"To begin with, speaking to a crowd is much different than speaking with an individual--or a small group." Dana drilled you, walking back and forth with her hands clasped behind her back. "You must be clear, you must be direct, and you must keep in mind that not everybody is equally capable of understanding what you're talking about as we are."
"In other words, talk slowly and carefully so the monkeys can understand it." Niamh clarifies--Dana rustles at the statement and looks back. "That's a slur you realize." Niamh simply tilts her head, an aura of growing smug emerging. "No, it is a strictly accurate term making use of your monkey language, I think it is a fair statement to make."
Goodness, that smug level is strong enough you can feel it from here! You feel Dana's Will sharpening, and you feel Niamh's own ego swelling in response. You think you'd best go and get that speech done then.
You vwip off just as the first bursts of telekinetic force erupt, and bind yourself to the World Tree--just lightly, and just for a moment.
[Speak to the People: 45 + 10 (Dana) + 10 (Niamh) + 10 (Connection): 75]
You think you did rather well! Thanking them all for their efforts over the past century to turn Equinox (Maybe the planet's due for a rename too now that you think of it) into a land where all could live in peace, protected by the brave with the livelihood of the population secured by the works of everyone. A few comments about remaining united even as the world enters a new phase of its development, and that more importantly, your blessing will be with them all, whether they choose to believe in you or not.
You think it was a rather smashing success!
You do hope that the black-eyes that Niamh and Dana are sporting heal back quickly though, they don't look nearly as cute like that!
[Success! A great speech reminds everyone that you're still here, you're still with them, and that you haven't suddenly turned into a soul eating monster. Recruitment Dice unlocked once more]
While all of this was going on, you sent your will to an area parallel to this great speech. Amelia was working very hard--getting to the bottom of a few... Irregularities you think she called it? Areas that weren't going the way they were supposed to be? Mostly just livestock going missing and supplies vanishing--but apparently there were suggestions that the grimories of the Weaver Sect had been accessed without authorization a time or two as well. Concerning! Given how Sorcery is really hard and really not for amateurs.
Goodness but you don't need another Hogulus Nemea challenging the Flower Knights to a jousting contest, that was just embarrassing for all parties involved.
...
They do say he was delicious though.
Amelia's plan is pretty good--not something you feel the need to micromanage. Get a hold on some of the Huntsmen who were off duty, have them get some bikes and go travelling, and just keep their eyes open for any oddness. Simple, easy, everything should go perfectly well! You're not sure if it's just bad record-keeping, a bunch of Emperor-botherers preparing a guerilla resistance, or even a sinister plot! You just don't know!
But you'll find out you're sure!
[A Quiet Census: 63 + 10 (Amelia): 73]
It was stupidity.
As it turns out? Apparently when a long running, extensive propaganda campaign has made a strong point of saying "Any faith but the Imperial Faith is a twisted cult meant to sap your reason and consume your souls." Combines with a cult that preaches compassion, support for one's neighbours and kin, and encourages the gathering of strength to protect them in times of crisis? The way people square that circle is to go 'Clearly, this is a scam intended to fool the sheep into surrendering their souls to the inner circle. We--the wise--understand this truth, and will see the true secrets of the Thorned Crone and the power she offers to those who are willing to seize it!"
Really though, blood sacrifice, lewd rituals, and a lot of dead livestock! Goodness, you're glad that all of this was brought to your attention before it could get out of hand! It's really just a terribly messy thing they're doing and you won't have any of it!
So the next time they conduct one of your rituals, you allow yourself to be summoned.
A verdant beam of light erupts from the heart of the ritual ground--the power of the Warp spilling from the breach--whispers fill the air and the light is blinding--literally so! Their eyes are boiling out of their sockets! Goodness, you won't have it go that far! You reach out a mote of your power and allow the damaged eyes to heal back.
"ENOUGH OF THIS, THESE ARE NOT MY WAYS OR MY DESIRES. CEASE THESE PROFANE RITUALS AND RETURN TO THE PROPER PATH ONCE MORE"
And--that about does it for you as you withdraw from the material. Goodness, it's always such a strain to poke your head into objective reality, hopefully they get the hint and we can all go back to life as it should be!
[Success! Fringe elements of the Verdant Cult had gotten the wrong idea, and were indulging in dark rituals in hopes of gathering the blessing of the you that surely had to exist underneath all of your niceness. Needless to say, once this came to your attention, you put a proper stop to it and now everything is perfectly fine and dandy again! You don't have to worry about some fringe sect popping up now and making you look bad!]
Now that you had established you were still a thing, and kindly corrected the misguided before they could go too far, you could focus on the Fun things.
Like throwing a party!
"It's more of a festival..." Dana would clarify during your discussions. "We should have success holding them in the World Tree--plenty of food, drink--and we can get a good amount of entertainment in on the way up as well. Even with the upper levels closed of for the Canopy Project." She goes over her list, and looks up at you--currently staring blankly at her. "Is there a problem?"
"Maybe?" You reply, your mouth puckering up. "That seems like a lot of moving parts though, and we don't have that many people familiar with the Tree"
"Right..." Dana nodded. "And you're not really the best at guiding people." You throw up your hands and shrug. "You're just all so small! It's hard to see the little things like that!"
"Right, I expected that--tell me, the World Tree's bindings--can they only be controlled by you directly?" You take a moment to think on that. "I don't see why they would be limited like that?" You supply--and she nods.
"Good enough, I'll take care of the details." She sets her paperwork down. Uhhhh... "I've gotten some practice in the last hundred years." She snaps her fingers after noticing your blank stare--a spark of green energy splashing off of them in the con---Oh, right! You did patch one of those bigger holes in her soul with a link to yourself--she would be able to use some of your power on her own.
"Good luck then! I'll focus on the Canopy in that case!" You smile, wave, and detach from time, turning your gaze to the results.
[Party Time!: 100 + 10 (Dana): 110]
Oh boy! She really got into that! Between the link to your power and her own experience in the past century, Dana just straight up tears through all of the little logistical problems. Freed from the issues of needing to pay attention to her body, she was able to solve a dozen nagging problems in the bud--using the Tree's projectors to manifest multiple avatars across as required, sorting out paperwork and organizing people. As the festival actually begun she was in dozens of places at once--giving the opening address in several of the major floors while serving as tour guide to many others on demand.
You were proud of her! She was doing the kind of thing you'd have to do yourself! Just with a lot less screaming and a lot more knowing what she was actually doing for the little people.
By the time the Skyreach Festival (As people were already calling it!) Wound down, Dana was exhausted, everyone was happy, and there were already plans about doing this every centennial! The next time will be even more glorious you think!
[Miracle! Dana Magistrix personally served as the central intelligence of the World Tree during the Skyreach Festival, and exhibited an uncanny degree of psychic power, precision--and just enough instinct about what's coming next that she never fell behind the constant flow of 'Things that needed to happen'. Dana confirmed as a Gamma-class Psyker, with a specialty in Telepathy]
Splitting her focus with the festivities below, Dana was also sending her attention above--and when the Festival wound down, and she had a good night's rest to cool off from the events, she was back in action, up and ready to direct the workforce of the Cult in their biggest project yet!
"It's got to have room for the really big ships." Layla said, waving her arms around. "The biggest ships, we don't know how big we're going to be able to build, so we should make sure we can handle anything."
"That's ridiculous" Elliot countered. "With the amount of space we'd have to use to create berthings for ships of that size, we'd be able to build a full out capital city up here! It can't be done, it's ridiculous!"
"Do you have any idea of the budget we have going into this?" Layla's retort struck true. "The Maiden's going to be going all the way here. We have most of the Weaver Sect that isn't committed to the Nomad Project here, now--there is zero reason why we shouldn't try to blow this whole thing completely out of the water."
She gets on her tiptoes and does her best to loom over the lanky scholar. Failing, but she makes a bold try. "Big, Ships"
Elliot stares back, and looks to his notes.
"I'll see what I can do." He admits, defeated.
[Making a Nice Place: 64 + 10 (Dana) + 10 (Layla) + 10 (Elliot) + 20 (Excess Manpower) + 40 (Domains): 154]
In the end, a staggering budget, colossal swaths of divine energy, and the attention of many of the best and brightest of the Cult won out. The roots of the World Tree grew deeply, and drank greedily from the geothermal energies of the world. Earthblood flowed like water up the veins of the megastructure, reaching for the branches and molding into place. The Canopy of the World Tree grew wide and tall, branches sprouting great leaves that devoured the light of the sun, radiating the comfortable excess to the world below in a soft glowing light. The pinnacle of the tree flattened, and a field of power eventually crackled to life. Atmosphere was fed into the bubble, and slowly but surely, a paradise in the Void formed. Branches grew to colossal size, straightening out and hardening to where each could support the weight of a ship--docking space enough for a fleet if need be--though the empty piers do seem a little lonely.
The view at the Canopy of the World Tree was magnificent--the beauty of the Void without the problems of radiation, vacuum, or micrometeors to be concerned about. Many of the more ambitious folk moved their homes and businesses to this place--eager to get in on the ground floor of something that was rarely done.
By the end of it all, you have an edifice that could endure apocalypse itself, with a degree of luxury the most decadent nobles could only dream of. And you didn't even need to kill or torture anybody to get it! That'll show 'em!
[A Great Miracle Indeed! The Canopy of the World Tree is completed--a great orbital habitat nestled at the height of the World Tree. Plenty of room for expansion, a view that is quite literally to die for, and more importantly--a wealth of docking space and the berths to construct voidships of your own... Once you can figure out how to make it work anyway.]
Compared to all that, Project NOMAD almost felt like an afterthought.
Which wasn't to say there was no excitement to be found, oh no. The Leviathans were some of the biggest mobile structures you've ever created! Colossal landships that carry an army in their guts and spit out burning rays of beaminess!
The fix ultimately was pretty easy--at least in theory. "Strip out some of the extra guns and armor that we freed up by introducing Earthblood, and then take advantage of that added space to add more room for more allies!"
[Project NOMAD 1: 45 + 10 (Layla) + 10 (Amelia) + 10 (Domain): 75]
In the end, a simple task was simple, and the upgraded Leviathan design was smoothed out, polished out, and would be a fine delivery platform to the Cult's forces in the inevitable moment when the sky decides to fall again.
Progress!
[Project NOMAD Part One complete! Leviathan Landships altered to serve as fleet carriers--limited direct combat ability, but excellent field support and maintenance capacity!]
Now if only you knew when the guests were going to arrive....
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[97]
Space tears, the Immaterial yawns open--you set your gaze to the Mandeville Point at the edge of the system as a behemoth of aged steel and primordial might emerged from the rift. Flanking it were four lesser vessels. Your attention shifts to information held within your World Tree--the list of registered vessels.
Four Carrack-class transports--tough, well armed, excellent transport craft with firepower comparable to the venerable Sword class. But the beast in the center of the formation...
An Armada-class Star Galleon. Nine kilometres long, armor six feet thick of burnished Adamantium plating--designed from the ground up to be able to take on a Hive World at need and plunder it to the bedrock. That the Imperium of Man not be denied its tribute, so were the Publicani formed. Where it falters in the line of battle, it excels in planetary siege and assault.
A single look at the World Tree is observed, data is calculated by wizened djinn-skeins. An estimate is made of current planetary development, and an assessment presented to the captain."
He gazes upon the script, chins jiggling as his corpulent mass shifts on his cushioned throne. Fingers the size of sausages stroke a well trimmed moustache in consideration.
"More than we had anticipated, but no matter" He declared. "Plunder too is among our duties! We will advance!"
Engine bells burned, and the squadron began its approach.
Publicani Korian Paulus Sirius has returned! He is not impressed by what he sees
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[94]
Reality screamed, and the from the depths of the void came a new craft--dagger shaped, sleek--much as a Terran shark might be. It has seen clearly better days, the hull weathered, chipped, and battered--but the Gellar Field remained strong yet--and the breaches were not so bad in light of that.
A slim figure in a raggedy blue and copper vestment looked down at his dataslate.
"That's a lot of ships..." He muttered.
"Wasn't this supposed to be safe passage" A shrill voice echoed, slightly digtized--the floating drone coasted in, manipulators clicking with barely concealed agitation. "This was supposed to be safe passage! How did you get this wrong!"
"It shouldn't be wrong!" He whined, tossing the dataslate over to the machine--it clattered and grasped and caught the thing, turning it around and watching the camera-lens within focus.
"You nitwit! Dolt!" It threw it back. "That's not the Safe Passage rune at all! That's the Interesting Times Rune!" It hovered up to his face and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him. "Look! Right at the bottom!" He did so. "You see that?"
"That's Safe Passage!" He called out--only to get shaken again. "No! Safe passage has a rounded bottom! That's clearly a squiggly!"
He looks again, and pales. "Oh... Oh no..."
"Damn right you're 'Oh No!' We were just coming here to do some bonepicking, now we're in a race!" The drone bobbed and pushed forward to the bridge, completely missing the readouts on the camera. "Full power to the engines! Our quest will not be denied!"
"Hold on..." The long suffering assistant to the Most Glorious Sage of the Arcane Cosmos added, looking at his dataslate. "This can't be right, they got here faster than we did..."
Everyone on the bridge stopped, turned, and stared.
"Interesting Times is supposed to create a trial after arrival, isn't it?"
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[80 + 10]
Deep within the system, something lurked. A black hull, built as an edifice to ancient powers, a wicked crescent that has set entire fleets to burn at need.
Within it...
"Hah! Capital!" They were a frail looking folk, large of head and unadorned by hair, clad in ornate garments of woven leather and arcane textiles. Richly adorned with jewels, each bearing the finest works of artifice his court could muster.
His guardians were somewhat less amused by this revelation, but they stoically stood at the foot of his throne, their arms held at attention on their side.
"I just knew we'd have a proper adventure if we simply took our time and waited!" He laughed, walking down the stairs and patting one of his bodyguards on the shoulder. "Oh but it's a wonderful thing to have a challenge once in a while, is it not?" He gestured widely, awaiting his court's assent to his whims.
He nodded, pleased at this, and stepped up, an ornate cane collected from the side of his throne.
"Announce to the system that Prince Anosis Sendai seeks a test of might with the locals!" He laughs. "Oh my, they'll all be so jealous when I return home--how many of them have had a chance to cross blades with the other folk of the galaxy?"
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[83]
The final arrival was simultaneously the least threatening--and yet the most concerning arrival of them all.
From the depths of the Warp--from the tides of souls, a single vessel emerged. Hull battered, scorched, and rent asunder. Not mere age was this, but a battle of titanic force that had brought a once proud servant of the Imperium to its knees.
On the bridge, Captain Martin Solheart stared at the system before, the bridge burned despite the best efforts of the serfs to contain the damage. He himself bore many a new scar, including a terrible plasma burn from a glancing strike at his brow, narrowly deflected by his helm before its destruction.
"How many..." He asks, weary. The Red-helmed Marine occupying the engineering console took a moment to consider.
"Thirty" he said. "We were able to recover another dozen as wounded from the final escape, but we do not know when they will recover--if they will recover."
"At least some survived" He sighed, and allowed himself to slouch. "Emperor forgive me, but they would not listen..."
He turned his gaze to the world ahead. "Set a course for the planet, I must have words with their patron."
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Four groups, each arriving in quick succession with one another. The limitations of light speed have prevented most from realizing the others are present--but this will not last.
You have time to contact two of them before this occurs, to seize advantage before they realize the true gravity of the events unfolding.
[ ] The Publicani Fleet
[ ] The Ancient Vessel
[ ] Prince Sendai's Expedition
[ ] The Azure Dragoons
