. I suppose I do have a little 'Sekhmet' with me already."
"Indeed, dear Cherital. Serendipity is always a wondrous thing for out lot. Great house warming gift, mhm?"
The moment of fun had passed. There was a whole new galaxy to explore, and it wasn't in an empty plot of psychic land.
"Alright," the goddess said, now to business. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Cegorach smiled a wider smile and began to explain.
-----
The Maelstrom was a place that was full of mystery, potential, danger and wonder. A comparatively small microcosm of the Warp, it was bursting with the strange brilliance that could exist.
Life found its way, as life always did. The miracle of living existence extended from beings of sapient flame, crystal giants that moved by fractal dance, liquid brains of frigid enlightenment, a surprising amount of humans that had crustacean genetics engineered or mutated in, and the cats.
To describe and understand them, one had to know of the wild habitat that was the source of their curious nature. An eddy of utter calm within an already calm rift, by the standards of violently and inherently unstable tears into reality. So calm that it was 'catatonic', a manifestation of an enlightened void.
Inside there was no flora, no land, no air, no water, no light and no time or space. It was a realm that held not even thought, where thought was not allowed to be permitted inside. It wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to call it a place of paradox, a realm of calm surrounded by wild madness, but it was more akin to something far more special than that. It was a half-way limbo, a realm of fantastical flux.
It was a place of peace, of darkness, of emptiness and was so similar to a dream.
Along with a lot of cats.
The stretch of nothingness was known by many names. Orks in the region called it the Clawed Night, to describe the tear of boring nothingness that didn't seem to have anything interesting to fight or loot. Or more accurately, 'Da Klaw'd Noight'.
A servant of the Changer of Ways within the Maelstrom, a mad prophet, had written a record taken within the Black Library that discussed a horrific emptiness that tore at their mind as they tried to enter it.
Old records recorded by travellers from the Maiden World of Torvendis had mentioned a bleak realm, useful for meditative purposes. Full of curious creatures similar to the Gyrinx, but typically larger and more fearsome.
Most humans in the region knew it as the Oneiric Abyss after some study, before mankind had fallen to their many apocalypses and the rift had surged to swallow the mortals that surrounded it. The name had been taken up as the most common one for those that knew of it and the creatures inside.
Whether they were some extension of the realm, or if the Abyss was an extension of theirs, was unknown. What was known was that 'pieces' within the nothingness were alive, aware and possessing animal instincts, a drive for life, the ability to socially cooperate despite a preference for a solitary lifestyle.
Normally amorphous within their private reality, best that could be told by the mortals who managed to glimpse in, a more solid form was attained when they came outside. They could naturally manifest in as a type of feline creature, with some variance in specific appearance across different specimens, and then either use a glamour or slowly shift their form with enough concentration.
A single one of these creatures could hunt by itself and then return to the Oneiric Abyss, but sometimes a mass-migration of hundreds or even thousands of the beasts could work together. Typically to head to a large enough civilization or other large enough group, yet not to devour flesh or the souls of those they went to.
They fulfilled an incredible niche within the wider ecosystem. They devoured the thoughts and ideas of other living beings for sustenance to themselves and their realm, especially the dreams of others. Dreams, nightmares, fantasies and wishful imagination were their particular favourite, because the real yet unreal nature held the energy that was most alike to their nature.
So alike to countless parasites and predators, from the vampiric emotion suckers of the Medusae to the vile daemonic warbands that bring madness and ruin. Far more sustainable and infinitely less destructive than any of these competitors, with the possibility of a truly beneficial symbiosis.
Yet all good things have to come to an end. Due to the great ritual enacted by the Imperium, the current way of life for the feline dream-eaters was now soon to be impossible.
Without the power of the Maelstrom, the Oneiric Abyss was dying. Not all at once, but it was quickly degrading into a true nothingness. Whether it was in combat against an encroaching foe, or mere entropic dissipation, the cats would all fade away like the distant dreams they ate.
Unless there happened to be another psychic realm they could be sent into, a large empty space where they could be allowed to say, but where would those cats find such a miracle?
-----
Venus rolled her eyes. "Where indeed?"
The First Fool chuckled. Subtlety was an old favourite, but there was always something so cathartic in making the obvious joke.
"What are these things called, anyway?" the goddess asked.
"Many more names than their Abyss, due to how far travelled they go to hunt." Cegorach happily noted. "One of their older names is the Pandafeche."
"They're called pandas? Like the bear?"
"Pandafeche. Panfeche or Panfica for short. I call them cats, because they're cats."
There was a moment of quiet contemplation as Venus Cherital glanced over at the barren domain that was laid out on offer. Having a bunch of cats around would be more appealing than a stretch of emptiness, but there were questions to be answered before any decision could be made.
"What do they look like?"
"You can picture them as black spectres in the shape of a panther or tiger, with a similar size for their main core, surrounded by mist as dark as night."
"That sounds adorable."
"They are known to shift into appearances such as twisted hags, feral monsters and other such things to incite terrible nightmares or scare off a threat."
"Adorable." the Khaine-absorbed deity said.
"I know!" Cegorach agreed. "I can picture the delightful creatures, tearing apart free-floating daydreams, spreading fear and wonder where they go."
"I'm not a goddess of cats," Venus admitted, as though sharing a grave weakness. "So I'm not sure what I could bring to the table. Cats are quite picky when they want to be, and they always want to be. They could still have this place even if I reject it, if you want them."
"Aha, that is the biggest hurdle. Animals they may be, but they are clever and know their worth. Yet there's always a way. The Webway is shelter enough to sustain them, yet divine providence is far from a minor thing to offer."
"Mhm, indeed. Biggest question that's still on my mind is why you want any of this? And why would I want them, nice as they might be?"
The Master of the Webway waved a hand. The domain shifted slightly, an illusion was cast, motes of light and flowing shadows danced together in a spectacle of shapes. A fluidic space that could shift by a thought, with the practised ease to craft a paradise.
"Imagine this realm, transformed with little effort on our part beyond initial 'set up' and agreement. A realm forged of dreams and peace, a foundation of formless nothing that would become far more malleable and full of potential than before. The dream-eaters number in the hundreds of millions, such power they and their realm possess, mhm?"
"Peace is not exactly my nature."
"Would you prefer nothing but war, without respite or rest?"
The silence was answer enough.
"They would be your messengers, your heralds. To journey across to many more worlds than before, ones that would have no competition compared to where their fading home is now. To carry your word as they take on the dreams, to whisper your grace to so many more than you could ever dream of."
"The way you talk about it…" Venus shrugged, amused and somewhat baffled at the whole endeavour. "Well, it seems all too good to be true."
"Trickery is always at its best when things come into alignment," the Great Harlequin sagely noted. "A grand plan that brings about wonders and laughter. This place is barren now, yes, but I promise you a potential and grand beginning. Potential for the both of us."
"Oh?"
"Think of our shared people, dear Cherital. The Aeldari don't have what others may consider pleasant dreams, ideas that bring a heavy heart or a twisted mind. A place of peace is just what is needed. Your influence would grow, a trade and contract between us, as our people come to witness your Dreaming Palace."
A brief apparation formed, a temple of marble, depicting war, love, beauty and victory. Roman aesthetic merged with the glimmering wraithbone wielded by the Aeldari, wrought in songs of glory and passion. A temple worthy to be the home of a god, to be the heart of their new domain.
The goddess considered the deal lightly, before giving a brilliant smile that matched that of who she was dealing with. "If you're gonna pull your own effort into making this plan go well, and if you bring enough of these cats here and get them to work with me, then I'll take this barren section of the Webway as my own."
"I knew you'd agree!" the Lord of the Harlequins explained, clapping their hands in joy as the illusion faded away. "Now, to convince those cats… well, first I'd need to get some Solitaires up. Their dreams are potent and unique enough, should be an effective lure and show of what the cats can attain. I'll prepare things now, finalise this little contract and housing arrangement, mhm?"
Venus Cherital held out a hand to stop the Laughing God before they could move back to their Black Library. The hybrid deity had inherited enough of Khaine and experienced enough divine plots to notice something.
"I know tricksters and plans, and I know you well enough to make a little guess. There's something you're leaving out, isn't it?"
"Caught red-handed by one who caught a red-handed!" Cegorach happily noted, pushing the hand away. "I should have seen it coming. Yes, I'll admit, it's not just you, me and the cats that would come out of this deal better off. This act of migration will be a favour from me and to me, another grand beginning to a wonderful relationship, if I can get a certain warrior's attention."
-----
Oriacarius Gielux, First Captain of the Eternal Wardens, read the note again to make sure no detail was missed, engraving the contents in his mind, before he incinerated it.
He did not know how it reached him, without any warning or sign of break-in, although he'd do his best to fix that and patch that glaring hole in his security. He did know where it came from, which did little to sort out his growing annoyance.
"Why does everything keep getting stranger?" he mumbled to himself, preparing to write several new contingencies related to dreams, spiritual cats and how he could possibly explain any of what he knew if he went through with such an insane idea.
Dream-eating cats, as if the Maelstrom wasn't strange enough. What next, dogs that drank a subconscious? Fish that swam in collective mind-seas? The Legion were probably going to encounter and have to deal with such things, which was the worst part. Whole new preparations would have to be made now, with this precedence.
Well, they weren't going to eat any of his ideas or contingencies, that was for sure.
-----
Cegorach's Charming Clever Comedic Civil Cat-Catching City Campaign or: 'How A Plan Involving Dream-Eating Cats That Live In the Warp Will Help The Eldar, The Newly Reborn Venus Cherital, The Eternal Wardens, The Webway And The Maelstrom Crusade'.
The Webway stretched beyond the comprehension, with wonders and nightmares of its own unique nature compared to either the Materium or Immaterium.
It was one not realm, it was countless tunnels and nodes that were united in nature. Time and space only held an arbitrary, fluid meaning that could be shaped or shifted or removed entirely. The potential of the Warp merged with the logic of reality, more a programmable universe than a mere pocket dimension.
To have the power to truly manipulate the realm that laid so deep in the Sea of Souls, to truly own and command even a portion of it, was near impossible. Cegorach, the Great Harlequin of the Aeldari Pantheon, was the true master of the Old Ones' wondrous legacy.
The Laughing God knew all the secrets, paths and uses of the Webway. Each satellite realm and hidden tunnel. The First Fool possessed the keys and could hand them out as freely as they liked, could potentially teach one the means to craft their own realm if they had enough power and skill.
The section here was a vast realm that appeared to be barren, an isolated corner without much creation inside. The air was faint, the light was just slightly brighter than pure darkness, a strange mist wreathed around the borders. It was the foundation of something that could have been, from a port-city to a hidden estate or the beginning of a new realm.
It could become anything.
With a lot of time and effort.
"Sorry," Venus spoke as she glanced at her potential housing, or rather the lack of it. "But I think I'll have to decline. There's a lot more space compared to my previous home, certainly well-protected, but I don't quite fancy being stuck in such an empty place."
"Aha," the Master of the Webway laughed, for laughter was their nature. "I figured you might bring that issue up. I had hoped in vain to make this a surprise, but I shall reveal that I had an idea on how to really… spruce the place up, in a way I think might change your decision."
"Oh?" the interest from the Lady of Love and War sparked up at that, always ready to enjoy a new source of amusement. "And what might that be?"
"Cats."
A moment of silence passed. The newly reborn goddess briefly wondered if she heard right, if it was an ancient Aeldari word. Yet the other memories she inherited didn't provide anything to explain.
"Cats?" she eventually asked.
"Yes," Cegorach patiently clarified. "Cats."
"Like… like the animal? Felines?"
"Cats."
A flicker of distinct Khaine-based annoyance flashed over the goddess's visage, brought forth through the timeless frustration the Bloody-Handed felt towards the Laughing God's trickery. It was squashed down as the hybrid goddess attained a thoughtful expression.
Being an old deity of humanity left one rather accepting of strange occurrences, divine deals or other such situations.
"I mean, I prefer doves and snakes. Felines were more for Diana and Libertas, or the likes of Bastet."
"Sorry," the Great Harlequin shrugged. "It's gonna take a bit more time for any divine snakes to be at my disposal right now. Not sure if real doves still exist, haven't heard of 'em in a while. It'll have to be cats for now."
Trickery was an old friend, one that would warrant caution from whole pantheons even if old gods were typically too foolish or bored or arrogant to take heed of its warnings. Venus had certainly missed such things, they were always such great fun to enjoy.
"Cats are pretty nice too, I suppose. Clean and eaters of pests. Always nice for a temple to have a few cats around. I suppose I do have a little 'Sekhmet' with me already."
"Indeed, dear Cherital. Serendipity is always a wondrous thing for out lot. Great house warming gift, mhm?"
The moment of fun had passed. There was a whole new galaxy to explore, and it wasn't in an empty plot of psychic land.
"Alright," the goddess said, now to business. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Cegorach smiled a wider smile and began to explain.
-----
The Maelstrom was a place that was full of mystery, potential, danger and wonder. A comparatively small microcosm of the Warp, it was bursting with the strange brilliance that could exist.
Life found its way, as life always did. The miracle of living existence extended from beings of sapient flame, crystal giants that moved by fractal dance, liquid brains of frigid enlightenment, a surprising amount of humans that had crustacean genetics engineered or mutated in, and the cats.
To describe and understand them, one had to know of the wild habitat that was the source of their curious nature. An eddy of utter calm within an already calm rift, by the standards of violently and inherently unstable tears into reality. So calm that it was 'catatonic', a manifestation of an enlightened void.
Inside there was no flora, no land, no air, no water, no light and no time or space. It was a realm that held not even thought, where thought was not allowed to be permitted inside. It wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to call it a place of paradox, a realm of calm surrounded by wild madness, but it was more akin to something far more special than that. It was a half-way limbo, a realm of fantastical flux.
It was a place of peace, of darkness, of emptiness and was so similar to a dream.
Along with a lot of cats.
The stretch of nothingness was known by many names. Orks in the region called it the Clawed Night, to describe the tear of boring nothingness that didn't seem to have anything interesting to fight or loot. Or more accurately, 'Da Klaw'd Noight'.
A servant of the Changer of Ways within the Maelstrom, a mad prophet, had written a record taken within the Black Library that discussed a horrific emptiness that tore at their mind as they tried to enter it.
Old records recorded by travellers from the Maiden World of Torvendis had mentioned a bleak realm, useful for meditative purposes. Full of curious creatures similar to the Gyrinx, but typically larger and more fearsome.
Most humans in the region knew it as the Oneiric Abyss after some study, before mankind had fallen to their many apocalypses and the rift had surged to swallow the mortals that surrounded it. The name had been taken up as the most common one for those that knew of it and the creatures inside.
Whether they were some extension of the realm, or if the Abyss was an extension of theirs, was unknown. What was known was that 'pieces' within the nothingness were alive, aware and possessing animal instincts, a drive for life, the ability to socially cooperate despite a preference for a solitary lifestyle.
Normally amorphous within their private reality, best that could be told by the mortals who managed to glimpse in, a more solid form was attained when they came outside. They could naturally manifest in as a type of feline creature, with some variance in specific appearance across different specimens, and then either use a glamour or slowly shift their form with enough concentration.
A single one of these creatures could hunt by itself and then return to the Oneiric Abyss, but sometimes a mass-migration of hundreds or even thousands of the beasts could work together. Typically to head to a large enough civilization or other large enough group, yet not to devour flesh or the souls of those they went to.
They fulfilled an incredible niche within the wider ecosystem. They devoured the thoughts and ideas of other living beings for sustenance to themselves and their realm, especially the dreams of others. Dreams, nightmares, fantasies and wishful imagination were their particular favourite, because the real yet unreal nature held the energy that was most alike to their nature.
So alike to countless parasites and predators, from the vampiric emotion suckers of the Medusae to the vile daemonic warbands that bring madness and ruin. Far more sustainable and infinitely less destructive than any of these competitors, with the possibility of a truly beneficial symbiosis.
Yet all good things have to come to an end. Due to the great ritual enacted by the Imperium, the current way of life for the feline dream-eaters was now soon to be impossible.
Without the power of the Maelstrom, the Oneiric Abyss was dying. Not all at once, but it was quickly degrading into a true nothingness. Whether it was in combat against an encroaching foe, or mere entropic dissipation, the cats would all fade away like the distant dreams they ate.
Unless there happened to be another psychic realm they could be sent into, a large empty space where they could be allowed to say, but where would those cats find such a miracle?
-----
Venus rolled her eyes. "Where indeed?"
The First Fool chuckled. Subtlety was an old favourite, but there was always something so cathartic in making the obvious joke.
"What are these things called, anyway?" the goddess asked.
"Many more names than their Abyss, due to how far travelled they go to hunt." Cegorach happily noted. "One of their older names is the Pandafeche."
"They're called pandas? Like the bear?"
"Pandafeche. Panfeche or Panfica for short. I call them cats, because they're cats."
There was a moment of quiet contemplation as Venus Cherital glanced over at the barren domain that was laid out on offer. Having a bunch of cats around would be more appealing than a stretch of emptiness, but there were questions to be answered before any decision could be made.
"What do they look like?"
"You can picture them as black spectres in the shape of a panther or tiger, with a similar size for their main core, surrounded by mist as dark as night."
"That sounds adorable."
"They are known to shift into appearances such as twisted hags, feral monsters and other such things to incite terrible nightmares or scare off a threat."
"Adorable." the Khaine-absorbed deity said.
"I know!" Cegorach agreed. "I can picture the delightful creatures, tearing apart free-floating daydreams, spreading fear and wonder where they go."
"I'm not a goddess of cats," Venus admitted, as though sharing a grave weakness. "So I'm not sure what I could bring to the table. Cats are quite picky when they want to be, and they always want to be. They could still have this place even if I reject it, if you want them."
"Aha, that is the biggest hurdle. Animals they may be, but they are clever and know their worth. Yet there's always a way. The Webway is shelter enough to sustain them, yet divine providence is far from a minor thing to offer."
"Mhm, indeed. Biggest question that's still on my mind is why you want any of this? And why would I want them, nice as they might be?"
The Master of the Webway waved a hand. The domain shifted slightly, an illusion was cast, motes of light and flowing shadows danced together in a spectacle of shapes. A fluidic space that could shift by a thought, with the practised ease to craft a paradise.
"Imagine this realm, transformed with little effort on our part beyond initial 'set up' and agreement. A realm forged of dreams and peace, a foundation of formless nothing that would become far more malleable and full of potential than before. The dream-eaters number in the hundreds of millions, such power they and their realm possess, mhm?"
"Peace is not exactly my nature."
"Would you prefer nothing but war, without respite or rest?"
The silence was answer enough.
"They would be your messengers, your heralds. To journey across to many more worlds than before, ones that would have no competition compared to where their fading home is now. To carry your word as they take on the dreams, to whisper your grace to so many more than you could ever dream of."
"The way you talk about it…" Venus shrugged, amused and somewhat baffled at the whole endeavour. "Well, it seems all too good to be true."
"Trickery is always at its best when things come into alignment," the Great Harlequin sagely noted. "A grand plan that brings about wonders and laughter. This place is barren now, yes, but I promise you a potential and grand beginning. Potential for the both of us."
"Oh?"
"Think of our shared people, dear Cherital. The Aeldari don't have what others may consider pleasant dreams, ideas that bring a heavy heart or a twisted mind. A place of peace is just what is needed. Your influence would grow, a trade and contract between us, as our people come to witness your Dreaming Palace."
A brief apparation formed, a temple of marble, depicting war, love, beauty and victory. Roman aesthetic merged with the glimmering wraithbone wielded by the Aeldari, wrought in songs of glory and passion. A temple worthy to be the home of a god, to be the heart of their new domain.
The goddess considered the deal lightly, before giving a brilliant smile that matched that of who she was dealing with. "If you're gonna pull your own effort into making this plan go well, and if you bring enough of these cats here and get them to work with me, then I'll take this barren section of the Webway as my own."
"I knew you'd agree!" the Lord of the Harlequins explained, clapping their hands in joy as the illusion faded away. "Now, to convince those cats… well, first I'd need to get some Solitaires up. Their dreams are potent and unique enough, should be an effective lure and show of what the cats can attain. I'll prepare things now, finalise this little contract and housing arrangement, mhm?"
Venus Cherital held out a hand to stop the Laughing God before they could move back to their Black Library. The hybrid deity had inherited enough of Khaine and experienced enough divine plots to notice something.
"I know tricksters and plans, and I know you well enough to make a little guess. There's something you're leaving out, isn't it?"
"Caught red-handed by one who caught a red-handed!" Cegorach happily noted, pushing the hand away. "I should have seen it coming. Yes, I'll admit, it's not just you, me and the cats that would come out of this deal better off. This act of migration will be a favour from me and to me, another grand beginning to a wonderful relationship, if I can get a certain warrior's attention."
-----
Oriacarius Gielux, First Captain of the Eternal Wardens, read the note again to make sure no detail was missed, engraving the contents in his mind, before he incinerated it.
He did not know how it reached him, without any warning or sign of break-in, although he'd do his best to fix that and patch that glaring hole in his security. He did know where it came from, which did little to sort out his growing annoyance.
"Why does everything keep getting stranger?" he mumbled to himself, preparing to write several new contingencies related to dreams, spiritual cats and how he could possibly explain any of what he knew if he went through with such an insane idea.
Dream-eating cats, as if the Maelstrom wasn't strange enough. What next, dogs that drank a subconscious? Fish that swam in collective mind-seas? The Legion were probably going to encounter and have to deal with such things, which was the worst part. Whole new preparations would have to be made now, with this precedence.
Well, they weren't going to eat any of his ideas or contingencies, that was for sure.
Last edited:
To Carve A Rune, To Build A Fire, To Call The Winds.
TinyGladiator
Just another SVer
- Location
- I move alot.
Hiya! Decided to finish an omake I had in the backburner for a while, focused on Kesar's runes and a look into what they can do and how they can work through the medium of the Rune of Fire. (And yes, the 'Wind' thing mentioned is very possible to happen. Seriously.)
-----
To Carve A Rune, To Build A Fire, To Call The Winds.
You are Kesar Dorlin, Primarch of the Eternal Wardens, Daemonsbane and Anathema to Chaos. Lord of Runes.
The galaxy, the Imperium, the Maelstrom, your sons, your brothers, your father… everything had become a complicated issue. Problems that seemed to outnumber and outflank solutions, new ones and old ones threatening to make the future a bleak one.
You believed that it could be solved, however. Not easily, you weren't a fool. Yet every question had an answer, every enemy had its weakness. Even the so claimed 'infinite' power of your greatest enemy was surmountable.
There was a strong certainty that there was a path forward to something brighter, although one marred with difficulty.
But the other issue weren't the focus at the moment. Something else had finally happened, a seemingly small yet important show of your beliefs. What had seemed to be so difficult to occur, far more than you had expected, the Ogma Rune Planet Project finally had tangible results.
Years had passed since your idea had been made real, so many events that it was difficult to keep track of it all.
The psychic students, administrators, teachings, habitation, methods and design had all required attentive work and balance until the project as a whole slowly advanced step-by-step. There were hard blocks and confusion over everything, from the specific requirements of the runes to your intentions for the project itself to what it all would be used for.
Admittedly, it wasn't anything spectacular on paper. Production was still a slow trickle, as the teaching systems and carving were sluggish as it tried to fit into the framework of 'ordinary' psykers. The world was barely making enough to be an auxiliary support to your sons, let alone the wider Imperium of Mankind.
But research relating to the Immaterium was your passion, and solutions would be found. And to understand the core issue of 'runic perception', you needed to understand how those outside the Eternal Wardens saw your designs.
Also perhaps how you understood your own creation, the language you were forming to harness the power of the other realm.
This would be in-depth study, although not quite a main focus yet. There was too much else to do, too much to consider, other projects that demanded attention. While this was a task that would admittedly immensely difficult for even the most experienced of your psychic sons, you personally found it relaxing. Meditative, despite the frustrations. For now this was merely side-project to engage in when you had the time, or you couldn't find progress elsewhere.
To this end, in your personal research quarters, was a plain worktable that had samples of runic craft to be studied. Not just examples from the rune world's pupils, but collections of your own work and that of your sons. From classic copies and minute variations, to more exotic half-theories and experimental volumetric craft.
The newly made engravings from outside the Eternal Wardens were etched in small discs of metal half the size of a normal human's palm, informally dubbed talismans or tokens. Simplistic by your standards, yet artworks of complex and highly precise work for the creators while mass producible. There were five of each type, all made by different individuals, forming fifteen in total.
Most used silver or iron, common enough metals that were easy to carve your script onto. The former beginning to be lopsided in focus, due to the latest design resonating perfectly with the material.
First from the rune world were the tokens of Fire, the abstract images of flame did not visibly glow but you sensed the heat they collectively made. The Warp was pulled, carefully and minutely, as fuel for the ignited discs.
There was Ice, their chill energy were likewise felt. Countering but not dismissing the heat, there was the air of snow and frost that flowed gently out from the talismans. The almost snowflake patterns of crystal seemed to grow colder as your gaze met their forms.
Then the newly made Silver. Nothing was physically felt or noticeable at a glance, no difference in temperature. When picked up, you felt neither a heavier nor lighter nature to the material itself. Instead there was a sense of cleanliness, an element emphasised. The unmistakable aura of purity, so faint it was a dancing ember.
They looked beautiful, in their own way. Not merely the quality or aesthetics of the carvings, but their function. Equal to that of what was made by your Librarians, verified to following the standards that was set out when the project began.
Despite that, there was an issue that couldn't be ignored. One that had been a problem that directly put a stop to any production at all from the rune world until now.
The designs were different.
Not just in terms of quality or exactness, the shape of the carvings were not the same as what you and your sons made. To create them, your psychic Wardens focused their minds and power to grant the connective energy to truly make them resonate with what was meant to be formed. Without them following things with precision it would fail, barring only a few exceptions.
That requirement for precision was the primary reason that your runes were hard to create at all. There were countless attempts to solve this, with 'simplest' workable ones were to give the psykers either brutal training or intense hypno-therapy to instil the accurate patterns within their mind, with the runner-up being to install bionics to make such efforts easy.
Yet these ones worked, circumventing the issue of meticulous detail. Not the proper energy-to-etching usage, or the general focus, or mass production hurdle, but the hardest problem was fixed in a way that before seemed impossible.
Runes derived from the core of your work, but distinct from it all the same. Was it some strange mistake, a coincidence that these talismans worked? Or was this merely how the runes were 'meant' to look when made by those outside your mindset?
Perhaps this was more natural than initially assumed, and these were all just extensions that were more attuned to your shaping? Was what you made even the 'core', the truly basal engravings, of the concepts at play, assuming that even truly existed in the context of the Warp? How did it all fit, and why hadn't it before?
Just glancing at the various talismans gave questions, without delving deeper into intricacies and potential. It was much like creating entirely new runic designs to decipher this, in more ways than one. If nothing else, it made you appreciate what struggle the students of this project must go through.
How to approach this? How would you try to further understanding of your work, your script, your language of psychic channelling?
You reach out for…
…FLAME.
Fire, one of the oldest tools used by mankind. Its existence and nature was a primordial constant in history, mythology and legend.
How could something so fundamental, so primal to humanity's very psyche, become so different between individual viewpoints? Well, why was obvious. It had become both a 'thing' and a 'foundation' to be changed or built off of for all that knew what it was.
The red flower that burns the forests, jungles and fields. Where food was cooked, warmth was granted, beasts were warded off. It made disaster and prosperity, it let the secrets of rock and metal be used. Clay into pots and tablets, iron into swords and fortresses, sand to glass, smelting and ceremony, of the sacred and the damned.
It razed civilizations to ash on one hand, yet was a key component in creating them at all. It was a symbol of power, progress and pandemonium. Flame was one of the first elements, aligned only by other 'old' aspects of nature. Carried throughout every era since the beginning to the here and now. Since then, there might very well be billions of interpretations that were carved into humanity's collective psyche from Terra alone. Trillions. Maybe more.
Fire was stars and the souls that shined brighter, fire was the daemon and burning nightmares that was their home, fire was a symbol that was taken up by almost everything.
And in this symbol of flame, the very core of that combustive reaction that had ascended into something beyond a mere thermal effect into a divine aspect of the universe, you can feel its warmth.
You could see how it was meant to describe flame, instead of any other concept that could have been translated from the shape of its curves and lines. You weren't blind, your interpretation of flame could hardly be called the only true expression of it. Not even gods could hold dominion over such a thing, despite their admitted influence.
And there were those outside mankind, from the eldar and orks to the khrave and slaugth. How was flame and its myriad uses perceived by them, by any mythology and history they possessed? Did they use it more, less or in a way truly alien to mankind? It all added up, it all pooled into the Sea of Souls.
Oh, but you had many experiences with heat and fire. Cooking a meal, burning enemies, the scorching fury of daemons, a planet cracking into molten death around you, witnessing a star be briefly formed by your brother's actions, seeing suns up close, the smouldering forges across many factories and artificer stations.
You had personally felt, literally and metaphorically, fire inside and out. It wasn't always pleasant, and too much of it was a form of cursed flame, but you knew it well. Through the expanse of the Immaterium, you glimpsed into the wider totality of flame and captured its shape and filtered it through your understanding into your rune of it.
How were these alternate designs made, then? You feel the metal and the engraving on it as you trace your fingers through them, as though they were but simple objects. How deep they etched, what was given more focus, what details 'lost' and 'added' to them. How did they manage to get these to function?
Minutes pass as you consult past equations and research papers of Warp-reflections, then hours as you examine for every single similarity and difference between the talismans of fire and the work of you and your Librarians. Even trying to recreate the new designs to see if they worked, which did but in a minutely lesser quality to what would be expected.
The questions go from 'how do they see and understand flame' to 'how do they see and understand how Kesar Dorlin sees flame' until a hypothesis emerges from the web of ideas.
Just as you had filtered the concept of fire through your own understanding, these runes were filtered through their creators' understanding of your own interpretation of flame without noticeable dilution. Not too dissimilar from how Astartes worked in relation to their Primarchs, in terms of 'shared' nature.
Using your own design as an inspiration, instead of just a singular template. Bypassing the ordinary extreme length of near-impossible focus and commitment needed to create an entire new rune through an example, a gateway, a snapshot of how fire could be perceived. Safe variants able to be made through the conduit you provided.
What a fascinating and dangerous idea, open to potential divergence or even corruption. One that would take quite some time to test, but would further explain why your sons could so easily follow your 'mindset' for runes while it was so difficult for others. How this method would truly work, if it indeed did work, could take years of study on its own.
Yet it was easy to explain what was needed and missed in initially working on the rune world. New dialects of runes for the 'average' human, psychic glyphs as a heuristic translation for effect. Lingua franca in the framework of a written 'language' of the Warp. Theoretically it made sense from your own observations of the Immaterium, and several papers that Magnus had shared. Perhaps it could even allow superior versions to form from your original designs.
Would that mean that a solution to further your project was making an… autobiography? Excerpts about your true feelings and history with certain concepts supplied in teaching examples? A strange idea, but it could genuinely work even if this idea was wrong. A mixture of casual pleasure and practical application for you to indulge in, something to resonate with the people meant to learn from you.
You mentally shook that idea away. Too much was unknown, too much was speculation at best. While your hypothesis seemed right, you wouldn't assume it was fact or that it should be encouraged in any manner.
It would be all too easy for 'variation' to turn into 'critical flaw', for runes to be turned into unstable gateways that could bring diaster in too many ways to consider. Perilous effects, critical overloads in psychic energy, and always the lingering possibility for daemonic influence.
This would require an annoying amount of oversight for current production, let alone the actual amount when the project was fully complete. Further increasing stress, further increasing potential risk, further oversight needed to reach acceptable safety. An annoying cycle of negative progress was threating to exist.
But you knew that such risks for deviated designs had existed for a while, this was just the crystalisation of it. There were ways to solve it, to make this new development work properly, and thus far there were minimal reports of any overall issues with current engravings. Tests had proven them effective, almost all had the same effects relating to fire due to how thankfully universal its conceptualisation was.
It could simply require a system to test any variations for further use, which should theoretically only need to happen once for each type of rune that someone would make unless they had a drastic change in mindset or understanding for a particular concept. Some way to determine deviancy, alternate effects, any ways to rectify that.
You lift up one talisman up. The design, the fuel for the fire, the warmth, the soul burning with passion as this rune was branded on this piece. There was so much more to see, to delve through beyond this small token of metal and the symbol upon it. The well of potential was too deep for even you to see the bottom, if there was one.
But if they could find inspiration through your design, what else could be gleamed from it by yourself? Or of alternate runes made by others? Would this allow you to further your own understanding?
If nothing else, it'd be a good test to see how exactly this process would work and the overall safety or validity of this approach.
You consider how…
…TO BUILD A FIRE.
The five gathered discs of silver that bear the various symbols of flame, now next to a data-slate where you recorded your observations.
Similarities, even the most minute, were observed. How deep the cuts were and where, the weight of each runic token, how silver worked so apparently easier. Everything you'd already noticed put down while you considered how to change your own design into something else, or what motes of inspiration you could really find by thorough examination.
You wished that the gift of psychic awakening you had asked of your father had already occurred. You knew that it'd give you more understanding, vastly help you personally see and feel what it meant to be a psyker. Empyreal senses more attuned to see and manipulate what made your engraved concepts function in a way you could truly relate with your Librarians and those working in your rune world.
After a while of analysis and note writing, putting your theories onto proper form, you start to think that you should reconsider your approach. Patience was fundamentally required to the creation of your runes, but even with fire already possessing a 'template' you knew it'd take far too long before any results were found for what was meant to be a simple test study.
Your gaze slowly turns to what else is within your workshop. Yes, there was a better way to test this and bring an original mentality. And also be of truly 'different' design and effect than a more minute alteration.
Volumetric design was an entire new line of runic research and development, first attempted and accomplished by Crescum Auro during the purge of the Maelstrom. In a sense, it could be considered an already accepted 'variation' to your work already. The implications of its alternate nature shadowed by, well, its alternate nature. The effects rather than the very foundation.
Perhaps it was proof of both this 'template-inspiration' concept and its merits, before the rune world had brought its possible existence to your attention.
Aside from reviewing all information on this new method and its results, you hadn't yet attempted it yourself. A few other Librarians had tried, to varying degrees of success. Too few and too early to judge the overall aspects.
Now was as good a time as any to test this, as you delved into the fundamentals of your craft. Yet how to create this new design? Volumetrics was such a new and complex method, it inherently brought an army of questions towards usage and potential.
What would 'fit' as a monument to flame, in your view? Something that resembled a brazier? A torch? A crucible? Or just a stylised flame? Perhaps it would be fit to make a three-dimensional representation of your original rune of fire, another template for others to use to create their own work?
But unlike your ordinary work, there were more elements that had to be addressed. What material to make it out of, and how big or small should it be? You recalled the detailed analyses Crescum Auro had made, the importance of one piece that had truly activated it.
It takes you a few minutes before you decide, ruminating on the nature of flame. Something small, able to be carried in one hand. Made of silver, as the tokens before you. And the shape…
…you think back to your time on Valhalla, back when you were still a child and the Imperium and wider galaxy didn't exist in your life.
The cold had never been a true danger to you, even without any outside source of heat. Your nature as a Primarch had protected you from the mundane elements of your planet, but that didn't mean it was comfortable to face the biting chill.
You recalled your very first memory of seeing flame, surrounding by vast stretched of ice, snow and howling wind. The smoke that billowed in the distance, the burning remains of structures and corpses, the soldiers who took you in. The heat, the smell of the choking ash, the first glimpse into Chaos.
You shake away that memory, focusing ahead.
There was a type of burner that Valhallans made over the course of the Long Night, based on a truly ancient design. Not meant for warmth, aside from a few times where there was nothing else available, but for using incense. To cleanse the self and the surroundings, a tool of purity.
Many of your people owned such burners, guards careful to not use them when the smoke would just mark them as targets. Some had been used to help ward off mutated beasts or cursed air, a practice that had been continued by those of the Golden Path. Similar acts were performed by the Cult Mechanicum's followers, which helped encourage the use for other positive rituals.
You idly recall Mortarion also wearing and using similar looking censers, although from what you understood they were filled with blends of poisons and toxins to be used as weaponry.
But the shape of it, the incense burner, the censer, the thurible, it comes clear to your mind as you consider. A design meant for purity to be used with fire, a frame to be used for this new type of rune.
Memories of flame go through your mind, interwoven with complex Immaterium-designs and calculations. The silver is heated within a crucible, turning red. The heat also contributes to the purpose of this creation.
It's not fully right, it doesn't fit to the level of safety that you normally rigidly held for every single glyph you made. Even the form of it is lacking for acceptable production, from foundational design to the intricacies you forge as the process goes on.
Yet that's all to be expected. It's a test. A half-formed idea brought out to see the risks, the benefits, the potential up-close. To have it twist into something wrong was better here than for a psyker unable to handle the backlash of a destructive accident.
And you had already made the rune, this was just your own attempt at interpreting it through a different lens. If there was a truly major fault, then that would say more of the original creation than this volumetric branch.
Two half-spheres are forged from the silver, connecting together with an equator lined with etchings and holes in the shape of stylised flames. A hollow centre where a real fire would ordinarily be lit inside, where all the patterns converge. The Valhallan censer is quickly made, ornate yet simple.
The last piece clicks into place, twisting the half-spheres until the volumetric design is made whole, the circuit of form and purpose is complete. The semi-experimental equations into Warp resonance and runic arrangement meet the geometric construction.
You feel it instantly. The room got slightly warmer, especially around the censer itself. Slowly building and building until you could almost hear something crackling in the distance. The sound growing closer and closer, more tangible, until it arrives. Like a hammer striking hot metal, the rune is activated.
You peer at the construct, looking for any signs of a physical shift in what you created or a semblance of danger. A hand slowly reaches forth to touch the creation, to fully feel the heat that now emanated from what you have just done.
It acted like a flame, seeming to ripple at your touch without physically moving. It didn't just conjure forth fire or warmth, the metal itself feeling like a naked flame than simply producing heat. Not strong enough to damage your armour or your hand in any way, but there is no disaster or failure.
It works.
There would be much more time of study the whole process, the material design, aesthetic decision, effects and production requirements. Closely monitoring for signs of failure on its own, or when damaged, or in different situations. Even a minor fault could incinerate anything nearby or far, far worse.
But it works. The merit of variance has another mark of success to its name. To not imprint an effect into an object, yet instead radiate its nature into an area .To shift the Warp itself in an extremely small environment, focus it and then let it pour through to the Materium in an safe manner.
Compared to an alternate carving, the censer was far more of a variance than the talismans you had studied. You prod the 'flame-metal' again, seeing it shift slightly by your touch, then slowly glance towards the other 'normal' runes of fire.
You wonder about how…
…TO FUEL A FIRE.
Another idea occurs, a natural extension to the potential you see before you.
Beyond the merits of variance or volumetrics, beyond all previous lines of research and questioning, you realised you might have had the key to something greater than you first realised.
Ordinarily one rune couldn't affect another. You had your theories and research into potentially crossing runes together, to link different runes as one, to make entire networks work together into a properly aligned system. Nothing that had been attempted yet, just hypotheticals.
Yet…
One volumetric rune of fire would be somewhat limited to just manifesting its power within a certain area, even if the rune was of the highest ordinary tier or built with the most psychically-active materials. A powerful tool of immense potential and utility.
But what if a volumetric rune of fire also existed in the radius of another? The entire design worked by bringing the energy of the Immaterium through the rune, acting as a sort of filter, recycler and transmitter of the harnessed power. The presence of an existing volumetric rune almost certainly be a synergistic effect, increasing how much energy would be available and easing the process for such power to manifest.
Then it would also logically mean that more volumetric runes would further enhance this whole process, augmenting the existing runes and their effects with added power, perhaps making it easier to carve by the sheer presence of related psychic energy.
A feedback loop was a strong possibility. As the more volumetric runes worked in unison, the more the Warp would shift more towards their focus, thus further increasing conceptual power.
Theoretically, if it didn't destabilise everything in an apocalyptic inferno, the process would easily reach the point that the local Warp-space would stabilise by becoming fully attuned with the concept of fire.
Like a wave of focused psychic alignment called upon by these creations, an engine of accumulating power wrought by you and your sons, as a wind of magic flowing across the Warp and billowing across the local area.
A Runic Wind… a good name for what this could result in, if it indeed could be attempted.
Under a Runic Wind of Fire pyromancers would be granted a large well of strength to call upon, flamers and meltas enhanced beyond recognition, anything with a rune of fire becoming a weapon of unparalleled devastation compared to before.
It wouldn't be of total benefit even if it worked perfectly. Aside from how the forces of Chaos used flame more often than not, included the raw burning energies of the Immaterium itself, there was the risk of the Wind itself becoming a hazard to anything that used the Warp that didn't align with flame.
Telepaths could burn their mind, telekinetics could set what they manipulated on fire, diviners could burn their inner sight, biomancers could ignite their flesh. Astropaths might have their messages be incinerated as they pass through the Wind. Navigators might be able to see the light of the inferno from a distance, suffer worse effects up close or inside the affected area.
Or not. There was too much unknown, so many things to consider with each aspect of your growing theories. You weren't even sure it was possible for your runes to contain or generate the energy required to even come close to manifesting this hypothetical phenomenon. Maybe it wouldn't affect the Warp within the region anywhere near as expected.
You simply didn't know, you'd have to try it and find out first. But, as your dear First Captain said, that didn't mean you couldn't prepare for a potential future.
A less restricted concept would be needed for wider use, you thought as you rapidly wrote down your ideas of the 'Runic Wind' concept down. Detailing the theoretical amount of power and runes required, potential 'stages' of forming a 'Wind', various likely and unlikely calamities, and then what could potentially be the benefit from several runic concepts already possessed if used for this idea.
Reinforcement likely wouldn't cause any noticeable issues. Warning or Detection similarly wouldn't be liable to cause massive issues, aside from distorting anything that used Warp-based stealth which might be a bonus than a malfunction. Maintenance and Restoration would be of immense, universal use. For something stronger like-
Purity.
You pause in your writing as your mind rushes with a possibility. You considered the idea of a part of the Warp itself, however small in scale to the wider realm, being fully purified. A place where corruption burned away into nothingness, where the touch of Chaos faltered and extinguished, a light that would shine and destroy or at least heavily weaken any daemon that came near. The vast wellspring of energy related to Purity that would be available.
That would certainly be one way to try cleansing the remaining Warp-afflicted areas of the Maelstrom. Then your mind drifted to the creation and usage of a Runic Wind within a Warp storm, how that could theoretically destroy and recycle the rampant energies, and realised how much else you needed to write down and consider.
There was far more potential to your runes than you had ever realised.
If your theory was correct, and now you really hoped that it was, then it could potentially change how humanity used the Warp.
-----
To Carve A Rune, To Build A Fire, To Call The Winds.
You are Kesar Dorlin, Primarch of the Eternal Wardens, Daemonsbane and Anathema to Chaos. Lord of Runes.
The galaxy, the Imperium, the Maelstrom, your sons, your brothers, your father… everything had become a complicated issue. Problems that seemed to outnumber and outflank solutions, new ones and old ones threatening to make the future a bleak one.
You believed that it could be solved, however. Not easily, you weren't a fool. Yet every question had an answer, every enemy had its weakness. Even the so claimed 'infinite' power of your greatest enemy was surmountable.
There was a strong certainty that there was a path forward to something brighter, although one marred with difficulty.
But the other issue weren't the focus at the moment. Something else had finally happened, a seemingly small yet important show of your beliefs. What had seemed to be so difficult to occur, far more than you had expected, the Ogma Rune Planet Project finally had tangible results.
Years had passed since your idea had been made real, so many events that it was difficult to keep track of it all.
The psychic students, administrators, teachings, habitation, methods and design had all required attentive work and balance until the project as a whole slowly advanced step-by-step. There were hard blocks and confusion over everything, from the specific requirements of the runes to your intentions for the project itself to what it all would be used for.
Admittedly, it wasn't anything spectacular on paper. Production was still a slow trickle, as the teaching systems and carving were sluggish as it tried to fit into the framework of 'ordinary' psykers. The world was barely making enough to be an auxiliary support to your sons, let alone the wider Imperium of Mankind.
But research relating to the Immaterium was your passion, and solutions would be found. And to understand the core issue of 'runic perception', you needed to understand how those outside the Eternal Wardens saw your designs.
Also perhaps how you understood your own creation, the language you were forming to harness the power of the other realm.
This would be in-depth study, although not quite a main focus yet. There was too much else to do, too much to consider, other projects that demanded attention. While this was a task that would admittedly immensely difficult for even the most experienced of your psychic sons, you personally found it relaxing. Meditative, despite the frustrations. For now this was merely side-project to engage in when you had the time, or you couldn't find progress elsewhere.
To this end, in your personal research quarters, was a plain worktable that had samples of runic craft to be studied. Not just examples from the rune world's pupils, but collections of your own work and that of your sons. From classic copies and minute variations, to more exotic half-theories and experimental volumetric craft.
The newly made engravings from outside the Eternal Wardens were etched in small discs of metal half the size of a normal human's palm, informally dubbed talismans or tokens. Simplistic by your standards, yet artworks of complex and highly precise work for the creators while mass producible. There were five of each type, all made by different individuals, forming fifteen in total.
Most used silver or iron, common enough metals that were easy to carve your script onto. The former beginning to be lopsided in focus, due to the latest design resonating perfectly with the material.
First from the rune world were the tokens of Fire, the abstract images of flame did not visibly glow but you sensed the heat they collectively made. The Warp was pulled, carefully and minutely, as fuel for the ignited discs.
There was Ice, their chill energy were likewise felt. Countering but not dismissing the heat, there was the air of snow and frost that flowed gently out from the talismans. The almost snowflake patterns of crystal seemed to grow colder as your gaze met their forms.
Then the newly made Silver. Nothing was physically felt or noticeable at a glance, no difference in temperature. When picked up, you felt neither a heavier nor lighter nature to the material itself. Instead there was a sense of cleanliness, an element emphasised. The unmistakable aura of purity, so faint it was a dancing ember.
They looked beautiful, in their own way. Not merely the quality or aesthetics of the carvings, but their function. Equal to that of what was made by your Librarians, verified to following the standards that was set out when the project began.
Despite that, there was an issue that couldn't be ignored. One that had been a problem that directly put a stop to any production at all from the rune world until now.
The designs were different.
Not just in terms of quality or exactness, the shape of the carvings were not the same as what you and your sons made. To create them, your psychic Wardens focused their minds and power to grant the connective energy to truly make them resonate with what was meant to be formed. Without them following things with precision it would fail, barring only a few exceptions.
That requirement for precision was the primary reason that your runes were hard to create at all. There were countless attempts to solve this, with 'simplest' workable ones were to give the psykers either brutal training or intense hypno-therapy to instil the accurate patterns within their mind, with the runner-up being to install bionics to make such efforts easy.
Yet these ones worked, circumventing the issue of meticulous detail. Not the proper energy-to-etching usage, or the general focus, or mass production hurdle, but the hardest problem was fixed in a way that before seemed impossible.
Runes derived from the core of your work, but distinct from it all the same. Was it some strange mistake, a coincidence that these talismans worked? Or was this merely how the runes were 'meant' to look when made by those outside your mindset?
Perhaps this was more natural than initially assumed, and these were all just extensions that were more attuned to your shaping? Was what you made even the 'core', the truly basal engravings, of the concepts at play, assuming that even truly existed in the context of the Warp? How did it all fit, and why hadn't it before?
Just glancing at the various talismans gave questions, without delving deeper into intricacies and potential. It was much like creating entirely new runic designs to decipher this, in more ways than one. If nothing else, it made you appreciate what struggle the students of this project must go through.
How to approach this? How would you try to further understanding of your work, your script, your language of psychic channelling?
You reach out for…
…FLAME.
Fire, one of the oldest tools used by mankind. Its existence and nature was a primordial constant in history, mythology and legend.
How could something so fundamental, so primal to humanity's very psyche, become so different between individual viewpoints? Well, why was obvious. It had become both a 'thing' and a 'foundation' to be changed or built off of for all that knew what it was.
The red flower that burns the forests, jungles and fields. Where food was cooked, warmth was granted, beasts were warded off. It made disaster and prosperity, it let the secrets of rock and metal be used. Clay into pots and tablets, iron into swords and fortresses, sand to glass, smelting and ceremony, of the sacred and the damned.
It razed civilizations to ash on one hand, yet was a key component in creating them at all. It was a symbol of power, progress and pandemonium. Flame was one of the first elements, aligned only by other 'old' aspects of nature. Carried throughout every era since the beginning to the here and now. Since then, there might very well be billions of interpretations that were carved into humanity's collective psyche from Terra alone. Trillions. Maybe more.
Fire was stars and the souls that shined brighter, fire was the daemon and burning nightmares that was their home, fire was a symbol that was taken up by almost everything.
And in this symbol of flame, the very core of that combustive reaction that had ascended into something beyond a mere thermal effect into a divine aspect of the universe, you can feel its warmth.
You could see how it was meant to describe flame, instead of any other concept that could have been translated from the shape of its curves and lines. You weren't blind, your interpretation of flame could hardly be called the only true expression of it. Not even gods could hold dominion over such a thing, despite their admitted influence.
And there were those outside mankind, from the eldar and orks to the khrave and slaugth. How was flame and its myriad uses perceived by them, by any mythology and history they possessed? Did they use it more, less or in a way truly alien to mankind? It all added up, it all pooled into the Sea of Souls.
Oh, but you had many experiences with heat and fire. Cooking a meal, burning enemies, the scorching fury of daemons, a planet cracking into molten death around you, witnessing a star be briefly formed by your brother's actions, seeing suns up close, the smouldering forges across many factories and artificer stations.
You had personally felt, literally and metaphorically, fire inside and out. It wasn't always pleasant, and too much of it was a form of cursed flame, but you knew it well. Through the expanse of the Immaterium, you glimpsed into the wider totality of flame and captured its shape and filtered it through your understanding into your rune of it.
How were these alternate designs made, then? You feel the metal and the engraving on it as you trace your fingers through them, as though they were but simple objects. How deep they etched, what was given more focus, what details 'lost' and 'added' to them. How did they manage to get these to function?
Minutes pass as you consult past equations and research papers of Warp-reflections, then hours as you examine for every single similarity and difference between the talismans of fire and the work of you and your Librarians. Even trying to recreate the new designs to see if they worked, which did but in a minutely lesser quality to what would be expected.
The questions go from 'how do they see and understand flame' to 'how do they see and understand how Kesar Dorlin sees flame' until a hypothesis emerges from the web of ideas.
Just as you had filtered the concept of fire through your own understanding, these runes were filtered through their creators' understanding of your own interpretation of flame without noticeable dilution. Not too dissimilar from how Astartes worked in relation to their Primarchs, in terms of 'shared' nature.
Using your own design as an inspiration, instead of just a singular template. Bypassing the ordinary extreme length of near-impossible focus and commitment needed to create an entire new rune through an example, a gateway, a snapshot of how fire could be perceived. Safe variants able to be made through the conduit you provided.
What a fascinating and dangerous idea, open to potential divergence or even corruption. One that would take quite some time to test, but would further explain why your sons could so easily follow your 'mindset' for runes while it was so difficult for others. How this method would truly work, if it indeed did work, could take years of study on its own.
Yet it was easy to explain what was needed and missed in initially working on the rune world. New dialects of runes for the 'average' human, psychic glyphs as a heuristic translation for effect. Lingua franca in the framework of a written 'language' of the Warp. Theoretically it made sense from your own observations of the Immaterium, and several papers that Magnus had shared. Perhaps it could even allow superior versions to form from your original designs.
Would that mean that a solution to further your project was making an… autobiography? Excerpts about your true feelings and history with certain concepts supplied in teaching examples? A strange idea, but it could genuinely work even if this idea was wrong. A mixture of casual pleasure and practical application for you to indulge in, something to resonate with the people meant to learn from you.
You mentally shook that idea away. Too much was unknown, too much was speculation at best. While your hypothesis seemed right, you wouldn't assume it was fact or that it should be encouraged in any manner.
It would be all too easy for 'variation' to turn into 'critical flaw', for runes to be turned into unstable gateways that could bring diaster in too many ways to consider. Perilous effects, critical overloads in psychic energy, and always the lingering possibility for daemonic influence.
This would require an annoying amount of oversight for current production, let alone the actual amount when the project was fully complete. Further increasing stress, further increasing potential risk, further oversight needed to reach acceptable safety. An annoying cycle of negative progress was threating to exist.
But you knew that such risks for deviated designs had existed for a while, this was just the crystalisation of it. There were ways to solve it, to make this new development work properly, and thus far there were minimal reports of any overall issues with current engravings. Tests had proven them effective, almost all had the same effects relating to fire due to how thankfully universal its conceptualisation was.
It could simply require a system to test any variations for further use, which should theoretically only need to happen once for each type of rune that someone would make unless they had a drastic change in mindset or understanding for a particular concept. Some way to determine deviancy, alternate effects, any ways to rectify that.
You lift up one talisman up. The design, the fuel for the fire, the warmth, the soul burning with passion as this rune was branded on this piece. There was so much more to see, to delve through beyond this small token of metal and the symbol upon it. The well of potential was too deep for even you to see the bottom, if there was one.
But if they could find inspiration through your design, what else could be gleamed from it by yourself? Or of alternate runes made by others? Would this allow you to further your own understanding?
If nothing else, it'd be a good test to see how exactly this process would work and the overall safety or validity of this approach.
You consider how…
…TO BUILD A FIRE.
The five gathered discs of silver that bear the various symbols of flame, now next to a data-slate where you recorded your observations.
Similarities, even the most minute, were observed. How deep the cuts were and where, the weight of each runic token, how silver worked so apparently easier. Everything you'd already noticed put down while you considered how to change your own design into something else, or what motes of inspiration you could really find by thorough examination.
You wished that the gift of psychic awakening you had asked of your father had already occurred. You knew that it'd give you more understanding, vastly help you personally see and feel what it meant to be a psyker. Empyreal senses more attuned to see and manipulate what made your engraved concepts function in a way you could truly relate with your Librarians and those working in your rune world.
After a while of analysis and note writing, putting your theories onto proper form, you start to think that you should reconsider your approach. Patience was fundamentally required to the creation of your runes, but even with fire already possessing a 'template' you knew it'd take far too long before any results were found for what was meant to be a simple test study.
Your gaze slowly turns to what else is within your workshop. Yes, there was a better way to test this and bring an original mentality. And also be of truly 'different' design and effect than a more minute alteration.
Volumetric design was an entire new line of runic research and development, first attempted and accomplished by Crescum Auro during the purge of the Maelstrom. In a sense, it could be considered an already accepted 'variation' to your work already. The implications of its alternate nature shadowed by, well, its alternate nature. The effects rather than the very foundation.
Perhaps it was proof of both this 'template-inspiration' concept and its merits, before the rune world had brought its possible existence to your attention.
Aside from reviewing all information on this new method and its results, you hadn't yet attempted it yourself. A few other Librarians had tried, to varying degrees of success. Too few and too early to judge the overall aspects.
Now was as good a time as any to test this, as you delved into the fundamentals of your craft. Yet how to create this new design? Volumetrics was such a new and complex method, it inherently brought an army of questions towards usage and potential.
What would 'fit' as a monument to flame, in your view? Something that resembled a brazier? A torch? A crucible? Or just a stylised flame? Perhaps it would be fit to make a three-dimensional representation of your original rune of fire, another template for others to use to create their own work?
But unlike your ordinary work, there were more elements that had to be addressed. What material to make it out of, and how big or small should it be? You recalled the detailed analyses Crescum Auro had made, the importance of one piece that had truly activated it.
It takes you a few minutes before you decide, ruminating on the nature of flame. Something small, able to be carried in one hand. Made of silver, as the tokens before you. And the shape…
…you think back to your time on Valhalla, back when you were still a child and the Imperium and wider galaxy didn't exist in your life.
The cold had never been a true danger to you, even without any outside source of heat. Your nature as a Primarch had protected you from the mundane elements of your planet, but that didn't mean it was comfortable to face the biting chill.
You recalled your very first memory of seeing flame, surrounding by vast stretched of ice, snow and howling wind. The smoke that billowed in the distance, the burning remains of structures and corpses, the soldiers who took you in. The heat, the smell of the choking ash, the first glimpse into Chaos.
You shake away that memory, focusing ahead.
There was a type of burner that Valhallans made over the course of the Long Night, based on a truly ancient design. Not meant for warmth, aside from a few times where there was nothing else available, but for using incense. To cleanse the self and the surroundings, a tool of purity.
Many of your people owned such burners, guards careful to not use them when the smoke would just mark them as targets. Some had been used to help ward off mutated beasts or cursed air, a practice that had been continued by those of the Golden Path. Similar acts were performed by the Cult Mechanicum's followers, which helped encourage the use for other positive rituals.
You idly recall Mortarion also wearing and using similar looking censers, although from what you understood they were filled with blends of poisons and toxins to be used as weaponry.
But the shape of it, the incense burner, the censer, the thurible, it comes clear to your mind as you consider. A design meant for purity to be used with fire, a frame to be used for this new type of rune.
Memories of flame go through your mind, interwoven with complex Immaterium-designs and calculations. The silver is heated within a crucible, turning red. The heat also contributes to the purpose of this creation.
It's not fully right, it doesn't fit to the level of safety that you normally rigidly held for every single glyph you made. Even the form of it is lacking for acceptable production, from foundational design to the intricacies you forge as the process goes on.
Yet that's all to be expected. It's a test. A half-formed idea brought out to see the risks, the benefits, the potential up-close. To have it twist into something wrong was better here than for a psyker unable to handle the backlash of a destructive accident.
And you had already made the rune, this was just your own attempt at interpreting it through a different lens. If there was a truly major fault, then that would say more of the original creation than this volumetric branch.
Two half-spheres are forged from the silver, connecting together with an equator lined with etchings and holes in the shape of stylised flames. A hollow centre where a real fire would ordinarily be lit inside, where all the patterns converge. The Valhallan censer is quickly made, ornate yet simple.
The last piece clicks into place, twisting the half-spheres until the volumetric design is made whole, the circuit of form and purpose is complete. The semi-experimental equations into Warp resonance and runic arrangement meet the geometric construction.
You feel it instantly. The room got slightly warmer, especially around the censer itself. Slowly building and building until you could almost hear something crackling in the distance. The sound growing closer and closer, more tangible, until it arrives. Like a hammer striking hot metal, the rune is activated.
You peer at the construct, looking for any signs of a physical shift in what you created or a semblance of danger. A hand slowly reaches forth to touch the creation, to fully feel the heat that now emanated from what you have just done.
It acted like a flame, seeming to ripple at your touch without physically moving. It didn't just conjure forth fire or warmth, the metal itself feeling like a naked flame than simply producing heat. Not strong enough to damage your armour or your hand in any way, but there is no disaster or failure.
It works.
There would be much more time of study the whole process, the material design, aesthetic decision, effects and production requirements. Closely monitoring for signs of failure on its own, or when damaged, or in different situations. Even a minor fault could incinerate anything nearby or far, far worse.
But it works. The merit of variance has another mark of success to its name. To not imprint an effect into an object, yet instead radiate its nature into an area .To shift the Warp itself in an extremely small environment, focus it and then let it pour through to the Materium in an safe manner.
Compared to an alternate carving, the censer was far more of a variance than the talismans you had studied. You prod the 'flame-metal' again, seeing it shift slightly by your touch, then slowly glance towards the other 'normal' runes of fire.
You wonder about how…
…TO FUEL A FIRE.
Another idea occurs, a natural extension to the potential you see before you.
Beyond the merits of variance or volumetrics, beyond all previous lines of research and questioning, you realised you might have had the key to something greater than you first realised.
Ordinarily one rune couldn't affect another. You had your theories and research into potentially crossing runes together, to link different runes as one, to make entire networks work together into a properly aligned system. Nothing that had been attempted yet, just hypotheticals.
Yet…
One volumetric rune of fire would be somewhat limited to just manifesting its power within a certain area, even if the rune was of the highest ordinary tier or built with the most psychically-active materials. A powerful tool of immense potential and utility.
But what if a volumetric rune of fire also existed in the radius of another? The entire design worked by bringing the energy of the Immaterium through the rune, acting as a sort of filter, recycler and transmitter of the harnessed power. The presence of an existing volumetric rune almost certainly be a synergistic effect, increasing how much energy would be available and easing the process for such power to manifest.
Then it would also logically mean that more volumetric runes would further enhance this whole process, augmenting the existing runes and their effects with added power, perhaps making it easier to carve by the sheer presence of related psychic energy.
A feedback loop was a strong possibility. As the more volumetric runes worked in unison, the more the Warp would shift more towards their focus, thus further increasing conceptual power.
Theoretically, if it didn't destabilise everything in an apocalyptic inferno, the process would easily reach the point that the local Warp-space would stabilise by becoming fully attuned with the concept of fire.
Like a wave of focused psychic alignment called upon by these creations, an engine of accumulating power wrought by you and your sons, as a wind of magic flowing across the Warp and billowing across the local area.
A Runic Wind… a good name for what this could result in, if it indeed could be attempted.
Under a Runic Wind of Fire pyromancers would be granted a large well of strength to call upon, flamers and meltas enhanced beyond recognition, anything with a rune of fire becoming a weapon of unparalleled devastation compared to before.
It wouldn't be of total benefit even if it worked perfectly. Aside from how the forces of Chaos used flame more often than not, included the raw burning energies of the Immaterium itself, there was the risk of the Wind itself becoming a hazard to anything that used the Warp that didn't align with flame.
Telepaths could burn their mind, telekinetics could set what they manipulated on fire, diviners could burn their inner sight, biomancers could ignite their flesh. Astropaths might have their messages be incinerated as they pass through the Wind. Navigators might be able to see the light of the inferno from a distance, suffer worse effects up close or inside the affected area.
Or not. There was too much unknown, so many things to consider with each aspect of your growing theories. You weren't even sure it was possible for your runes to contain or generate the energy required to even come close to manifesting this hypothetical phenomenon. Maybe it wouldn't affect the Warp within the region anywhere near as expected.
You simply didn't know, you'd have to try it and find out first. But, as your dear First Captain said, that didn't mean you couldn't prepare for a potential future.
A less restricted concept would be needed for wider use, you thought as you rapidly wrote down your ideas of the 'Runic Wind' concept down. Detailing the theoretical amount of power and runes required, potential 'stages' of forming a 'Wind', various likely and unlikely calamities, and then what could potentially be the benefit from several runic concepts already possessed if used for this idea.
Reinforcement likely wouldn't cause any noticeable issues. Warning or Detection similarly wouldn't be liable to cause massive issues, aside from distorting anything that used Warp-based stealth which might be a bonus than a malfunction. Maintenance and Restoration would be of immense, universal use. For something stronger like-
Purity.
You pause in your writing as your mind rushes with a possibility. You considered the idea of a part of the Warp itself, however small in scale to the wider realm, being fully purified. A place where corruption burned away into nothingness, where the touch of Chaos faltered and extinguished, a light that would shine and destroy or at least heavily weaken any daemon that came near. The vast wellspring of energy related to Purity that would be available.
That would certainly be one way to try cleansing the remaining Warp-afflicted areas of the Maelstrom. Then your mind drifted to the creation and usage of a Runic Wind within a Warp storm, how that could theoretically destroy and recycle the rampant energies, and realised how much else you needed to write down and consider.
There was far more potential to your runes than you had ever realised.
If your theory was correct, and now you really hoped that it was, then it could potentially change how humanity used the Warp.
July 12, 2023 Omake Rewards
- Location
- Elsewhere
Alright, omakes. First up is one that I missed, and am thankful that I was reminded about, but here we have the list of worlds for the turn! It's kind of fitting that I reward it just a few weeks before I begin rolling for these worlds, so clearly it was planned all along
. As it is, thanks for putting this together. It definitely made things nicer for sure. As for your reward:[] +10 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] Pick a Primarch, they get +5 to all compliances this turn (Cannot choose Corvus or Khan)
[] Pick a Primarch, they get slightly increased Legion trait gain this turn (Cannot choose Corvus or Khan)
Next up we have a terrifyingly long list of runes that's basically collating everything there is to know about the various possible runes. It's extensive and definitely useful for both people trying to see if a rune is possible, as well as me for verifying what I said is correct. As for your reward:
[] +20 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] +10 to all rune rolls next turn
[] Permanent +5 to rune rolls
And here we have Orus, a fun world that hosted the conference of Primarchs. It's kind of fun seeing it come to life, and you did an excellent job covering it. I did like the history of it, and just how that flowed into the actual mystery behind it. As for your reward:
[] +10 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] Slight decrease to Ravenloft casualties this turn
[] Slight narrative bonus to Ravenloft in avoiding unknown issues
And here we have a rather fun omake covering Orion and the reason why a lot of Astartes think he's in a relationship. I do enjoy just how easily this slots into the lore behind Elegia and Orion, and it's also rather fun to just see Khan being Khan. It's a fun omake, and for your reward:
[] +15 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] Increased trait gain for the Family Unit (Orion and Estrith)
[] Decreased death chance for the Family Unit during Khan's crusade
TinyGladiator
Just another SVer
- Location
- I move alot.
Omake rewards! 0u0
For the reward, I pick the third option, Pick a Primarch, they get slightly increased Legion trait gain this turn (Cannot choose Corvus or Khan), and I pick the Eternal Wardens. Aside from the World Eaters, our guys are going to be crusading while dealing with a lack of their Primarch. While going into the most hellish expedition that any of the Legions have ever done, (barring the Word Bearers, I guess?) it's the best time to learn.
And also maybe get that Eternal Wardens version of the 'Brilliant Strategist' trait, if a lot of 'em die, haha.
Uh, anyways, glad you liked this list of stuff I was 'collating', haha. For my reward, I pick the third option, Permanent +5 to rune rolls, as that is too good to not pass up and that is just so amazeballs to get after creating and updating that big list.
Thanks, glad the list helped things out. I'm still gonna be updating it as the turn properly progresses.Alright, omakes. First up is one that I missed, and am thankful that I was reminded about, but here we have the list of worlds for the turn! It's kind of fitting that I reward it just a few weeks before I begin rolling for these worlds, so clearly it was planned all along
[] +10 to a roll of the GM's choice
[] Pick a Primarch, they get +5 to all compliances this turn (Cannot choose Corvus or Khan)
[] Pick a Primarch, they get slightly increased Legion trait gain this turn (Cannot choose Corvus or Khan)
For the reward, I pick the third option, Pick a Primarch, they get slightly increased Legion trait gain this turn (Cannot choose Corvus or Khan), and I pick the Eternal Wardens. Aside from the World Eaters, our guys are going to be crusading while dealing with a lack of their Primarch. While going into the most hellish expedition that any of the Legions have ever done, (barring the Word Bearers, I guess?) it's the best time to learn.
And also maybe get that Eternal Wardens version of the 'Brilliant Strategist' trait, if a lot of 'em die, haha.
I went through both the whole of Rolz and also as much of the Discord server as I could to find some of the old info. That was a lot of words to get through. A fuckton of them. List certainly grew to massive proportions, and I am eager to see the list of the Runes the Eternal Wardens actually have continue to expand. I'm looking at you especially, Primal Runes.
Uh, anyways, glad you liked this list of stuff I was 'collating', haha. For my reward, I pick the third option, Permanent +5 to rune rolls, as that is too good to not pass up and that is just so amazeballs to get after creating and updating that big list.
Discord Q&A
Alright, I will compile all the Q&A stuff into one post for now.
1. What would Corvus be facing from Malcador and Thunder-Warriors kept in stasis, the Sisters of Silence with their Knight-Commander? Like numbers-wise?
A: For that, around a thousand Thunder Warriors and 100 Sisters of Silence
1a. What would happen to Venus if Malcador found/caught it?
A: He'd kill it with extreme prejudice
2. What does being a sorta Half-Eldar god mean for Venus? Can they protect Eldar souls? Or Elf souls?
A: Sadly no
4. I forgot to ask, but what physical attributes has Venus now taken on? Like hair and eye color? Have her ears become slightly elongated being half-eldar? She could make for an interesting baseline description for what most half-Eldar look like.
A: She's got ears in between Eldar and human. Tends to have shifting hair and eye color depending on what the person in question finds most attractive. Venus ironically is going to be considered one of the most dangerous gods by Ravenloft due to some of the stuff she can do
6. Venus learned quite a bit from Sachmis regarding specific emotional traits, but she was also running through Corvus's mind. Does this stand to reason then that her mentality balanced out because Corvus was a much more balanced individual?
A: It does, if he wasn't the first target, she'd be a fair bit more unstable
8. You mentioned this bit: A goddess of explosions, formed from such things as the fear of orbital fire which was a big issue during the end of the DAoT and a lot of the Age of Strife. I think I know where she might be born, somewhere within the Desolation region.
A: That she will be
12. Can 'true death' be inflicted on a god not of Chaos? I assume so, but what would be the consequences of such an action?
A: It can be and unknown
15, What exactly is the plan for Venus?
A: Start a war or two, have people fall in love with her, get some worshippers, build up her cult
8. yesterday you said that the greek/roman pantheon is all sorts of fuck because of what happen and because Venus is kind of taking the place of mars but can you expand on what that means and how will affect them?
A: Basically it means that said pantheon is going to have a bit of a civil war when its born due to the issues they'd have with the situation at hand
8c. I don't supposed Venus could be convinced to step down from head of the pantheon?
A: It'd require one hell of a negotiator
16: can Venus at all work with that power drain that Cegorach has placed on Slaanesh? Wondering if recent events have changed that at all.
A: They can't; it's not their specialty
8d.is Hephaestus the only greek/roman god that is not coming back?
A: That and Mars/Ares due to the Void Dragon
8e.that makes sense but wouldn't that fix the power void a bit since mars can't come back because he got eaten and Venus got his Domain on the Pantheon doesn't that mend that a bit?
A: It's more that Jupiter doesn't want Venus to be at his level
22. so what is a conceptual god compared to a religious god?
A: Conceptual gods draw their power directly from a concept being acknowledged. Religious gods get their power from worship directly
7. how much will exploiting the maelstrom relive the economic crisis?
A: Not at all, the Maelstrom exploitation will occur over the course of decades to centuries. Not in the timespan needed for the short term
A: For that, around a thousand Thunder Warriors and 100 Sisters of Silence
1a. What would happen to Venus if Malcador found/caught it?
A: He'd kill it with extreme prejudice
2. What does being a sorta Half-Eldar god mean for Venus? Can they protect Eldar souls? Or Elf souls?
A: Sadly no
4. I forgot to ask, but what physical attributes has Venus now taken on? Like hair and eye color? Have her ears become slightly elongated being half-eldar? She could make for an interesting baseline description for what most half-Eldar look like.
A: She's got ears in between Eldar and human. Tends to have shifting hair and eye color depending on what the person in question finds most attractive. Venus ironically is going to be considered one of the most dangerous gods by Ravenloft due to some of the stuff she can do
6. Venus learned quite a bit from Sachmis regarding specific emotional traits, but she was also running through Corvus's mind. Does this stand to reason then that her mentality balanced out because Corvus was a much more balanced individual?
A: It does, if he wasn't the first target, she'd be a fair bit more unstable
8. You mentioned this bit: A goddess of explosions, formed from such things as the fear of orbital fire which was a big issue during the end of the DAoT and a lot of the Age of Strife. I think I know where she might be born, somewhere within the Desolation region.
A: That she will be
12. Can 'true death' be inflicted on a god not of Chaos? I assume so, but what would be the consequences of such an action?
A: It can be and unknown
15, What exactly is the plan for Venus?
A: Start a war or two, have people fall in love with her, get some worshippers, build up her cult
8. yesterday you said that the greek/roman pantheon is all sorts of fuck because of what happen and because Venus is kind of taking the place of mars but can you expand on what that means and how will affect them?
A: Basically it means that said pantheon is going to have a bit of a civil war when its born due to the issues they'd have with the situation at hand
8c. I don't supposed Venus could be convinced to step down from head of the pantheon?
A: It'd require one hell of a negotiator
16: can Venus at all work with that power drain that Cegorach has placed on Slaanesh? Wondering if recent events have changed that at all.
A: They can't; it's not their specialty
8d.is Hephaestus the only greek/roman god that is not coming back?
A: That and Mars/Ares due to the Void Dragon
8e.that makes sense but wouldn't that fix the power void a bit since mars can't come back because he got eaten and Venus got his Domain on the Pantheon doesn't that mend that a bit?
A: It's more that Jupiter doesn't want Venus to be at his level
22. so what is a conceptual god compared to a religious god?
A: Conceptual gods draw their power directly from a concept being acknowledged. Religious gods get their power from worship directly
7. how much will exploiting the maelstrom relive the economic crisis?
A: Not at all, the Maelstrom exploitation will occur over the course of decades to centuries. Not in the timespan needed for the short term
2. How are the Eldar in general gonna react to Venus?
A: A hell of a lot of spiritual debate
5. Aside from Love and War, did Venus pick up any other domains?
A: She didn't
11. What does Davin see when he looks at Venus? Considering he's a Blank and all.
A: A nondescript humanoid figure without any notable features
14. For Kesar's tier 7, would the Eldar be willing to help with that?
A: Depends on circumstances
16. Let's say that Venus actually got to meet with Angron. She likely can't do anything for him, at least regarding the nails, but if she was able to encounter him and Angron didn't just go fucking berserk...what exactly could she give or do for him before his death? And I don't mean anything sexual-related.
A: She'd say it's a private thing for his ears only
17. What percent of a Chaos God was Chaos Horus equal to?
A: 10%
17a. What about Chaos Kesar
A: 50%
17b. Chaos Abaddon?
A: In 40k? 5%
18. what happens to Heroes when Kesar gets psychic powers unlocked?
A: Nothing really
2. how's Perturabo's research in AI is going?
A: Nothing rolled yet
3. how far is Dorn in building in the Imperial Palace?
A: 5. Just finished the Stage 1 defenses'
8. what level of normal CR would render Narrative CR ineffective
A: Depends on the circumstances
9. what is the Squat base CR
A: Base? +5 to human's +0
3. Which two Chaos Gods does Maticus still need to kill a greater daemon of for tier 5?
A: Khorne and Slaanesh iirc
A: A hell of a lot of spiritual debate
5. Aside from Love and War, did Venus pick up any other domains?
A: She didn't
11. What does Davin see when he looks at Venus? Considering he's a Blank and all.
A: A nondescript humanoid figure without any notable features
14. For Kesar's tier 7, would the Eldar be willing to help with that?
A: Depends on circumstances
16. Let's say that Venus actually got to meet with Angron. She likely can't do anything for him, at least regarding the nails, but if she was able to encounter him and Angron didn't just go fucking berserk...what exactly could she give or do for him before his death? And I don't mean anything sexual-related.
A: She'd say it's a private thing for his ears only
17. What percent of a Chaos God was Chaos Horus equal to?
A: 10%
17a. What about Chaos Kesar
A: 50%
17b. Chaos Abaddon?
A: In 40k? 5%
18. what happens to Heroes when Kesar gets psychic powers unlocked?
A: Nothing really
2. how's Perturabo's research in AI is going?
A: Nothing rolled yet
3. how far is Dorn in building in the Imperial Palace?
A: 5. Just finished the Stage 1 defenses'
8. what level of normal CR would render Narrative CR ineffective
A: Depends on the circumstances
9. what is the Squat base CR
A: Base? +5 to human's +0
3. Which two Chaos Gods does Maticus still need to kill a greater daemon of for tier 5?
A: Khorne and Slaanesh iirc
1. What happened here?
"And for the soul stones, one can turn souls from Eldar to human, leaving behind the energy for one to consume."
"That seems awfully convenient," Kesar slowly said. "Have you … done this before?"
"Not with Eldar," the Emperor said slowly, "I have with other warp beings, however."
"What happened to them?"
"They escaped into the warp," came the answer, "so I'm afraid I don't know."
A: The conversation will extend into the next update, and Kesar's response here is the best timing to choose the vote. So there's more to the talk later on
2. How many Shards of Khaine were used for the Primarchs?
A: One
3. Wait, since Kesar isn't using it... can we send that Daemonsbane Eldar Mask to someone else?
A: You will be yes
5. Also, when would be able to do research again, tech or runes, when Kesar awakens his powers?
A: Next turn, so the usual
10. How shady is Kesar and the 11th Viewed as from the perception of the following:
10a. Normal Humans
10b. Imperial Military
10c. Nobles
10d. Mechanicus
10e. The actual spies
10f. Other Astartes and Primarchs
A: Not at all
Notably
Minorly
Minorly
Moderately
Not at all
14. how does psyker pushing interact with Narrative CR
A: They still roll against CR, but rather than mental contamination, it's outright physical deterioration albeit at a bonus
15. does Pushing basically give the psyker the bonus/malus of the rank they are acting as so to speak?
A: To an extent yes
16. is Pushing a flat 1 rank or is there a degree of interranks where they go from Gamma to half step Beta instead of full Beta for example
A: There's intermediates, but in practice if you push you don't control that aspect
17. is it impossible or just really time consuming to train our librarians to use their powers in melee duels
A: Really time consuming
28. Oh yeah, interested to see the traits for everyone after the heist.
A:Corvus: +10 to rolls when fighting with or against Gods
Sachmis: Double effect of Venus' blessings and curses when applied through her
Alcar: Force enemy diviners to take twice as long to divine things he is actively shielding
Lockcraft: Majorly increased knowledge gain when interacting/studying gods
28c. Also I thought the initial idea for Corvus's trait was that he could come up with plans on the fly and in chaotic situations?
A: It was, but then he rolled poorly for the trait gain, so I gave him this and made it so that he's effectively banking XP for that trait in question
"And for the soul stones, one can turn souls from Eldar to human, leaving behind the energy for one to consume."
"That seems awfully convenient," Kesar slowly said. "Have you … done this before?"
"Not with Eldar," the Emperor said slowly, "I have with other warp beings, however."
"What happened to them?"
"They escaped into the warp," came the answer, "so I'm afraid I don't know."
A: The conversation will extend into the next update, and Kesar's response here is the best timing to choose the vote. So there's more to the talk later on
2. How many Shards of Khaine were used for the Primarchs?
A: One
3. Wait, since Kesar isn't using it... can we send that Daemonsbane Eldar Mask to someone else?
A: You will be yes
5. Also, when would be able to do research again, tech or runes, when Kesar awakens his powers?
A: Next turn, so the usual
10. How shady is Kesar and the 11th Viewed as from the perception of the following:
10a. Normal Humans
10b. Imperial Military
10c. Nobles
10d. Mechanicus
10e. The actual spies
10f. Other Astartes and Primarchs
A: Not at all
Notably
Minorly
Minorly
Moderately
Not at all
14. how does psyker pushing interact with Narrative CR
A: They still roll against CR, but rather than mental contamination, it's outright physical deterioration albeit at a bonus
15. does Pushing basically give the psyker the bonus/malus of the rank they are acting as so to speak?
A: To an extent yes
16. is Pushing a flat 1 rank or is there a degree of interranks where they go from Gamma to half step Beta instead of full Beta for example
A: There's intermediates, but in practice if you push you don't control that aspect
17. is it impossible or just really time consuming to train our librarians to use their powers in melee duels
A: Really time consuming
28. Oh yeah, interested to see the traits for everyone after the heist.
A:Corvus: +10 to rolls when fighting with or against Gods
Sachmis: Double effect of Venus' blessings and curses when applied through her
Alcar: Force enemy diviners to take twice as long to divine things he is actively shielding
Lockcraft: Majorly increased knowledge gain when interacting/studying gods
28c. Also I thought the initial idea for Corvus's trait was that he could come up with plans on the fly and in chaotic situations?
A: It was, but then he rolled poorly for the trait gain, so I gave him this and made it so that he's effectively banking XP for that trait in question
4a. So, say, Thunder Warrior Genome only requires 1 year? As with this one year is already done, and it has another omake cutting two years. So since Grandmaster is 4 years... now it's one year?
A: Maybe? I'd have to check
2. How much would this help support Perturabo with his AI research he's doing?
"Augmenting the Machine Spirit – Grandmaster : Requires Machine Spirit Understanding"
A: Unknown
4. Something that caught my attention while writing up this new omake. Serah Haillenarte had the blood of a Venusian Sultana and was the one that kept the Shard of Khaine within Sol. This stands to reason then that Serah knew the Emperor. What was their relation?
A: Child of a close acquaintance of the Emperor. Said acquaintance was essentially Emps' initial pick for one of his main subordinates. But then they wound up dying in Sol due to hostile actors
4c. Like someone on the level of Malc and Valdor?
A: A step below in skill and friendship. But still one of the people he was far closer to than normal.
6. can we make some psychic-enhancing object for Kesar's connections ability?
A: it'd be a bit tricky to make
6a. How much would such a thing be able to boost Kesar?
6b. Could Magnus help create such a thing?
A: Unknown and likely yes
12. Switching gears for a moment to focus on the omake. What exactly would Eldrad give as reasonings to not have Corvus know about hybrid gods aside from the idea of "We really shouldn't be trying to meld different gods together."
A: It's one of those things were it goes wrong 99% of the time in ways that are horrific. And the chance of hybrid gods being formed increases when people involved in the birth of gods know about the possibility. It's one of things where if you believe this might happen, it makes that chance larger.
12a. Corvus: Well, I didn't go into this thinking about making a hybrid god.
Eldrad: You didn't, but Sachmis was likely thinking along the lines of something else hybrid-related.
Corvus: ...shit.
A: Yep, that did play a part (it didn't at the time but fits rather well as a partial explanation)
12b. Oh my god, I just realised Venus could have a lot of demigods with humans and Eldar too.
A: That they could yes
12c.wait are demigods now possible?
A: Adopted, not by blood though
15. Oh, also, is the thing about the Psi Architecture mentioned here still true?
"34. Psi Architecture Tech Tree, how does that tech tree work with Magnus's own stuff relating to Warding and buildings tech
34. For that, it is effectively creating building in the shape of runes. Synergizes well with Magnus' own things."
A: It's been adjusted in how it works. Now it's more causing warp energy to flow through structures in specific ways
15a. Wait a minute... how would this work in conjunction with Volumetric Runes?
Runic Winds instead of Geomantic Webs
A: It'd help out
17. Wait a tick, didn't Emps technically make a bunch of hybrids with the Primarchs or would Eldrad point out upon learning that "You are using the shard like a power source...considering what you just described with Venus, it's the same principal but safely applied.
A: Pretty much, that and it's diluted. It's around 0.1% of an Eldar God mixed with something like 40 human gods
17a. How much of Khaine's power did Venus absorb anyway?
A: 0.1%
19. I just realized, Corvus and Sachmis and more importantly Venus actually beat the 99% fail rate for the hybrid god thing.
A: They did yes, had Khaine not rolled a 1, it'd have ended with more painful results
19b. Corvus: Huh, once in a life time event?
Eldrad: More like once in an eon.
A: Genuinely accurate
18ea. Those dastardly Eldar, bringing back human gods just to distract the Imperial Army and higher ups of the Imperium. Probably going to have gods work on Primarch domains too. Next thing ya know, they'll do this so civil war gets potentially worse so Malcador and the Emperor can't afford to get rid of them... or when the Eldar attack, do so with overwhelming divine support for their proxies. /s
A: This is genuinely what he (Malcador) thinks
20. It's staggering to imagine how Venus, influence by Sachmis and Corvus, but also her domains of love and war, is pretty much the type of goddess that can literally appeal to any type of soldier.
From the fucking rowdiest conscripts to the most prim and proper professional soldiers. She's always a 10/10 in their eyes. So yeah, no wonder the cults are going to spread like crazy.
A: 20. Yep, it's a terrifyingly effective method unless you treat it like chaos corruption via a daemonworld
A: Maybe? I'd have to check
2. How much would this help support Perturabo with his AI research he's doing?
"Augmenting the Machine Spirit – Grandmaster : Requires Machine Spirit Understanding"
A: Unknown
4. Something that caught my attention while writing up this new omake. Serah Haillenarte had the blood of a Venusian Sultana and was the one that kept the Shard of Khaine within Sol. This stands to reason then that Serah knew the Emperor. What was their relation?
A: Child of a close acquaintance of the Emperor. Said acquaintance was essentially Emps' initial pick for one of his main subordinates. But then they wound up dying in Sol due to hostile actors
4c. Like someone on the level of Malc and Valdor?
A: A step below in skill and friendship. But still one of the people he was far closer to than normal.
6. can we make some psychic-enhancing object for Kesar's connections ability?
A: it'd be a bit tricky to make
6a. How much would such a thing be able to boost Kesar?
6b. Could Magnus help create such a thing?
A: Unknown and likely yes
12. Switching gears for a moment to focus on the omake. What exactly would Eldrad give as reasonings to not have Corvus know about hybrid gods aside from the idea of "We really shouldn't be trying to meld different gods together."
A: It's one of those things were it goes wrong 99% of the time in ways that are horrific. And the chance of hybrid gods being formed increases when people involved in the birth of gods know about the possibility. It's one of things where if you believe this might happen, it makes that chance larger.
12a. Corvus: Well, I didn't go into this thinking about making a hybrid god.
Eldrad: You didn't, but Sachmis was likely thinking along the lines of something else hybrid-related.
Corvus: ...shit.
A: Yep, that did play a part (it didn't at the time but fits rather well as a partial explanation)
12b. Oh my god, I just realised Venus could have a lot of demigods with humans and Eldar too.
A: That they could yes
12c.wait are demigods now possible?
A: Adopted, not by blood though
15. Oh, also, is the thing about the Psi Architecture mentioned here still true?
"34. Psi Architecture Tech Tree, how does that tech tree work with Magnus's own stuff relating to Warding and buildings tech
34. For that, it is effectively creating building in the shape of runes. Synergizes well with Magnus' own things."
A: It's been adjusted in how it works. Now it's more causing warp energy to flow through structures in specific ways
15a. Wait a minute... how would this work in conjunction with Volumetric Runes?
Runic Winds instead of Geomantic Webs
A: It'd help out
17. Wait a tick, didn't Emps technically make a bunch of hybrids with the Primarchs or would Eldrad point out upon learning that "You are using the shard like a power source...considering what you just described with Venus, it's the same principal but safely applied.
A: Pretty much, that and it's diluted. It's around 0.1% of an Eldar God mixed with something like 40 human gods
17a. How much of Khaine's power did Venus absorb anyway?
A: 0.1%
19. I just realized, Corvus and Sachmis and more importantly Venus actually beat the 99% fail rate for the hybrid god thing.
A: They did yes, had Khaine not rolled a 1, it'd have ended with more painful results
19b. Corvus: Huh, once in a life time event?
Eldrad: More like once in an eon.
A: Genuinely accurate
18ea. Those dastardly Eldar, bringing back human gods just to distract the Imperial Army and higher ups of the Imperium. Probably going to have gods work on Primarch domains too. Next thing ya know, they'll do this so civil war gets potentially worse so Malcador and the Emperor can't afford to get rid of them... or when the Eldar attack, do so with overwhelming divine support for their proxies. /s
A: This is genuinely what he (Malcador) thinks
20. It's staggering to imagine how Venus, influence by Sachmis and Corvus, but also her domains of love and war, is pretty much the type of goddess that can literally appeal to any type of soldier.
From the fucking rowdiest conscripts to the most prim and proper professional soldiers. She's always a 10/10 in their eyes. So yeah, no wonder the cults are going to spread like crazy.
A: 20. Yep, it's a terrifyingly effective method unless you treat it like chaos corruption via a daemonworld
1. Interesting theory that I just came up with, but can a mortal who spends a considerable amount of time with a god or in their personal domain start to develop quirks or habits that could be associated with the god even if they don't believe in them? Like a quasi-cultural osmosis, albeit unconsciously.
A: They would yes
5. Is Shai-Tan a thing or not considering Morningstar is a thing now?
A: They are a thing still
7. Basically make Vashtorr the closest a single individual can come to being the Satan figure of the Mechanicus. Use him as an opportunity/excuse to flesh out the Machine Cult's faith like how the Imperial Creed has been. You could have Cogboy equivalents to the Sisters of Battle with their own Acts of Faith or an elite order of Techsorcists who have dedicated themselves to their purpose so much that they can cause Chaos tech to go into seizures mid-battle with holy code words. Give the Machine God some spotlight, y'know?
A: That would work well for him
1a. Huh, I wonder what the humans living in the Black Library are like these days.
A: It hasn't been long enough for them to notice yet, but over time they're going to be a fair bit more eccentric
4. So Jupiter is likely going to be based on Orus because that was what Corvus has planned, but where will Venus go? She can't go back to the world of her namesake, so where exactly can she establish her powerbase? I think the plan was her to go with Sachmis to her new pirate empire and setup a base of operation, but I suppose there is also the opportunity to help Sachmis and Corvus with getting the megastructure from the Ulwarth and establishing her prescene there.
A: At the moment that's in flux. Cegorach offered an isolated section of the Webway but Venus didn't like that that much.
5. Given how a Venus cult will propagate across the IA, I am assuming she just approaches the soldiers and officers from within dreams?
A: That is one of the methods she'll use
7. Crazy thought, but will there benn an unintentional side effect of Eli approving all Primarch project funding to help reduce tensions between the "Rebel" and loyalist factions because they aren't going to feel like the government is intentionally hamstringing one side?
A: There's a chance of that
21a. Magnus is working on his Portal Maze? How is that going?
A: He is, at the moment he's worked on shoring up the parts of the Prosperan Webway he's made
23. does Kesar keep unused runes on him in the event he needs to slap down a purity rune on somethink or someone
A: He does although he's got a purity rune in his armor already
10: If you were to rank the Primarchs in terms of how much they have contributed to scientific research, where would Kesar be?
A: I would say roughly fifth, but it depends on how you choose to rank them. Ahead of him would be Magnus, Perturabo, Ferrus, and Vulkan
11. I take it most Eldar sort of just *stare* at Venus, unsure what to make of her. She's not "ugly" from a physical standpoint, but something about her feels a little uncanny valley in some respects.
A: Pretty much, the best description would be like finding a catgirl IRL
11b. Of all possible ways you could have descvribed this, why would you call what was already a half-alien love goddess that she looks like a catgirl for the elves?
A: It's where my mind went immediately in full honesty. And it fit
15. I really want to see Venus meet with Morianne. I have to imagine there is a weird disconnet there as well due to Morianne's nature.
A: The best answer to what happens there is Venus' form begins glitching
16. Wait, hang on... Sachmis used to be basically a maid, right?
Is she now Venus's maid?
A: …Maybe
18. I have a genius idea.
Venus was offered an empty part of the Webway, but rejected that yeah?
The dream-cats this turn. Send them all there.
Venus can truly become the ultimate catgirl elf goddess, you furry.
A: Well uh, hmm, I mean. It'd work?
18a. why the fuck would you agree to this.
18b. how would it work? i have to know.
18c. could not think of a reason it would not work huh?
A: Because TLP, like reality, has no guard rails
18b. For that, you essentially cause that portion of the Webway to follow dream logic rather than normal logic
18c. Pretty much
18e. so, essentially, cegorach finds this old greco-roman god who's doubly caprious because goddamn why the hell did sachmis have to imprint her mind on a goddess like this?
here's this abandoned parking lot of a super pocket dimension, you can crash there if ya like? no? shit, dammit, i need to keep an eye on her assets- i mean this asset of a goddess. what do i do.
oh shit, the eternal wardens who i'm trying to ally has found a gigantic horde of dream cats? and the dream cats lost their home and are otherwise pretty chill?
five birds, one stone. distract the goddess with endless cats and make her happy with them, awesome. turn that pretty unused webway place into an awesome dreamland filled with amazing cats? fuck yeah. those same cats can also help eldar with their powers and be very happy with this? triple combo. eternal wardens grateful that this problem is solved? masterplan. this is extremely funny? best reason.
A: Proof that Cegorach is just winging it
18f. hey, remember this?
"SleepMode — Yesterday at 4:01 AM
Given how a Venus cult will propagate across the IA, I am assuming she just approaches the soldiers and officers from within dreams?
DaemonHunter — Yesterday at 12:30 PM
5. That is one of the methods she'll use"
how much would the dream-cats help?
18g. also, like, seriously how good would this whold idea really be with the venus + cats plan?
A: ...oh, oh my. They'd help quite a bit
22. So how much convincing does Eldrad or Cegorach need to give her to go with this plan?
A: Not that much provided they offer assistance with herding the cats
2. It says a lot about TLP's metaphysics and general possibility for crazy stuff that the idea that a shard of canon Magnus the Red (apparently reflecting his desire for lost knowledge) traveling to the past, merging with King Cadmus and turning him into a Perpetual that was then used as an ingredient to help create Magnus the Red in the first place being actually possible as a scenario.
A: I can confirm that it is
4. What would Venus say if she saw Clint? How would she describe the Timeless Army/March of Eons?
A: "Are you open to recruitment? It's rare to see someone as dedicated to war as you."
5. Technically speaking, could Venus with the dream-cats be able to manage to spread her divine worship to a Forge-World with said Warp Xenos cats?
I ask because I want to accuse you of making a 'dreamy' catgirl half-elf love goddess who can spread her cult by fucking 40k lolcat memes.
A: Well, technically yes
8. This is the stupidest possible accidental foreshadowing I have noticed for TLP, relating to the Venus dream-cat idea.
Venus has nothing to do with cats irl.
However, gods and goddesses related to cats do exist. Such as Bastet, Freyja and Kek and so on.
...
Sekhmet is an Egyptian goddess depicted with a Lion's head.
Sekhmet is also known as Sachmis.
Venus got Sachmis, so now she can get cats.
A: This is the funniest shit
6b. I assume that they'd want an amazing new home, Webway makes that a check, and then a source of food. Their food is dreams and ideas, so I assume that they'd eat Eldar dreams and such. Maybe ideas from Commorragh, actually. For using human dreams to spread Venus's worship... clearly, they'd something stronger to sweeten the deal.
What would be something that Venus or the Eldar could offer that would be welcomed by the cruel cat overlords of the Webway?
A: Solitaire dreams, those would be a highly unique experience
9. So, Venus is gonna head to the Zanzibar League at some point right? Literally that is a place that will worship her because she's the goddess of victory, war, and prostitutes.
A: That is one of the things on her to do list yes
2. Aside from becoming gods, did Alpharius Omegon going through the Well of Eternity affect their Legion at all?
A: Not that you know of, then again you don't know much about how their Legion is like
3. Passing this along:
"Mysterio: remind me again one thing we can do with our newfound pysker power is be a supportive unit? by that I mean boost others CR as well as combat ability?
TinyGladiator: Largely, it also helps with rune-making too.
Mysterio: now I can't recall if this is another thing we can do but was it possible to teleport but only to those we have a very close connection/relationship with?"
A: It's unlikely
8. I realise this probably isn't true, but in the Mechanicum novel there is a vision of the Void Dragon where the great beast devours maidens that are sacrificed by other humans to appease the horrific monster.
While it is noted in text to be more of a metaphor than reality, and Blanks obviously can manifest for anyone when they're born, this makes me wonder if this reflects at all to the mysterious origin of the Sisters of Silence.
A: Oh I like that actually, it's pretty fun
18. Not sure if I asked this before, but how did that ritual sacrifice god ascend in the first place?
A: Through a massive ritual they performed with a few hundred k sacrifices that ascended them
19. Also, it's interesting that the Ritual Sacrifice god managed to ascend while only partially having their domain. Is that something more unique to how widespread and powerful that domain is, or can, say, Alpharius Omegon ascend Sigma by sharing the domain of Espionage or something?
A: More unique to that domain
20. So Errorum is effectively a god that exists in an alternate timeline in TLP?
A: They are yes
20a. So what happens now, though? Lockcraft effectively told the warp of this timeline that "Oh yeah, there is this god you might not have heard about" and the False Shell is technically a thing now.
A: For that, there's an alternate timeline out there where people are rather confused as to why Errorum is the way that they are. As well as Ravenloft being about to experience some extremely fucky things happenning with the False Shell that neither they nor Cegorach expected.
19a. Who else has the ritual sacrifice domain, then?
A: Be'lakor, a handful of other daemons, Emps, but most of it is free floating
22. Also, is Cegorach's power growing in certain instances? Like his ability to multi-task via puppets like with Jean Dazzle?
A: It's less that their power is growing, and more their worship base is growing
20aa. Wait a minute...did Ravenloft in our timeline accidently empower a god in *different* timeline?
A: 20aa. They did yes, it's why it actually worked. If they hadn't done so, then it'd have been seen through by Emps
23. Ravenloft learns about this cross-timeline contamination effect. They do whatever is possible to prevent Orks and Khornates in other timelines learning about the BTW.
A: I will say that Cegorach has in fact already been working on this. As has Tzeentch
24. Wait a minute, with his own power and perhaps the Skeleton Key... could Corvus hear whispers from himself? From another timeline?
A: There are places where that occurs. However, those situations are ludicrously dangerous.
24a. The Skeleton Key is slowly becoming an actual reality hack ability if you can locate the universal depository of general knowledge and suddenly you are looking into weird alternate timelines for info
A: Similarly, it is something that it can do, however it's a bit like openning a door blindly. You have no idea what's on the other side.
24c. At some point the Ordo Chronous equviliant in TLP is going to show. That is unless Ravenloft is slowly becoming the founders of whatever temporal defense force is forming in TLP.
A: Odds are even then they'll still show up. It's just it'll be the Ordo from another timeline
24e. so Auro is on the hit list for this time line protection group since he was the first one to do cross timeline fuckery
A: Depends on which group it is. Some of them yes, some of them no, some of them both
1. I realise something.
The 'solar system' of Sixty-Three-Nineteen is said to be divine in nature, a godspore conglomerate in my own words, from a diffused godspore of Sol itself. Which has been somewhat used by the current 'Emperor of Mankind' upon 'Terra'.
I asked before if Venus's rebirth could affect the Sixty-Three-Nineteen Venus if the heist worked. With such a crazy, unexpected rebirth, has something more noticeable occurred?
1a. Worse yet, could the real Emperor of Mankind and such use the fake Venus as a divination focus for the real Venus (goddess)?
A: 1. It has yes. Namely that Venus now has a daemon on it
1a. They could yes
7. how do psyker familiars work?
A: That's a very hard question to ask
8. what is Kesars bonus in duels vs Daemons
A: Base of +275, but he often gets an intangible bonus for various attributes that's hidden. Usually that results in a +325
9. how does overkill work with True Death for Exalted daemons
A: If you roll over a certain amount during the roll where they die, then they get true killed. Said number varies from daemon to daemon
15. How much of a chance, is it that we get another Aleph or maelstrom situation after our 10 years with emp?
A: Low
15a. Does that mean then that the twins are going to do something incredibly risky and dangerous then, and ask us for help?
A: Perhaps, perhaps not
1. Huh, could we ask the Emperor to help make this Primal Rune? I'm sure he'd like to have one.
"Purification?
Effect: Boost to purification.
Requirement: Ask someone other than Kesar who has purified a holy artefact of a Chaos God help create this./Ask the Emperor of Mankind to help create this."
A: You can ask
2. can psykers create minor warp sprites by gathering and refining raw warp energy?
A: Not really how it works
3. Since we're gonna be stuck on Terra for a couple decades, are we gonna be able to meet Emps while we're here to sort out all the Rune stuff?
A: You'd have to see if he's available for that
4. if the First Daemon Princes had not been removed what would that have resulted in?
A: An exponentially more dangerous chaos. One that actually had highly experienced daemons with ambition and flexibility
5. So just to be clear, with the exception of Be'lakor himself, have all of the first daemon princes of the Chaos Gods died?
A: They have yes
5a.Actually, what about Slaanesh's first Daemon Princes? Did they all get shanked by Ceg or are they still around?
A: Killed by Kurnuous
6. How many new space marines per turn do we get ?
A: It varies based on your number, logistics, and recruitment, but around 50k or so
7. Oh are we going to work on the Geneseed with the Emperor and Fabius during our stay at terra?
A: There is a possibility
12. I was just wondering what 'holy artefact of a Chaos God' that the Emperor cleansed, allowing him to create this Rune. Probably a lot, but I just realised... would Kesar's chaos wounds count?
A: It would if it was completed, which it wasn't
12a. Huh, then what did the Emperor manage to cleanse in the past out of curiosity? It wasn't the Maelstrom, was it?
A: chaotic STCs with a daemon in them
13. You said before that a Runic Wind in an area would let more runes be made easier there, and certain other stuff to happen.
Roughly speaking, if we made a bunch of volumetric runes of fire in... say, the Rune World, how much would that help the Rune World for that particular runic type?
A: Unknown
16. Putting runes on a living thing drains their soul for the rune, yes?
How does that work with putting it on a machine, and affecting the machine spirit?
A: It's a passive drain on them
1. To put this into perspective, you said dating a Sister of Silence will help Kesar manage psychic awakening? By how much?
A: It'd make it easier for him to handle some of the power overall. Akin to a +10 to +30 depending on the strenght of the blank in question
1a. Since we're gonna become a psyker soon, what malus are we getting till the 20 years are done?
A: -100 to most things.
13. Aside from being baffled the Primarchs can have such feelings, I have to wonder how the Emperor would react to Kesar getting a blank GF either mostly or at least partially to just cure the psychic headaches?
A: He'd approve of the reasoning behind it. But would wonder why you didn't break up afterwards.
14. do blanks grow in power like psykers through effort or time?
A: They do yes
A: They would yes
5. Is Shai-Tan a thing or not considering Morningstar is a thing now?
A: They are a thing still
7. Basically make Vashtorr the closest a single individual can come to being the Satan figure of the Mechanicus. Use him as an opportunity/excuse to flesh out the Machine Cult's faith like how the Imperial Creed has been. You could have Cogboy equivalents to the Sisters of Battle with their own Acts of Faith or an elite order of Techsorcists who have dedicated themselves to their purpose so much that they can cause Chaos tech to go into seizures mid-battle with holy code words. Give the Machine God some spotlight, y'know?
A: That would work well for him
1a. Huh, I wonder what the humans living in the Black Library are like these days.
A: It hasn't been long enough for them to notice yet, but over time they're going to be a fair bit more eccentric
4. So Jupiter is likely going to be based on Orus because that was what Corvus has planned, but where will Venus go? She can't go back to the world of her namesake, so where exactly can she establish her powerbase? I think the plan was her to go with Sachmis to her new pirate empire and setup a base of operation, but I suppose there is also the opportunity to help Sachmis and Corvus with getting the megastructure from the Ulwarth and establishing her prescene there.
A: At the moment that's in flux. Cegorach offered an isolated section of the Webway but Venus didn't like that that much.
5. Given how a Venus cult will propagate across the IA, I am assuming she just approaches the soldiers and officers from within dreams?
A: That is one of the methods she'll use
7. Crazy thought, but will there benn an unintentional side effect of Eli approving all Primarch project funding to help reduce tensions between the "Rebel" and loyalist factions because they aren't going to feel like the government is intentionally hamstringing one side?
A: There's a chance of that
21a. Magnus is working on his Portal Maze? How is that going?
A: He is, at the moment he's worked on shoring up the parts of the Prosperan Webway he's made
23. does Kesar keep unused runes on him in the event he needs to slap down a purity rune on somethink or someone
A: He does although he's got a purity rune in his armor already
10: If you were to rank the Primarchs in terms of how much they have contributed to scientific research, where would Kesar be?
A: I would say roughly fifth, but it depends on how you choose to rank them. Ahead of him would be Magnus, Perturabo, Ferrus, and Vulkan
11. I take it most Eldar sort of just *stare* at Venus, unsure what to make of her. She's not "ugly" from a physical standpoint, but something about her feels a little uncanny valley in some respects.
A: Pretty much, the best description would be like finding a catgirl IRL
11b. Of all possible ways you could have descvribed this, why would you call what was already a half-alien love goddess that she looks like a catgirl for the elves?
A: It's where my mind went immediately in full honesty. And it fit
15. I really want to see Venus meet with Morianne. I have to imagine there is a weird disconnet there as well due to Morianne's nature.
A: The best answer to what happens there is Venus' form begins glitching
16. Wait, hang on... Sachmis used to be basically a maid, right?
Is she now Venus's maid?
A: …Maybe
18. I have a genius idea.
Venus was offered an empty part of the Webway, but rejected that yeah?
The dream-cats this turn. Send them all there.
Venus can truly become the ultimate catgirl elf goddess, you furry.
A: Well uh, hmm, I mean. It'd work?
18a. why the fuck would you agree to this.
18b. how would it work? i have to know.
18c. could not think of a reason it would not work huh?
A: Because TLP, like reality, has no guard rails
18b. For that, you essentially cause that portion of the Webway to follow dream logic rather than normal logic
18c. Pretty much
18e. so, essentially, cegorach finds this old greco-roman god who's doubly caprious because goddamn why the hell did sachmis have to imprint her mind on a goddess like this?
here's this abandoned parking lot of a super pocket dimension, you can crash there if ya like? no? shit, dammit, i need to keep an eye on her assets- i mean this asset of a goddess. what do i do.
oh shit, the eternal wardens who i'm trying to ally has found a gigantic horde of dream cats? and the dream cats lost their home and are otherwise pretty chill?
five birds, one stone. distract the goddess with endless cats and make her happy with them, awesome. turn that pretty unused webway place into an awesome dreamland filled with amazing cats? fuck yeah. those same cats can also help eldar with their powers and be very happy with this? triple combo. eternal wardens grateful that this problem is solved? masterplan. this is extremely funny? best reason.
A: Proof that Cegorach is just winging it
18f. hey, remember this?
"SleepMode — Yesterday at 4:01 AM
Given how a Venus cult will propagate across the IA, I am assuming she just approaches the soldiers and officers from within dreams?
DaemonHunter — Yesterday at 12:30 PM
5. That is one of the methods she'll use"
how much would the dream-cats help?
18g. also, like, seriously how good would this whold idea really be with the venus + cats plan?
A: ...oh, oh my. They'd help quite a bit
22. So how much convincing does Eldrad or Cegorach need to give her to go with this plan?
A: Not that much provided they offer assistance with herding the cats
2. It says a lot about TLP's metaphysics and general possibility for crazy stuff that the idea that a shard of canon Magnus the Red (apparently reflecting his desire for lost knowledge) traveling to the past, merging with King Cadmus and turning him into a Perpetual that was then used as an ingredient to help create Magnus the Red in the first place being actually possible as a scenario.
A: I can confirm that it is
4. What would Venus say if she saw Clint? How would she describe the Timeless Army/March of Eons?
A: "Are you open to recruitment? It's rare to see someone as dedicated to war as you."
5. Technically speaking, could Venus with the dream-cats be able to manage to spread her divine worship to a Forge-World with said Warp Xenos cats?
I ask because I want to accuse you of making a 'dreamy' catgirl half-elf love goddess who can spread her cult by fucking 40k lolcat memes.
A: Well, technically yes
8. This is the stupidest possible accidental foreshadowing I have noticed for TLP, relating to the Venus dream-cat idea.
Venus has nothing to do with cats irl.
However, gods and goddesses related to cats do exist. Such as Bastet, Freyja and Kek and so on.
...
Sekhmet is an Egyptian goddess depicted with a Lion's head.
Sekhmet is also known as Sachmis.
Venus got Sachmis, so now she can get cats.
A: This is the funniest shit
6b. I assume that they'd want an amazing new home, Webway makes that a check, and then a source of food. Their food is dreams and ideas, so I assume that they'd eat Eldar dreams and such. Maybe ideas from Commorragh, actually. For using human dreams to spread Venus's worship... clearly, they'd something stronger to sweeten the deal.
What would be something that Venus or the Eldar could offer that would be welcomed by the cruel cat overlords of the Webway?
A: Solitaire dreams, those would be a highly unique experience
9. So, Venus is gonna head to the Zanzibar League at some point right? Literally that is a place that will worship her because she's the goddess of victory, war, and prostitutes.
A: That is one of the things on her to do list yes
2. Aside from becoming gods, did Alpharius Omegon going through the Well of Eternity affect their Legion at all?
A: Not that you know of, then again you don't know much about how their Legion is like
3. Passing this along:
"Mysterio: remind me again one thing we can do with our newfound pysker power is be a supportive unit? by that I mean boost others CR as well as combat ability?
TinyGladiator: Largely, it also helps with rune-making too.
Mysterio: now I can't recall if this is another thing we can do but was it possible to teleport but only to those we have a very close connection/relationship with?"
A: It's unlikely
8. I realise this probably isn't true, but in the Mechanicum novel there is a vision of the Void Dragon where the great beast devours maidens that are sacrificed by other humans to appease the horrific monster.
While it is noted in text to be more of a metaphor than reality, and Blanks obviously can manifest for anyone when they're born, this makes me wonder if this reflects at all to the mysterious origin of the Sisters of Silence.
A: Oh I like that actually, it's pretty fun
18. Not sure if I asked this before, but how did that ritual sacrifice god ascend in the first place?
A: Through a massive ritual they performed with a few hundred k sacrifices that ascended them
19. Also, it's interesting that the Ritual Sacrifice god managed to ascend while only partially having their domain. Is that something more unique to how widespread and powerful that domain is, or can, say, Alpharius Omegon ascend Sigma by sharing the domain of Espionage or something?
A: More unique to that domain
20. So Errorum is effectively a god that exists in an alternate timeline in TLP?
A: They are yes
20a. So what happens now, though? Lockcraft effectively told the warp of this timeline that "Oh yeah, there is this god you might not have heard about" and the False Shell is technically a thing now.
A: For that, there's an alternate timeline out there where people are rather confused as to why Errorum is the way that they are. As well as Ravenloft being about to experience some extremely fucky things happenning with the False Shell that neither they nor Cegorach expected.
19a. Who else has the ritual sacrifice domain, then?
A: Be'lakor, a handful of other daemons, Emps, but most of it is free floating
22. Also, is Cegorach's power growing in certain instances? Like his ability to multi-task via puppets like with Jean Dazzle?
A: It's less that their power is growing, and more their worship base is growing
20aa. Wait a minute...did Ravenloft in our timeline accidently empower a god in *different* timeline?
A: 20aa. They did yes, it's why it actually worked. If they hadn't done so, then it'd have been seen through by Emps
23. Ravenloft learns about this cross-timeline contamination effect. They do whatever is possible to prevent Orks and Khornates in other timelines learning about the BTW.
A: I will say that Cegorach has in fact already been working on this. As has Tzeentch
24. Wait a minute, with his own power and perhaps the Skeleton Key... could Corvus hear whispers from himself? From another timeline?
A: There are places where that occurs. However, those situations are ludicrously dangerous.
24a. The Skeleton Key is slowly becoming an actual reality hack ability if you can locate the universal depository of general knowledge and suddenly you are looking into weird alternate timelines for info
A: Similarly, it is something that it can do, however it's a bit like openning a door blindly. You have no idea what's on the other side.
24c. At some point the Ordo Chronous equviliant in TLP is going to show. That is unless Ravenloft is slowly becoming the founders of whatever temporal defense force is forming in TLP.
A: Odds are even then they'll still show up. It's just it'll be the Ordo from another timeline
24e. so Auro is on the hit list for this time line protection group since he was the first one to do cross timeline fuckery
A: Depends on which group it is. Some of them yes, some of them no, some of them both
1. I realise something.
The 'solar system' of Sixty-Three-Nineteen is said to be divine in nature, a godspore conglomerate in my own words, from a diffused godspore of Sol itself. Which has been somewhat used by the current 'Emperor of Mankind' upon 'Terra'.
I asked before if Venus's rebirth could affect the Sixty-Three-Nineteen Venus if the heist worked. With such a crazy, unexpected rebirth, has something more noticeable occurred?
1a. Worse yet, could the real Emperor of Mankind and such use the fake Venus as a divination focus for the real Venus (goddess)?
A: 1. It has yes. Namely that Venus now has a daemon on it
1a. They could yes
7. how do psyker familiars work?
A: That's a very hard question to ask
8. what is Kesars bonus in duels vs Daemons
A: Base of +275, but he often gets an intangible bonus for various attributes that's hidden. Usually that results in a +325
9. how does overkill work with True Death for Exalted daemons
A: If you roll over a certain amount during the roll where they die, then they get true killed. Said number varies from daemon to daemon
15. How much of a chance, is it that we get another Aleph or maelstrom situation after our 10 years with emp?
A: Low
15a. Does that mean then that the twins are going to do something incredibly risky and dangerous then, and ask us for help?
A: Perhaps, perhaps not
1. Huh, could we ask the Emperor to help make this Primal Rune? I'm sure he'd like to have one.
"Purification?
Effect: Boost to purification.
Requirement: Ask someone other than Kesar who has purified a holy artefact of a Chaos God help create this./Ask the Emperor of Mankind to help create this."
A: You can ask
2. can psykers create minor warp sprites by gathering and refining raw warp energy?
A: Not really how it works
3. Since we're gonna be stuck on Terra for a couple decades, are we gonna be able to meet Emps while we're here to sort out all the Rune stuff?
A: You'd have to see if he's available for that
4. if the First Daemon Princes had not been removed what would that have resulted in?
A: An exponentially more dangerous chaos. One that actually had highly experienced daemons with ambition and flexibility
5. So just to be clear, with the exception of Be'lakor himself, have all of the first daemon princes of the Chaos Gods died?
A: They have yes
5a.Actually, what about Slaanesh's first Daemon Princes? Did they all get shanked by Ceg or are they still around?
A: Killed by Kurnuous
6. How many new space marines per turn do we get ?
A: It varies based on your number, logistics, and recruitment, but around 50k or so
7. Oh are we going to work on the Geneseed with the Emperor and Fabius during our stay at terra?
A: There is a possibility
12. I was just wondering what 'holy artefact of a Chaos God' that the Emperor cleansed, allowing him to create this Rune. Probably a lot, but I just realised... would Kesar's chaos wounds count?
A: It would if it was completed, which it wasn't
12a. Huh, then what did the Emperor manage to cleanse in the past out of curiosity? It wasn't the Maelstrom, was it?
A: chaotic STCs with a daemon in them
13. You said before that a Runic Wind in an area would let more runes be made easier there, and certain other stuff to happen.
Roughly speaking, if we made a bunch of volumetric runes of fire in... say, the Rune World, how much would that help the Rune World for that particular runic type?
A: Unknown
16. Putting runes on a living thing drains their soul for the rune, yes?
How does that work with putting it on a machine, and affecting the machine spirit?
A: It's a passive drain on them
1. To put this into perspective, you said dating a Sister of Silence will help Kesar manage psychic awakening? By how much?
A: It'd make it easier for him to handle some of the power overall. Akin to a +10 to +30 depending on the strenght of the blank in question
1a. Since we're gonna become a psyker soon, what malus are we getting till the 20 years are done?
A: -100 to most things.
13. Aside from being baffled the Primarchs can have such feelings, I have to wonder how the Emperor would react to Kesar getting a blank GF either mostly or at least partially to just cure the psychic headaches?
A: He'd approve of the reasoning behind it. But would wonder why you didn't break up afterwards.
14. do blanks grow in power like psykers through effort or time?
A: They do yes
16. Is their a reason all male blanks join Mals assassin's and all female the SOS or is it just an arbitrary way to guarantee both groups get the similar quality and quantity
A: MOre it's a quirk of genetics and the Imperium's legal system making it so that trans-men are classified as male so aren't scanned to see if they're eligible for the SoS
21. What's Leman doing for a first date?
A: For that, he's going to be going on a hunt with her. Mostly of not very dangerous animals
4. So if we send Maticus to that non Chaos daemonworld and he manages to kill the god there, would that make him a God Slayer?
A: Perhaps
12, Would the Masque count as an Exalted daemon for the Daemonsbane reqs.?
A: It wouldn't
19. do Primarchs who routinely interact with Eldar gain narrative boons to CR due to being so closely aligned with a faction that also fucking hates Chaos?
A: Not quite, more it's easier for them to get CR upgrades
20. does Ori have a contingency for if Kesar willingly goes to Chaos? Or a contingency for a situation where that would be a possible and likely outcome?
A: He has one yes. Whether or not it works is another story, but Ori does not rate it as good odds
13. do psychic familiars have ingrained loyalty to the psykers that bind them?
13a. is there any power level that prevents such bindings?
A: They have loyalty, whether or not that's due to the bond or the process of forming it is unknown
a. Generally the stronger the familiar the harder it is to bind them
18. why is Kesar suffering so much for opening his powers when latent and active psykers tend to not really suffer as such when their powers activate
A: Most of those psykers outright die when that happens
18a. ah the good old, "no one suffers because everyone that suffers dies"
A: Yep, that or they get lynched by mobs if they go insane or lose control of their powers
1. Is there an Eldar library spirit of enough power and sapience for Magnus to meet?
A: There is not, The Black Library is weird in that it absolutely should have such a spirit
But doesn't seem to have one
5. What are the chances of finding a human world in the Maelstrom, that would go through whatever crazy stuff there and be whatever in terms of culture, strength and such.
And everyone and everything, from the smallest creatures to the planet itself, is fading away because they were all tulpas all along.
And without the Maelstrom's energy, they're dying?
A: Existent
7) how xenophob will the Venus cult generally be against non humans/Eldars
A: A fair bit
22, Is it possible for the BTW to reach a point where Khornate Exalteds are able to present a threat to Tier 11 Kesar?
A: Theoretically yes, but it'd require an absurd length of time and luck
23, How much does the space marine legions having completely independent command structures from the IA affect overall combat performace?
A: Unknown in universe as usually what happens is the Astartes just show up and take command
24. where does Karcer fall in skill for naval command among the Imperium compared to astartes and primarchs
A: It's expected to be somewhat low as at her level she wasn't supposed to engage in that kind of thing. Instead her post was more logistical and strategic scale command
24a. so the best option for this endeavor
A: That's up to you all to decide
1.what is the ratio of corruption from discrete sources to aura corruption in the maelstorm at current?
A: The two are basically tied together, so you can't really tell that apart
2. Could we put Karcer in a temporary coma and directly talk to her in shared dreams?
A: You could yes
3. How difficult is it for Kesar to talk in dreams? That also get a -100 malus?
A: That'll be something to determine, but it'll not be a great method of communication
9. Has Valhallan art done anything of note at all? We have a +5 for it it seems
A: So far just helped with the cultural boom in the sector
17. Has Magnus given us his completed notes on psyker gene seed?
A: He hasn't yet
20, How much of the Exalted daemons traits list is Emps aware of?
A: You don't really know
21. Have we given or can we give mortarian and magnus our notes on Chaplin training?
A: You can provide that yes
22. what is the bonus required for Malcador to consider a person a viable High Lord candidate when the position is skill based instead of pure nepotism
A: Not something he'd give a straight answer to as he'll make special exceptions for them if they're skilled in multiple areas for instance
3. Are the Blue Scribes Exalted?
A: Not in power, no
5. its impressive just how crap we are against Khorne's exalted these days, Khorne has 3 that one shot Kesar in effect
A: Khorne does have the scariest of them. Although they don't one shot Kesar. They're just good match ups for him.
11. What piece of military hardware in the Imperium has the best CEP?
A: There's light artillery with a CEP of around 5 meters. The main issue there is Warhammer physics makes artillery a fair bit worse than it is IRL
7d. what is the general level of Honored now for Khorne since the war has been power leveling his forces like mad even the Blood Weaver has gotten in on the action going from base Greater to Honored in mere decades
A: Around +180 to combat overall
15. I had a terrible thought about the whole Runic Winds idea.
If multiple Runic Winds were used in the same area, or a different type of Rune was made within said wind, would that risk some sort of Runic Dhar?
A: It would yes
1. Would using Conceptual Bonding on an object 'fill' a slot for how many runes it can have? Like if a conceptually bound weapon or armour count for the 'one for weapons, one for armour' limit?
A: It wouldn't no
4. sort of surpised Khorne's honored havent escalated beyond their base form in power
A: They have, they started off at +160, now they're at +180. It's just that the bonus is more prominent for the weaker daemons due to them having more open skills to improve upon
1. Wait, can Conceptual Bonding be done on a living being?
A: That's ascension, so yes but no
1b. So since Conceptual Bonding can work on objects, and living beings would 'ascend' with bonding with an concept, does that mean that theoretically Kesar Dorlin can 'ascend' the Vigilance?
A: Theoretically yes. It'd just be very difficult to do
13. Actually, here is a good question. What is the strength level of Oblivion and its champion, the Voidbane?
A: Exalted and Honored
12a. Has Dorn incorporated any of the ideas from the paper into the next stage of planning
A: Not quite, more that's in the plans for the aggregate of stages 2 and 3
14. At what tier would Kesar be able to true kill Doombreed?
A: Unknown
16. any deamons close to breaching the Exalted ranks?
A: For Khorne a decent few, for Tzeentch 1 or 2. For Slaanesh, -1 or -2
18. do there exist shards of Khaine active in the BTW?
A: here is one that's leading a Waagh and of the belief they're in the WiH on a minor front against rogue elements
18a. how powerful has that shard become
A: High for a Shard of Khaine at this time
19. How does Maticus vs Anngrath go?
A: Maticus would win but it'd be a bit of a drawn out fight
16. Think Tank with Grorvodor, what happens by that point?
A: Very scary things for everyone sane
17. Can Corvus loan out the Skeleton Key to Polaris for missions if he is promised a cut in profits or does Corvus just want to do stuff himself to make money for his Domain?
A: He'd loan it out, provided there is either a Raven Guard or Harlequin present to ensure the Key's safety
19. How goes things on the now "peaceful" world of Tumultous?
A: It's still under quarantine/observation by the Ultramarines and Eldar. thus far, it seems like it's just a normal world, albeit one with less fertility than normal due to the world spirit being dead
20. after Kesar becomes a psyker how much eaiser will making/creation of just basic runes be
A: Undecided
1, Since the Masque isn't actually an Exalted daemon, would they get insta true killed by Kesar's Anathema trait?
A: If they don't have a trait to not insta die then yes. They do not have such a trait, so yep
3, How does tier 11 Maticus fare against Be'lakor?
A: Unknown
7. Would Oblivion count for Maticus' tier 2 daemonsbane?
A: It would
8. Which Chaos Gods does Maticus still need to kill a Greater daemon of?
A: Khorne and Slaanesh iirc
9. does Malcador realize that he's the one who taught Kesar politics?
A: He doesn't
1. Not sure if I asked this before, but what is the strongest level of daemon on the Slaaneshi Rune-Fort?
A: Favored, you think
2, Be honest, what is the most dangerous red world for us right now?
A: Luminara
5. what would the outcome be of khone murking gork and mork rn?
A: Orks bow the knee to Khorne, leading to him becoming the God of Orks as well. Followed by Khorne most likely winning the Great Game
9, Can the Unbound Empire possible purchase the services of the Skaven auction houses?
A: They can from the smaller ones at the moment, but will be able to buy the services of the larger ones soon-ish
4, How strong would corrupted Warden heroes be? If I remember correctly, having narrative CR before falling makes the corrupted individual more powerful once fallen.
A: At a base level, Exalted
12, How powerful are the demigods on Luminara anyway? I figure they are Gamma level psykers?
A: Zeta level
13, How strong would Skarbrand be if tier 11 Baldur de-Chaosed him?
A: Extremely
17. what are the narrative effects on geneseed purity/mutation, aspirant selection process and neophytes? Is it pure fluff on the legion page or does it have impacts that aren't directly listed?
A: It has unknown impacts
2, I just realized something about the Ork teef idea and giving it gold, silver, and what not colors to make it those materials. You could still do the same for the other colors that Orks like to use...but rather than become a metal, it becomes a gemstone to reflect Green, Red, Purple, etc.
A: That is actually what I was thinking. basically making said teeth into emeralds, rubies, and sapphires to give them various psychic effects
12a. Oof, Zeta only? Man I'd have thought Delta grade at least.
A: A large part of that is due to the Exalted and Honored siphoning power
12b. That's interesting. Also puts us in a bind. Kill the daemons but that leaves the psykers of their world to basically regain their power.
A: That it does
9, Which Chaos God would you say fits each corrupted Warden hero the most?
A: Tzeentch for Ori
Khorne for Doom Slayer
Nurgle for Maticus
Slaanesh for Solarus
Undivided for Orion
Slaanesh for Auro
10, Tier 11 Baldur de-Chaosed Skarbrand vs Emps?
A: Depends on the circumstances
A: MOre it's a quirk of genetics and the Imperium's legal system making it so that trans-men are classified as male so aren't scanned to see if they're eligible for the SoS
21. What's Leman doing for a first date?
A: For that, he's going to be going on a hunt with her. Mostly of not very dangerous animals
4. So if we send Maticus to that non Chaos daemonworld and he manages to kill the god there, would that make him a God Slayer?
A: Perhaps
12, Would the Masque count as an Exalted daemon for the Daemonsbane reqs.?
A: It wouldn't
19. do Primarchs who routinely interact with Eldar gain narrative boons to CR due to being so closely aligned with a faction that also fucking hates Chaos?
A: Not quite, more it's easier for them to get CR upgrades
20. does Ori have a contingency for if Kesar willingly goes to Chaos? Or a contingency for a situation where that would be a possible and likely outcome?
A: He has one yes. Whether or not it works is another story, but Ori does not rate it as good odds
13. do psychic familiars have ingrained loyalty to the psykers that bind them?
13a. is there any power level that prevents such bindings?
A: They have loyalty, whether or not that's due to the bond or the process of forming it is unknown
a. Generally the stronger the familiar the harder it is to bind them
18. why is Kesar suffering so much for opening his powers when latent and active psykers tend to not really suffer as such when their powers activate
A: Most of those psykers outright die when that happens
18a. ah the good old, "no one suffers because everyone that suffers dies"
A: Yep, that or they get lynched by mobs if they go insane or lose control of their powers
1. Is there an Eldar library spirit of enough power and sapience for Magnus to meet?
A: There is not, The Black Library is weird in that it absolutely should have such a spirit
But doesn't seem to have one
5. What are the chances of finding a human world in the Maelstrom, that would go through whatever crazy stuff there and be whatever in terms of culture, strength and such.
And everyone and everything, from the smallest creatures to the planet itself, is fading away because they were all tulpas all along.
And without the Maelstrom's energy, they're dying?
A: Existent
7) how xenophob will the Venus cult generally be against non humans/Eldars
A: A fair bit
22, Is it possible for the BTW to reach a point where Khornate Exalteds are able to present a threat to Tier 11 Kesar?
A: Theoretically yes, but it'd require an absurd length of time and luck
23, How much does the space marine legions having completely independent command structures from the IA affect overall combat performace?
A: Unknown in universe as usually what happens is the Astartes just show up and take command
24. where does Karcer fall in skill for naval command among the Imperium compared to astartes and primarchs
A: It's expected to be somewhat low as at her level she wasn't supposed to engage in that kind of thing. Instead her post was more logistical and strategic scale command
24a. so the best option for this endeavor
A: That's up to you all to decide
1.what is the ratio of corruption from discrete sources to aura corruption in the maelstorm at current?
A: The two are basically tied together, so you can't really tell that apart
2. Could we put Karcer in a temporary coma and directly talk to her in shared dreams?
A: You could yes
3. How difficult is it for Kesar to talk in dreams? That also get a -100 malus?
A: That'll be something to determine, but it'll not be a great method of communication
9. Has Valhallan art done anything of note at all? We have a +5 for it it seems
A: So far just helped with the cultural boom in the sector
17. Has Magnus given us his completed notes on psyker gene seed?
A: He hasn't yet
20, How much of the Exalted daemons traits list is Emps aware of?
A: You don't really know
21. Have we given or can we give mortarian and magnus our notes on Chaplin training?
A: You can provide that yes
22. what is the bonus required for Malcador to consider a person a viable High Lord candidate when the position is skill based instead of pure nepotism
A: Not something he'd give a straight answer to as he'll make special exceptions for them if they're skilled in multiple areas for instance
3. Are the Blue Scribes Exalted?
A: Not in power, no
5. its impressive just how crap we are against Khorne's exalted these days, Khorne has 3 that one shot Kesar in effect
A: Khorne does have the scariest of them. Although they don't one shot Kesar. They're just good match ups for him.
11. What piece of military hardware in the Imperium has the best CEP?
A: There's light artillery with a CEP of around 5 meters. The main issue there is Warhammer physics makes artillery a fair bit worse than it is IRL
7d. what is the general level of Honored now for Khorne since the war has been power leveling his forces like mad even the Blood Weaver has gotten in on the action going from base Greater to Honored in mere decades
A: Around +180 to combat overall
15. I had a terrible thought about the whole Runic Winds idea.
If multiple Runic Winds were used in the same area, or a different type of Rune was made within said wind, would that risk some sort of Runic Dhar?
A: It would yes
1. Would using Conceptual Bonding on an object 'fill' a slot for how many runes it can have? Like if a conceptually bound weapon or armour count for the 'one for weapons, one for armour' limit?
A: It wouldn't no
4. sort of surpised Khorne's honored havent escalated beyond their base form in power
A: They have, they started off at +160, now they're at +180. It's just that the bonus is more prominent for the weaker daemons due to them having more open skills to improve upon
1. Wait, can Conceptual Bonding be done on a living being?
A: That's ascension, so yes but no
1b. So since Conceptual Bonding can work on objects, and living beings would 'ascend' with bonding with an concept, does that mean that theoretically Kesar Dorlin can 'ascend' the Vigilance?
A: Theoretically yes. It'd just be very difficult to do
13. Actually, here is a good question. What is the strength level of Oblivion and its champion, the Voidbane?
A: Exalted and Honored
12a. Has Dorn incorporated any of the ideas from the paper into the next stage of planning
A: Not quite, more that's in the plans for the aggregate of stages 2 and 3
14. At what tier would Kesar be able to true kill Doombreed?
A: Unknown
16. any deamons close to breaching the Exalted ranks?
A: For Khorne a decent few, for Tzeentch 1 or 2. For Slaanesh, -1 or -2
18. do there exist shards of Khaine active in the BTW?
A: here is one that's leading a Waagh and of the belief they're in the WiH on a minor front against rogue elements
18a. how powerful has that shard become
A: High for a Shard of Khaine at this time
19. How does Maticus vs Anngrath go?
A: Maticus would win but it'd be a bit of a drawn out fight
16. Think Tank with Grorvodor, what happens by that point?
A: Very scary things for everyone sane
17. Can Corvus loan out the Skeleton Key to Polaris for missions if he is promised a cut in profits or does Corvus just want to do stuff himself to make money for his Domain?
A: He'd loan it out, provided there is either a Raven Guard or Harlequin present to ensure the Key's safety
19. How goes things on the now "peaceful" world of Tumultous?
A: It's still under quarantine/observation by the Ultramarines and Eldar. thus far, it seems like it's just a normal world, albeit one with less fertility than normal due to the world spirit being dead
20. after Kesar becomes a psyker how much eaiser will making/creation of just basic runes be
A: Undecided
1, Since the Masque isn't actually an Exalted daemon, would they get insta true killed by Kesar's Anathema trait?
A: If they don't have a trait to not insta die then yes. They do not have such a trait, so yep
3, How does tier 11 Maticus fare against Be'lakor?
A: Unknown
7. Would Oblivion count for Maticus' tier 2 daemonsbane?
A: It would
8. Which Chaos Gods does Maticus still need to kill a Greater daemon of?
A: Khorne and Slaanesh iirc
9. does Malcador realize that he's the one who taught Kesar politics?
A: He doesn't
1. Not sure if I asked this before, but what is the strongest level of daemon on the Slaaneshi Rune-Fort?
A: Favored, you think
2, Be honest, what is the most dangerous red world for us right now?
A: Luminara
5. what would the outcome be of khone murking gork and mork rn?
A: Orks bow the knee to Khorne, leading to him becoming the God of Orks as well. Followed by Khorne most likely winning the Great Game
9, Can the Unbound Empire possible purchase the services of the Skaven auction houses?
A: They can from the smaller ones at the moment, but will be able to buy the services of the larger ones soon-ish
4, How strong would corrupted Warden heroes be? If I remember correctly, having narrative CR before falling makes the corrupted individual more powerful once fallen.
A: At a base level, Exalted
12, How powerful are the demigods on Luminara anyway? I figure they are Gamma level psykers?
A: Zeta level
13, How strong would Skarbrand be if tier 11 Baldur de-Chaosed him?
A: Extremely
17. what are the narrative effects on geneseed purity/mutation, aspirant selection process and neophytes? Is it pure fluff on the legion page or does it have impacts that aren't directly listed?
A: It has unknown impacts
2, I just realized something about the Ork teef idea and giving it gold, silver, and what not colors to make it those materials. You could still do the same for the other colors that Orks like to use...but rather than become a metal, it becomes a gemstone to reflect Green, Red, Purple, etc.
A: That is actually what I was thinking. basically making said teeth into emeralds, rubies, and sapphires to give them various psychic effects
12a. Oof, Zeta only? Man I'd have thought Delta grade at least.
A: A large part of that is due to the Exalted and Honored siphoning power
12b. That's interesting. Also puts us in a bind. Kill the daemons but that leaves the psykers of their world to basically regain their power.
A: That it does
9, Which Chaos God would you say fits each corrupted Warden hero the most?
A: Tzeentch for Ori
Khorne for Doom Slayer
Nurgle for Maticus
Slaanesh for Solarus
Undivided for Orion
Slaanesh for Auro
10, Tier 11 Baldur de-Chaosed Skarbrand vs Emps?
A: Depends on the circumstances
7. So a while back when Guilliman managed to beat Gangrel you said that Guilliman got a trait but never specified what it was.
A: iirc that was more a trait upgrade. It was the +20 to isolating enemy heroes
4. What is the difference between Conceptual Bonding being used to bind yourself to a concept, and engraving a personal Rune onto yourself?
A: The former is becoming a god, the latter is more augmenting yourself
5. what is Kesar's color of purity and Anathema
A: For that, I'd imagine Kesar himself views purity with a silver sheen, although I do like the idea of having it be the various colors of the Chaos Gods. That feels right
13. Considering how standards have totally shifted, especially compared to the 'second strongest Ork' getting killed to cause this: How 'small' is Phoenix Lord Amon's Kommando Waaagh, actually?
A: Around 20k Kommandos
13a. How skilled are they? Any notable members?
A: Around on par with elite Solar Auxilia soldiers. And around 10 notable Kommandos within it
13b. While I'd imagine that Amon would rather die than actually say this, how good are the 10 notable Kommandos compared to... Striking Scorpions in terms of stealth and strength?
A: On par with the average Striking Scorpion
16. Do a weird deal with Eldrad, "Divine the location of a greater daemon of our chosing, have the binder capture it, and then we'll set up a battle so that we can ensure true killing."
A: That is rather viable
3. Who is the Exalted Daemon Prince of Slaanesh with Trazyn? And who is the Exalted Daemon of Nurgle that's also with Trazyn?
A: Those are unfluffed atm
4b. if Khorne becomes the God of Soldiers would he be able to give Skarbrand a path to full redemption if never as high as before but restored to a majority of his power?
A: He can do so now as well, he just won't
7. I just realised a big point. Cegorach has a bound Lord of Change. Is Asurmen's situation now revealed?
A: It is and isn't
8. What is a 'Named Daemon' compared to a normal daemon, even a normal greater daemon?
A: Generally speaking they get a "hero" bonus, although that's usually some sort of trait or so
8b. Would you say all of the Black Covenant daemons count as Named Daemons or just the one with extra traits beyond the baseline?
A: They count as named, although their name bonus is represented in their traits
9. So what is the deal with wolves on Fenris in TLP? Are they actually wulfen that have degenerated or does Fenris just have actual, natual wolves?
A: Think more wolves with traces of the primal warp within them. So they embody the concept of wolves to an extent
9a. So they aren't actually wolves persay, but rather a fey creature of Fenris that have more primal force in them
A: Pretty much, although referring to them as that would likely provoke them considerably
4c. What would it take for Skarbrand to both want to be redeemed, and also be judged by Khorne to be redeemed?
A: Something on par with what a daemon would need to do to join the Eternal Wardens
13. I just had a thought. Psychic awakening like what Kesar is going through would kill most people, because a -100 malus would include CR. And now CR of 5 is needed for psykers to not blow up. Eternal Wardens have more than 105 CR. Could... volunteers from the Eternal Wardens go through with this, if Kesar learned how to awaken the powers of others?
A: If Kesar knew how to, he could. But there are several unknown risks here
13a. Huh, similarly based off of this, I realise such a thing would also fit with a highly-developed soul-binding through Kesar's connections
A: That it would
13b. Putting my mad scientist hat on for a moment, I wonder how the whole 'personal runes on a soul' thing being needed to put Runes on people would interact with soul-binding.
Like, say, Kesar puts a Rune on his own soul. Would that interact with the souls of those bound to him? Or if a soul was bound that already had a rune on them, would that then affect Kesar? Would the connection itself mess with the soul's rune?
A: For that, it'd both cause issues with actual soul binding, but also allow for an entirely new method as well
13c. An entirely new method? Runic Soul Binding, connecting using the runes on a soul than the soul itself?
A: Yep
15. I just remembered a really stupid idea. You know how we have the kill 4 greaters or 8 greater daemons for Harlequin alliance stuff? But it's unknown if it's true dead, or if Kesar has to do it personally, or both? I figured out a really funny way to explain that. When someone wears the Eldar Daemonsbane mask, there's like a video-game quest notification.
A: There is now!
18. how are Dorn's samurai expy that he picked up awhile back
A: They're doing acceptably well overall
19. How does Tzeentch compare in precog to the WiH Eldar diviners?
A: Around that level
20. How is Asurmen doing right now, actually? Has he devloped him skills, as he develops the skills of Tzeentchians?
A: He's doing alright, nothing really special has happenned
1, how good is the average Iron Warrior/Imperial Fist at building defenses
A: Extremely
2. if Pert was brought in on the Imperial Palace what would change
A: Increased level of attrition for enemy forces if they manage to breach one of the defenses and other such things
3. Does Thousand Sons still use Tutelaries? And are they daemons or like Fenris's friendly wolf spirits or the demon cats?
A: They don't
6a. That brings up an interesting point. Since 'Hero' status exists in-universe, how are traits known in-universe? Can that be studied?
A: Nah, traits are basically just skill
3c. Where are Tutelaries from, in TLP? Were they daemons of chaos, general daemons as in Warp entities that could then fall or be taken by Chaos, a familiar made by a Thousand Sons psyker and is connected with their soul, or some mix of it all?
A: A familiar made by a Thousand son psyker from daemon corpses that exist in the warp
3d. Is there a way to make Tutelaries safe, actually?
A: Not in the way the TS would have done
4. Weird idea: From what I recall, you mentioned that Cegorach had the idea for binding daemons to themself partly inspired by Tutelaries from the Thousanbd Sons, correct? They also possess a number of ghost Eternal Wardens. This mean that, theoretically, Cegorach could make perhaps not quite a tutelary but otherwise some combined essence of dead daemons with a dead Eternal Warden, perhaps the latter serving as a core or guiding intelligence.
A: That'd be something
6. could a warden safely use the Tutelaries of the Thousand Sons?
A: Try it and find out
7. What could Kesar do with his True Name if he learnt it?
A: Unknown
17. The Vigilance probably has a lot of Runes on it already, right? And since we knew it could be soul-bound to Kesar, and since we now know that runic soul-binding is possible...can Kesar soul-bind the Vigilance through its Runes?
A: Theoretically yes
18. How strong is Chaos Eldrad?
A: Terrifying
8. How many more crazy worlds do the Vanguards have to go through before they get a, let's say "neutral", trait that increases their chances of encountering weird shit in their compliances
A: One if it's the next one, unsure if it's later on
9. will Kesar gain Deamonology skill set mastery for psykers when he awakens his psyker powers?
A: No, he'll just be able to learn it incredibly quickly
11. Out of curiosity, if say... the Khalsa all had (personal) Purity Runes upon their souls, what would that be like?
A: Unsure
15. How does Leman justify things like wolf priests to someone like Zunia? I figure he says "Oh, that's just a title that was grandfathered into the Legion after we joined the Imperium."
A: It's a cultural tradition rather than a religious one. There's no worship involved in it technically and is just seen on Fenris at the moment
16. so which psyker skill tree/set will Kesar learn the slowest and the fastest besides daemonolgy
A: Those are undecided at the moment. I'm leaning towards telepathy for the slowest and biomancy for the fastest though
A: iirc that was more a trait upgrade. It was the +20 to isolating enemy heroes
4. What is the difference between Conceptual Bonding being used to bind yourself to a concept, and engraving a personal Rune onto yourself?
A: The former is becoming a god, the latter is more augmenting yourself
5. what is Kesar's color of purity and Anathema
A: For that, I'd imagine Kesar himself views purity with a silver sheen, although I do like the idea of having it be the various colors of the Chaos Gods. That feels right
13. Considering how standards have totally shifted, especially compared to the 'second strongest Ork' getting killed to cause this: How 'small' is Phoenix Lord Amon's Kommando Waaagh, actually?
A: Around 20k Kommandos
13a. How skilled are they? Any notable members?
A: Around on par with elite Solar Auxilia soldiers. And around 10 notable Kommandos within it
13b. While I'd imagine that Amon would rather die than actually say this, how good are the 10 notable Kommandos compared to... Striking Scorpions in terms of stealth and strength?
A: On par with the average Striking Scorpion
16. Do a weird deal with Eldrad, "Divine the location of a greater daemon of our chosing, have the binder capture it, and then we'll set up a battle so that we can ensure true killing."
A: That is rather viable
3. Who is the Exalted Daemon Prince of Slaanesh with Trazyn? And who is the Exalted Daemon of Nurgle that's also with Trazyn?
A: Those are unfluffed atm
4b. if Khorne becomes the God of Soldiers would he be able to give Skarbrand a path to full redemption if never as high as before but restored to a majority of his power?
A: He can do so now as well, he just won't
7. I just realised a big point. Cegorach has a bound Lord of Change. Is Asurmen's situation now revealed?
A: It is and isn't
8. What is a 'Named Daemon' compared to a normal daemon, even a normal greater daemon?
A: Generally speaking they get a "hero" bonus, although that's usually some sort of trait or so
8b. Would you say all of the Black Covenant daemons count as Named Daemons or just the one with extra traits beyond the baseline?
A: They count as named, although their name bonus is represented in their traits
9. So what is the deal with wolves on Fenris in TLP? Are they actually wulfen that have degenerated or does Fenris just have actual, natual wolves?
A: Think more wolves with traces of the primal warp within them. So they embody the concept of wolves to an extent
9a. So they aren't actually wolves persay, but rather a fey creature of Fenris that have more primal force in them
A: Pretty much, although referring to them as that would likely provoke them considerably
4c. What would it take for Skarbrand to both want to be redeemed, and also be judged by Khorne to be redeemed?
A: Something on par with what a daemon would need to do to join the Eternal Wardens
13. I just had a thought. Psychic awakening like what Kesar is going through would kill most people, because a -100 malus would include CR. And now CR of 5 is needed for psykers to not blow up. Eternal Wardens have more than 105 CR. Could... volunteers from the Eternal Wardens go through with this, if Kesar learned how to awaken the powers of others?
A: If Kesar knew how to, he could. But there are several unknown risks here
13a. Huh, similarly based off of this, I realise such a thing would also fit with a highly-developed soul-binding through Kesar's connections
A: That it would
13b. Putting my mad scientist hat on for a moment, I wonder how the whole 'personal runes on a soul' thing being needed to put Runes on people would interact with soul-binding.
Like, say, Kesar puts a Rune on his own soul. Would that interact with the souls of those bound to him? Or if a soul was bound that already had a rune on them, would that then affect Kesar? Would the connection itself mess with the soul's rune?
A: For that, it'd both cause issues with actual soul binding, but also allow for an entirely new method as well
13c. An entirely new method? Runic Soul Binding, connecting using the runes on a soul than the soul itself?
A: Yep
15. I just remembered a really stupid idea. You know how we have the kill 4 greaters or 8 greater daemons for Harlequin alliance stuff? But it's unknown if it's true dead, or if Kesar has to do it personally, or both? I figured out a really funny way to explain that. When someone wears the Eldar Daemonsbane mask, there's like a video-game quest notification.
A: There is now!
18. how are Dorn's samurai expy that he picked up awhile back
A: They're doing acceptably well overall
19. How does Tzeentch compare in precog to the WiH Eldar diviners?
A: Around that level
20. How is Asurmen doing right now, actually? Has he devloped him skills, as he develops the skills of Tzeentchians?
A: He's doing alright, nothing really special has happenned
1, how good is the average Iron Warrior/Imperial Fist at building defenses
A: Extremely
2. if Pert was brought in on the Imperial Palace what would change
A: Increased level of attrition for enemy forces if they manage to breach one of the defenses and other such things
3. Does Thousand Sons still use Tutelaries? And are they daemons or like Fenris's friendly wolf spirits or the demon cats?
A: They don't
6a. That brings up an interesting point. Since 'Hero' status exists in-universe, how are traits known in-universe? Can that be studied?
A: Nah, traits are basically just skill
3c. Where are Tutelaries from, in TLP? Were they daemons of chaos, general daemons as in Warp entities that could then fall or be taken by Chaos, a familiar made by a Thousand Sons psyker and is connected with their soul, or some mix of it all?
A: A familiar made by a Thousand son psyker from daemon corpses that exist in the warp
3d. Is there a way to make Tutelaries safe, actually?
A: Not in the way the TS would have done
4. Weird idea: From what I recall, you mentioned that Cegorach had the idea for binding daemons to themself partly inspired by Tutelaries from the Thousanbd Sons, correct? They also possess a number of ghost Eternal Wardens. This mean that, theoretically, Cegorach could make perhaps not quite a tutelary but otherwise some combined essence of dead daemons with a dead Eternal Warden, perhaps the latter serving as a core or guiding intelligence.
A: That'd be something
6. could a warden safely use the Tutelaries of the Thousand Sons?
A: Try it and find out
7. What could Kesar do with his True Name if he learnt it?
A: Unknown
17. The Vigilance probably has a lot of Runes on it already, right? And since we knew it could be soul-bound to Kesar, and since we now know that runic soul-binding is possible...can Kesar soul-bind the Vigilance through its Runes?
A: Theoretically yes
18. How strong is Chaos Eldrad?
A: Terrifying
8. How many more crazy worlds do the Vanguards have to go through before they get a, let's say "neutral", trait that increases their chances of encountering weird shit in their compliances
A: One if it's the next one, unsure if it's later on
9. will Kesar gain Deamonology skill set mastery for psykers when he awakens his psyker powers?
A: No, he'll just be able to learn it incredibly quickly
11. Out of curiosity, if say... the Khalsa all had (personal) Purity Runes upon their souls, what would that be like?
A: Unsure
15. How does Leman justify things like wolf priests to someone like Zunia? I figure he says "Oh, that's just a title that was grandfathered into the Legion after we joined the Imperium."
A: It's a cultural tradition rather than a religious one. There's no worship involved in it technically and is just seen on Fenris at the moment
16. so which psyker skill tree/set will Kesar learn the slowest and the fastest besides daemonolgy
A: Those are undecided at the moment. I'm leaning towards telepathy for the slowest and biomancy for the fastest though
9. Will Cegorach assemble an Asurmen rescue operation, now that they know they're in Tzeentch's domain?
A: Yes, but it'll be a longer-term operation
11. What would happen if Kesar shot Sagita, his teleport-based (yet also teleporter breaking) gun-gauntlets, while he was already mid-way through teleporting himself?
A: Randomly fires in one of several locations
12. Aside from the very, very obvious, what counts as a Chaos God realm?
A: Something of personal significance to the Chaos God
12a. Clearly Kesar must mug the Blue Scribes...because they're restoring the Crystal Staff of Tzeentch.
A: Now that sounds fun
12b. Wait, would that actually count as a 'realm'?
A: The staff would yes
12d. For another idea, how about... the Eldar Homeworld, in the Eye of Terror, for Slaanesh or Chaos in general?
A: The homeworld would apply
19. When Kesar becomes a Psyker would Mortarion just glumly say "Welcome to the club" the next time they meet?
A: perhaps
1, How do health regen traits interact with traits that increase round length? For example if Morty and Ahriman were working together and Morty utilized his trait that can extend combat rounds by 4 times the normal amount, would that mean Ahriman heals 4 wounds per round or does he still only heal 1?
A: Generally he'd just heal one
1a. Also on this note, how does round extension affect exhaustion? Does it still kick in at the same time or does it start sooner
A: It kicks in at the same time time. Not round-wise. So for Mortarion, exhaustion would kick in on round 3 rather than round 7.
2, So Perturabo's Warsmith tier 1 says that he can "command a unit further than normal," but what does that actually mean in practice?
A: Basically he can apply his command bonus on the scale of a portion of a sector
5. Okay, trawling through the early omake rewards, why does Lion get a super special anti daemon sword but not us lol.
A: +20 of that is from the purity rune, so it's a +20 sword normally
2a. Ah so the trait means Perturabo can command from farther away without any penalties than normal.
A: He can yes
8, Out of curiosity, how would IA perception of psykers change if they all had Warden level CR?
A: Depends on if that's after training, or before training
8a. Let's say before training for this.
A: In that case it'd be a slow shift
10, You've probably said this before, but how long is Kesar gonna have the -100 psyker awakening malus for?
A: t decreases by 5 each year
11. who has the largest command range and who is it
A: The Silent King and galactic
12, How long do you expect it to take for Kesar to learn how to use his psychic powers in melee?
A: An extremely long time
12a. Is this more of a post quest territory thing or just an irl long time?
A: Likely the former, possibly the latter. It's one of those things that Kesar could learn, but would take him a very long time to do so
12b. What is it about Kesar that makes it so hard for him to learn to use them in melee? There are multiple Astartes heroes across multiple legions able to do the same thing, and even Abdul can do it for a short time.
A: The degree of power and the level of refinement in his fighting style
12ba. So he just has so much power that he would struggle to rein it in to purely melee range?
A: It does yes, that and it'd distract him a lot from his normal fighting style. And just not mesh with it well
15. Holy shit, hang on, with that -100 malus due to being a psyker also including normal CR, does that mean the Emperor can read Kesar's mind better?
A: He can, yes
12bb. What about simple stuff like just making himself stronger via Biomancy?
A: Doable, but he has so much power that he has to carefully manage it otherwise he'd tear his muscles out
18, Speaking of the Rune of the First, have you thought any more on Kesar being able to make the Rune of the First?
A: I haven't no
28, Which Primarchs would you say besides Kesar are most likely to get narrative CR?
A: Magnus
31, Is the +10 that the Wardens in the Warp from Kesar's psychic awakening permanent or just for this turn?
A: Just this turn
32. What does Magnus know about the Webway project?
A: Nothing
3. Has the way to safely use Runes on souls been shared to the Eternal Wardens? Asking for a potential omake.
A: It has, but it comes with a lot of warning attached and is limited to the higher ups
31. Speaking of hero DCs, what are the DC's looking for all of Khan's protos right now?
A: Around 40-60 for most
34. So what exactly about Kesar's reaction to Psychic Awakening interests Magnus?
A: Just how he's handling it
34a. Is Kesar handling it better than Magnus thought? Or is it his techniques for controlling himself?
A: He is yes
7. do the Primarchs have True Names that have power/influence over them akin to daemons/gods?
A: They do yes
10. does the Emperor know that Kesar's Anthema daemonsbane status is the first in galactic history
A: Unknown
1. Sidenote on Karcer, I looked up what her name might actually mean. Carcer is latin for Prisoner. Urial is a type of sheep. She's an imprisoned sheep.
A: accidentally making her name perfect I see
5. How long have you planned this for Karcer, by the way?
A: I honestly don't recall, I think the start of the Ritual War or so?
12. how does insanity work in TLP?
A: It varies on a case by case basis, but generally I simplify it to a malus to some areas
12a. I wonder, what is the average insanity of a Warden hero on a scale to 1-100, using the Dark Heresy system
A: Hmm, I'd say probably 30
1, How are the Black Covenants doing?
A: Unknown for that
25, The process of psychic knowledge accumulation
Level 1: This is magic
Level 2: There are rules to this
Level 3: This is an art and a science I am deeply familiar with
Level 4: This is magic
A: That's about right, it also goes recursively
12. Any notable rivalries sprung up from the Legion Exchange between Wardens and participating Legiones Astartes? Both in the sense of intense enough in competitiveness as a standout example, or just generally.
A: There's a few of them that have popped up here and there. Space Wolves tend to be at the center of a few, as did the Emperor's Children
14. Now that our arrangements with the Mechanicum have largely outpaced our ability to expand our domain, have our arrangements to expand their influence basically ended? Or has Domain administration entered negotiations with them to continue our mutually beneficial arrangement now that we have enough native production that the effort to get new domains up to spec could largely come from the net-gain in resources we generate? Or is it that politically the upper-leadership of the Wardens are so entangled with the Mechanicum and reliant on the production from extant forge worlds that we've largely agreed to allowing them to expand their influence to new compliances unimpeded?
A: There are some negotiations ongoing at this time, but it's been slow going and the like
14a. While we're much more reliant on the Mechanicum for guaranteed war materials for the Great Crusade, I feel like we kind of don't actually have to get nervous about them using that as leverage against us. We've made ourselves essential enough that asking Terra for resources necessary to get a mission done generally results in them sending what we ask for, because if we say it's necessary to deal with [REDACTED], well, it probably is. Which is part of what makes me think that Kelbor is reaching out to other Primarchs because outside of his friendship with Kesar he's realized this isn't really much of a leash, and we've proven repeatedly able to "acquire" resources for things that the production capacities of our domain alone could never explain how it was possible outside of intervention from on-high. So I've been suspecting the reason so much has continued to be invested in Svarga despite the crunch the rest of the Crusade has placed upon the greater Mechanicum is because it's somewhat regarded as a relatively secure powerbase for Kelbor's faction, which hasn't actually been as secure on Mars as it has been in the past?
A: Pretty much this. Not to mention it'd be political suicide for the Mechanicum to just cut you off as it'd make the IA beyond angry to not be given their equipment and supplies.
14b. Similar efforts to extend this kind of relationship with other Primarchs has fallen short because... well, most other Primarchs don't have the ability to make ordinarily unreasonable requests for resources and have them granted from some black ledger buried in some adept's balance sheets for "reasons". So most are reluctant to risk getting that entangled?
A: Pretty much this
18. Not sure if this has been answered already, apologies if so. Typically Psykers lean upon one or two Disciplines, and maybe a unique lore if they're a hero unit. I'm sure end-game Kesar will be using a stupidly powerful Lore, but that's kind of a far-off concern. What're his immediate aptitudes?
A: Generally yes, as of right now Kesar is best at Daemonology then biomancy
18a. I'm pretty a lot of what was implied in Kesar's Awakening states he'll be able to do something dangerous, though I was wondering if that might relate to what aspect of the Emperor he embodies and if he'll be able to do something with that after he's gotten a handle on his abilities to a minimum 'safe' level (for a given quality of safe with these powers) even if just to an unrefined degree? We see pretty much every Primarch being able to do something unique even while only being latent Psykers, so I expect we'll see something unique immediately.
A: I can confirm it is exceedingly dangerous, namely some branches of daemonology which should be fun~
A: Yes, but it'll be a longer-term operation
11. What would happen if Kesar shot Sagita, his teleport-based (yet also teleporter breaking) gun-gauntlets, while he was already mid-way through teleporting himself?
A: Randomly fires in one of several locations
12. Aside from the very, very obvious, what counts as a Chaos God realm?
A: Something of personal significance to the Chaos God
12a. Clearly Kesar must mug the Blue Scribes...because they're restoring the Crystal Staff of Tzeentch.
A: Now that sounds fun
12b. Wait, would that actually count as a 'realm'?
A: The staff would yes
12d. For another idea, how about... the Eldar Homeworld, in the Eye of Terror, for Slaanesh or Chaos in general?
A: The homeworld would apply
19. When Kesar becomes a Psyker would Mortarion just glumly say "Welcome to the club" the next time they meet?
A: perhaps
1, How do health regen traits interact with traits that increase round length? For example if Morty and Ahriman were working together and Morty utilized his trait that can extend combat rounds by 4 times the normal amount, would that mean Ahriman heals 4 wounds per round or does he still only heal 1?
A: Generally he'd just heal one
1a. Also on this note, how does round extension affect exhaustion? Does it still kick in at the same time or does it start sooner
A: It kicks in at the same time time. Not round-wise. So for Mortarion, exhaustion would kick in on round 3 rather than round 7.
2, So Perturabo's Warsmith tier 1 says that he can "command a unit further than normal," but what does that actually mean in practice?
A: Basically he can apply his command bonus on the scale of a portion of a sector
5. Okay, trawling through the early omake rewards, why does Lion get a super special anti daemon sword but not us lol.
A: +20 of that is from the purity rune, so it's a +20 sword normally
2a. Ah so the trait means Perturabo can command from farther away without any penalties than normal.
A: He can yes
8, Out of curiosity, how would IA perception of psykers change if they all had Warden level CR?
A: Depends on if that's after training, or before training
8a. Let's say before training for this.
A: In that case it'd be a slow shift
10, You've probably said this before, but how long is Kesar gonna have the -100 psyker awakening malus for?
A: t decreases by 5 each year
11. who has the largest command range and who is it
A: The Silent King and galactic
12, How long do you expect it to take for Kesar to learn how to use his psychic powers in melee?
A: An extremely long time
12a. Is this more of a post quest territory thing or just an irl long time?
A: Likely the former, possibly the latter. It's one of those things that Kesar could learn, but would take him a very long time to do so
12b. What is it about Kesar that makes it so hard for him to learn to use them in melee? There are multiple Astartes heroes across multiple legions able to do the same thing, and even Abdul can do it for a short time.
A: The degree of power and the level of refinement in his fighting style
12ba. So he just has so much power that he would struggle to rein it in to purely melee range?
A: It does yes, that and it'd distract him a lot from his normal fighting style. And just not mesh with it well
15. Holy shit, hang on, with that -100 malus due to being a psyker also including normal CR, does that mean the Emperor can read Kesar's mind better?
A: He can, yes
12bb. What about simple stuff like just making himself stronger via Biomancy?
A: Doable, but he has so much power that he has to carefully manage it otherwise he'd tear his muscles out
18, Speaking of the Rune of the First, have you thought any more on Kesar being able to make the Rune of the First?
A: I haven't no
28, Which Primarchs would you say besides Kesar are most likely to get narrative CR?
A: Magnus
31, Is the +10 that the Wardens in the Warp from Kesar's psychic awakening permanent or just for this turn?
A: Just this turn
32. What does Magnus know about the Webway project?
A: Nothing
3. Has the way to safely use Runes on souls been shared to the Eternal Wardens? Asking for a potential omake.
A: It has, but it comes with a lot of warning attached and is limited to the higher ups
31. Speaking of hero DCs, what are the DC's looking for all of Khan's protos right now?
A: Around 40-60 for most
34. So what exactly about Kesar's reaction to Psychic Awakening interests Magnus?
A: Just how he's handling it
34a. Is Kesar handling it better than Magnus thought? Or is it his techniques for controlling himself?
A: He is yes
7. do the Primarchs have True Names that have power/influence over them akin to daemons/gods?
A: They do yes
10. does the Emperor know that Kesar's Anthema daemonsbane status is the first in galactic history
A: Unknown
1. Sidenote on Karcer, I looked up what her name might actually mean. Carcer is latin for Prisoner. Urial is a type of sheep. She's an imprisoned sheep.
A: accidentally making her name perfect I see
5. How long have you planned this for Karcer, by the way?
A: I honestly don't recall, I think the start of the Ritual War or so?
12. how does insanity work in TLP?
A: It varies on a case by case basis, but generally I simplify it to a malus to some areas
12a. I wonder, what is the average insanity of a Warden hero on a scale to 1-100, using the Dark Heresy system
A: Hmm, I'd say probably 30
1, How are the Black Covenants doing?
A: Unknown for that
25, The process of psychic knowledge accumulation
Level 1: This is magic
Level 2: There are rules to this
Level 3: This is an art and a science I am deeply familiar with
Level 4: This is magic
A: That's about right, it also goes recursively
12. Any notable rivalries sprung up from the Legion Exchange between Wardens and participating Legiones Astartes? Both in the sense of intense enough in competitiveness as a standout example, or just generally.
A: There's a few of them that have popped up here and there. Space Wolves tend to be at the center of a few, as did the Emperor's Children
14. Now that our arrangements with the Mechanicum have largely outpaced our ability to expand our domain, have our arrangements to expand their influence basically ended? Or has Domain administration entered negotiations with them to continue our mutually beneficial arrangement now that we have enough native production that the effort to get new domains up to spec could largely come from the net-gain in resources we generate? Or is it that politically the upper-leadership of the Wardens are so entangled with the Mechanicum and reliant on the production from extant forge worlds that we've largely agreed to allowing them to expand their influence to new compliances unimpeded?
A: There are some negotiations ongoing at this time, but it's been slow going and the like
14a. While we're much more reliant on the Mechanicum for guaranteed war materials for the Great Crusade, I feel like we kind of don't actually have to get nervous about them using that as leverage against us. We've made ourselves essential enough that asking Terra for resources necessary to get a mission done generally results in them sending what we ask for, because if we say it's necessary to deal with [REDACTED], well, it probably is. Which is part of what makes me think that Kelbor is reaching out to other Primarchs because outside of his friendship with Kesar he's realized this isn't really much of a leash, and we've proven repeatedly able to "acquire" resources for things that the production capacities of our domain alone could never explain how it was possible outside of intervention from on-high. So I've been suspecting the reason so much has continued to be invested in Svarga despite the crunch the rest of the Crusade has placed upon the greater Mechanicum is because it's somewhat regarded as a relatively secure powerbase for Kelbor's faction, which hasn't actually been as secure on Mars as it has been in the past?
A: Pretty much this. Not to mention it'd be political suicide for the Mechanicum to just cut you off as it'd make the IA beyond angry to not be given their equipment and supplies.
14b. Similar efforts to extend this kind of relationship with other Primarchs has fallen short because... well, most other Primarchs don't have the ability to make ordinarily unreasonable requests for resources and have them granted from some black ledger buried in some adept's balance sheets for "reasons". So most are reluctant to risk getting that entangled?
A: Pretty much this
18. Not sure if this has been answered already, apologies if so. Typically Psykers lean upon one or two Disciplines, and maybe a unique lore if they're a hero unit. I'm sure end-game Kesar will be using a stupidly powerful Lore, but that's kind of a far-off concern. What're his immediate aptitudes?
A: Generally yes, as of right now Kesar is best at Daemonology then biomancy
18a. I'm pretty a lot of what was implied in Kesar's Awakening states he'll be able to do something dangerous, though I was wondering if that might relate to what aspect of the Emperor he embodies and if he'll be able to do something with that after he's gotten a handle on his abilities to a minimum 'safe' level (for a given quality of safe with these powers) even if just to an unrefined degree? We see pretty much every Primarch being able to do something unique even while only being latent Psykers, so I expect we'll see something unique immediately.
A: I can confirm it is exceedingly dangerous, namely some branches of daemonology which should be fun~
22, How many titan legions does Horus currently have?
A: 2
4. Actually, huh, who's the new hero that Horus has?
A: That I've yet to determine
8. how do Template Runes differ from normal Runes?
A: Generally they have less of an effect, but channel the runic wind in some way
15. are there any duelist astartes that could fight Lion 1v1 and not instantly lose?
A: A fair few could last a few rounds, but none would survive or last longer than a day
16. out of curiosity does Fabius have any inherent bonuses from being a primarch grade biologist in terms of reducing his DCs and whatnot to the level that a Primarch would have for them?
A: Yes but I don't fluff it to that level
27. I always forget this but what fraction of legion combat bonuses do Heroes get in duels
A: None
28. does Narrative CR enable free Pushing for psykers or does it still have massive problems
A: It has issues with causing the body to break down
29. could Kesar use his powers to heal himself in a melee duel?
A: no
2. what is the Thousand Son training system that allows their heroes to use psyker powers in melee so readily?
A: Continuous training from the moment they become an Astartes
3. what would the average times for the psyker ranks to get their bonus in melee if they monofocused on training for it?
A: 2^n, where n=1 is Zeta psyker. Note that is a collosal rule of thumb
4. Ok what is the current state of psyker bonuses in melee?
A: That's for mass duels, not one on one duels with heroes
2. Aside from their rank, how dangerous is Soro'boru? The Cybernetic Revolt daemon?
A: I would say they're definitely one of the scarier Honored out there
3a. On looking over the Luna Wolves hero roster again, their heroes don't seem particularly impressive, and even Abaddon is a bit outclassed in duels, is there any particular reason for them being like that?
A: Horus tends to have his experience go towards his Legion as a whole, as a result he has the highest bonuses for actual Legion combat and the like
4. Karcer is said to inherit Hero's Luck from the Emperor. Horus Lupercal too seems to have gotten that from the Emperor. Does the Emperor have Hero's Luck too? If so... how on earth does that work for him?
A: See the Primarchs
5. Template Runes seem to channel a conceptual energy, as well as a Runic Wind too, from what I understand. Being less pronounced in the Materium, or rather in expressing the effect of the Rune, for a more... looser, fluid control with its capability. Is this right?
A: That's about right
5a. What is the difference between, say, the Conceptual Energy of Fire, and a Runic Wind of Fire?
A: The former is more of a domain itself, the latter is more pure energy of Fire
5b. Ah, so Conceptual Energy is the wider/divine/whole domain of the concept. A Runic Wind is, similar to Warhammer Fantasy, a pure 'extension' of this Conceptual Energy. Like the difference between, say, a sea and a river connected to it?
A: That's a good way to cover it
7. Could a Template Rune also be Volumetric?
A: It could
7a. Would it be easier to make a Runic Wind with Template Runes or Volumetrics?
A: Template I would say
9. Can Kesar learn to make Template Runes?
A: He can thanks to Auro sharing his notes
14. In canon, it's possible for an Astartes to eat a Chaos cultist's brain and get their memories due to the Omophagea organ and it's not as bad as it sounds for the Astartes in question. Eternal Wardens, from new members to old veterans, heroes and even Kesar Dorlin himself, has insanely higher CR than other Astartes. How safe is it to eat Chaos cultist brains and absorb their memories?
A: It depends on the cultists corruption
14a. Building off of this, can we eat daemons and absorb their memories?
A: For a limited time period yes
10. Actually how do Zunia and Fulgrim compare for negotiations?
A: Fulgrim is better, Zunia is more devious
15, What kinds of bonuses would the codex astartes give if Guilliman finished it this turn?
A: +9 to combat for the Legions
15a. Come to think of it, what is the status of the Codex Astartes anyway?
A: It's around 20% finished due to Guilliman constantly finding new things to add to it. He'd say that large scale army deployments are 75% done, void warfare around 30% done, logistics 5% done, and small scale deployments 0% done, and the other sections around 10% done overall
19.how do the Elves take Venus since they are aprt human eldar and Venus is a godess part human and part eldar?
A: Very well
22, Why do the dice hate Dorn so much?
A: I for one have no idea
4. how much could Durante and Vergil help Auro with understanding the warp and how to manipulate it
A: Not much, they're practical not theoretical
5. Just to be clear, for Kesar to research a Template Rune does Kesar need to have access to the energy behind it first? Or is the act of researching this Rune grant access to that energy? Asking for the Rune list.
A: The latter
8. How are the Nightningales right now, by the way? Since Fabius has had a tremendous turn for research, I wonder if he's also had a good turn for teaching them.
A: odds are well
9. Speaking of Fabius, how many Chirurgeons (Fabius's special medical backpack and life-support thing) has Vulkan made?
A: 10 in total due to being busy
16. does Ori know that Heroes of the Wardens can not Fall?
A: No
4. hypothetically, if gromril or something like it (purified warpstone material thing) does exist, would the squats have anything like that?
A: They do, but it's exceptionally rare and hard to make. it's the equivalent of a warp-energy superconductor
21. Hey, is Rylanor in a dreadnaught in TLP? I tried to find a specific point where he got entombed but got nothing.
A: He's in a dreadnaught, although he's always awake
14. Is it just me or are the Eternal Wardens heavily carried by their Heroes when acting outside of the Legion specialty?
A: Them and their proto heroes. You've got a small core of elites that carry you
16. How much would Cegorach pay for Warpstone?
A: A penny, then he'd just take it
7. could Auro make a ritual to basically disassemble daemons into their conceptual energies?
A: He could to an extent
8. you know when Kesar master teleportation tech to its final tech level will other primarchs and IA be useing the same tactics the Kesar can regulary enjoy
A: Unlikely
14. What effect does Pert's math on simple STCs have beyond the immediate Promethium industry upgrades?
A: Provides improvements to production if/when its rolled out
15. why/how did Be'lakor escape the purge of the First Daemon Princes?
A: Because Be'lakor knows how to operate safely and cautiously to the level of absrudity. If back to back 100 vs 1 would kill him, he won't show up in the same sector.
5, Would tier 11 Baldur be able to de-chaos Skarbrand?
A: Odds would be in his favor
5a. Oh man, just how powerful would this Skarbrand be without having all his traits nullified by rage?
A: Absurdly
12, You know, I just realized something Morty could do if Kharn fails to match his expectations as a Legion master for the World Eaters. Due to his newfound respect with Magnus, he could ask him to heal Lhorke, the former legion master, from his dreadnaught status, as he's a proven commander and leader from the days of the legion before they become the disappointments they are now.
A: That is actually a likely possibility even if Kharn does match his expectations
22, I just realized what the major divergence between this timeline and HH timeline really is. Essentially the Primarchs realised just how much the Imperium was actually failing and took actions to rectify that. From Kesar devoting his life to slaying daemons and accidentally forcing the Imperium to overstretch their forces, all the way to Vulkan just trying to improve daily life for the common man, the Primarchs began to interfere with the Imperium before they actually understood what was wrong with it and now humanity has to pay the price for their arrogance.
A: That it is, which I'm rather happy about
9, Does Vashtorr count as a Chaos God?
A: They do usually
8, If Morty decided to make Lhorke legion master once again and had Magnus heal him, would Lhorke get any bonus towards regaining his traits from before he got Dreadnaughted?
A: He would yes
15, Honestly, the biggest question to me for what is happening to the World Eaters is what is gonna happen to Kharn once the other shoe finally drops with Morty. He could potentially go down the path of the Raptors, or he could try suicide charging the other WE heroes and do some serious damage if Morty isn't present.
A: Both of those are possibilities
1, Also I just realized something. You know things are fucked when Mortarion, the man infamous for his own hatred of psykers, sees a psyker hero as a legions second best chance for survival.
A: Yep, he was not happy to admit that
12. What is the Legion combat bonus for all Legions? Or at least the Dark Angels'?
A: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/598010728540274698/1138685124402225203/image.png
15. What was the biggest takeaway that Magnus got from Kesar's knowledge sharing?
A: "Oh, that's where Oriacarius gets it from!"
16. How much has the knowledge share affected Magnus' plans for training his bro?
A: Quite a bit overall
6, Theoretically, if we had all of our Daemonsbanes together on the same planet, i think we reach something absurd like a -80 malus to chaos just from them existing. At that level of concentrated AD power, would lesser daemons just evaporate in our presence?
A: They would yes
7, How would Lhorke stack up to other Astartes heroes if he got removed from his dreadnaught status and got back all his previous traits after becoming legion master?
A: It varies, but I'd say low-mid
9. When an ascension roll happens, does anyone or anything in-universe know about it? I ask because I really like the idea of Chaos having its metaphysical hearts stop each time Kesar Dorlin rolls and then breathes a sigh of relief that it didn't pass. As well as Oriacarius rolling once too.
A: Some people are capable of knowing about it
10. Is the Eternal Wardens' ability to gain the powers of their dead Heroes via the names on their armors an actual, supernatural effect? Or is it a more mundane "this is just the EW very seriously honoring the memories of the Heroes" thing?
A: It's a combination of the two that's in a positive feedback loop
26, How would Vulkan have done if he had to do the Maelstrom reclamation? Presumably not well.
A: Pretty badly I'd say
1. How many Eternal Wardens died this turn?
A: 20k
28.is Karcer satisfided by how the turn went overall?
A: She is satisfied with the performance of the Wardens. She is not satisfied with how the turn went.
13.How the overall economy of the imperium? Had it recovered to pre desolation status?
A: It's gotten worse
15. how many mooks of our legion would it take to be certain to kill a single Lord of Change
A: Depends on the LoC, but to be certain you'd need around 300. But that's absolute certainty. An even fight is around 5.
20. since its known that Geneseed can be implanted successfuly into mutants, would abhuman/human descendant species be able to accept geneseed?
A: Some of them yes
25. How often are the Sisters of Silence with the Eternal Wardens rotated out, if they are?
A: Every year around 10% are rotated out
29. When will the increase in psychic Eternal Wardens happen? I recall you said that upon Kesar's Awakening the amount of Eternal Warden recruits who display the Gift during their Geneseed implantation will double
A: 30 years from now due to the recruitment pipeline
7. Might as well ask this now, how many IA do we roughly have access to for the reclamation?
A: 20 trillion
8. So aside from believing the whole Classified excuse is reasonable more often, how does Karcer view the Legion now?
A: Good at what they do
9. What is Ori's opinion on Karcer anyway?
A: She's reasonably competent, but stubborn as hell and too smart for her own good in this case
20d. Wouldn't Kesar just kill Venus? I mean it is basically the most logical solution given all the information he knows and the bias presented due to said information gained via Big E.
A: I'd have a vote for it
5. What is Doom Slayer's total combat bonus now?
A: +75
8. what rank of daemon prince is the cutoff point for them counting as a God?
A: Regular technically counts, but Favored is actually where it's at
9. Would it be possible for a nurgle exalted daemon prince to have precognition?
A: It is yes
10 for Divinity does it simply require a God to help and for one person to have killed another God or does the God have to kill another God
A: The latter
5a. What's Maticus' and Oriacarius' for comparison?
A: +80, +70
3, Who would you say are the top 5 anti-Chaos duelists in the Imperium, not counting Emps and Malc?
A: Kesar, Maticus, Doom Slayer, Oriacarius, Konrad
6. Would maticus and doom be able to fight Mort?
A: No
17, What is Eli's hope with spending so much? Does he really think the IA and primarch projects are somehow gonna make up for all the absurdly bad spending habits Eli is using?
A: Spending the money now is a reasonable choice as while the economic crash will be bad, it can be managed
19, I imagine that once the economy finally crashes, we're gonna get a bunch of maluses to everything from supply shortages or other problems.
A: Rather likely yes
22, The really crazy thing is that Malc clearly knows what Eli plans on doing, which probably means he agrees that if the economy is going to shit, it has to be done on their terms. Which makes me think, is Malc going to be the one to ultimately declare when the economy collapses as part of controlling the narrative?
A: He will likely be yes
24. We honestly could get a fuckton of money by hiring out Wardens to the Eldar for anti-Chaos missions
A: You'd get some, not a massive amount however
24a. How about selling Warden services to the Orks to help them fight Khorne?
A: Around 10%, same as what Vect would give
31. I find it scary that the Imperium has reached the point that trade with Xenos is looking more and more likely because they will soon enough literally no longer be able to afford killing them
A: It is something to consider for sure
32. I'm starting to think Eldrad and Cegorach will start providing unsolicited financial assistance to the Imperium and Primarchs because the current state of humanity is so bad that it very well may implode at the worst possible time and take the rest of the galaxy with it
A: They are unlikely to do so without some severe concessions
1, how much could the Silent King fix the economy if given command over the Imperium
A: some
2. How much of the Gehenna Station has been researched by now and what effects has it had? It's been like 40 years since we got it
A: It's being fixed rather than researched. Mostly as a lot of the parts are degraded but Kesar's work has been able to somewhat get it to work. Overall it's given Ad Mech much more experience with high tech warptech
3. What would Emps think if the Eternal Wardens went mercenary for the BTW, helping the Orks against Khorne, then helping Khorne against the Orks, then back to helping Orks against Khorne, in order to both get resources to fight the deficit and gain experience against the Imperium's future major enemies?
A: "HE'S A TRAITOR, PLAIN AND SIMPLE"
7, If Baldur heroes, does his anti daemon apply for his diplomacy against daemons?
A: It doesn't
6, How would Vulkan have approached the Maelstrom if he was there instead of Kesar?
A: At an absurdly slow rate
10. which warden has the most painful mental defences to breach?
A: Oriacarius, assuming you don't count Kesar
10a. the order of the top five including Kesar
A: Kesar, Ori, Maticus, Auro, Doom Slayer
14, If Kesar had an absurd amount of CR, like 1000 or something, could he actually force the river to move like he's been trying to with his powers?
A: Almost certainly
15, Would tier 11 Kesar be able to just bend the Warp to his will the way he's currently trying to?
A: Likely yes
17, Does Kesar Nat 100 vs Nat 1 trait against Exalteds also nullify their ability to reroll?
A: No, but they just roll that on the reroll as well
23.How is Magestic doing we haven't hear of them in a while?
A: At the moment focused on the rollout of the boot, which has been massively accelerated by Eli
23a. what is the Boot going to give?
A: When fully rolled out, -10-20% to IA casualties
3. How many sectors are in Kesar's domain currently? Since we're supposed to be getting 1 sector each year, and the informational with our sectors hasn't been updated since January 2022
A: 22, 27 after this turn
6, For traits that only affect nonheroes like Skarbrand's nonhero autokill trait, how does that apply to daemons? Does it only apply to a certain level of daemon like Greater and below or something?
A: Greater count as heroes, mostly
13. I'm curious, what is the dumbest but still quite powerful ascension path that exists?
A: Path of the Fool
A: 2
4. Actually, huh, who's the new hero that Horus has?
A: That I've yet to determine
8. how do Template Runes differ from normal Runes?
A: Generally they have less of an effect, but channel the runic wind in some way
15. are there any duelist astartes that could fight Lion 1v1 and not instantly lose?
A: A fair few could last a few rounds, but none would survive or last longer than a day
16. out of curiosity does Fabius have any inherent bonuses from being a primarch grade biologist in terms of reducing his DCs and whatnot to the level that a Primarch would have for them?
A: Yes but I don't fluff it to that level
27. I always forget this but what fraction of legion combat bonuses do Heroes get in duels
A: None
28. does Narrative CR enable free Pushing for psykers or does it still have massive problems
A: It has issues with causing the body to break down
29. could Kesar use his powers to heal himself in a melee duel?
A: no
2. what is the Thousand Son training system that allows their heroes to use psyker powers in melee so readily?
A: Continuous training from the moment they become an Astartes
3. what would the average times for the psyker ranks to get their bonus in melee if they monofocused on training for it?
A: 2^n, where n=1 is Zeta psyker. Note that is a collosal rule of thumb
4. Ok what is the current state of psyker bonuses in melee?
A: That's for mass duels, not one on one duels with heroes
2. Aside from their rank, how dangerous is Soro'boru? The Cybernetic Revolt daemon?
A: I would say they're definitely one of the scarier Honored out there
3a. On looking over the Luna Wolves hero roster again, their heroes don't seem particularly impressive, and even Abaddon is a bit outclassed in duels, is there any particular reason for them being like that?
A: Horus tends to have his experience go towards his Legion as a whole, as a result he has the highest bonuses for actual Legion combat and the like
4. Karcer is said to inherit Hero's Luck from the Emperor. Horus Lupercal too seems to have gotten that from the Emperor. Does the Emperor have Hero's Luck too? If so... how on earth does that work for him?
A: See the Primarchs
5. Template Runes seem to channel a conceptual energy, as well as a Runic Wind too, from what I understand. Being less pronounced in the Materium, or rather in expressing the effect of the Rune, for a more... looser, fluid control with its capability. Is this right?
A: That's about right
5a. What is the difference between, say, the Conceptual Energy of Fire, and a Runic Wind of Fire?
A: The former is more of a domain itself, the latter is more pure energy of Fire
5b. Ah, so Conceptual Energy is the wider/divine/whole domain of the concept. A Runic Wind is, similar to Warhammer Fantasy, a pure 'extension' of this Conceptual Energy. Like the difference between, say, a sea and a river connected to it?
A: That's a good way to cover it
7. Could a Template Rune also be Volumetric?
A: It could
7a. Would it be easier to make a Runic Wind with Template Runes or Volumetrics?
A: Template I would say
9. Can Kesar learn to make Template Runes?
A: He can thanks to Auro sharing his notes
14. In canon, it's possible for an Astartes to eat a Chaos cultist's brain and get their memories due to the Omophagea organ and it's not as bad as it sounds for the Astartes in question. Eternal Wardens, from new members to old veterans, heroes and even Kesar Dorlin himself, has insanely higher CR than other Astartes. How safe is it to eat Chaos cultist brains and absorb their memories?
A: It depends on the cultists corruption
14a. Building off of this, can we eat daemons and absorb their memories?
A: For a limited time period yes
10. Actually how do Zunia and Fulgrim compare for negotiations?
A: Fulgrim is better, Zunia is more devious
15, What kinds of bonuses would the codex astartes give if Guilliman finished it this turn?
A: +9 to combat for the Legions
15a. Come to think of it, what is the status of the Codex Astartes anyway?
A: It's around 20% finished due to Guilliman constantly finding new things to add to it. He'd say that large scale army deployments are 75% done, void warfare around 30% done, logistics 5% done, and small scale deployments 0% done, and the other sections around 10% done overall
19.how do the Elves take Venus since they are aprt human eldar and Venus is a godess part human and part eldar?
A: Very well
22, Why do the dice hate Dorn so much?
A: I for one have no idea
4. how much could Durante and Vergil help Auro with understanding the warp and how to manipulate it
A: Not much, they're practical not theoretical
5. Just to be clear, for Kesar to research a Template Rune does Kesar need to have access to the energy behind it first? Or is the act of researching this Rune grant access to that energy? Asking for the Rune list.
A: The latter
8. How are the Nightningales right now, by the way? Since Fabius has had a tremendous turn for research, I wonder if he's also had a good turn for teaching them.
A: odds are well
9. Speaking of Fabius, how many Chirurgeons (Fabius's special medical backpack and life-support thing) has Vulkan made?
A: 10 in total due to being busy
16. does Ori know that Heroes of the Wardens can not Fall?
A: No
4. hypothetically, if gromril or something like it (purified warpstone material thing) does exist, would the squats have anything like that?
A: They do, but it's exceptionally rare and hard to make. it's the equivalent of a warp-energy superconductor
21. Hey, is Rylanor in a dreadnaught in TLP? I tried to find a specific point where he got entombed but got nothing.
A: He's in a dreadnaught, although he's always awake
14. Is it just me or are the Eternal Wardens heavily carried by their Heroes when acting outside of the Legion specialty?
A: Them and their proto heroes. You've got a small core of elites that carry you
16. How much would Cegorach pay for Warpstone?
A: A penny, then he'd just take it
7. could Auro make a ritual to basically disassemble daemons into their conceptual energies?
A: He could to an extent
8. you know when Kesar master teleportation tech to its final tech level will other primarchs and IA be useing the same tactics the Kesar can regulary enjoy
A: Unlikely
14. What effect does Pert's math on simple STCs have beyond the immediate Promethium industry upgrades?
A: Provides improvements to production if/when its rolled out
15. why/how did Be'lakor escape the purge of the First Daemon Princes?
A: Because Be'lakor knows how to operate safely and cautiously to the level of absrudity. If back to back 100 vs 1 would kill him, he won't show up in the same sector.
5, Would tier 11 Baldur be able to de-chaos Skarbrand?
A: Odds would be in his favor
5a. Oh man, just how powerful would this Skarbrand be without having all his traits nullified by rage?
A: Absurdly
12, You know, I just realized something Morty could do if Kharn fails to match his expectations as a Legion master for the World Eaters. Due to his newfound respect with Magnus, he could ask him to heal Lhorke, the former legion master, from his dreadnaught status, as he's a proven commander and leader from the days of the legion before they become the disappointments they are now.
A: That is actually a likely possibility even if Kharn does match his expectations
22, I just realized what the major divergence between this timeline and HH timeline really is. Essentially the Primarchs realised just how much the Imperium was actually failing and took actions to rectify that. From Kesar devoting his life to slaying daemons and accidentally forcing the Imperium to overstretch their forces, all the way to Vulkan just trying to improve daily life for the common man, the Primarchs began to interfere with the Imperium before they actually understood what was wrong with it and now humanity has to pay the price for their arrogance.
A: That it is, which I'm rather happy about
9, Does Vashtorr count as a Chaos God?
A: They do usually
8, If Morty decided to make Lhorke legion master once again and had Magnus heal him, would Lhorke get any bonus towards regaining his traits from before he got Dreadnaughted?
A: He would yes
15, Honestly, the biggest question to me for what is happening to the World Eaters is what is gonna happen to Kharn once the other shoe finally drops with Morty. He could potentially go down the path of the Raptors, or he could try suicide charging the other WE heroes and do some serious damage if Morty isn't present.
A: Both of those are possibilities
1, Also I just realized something. You know things are fucked when Mortarion, the man infamous for his own hatred of psykers, sees a psyker hero as a legions second best chance for survival.
A: Yep, he was not happy to admit that
12. What is the Legion combat bonus for all Legions? Or at least the Dark Angels'?
A: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/598010728540274698/1138685124402225203/image.png
15. What was the biggest takeaway that Magnus got from Kesar's knowledge sharing?
A: "Oh, that's where Oriacarius gets it from!"
16. How much has the knowledge share affected Magnus' plans for training his bro?
A: Quite a bit overall
6, Theoretically, if we had all of our Daemonsbanes together on the same planet, i think we reach something absurd like a -80 malus to chaos just from them existing. At that level of concentrated AD power, would lesser daemons just evaporate in our presence?
A: They would yes
7, How would Lhorke stack up to other Astartes heroes if he got removed from his dreadnaught status and got back all his previous traits after becoming legion master?
A: It varies, but I'd say low-mid
9. When an ascension roll happens, does anyone or anything in-universe know about it? I ask because I really like the idea of Chaos having its metaphysical hearts stop each time Kesar Dorlin rolls and then breathes a sigh of relief that it didn't pass. As well as Oriacarius rolling once too.
A: Some people are capable of knowing about it
10. Is the Eternal Wardens' ability to gain the powers of their dead Heroes via the names on their armors an actual, supernatural effect? Or is it a more mundane "this is just the EW very seriously honoring the memories of the Heroes" thing?
A: It's a combination of the two that's in a positive feedback loop
26, How would Vulkan have done if he had to do the Maelstrom reclamation? Presumably not well.
A: Pretty badly I'd say
1. How many Eternal Wardens died this turn?
A: 20k
28.is Karcer satisfided by how the turn went overall?
A: She is satisfied with the performance of the Wardens. She is not satisfied with how the turn went.
13.How the overall economy of the imperium? Had it recovered to pre desolation status?
A: It's gotten worse
15. how many mooks of our legion would it take to be certain to kill a single Lord of Change
A: Depends on the LoC, but to be certain you'd need around 300. But that's absolute certainty. An even fight is around 5.
20. since its known that Geneseed can be implanted successfuly into mutants, would abhuman/human descendant species be able to accept geneseed?
A: Some of them yes
25. How often are the Sisters of Silence with the Eternal Wardens rotated out, if they are?
A: Every year around 10% are rotated out
29. When will the increase in psychic Eternal Wardens happen? I recall you said that upon Kesar's Awakening the amount of Eternal Warden recruits who display the Gift during their Geneseed implantation will double
A: 30 years from now due to the recruitment pipeline
7. Might as well ask this now, how many IA do we roughly have access to for the reclamation?
A: 20 trillion
8. So aside from believing the whole Classified excuse is reasonable more often, how does Karcer view the Legion now?
A: Good at what they do
9. What is Ori's opinion on Karcer anyway?
A: She's reasonably competent, but stubborn as hell and too smart for her own good in this case
20d. Wouldn't Kesar just kill Venus? I mean it is basically the most logical solution given all the information he knows and the bias presented due to said information gained via Big E.
A: I'd have a vote for it
5. What is Doom Slayer's total combat bonus now?
A: +75
8. what rank of daemon prince is the cutoff point for them counting as a God?
A: Regular technically counts, but Favored is actually where it's at
9. Would it be possible for a nurgle exalted daemon prince to have precognition?
A: It is yes
10 for Divinity does it simply require a God to help and for one person to have killed another God or does the God have to kill another God
A: The latter
5a. What's Maticus' and Oriacarius' for comparison?
A: +80, +70
3, Who would you say are the top 5 anti-Chaos duelists in the Imperium, not counting Emps and Malc?
A: Kesar, Maticus, Doom Slayer, Oriacarius, Konrad
6. Would maticus and doom be able to fight Mort?
A: No
17, What is Eli's hope with spending so much? Does he really think the IA and primarch projects are somehow gonna make up for all the absurdly bad spending habits Eli is using?
A: Spending the money now is a reasonable choice as while the economic crash will be bad, it can be managed
19, I imagine that once the economy finally crashes, we're gonna get a bunch of maluses to everything from supply shortages or other problems.
A: Rather likely yes
22, The really crazy thing is that Malc clearly knows what Eli plans on doing, which probably means he agrees that if the economy is going to shit, it has to be done on their terms. Which makes me think, is Malc going to be the one to ultimately declare when the economy collapses as part of controlling the narrative?
A: He will likely be yes
24. We honestly could get a fuckton of money by hiring out Wardens to the Eldar for anti-Chaos missions
A: You'd get some, not a massive amount however
24a. How about selling Warden services to the Orks to help them fight Khorne?
A: Around 10%, same as what Vect would give
31. I find it scary that the Imperium has reached the point that trade with Xenos is looking more and more likely because they will soon enough literally no longer be able to afford killing them
A: It is something to consider for sure
32. I'm starting to think Eldrad and Cegorach will start providing unsolicited financial assistance to the Imperium and Primarchs because the current state of humanity is so bad that it very well may implode at the worst possible time and take the rest of the galaxy with it
A: They are unlikely to do so without some severe concessions
1, how much could the Silent King fix the economy if given command over the Imperium
A: some
2. How much of the Gehenna Station has been researched by now and what effects has it had? It's been like 40 years since we got it
A: It's being fixed rather than researched. Mostly as a lot of the parts are degraded but Kesar's work has been able to somewhat get it to work. Overall it's given Ad Mech much more experience with high tech warptech
3. What would Emps think if the Eternal Wardens went mercenary for the BTW, helping the Orks against Khorne, then helping Khorne against the Orks, then back to helping Orks against Khorne, in order to both get resources to fight the deficit and gain experience against the Imperium's future major enemies?
A: "HE'S A TRAITOR, PLAIN AND SIMPLE"
7, If Baldur heroes, does his anti daemon apply for his diplomacy against daemons?
A: It doesn't
6, How would Vulkan have approached the Maelstrom if he was there instead of Kesar?
A: At an absurdly slow rate
10. which warden has the most painful mental defences to breach?
A: Oriacarius, assuming you don't count Kesar
10a. the order of the top five including Kesar
A: Kesar, Ori, Maticus, Auro, Doom Slayer
14, If Kesar had an absurd amount of CR, like 1000 or something, could he actually force the river to move like he's been trying to with his powers?
A: Almost certainly
15, Would tier 11 Kesar be able to just bend the Warp to his will the way he's currently trying to?
A: Likely yes
17, Does Kesar Nat 100 vs Nat 1 trait against Exalteds also nullify their ability to reroll?
A: No, but they just roll that on the reroll as well
23.How is Magestic doing we haven't hear of them in a while?
A: At the moment focused on the rollout of the boot, which has been massively accelerated by Eli
23a. what is the Boot going to give?
A: When fully rolled out, -10-20% to IA casualties
3. How many sectors are in Kesar's domain currently? Since we're supposed to be getting 1 sector each year, and the informational with our sectors hasn't been updated since January 2022
A: 22, 27 after this turn
6, For traits that only affect nonheroes like Skarbrand's nonhero autokill trait, how does that apply to daemons? Does it only apply to a certain level of daemon like Greater and below or something?
A: Greater count as heroes, mostly
13. I'm curious, what is the dumbest but still quite powerful ascension path that exists?
A: Path of the Fool
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Off the top of my head, don't 6-7 of the legions (3,9,10, 12, maybe 14, 18, and 19) have absolutely no idea what we get up to?
Iron Bond
Iron Bond
"You would ask my story? Here? Now? Yours is a strange desire on the battlefield, but so few have asked my story before this, so many have ignored that of my brothers. I have little time before my line must advance, so I will be brief."
"I am of the Fourth Legion, the Iron Warriors, the unheeded, the used. In the days of the great unification, ours was not the glory of the War Hounds, or the terror of the Revenants."
"No, we were merely the masses thrown into the grinder. Used to crack the defenses like so much ammunition."
"Iron. We were iron cast and iron spent."
"Even when our father, Perturabo, was found, we were the unwanted. We cut down one out of every ten in order to atone for our wastefulness, our unworthiness."
"Time and again this continued, time and again we endured terror and tedium against threats no other could break. Time and again we rushed into the breach in serve of value, of vindication. Each time they eluded us...Each time our iron was spent and our iron was worn."
"Iron endures yes, but not forever. We were worn, the rage, the self-doubt, the apathy, like the elements on archaeotech they wore at us. Made us less than we should have been."
"As our cousins gained acclaim, we gained duty. As our uncles gained fame, our father gained vitriol."
"I do not deny that we dug our own trench in this, we were not silent, even if we were obedient. Any leader that expects a soldier not to grumble is a fool. We encountered many fools, perhaps we were the greatest."
"I tell you this not to engender pity or sorrow at our past treatment. No, I tell you this so that you might full understand the impact of what is to come."
"Before it was too late, before the rust that was creeping over my brothers became too deeply rooted to be undone, he came. The Eleventh, the Warden, The Redeemer."
"Like the rest of our uncles, he made the overtures to speak with our father. Like the rest of our kin he spoke kind words and promises."
"Unlike the others, he did not lie."
"Do you understand? Can you comprehend the gift in that, the unfettered trust and belief he showed us? Time and again he reached out, time and again our father rebuffed him. After all, all others had proven inconsistent, all others had proven disdainful."
"The Warden did not do this, and like someone polishing a suit of armor, his care restored us."
"I can use no other word than that to describe what happened. We ceased to be the discarded soldier, the chaff of the Imperium. In his eyes, we were the enduring, the creator long neglected. Yet unlike Fulgrim or Magnus he did not ignore our father's duty, or our purpose. For we ARE soldiers."
"He fought beside our father, his sons fought beside us, and when the greatest of honors came, when the chance to claim a title and conquest that no other had yet matched, who did he call? The White Scars, a legion equally forgotten if not discarded...and us."
"What's more, when he could have claimed the lead, become the War Marshal of a great campaign, the Warden did not take up the mantle. He did not accept that honor...he bequeathed it to his brother."
"At first we could not believe it. After years of arrogance, assumption, and ennui, even such as we could not comprehend humility when first exposed. How could we? When the only time it was showed was when we were humbled before our Father?"
"This is why we marched into Hell. Not for the Emperor, not for glory, not for fame. In that gesture, in that regard, we had found something greater: Worth. We were shown that our worth had never left us, only that the rust of our own self-contempt had hidden it from us."
"This is why we died in droves not seen since before our Father's return. Because finally our death's mattered."
"When our father performed the ritual, and pulled the corrupted world from the Warp itself, the Remembrancers recalled who we were. They sang praise when before they would echo mockery. Yet we did not care, they were only human after all. it would take them time to discover what was already known."
"We mattered."
"And so, when the Warden calls, we will answer."
"When Horus and Vulkan discovered the truth of the Emperor, that he would use all as he required in the pursuit of his goals, it was not for them that my father and brothers moved. It was for him."
"It was not for some grand cause of redemption or retribution that we prepared for the worse. It was for the integrity that a cold and callous galaxy would seek to snuff from the galaxy."
"Iron, it is said, can be used to chain, to shackle."
"This is true, for our shackles were strong, and bound us to our doom."
"But we were set free."
"We have learned the Truth of Iron."
"No one can stand alone."
"But we can choose who we stand with."
"I am of the Iron Warriors, the sworn, the determined."
"We shall ward the Wardens."
"Until such time as our loyalty is no longer needed, we shall stand."
"Until such time as when we may set aside our bolters for the easel, we shall spill that which is within us."
"Iron."
"An Iron Bond ties us together."
"And we will honor it."
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I'm back baby!
got inspired by the following Warrior Tier video and thought it provided a good framework for illustrating just how small and yet how great the change that happened was from the perspective of hte Iron Warriors.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSo9eYZ-630
Her First Hunt, Their First Date
Her First Hunt, Their First Date
Humanity was renowned for its adaptability to various climates and environments. Whether it was a scorching desert or a frigid tundra, given enough time, humans could make a home and conquer the challenges presented by their surroundings. Sometimes, they even embraced the very elements that shaped their lives. The same could not be said about mentally adapting to such places.
Because as generations passed and the bonds to their homeworld grew stronger, it became increasingly difficult for outsiders to truly integrate or feel at home in these foreign lands. No matter how much effort they put into understanding and embracing the local culture, there will always be an underlying sense of being an outsider.
Zunia had experienced this firsthand since leaving her home of Mavra and arriving on Fenris at the request of the Wolf King, Leman Russ. Her patron and liege, and now lover. This added an extra level of complications, of course. But the people of Fenris were welcoming, but even under Leman's command, Zunia couldn't help but feel like an outsider in this harsh and unforgiving realm.
No matter how many furs she wrapped herself in to combat the cold, she could never fully shake the feeling that Fenris intentionally reminded her of her outsider status. The biting winds and chilling temperatures served as constant reminders of her foreignness.
But it wasn't just the climate that unnerved Zunia but also the creatures that roamed Fenris. Even the Fenrisians, including those of Leman's kin, always kept weapons ready when venturing into the wilds of Asaheim.
Zunia had only accompanied Leman and his brethren on a few expeditions, mostly for hunting. The feasting and revelry that followed were other aspects she was slowly adjusting to. Fenrisians loved hearty meals, and plentiful drinks for a feast were always welcomed in the halls and hearths of Leman Russ.
Leman had once explained to her that putting on muscle and weight was considered beneficial on Fenris. While others may have found such remarks unwholesome, Zunia dismissed them without a second thought. Her relationship with Leman had progressed rapidly, and they shared intimate moments without having gone on a proper date. Dating a man like Leman Russ, a Primarch, was an entirely new experience for her.
However, Zunia's struggles with Leman didn't arise from his imposing stature, Primarch status, or reputation as a formidable warrior. Physical aspects were easy for her to navigate, and she had seen past Leman's persona as a "barbarian braggart." The real challenge lay in understanding the profound significance of Fenris to Leman and his fellow Fenrisians, from his affinity to this ferocious land and Zunia not understanding how vital it was to the Wolf Lord.
It mirrored the difficulties she had faced with Kochno for years. She couldn't comprehend why someone would invest so much faith and devotion in something or someone who, in her eyes, didn't offer tangible benefits to their followers. Zunia had easily embraced the ideals of the Imperial Truth, but Leman's unwavering loyalty to Fenris differed.
Initially, she attributed it to staunch patriotism and zealous devotion. Despite its harshness and unforgiving nature, the Space Wolves and Fenrisans were immensely proud of their home and culture. Though Zunia considered herself perceptive, she soon realized that the Fenrisians were far more nuanced and subtle than they appeared at first glance.
They didn't worship Leman Russ or the Space Wolves. Instead, they seemed to have a contemplative relationship with unseen and mysterious aspects of Fenris, treating it as an integral part of their environment. Zunia noticed they engaged in quiet practices such as arranging bones in peculiar designs or burying meat and metals in their farming soil.
Her first forays into their culture didn't produce much. When Zunia inquired about the Erlking, Leman dismissed it as a mere story told to children to encourage them to do their chores. It reminded her of the tales she grew up with on Mavra, like the infamous "Tube Men" who supposedly lurked in the underground rail lines and snatched misbehaving children.
Curiosity got the better of Zunia, and she delved into researching the subject of the Erlking. According to Fenrisian mythology, the Erlking was a deity associated with wights, death, and Nettagangr. He ruled over the Muspjall, the hall of those who died a coward's death in old age. His realm consisted of savage Fenrisians who feasted on the deceased and tormented captured Vakreyrs. It was a rather grim and unpleasant figure in the lore.
However, like many legends, the Erlking was considered a fable. Zunia couldn't find any mention of specific rituals or practices to ward off his presence. She suspected that certain records might have been censored or withheld, which wouldn't be surprising considering the secretive nature of Fenrisian culture. Perhaps if she had pressed harder, she could have uncovered more answers, but she questioned the point of doing so.
Suspicion lingered in Zunia's mind, but she refrained from pressing Leman further on Fenrisian beliefs. It felt unbecoming and rude to pry into something deeply ingrained in their culture. Besides, even Leman seemed hesitant to discuss certain aspects of Fenris, as if held back by an unspoken force. Zunia understood that he had his reasons, and she respected his boundaries.
Part of her wondered if her own status as an outsider played a role in this dynamic. Despite the warmth and acceptance she received from the Fenrisians, she couldn't escape the feeling of being an outsider who would never fully comprehend the intricacies of their cultural hold. It wasn't a malicious intent on their part; rather, it was a testament to Fenris's powerful influence over its inhabitants, including Leman Russ himself.
This left her in an awkward position.
Zunia was caught between her insatiable curiosity and the pressing responsibilities of running Leman's domain. As much as she longed to delve deeper into the mysteries of Fenris, she couldn't let her fascination consume her entirely. There were practical matters that required her attention, tasks that demanded her focus and dedication.
She reminded herself that it takes time and patience to learn, and understanding the intricacies of Fenrisian culture and beliefs would require exactly that. It was a delicate balance, one she had to strike between her personal quest for knowledge and her duties as a leader.
So, for now, Zunia set aside her growing obsession and dedicated herself to the tasks. She continued to immerse herself in the daily affairs of Leman's domain, managing resources, overseeing operations, and ensuring the well-being of their people.
Because sooner or later, she would get an answer. Zunia just hoped it was worth the effort.
A few weeks later…
"I want to take you on a date." Leman's announcement came as a surprise to Zunia. The Primarch had caught his Majordomo while she was finishing up the work for the day. She had planned to get some dinner and then find Leman to discuss some issues of state.
Zunia couldn't help but smile at Leman's unexpected request. It was a delightful change of pace from their usual interactions. She had grown accustomed to their passionate encounters and discussions around their responsibilities, but the idea of a date added a new sense of excitement and normalcy to their relationship.
So, she readily agreed. Leman seemed relieved as if he had expected her to decline. "You don't have to ask me to go out with you, Leman," Zunia replied with a playful tone.
"I suppose," Leman nodded, a hint of a smile on his lips. "But I wanted to make sure it was something you'd be alright with."
Zunia couldn't help herself and added, "You didn't ask for my input when you decided we should howl all night." She enjoyed their comfortable familiarity and the playful exchanges they shared.
Leman chuckled, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Aye, you have a point there. Neither of us seems to need or want much prompting for that."
With a shared understanding and a touch of humor, Zunia and Leman appreciated had come to appreciate their shared humor over how their relationship was. They understood that amidst their responsibilities, they needed moments of respite and the chance to focus solely on each other.
"But I want us to have an actual date together," Leman continued, his tone growing earnest. "The sex is something else, but I figure you, and I needed something more…I don't know, innocuous to this relationship?"
He had a point. Besides, it would be fun to do something simple. "Fair enough. Did you have something in mind for our first date?" Now she was getting a bit excited. What exactly did a man like Leman Russ do for a date? Surely he wasn't about to suggest dinner and a show?
Her question brought out a toothy smile, "A hunt!"
Zunia blinked at hearing that, "A hunt? Like hunting one of the predators of Fenris?" That seemed exciting but also hazardous to her health.
"Oh, no. Nothing like that." He waved off her concern, "Something far easier and safer, just to get you your hunting legs for Fenris."
This time, Zunia chuckled and shook her, "Innocuous, you said. Well, I suppose my shooting skills have gotten a bit rusty." She wasn't about to admit that Zunia wasn't exactly a skilled marksman. Her weapons of choice had always been her mind and words.
"It'll be fun, I promise." Leman was trying to reassure her when it was necessary. Then again, maybe he was feeling a bit regretful over how she had been handling domain duties for months now, nonstop.
She smiled at him, "I know it'll be fun. Because among your brothers, you are probably the only one that enjoys doing something loud, exciting, and dangerous after having a few drinks."
Leman laughed, "The drinking makes it memorable."
"Well, I'll hold off on having drinks if we plan to bring any large caliber weapons." Zunia knew enough about Fenris that bringing a hunting rifle meant getting something like a Nomad or boltgun. That or an autocannon. "I take it we are just going to the hunting fields?"
"Ehhh, I was thinking of something a little more exciting." After hearing that suggestion, Leman remarked, "The Ice Forests, where we can hunt for a Hrimhjortr!"
"A Hrimhjortr?"
"Aye, a frost stag!" Leman's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "It will be an adventure. We'll navigate through the frost-laden trees, tracking the elusive beast. Just imagine the rush as we stalk our prey with the wind howling as fresh snow falls around us."
Quite a vivid depiction. It also sounded quite exhausting to Zunia. Because on top of not really being a good shot, she wasn't the biggest fan of roughing it out in the middle of the woods as a soldier. Even after all these years, Zunia enjoyed her creature comforts immensely. Still, she doubted that Leman and her would just go and "rough" it out.
For starters, Leman always had an entourage with him. Fenrisian culture abhorred "lone wolf" mentalities. The people of this world survived for thousands of years because they kept each other safe. Just because Leman could fight and kill anything on this world didn't change this.
Unfortunately, Zunia wasn't keen on a first date with an entourage. "I don't suppose it can just be the two of us on this date."
Leman looked a little unsure, "Might be a tad difficult. I expect this hunt to take at least a day and night. Would you really want the two of us to go off alone?" Not really, but Zunia was willing to make an exception here.
But Zunia had a compromise in mind, "Perhaps we should bring a hunting party with us, but when the time comes to actually look for this Hrimhjortr, it can just be us two?"
"I suppose that is fair." Leman didn't seem bothered by the suggestion, "That and I would like a moment for the two of us to enjoy that doesn't result in us…howling."
"You know…" Zunia remarked with a voice that she knew drove Leman wild, "I bet it will be oh so cold that night…and I doubt anyone will notice any more howling caught in the wind." The two shared a small laugh at their flirting. But as cute as this was, she made a mental note to up her flirting game at some point. No chance in hell Zunia would keep using wolf puns to describe their sex life.
Three days later…
Arriving by shuttle, Zunina was buddled in furs and body armor. At least the view of the Ice Forest was impressive. The crisp air carried a faint scent of wood, mingling with the invigorating chill that enveloped the forest. The trees, adorned in delicate icicles and blanketed in a pristine layer of snow, stood tall and proud, casting long shadows on the glistening ground below.
The Ice Forest had an otherworldly beauty, like a frozen realm carved from a mythical tale, but like much of Fenris, it still hid a more vicious side. Sunlight, filtered through the branches, danced upon the snow, creating a dazzling display of shimmering crystals. The forest seemed to hold its breath as if preserving the enchantment within its frost-kissed embrace.
Zunia felt a familiar reverence and awe, a deep connection to the untamed wilderness that Fenris boasted. This forest was another place where nature reigned supreme, wild, and unconquerable. These were the little moments that made her stay on Fenis worthwhile.
Amidst the vibrant atmosphere of the Ice Forest, Leman and his men reveled in the bliss of the outdoors. The crackling of the campfire and the jovial conversations filled the air, accompanied by the occasional raucous laughter and clinking of mugs. Ale flowed freely, warming the hearts and emboldening the spirits of those gathered.
Leman, with his towering presence, raised his mug in a toast, his boisterous laughter echoing through the forest. The flickering firelight danced upon his proud features, highlighting the feral delight in his eyes. Ever the loyal friend, Gunnar stood by his side, equally immersed in the joyous camaraderie of the moment.
Among the pair were the Young Bloods. Astartes scouts, eager and filled with eagerness and bravado, quite ready to share tales and exchange tips with the Primarch and his captain. Their enthusiasm was infectious, which Zunia suspected Leman enjoyed having around him.
Freki and Geri had entered the forest almost immediately after the entourage landed. Their primal instincts guide them in pursuit of their own quarry. Leman remarked that this was a good vacation for them as well. "They'll be back in time before we leave anyway. So they can go have some fun. Told them to leave a stag for us."
The Hrimhjortr would be a difficult foe to track, but the young-bloods could find anything in this environment. The point of this trip was to have some fun, not spend an entire day looking at stag scat and trying to guess where the damn thing had gone.
Gunnar was making a bet with Leman, saying he could probably find a Hrimhjortr before the Wolf King did. Leman chuckled at Gunnar's wager. The competitive spirit ignited within them, fueled by their shared brotherhood and love for a good challenge. The bet was made—the victor would claim a keg of ale, a prized Blackdog. The hunt took on an added layer of excitement, for there was now more at stake than just the thrill of the chase.
Servitors efficiently went about their tasks, setting up camp and ensuring the comfort of all. Their mechanical precision contrasted with the wild surroundings, creating a harmonious balance between the civilized and the untamed. Serfs, under the watchful eye of an Astartes sergeant, diligently assisted as the hunting parties readied themselves.
As the preparations drew to a close, Leman turned his attention to Zunia, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. Their shared hunt was about to begin, and the prospect of testing their skills and enjoying each other's company in the wilds of Fenris excited them both. Whatever hesitations Zunia might have had going on a hunt seemed to have faded away.
With a nod, Leman and Zunia ventured forth, their senses heightened and their spirits alight. The Ice Forest beckoned, and it was time for the hunt to commence in full. It was still early in the morning, but the cold and wind were still a force to be reckoned with.
"I wonder what the first colonists thought when they walked through this forest." Zunia idly asked as she and Leman strolled along on a path.
Leman grinned as he hefted his axe, Helwinter, over his shoulder, "Probably didn't care all that much, not until they lost all their technology and had to restart their lives. After that, I imagine it was with a bit of anxiety. A lot of dangerous beasties call this forest home."
Zunia rolled her eyes, "You say that about most of Fenris, but what about the history of the Ice Forest?" The Fenrisian kept good records of their lands; however, most details tracked deaths, battles, and when it was safe to pass through. But Leman had to have known more than just that.
As they walked amidst the majesty of this place, Zunia couldn't help but be captivated by its ethereal beauty. Yes, this place was dangerous to those unprepared, yet that didn't deter them from admiring its beauty or tranquillity.
Leman, meanwhile, considered Zunia's question. His eyes scanned the surroundings, taking in the towering trees and the vast expanse of untouched snow. "The history of the Ice Forest is not as well-documented as some of Fenris' more renowned sagas," he admitted. "But there are stories, passed down through generations, whispered around the hearth fires."
"Such as?"
"They speak of the Ice Forest as a realm of trials and resilience, a place where those who dare venture face the harsh embrace of nature itself. It is said that warriors sought solace from ancient tree spirits that could speak with the wild."
Zunia listened intently, her curiosity piqued. "Are there any specific tales or legends associated with these tree spirits?"
Leman's voice lowered, his words carrying a hint of reverence. "There is one tale that speaks of a lone warrior, Mavarak Redsnow, who, during one of the worst blizzards these lands had seen, sought to end it by slaying the creatures causing it. The spirits of these trees guided him toward the lair of an ice spriggan, where the pair fought for three days and nights. Only through the intervention of a Hrimhjortr, Javion, the Kings of Stags that Mavarak won and ended the blizzard."
Zunia narrowed her eyes when she considered this, "And we are going to kill a Hrimhjortr."
"Yup." Leman gave her a feral grin, "See, this is where the story takes a dark turn. Mavarak might have ended the blizzard, but his people were going to starve…and, well, a rather delicious-looking beast just appeared."
"You are making this up." Zunia rolled her eyes, "No way would one of your myths be about someone betraying another person, or I suppose beast, in cold blood. Pardon the pun. Also, what does this have to do with ancient forest spirits?"
Leman stopped and smiled at her, "The less, my dear, is that there are no whimsical creatures or people on Fenris. There are only predators and prey. Some just happen to have more honor than others. Mavarak had to do what was necessary to save his people. No matter how majestic and regal, killing a stag for its meat meant salvation."
"I'm sure that says something about man as well." Zunia countered Leman. She was all for tricks and undermining the opposition, but cutting down a would-be ally after a ferocious battle? Some lines shouldn't be crossed. Then again, if it meant saving your family, world, or someone you cared deeply about…the choice didn't seem so cut and dry then.
Moving further into the Ice Forest, Zunia saw that the canopy was getting a bit thicker, and thus it was a bit darker now. Not that it worried her, let alone Leman. If anything, the trees had cut down on the wind blowing in their direction.
Unfortunately, the pair had been moving for over three hours now and hadn't seen hide or hair of a Hrimhjortr or any other animals. If Zunia didn't know any better, everything was scared of Leman, which didn't surprise her all that much.
At some point, they came across a small but open glade, to which Leman asked if she wanted to have a little picnic there. Naturally, she agreed, even if she had to remind her romantic partner that they were technically in a deadly forest.
"That just makes it all the more exciting!" Leman remarked before he and Zunia found some comfortable-looking rocks to sit on. They had packed an assortment of meats, cheeses, and a few containers of hot recaff.
As they settled down in the serene glade, Zunia couldn't help but appreciate the contrast between the stillness of their surroundings and the vibrant energy radiating from Leman. It was as if the forest held its breath as if it was on the Wolf King's schedule.
With a smile, Zunia leaned back against the rock, taking in the sight of the picturesque glade. The sun's rays filtered through the branches, glowing gently on their impromptu picnic spot. The air was filled with the earthy scent of the forest. It was staggering to remember that Fenris was a Death World.
"I wonder if this is all just an attempt to make us lower our guard," Zunia asked aloud as she drank some of her recaff. "Such an idyllic and peaceful spot; surely now would be a good time for a predator to pounce?"
Leman only laughed at the comment. Seemingly unworried as he began unpacking their provisions with a sense of excitement. He laid out a platter adorned with cured meats, cheeses, and freshly baked bread. The steam from the recaff containers mingled with the crisp forest air, creating a comforting warmth in their surroundings.
"Something tells me that the forest is more concerned with all the others roaming around it than you or I." The Primarch chuckled before tearing off a haunch of bread to devour, "Cheers to our little adventure, love." He held up a much large cup of recaff in salute.
They indulged in the simple pleasures of the feast before them, savoring the flavors of fresh Fenrisian cuisine. Zunia had long since grown accustomed to their food's smoky and often crunchy taste. The taste of the savory meats and the creamy cheeses danced on her tongue, complemented by the rich, aromatic recaff that warmed them from within.
As they sat there, immersed in the tranquility of the glade, Zunia felt a sense of peace settle over her. It was a rare moment of respite amidst their duties and responsibilities. Here, in the heart of this place on a frozen hellscape of a planet, was a moment of calm.
Moments like this made it worth upending her life on Mavra to come here. An uphill and sometimes even dangerous trial for Zunia to deal with, but she had made it this far. So with a smile, she moved to sit right next to Leman, putting herself right up against him.
"I don't think I ever thanked you for taking the time to help me adjust to your world." Zunia started as she took another sip of her recaff, "I can't really go off on my own because of the dangers, but it's different when I'm with you."
Leman shrugged, "Fenris and I have an understanding, as it were. It fears and respects me enough to not cause trouble."
"And in return, you protect it." The Wolf King was fiercely protective of his people and home, which made all the things Zunia had seen all the stranger. "Fenris seems almost alive because it understands quid pro quo. It benefits from having you here instead of trying to actively kill you."
This time, Leman only chuckled, "You make it sound like Fenris is self-aware or that I have some arrangement with it. Sadly, if I did, I'd have asked it to do something about helping my people with their crops or staying warm in the winter."
"Except you don't need to," Zunia knew that was a deflection on Leman's part, "You have the technology and industry that makes it a non-issue. Your people, on the other hand, seemed just as keen as keeping to the old ways of appeasing Fenris. Yet I think you and your marines greatly contribute to this."
"If you are referring to my wolf-priests, that is just a title grandfathered in before my father's arrival." As he grabbed some meat and cheese for his bread, Leman remarked, "Anything with any religious connotation is just a hold-over for something created thousands of years before I even arrived on Fenris. It's a cultural thing."
"Like the recurring 'wolf' motif?"
"Exactly." Leman smiled back at her, "It's like how Perturabo or Ferrus like to use the 'iron' all the time to describe something. It's a mannerism, a quirk, you can say. My sons and I just happen to use one of the greatest creatures on Fenris as inspiration."
Zunia didn't look too convinced, "That's a very convoluted roundabout way to say that you just looked at your heraldry and said, 'Wolves are neat, let's do that,' and didn't look back."
"Could have been worse," Leman admits after a moment, "We could have been the Space Lions or Space Eagles. Or the Space Bladefishes, that most terrifying fish within our seas." This time, Zunia couldn't stop her giggling.
"Stop tacking on 'space' to everything."
Leman didn't stop, however, "What about the Space Stags? Space Elks? Space Saenyeti?"
"What's a Saenyeti?"
"It's like a mix between a grox and an elk. So a variation on Space Elks, I suppose?"
Zunia chuckled at Leman's playful banter, shaking her head in amusement, "I can't even imagine what those heraldries would look like."
Leman grinned mischievously, clearly enjoying their playful exchange. "Ah, but where's the fun if we can't let our imaginations run wild? Someday my sons want to carve out their destinies among the stars under different banners. I should think they'd like to try and be a bit different from one another."
Zunia raised an eyebrow, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. "But as the Space Elks?"
Leman leaned in closer, his voice filled with mock seriousness. "Ah, the majestic Space Stags, gracefully leaping through the stars. Can you imagine their antlers adorned with the symbols of conquest, soaring through the cosmos?"
Zunia couldn't help but laugh at the image Leman painted. "And the noble Space Elks, the sons of Russ, riding upon great beasts with antlers adorned with past victories as they trample their foes underfoot!"
By that point, the pair couldn't help themselves. Their laughter filled the air, a joyful melody amidst the serenity of the Ice Forest. It was only later that Zunia realized what had happened. That Leman had simply distracted her enough to not follow up on any more questions involving the faith or culture of Fenris.
Zunia glanced at the darkening sky, recognizing the telltale signs of the evening drawing ever closer. The forest seemed to hold its breath as if aware of the impending hunt. She shivered slightly, feeling the chill seep through her furs. Nightfall was approaching, and they had no intention of lingering in the pitch-black forest. It was still a few hours before nightfall, but neither she nor Leman was keen on staying in a pitch-black forest.
The young-bloods had reported the presence of Hrimhjortr deep within the forest, signaling a promising opportunity for a kill. The distant sound of gunshots echoed through the icy expanse, evidence that the hunt was underway. The vox chatter revealed a fierce pursuit but no victorious wolves just yet.
Having ventured away from the glade several hours ago, Zunia and Leman noticed a surge in animal activity. Some audacious or foolish creatures even attempted to challenge them. The Wolf King's growl or the thunderous swing of Helwinter shattered nearby trees, sending the beasts scurrying away in fear.
Despite the increasing wildlife encounters, the elusive Hrimhjortr remained just that, leaving Zunia questioning if luck had turned against them. But Leman, ever the optimist, pressed forward with unwavering confidence.
"A golden rule of hunting on Fenris, don't use a gun unless you have your prey in sight." Leman briefly lectured as the two moved through the thicket. "Every creature on Fenris, including the wolves, will run away faster than a juve gang getting an enforcer raid on their hideout."
As Zunia deftly maneuvered under low-hanging branches, she asked, her curiosity piqued, "Are Hrimhjortr easily startled?"
"No." Leman grimaced as he cut down a few branches with Helwinter, "I've heard plenty of first-hand accounts of the beasts moving to gore a man with their antlers. You see, they are all barbed and razor-sharp. Also, a Hrimhjortr is as tall as a Sentinel. Just as strong too."
Zunia's smile widened, her amusement evident. "Well, I suppose the Space Stags have gained some credibility now."
Leman chuckled in response, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Just wait until you witness the ferocity of the Bladefishes," he teased before his expression became more serious. He paused, his nostrils flaring as he took in a deep breath. A fierce grin stretched across his face. "Ask, and ye shall receive. I can smell the presence of a Hrimhjortr nearby. Their scent carried on the wind."
Zunia blinked, taken aback by Leman's remark. "You picked up their scent on the wind? And how do you even know what a Hrimhjortr smells like?"
"This ain't my first Hrimhjortr hunt." Leman cryptically answered before looking at her, "Keep your rifle at the ready, stay low, and try to watch your footing. The Hrimhjortr can hear quite well, but the wind is in our favor, and trees aren't doing them any favors either."
Without uttering a word, Zunia silently followed in Leman's footsteps. The anticipation in the air was palpable as they made their way through the dense thicket, inching closer to their quarry. After what felt like an eternity of careful navigation, they arrived at the edge of a vast glade, where a small herd of Hrimhjortr stood, unaware of their presence.
As Zunia gazed upon the magnificent creatures for the first time, she couldn't help but be awestruck. The Hrimhjortr stood tall and commanding, their imposing figures rivaling that of a towering Sentinel. Their antlers, resembling shards of glistening ice, radiated an ethereal beauty. It was a breathtaking sight.
Observing the small family of Hrimhjortr before them, Zunia took note of the group's composition. There were two impressive males, three graceful females, and a handful of adorable, frolicking babies. Try as she might, Zunia couldn't help but think it was a rather picturesque grouping.
"Excellent," Leman remarked, his voice filled with approval and respect. "We shall take down the princeling, ensuring the herd's survival. Fenris teaches us to respect the balance of nature, not to take more than what is necessary." Zunia nodded, understanding that the "princeling" referred to the dominant stag leading the group.
Positioning herself carefully on the ground, Zunia adjusted her grip on the rifle, her fingers finding comfort and familiarity on the trigger. Through the powerful 8x scope, she focused her gaze on her designated target, roughly 50 meters away.
Breathing steadily, Zunia allowed the world around her to fade into the background, her focus narrowing solely on the Hrimhjortr before her. The forest seemed to hold its breath as if aware of the significance of this moment.
Unfortunately, some parts of Zunia refused to pull the trigger. She didn't know whether it was sentimental reasoning or because killing such a majestic thing felt wrong. Had she earned the right to kill this thing? She felt like an outsider here. But the thought of disappointing Leman filled her with dread.
Deciding that disappointing her lover was far worse than earning the ire of Fenris, Zunia readied to take the shot. Time seemed to slow down. The eyes of the Hrimhjortr briefly made contact with her own, and they were staring directly at her.
Zunia barely had time to consider this before a loud howling was heard, causing her to stop and the Hrimhjortr herd to go still. A moment later, Leman growled and gripped Helwinter with both hands now. "Damn it, I knew I smelled something else!"
A few seconds later, another creature lept into the glade with frightening speed and agility before tracking right toward the Hrimhjortr princeling. A Fenrisian Wolf, and a Blackmane at that! It was easily the size of a Rhino APC but moved with the speed of a marine with a jump pack.
The entire hunt had now just been upended by the arrival of this Blackmane wolf, who shouldn't have even been in this part of Fenris. Zunia could only assume that it had migrated toward the Ice Forest. Whatever the case, all hell suddenly broke loose.
Leman moved faster than Zunia had ever seen him move while the two Hrimhjortr males brewed and started charging toward the Blackmane. Zunia wanted to believe this was a coordinated effort against a much more dangerous creature, but it was likely just the threat that brought this alliance.
If the Blackmane had any idea who it was squaring off against, it didn't seem to care as it rushed toward one of the Hrimhjortr. The poor creature didn't even realize how outclassed it was, nor did it matter, as the wolf's jaws were already latched onto its neck and tore through it like a hot knife through butter.
A geyser of blood erupted from the headless Hrimhjortr, but all this allowed the Princeling to ram the Blackmane with its antlers. The wolf, who still towered over the Princeling, was pushed back by the oncoming attack but seemingly no worse for wear.
However, Leman soon entered the scuffle. The Primarch swung Helwinter downward, hoping to cut off the head of the beast in one slash, but the wolf dodged the attack with unnerving speed before it tried to maul the king bearing its species name.
This was a poorly thought-out strategy on the Blackmane's part, as Leman grabbed the beast before it could pounce him and tossed the APC-sized creature into a nearby gathering of trees almost ten meters away.
A moment passed before the Blackmane stood once more and charged the Wolf-King, but was again intercepted midway by the Princeling. This time the Blackmane failed to dodge in time, likely still woozy from Leman's toss, and was rammed into a boulder. Yet this didn't stop the wolf; he clawed at the Princeling, tearing off one of its antlers.
While this happened, Zunia fumbled at her ammo pouch, looking for something. Her hunting rifle could chamber specialty rounds, which included a powerful caliber found on Fenris called a Silver Bullet. She had only brought them along for some target practice with Leman. Now it seemed like they could be of use here.
Her rifle was a bolt-action, so once she found the "Silver Bullets," she loaded one in the chamber and readied herself. Zunia might not have been the best marksman, but it was better than nothing, though she doubted even this Silver Bullet could get through the hide of a Blackmane.
Besides, it wasn't like Leman wasn't handling this situation. He probably fought these types of wolves for years. Zunia, however, felt the need to get involved to salvage this hunting trip. So she bided her time.
Leman was, by all accounts, enjoying himself. He probably never had been in a battle with a Fenrisian wolf and aided by a Hrimhjortr. Each swing of Helwinter meant death to the Blackmane, leaving the creature to go on the defensive. Zunia would have been amazed at how it moved with stunning precision in a different time and place.
The Princeling's unexpected charge proved the turning point in the fierce duel. As it pinned the Blackmane once again, Zunia seized the opportunity. With steady hands and unwavering focus, she aimed her rifle at the vulnerable left eye of the wounded creature. She knew that a well-placed shot could tip the scales in their favor.
The crack of her rifle echoed through the forest as the Silver Bullet found its mark. It struck true, burrowing deep into the Blackmane's eye. A guttural snarl of pain escaped the creature as it recoiled, momentarily disoriented by the sudden assault on its senses. Zunia's shot had dealt a critical blow, blinding the ferocious beast.
However, the Blackmane's impaired vision did not hinder its strength. With a twisted snarl of fury, it used its remaining might to push the Princeling off its body . The wounded creature fought on, driven by pure instinct and rage.
Zunia barely had time to register the attack had hit the Blackmane's eye before it let a twisted snarl and used its strength to push the Hrimhjortr off its body. Unfortunately, having a bullet in your eye did not help situational awareness.
With a single decisive swing, Helwinter cleaved through the Blackmane's neck, severing its head from its body in a clean and swift motion. The battle had concluded, ending the struggle that had unfolded in less than five minutes. Leman huffed as the Princeling ran off to join the rest of its kin.
Once the all-clear was given by Leman, Zunia gingerly approached. The ground was soaked with hot blood from the fallen Hrimhjortr and Blackmane. Its severed head was locked in a ferocious snarl. It probably hadn't even been aware that it died.
Leman didn't even look winded as he hefted Helwinter over his right shoulder, "Well, this hunt is over. Could be more wolves around the forest. Gunnar and I will need to address this."
Glancing at the dead creatures, Zunia nodded, "An exciting end, at least?"
"I'll say." Leman glanced at her and smiled, "That was one Hel of a shot you made. And you said you weren't any good with shooting."
Zunia shrugged, "The Princeling kept the wolf in place for me. Yet I'm still wondering how I made that shot." Right into the eye of a Blackmane, even an Astartes scout would have some difficulty pulling that off. So how did she pull it off?
Reaching down to grab the head of Blackmane, Leman shook his head, "Don't think too much about it. If you want to call it luck, that's perfectly fine. Fenris rewards the lucky as much as it does the talented and dedicated."
"Mhmm…" Zunia said nothing as she noticed the torn antler of the Princeling on the ground and reached down to pick it up. It was cold to the touch! Unnaturally so. In fact, she could see what looked to be permafrost radiant from it. "Leman, why did the Blackmane specifically attack here?"
"It was looking for a place to die." Leman answered, which surprised her, "This wasn't a Blackmane in its prime; otherwise, that battle would have been a bit more intense. No, this one was old and dying. The teeth and fur tell me that much."
She could only take his word for it. Besides, she was still focused on the antlers in her hands. "I guess this counts for something, at least."
"Helped me kill a Blackmane; that's certainly something!" Leman sounded quite happy and proud of her, "Once word gets around, and it will, I can imagine by next week people will say that you got right up to the beast and stabbed it in the eye with a knife."
Rumors would undoubtedly spread. Zunia was happy to know that it would be a fairly positive one. Still, her focus was on the antlers in her hands. "What could I do with this?"
"Hrimhjortr fetch a fair price, especially if they come from a Princeling." She gave him a flat look because she was already incredibly wealthy before becoming his majordomo. Leman tried a different approach, "Just hold onto them…you might find someone here on Fenris that can do something with them."
That caught her attention, "Such as?"
"Well, I'll need to explain a few things first. But that will be for later." Leman cryptically remarked before he grabbed the tail of the dead Blackmane and started to drag it. "First, we must return to the others and leave for the night. The forest will know this creature is slain, and scavagers will try their luck."
Deciding not to press for further questions, Zunia simply nodded and followed alongside the Wolf-King as he dragged a dead wolf. Looking back at the head, she saw no indication of this Blackmane being too old or dying. Was Leman lying to her?
"What about the other Hrimhjortr body?"
"Leave it." Leman spoke again, "We are taking the greater bounty from this forest. Besides, the Hrimhjortr will wish to mourn their fallen." They mourn their dead? Suddenly the idea of killing the Princeling felt a little wrong.
"You might have wanted to mention that to me…" Zunia had ordered many people killed in her life so far, but these were just animals who had done nothing wrong, nor did she need their meat, fur, or whatever to survive. This was just killing for sport.
"Didn't want you to feel bad." The Primarch answered truthfully, "Killing an animal is different than killing any sapient creature. You can justify killing a man with a family and kin, think up any story you want, but many of these beasts called these lands home long before humanity stepped foot in them."
Then he lifted the head toward her, "However, Fenris is still a place where only the strong survive and the weak eventually get eliminated. Circle of life and all that." Zunia thought that was just an excuse, but there was still truth to it.
Perhaps Zunia needed to recognize that Fenris played by a different set of rules when it came to strength and power, but more than that, it was hiding something among the lands, beasts, and, more importantly, the people themselves. Leman Russ was the biggest conundrum of them all.
Glancing back toward the empty glade as she and Leman entered the thicket, Zunia caught sight of the Princeling and its herd. For a brief moment, she thought maybe there was a gleam of intelligence in their eyes, perhaps even thanking her.
Zunia shook her head and focused on Leman. Nothing she had done tonight had earned her thanks or recognition from this world or the lands around her. Then again, looking at the jovial and happy Leman, Zunia decided it didn't matter. Their first date ended in a success, and that was what mattered.
---
@Daemon Hunter This was supposed to be a bit more somber and involved, but I honestly lost interest near the end and just wanted to complete it before a week passed.
Humanity was renowned for its adaptability to various climates and environments. Whether it was a scorching desert or a frigid tundra, given enough time, humans could make a home and conquer the challenges presented by their surroundings. Sometimes, they even embraced the very elements that shaped their lives. The same could not be said about mentally adapting to such places.
Because as generations passed and the bonds to their homeworld grew stronger, it became increasingly difficult for outsiders to truly integrate or feel at home in these foreign lands. No matter how much effort they put into understanding and embracing the local culture, there will always be an underlying sense of being an outsider.
Zunia had experienced this firsthand since leaving her home of Mavra and arriving on Fenris at the request of the Wolf King, Leman Russ. Her patron and liege, and now lover. This added an extra level of complications, of course. But the people of Fenris were welcoming, but even under Leman's command, Zunia couldn't help but feel like an outsider in this harsh and unforgiving realm.
No matter how many furs she wrapped herself in to combat the cold, she could never fully shake the feeling that Fenris intentionally reminded her of her outsider status. The biting winds and chilling temperatures served as constant reminders of her foreignness.
But it wasn't just the climate that unnerved Zunia but also the creatures that roamed Fenris. Even the Fenrisians, including those of Leman's kin, always kept weapons ready when venturing into the wilds of Asaheim.
Zunia had only accompanied Leman and his brethren on a few expeditions, mostly for hunting. The feasting and revelry that followed were other aspects she was slowly adjusting to. Fenrisians loved hearty meals, and plentiful drinks for a feast were always welcomed in the halls and hearths of Leman Russ.
Leman had once explained to her that putting on muscle and weight was considered beneficial on Fenris. While others may have found such remarks unwholesome, Zunia dismissed them without a second thought. Her relationship with Leman had progressed rapidly, and they shared intimate moments without having gone on a proper date. Dating a man like Leman Russ, a Primarch, was an entirely new experience for her.
However, Zunia's struggles with Leman didn't arise from his imposing stature, Primarch status, or reputation as a formidable warrior. Physical aspects were easy for her to navigate, and she had seen past Leman's persona as a "barbarian braggart." The real challenge lay in understanding the profound significance of Fenris to Leman and his fellow Fenrisians, from his affinity to this ferocious land and Zunia not understanding how vital it was to the Wolf Lord.
It mirrored the difficulties she had faced with Kochno for years. She couldn't comprehend why someone would invest so much faith and devotion in something or someone who, in her eyes, didn't offer tangible benefits to their followers. Zunia had easily embraced the ideals of the Imperial Truth, but Leman's unwavering loyalty to Fenris differed.
Initially, she attributed it to staunch patriotism and zealous devotion. Despite its harshness and unforgiving nature, the Space Wolves and Fenrisans were immensely proud of their home and culture. Though Zunia considered herself perceptive, she soon realized that the Fenrisians were far more nuanced and subtle than they appeared at first glance.
They didn't worship Leman Russ or the Space Wolves. Instead, they seemed to have a contemplative relationship with unseen and mysterious aspects of Fenris, treating it as an integral part of their environment. Zunia noticed they engaged in quiet practices such as arranging bones in peculiar designs or burying meat and metals in their farming soil.
Her first forays into their culture didn't produce much. When Zunia inquired about the Erlking, Leman dismissed it as a mere story told to children to encourage them to do their chores. It reminded her of the tales she grew up with on Mavra, like the infamous "Tube Men" who supposedly lurked in the underground rail lines and snatched misbehaving children.
Curiosity got the better of Zunia, and she delved into researching the subject of the Erlking. According to Fenrisian mythology, the Erlking was a deity associated with wights, death, and Nettagangr. He ruled over the Muspjall, the hall of those who died a coward's death in old age. His realm consisted of savage Fenrisians who feasted on the deceased and tormented captured Vakreyrs. It was a rather grim and unpleasant figure in the lore.
However, like many legends, the Erlking was considered a fable. Zunia couldn't find any mention of specific rituals or practices to ward off his presence. She suspected that certain records might have been censored or withheld, which wouldn't be surprising considering the secretive nature of Fenrisian culture. Perhaps if she had pressed harder, she could have uncovered more answers, but she questioned the point of doing so.
Suspicion lingered in Zunia's mind, but she refrained from pressing Leman further on Fenrisian beliefs. It felt unbecoming and rude to pry into something deeply ingrained in their culture. Besides, even Leman seemed hesitant to discuss certain aspects of Fenris, as if held back by an unspoken force. Zunia understood that he had his reasons, and she respected his boundaries.
Part of her wondered if her own status as an outsider played a role in this dynamic. Despite the warmth and acceptance she received from the Fenrisians, she couldn't escape the feeling of being an outsider who would never fully comprehend the intricacies of their cultural hold. It wasn't a malicious intent on their part; rather, it was a testament to Fenris's powerful influence over its inhabitants, including Leman Russ himself.
This left her in an awkward position.
Zunia was caught between her insatiable curiosity and the pressing responsibilities of running Leman's domain. As much as she longed to delve deeper into the mysteries of Fenris, she couldn't let her fascination consume her entirely. There were practical matters that required her attention, tasks that demanded her focus and dedication.
She reminded herself that it takes time and patience to learn, and understanding the intricacies of Fenrisian culture and beliefs would require exactly that. It was a delicate balance, one she had to strike between her personal quest for knowledge and her duties as a leader.
So, for now, Zunia set aside her growing obsession and dedicated herself to the tasks. She continued to immerse herself in the daily affairs of Leman's domain, managing resources, overseeing operations, and ensuring the well-being of their people.
Because sooner or later, she would get an answer. Zunia just hoped it was worth the effort.
A few weeks later…
"I want to take you on a date." Leman's announcement came as a surprise to Zunia. The Primarch had caught his Majordomo while she was finishing up the work for the day. She had planned to get some dinner and then find Leman to discuss some issues of state.
Zunia couldn't help but smile at Leman's unexpected request. It was a delightful change of pace from their usual interactions. She had grown accustomed to their passionate encounters and discussions around their responsibilities, but the idea of a date added a new sense of excitement and normalcy to their relationship.
So, she readily agreed. Leman seemed relieved as if he had expected her to decline. "You don't have to ask me to go out with you, Leman," Zunia replied with a playful tone.
"I suppose," Leman nodded, a hint of a smile on his lips. "But I wanted to make sure it was something you'd be alright with."
Zunia couldn't help herself and added, "You didn't ask for my input when you decided we should howl all night." She enjoyed their comfortable familiarity and the playful exchanges they shared.
Leman chuckled, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Aye, you have a point there. Neither of us seems to need or want much prompting for that."
With a shared understanding and a touch of humor, Zunia and Leman appreciated had come to appreciate their shared humor over how their relationship was. They understood that amidst their responsibilities, they needed moments of respite and the chance to focus solely on each other.
"But I want us to have an actual date together," Leman continued, his tone growing earnest. "The sex is something else, but I figure you, and I needed something more…I don't know, innocuous to this relationship?"
He had a point. Besides, it would be fun to do something simple. "Fair enough. Did you have something in mind for our first date?" Now she was getting a bit excited. What exactly did a man like Leman Russ do for a date? Surely he wasn't about to suggest dinner and a show?
Her question brought out a toothy smile, "A hunt!"
Zunia blinked at hearing that, "A hunt? Like hunting one of the predators of Fenris?" That seemed exciting but also hazardous to her health.
"Oh, no. Nothing like that." He waved off her concern, "Something far easier and safer, just to get you your hunting legs for Fenris."
This time, Zunia chuckled and shook her, "Innocuous, you said. Well, I suppose my shooting skills have gotten a bit rusty." She wasn't about to admit that Zunia wasn't exactly a skilled marksman. Her weapons of choice had always been her mind and words.
"It'll be fun, I promise." Leman was trying to reassure her when it was necessary. Then again, maybe he was feeling a bit regretful over how she had been handling domain duties for months now, nonstop.
She smiled at him, "I know it'll be fun. Because among your brothers, you are probably the only one that enjoys doing something loud, exciting, and dangerous after having a few drinks."
Leman laughed, "The drinking makes it memorable."
"Well, I'll hold off on having drinks if we plan to bring any large caliber weapons." Zunia knew enough about Fenris that bringing a hunting rifle meant getting something like a Nomad or boltgun. That or an autocannon. "I take it we are just going to the hunting fields?"
"Ehhh, I was thinking of something a little more exciting." After hearing that suggestion, Leman remarked, "The Ice Forests, where we can hunt for a Hrimhjortr!"
"A Hrimhjortr?"
"Aye, a frost stag!" Leman's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "It will be an adventure. We'll navigate through the frost-laden trees, tracking the elusive beast. Just imagine the rush as we stalk our prey with the wind howling as fresh snow falls around us."
Quite a vivid depiction. It also sounded quite exhausting to Zunia. Because on top of not really being a good shot, she wasn't the biggest fan of roughing it out in the middle of the woods as a soldier. Even after all these years, Zunia enjoyed her creature comforts immensely. Still, she doubted that Leman and her would just go and "rough" it out.
For starters, Leman always had an entourage with him. Fenrisian culture abhorred "lone wolf" mentalities. The people of this world survived for thousands of years because they kept each other safe. Just because Leman could fight and kill anything on this world didn't change this.
Unfortunately, Zunia wasn't keen on a first date with an entourage. "I don't suppose it can just be the two of us on this date."
Leman looked a little unsure, "Might be a tad difficult. I expect this hunt to take at least a day and night. Would you really want the two of us to go off alone?" Not really, but Zunia was willing to make an exception here.
But Zunia had a compromise in mind, "Perhaps we should bring a hunting party with us, but when the time comes to actually look for this Hrimhjortr, it can just be us two?"
"I suppose that is fair." Leman didn't seem bothered by the suggestion, "That and I would like a moment for the two of us to enjoy that doesn't result in us…howling."
"You know…" Zunia remarked with a voice that she knew drove Leman wild, "I bet it will be oh so cold that night…and I doubt anyone will notice any more howling caught in the wind." The two shared a small laugh at their flirting. But as cute as this was, she made a mental note to up her flirting game at some point. No chance in hell Zunia would keep using wolf puns to describe their sex life.
Three days later…
Arriving by shuttle, Zunina was buddled in furs and body armor. At least the view of the Ice Forest was impressive. The crisp air carried a faint scent of wood, mingling with the invigorating chill that enveloped the forest. The trees, adorned in delicate icicles and blanketed in a pristine layer of snow, stood tall and proud, casting long shadows on the glistening ground below.
The Ice Forest had an otherworldly beauty, like a frozen realm carved from a mythical tale, but like much of Fenris, it still hid a more vicious side. Sunlight, filtered through the branches, danced upon the snow, creating a dazzling display of shimmering crystals. The forest seemed to hold its breath as if preserving the enchantment within its frost-kissed embrace.
Zunia felt a familiar reverence and awe, a deep connection to the untamed wilderness that Fenris boasted. This forest was another place where nature reigned supreme, wild, and unconquerable. These were the little moments that made her stay on Fenis worthwhile.
Amidst the vibrant atmosphere of the Ice Forest, Leman and his men reveled in the bliss of the outdoors. The crackling of the campfire and the jovial conversations filled the air, accompanied by the occasional raucous laughter and clinking of mugs. Ale flowed freely, warming the hearts and emboldening the spirits of those gathered.
Leman, with his towering presence, raised his mug in a toast, his boisterous laughter echoing through the forest. The flickering firelight danced upon his proud features, highlighting the feral delight in his eyes. Ever the loyal friend, Gunnar stood by his side, equally immersed in the joyous camaraderie of the moment.
Among the pair were the Young Bloods. Astartes scouts, eager and filled with eagerness and bravado, quite ready to share tales and exchange tips with the Primarch and his captain. Their enthusiasm was infectious, which Zunia suspected Leman enjoyed having around him.
Freki and Geri had entered the forest almost immediately after the entourage landed. Their primal instincts guide them in pursuit of their own quarry. Leman remarked that this was a good vacation for them as well. "They'll be back in time before we leave anyway. So they can go have some fun. Told them to leave a stag for us."
The Hrimhjortr would be a difficult foe to track, but the young-bloods could find anything in this environment. The point of this trip was to have some fun, not spend an entire day looking at stag scat and trying to guess where the damn thing had gone.
Gunnar was making a bet with Leman, saying he could probably find a Hrimhjortr before the Wolf King did. Leman chuckled at Gunnar's wager. The competitive spirit ignited within them, fueled by their shared brotherhood and love for a good challenge. The bet was made—the victor would claim a keg of ale, a prized Blackdog. The hunt took on an added layer of excitement, for there was now more at stake than just the thrill of the chase.
Servitors efficiently went about their tasks, setting up camp and ensuring the comfort of all. Their mechanical precision contrasted with the wild surroundings, creating a harmonious balance between the civilized and the untamed. Serfs, under the watchful eye of an Astartes sergeant, diligently assisted as the hunting parties readied themselves.
As the preparations drew to a close, Leman turned his attention to Zunia, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. Their shared hunt was about to begin, and the prospect of testing their skills and enjoying each other's company in the wilds of Fenris excited them both. Whatever hesitations Zunia might have had going on a hunt seemed to have faded away.
With a nod, Leman and Zunia ventured forth, their senses heightened and their spirits alight. The Ice Forest beckoned, and it was time for the hunt to commence in full. It was still early in the morning, but the cold and wind were still a force to be reckoned with.
"I wonder what the first colonists thought when they walked through this forest." Zunia idly asked as she and Leman strolled along on a path.
Leman grinned as he hefted his axe, Helwinter, over his shoulder, "Probably didn't care all that much, not until they lost all their technology and had to restart their lives. After that, I imagine it was with a bit of anxiety. A lot of dangerous beasties call this forest home."
Zunia rolled her eyes, "You say that about most of Fenris, but what about the history of the Ice Forest?" The Fenrisian kept good records of their lands; however, most details tracked deaths, battles, and when it was safe to pass through. But Leman had to have known more than just that.
As they walked amidst the majesty of this place, Zunia couldn't help but be captivated by its ethereal beauty. Yes, this place was dangerous to those unprepared, yet that didn't deter them from admiring its beauty or tranquillity.
Leman, meanwhile, considered Zunia's question. His eyes scanned the surroundings, taking in the towering trees and the vast expanse of untouched snow. "The history of the Ice Forest is not as well-documented as some of Fenris' more renowned sagas," he admitted. "But there are stories, passed down through generations, whispered around the hearth fires."
"Such as?"
"They speak of the Ice Forest as a realm of trials and resilience, a place where those who dare venture face the harsh embrace of nature itself. It is said that warriors sought solace from ancient tree spirits that could speak with the wild."
Zunia listened intently, her curiosity piqued. "Are there any specific tales or legends associated with these tree spirits?"
Leman's voice lowered, his words carrying a hint of reverence. "There is one tale that speaks of a lone warrior, Mavarak Redsnow, who, during one of the worst blizzards these lands had seen, sought to end it by slaying the creatures causing it. The spirits of these trees guided him toward the lair of an ice spriggan, where the pair fought for three days and nights. Only through the intervention of a Hrimhjortr, Javion, the Kings of Stags that Mavarak won and ended the blizzard."
Zunia narrowed her eyes when she considered this, "And we are going to kill a Hrimhjortr."
"Yup." Leman gave her a feral grin, "See, this is where the story takes a dark turn. Mavarak might have ended the blizzard, but his people were going to starve…and, well, a rather delicious-looking beast just appeared."
"You are making this up." Zunia rolled her eyes, "No way would one of your myths be about someone betraying another person, or I suppose beast, in cold blood. Pardon the pun. Also, what does this have to do with ancient forest spirits?"
Leman stopped and smiled at her, "The less, my dear, is that there are no whimsical creatures or people on Fenris. There are only predators and prey. Some just happen to have more honor than others. Mavarak had to do what was necessary to save his people. No matter how majestic and regal, killing a stag for its meat meant salvation."
"I'm sure that says something about man as well." Zunia countered Leman. She was all for tricks and undermining the opposition, but cutting down a would-be ally after a ferocious battle? Some lines shouldn't be crossed. Then again, if it meant saving your family, world, or someone you cared deeply about…the choice didn't seem so cut and dry then.
Moving further into the Ice Forest, Zunia saw that the canopy was getting a bit thicker, and thus it was a bit darker now. Not that it worried her, let alone Leman. If anything, the trees had cut down on the wind blowing in their direction.
Unfortunately, the pair had been moving for over three hours now and hadn't seen hide or hair of a Hrimhjortr or any other animals. If Zunia didn't know any better, everything was scared of Leman, which didn't surprise her all that much.
At some point, they came across a small but open glade, to which Leman asked if she wanted to have a little picnic there. Naturally, she agreed, even if she had to remind her romantic partner that they were technically in a deadly forest.
"That just makes it all the more exciting!" Leman remarked before he and Zunia found some comfortable-looking rocks to sit on. They had packed an assortment of meats, cheeses, and a few containers of hot recaff.
As they settled down in the serene glade, Zunia couldn't help but appreciate the contrast between the stillness of their surroundings and the vibrant energy radiating from Leman. It was as if the forest held its breath as if it was on the Wolf King's schedule.
With a smile, Zunia leaned back against the rock, taking in the sight of the picturesque glade. The sun's rays filtered through the branches, glowing gently on their impromptu picnic spot. The air was filled with the earthy scent of the forest. It was staggering to remember that Fenris was a Death World.
"I wonder if this is all just an attempt to make us lower our guard," Zunia asked aloud as she drank some of her recaff. "Such an idyllic and peaceful spot; surely now would be a good time for a predator to pounce?"
Leman only laughed at the comment. Seemingly unworried as he began unpacking their provisions with a sense of excitement. He laid out a platter adorned with cured meats, cheeses, and freshly baked bread. The steam from the recaff containers mingled with the crisp forest air, creating a comforting warmth in their surroundings.
"Something tells me that the forest is more concerned with all the others roaming around it than you or I." The Primarch chuckled before tearing off a haunch of bread to devour, "Cheers to our little adventure, love." He held up a much large cup of recaff in salute.
They indulged in the simple pleasures of the feast before them, savoring the flavors of fresh Fenrisian cuisine. Zunia had long since grown accustomed to their food's smoky and often crunchy taste. The taste of the savory meats and the creamy cheeses danced on her tongue, complemented by the rich, aromatic recaff that warmed them from within.
As they sat there, immersed in the tranquility of the glade, Zunia felt a sense of peace settle over her. It was a rare moment of respite amidst their duties and responsibilities. Here, in the heart of this place on a frozen hellscape of a planet, was a moment of calm.
Moments like this made it worth upending her life on Mavra to come here. An uphill and sometimes even dangerous trial for Zunia to deal with, but she had made it this far. So with a smile, she moved to sit right next to Leman, putting herself right up against him.
"I don't think I ever thanked you for taking the time to help me adjust to your world." Zunia started as she took another sip of her recaff, "I can't really go off on my own because of the dangers, but it's different when I'm with you."
Leman shrugged, "Fenris and I have an understanding, as it were. It fears and respects me enough to not cause trouble."
"And in return, you protect it." The Wolf King was fiercely protective of his people and home, which made all the things Zunia had seen all the stranger. "Fenris seems almost alive because it understands quid pro quo. It benefits from having you here instead of trying to actively kill you."
This time, Leman only chuckled, "You make it sound like Fenris is self-aware or that I have some arrangement with it. Sadly, if I did, I'd have asked it to do something about helping my people with their crops or staying warm in the winter."
"Except you don't need to," Zunia knew that was a deflection on Leman's part, "You have the technology and industry that makes it a non-issue. Your people, on the other hand, seemed just as keen as keeping to the old ways of appeasing Fenris. Yet I think you and your marines greatly contribute to this."
"If you are referring to my wolf-priests, that is just a title grandfathered in before my father's arrival." As he grabbed some meat and cheese for his bread, Leman remarked, "Anything with any religious connotation is just a hold-over for something created thousands of years before I even arrived on Fenris. It's a cultural thing."
"Like the recurring 'wolf' motif?"
"Exactly." Leman smiled back at her, "It's like how Perturabo or Ferrus like to use the 'iron' all the time to describe something. It's a mannerism, a quirk, you can say. My sons and I just happen to use one of the greatest creatures on Fenris as inspiration."
Zunia didn't look too convinced, "That's a very convoluted roundabout way to say that you just looked at your heraldry and said, 'Wolves are neat, let's do that,' and didn't look back."
"Could have been worse," Leman admits after a moment, "We could have been the Space Lions or Space Eagles. Or the Space Bladefishes, that most terrifying fish within our seas." This time, Zunia couldn't stop her giggling.
"Stop tacking on 'space' to everything."
Leman didn't stop, however, "What about the Space Stags? Space Elks? Space Saenyeti?"
"What's a Saenyeti?"
"It's like a mix between a grox and an elk. So a variation on Space Elks, I suppose?"
Zunia chuckled at Leman's playful banter, shaking her head in amusement, "I can't even imagine what those heraldries would look like."
Leman grinned mischievously, clearly enjoying their playful exchange. "Ah, but where's the fun if we can't let our imaginations run wild? Someday my sons want to carve out their destinies among the stars under different banners. I should think they'd like to try and be a bit different from one another."
Zunia raised an eyebrow, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. "But as the Space Elks?"
Leman leaned in closer, his voice filled with mock seriousness. "Ah, the majestic Space Stags, gracefully leaping through the stars. Can you imagine their antlers adorned with the symbols of conquest, soaring through the cosmos?"
Zunia couldn't help but laugh at the image Leman painted. "And the noble Space Elks, the sons of Russ, riding upon great beasts with antlers adorned with past victories as they trample their foes underfoot!"
By that point, the pair couldn't help themselves. Their laughter filled the air, a joyful melody amidst the serenity of the Ice Forest. It was only later that Zunia realized what had happened. That Leman had simply distracted her enough to not follow up on any more questions involving the faith or culture of Fenris.
Zunia glanced at the darkening sky, recognizing the telltale signs of the evening drawing ever closer. The forest seemed to hold its breath as if aware of the impending hunt. She shivered slightly, feeling the chill seep through her furs. Nightfall was approaching, and they had no intention of lingering in the pitch-black forest. It was still a few hours before nightfall, but neither she nor Leman was keen on staying in a pitch-black forest.
The young-bloods had reported the presence of Hrimhjortr deep within the forest, signaling a promising opportunity for a kill. The distant sound of gunshots echoed through the icy expanse, evidence that the hunt was underway. The vox chatter revealed a fierce pursuit but no victorious wolves just yet.
Having ventured away from the glade several hours ago, Zunia and Leman noticed a surge in animal activity. Some audacious or foolish creatures even attempted to challenge them. The Wolf King's growl or the thunderous swing of Helwinter shattered nearby trees, sending the beasts scurrying away in fear.
Despite the increasing wildlife encounters, the elusive Hrimhjortr remained just that, leaving Zunia questioning if luck had turned against them. But Leman, ever the optimist, pressed forward with unwavering confidence.
"A golden rule of hunting on Fenris, don't use a gun unless you have your prey in sight." Leman briefly lectured as the two moved through the thicket. "Every creature on Fenris, including the wolves, will run away faster than a juve gang getting an enforcer raid on their hideout."
As Zunia deftly maneuvered under low-hanging branches, she asked, her curiosity piqued, "Are Hrimhjortr easily startled?"
"No." Leman grimaced as he cut down a few branches with Helwinter, "I've heard plenty of first-hand accounts of the beasts moving to gore a man with their antlers. You see, they are all barbed and razor-sharp. Also, a Hrimhjortr is as tall as a Sentinel. Just as strong too."
Zunia's smile widened, her amusement evident. "Well, I suppose the Space Stags have gained some credibility now."
Leman chuckled in response, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Just wait until you witness the ferocity of the Bladefishes," he teased before his expression became more serious. He paused, his nostrils flaring as he took in a deep breath. A fierce grin stretched across his face. "Ask, and ye shall receive. I can smell the presence of a Hrimhjortr nearby. Their scent carried on the wind."
Zunia blinked, taken aback by Leman's remark. "You picked up their scent on the wind? And how do you even know what a Hrimhjortr smells like?"
"This ain't my first Hrimhjortr hunt." Leman cryptically answered before looking at her, "Keep your rifle at the ready, stay low, and try to watch your footing. The Hrimhjortr can hear quite well, but the wind is in our favor, and trees aren't doing them any favors either."
Without uttering a word, Zunia silently followed in Leman's footsteps. The anticipation in the air was palpable as they made their way through the dense thicket, inching closer to their quarry. After what felt like an eternity of careful navigation, they arrived at the edge of a vast glade, where a small herd of Hrimhjortr stood, unaware of their presence.
As Zunia gazed upon the magnificent creatures for the first time, she couldn't help but be awestruck. The Hrimhjortr stood tall and commanding, their imposing figures rivaling that of a towering Sentinel. Their antlers, resembling shards of glistening ice, radiated an ethereal beauty. It was a breathtaking sight.
Observing the small family of Hrimhjortr before them, Zunia took note of the group's composition. There were two impressive males, three graceful females, and a handful of adorable, frolicking babies. Try as she might, Zunia couldn't help but think it was a rather picturesque grouping.
"Excellent," Leman remarked, his voice filled with approval and respect. "We shall take down the princeling, ensuring the herd's survival. Fenris teaches us to respect the balance of nature, not to take more than what is necessary." Zunia nodded, understanding that the "princeling" referred to the dominant stag leading the group.
Positioning herself carefully on the ground, Zunia adjusted her grip on the rifle, her fingers finding comfort and familiarity on the trigger. Through the powerful 8x scope, she focused her gaze on her designated target, roughly 50 meters away.
Breathing steadily, Zunia allowed the world around her to fade into the background, her focus narrowing solely on the Hrimhjortr before her. The forest seemed to hold its breath as if aware of the significance of this moment.
Unfortunately, some parts of Zunia refused to pull the trigger. She didn't know whether it was sentimental reasoning or because killing such a majestic thing felt wrong. Had she earned the right to kill this thing? She felt like an outsider here. But the thought of disappointing Leman filled her with dread.
Deciding that disappointing her lover was far worse than earning the ire of Fenris, Zunia readied to take the shot. Time seemed to slow down. The eyes of the Hrimhjortr briefly made contact with her own, and they were staring directly at her.
Zunia barely had time to consider this before a loud howling was heard, causing her to stop and the Hrimhjortr herd to go still. A moment later, Leman growled and gripped Helwinter with both hands now. "Damn it, I knew I smelled something else!"
A few seconds later, another creature lept into the glade with frightening speed and agility before tracking right toward the Hrimhjortr princeling. A Fenrisian Wolf, and a Blackmane at that! It was easily the size of a Rhino APC but moved with the speed of a marine with a jump pack.
The entire hunt had now just been upended by the arrival of this Blackmane wolf, who shouldn't have even been in this part of Fenris. Zunia could only assume that it had migrated toward the Ice Forest. Whatever the case, all hell suddenly broke loose.
Leman moved faster than Zunia had ever seen him move while the two Hrimhjortr males brewed and started charging toward the Blackmane. Zunia wanted to believe this was a coordinated effort against a much more dangerous creature, but it was likely just the threat that brought this alliance.
If the Blackmane had any idea who it was squaring off against, it didn't seem to care as it rushed toward one of the Hrimhjortr. The poor creature didn't even realize how outclassed it was, nor did it matter, as the wolf's jaws were already latched onto its neck and tore through it like a hot knife through butter.
A geyser of blood erupted from the headless Hrimhjortr, but all this allowed the Princeling to ram the Blackmane with its antlers. The wolf, who still towered over the Princeling, was pushed back by the oncoming attack but seemingly no worse for wear.
However, Leman soon entered the scuffle. The Primarch swung Helwinter downward, hoping to cut off the head of the beast in one slash, but the wolf dodged the attack with unnerving speed before it tried to maul the king bearing its species name.
This was a poorly thought-out strategy on the Blackmane's part, as Leman grabbed the beast before it could pounce him and tossed the APC-sized creature into a nearby gathering of trees almost ten meters away.
A moment passed before the Blackmane stood once more and charged the Wolf-King, but was again intercepted midway by the Princeling. This time the Blackmane failed to dodge in time, likely still woozy from Leman's toss, and was rammed into a boulder. Yet this didn't stop the wolf; he clawed at the Princeling, tearing off one of its antlers.
While this happened, Zunia fumbled at her ammo pouch, looking for something. Her hunting rifle could chamber specialty rounds, which included a powerful caliber found on Fenris called a Silver Bullet. She had only brought them along for some target practice with Leman. Now it seemed like they could be of use here.
Her rifle was a bolt-action, so once she found the "Silver Bullets," she loaded one in the chamber and readied herself. Zunia might not have been the best marksman, but it was better than nothing, though she doubted even this Silver Bullet could get through the hide of a Blackmane.
Besides, it wasn't like Leman wasn't handling this situation. He probably fought these types of wolves for years. Zunia, however, felt the need to get involved to salvage this hunting trip. So she bided her time.
Leman was, by all accounts, enjoying himself. He probably never had been in a battle with a Fenrisian wolf and aided by a Hrimhjortr. Each swing of Helwinter meant death to the Blackmane, leaving the creature to go on the defensive. Zunia would have been amazed at how it moved with stunning precision in a different time and place.
The Princeling's unexpected charge proved the turning point in the fierce duel. As it pinned the Blackmane once again, Zunia seized the opportunity. With steady hands and unwavering focus, she aimed her rifle at the vulnerable left eye of the wounded creature. She knew that a well-placed shot could tip the scales in their favor.
The crack of her rifle echoed through the forest as the Silver Bullet found its mark. It struck true, burrowing deep into the Blackmane's eye. A guttural snarl of pain escaped the creature as it recoiled, momentarily disoriented by the sudden assault on its senses. Zunia's shot had dealt a critical blow, blinding the ferocious beast.
However, the Blackmane's impaired vision did not hinder its strength. With a twisted snarl of fury, it used its remaining might to push the Princeling off its body . The wounded creature fought on, driven by pure instinct and rage.
Zunia barely had time to register the attack had hit the Blackmane's eye before it let a twisted snarl and used its strength to push the Hrimhjortr off its body. Unfortunately, having a bullet in your eye did not help situational awareness.
With a single decisive swing, Helwinter cleaved through the Blackmane's neck, severing its head from its body in a clean and swift motion. The battle had concluded, ending the struggle that had unfolded in less than five minutes. Leman huffed as the Princeling ran off to join the rest of its kin.
Once the all-clear was given by Leman, Zunia gingerly approached. The ground was soaked with hot blood from the fallen Hrimhjortr and Blackmane. Its severed head was locked in a ferocious snarl. It probably hadn't even been aware that it died.
Leman didn't even look winded as he hefted Helwinter over his right shoulder, "Well, this hunt is over. Could be more wolves around the forest. Gunnar and I will need to address this."
Glancing at the dead creatures, Zunia nodded, "An exciting end, at least?"
"I'll say." Leman glanced at her and smiled, "That was one Hel of a shot you made. And you said you weren't any good with shooting."
Zunia shrugged, "The Princeling kept the wolf in place for me. Yet I'm still wondering how I made that shot." Right into the eye of a Blackmane, even an Astartes scout would have some difficulty pulling that off. So how did she pull it off?
Reaching down to grab the head of Blackmane, Leman shook his head, "Don't think too much about it. If you want to call it luck, that's perfectly fine. Fenris rewards the lucky as much as it does the talented and dedicated."
"Mhmm…" Zunia said nothing as she noticed the torn antler of the Princeling on the ground and reached down to pick it up. It was cold to the touch! Unnaturally so. In fact, she could see what looked to be permafrost radiant from it. "Leman, why did the Blackmane specifically attack here?"
"It was looking for a place to die." Leman answered, which surprised her, "This wasn't a Blackmane in its prime; otherwise, that battle would have been a bit more intense. No, this one was old and dying. The teeth and fur tell me that much."
She could only take his word for it. Besides, she was still focused on the antlers in her hands. "I guess this counts for something, at least."
"Helped me kill a Blackmane; that's certainly something!" Leman sounded quite happy and proud of her, "Once word gets around, and it will, I can imagine by next week people will say that you got right up to the beast and stabbed it in the eye with a knife."
Rumors would undoubtedly spread. Zunia was happy to know that it would be a fairly positive one. Still, her focus was on the antlers in her hands. "What could I do with this?"
"Hrimhjortr fetch a fair price, especially if they come from a Princeling." She gave him a flat look because she was already incredibly wealthy before becoming his majordomo. Leman tried a different approach, "Just hold onto them…you might find someone here on Fenris that can do something with them."
That caught her attention, "Such as?"
"Well, I'll need to explain a few things first. But that will be for later." Leman cryptically remarked before he grabbed the tail of the dead Blackmane and started to drag it. "First, we must return to the others and leave for the night. The forest will know this creature is slain, and scavagers will try their luck."
Deciding not to press for further questions, Zunia simply nodded and followed alongside the Wolf-King as he dragged a dead wolf. Looking back at the head, she saw no indication of this Blackmane being too old or dying. Was Leman lying to her?
"What about the other Hrimhjortr body?"
"Leave it." Leman spoke again, "We are taking the greater bounty from this forest. Besides, the Hrimhjortr will wish to mourn their fallen." They mourn their dead? Suddenly the idea of killing the Princeling felt a little wrong.
"You might have wanted to mention that to me…" Zunia had ordered many people killed in her life so far, but these were just animals who had done nothing wrong, nor did she need their meat, fur, or whatever to survive. This was just killing for sport.
"Didn't want you to feel bad." The Primarch answered truthfully, "Killing an animal is different than killing any sapient creature. You can justify killing a man with a family and kin, think up any story you want, but many of these beasts called these lands home long before humanity stepped foot in them."
Then he lifted the head toward her, "However, Fenris is still a place where only the strong survive and the weak eventually get eliminated. Circle of life and all that." Zunia thought that was just an excuse, but there was still truth to it.
Perhaps Zunia needed to recognize that Fenris played by a different set of rules when it came to strength and power, but more than that, it was hiding something among the lands, beasts, and, more importantly, the people themselves. Leman Russ was the biggest conundrum of them all.
Glancing back toward the empty glade as she and Leman entered the thicket, Zunia caught sight of the Princeling and its herd. For a brief moment, she thought maybe there was a gleam of intelligence in their eyes, perhaps even thanking her.
Zunia shook her head and focused on Leman. Nothing she had done tonight had earned her thanks or recognition from this world or the lands around her. Then again, looking at the jovial and happy Leman, Zunia decided it didn't matter. Their first date ended in a success, and that was what mattered.
---
@Daemon Hunter This was supposed to be a bit more somber and involved, but I honestly lost interest near the end and just wanted to complete it before a week passed.
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
hmmmm looks like Fernis is liking the new blood that leman found, and how strange is it for this tale to be far more different than the one leman told? Different ending too...me thinks the world soul approved of the outsider for this moment of time.
that and a Blackmane wolf would definitely be something that would earn respect across the planet and from the legion.
that and a Blackmane wolf would definitely be something that would earn respect across the planet and from the legion.
A Nightmare Of Oblivion. (non canon)
TinyGladiator
Just another SVer
- Location
- I move alot.
Hiya! Wanted to write an omake on that compliance coming up soon for Luminara, that world full of psykers and that ritual sacrifce god. This is actually based off the second part of Ruirk's omake here, various posts and answers by Daemon Hunter in the Discord server and an actual dream I had that based off of the former two things that I also mentioned on the server. Hope ya like it!
-----
A Nightmare Of Oblivion.
Luminara burned.
The planet fought well. The people upon it had been prepared for so many years for its end. They were ready to fight against an apocalypse and win.
Soldiers fought against the augmented warriors of the Imperium, with arcane might to their tactics. Psykers within the planet's forces did their best to support, much more than almost any other world encountered by the invading forces. The voice of an angry god rippled out to the minds of their subjects, commanding them with absolute authority against this destruction.
The world itself shifted and expanded with each moment. Cities seemed to warp, growing and shrinking in response to the battle around them. Fortresses healed themselves with manifested stone and liquid crystal, regenerating as orbital fire and missile strikes broke their walls. Everything was built in geometric impossibility, invaders struggling against a realm of optical illusions made real.
The hand of Nihilus, the Twilight Lord of Sacrifice, moulded Luminara as easily as one might shape a lucid dream. From stone and soil, metal and glass, heat and cold to the very laws of reality. The god-king that ruled the land itself, empowered by countless sacrifices, the mad dreamer able to call upon a heavenly might to directly strike against their foes.
A few cohorts of Astartes fell into an abyss that opened up beneath their feets in less than a second, falling into pits of magma and jagged rock. Storms brought down bolts of lightning that detonated vehicles and warmachines, cascading them with corrosive water and shards of ice. Gravity, time, radiation, energy and other forces were twisted into weapons that wreaked havoc against the invaders.
The Encroaching Ruin would have faced the full might of the world when it arrived. A last stand that would have at least bled heavily for the end it would deliver, making it pay for its vile assault. Luminara had prepared to face its end.
It just wasn't prepared for the Eternal Wardens.
For each death brought to their numbers, the Astartes fought harder for their fallen brothers. The soldiers died and their fortresses fell, even under the providence of Nihilus. Psykers were rapidly brought low by those who were trained against the worst monsters of the Warp.
Against those who had faced the sorcerous warbands of Chaos, from the archmages of the Changer to the roiling expanse of the Maelstrom itself, the planet of Luminara was not an unprecedented foe in terms of strength or numbers in psychic combat. The impossible geometry was manoeuvred with a practised ease.
Even the directed, shifting nature of the world and its laws by the will of its god was not unprecedented. The Primarch had taken the mantle of Anathema by facing twisted world such as this, cutting through its grand palace and all those that came to die by the hands of the one who brought the Maelstrom war to victory.
The worst aspect of all for Luminara, the one that truly heralded the doom of the planet, was the grand betrayal.
For so long, the people had been treated as naught but a resource. Cogs in a machine to keep the engine running onwards. As the world burned, there were those who helped spread the fires.
Psykers slated for sacrifice broke free, as guards and god were focused away from them. Workers and warriors who had long grown disillusioned by the ways of the world, abandoning their stations. People were resisting, as the 'heaven' of Nihilus burned as the hell it truly was.
Most simply ran or hid at first, to escape from their cruel fates or the war that was coming up. Then as time went on, as the Eternal Wardens kept bringing triumph, as the supposed almighty power of the Twilight Lord proved far weaker than stated, rebellion became more open.
Large parts of Luminara began to fight back against the followers of Nihilus, often allying with the invading Astartes as they came. Information was shared, from points of weakness and strength to the history of their god.
Inside support helped bring low all defence, choke many areas of counter-attack. Promises of salvation, of a world changed for the better, fuelled the wills of some better than the words of a distant deity.
The war was inevitable in how it would end. With a zealous populace united together, it would still have fallen. It couldn't even stand together in the face of this invasion.
But there were worse things than a god-tyrant and their cruel paradise on Lumiara, however.
-----
Oriacarius Gielux, Legion Master of the Eternal Wardens, overlooked the situation as he fought through one of the cathedral-citadels.
The construction was an apex of impossibility, both obvious and subtle. The entire building was made out of stained glass, forming a structure that was a shining spectacle of artwork. Some of the colours and shades could not naturally exist, many others improperly seen by the average human eye. The doors swirled in radiance, like the entrance to a dream.
It seemed to fold and expand in on itself at several regions. The inside was confirmed to be slightly bigger than the outside. Light with no obvious source dimly emanated across the whole space, shining brighter in several empty braziers. An unblinking eye seemed to glare down from above, not quite a part of the fortification.
Altars for sacrifice had been morphed into barricades. The stretched halls turned into chokepoints and kill-boxes. Ritual daggers wielded as combat knives, a potent power behind their edge, used by the priest-warriors who were guarding the 'demigod' that laid further within.
Cauldrons containing a strange mushroom-based mixture, likely for ritual purposes. Tomes and records dictating the dogma of the being known as Nihilus. The glass walls, floors and ceiling formed patterns of stars and starlight, fighting against the shadows.
The demigods of the world apparently possessed no actual power, mortals instead of true children of divinity, but their high authority was very real.
Whether they secretly possessed some form of power, or were heavily protected by the planet-shaping Nihilus, having their deaths displayed would do wonders for ending the current regime and break the morale of the enemy combatants.
Despite the deep wells of paranoia that helped protect the Legion as whole, the First Captain of the Eternal Wardens was confident of victory. He had contingencies against a pantheon of four beings that, for all intents and purposes, were close enough to true omnipotence in their realms that any distinction only mattered in a philosophical sense compared to a practical analysis.
Compared to the tyrant known as Nihilus? This was nothing. A source of inspiration to be used against greater threats at best.
Things hadn't gone as expected, admittedly. There was surprisingly little sign of corruption or the presence of daemons for a world that so obviously resembled the nature of a daemon world. A planet full of psykers within the Maelstrom, entirely free of Chaos worship? It had gone against almost all prediction, but the Legion Master had prepared contingencies for almost any possible situation.
Adjustments were rapidly made with the knowledge that daemonic hordes weren't lying in wait, priorities shifted from ritual centres in terms of danger to double more against the 'mundane' fortresses. To fight this place more as a normal world than one ruled by what had previously been a suspected daemonic entity or a corrupted sorcerer.
Most notable of all changes to the battle plan was the fact that the people were uncorrupted and far from united in fighting to protect their world and their worshipped master. Resistance to the current way of life, to the outright disdain felt to the people of the planet. To act as saviours was a rare opportunity for a world as infused by the Warp as Luminara.
While difficult and somewhat unprepared, Oriacarius did his best to save the lives he could or at least work with them in fighting against Nihilus.
A lot was learned from the word of the rebels. A former priest had given a full summary of the world's religious history. A prison overseer had confessed about the horrors of the sacrificial process, absurd amounts of psykers kept in what was essentially vast penal institutes. Imprisoned psykers had brought up their terrible treatment, until a thousand were selected every day for execution to feed Nihilus.
The purpose behind these ritual sacrifices had been made apparent too. While uncorrupted and shielded by what seemed to be an actual god, Luminara was far from ignorant of the danger of daemons.
The Voidbane and its sealed Exalted master, only known as 'Oblivion', were monumental aspects of the planet's history and culture. Beings of the 'Encroaching Ruin', not aligned directly to any of the four Archdaemons, fought off by the ascended Nihilus and the countless sacrifices. Bringers of darkness and apocalypse, resisted for so many years until the Maelstrom was banished into a small remnant.
An impressive story, if tragic in the sheer cost to human life and treatment of the populace. Perhaps if circumstances were different, the planet might have become a wondrous addition to Kesar Dorlin's domain. Freed it from the sacrifices required by the Eternal Wardens, as they slayed and destroyed the nightmares that threatened it.
Yet such a fate was not to be, not while Nihilus lived. Great cost and sacrifice was indeed necessary to truly strike a blow against Chaos, as the dire price of the Ritual War had proven to banish the Maelstrom's presence, but there were limits to how far one should go.
To be worshipped as a god by subjects crushed by its tyranny, to have so much life lost for personal power, to imprison those psykers and butcher them in callous abattoirs day by day. Some prisoners were even slain for the demigods, who gained nothing from such acts.
Kesar Dorlin was not here, but Oriacarius could easily guess how he would respond to such atrocity.
Regardless of the god-king, the knowledge of the Voidbane and sealed Oblivion was critical intel that could determine the fate of the war. If either of those infernal beings would arrive, likely soon after Nihilus was slain, then now they could be properly prepared for.
There were some locals of the planet that had even disbelieved the story or at least its elements, a fabrication used to justify all the control and horror and power. Even if they were real, now that the world was outside of the Maelstrom, how dangerous could these monsters truly be?
The First Captain knew how foolish it was to underestimate any daemon, let alone an Exalted nightmare. Too many details matched, patterns and descriptions too clear to be simply abstract or a deception. No, somewhere on Luminara was indeed an imprisoned Exalted.
Even as he fought and commanded his brothers, he mentally went through all relevant contingencies he could think of if the worse came to-
The world shook as a god screamed out a warning-
-----
there was a sound
like water dripping
there was a sight
of a claw ripping
there was a scourge
the stars slipping
away
into the night
faded twilight
in the wild dream
there was
a
scream
-----
Maticus Ventamedes, Third Captain of the Eternal Wardens, marched with the Sisters of Silences across Luminara.
The Untouchable warriors were the one and only force on the world that was largely immune to the influence of Nihilus. Luminara's impossible geometry seemed to normalise at their presence, even as planet and its laws were directly shifted by the god's will.
Some places had a disastrous reaction to the presence of the Silent Sisterhood. Buildings built in more than three-dimensions collapsed in on themselves, unable to support weight that couldn't normally exist. Expanded spaces shrunk immediately, crushing into itself. The very air seemed to distort around their presence, showcasing that everything was infused with the power of Nihilus.
Psychic strongholds were a major target for the Black Prince of the Eleventh, along with any cabals of the dream-weaving sorcerors that fought against the Eternal Wardens. The weavers of the 'dream' and its power, conduits of the world's shifting nature.
The largest priority was Nihilus itself. The tyrannical ruler and keystone of the world's resistance. The power of the god was immense, by far the greater threat upon Luminara.
Or, at least, it was.
"Oriacarius," Maticus said on the vox-channel, still charging forward with the Sisters of Silence as he talked. "I think I've encountered one of the two potential threats you mentioned."
A dark rift seemed to open within the air, above one of the prisons, summoned by the weakening veil and destruction. Growing in size with each passing heartbeat. The glass, metal and living souls were ripped out in mere seconds. A singularity that sucked light into an endless dark, with an accretion disk of crushed bodies and debris surrounded the entity.
There was the sound of rushing air, a howling storm, tearing earth, the screams of thousands of souls trapped within a wrongness that could not be fully seen. The image behind it wrapped around to the front, a transparent nothingness, a raging brute of pure destruction.
The Voidbane.
Nihilus responded instantly. Their voice rippled its warning across every mind, a command to prepare for the apocalypse that had arrived. Sharpened pillars of stone and metal were launched from the ground beneath the Honoured daemon. Time and space were crushed, rendered non-existent, to freeze the monster in its place.
The creature seemed to briefly struggle, as even the weakest gods were figures of immense power and capability, but there were no true barriers against the Harbinger of Oblivion. The screaming noise grew louder and louder as it tore through everything.
The dream couldn't handle the nothingness. It was anathema to its very being. This was an absolute enemy to Luminara.
As the deity of Luminara faltered, Maticus took out the mask hidden within his armour. He would deal with potentially having to explain it to the Silent Sisterhood later. For now, there was a daemon to slay.
Oriacarius rushed through the air within Kesar Dorlin's Stormbird, the vehicle rushing forward past at maximum velocity, his commands were barked with unquestioned authority as he adjusted his plans as fast as he could. The Voidbane had leaped into the priority focus for the Eternal Wardens on the world.
Psychic attacks, artillery fire, divine assault and attacks waged by all nearby Astartes assaulted the daemonic entity. Nothing seemed to cause any damage. Counter-attacks of launched debris, lashes of gravity and pure force and the devouring force of the singularity destroyed anything caught in the Voidbane's attacked.
Maticus leapt upon the rising debris, running across the stepping stones formed by the sucked up material, blade aloft to strike true. The mask had shielded the Astartes champion, and the Sisters of Silence nearby helped distract and shield him from both deity and daemon. By his own momentum and the devouring force of the monster, the Eternal Warden quickly reached close to the 'body' of the living void.
The thing howled with its voice of vacuum. The deafening rush of air, the crushing pressure, the force of a daemonic singularity. To face against it was to face against a cosmic doom. A thing that held no pretence for a bestial form, a grand warlord, a being reflecting myth and legend.
It was a primal nightmare made manifest, the horror that had stalked Luminara for untold ages and helped twist it and its god into this current state, and Maticus Ventamedes was ready to cut it down.
To fight against something akin to a black hole with a sword was pure insanity. Almost anything else should have died before even coming close enough to make the attempt. But the Eternal Wardens were nothing if not experts in making the Warp bleed and die.
So the Black Prince struck, the sword warping through the emptiness until it cut something inside, and the singularity expelled starlight and oily sludge.
The Voidbane screamed, the sound twisting towards the alien sensation of genuine pain and surprise. The destructive singularity distorted, the accretion disk that Maticus stood on shook and broke apart in places.
Before the daemon could react, it was attacked by two different sources. Nihilus struck with everything at that moment of weakness, crushing it directly with its own accretion disk and great pillars of iron and salt. The Stormbird had arrived and strafed with heavy bolters and lascannons as it came towards the monster, while First Captain Oriacarius leapt from the moving vehicle and landed by the unstable disk of debris.
Against just the Black Swordsman of the Eternal Wardens, the Voidbane would have likely have perished after a gruelling battle. Against him, the Legion Master and the Lord of Twilight combined ensured the nightmare's end. Recent conflict was momentarily pushed aside in the face of the daemonic threat.
The very presence of two Daemonsbanes weakened the monster, who tried to tear apart the two warriors. Oriacarius moved quickly, matching his speed as best as he could with his brother, fighting in unison against the singularity. It writhed and roared, tried to rend the essence of its enemies, but it was denied its dark desire.
Swords flashed in a truly impossible flurry, cutting into the core of the beast. Nihilus struck from afar, casting down bolts of lightning and infernal explosions of air and flame, the blasts nearly injuring the two Eternal Wardens.
The Stormbird kept flying by, shooting from afar. The accretion disk faltered with deliberation, to leave the two champions to fall, but even in the swirling vortex of its own power the being couldn't banish the Astartes from its presence. Whether it was the support of Nihilus or sheer skill alone, the creature couldn't escape.
The battle was swift and relentless against the daemon. Every blow had torn open its very being, the fabric of energy that made up its existence. The fall of an immortal being shook the entirety of Luminara, as the dream would witness an impossible victory.
The blades of Oriacarius and Maticus both plunged into the abyss they fought, as divine retribution fell with the pure weight of an god's full focus, and it was done.
The Voidbane fell, breaking apart, its howling silenced and its power extinguished. The Stormbird practically rammed itself through the falling debris as it flew to the falling Wardens. The distorted singularity had collapsed in a burning flame, the death of stars and souls.
The monster that had stalked Luminara, waiting to bring about its end, had finally been brought low.
But destruction was the fate of all things, nothing could deny its eternal might. As it broke into true nothingness the Voidbane screamed with the power of its own death, the grand finality of an imperishable being, delivered towards the Dreaming Cage.
The Harbinger of Oblivion wrought one last act of destruction, to herald a true end.
The world shattered into two-
-----
the daemons of chaos followed its rituals paths for they were all the paths and all the rituals
the greatest paths were the dominions of the four gods that reigned as supreme powers
but there were more than four sides to the primordial annihilator
the dominion of encroaching ruin was the purest path of ruin
it was the ways of nightmares that ravaged all that was built
it was the instinct of the monsters that hungered for life
it was the end and the death
it was the path of OBLIVION
-----
Luminara burned and Luminara burned.
The dreaming world shifted upon itself. An ocean that crashed its waves upon its waves, drowning those trapped underneath. An inferno burning itself, dancing in the shadows. An apocalypse that destroyed everything, leaving no trace beyond the pale embers of ruin.
Reality and dreams, illusion and truth, fantasy and memory.
The cage of illusions and impossibility hadn't been destroyed. It was not destroyed for it was too powerful and too well-crafted to shatter completely. It had to be dealt with by another way, something far simpler.
After so long, so many sacrifices, so much intertwined connection, the cage and its prisoner had become as one. Twisted in on itself, ritual-shackles to keep it bound, a shell that so intimately connected itself to its host.
But now it was unfurled, unfolding, unrestricted. The other world, the illusion laid within the Twilight Realm, now had a bridge to a different dream full of life and light. Torn open by the destructive power of true death, delivered by servant to master, the only key to an indestructible lock.
It emerged from the sky and the earth with a silence that tore away at all noise. It was a sphere that overlaid the entire world, and was floating on the world, and was stretched all across the sky beyond the world.
Day turned to night, and the night was lit by the countless fires that burned, as something blocked the stars and looked down with a primordial hatred.
The sphere cracked like an egg, splitting into two jagged halves, which became as wings to the being within, and split into a thousand more jagged branches, forming a pattern that reinforced itself.
The Thing-Within-Branching-Darkness loomed as a colossal tree, casting its pitch-black shadow across every direction. Its form was a jutting mesh of black bones and tendrils, woven together in a living pattern, limbs as the skeleton of dark wings, spike-covered branches, arms covered in glass talons and solidified nightmares.
Oblivion, Exalted of the Encroaching Ruin, was freed.
The Black-Winged-Tree shifted the dream. The cage and the daemon and the planet moved as one, overlaid again, spreading its destruction. Luminara burned with itself, as another version of the planet manifested within itself.
People across the planet fell into holes that were in one planet but not another, while others walked by without issue. Others ran into walls which only existed in one realm, half-visible across distorted vision, while others could pass as though they weren't there. Fires from one world spread to the other, buildings and cities were crushed by land that shouldn't have been there, some people and places had pieces torn from them and cast into the other side.
A half-real existence, a doubled realm, the shifting illusions morphing into utter havoc and mayhem. Both versions becoming more and less solid by the moment, fusing into a cataclysmic union of celestial bodies and psychic reality, as Nihilus did everything in its power to stop it.
Oblivion screamed in an absolute silence, enforcing the soundless roar across both realms, its bladed wings spreading over twin skies as Maticus and Oriacarius saw the monster that had been unleashed.
The nightmare reigned supreme in the world of dreams.
The Stormbird charged straight for the source of the madness, the First Captain enacting several contingencies and new commands, the Third Captain readying his blade and ensuring the mask remained affixed to his face.
The Eternal Wardens had dealt with nightmares before, the worst monsters within the Warp, and they would do it again as many times as needed.
-----
A Nightmare Of Oblivion.
Luminara burned.
The planet fought well. The people upon it had been prepared for so many years for its end. They were ready to fight against an apocalypse and win.
Soldiers fought against the augmented warriors of the Imperium, with arcane might to their tactics. Psykers within the planet's forces did their best to support, much more than almost any other world encountered by the invading forces. The voice of an angry god rippled out to the minds of their subjects, commanding them with absolute authority against this destruction.
The world itself shifted and expanded with each moment. Cities seemed to warp, growing and shrinking in response to the battle around them. Fortresses healed themselves with manifested stone and liquid crystal, regenerating as orbital fire and missile strikes broke their walls. Everything was built in geometric impossibility, invaders struggling against a realm of optical illusions made real.
The hand of Nihilus, the Twilight Lord of Sacrifice, moulded Luminara as easily as one might shape a lucid dream. From stone and soil, metal and glass, heat and cold to the very laws of reality. The god-king that ruled the land itself, empowered by countless sacrifices, the mad dreamer able to call upon a heavenly might to directly strike against their foes.
A few cohorts of Astartes fell into an abyss that opened up beneath their feets in less than a second, falling into pits of magma and jagged rock. Storms brought down bolts of lightning that detonated vehicles and warmachines, cascading them with corrosive water and shards of ice. Gravity, time, radiation, energy and other forces were twisted into weapons that wreaked havoc against the invaders.
The Encroaching Ruin would have faced the full might of the world when it arrived. A last stand that would have at least bled heavily for the end it would deliver, making it pay for its vile assault. Luminara had prepared to face its end.
It just wasn't prepared for the Eternal Wardens.
For each death brought to their numbers, the Astartes fought harder for their fallen brothers. The soldiers died and their fortresses fell, even under the providence of Nihilus. Psykers were rapidly brought low by those who were trained against the worst monsters of the Warp.
Against those who had faced the sorcerous warbands of Chaos, from the archmages of the Changer to the roiling expanse of the Maelstrom itself, the planet of Luminara was not an unprecedented foe in terms of strength or numbers in psychic combat. The impossible geometry was manoeuvred with a practised ease.
Even the directed, shifting nature of the world and its laws by the will of its god was not unprecedented. The Primarch had taken the mantle of Anathema by facing twisted world such as this, cutting through its grand palace and all those that came to die by the hands of the one who brought the Maelstrom war to victory.
The worst aspect of all for Luminara, the one that truly heralded the doom of the planet, was the grand betrayal.
For so long, the people had been treated as naught but a resource. Cogs in a machine to keep the engine running onwards. As the world burned, there were those who helped spread the fires.
Psykers slated for sacrifice broke free, as guards and god were focused away from them. Workers and warriors who had long grown disillusioned by the ways of the world, abandoning their stations. People were resisting, as the 'heaven' of Nihilus burned as the hell it truly was.
Most simply ran or hid at first, to escape from their cruel fates or the war that was coming up. Then as time went on, as the Eternal Wardens kept bringing triumph, as the supposed almighty power of the Twilight Lord proved far weaker than stated, rebellion became more open.
Large parts of Luminara began to fight back against the followers of Nihilus, often allying with the invading Astartes as they came. Information was shared, from points of weakness and strength to the history of their god.
Inside support helped bring low all defence, choke many areas of counter-attack. Promises of salvation, of a world changed for the better, fuelled the wills of some better than the words of a distant deity.
The war was inevitable in how it would end. With a zealous populace united together, it would still have fallen. It couldn't even stand together in the face of this invasion.
But there were worse things than a god-tyrant and their cruel paradise on Lumiara, however.
-----
Oriacarius Gielux, Legion Master of the Eternal Wardens, overlooked the situation as he fought through one of the cathedral-citadels.
The construction was an apex of impossibility, both obvious and subtle. The entire building was made out of stained glass, forming a structure that was a shining spectacle of artwork. Some of the colours and shades could not naturally exist, many others improperly seen by the average human eye. The doors swirled in radiance, like the entrance to a dream.
It seemed to fold and expand in on itself at several regions. The inside was confirmed to be slightly bigger than the outside. Light with no obvious source dimly emanated across the whole space, shining brighter in several empty braziers. An unblinking eye seemed to glare down from above, not quite a part of the fortification.
Altars for sacrifice had been morphed into barricades. The stretched halls turned into chokepoints and kill-boxes. Ritual daggers wielded as combat knives, a potent power behind their edge, used by the priest-warriors who were guarding the 'demigod' that laid further within.
Cauldrons containing a strange mushroom-based mixture, likely for ritual purposes. Tomes and records dictating the dogma of the being known as Nihilus. The glass walls, floors and ceiling formed patterns of stars and starlight, fighting against the shadows.
The demigods of the world apparently possessed no actual power, mortals instead of true children of divinity, but their high authority was very real.
Whether they secretly possessed some form of power, or were heavily protected by the planet-shaping Nihilus, having their deaths displayed would do wonders for ending the current regime and break the morale of the enemy combatants.
Despite the deep wells of paranoia that helped protect the Legion as whole, the First Captain of the Eternal Wardens was confident of victory. He had contingencies against a pantheon of four beings that, for all intents and purposes, were close enough to true omnipotence in their realms that any distinction only mattered in a philosophical sense compared to a practical analysis.
Compared to the tyrant known as Nihilus? This was nothing. A source of inspiration to be used against greater threats at best.
Things hadn't gone as expected, admittedly. There was surprisingly little sign of corruption or the presence of daemons for a world that so obviously resembled the nature of a daemon world. A planet full of psykers within the Maelstrom, entirely free of Chaos worship? It had gone against almost all prediction, but the Legion Master had prepared contingencies for almost any possible situation.
Adjustments were rapidly made with the knowledge that daemonic hordes weren't lying in wait, priorities shifted from ritual centres in terms of danger to double more against the 'mundane' fortresses. To fight this place more as a normal world than one ruled by what had previously been a suspected daemonic entity or a corrupted sorcerer.
Most notable of all changes to the battle plan was the fact that the people were uncorrupted and far from united in fighting to protect their world and their worshipped master. Resistance to the current way of life, to the outright disdain felt to the people of the planet. To act as saviours was a rare opportunity for a world as infused by the Warp as Luminara.
While difficult and somewhat unprepared, Oriacarius did his best to save the lives he could or at least work with them in fighting against Nihilus.
A lot was learned from the word of the rebels. A former priest had given a full summary of the world's religious history. A prison overseer had confessed about the horrors of the sacrificial process, absurd amounts of psykers kept in what was essentially vast penal institutes. Imprisoned psykers had brought up their terrible treatment, until a thousand were selected every day for execution to feed Nihilus.
The purpose behind these ritual sacrifices had been made apparent too. While uncorrupted and shielded by what seemed to be an actual god, Luminara was far from ignorant of the danger of daemons.
The Voidbane and its sealed Exalted master, only known as 'Oblivion', were monumental aspects of the planet's history and culture. Beings of the 'Encroaching Ruin', not aligned directly to any of the four Archdaemons, fought off by the ascended Nihilus and the countless sacrifices. Bringers of darkness and apocalypse, resisted for so many years until the Maelstrom was banished into a small remnant.
An impressive story, if tragic in the sheer cost to human life and treatment of the populace. Perhaps if circumstances were different, the planet might have become a wondrous addition to Kesar Dorlin's domain. Freed it from the sacrifices required by the Eternal Wardens, as they slayed and destroyed the nightmares that threatened it.
Yet such a fate was not to be, not while Nihilus lived. Great cost and sacrifice was indeed necessary to truly strike a blow against Chaos, as the dire price of the Ritual War had proven to banish the Maelstrom's presence, but there were limits to how far one should go.
To be worshipped as a god by subjects crushed by its tyranny, to have so much life lost for personal power, to imprison those psykers and butcher them in callous abattoirs day by day. Some prisoners were even slain for the demigods, who gained nothing from such acts.
Kesar Dorlin was not here, but Oriacarius could easily guess how he would respond to such atrocity.
Regardless of the god-king, the knowledge of the Voidbane and sealed Oblivion was critical intel that could determine the fate of the war. If either of those infernal beings would arrive, likely soon after Nihilus was slain, then now they could be properly prepared for.
There were some locals of the planet that had even disbelieved the story or at least its elements, a fabrication used to justify all the control and horror and power. Even if they were real, now that the world was outside of the Maelstrom, how dangerous could these monsters truly be?
The First Captain knew how foolish it was to underestimate any daemon, let alone an Exalted nightmare. Too many details matched, patterns and descriptions too clear to be simply abstract or a deception. No, somewhere on Luminara was indeed an imprisoned Exalted.
Even as he fought and commanded his brothers, he mentally went through all relevant contingencies he could think of if the worse came to-
The world shook as a god screamed out a warning-
-----
there was a sound
like water dripping
there was a sight
of a claw ripping
there was a scourge
the stars slipping
away
into the night
faded twilight
in the wild dream
there was
a
scream
-----
Maticus Ventamedes, Third Captain of the Eternal Wardens, marched with the Sisters of Silences across Luminara.
The Untouchable warriors were the one and only force on the world that was largely immune to the influence of Nihilus. Luminara's impossible geometry seemed to normalise at their presence, even as planet and its laws were directly shifted by the god's will.
Some places had a disastrous reaction to the presence of the Silent Sisterhood. Buildings built in more than three-dimensions collapsed in on themselves, unable to support weight that couldn't normally exist. Expanded spaces shrunk immediately, crushing into itself. The very air seemed to distort around their presence, showcasing that everything was infused with the power of Nihilus.
Psychic strongholds were a major target for the Black Prince of the Eleventh, along with any cabals of the dream-weaving sorcerors that fought against the Eternal Wardens. The weavers of the 'dream' and its power, conduits of the world's shifting nature.
The largest priority was Nihilus itself. The tyrannical ruler and keystone of the world's resistance. The power of the god was immense, by far the greater threat upon Luminara.
Or, at least, it was.
"Oriacarius," Maticus said on the vox-channel, still charging forward with the Sisters of Silence as he talked. "I think I've encountered one of the two potential threats you mentioned."
A dark rift seemed to open within the air, above one of the prisons, summoned by the weakening veil and destruction. Growing in size with each passing heartbeat. The glass, metal and living souls were ripped out in mere seconds. A singularity that sucked light into an endless dark, with an accretion disk of crushed bodies and debris surrounded the entity.
There was the sound of rushing air, a howling storm, tearing earth, the screams of thousands of souls trapped within a wrongness that could not be fully seen. The image behind it wrapped around to the front, a transparent nothingness, a raging brute of pure destruction.
The Voidbane.
Nihilus responded instantly. Their voice rippled its warning across every mind, a command to prepare for the apocalypse that had arrived. Sharpened pillars of stone and metal were launched from the ground beneath the Honoured daemon. Time and space were crushed, rendered non-existent, to freeze the monster in its place.
The creature seemed to briefly struggle, as even the weakest gods were figures of immense power and capability, but there were no true barriers against the Harbinger of Oblivion. The screaming noise grew louder and louder as it tore through everything.
The dream couldn't handle the nothingness. It was anathema to its very being. This was an absolute enemy to Luminara.
As the deity of Luminara faltered, Maticus took out the mask hidden within his armour. He would deal with potentially having to explain it to the Silent Sisterhood later. For now, there was a daemon to slay.
Oriacarius rushed through the air within Kesar Dorlin's Stormbird, the vehicle rushing forward past at maximum velocity, his commands were barked with unquestioned authority as he adjusted his plans as fast as he could. The Voidbane had leaped into the priority focus for the Eternal Wardens on the world.
Psychic attacks, artillery fire, divine assault and attacks waged by all nearby Astartes assaulted the daemonic entity. Nothing seemed to cause any damage. Counter-attacks of launched debris, lashes of gravity and pure force and the devouring force of the singularity destroyed anything caught in the Voidbane's attacked.
Maticus leapt upon the rising debris, running across the stepping stones formed by the sucked up material, blade aloft to strike true. The mask had shielded the Astartes champion, and the Sisters of Silence nearby helped distract and shield him from both deity and daemon. By his own momentum and the devouring force of the monster, the Eternal Warden quickly reached close to the 'body' of the living void.
The thing howled with its voice of vacuum. The deafening rush of air, the crushing pressure, the force of a daemonic singularity. To face against it was to face against a cosmic doom. A thing that held no pretence for a bestial form, a grand warlord, a being reflecting myth and legend.
It was a primal nightmare made manifest, the horror that had stalked Luminara for untold ages and helped twist it and its god into this current state, and Maticus Ventamedes was ready to cut it down.
To fight against something akin to a black hole with a sword was pure insanity. Almost anything else should have died before even coming close enough to make the attempt. But the Eternal Wardens were nothing if not experts in making the Warp bleed and die.
So the Black Prince struck, the sword warping through the emptiness until it cut something inside, and the singularity expelled starlight and oily sludge.
The Voidbane screamed, the sound twisting towards the alien sensation of genuine pain and surprise. The destructive singularity distorted, the accretion disk that Maticus stood on shook and broke apart in places.
Before the daemon could react, it was attacked by two different sources. Nihilus struck with everything at that moment of weakness, crushing it directly with its own accretion disk and great pillars of iron and salt. The Stormbird had arrived and strafed with heavy bolters and lascannons as it came towards the monster, while First Captain Oriacarius leapt from the moving vehicle and landed by the unstable disk of debris.
Against just the Black Swordsman of the Eternal Wardens, the Voidbane would have likely have perished after a gruelling battle. Against him, the Legion Master and the Lord of Twilight combined ensured the nightmare's end. Recent conflict was momentarily pushed aside in the face of the daemonic threat.
The very presence of two Daemonsbanes weakened the monster, who tried to tear apart the two warriors. Oriacarius moved quickly, matching his speed as best as he could with his brother, fighting in unison against the singularity. It writhed and roared, tried to rend the essence of its enemies, but it was denied its dark desire.
Swords flashed in a truly impossible flurry, cutting into the core of the beast. Nihilus struck from afar, casting down bolts of lightning and infernal explosions of air and flame, the blasts nearly injuring the two Eternal Wardens.
The Stormbird kept flying by, shooting from afar. The accretion disk faltered with deliberation, to leave the two champions to fall, but even in the swirling vortex of its own power the being couldn't banish the Astartes from its presence. Whether it was the support of Nihilus or sheer skill alone, the creature couldn't escape.
The battle was swift and relentless against the daemon. Every blow had torn open its very being, the fabric of energy that made up its existence. The fall of an immortal being shook the entirety of Luminara, as the dream would witness an impossible victory.
The blades of Oriacarius and Maticus both plunged into the abyss they fought, as divine retribution fell with the pure weight of an god's full focus, and it was done.
The Voidbane fell, breaking apart, its howling silenced and its power extinguished. The Stormbird practically rammed itself through the falling debris as it flew to the falling Wardens. The distorted singularity had collapsed in a burning flame, the death of stars and souls.
The monster that had stalked Luminara, waiting to bring about its end, had finally been brought low.
But destruction was the fate of all things, nothing could deny its eternal might. As it broke into true nothingness the Voidbane screamed with the power of its own death, the grand finality of an imperishable being, delivered towards the Dreaming Cage.
The Harbinger of Oblivion wrought one last act of destruction, to herald a true end.
The world shattered into two-
-----
the daemons of chaos followed its rituals paths for they were all the paths and all the rituals
the greatest paths were the dominions of the four gods that reigned as supreme powers
but there were more than four sides to the primordial annihilator
the dominion of encroaching ruin was the purest path of ruin
it was the ways of nightmares that ravaged all that was built
it was the instinct of the monsters that hungered for life
it was the end and the death
it was the path of OBLIVION
-----
Luminara burned and Luminara burned.
The dreaming world shifted upon itself. An ocean that crashed its waves upon its waves, drowning those trapped underneath. An inferno burning itself, dancing in the shadows. An apocalypse that destroyed everything, leaving no trace beyond the pale embers of ruin.
Reality and dreams, illusion and truth, fantasy and memory.
The cage of illusions and impossibility hadn't been destroyed. It was not destroyed for it was too powerful and too well-crafted to shatter completely. It had to be dealt with by another way, something far simpler.
After so long, so many sacrifices, so much intertwined connection, the cage and its prisoner had become as one. Twisted in on itself, ritual-shackles to keep it bound, a shell that so intimately connected itself to its host.
But now it was unfurled, unfolding, unrestricted. The other world, the illusion laid within the Twilight Realm, now had a bridge to a different dream full of life and light. Torn open by the destructive power of true death, delivered by servant to master, the only key to an indestructible lock.
It emerged from the sky and the earth with a silence that tore away at all noise. It was a sphere that overlaid the entire world, and was floating on the world, and was stretched all across the sky beyond the world.
Day turned to night, and the night was lit by the countless fires that burned, as something blocked the stars and looked down with a primordial hatred.
The sphere cracked like an egg, splitting into two jagged halves, which became as wings to the being within, and split into a thousand more jagged branches, forming a pattern that reinforced itself.
The Thing-Within-Branching-Darkness loomed as a colossal tree, casting its pitch-black shadow across every direction. Its form was a jutting mesh of black bones and tendrils, woven together in a living pattern, limbs as the skeleton of dark wings, spike-covered branches, arms covered in glass talons and solidified nightmares.
Oblivion, Exalted of the Encroaching Ruin, was freed.
The Black-Winged-Tree shifted the dream. The cage and the daemon and the planet moved as one, overlaid again, spreading its destruction. Luminara burned with itself, as another version of the planet manifested within itself.
People across the planet fell into holes that were in one planet but not another, while others walked by without issue. Others ran into walls which only existed in one realm, half-visible across distorted vision, while others could pass as though they weren't there. Fires from one world spread to the other, buildings and cities were crushed by land that shouldn't have been there, some people and places had pieces torn from them and cast into the other side.
A half-real existence, a doubled realm, the shifting illusions morphing into utter havoc and mayhem. Both versions becoming more and less solid by the moment, fusing into a cataclysmic union of celestial bodies and psychic reality, as Nihilus did everything in its power to stop it.
Oblivion screamed in an absolute silence, enforcing the soundless roar across both realms, its bladed wings spreading over twin skies as Maticus and Oriacarius saw the monster that had been unleashed.
The nightmare reigned supreme in the world of dreams.
The Stormbird charged straight for the source of the madness, the First Captain enacting several contingencies and new commands, the Third Captain readying his blade and ensuring the mask remained affixed to his face.
The Eternal Wardens had dealt with nightmares before, the worst monsters within the Warp, and they would do it again as many times as needed.
Last edited:
Kracer:What the fuck was that....
Ori:Meh, we had crazier.
Kracer:...what?
Ori:Meh, we had crazier.
Kracer:...what?
Years 41 - 45 Part 11 - Awaken
- Location
- Elsewhere
[X] Write In: Send Oricarius back with a message of support for her schema provided that she take the feedback of your first captain seriously in matters of Warp Xenos and 'Warp Madness', as well as being willing to meet with Kesar at a later point when both schedules allow. Also offer a standing bounty for any STCs found by the Imperial Army in the Maelstrom for equal access on point of discovery.
There were levels of frustration, thought Oriacarius.
The first level was a fleeting moment of annoyance. The feeling one had when watching a neophyte brag about their skills. A feeling that existed for a moment, before being replaced by something more positive.
The second level was still fleeting, but without the positive feelings that followed. A weapon jamming during practice for instance.
The third level is where one begins to experience true frustration. Oriacarius was very familiar with this level. The point at which the frustration lingers for minutes to hours.
Oriacarius wasn't really acquainted with levels beyond the third. For in those regimes frustration was buried beneath desperation and despair. He'd theorized, of course, ensuring that he had an idea of what to do if he was emotionally compromised in such a manner, but he hadn't ever experienced such feelings until now.
After meeting with Karcer, and discussing deployments and his own requests and demands, he would estimate he was at the fifth level of frustration. Where he dearly wished he could just kill something and resolve the situation.
Actually no, Oriacarius mused, he would rather wish a daemon would try and kill him right now for a moment of distraction. Glancing over his shoulder, the First Captain sighed internally. No daemons were in sight.
"We've been going in circles for days," Karcer spoke with a surprising level of interest even after literal days of discussion. "Unless you give me a reason to change these deployment patterns that isn't 'it's classified', this will proceed as described."
"Believe me, nothing would please me more," the First Captain said truthfully, "but unless you're willing to undergo a months-long course on handling memetic hazards, that is all I can do." In truth, even that would stretch the limits of legality. He had tried to find a loophole in the system of classifications of confidential information, but trying to do so was a doomed cause to begin with. "But fine, this clearly isn't going anywhere, so let me take a different approach." He leaned forward to begin bargaining directly. "What do you need from me to change this deployment to what I want?"
"I like to think I've been reasonable, Legion Master," Karcer said with a quirked eyebrow, giving a statement that Oriacarius couldn't really refute. She had agreed to everything he had asked apart from the bounty system for STCs. There was something there, however, that Oriacarius hadn't been able to realize. She'd refused it, providing flimsy reasoning which told the First Captain there was something he missed, and that irritated him. "So attempting to hand me a poisoned chalice while claiming it as a gift is a little insulting."
Oriacarius blinked in confusion, "I think it was clear that wasn't an attempt at a bribe."
Karcer shrugged, "So you say, but had I accepted your favor, you'd be able to remove me from my post for accepting bribes and racketeering."
The First Captain paused, he knew what his thought process was, but Karcer clearly didn't. Switching gears for a moment, he imagined himself in her shoes, thinking of how an Astartes could remove him from play. "If I wanted you removed, I would have simply shot you from a kilometer away. If it makes you feel more secure, I would be willing to write an affidavit that you have done nothing illegal during this conversation."
"Good thing we are only talking in hypotheticals," Karcer remarked sardonically.
"Yes, good thing." Oriacarius' response was equally dry.
"As we're talking in hypotheticals," Karcer dryly continued, "you could simply leave if you don't trust me. My clearances as a Lord Commander are still active, there's almost nothing the Imperium knows that I am not privy to."
"It is explicitly not a matter of trust for myself or my father, but of higher authorities. There are restrictions even on that level I assure you." Oriacarius said, hoping he was being obvious enough.
"I find that hard to believe." Evidently not.
"Very well then, let me be more plain: It took decades of work to declassify the matters for the Lords Primarch."
Karcer's mask slipped, an expression of utter irritation crossing her face. Well, at least he wasn't the only one done with this conversation. "Alright, let me be frank." Karcer began seriously. "I think you're lying to my face."
"I am. You know this already." Oriacarius remarked flatly, "And seeing as we are skipping pleasantries, I am once again reminding you that you should be listening to my suggestions rather than assuming you have all the answers already."
"I would if it's something beyond 'it's classified' when such a thing would be beyond idiotic." Karcer snarled. "Or are you trying to tell me that the entirety of the Imperium besides the Emperor and the Primarchs are in the dark about a threat that is damaging enough to require altering grand strategy?"
"I am."
Karcer briefly rubbed her temples. "Fine, I'll treat this like you're being truthful."
Relief flooded through Oriacarius. "Thank you, I promise you won't regret it."
"I have requirements." She said, briefly dampening the First Captain's mood.
"Which are …?"
"It's clear that you view Luminara as a dangerous threat," Karcer began, "one that necessitates changing my carefully made deployment patterns." Oriacarius didn't like where this was going. "As this is undoubtedly not the last time this will happen, I will observe this battle and base my future judgments on it."
…Oriacarius would make sure Maticus knew just how important his upcoming fight was. After he fought so long to get him assigned to Luminara, he knew that any failure would set his dialogue with Karcer back by months.
The Wardens were strange, Arthron thought. They were this odd mixture of open and closed-off. In one minute, they'll happily talk about their past experiences, but the next they'll suddenly stop talking and refuse to talk further. He had some theories why, and he was sure Guilliman himself knew why, but he had fun coming up with increasingly wild theories as to why there was such a dichotomy.
Nonetheless, despite an odd amount of emphasis on sheer willpower and control rather than more direct applications of psychic powers, he'd certainly learned quite a bit from the Library. His mind was never this well protected, even with his own natural mental strength and the training he had undergone on his own. Compared to the Warden's self-discipline, however, his self-discipline was like that of a child in comparison.
He could tell there was more to learn, if he could, he'd spend another 20 years learning, but that was simply impossible. Now that he was nominally Guilliman's ally, he had responsibilities. Not to mention by now he considered the Primarch one of his greatest friends. He had no doubt the Master of Macragge would let him do so, but it felt wrong not to help him.
Now here he was on Terra, the birthplace of humanity, about to duel Kesar Dorlin, a Primarch Guilliman described as one of the best fighters among his brothers. He was looking forward to this.
Taking up a stance, he observed Kesar doing the same. Looking it over, he could see that at the very least the Primarch was experienced. The XIth didn't solely rely on his strength and speed, instead taking up a loose stance from which he could respond to anything. "Ready?" Arthron asked, cocking his fists and checking his gauntlets one last time.
Kesar cocked an eyebrow and nodded his head. "Ready. I'll cede the first move to you."
Arthron smirked, "cocky aren't you?"
The Primarch smiled, "prove me wrong if you can."
Kesar was an odd Primarch, but he knew how to talk with people. Arthron let his stance drift forward, letting gravity ease him to a more offensive stance.
He moved, the ground shattering behind him. He saw the Primarch respond instantly, moving into a guard position. So he responded as well, using his skill at biomancy and telekinesis to rapidly redirect himself around Kesar into his blind spot. "I think I will." Arthron threw a literal lightning jab, punching so quickly that the air around his hand ionized instantly.
Despite managing to execute all of this perfectly, and at a speed he knew from experience Guilliman couldn't match, there was a reason why it didn't work against Kesar. The Primarch didn't even bother looking behind himself, instead bobbing in what appeared to be a bastardized boxing roll before lashing out with his sword, forcing Arthron back. "I think perhaps 1 in 3 Primarchs could have avoided that." Kesar lightly commented, "Unfortunately, I'm one of those."
The difference between Kesar and Guilliman in terms of fighting styles was noticeable. Where one seemed to have an almost "rigid" technique, the XIth Primarch seemed looser in his stance. It reminded Arthron of his former rival, Apex. Who built his combat style of adaptation and counters. In that same vein, Kesar looked like he fought a veritable gallery of foes that required a specific combat style to defeat or at least counter properly.
No chance then of trying to feint or confuse him. Fighting defensively was also not a good idea. So that left going on the offensive and staying on it. Like a hundred battles before on Commous, it was best to not hold too much back.
Arthron dashed forward head-on, twisting around a fired shot from Sagita as he did. He threw his speed and mass behind one of his hands, aiming not for Kesar, but for Epitaph. Timing it expertly, he struck the flat of the blade, pushing it downwards, giving him just enough time to forward roll into a vicious ax kick, one powerful enough to tear apart tank armor.
Almost casually, Kesar stepped out of the way, throwing a punch with enough speed that Arthron was forced to block, drawing back both hands into an X just in time to disperse the power within the blow. The psyker leaped up slightly, avoiding a leg kick to the ankle, then twisted awkwardly around a follow-up from Epitaph before ripping out a chunk of the floor to block a third strike from Sagita. "Fuck," Arthron swore as he jumped backward buying time to breathe. "I knew you were good, but didn't think you were that good."
"I could say the same," Kesar responded, clearly willing to engage in banter. "Of every human I've fought, none of them are near your level."
"Heh," the psyker chuckled, "how many of them were able to land a hit on you?"
The Daemonsbane smiled, "if you managed it, you would be the first."
Kesar dashed forward, forcing Arthron on the defensive. One strike, two strikes, three strikes, four, five, ten, twenty, all of them designed to force the psyker on the defensive and corral him. Making him focus not on offense, but on simply surviving. Trying to gain space wasn't possible, Kesar wouldn't let him. Despite it all, Arthron was actually enjoying himself! "Let's take this up a notch." He felt the warp flow through and across his body as he activated his Titan Frame ability. As the shimmering scales and armor covered his body, it meant additional strength and a chance to not lose a limb or die to that sword.
The Primarch seemingly didn't hear him, but Arthron could tell the Daemonsbane had noticed it purely based on the tempo of strikes. Then the psyker made things more complicated, willingly taking one of Kesar's punches directly to his gut, the scales and armor enough to prevent major injury, albeit not enough for it not to hurt.
His body bent around the Primarch's arm, Arthron's left hand reaching around to act as a fulcrum for a lever, with Kesar's own hand acting as the counterweight. The psyker felt himself be dragged through the air, only his own masterful skill in combat letting him take advantage of the Primarch's momentary surprise. Arthron's leg screamed through the air, on a direct course for Kesar's head. No one could dodge this, not any of the Primarchs. Not even Kesar Dorlin.
But why then, was there no worry? Why was there simply a look of contemplation?
The answer came when a shimmering shield popped into existence before Arthron's leg slammed into it. Skidding across the void shield, Arthron was thrown through the air, cartwheeling over himself back onto his feet.
Kesar looked at him, then glanced at a section of his armor that likely contained the generator for the shield. "You are a brilliant fighter. I can imagine Guilliman had a great struggle against you when you both met."
"I stabbed one of his hearts," that was also a hard fight, admittedly for rather different reasons, but Arthron usually didn't brag about it.
The Primarch's face screwed into an expression of minor distaste. "Mhm, let's try not to have a repeat of that here."
"No promises." Was the glib reply.
"Unless you have another trick up your sleeve, you don't have to worry," Kesar commented with amusement. "But I expect you have some more surprises in store for me."
Immediately he could see Kesar's stance shift, his gaze sharp, "You have faced Psykers of my caliber before I see."
"I have faced worse."
"Truly, you will have to tell me that story." Arthron saw Kesar's face tighten for a moment, that instance of closing off that the gladiator had seen in his sons now visible in their father, "Perhaps, but tragedies are rarely told lightly."
Arthron nodded and then juked hard to the left, casting himself back into the fight.
He had his bag of tricks, most fighters he knew did. And he had an idea of what to use now. Subtly adjusting his eyes, Arthron let one of his hands drift forward. Then he snapped two of the fingers.
Immediately, his lesser level of pyromancy created a tiny flame, one which biomantic lightning shot into, refracting within it, creating an artificial flashbang. Kesar's eyes snapped shut midswing, and Arthron twisted around the blow, launching himself for the Primarch's wide-open side.
The psyker blinked, looking up at the sky with a major headache. He threw his legs forward, letting the momentum drag his body forward and up. Wincing at the residual pain, he brought a hand up to his face, and it came back coated in a thin sheen of blood. "Sorry about that," Kesar said sheepishly, "I didn't pull that blow as much as I should have."
"Don't worry about it," Arthron's words came out with a light lisp, he probably had some swelling in his cheeks. "I did blind you. How did you even see me?"
"Ah," the Primarch said, "while I was disoriented and blind, my sense of smell was still working."
Arthron took a sniff of his clothing. It was rank, but nowhere near enough for him to track. "Fuck you Primarchs are just living cheat codes."
Kesar laughed, "I can't say you're wrong."
"Another round?" Arthron asked, his flesh knitting itself back into place now that he had enough respite to focus on healing himself. "I think I have a few ideas to put into place."
The Primarch's eyes showed Kesar's interest in the idea. "As do I."
"Bet you I can land a blow this time around."
"And the stakes?"
"Bragging rights."
"I can live with that," Kesar agreed. "Even if I don't tend to brag, I'm sure it'd be useful."
"This time I'll make you eat those words."
"You're welcome to try."
In the end, Kesar won the second round as well. But it was even closer than the first, with Arthron fighting for significantly longer, and even managing to get use out of offensive biomancy when the fight dragged on long enough for it. However, in the end, it was the Primarch that won the day.
*Arthron gains Tachypsychia - The sheer number of moving parts in a fight is so great that only the greatest can keep track of it all. Reaching a state where time seems to slow at times. +5 to combat.*
*Kesar upgrades SDS Trait to negate the first two wounds.*
Vergil the Guardsman: "Are you sure this isn't hell?"
Durante the Eternal Warden: "I know it isn't. The warp is another plane of reality with separate rules from our own. I've told you this before."
Vergil the Guardsman: "I'm just saying there are similarities. It's filled with demons that want to torture you for all eternity, where nothing makes sense, and where even death doesn't save you."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "I'm … I'm sorry."
Vergil the Guardsman: "Eh, it's not your fault. Trying to keep yourself, an Astartes, alive was hard enough. Let alone a mortal like me."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "You, a guardsman, saved my life three times so far, to call you a burden would be a lie."
Vergil the Guardsman: "I tore out my eyes on the first day, then spent the next year being dragged behind you."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "So … has that …?"
Vergil the Guardsman: "No, which is weird as hell, I was looking forward to seeing color again."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Not these colors."
Vergil the Guardsman: "A fair point, can you even describe a Lust or Greed demon without unnatural colors?"
Durante the Eternal Warden: "For the last time, they aren't Catheric demons."
Vergil the Guardsman: "Not the main line Catheric demons, but these match well with more recent scriptures. We have the demons of Lust and Greed, the demons of Wrath and Pride, the demons of Sloth and Gluttony, and the demons of Envy. We've encountered each of them thus far."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "These aren't divine creatures, they're warp matter forged by the Archdaemons which feed off of concepts and worship."
Vergil the Guardsman: "That just means the scriptures were only mostly accurate. They failed to realize that what were separate evils were in fact separate rather than combined into a singular evil."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "How are we still having this conversation? It's been 20 years now."
Vergil the Guardsman: "We're both really fucking stubborn."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "I think this debate is a distraction. It's why we keep coming back to it. Perhaps we should change subjects?"
Vergil the Guardsman: "What else is there to talk about? Certainly not the weather. And I'm not being facetious. I don't like it when what passes as storm clouds comes through here."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Calling them clouds is generous."
Vergil the Guardsman: "I still maintain that trying to create a sailboat to take us out of here was a smart idea of mine."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "We could try it again if you wish."
Vergil the Guardsman: "...I said it was smart, it isn't anymore. You don't see me making fun of you for that Envy demon idea you had, do you?"
Durante the Eternal Warden: "The Lord of Change at least took us to a different place. We just couldn't tell it was deeper into the warp rather than out of it."
Vergil the Guardsman: "As you said, it sounded like a good idea until we tried it."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "...we could try it with a Bloodthirster this time."
Vergil the Guardsman: "We could if we knew where they were. We haven't seen any since we were stuck in here."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "True, which does worry me greatly, maybe a Keeper of Secrets?"
Vergil the Guardsman: "I don't think physically touching one would be good for our health. Their skin is probably 90% drugs."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Just pick a direction and walk then?"
Vergil the Guardsman: "Do you think we are lost?"
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Lost?"
Vergil the Guardsman: "Are we going in the right direction? Can we get out of here?"
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Whatever constitutes the right or wrong way in this place seems like a poor objective for us to follow. I doubt even most of the creatures here know where they are."
Vergil the Guardsman: "Isn't that bad then, for us?"
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Strangely enough? Not really. I like to think whatever destination we are trying to reach is just over the next bend or around the corner. "
Vergil the Guardsman: "A rather optimistic outlook for a Warden. "
Durante the Eternal Warden: "You're not the first to have that view of Wardens."
Vergil the Guardsman: "Probably the first to say so in hell though."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "I'll give you that but pessimism has its place, it simply can't overstay its welcome. I wouldn't call this optimism on my part, though. It's more like an acceptance. Can only change so much of our situation. Best to just keep a productive outlook on things. Good or bad, we all have something that needs doing. Even in here."
Vergil the Guardsman: …
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Vergil?"
Vergil the Guardsman: "Start running, I'll guide you."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Grab on."
Vergil the Guardsman: "Twenty years later, I still feel like a child being given a piggyback ride."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Where to?"
Vergil the Guardsman: "To the light that breaks the darkness."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "I can't see it."
Vergil the Guardsman: "Well the blind man can, so just start running, and follow my guidance."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "If you were anyone else, I'd be throwing you to the ground and checking you for corruption. But I trust you."
Vergil the Guardsman: "There are descriptions of what heaven's gates are like, there's always the constant of bright light - "
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Not the time."
Vergil the Guardsman: "No, trust me, this is important. There's usually a gate as well, and the scriptures may have things wrong. It may be less a gate that opens, and more a gate we have to open."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "We can force that open if needed, but, what do you … um, see?"
Vergil the Guardsman: "I think…I think it's a miracle."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Hmm, I'd be cautious of miracles in a place like this."
Vergil the Guardsman: "Yes, but this feels different. Out of place. But also familiar?"
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Did you see a Primarch or the Emperor?"
Vergil the Guardsman: "I … I think I did. I think I saw God and one of his Angels."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "The Emperor isn't a god, and my father isn't an angel."
Vergil the Guardsman: "I saw your father remove one of Satan's chosen from existence itself, if he isn't an angel, then I don't know what he is."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "That was a different devil."
Vergil the Guardsman: "Well, the devil takes on many forms."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Fine, we'll just ask the Emperor when we get out of here."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Vergil, I … I think I see the gate."
Vergil the Guardsman: "There's … there's so much more to it, the air feels calm and serene, so, so different from the hell that surrounded us. Durante, we have to get through that gate."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Then hold on tight, we just have to get through the hostiles."
Vergil the Guardsman: "...what hostiles? I can't hear or, uh, see any."
Durante the Eternal Warden: "Well I can, and this I can handle."
Solitaire 1: "And he didn't even have the courtesy to say break a leg!"
Solitaire 2: "Utterly unacceptable."
"Get out of my way!" Durante roared, backhanding the Xenos hard enough to launch it in the air. Three lasgun shots followed afterward, with the Xenos somehow managing to twist around the first and block the second with a knife made of bone. The third, however, found its mark in the Xenos' gut. Glancing at the second one, Durante was forced to reverse course as a trio of daggers embedded itself in the multidimensional space around him.
"How utterly brutish," Durante scowled at the Xenos' High Gothic words.
"Says the fucking Ork!" Vergil shouted back, causing the Xenos to visibly doubletake.
"I don't think that's an Ork," Durante calmly explained. When they got out of here, he really needed to sit down with Vergil just so he could correct her many misconceptions.
"How do I look anything like an Ork?" The Xenos asked. "Are you fucking blind?!"
"Yep!"
"Can we get back to why you thought the Xenos was an Ork?" Durante asked, genuinely curious and slightly worried. "I know you've fought other Xenos before."
"Xenos and Ork are interchangeable," Vergil said with a huff. "It's the same thing really, both are aliens hostile to humanity."
"It's not the same!" The Eldar snarled, "You're comparing the Orks, a race with brains the size of a pea, to the Eldar, a creation of the Old Ones themselves."
"You should learn your history." The second Eldar groggily got to their feet, visibly clutching their stomach as they did. Instantly Vergil shifted her position on Durante's back to get a better firing angle on the second Xenos. "We, the Eldar, are miracles of the Old Ones, one of their finest creations, second only to the Orks!"
There was silence.
"...well, I can't say I've heard that before," Durante said honestly.
"Look, we're in a bit of a rush, so do you mind just stepping aside and letting us through?" Vergil asked, attempting to be diplomatic. "Or I could just shoot you a few times and we move aside corpses?"
"Oh for the love of the Laughing One. I've been spoiled by the saner humans we've interacted with these last few decades. How uncouth and unsavory you two are." The first Eldar said, seemingly going to a more humorous style of speaking.
"It's about to get a lot more uncouth and unsavory if we aren't let through." Vergil snarled.
"Now, now, there's no need for that," the wounded Eldar said, waving a hand away. "You may pass on two conditions."
"What?" Durante growled.
"Answer, but a simple question, when forth art thou?"
"The thirty-first millennium?" Durante asked more than stated.
"Wow, you've been in there for ages, haven't you?"
"What year is it?"
"It is the Forty-First Millennium and the galaxy lies in ruin. Everything has collapsed and all know only war, destruction, and the laughter of thirsting gods."
"What???"
"Heh, I jest, I jest. it's probably a decade or two since you've been gone."
Vergil fired her lasgun at the Eldar, who ducked, avoiding the first shot, then took the second in their leg. "Alright, any other smart comments?"
"Typical Mon'keigh," the unwounded Eldar lamented, "so unwilling to trade banter at length, electing instead to end the play early."
"Second condition!" The wounded Eldar visibly panted, "Oh by Isha, that was foolish of me, second condition is - "
"Met," Durante stated simply, glaring at the unwounded Eldar as he spoke. Stepping forward towards the gate, he held eye contact with the Xenos the entire time, until at last he and Vergil passed from the warp, into the Webway.
You are Kesar Dorlin, and you are no longer blind. The warp unveils itself to you in ways it never has. Twisting unnatural colors of madness abound. Raw unfettered power whispers in your mind, tempting you with dreams and possibilities.
Your lip begins to bleed as you reach into your mind, forcing your mental barriers back up. It's slower than you've managed in ages. You feel the blood in your eyes pulse, red coating your sight in one eye as you force the whispers to depart.
"Good, I'm glad to see I don't need to kill you." The Emperor states in a seemingly relieved voice.
You close your eyes, managing to set aside your psychic powers at immense difficulty. "This … is … harder … than … expected." It flares up once more, causing several of your muscles to twitch unnaturally, sending lances of pain throughout your body, mind, and soul.
"Sleep with a blank nearby," the Emperor advised. "Consider it an order."
You attempted to relax, only to flinch as the ground around you was torn, along with a section of your flesh. "I … agree."
"Good luck then." The Emperor said, before turning around to leave.
"You're just leaving?" You asked, astonished. Wincing as you tore another blood vessel. "Without any advice?"
The Emperor paused, "I brought in a specialist for this, they're more qualified than I."
"And … that … is?" You questioned.
"Magnus." Came the answer just as the Emperor vanished from sight, likely teleporting away to some other part of Terra.
Mentally, you split your mind in two, the vast majority focused on suppressing your powers, and the rest focused on what you wished to cover with Magnus.
*-100 to everything for Kesar. Decreases by 5 per year.*
[] Focus on control over your body. While you can survive the biomantic effects of uncontrolled psychic abilities, it highly limits your ability to even act normally. Let alone hold actual conversations.
[] Focus on control over your surroundings. You can learn to suppress pain and injury. What's less easy to hide is telekinesis tearing apart the ground around you, and ripping off parts of people. You really need help.
[] Magnus has ideas. Many, many ideas. You're slightly worried.
[] Thankfully Magnus also has a more grounded training schedule based on how his most powerful psykers were trained. A complex flexible program intended to teach psykers about the warp in order to improve their safety. Not how you would prefer it, but you can see the merits of it. It would also be the easiest for Magnus to teach.
[] Magnus is grudgingly willing to train you as the Wardens do. A focus on mental strength and control over your mind and soul, to ensure that nothing can ever force you to Fall. And ensure that your mind will remain yours. This is something you're well experienced in, and what you feel would be easiest to learn.
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