Inquisitor Hybris and the Dark Pattern

Inquisitor Hybris, Ordo Hereticus, Jericho Conclave: this radical Inquisitor was once part of the Dark Cabal, but fell out of favor and relocated (or possibly fled) to the Mammon sector. There is no record of him having been declared rogue, but the Dark Cabal always worked mostly behind the scenes, so that doesn't mean anything.

Hybris is important because, as far as Barotta can tell, he tried using the Dark Symmetry to understand the Dark Pattern. And Barotta knows a thing or two about Dark Symmetry, so he's pretty sure he's right. So either Hybris went insane - or he fell to Chaos. So being forced to flee/banished/whatever makes a lot of sense. Even radicalized Inquisitors can only go so far before they become traitors.

But Hybris was on to something: there is not one, unified dark pattern, where there is one evil force at work, destroying worlds throughout Jericho and beyond. There are several. Without this knowledge, you can forever stare at the Dark Pattern and ALMOST understand what it tries to tell you.

By looking for more than one pattern, the whole picture becomes clearer. And Hybris' vision was clearer than most. To aid his work, he created the Doomsday Clock, an arcane machine capable of predicting the future in great detail (or so Barotta's many texts and sources claim). It is, for lack of better words, an extremely accurate tarot that can be used for some very specific operations.

But where is this clock now? No one knows, but Hybris went to Mammon. Perhaps his clock is there as well?

Karlack (Fortress/Dead World)

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Karlack was a human-inhabited world that had retained a semblance of civilization despite 5 millennia alone in the dark. It's peoples initially rejoiced when reunited with the Imperium, but their happiness was soon crushed by the demands of the crusade. The world's population swelled tenfold, its industries multiplied a hundred times, and its fields were farmed beyond exhaustion. At some point, the planet's ecosphere collapsed, and people became resentful, rebellious even. Harsh measures were taken.

Karlack was the principal seat of the Achilus Crusade High Command, home to the single most powerful concentration of the Imperium's military might within the Reach. After Hethgard, no one heard from the system, and none of the patrols sent there returned.

It was eventually revealed that Karlack had turned to Chaos, specifically Khorne. Every ship that had gone there had been seized by cultists, and incorporated into the "Great Star Ark" that would carry the faithful back to their loved ones on Carmyn. It's a given that there would be bloodshed when they arrived to find their promised paradise a cesspool of Saaneshi corruption.

Barotta put an end to this dream, seizing the hulk, and reclaiming the ships that could still be repaired. He then virus-bombed the surface of Karlack, wiping away all life.

Ships of the Stigmartus

The following non-STC ship patterns are being seen with the Stigmartus raider fleets:

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Black Dart: Raider-class (RR) vessel, about the same tonnage as an Imperial corvette. Looks a bit like a Claymore, without stub wings and an arrow-like prow of darkest hell-forged steel. Extremely fast, decently armored for its size, but practically unshielded. Rudimentary batteries only, enough to handle transports and light escorts, but useless against ships of the line. It has a special "ramming-mode" where it overburns its drives to plunge into an enemy ship to disgorge its complement of mutant boarders. The Sector navy has destroyed about a dozen of these vessels now, but their presence has only grown.

Berzerker: Heavy Raider (RH), about the size and power of an Imperial destroyer. It looks a lot like an Iconoclast, but with a prominent hatchet-shaped prow. High speed, but not nearly as fast as the Black Dart. Better shielded and carrying more batteries, it can be dangerous in numbers. It does, however, lack torpedoes and lances, making it less of a threat against capital ships. Like the Dart, it's been designed for boarding. In addition to ramming, the Berzerker has powerful retros than can be fired to tear free of the impact area, ripping out the innards of the enemy vessel.

Razorcrest: Frigate-sized ship recently spotted. It's visually similar to a Sword-class frigate, but instead of the heavy prow, it has a "crest" of adamantium running along the hull. It is possible that this crest can be used for "slashing" attacks against enemy ships.

Barotta caught glimpses of other ships being built around Samech, including larger hulls (up to battlecruiser size).

The Stigmartus

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The Stigmartus is a well-organized military force of the Lost and the Damned in service to the Ruinous Powers found within the Jericho Reach. It is commanded by Cult-General Elak Sarda, a Chaos Champion of immense power.

Of all the forces standing in opposition to the Acheros Salient, none are more belligerent or numerous than the degenerate armies of the Stigmartus. Composed of Renegades, Chaos Cultists, rogue psykers, bound daemons, mutants, and madmen, the Stigmartus represent the greatest single military threat to the success of the Imperial forces retaking the salient.

Despite their disparate makeup, the forces of the Stigmartus display a level of military organization and tactical acumen rarely seen among the servants of Chaos. The Stigmartus also has the benefit of interior lines of communication, a safe (relatively) haven (the Anomaly), and access to the hell-forges of Samech (though only the Dark Gods know what price they must pay for the techno-horrors forged there).

Research Option: The Stigmartus unlocked.

Research Option: Elak Sarda unlocked.

Research Option: Hell-forges of Samech unlocked.

Daemon Worlds of the Hadex Anomaly

A number of worlds are known to exist wholly with the Anomaly, fully consumed by the warp. The Ever-changing Library has a special section on such things, and Erioch has several info-crypts and data-vaults and physical archives off-limits even to the Watch-Master (fortunately Barotta has a genuine Malleus Inquisitor with him). This information must be taken with large pinches of salt - it's information dealing with the unexplainable and the insane.

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Bulwark (Daemon World): Bulwark was once a proud Fortress World which guarded the original sector capital world of Verronus, but was later claimed by the worshippers of the Blood God Khorne. Following the appearance of the Anomaly, the citizens of Bulwark perpetrated all of the atrocities that soon followed. The forsaken world soon became a massive charnel house of death and blood, lorded over by a powerful Daemon Prince of Khorne, named Krakiota.

Coranin (Daemon World): When the Anomaly first appeared, this former Feral World was claimed by the Lord of Change, Tzeentch as his own. Soon the planet was transformed into a Daemon World, altered by the malign touch of the Changer of Ways, as he utterly corrupted the planet and its inhabitants.

Durell (Daemon World): Durrel was a former Hive World that fell to the sensuous temptations of pleasure and hedonistic desires of the Lord of Pleasure, Slaanesh. The world became one Grand Temple of Slaanesh.

Samech (Hell-Forge): A former loyal Forge World of the Adeptus Mechanicus the sad truth was that the faith in the Omnissiah had been slowly dimming some millennia before the infamous event of the emergence of the Anomaly. When this stellar phenomenon consumed the world, the forges readily embraced their damnation, seeking out the Ruinous Powers to further their own aims. Samech is the main supplier of weapons and ships for the Stigmartus and other factions resisting the Achilus Crusade. The world is know also as 'The Iron Pit', a haven for debased human renegades that traveled there to trade and barter.

Venkrous (Daemon World): Venkrous was a formally lush and beautiful Agri-world before the Anomaly appeared. It soon became twisted and warped by the rotting touch of the Plague Lord Nurgle.

Verronus/Varrus (Unclassified World): The glittering capital of the Jericho Sector sits at the heart of the Anomaly. It is impossible to classify it, or even confirm it's confirmed existence.

The Hadex Anomaly

The Hadex Anomaly is a raging temporal Warp rift that lies at the core of the Jericho Reach in the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy. Bathing countless worlds in a sickly red glow, this nebulous tear in space-time represents far more than a navigational hazard or obstruction to astropathic communication. It is a cancer upon the fabric of time and space, and entire star systems have been lost to its baleful influence. 

Since the time of its formation, the Hadex Anomaly has haunted the Jericho Reach, casting out its malign Warp radiation and corrupting many worlds. Measurements performed by the Deathwatch over the centuries indicate that, since its creation, the Anomaly has continued to grow fractionally every year, slowly pulling the worlds of the Reach into its dark grasp. This growth is not steady, however. Like a monstrous heart palpitating in the void, the influence of the Hadex Anomaly expands and recedes rhythmically, absorbing and disgorging entire solar systems over the course of decades. 

Worlds bathed in the crimson glow of the Anomaly become saturated with its corrupting essence, while stars languish under its stygian radiance. Such stars become clotted red orbs, shedding a carmine luminescence mimicking that of the Anomaly itself. The worlds touched by the red glare become... changed. Infused with protean energies they grow both more verdant, and more deadly.

Scholars, savants, and madmen have striven to classify the anomaly in line with others of its type, such as the Eye of Terror, the Maelstrom, and the Gates of Fire, yet it continues to defy all classification. Though clearly a Warp/realspace interface or Warp rift like most other similar events, the Hadex Anomaly exerts an exotic effect not just upon the physical realm but on the temporal as well.

In their vain efforts to understand the Anomaly, Imperial savants have claimed it seems to "spew time" into the surrounding region, disrupting the flow of events and occasionally reordering them entirely. It is conjectured that the Hadex Anomaly is the source of a flow of time spewing forth into the galaxy from another dimension, although any efforts to fully catalog or study the effects of the Anomaly have ended in utter disaster.

More than the forces of the Stigmartus, the xenos fleets, or the warbands of the Traitor Legions, the Hadex Anomaly represents a seemingly insurmountable obstacle standing in the way of the Achilus Crusade's Acheros Salient. How can the forces of Mankind know victory when their enemy is space itself?

The WAY OUT

Entering the Vortex can be a difficult process for the uninvited or unwanted. But LEAVING the Vortex is altogether more difficult... reavers may leave the Vortex, the Gods willing, but without exception, they are always called back - whether they want it or not...

That said, there are ways in and out for those in the know:

THE COMMON PATHS

The 13th Station of Passage is the easiest and most well-known route. Other, similar paths exist, but are more perilous or lead to distant places, and are traveled by few. More recently a path opened to Dusk... but already it is said if you go by this route you can go no further than Dusk.

THE DEEP PATH

Frozen Heart of the Vortex lies at the center of it all. For those brave - or foolish enough - to venture there, the road is wide open. The Vortex will spit you out wherever you want to go, and will no longer have any hold over you. Of course, a million champions have tried, but only a handful are believed to have reached the Heart.

THE OTHER PATHS

The Tyrant Star: the Tyrant Star is a baleful phenomenon that appears within the Vortex as often as without. Ancient legends tell that if a traveler can make his way INTO the Tyrant Star, it can take him not only WHEREver, but also WHENever he wishes to go. Unfortunately, the legends don't tell HOW this might be accomplished, although it's said that the renegade Rogue Trader Haarlock was able to do it.

The Wandering Moon/Gates of Moment: appearing within the Vortex is a small, wandering moon, a celestial body that seems to exist in multiple locations (and possibly times as well) at once. By landing on the moon, a traveler could leave the Vortex, though he has little control over where he'd end up.

Forbidden Portal: many legends tell of the Forbidden Portal, a huge edifice of bone and crystal that never opens, but promises to take a traveler elsewhere. There are two problems: It's never been opened and its location isn't known - each legend places it in a different place.

Path of the Dead: there is said to be a place within the Vortex, where Chaos has no power. None at all. The slumbering dead wait here, waiting for a call to arms. These are the Necrontyr, and they have to power to come and go as they please, crossing the void between the starts a men pass through a door.

The Webway: the Eldar have a presence in the Vortex, have had since time immemorial, and they have never been bound to it like other races. It is thought that the Eldar webway leads to the Vortex, and that at least one such passage is still open and possible to travel along by starship.

The Tale of Kobald the Godless

Do you remember the Tale of Kobald the Godless?

Of course you don't. No one remembers him. Even the Gods have put him out of their minds.

Long ago, Kobal was servant and champion to all the Gods, the High Masters and the Low Ones, the Four Greater and All the Lesser.

Until one day he decided he would no longer follow anyone, but be his own lord and master of all. So he turned his back to the Gods, who had for aeons lent him their strength and offered him protection.

The Gods were not pleased.

They could have destroyed him with but a snap of their allmighty fingers, but they did not. Ever benevolent and all-powerful, they sent their envoys to treat with him instead.

But Kobald would not receive any visitors, not even those on the Gods' business.

So the Gods had no choice but to punish the Godless, so that he would take notice. Depravity, mutation, bloodshed, and disease, and much more they sent onto Kobald's flock.

But he would not relent.

So the Gods were forced to sterner measures. All Kobald's followers died, all his works turned to dust. Others rose up in his place, and he was forgotten.

Finally, he received the envoys - there were none left to bar their way. Each pleaded with him, offering him priceless gifts.

First came the Banshee, the Envoy of Tzeentch, but he would not listen to reason. He had no use for magic, or prophetic power, or anything else the bird-god had to offer.

Ellia Gut-ripper was next, carrying the word of the Skull Throne, but the offer of bloodshed without end could not convince Kobald. What use had he for blood or brass, or anything else offered by a god without a real face?

Grimm the Smiling, Herald of Slaanesh brought pleasure and pain in equal, bountiful measure, but the Godless just sat there, unmoved. These were ephemeral things, old things, worn out, useless. Not gifts, but curses. Besides, he had no use for a God who couldn't even decide to be man or woman.

Last was Surglub the Everliving, the humble Voice of Nurgle. But Kobald had fallen asleep, and no amount of shouting could wake him. Surglub had to return back to his master, his task unfished.

Finally, the Gods shrugged and left Kobald alone.

In the end the Godless died alone and powerless, a withered old man, while his peers ascended to Daemonhood.

The End.

Whispers from the Warp, pt 2

Kay has investigated the ghostly signals.

She concludes (as much as one can conclude regarding Warp-related phenomena) that the Eternal Lament has acquired a "ghost," the spirit of a dead person that refuses to leave. While it has some things in common with a daemon, it's not quite the same. Daemons are of the other side, this is a spirit from this world.

Kay also thinks there may actually be more than one spirit haunting the ship, but doesn't have any concrete proof of that.

Whispers from the Warp, pt 1

Several times during the trip to Dusk, Barotta has received a radio broadcast or seen a flicker of a face on a shipboard monitor. And he's no longer the only one. Several Astartes, a few daughters, and crewmembers report the same. Always the same voice, and in the rare cases where there is an image feed, the same face: Lt. Gomez.

At best it's only a warp echo, but it could also be daemonic forces at play. These things can happen on a ship under Warp drive, even with the Gellar field intact. If only Barotta had a psyker or sorcerer or some such, then it could perhaps be dealt with. For now, it's best to just ignore it.

Scrolls of Eternal Truth - The Great Lie About Slaanesh

Barotta found a new scroll in the library. It seems to be but one of many penned with golden ink on parchment.

---

Chaos is creation, the wellspring of life.

Chaos is entropy, the great destroyer.

Chaos is the eternal truth that defies explanation.

One of the most common lies told about Chaos concerns Slaanesh and his/her connection to the Eldar, or, more specifically, the Fall of the Eldar. According to this lie, the Eldar created Slaanesh, whose birth was heralded by the destruction of their xenos Empire.

Claiming that a filthy xenos species birthed eternal and all-powerful Slaanesh is as preposterous as it is insulting. Was there no passion, no excess before the Fall of the Eldar? Of course, there was. Slaanesh has always been, always will be. Ever-changing and eternally the same.

It is true that the Eldar of old worshipped great Slaanesh with every fiber of their being. But to claim they created the Prince/Princess of Gods? Is there no end to their arrogance? No wonder Slaanesh got tired of their attention-seeking and consumed them.

The Eldar's only accomplishment of note is that their Fall announced the end of the Warp Storms that had harrowed the galaxy for five thousand years, give or take, thus bringing an end to the Age of Strife and opening the galaxy to the False Emperor's Great Crusade.

Slaanesh has never forgiven them for this transgression, which is why he/she tirelessly seeks out Eldar souls to punish. Were it not for these lowest of aliens, the galaxy would still be a place of Chaos and wonder.

Now, only the Eye of Slaanesh, the Maelstrom of the Gods, the Whispering Vortex, and a few other sites remain. Woe unto the Eldar!

So it is written, with the True Powers as my witnesses.

- Akram the All-seeing, High Sorcerer of Q'Sal

The Threefold Curse Denied

Barotta opted to deny the Threefold Curse. Rather than pick one option, he chose all three - but did exactly the opposite of what was required.

Facrast did not burn. Instead, its peoples came together, united and free of civil war for the first time in living memory. Thus the Horned Darkness was spurned.

Solace was not sucked into the Vortex. The sorcerer Nereus did not get one of Barotta's hearts, not Krawl's. Nobody offered up their sword in his service. Instead, Nereus got his old sword back, and willingly abandoned his great ritual. Thus was the Four Powers spurned.

St. Annard's Penance didn't see the masters burn, nor the pillars fall. Instead, the Chosen were extinguished and the world abandoned, and the sleeping dead may slumber forevermore. Thus was Malal spurned.

It's a story worthy of retelling. This is not how the Threefold Curse normally plays out. The Champion denied all the Gods, seeming without care for their inevitable wrath. Presumably, the way forward is now firmly shut, and all manner of trouble now awaits.

The Threefold Curse

The Threefold Cruse is a recurring theme in many Chaos myth cycles. The Champion is presented with three choices, all of them in some way bad. To go forward in his quest (often for daemonhood), he must then pick one of these three evils - and suck up the consequences. More often than not the hero of these tales pick the wrong option and die horribly. Or refuse the challenge - and are cursed by the True Gods. More rarely, the champion succeeds at one task, only to find he has been tricked.

Barotta's Threefold curse, as penned:

The Fall of Solace
Onto a world where men live like ants,
Where the sorcerer Nereus prepares the Ritual of Ages.
Offer him your heart and your sword.
Thus the Way shall be opened and revealed onto thee.

The Rising of Facrast
Onto a war-torn world on the edge of nowhere,
Where enemies three await with weapons ultimate.
Offer up the world on the Horned One's altar.
Thus the Way shall be opened and revealed onto thee.

The Sacrifice of St. Annard's Peace
Onto a hidden world of toil and bondage,
Where the ancient dead slumber away the eons.
Offer the oppressors to the Avenger.
Thus the Way shall be opened and revealed onto thee.

Athame

Athames are Astartes combat blades carried by the followers of the Prophet of Light. They are based on weapons first created by Erebus of the Word Bearers during the Horus Heresy. Each Chapter or Host has its own distinct design. The Sons of Xandor, for example, have athames that look almost exactly like M30 "Crusade" pattern knives, while the Red Brethren's athames look like skinning blades. Each blade is hand-forged by the Chapter's sorcerers, and given to each acolyte that makes initiate rank.

The essence of the weapon is the same regardless: a serrated blade, made out of dark flint or similar stone. A seemingly primitive weapon, the athame is subtly infused with the essence of the warp. It is nearly unbreakable, and is about as effective as a Mechanicus-forged blade against heavy armor (not ideal, but can work in a pinch). It's true value, however, is that it can harm the denizens of the Warp.

Some athames have additional powers, either by design (during the forging process) or abilities accumulated through use (it's said that any being slain by an athame leaves a piece of its soul in the blade). Sorcerers frequently use their athames as foci during rituals and summonings.

Samus - Lord of the Ruinstorm

Samus is a name that's been whispered in fear for eons. It is the name of a daemon prince that took a particular interest in the Astartes, ever since the Luna Wolves unwittingly released it from captivity during the Great Crusade. It fought Astartes on several occasions, but due to its 'kill or be killed' attitude, it was always banished back to the Warp, albeit at significant cost in lives. After the end of the Horus Heresy, Samus faded back into obscurity, but he was never gone.

Samus has gained in prominence of late, in no small part due to the shrines erected in his honor by the Deacons of the Word. He is less likely to personally manifest in the Materium, but has been known to send his emissaries to possess mortals, sometimes for prolonged periods. Why he has gone from rampaging monster to insidious manipulator only the True Gods know, but perhaps he was grown more potent over the millennia, and gained in wisdom also.

The Children of Samus is a cult of wyrds, assassins, and other ner-do-wells that some say follow the daemon prince like they would a God.

Balphomael - the Horned Darkness

The Horned Darkness, sometimes called Balphomael, other times by different names, is a daemonic entity of immeasurable potency that has lurked in the shadows of the Calixis since long before the Angevin Crusade. It was ever the foe of the Ordo Herticus, who time and again would uncover a cult or coven, stomp it out, only to find two more had taken its place.

Balphomael is the quintessential dark prince, a power broker without peer, a liar and manipulator - and if needed, a ruthless killer. But first and foremost, the Horned Darkness craves worship and obeisance and sacrifice in the fashion of a God. In return, it grants its worshippers fell powers and unnatural long life.

Seemingly owing no direct fealty or allegiance to any other of its kind, the Horned Darkness is something greater than even the mightiest of daemon princes. Perhaps, as some members of the Ordo Calxisi believed, it is a minor Chaos God. Although, as its power is focused only in a relatively small area, it may be nearly as mighty as the Four within Calixis and surrounding areas.

Some claim that Balphomael's heavenly abode is the Screaming Vortex (it is but one of many myths regarding the 'true' nature of the Vortex). One day, soon, the Vortex will open, and the Horned Darkness will be unleashed upon the galaxy. His followers will be raised up to daemonhood, and together they will remake all of the Materium and Immaterium (sounds unlikely).

Since time immemorial, the Horned Darkness has attracted the ire of Malal, to the extent that Malal's champions (not that there are very many) will go out of their way to purge the followers of Balphomael. The reverse is not true: the Horned Darkness will hide or run, but it will not openly fight Malal.

For a time, the Prophet of Light was the enemy of the Horned Darkness, opposing it at every turn, and refusing to spread its gospel. After leaving Calixis, the Prophet seems to have put this enmity behind him, and Balphomael's brethren are allowed to set up their little shrines. According to some dark whispers, the Prophet has forced some sort of pact on Balphomael, and the Horned Darkness is bound to his will.

Granite Tigers Chapter

The Granite Tigers are a little-known Chaos Marine Chapter devoted to Chaos Undivided. Some say they guard the Prophet's furthest conquests, out among the Halo Stars. Occasionally, small bands of Granite Tigers are seen in Calixis, or even further afield, but they keep their distance unless provoked. Some say they are searching for something, but only the Prophet and the Gods know for certain.

Red Brethren Chapter

The Red Brethren is an Astartes Chapter of recent make. They're organized along the lines of a Codex Chapter, but in reality, they are devoted to Chaos Undivided. They consider the Prophet of Light their spiritual Primogenitor. They are armed with strange new marks of armor and wargear, all of it concocted and produced among the distant Halo Stars. The Red Brethren is the only Chapter to still operate in chapter strength in the Calixis sector. They claim the entire sector and all surrounding areas are part of the Prophet's "Realm of Light".

Malal - the Avenger

There is a name whispered quietly and with fear even by the most depraved, the most evil, and the least sane of the worshippers of Chaos. That name is Malal, the Renegade God of Chaos. In eons past Malal was cast out from the bosom of Chaos by the other Gods, or else abandoned them of his own volition, no one is sure which.

In any case, Malal's relationship to the other gods of Chaos is a strange one. All Chaos Gods pursue purposes that are wholly their own, yet only Malal occupies a position so antithetical to the success of his own unfathomable creed. To be a follower of Malal is to be a Chaos warrior bent upon shedding the blood of other Chaos creatures.

As such, Malal is both feared and hated by the other Chaos Gods. Malal's worshippers, too, are loathed by other servants of Chaos; they are outcasts beloved by neither the friends nor enemies of Chaos, dependent upon the least whim of their patron deity. Few men worship such a god; fewer still live long in his service. The bonds that tie master and servant ever drain upon the soul of the warrior, and it is a rare man or woman that can loosen the bonds of Malal once forged.

Malal isn't one of the Four Great Powers, but neither is he a minor God or a Daemon Prince. Instead, his power waxes and wanes in rythm with the influence of Chaos. If Chaos is in the ascendant, Malal will almost always rear his ugly head and try to tear down the great works of the Champions of Chaos. No wonder he is presently rumored to be at work in the Calixis sector.

In Calixis Malal is sometimes connected to the phenomenon known as the Tyrant Star. No one truly knows what it is, and perhaps its nature is to be unknowable. Appearing as a dark eclipse, the Tyrant Star brings ruin to all it touches. Malal is also somehow connected to the Horned Darkness, a particularly powerful Daemon Prince that lingers near the Calixis sector. Even more strangely, Malal is sometimes called 'the Horned God'.

The symbol of Malal is a skull, half white, half black. Sometimes it appears alone, other times superimposed over the Eight-pointed Star of Chaos. His sacred number is said to be 11, but only petty mortals would even consider assigning a number of a God of Chaos.