Setting
In an illustrious land of autumn hues far beyond the sunset is where your tale began.
There you stood, in a field bathed in sunlight, waist high grasses browned by summer passed.
It was a golden stretch of curiosity, natural and naked made for your exploration.
There was, as far as the eye could see to the north, south, and east, nothing but the swaying reeds.
Over to the west, a crag of dark stone stretched towards the sky.
How did you get here?
She hurried to her feet, checking for her revolvers. Why that haughty little...Huh?
The girl, who was dirtier than she was old, withdrew a gun and aimed it point blank at the face of the charmer.You ain't a part a my crew,
She lowered it a hair, realizing he must be lost too,Where's Port Royal?
Did you come on the storm?
She piped up, squaring her shoulders and the gun. What was more troubling? His lack of memory, or his lack of knowledge on the storm?Well I ain't a ghost, surely,
No, he probably didn't, but in truth, she had no idea who she was looking at either. But she had a gun!N' why should I have cause to remember you? D'you know who you're lookin' at?
She lowered the gun, recognizing the name. Yes, Silas Quinn. Rum merchant.Genevieve,
She had personally head a raid on one of his ships a year back, pilfering one of the more expensive casks and enjoying it all the way back to their base. The ship was left unharmed, the crew... Well, she wouldn't blame them if they never set foot on a transport vessel again.
Had he heard of her? It could be bad. She could be arrested, caught, out here alo-Wait a minute. Reminded of their apparent seclusion, Genevieve again perked up the gun.
If I lower this y'ain't gonna try anythin' funny, agreed?
There were no airships in the sky, no steam or smoke rising from anywhere around. About the only thing worth mentioning besides the sky, the grass, and them was a big mountain lookin' thing in the distance.Thanks, yeah, French... So...
I don't s'pose you know a way away from here?
He strained his eyes, to see if there was any sea or coast on the horizon. It didn't look like it. Was he dreaming? He pinched himself, to be sure. Wincing in pain, he concluded this was definitely reality.
"I don't suppose a fine lady such as yourself has any idea where we are to begin with?"
She pointed towards the rock in the distance,Nowhere, as it looks..
Yonder rock mountain lookin' thing, due west a league 'erhaps.
"So, Miss, or perhaps Mistress if you prefer, what exactly -is- the last thing you can remember?" He called back, not slowing his pace.
She flashed a devilish grin.Captain, is preferred,
With a huff, she withdrew a cutlass. Hack! The reeds seemed to whisper as they were felled, voices barely carrying on the wind towards the large rock.
"Well, Mistress Captain, Last thing I can remember is consuming far too much of someone's- that is to say, my- whiskey, and passing out in a calm night, probably in a Port Royal boozing den. Not the first time i've woken up in strange lands after a fine night of fun, I can tell you! But, first time I've had a face as lovely as yours to wake up next to, no mistake." He flashed another wicked smile, carefully picking his way through the chopped reeds, following close behind her now.
The sun beat down on her red hair as hard as his words beat down on her nerves. Mistress? Captain. Captain. She said nothing and continued to chop. Chop. Chop. Chop. Cho-
Genevieve whirled and held the cutlass up, wagging it as one wags a finger.
For effect, she chopped some more of the grass. A girl had to do what a girl had to do to not get ravaged, after all. Face as lovely as hers, she blushed again, turning to hide the coloring of her cheeks.Four paces back, thank'er!
Chop,I was somewhere horrid,
Chop,Crawlin' with the dead,
Chop.Like nothin' I've seen ever,
He barely noticed the strange hissing of the reeds as she cut through them, his thoughts occupied with both how to win this fairfaced and capable woman over, and also with idle thoughts about where exactly he could be, or how to get from here to somewhere more comfortable, preferably with this wench in tow.
"Horrid? Dead, eh? Sounds like you've been hanging out with rough rapscallions alright. I assure you, I am nothing of the sort." He lied boldly. "I've seen some strange sights, Mistress Captain. Dead Men aren't the strangest. Though waking up in a verdant field like nowhere in the West Indies i've ever seen.." He paused, a strange note of doubt entering his tone. It was a very odd place to wake up, indeed.
"We're nearly at the rock there. Strange, I thought a place as lively as this would have more birds. Well, present lovely company excepted, of course." He chuckled.
Not what she would ever have wished to wake up to. Not a place for bird or Bird.
The need to chop had passed, the reeds dying down as they approached the massive rock. Something told her that she would have been better off in the stadium.
The crack in reality complains with white shots of lightning and plasma as the creature's titanic length continues to rub matter between dimensions. Billowed clouds of shine and energy pour out in a torus as it curls around most of the crag's circumference. There's barely a shake as it impacts the ground softly its opposite end pulling free of the gate which slams shut with another shockwave.
At the base of the mountain faceless humanoids with backpacks clad in all black emerge from between the surface scales. Instances of Jinhai spread out to seek the Living Emperor.
Myrkul watched through the gigantic bumps moving hundred-foot scales aside. The crystals were hauled by a mass of Jinhai worms curled about them spinning through the air. Carefully placed on the waves of grass the works set to harvest the abundance of life. Resources of creation were so strong here. One was cut too deep but the second Myrkul's mountainous head turned to send memories that mankind's work not be deprived. The worms rapidly altered their consumption despite some arguments among them. Myrkul would be privy when they returned to the altar. The second growing circle was harvested far less ardently. They may have to be here for a long time it would not do to deplete mankind's home. Each worm returned to the beveled rectangular crystal latching onto it to pour what was once live into raw creation stored in the crystal. Others now busied themselves with manifesting stone on which to build their apparatuses. This doldrum was so large and the wind so idle. They did not need to house against the void so the Jinhai did not. Only a creation of somewhere onto which to build The boxes inside the fallen emperor's necropolis were curious things to build but it wondered if they were suited here. Dim memories mankind on grass near such things in times past told Myrkul it was right.
Plain cubes of stone cut out of the mountain served as construction surfaces as Jinhai Manifested large hexagonal stone plates. The Jinhai had little impulse of decorative value to them. Much of what resources Myrkul brought with it was rare material. Volume of real mass was scarce as passing Myrkul through the tear a great deal had to be stored away. Other overbeings would watch over it while Myrkul ventured away. Instead it tallied the harvest of organics and stone as Jinhai returned to the Altar for rare metals and became the latest consistency of Jinhai. Myrkul could subsist here quite well. Though it wasn't sure from whence demons would come it first needed infrastructure to defend with.
This place so reminded Myrkul of the home of Mankind before the fall of the Altar of Karsus but no Jinhai wandering out among the grass found any trace of life here. Just an endless plain of resources like some altar of a size it found difficult to write onto its mind. Still despite the abundance it reasoned defiling this place into the dusty barrens after Karsus would disgrace the fallen emperor. It etched the idea onto the title of Jinhai that served its creative needs. Jinhai that collate memories of consumption to expand their gathering then arrived with complaints of the vast overuse in construction with this place devoid of the storm. Perhaps they were right the large hexagonal plates forming the foundations of their constructions were huge things meant to survive in Netheril's ranging energy well all Altars of Hairworm were charged with defending. Perhaps smaller things like the ones the Jinhai saw around Carnaelgaar. Little wispy things made of dead food to keep out the light patter of grass.
It forced out a man-sized creature of war the Wen hardly used in several of the storm's lengthy tides. It took a moment for the continuity to remember how to stabilize itself. The simple creature just wanted to pet the food-house in some distant human memory of fragile beings. The simplistic creature without an Altar of a Man to drive a continuity to rage keened loud enough for Myrkul's primary sense to hear when badly made grass walls fell over. The Jinhai experimented with the idea of food houses. Myrkul's mouth vanes thundercracked from the sky in amusement.
The buildings closer to Myrkul were of different purpose. They stockpiled large cognizance crystals in many of the hexagonal silos and while they built ornate stairways up the flat sides the floating worms did not use them. There was even a large black building much akin to human make. Though the inside of of the building showed their inexperience with human comforts as the stone and metal furniture lacked padding entirely.
Tirelessly they toiled to build up resources for a larger Waygate as the pulse of the Living Emperor washed over the distant plane of Genesis. Even though the creatures were written without strength of emotions for good or ill the whole of Myrkul's Vein turned to look as the wave of grain washed through constructions and around the smoked crystal mountain around which Myrkul loomed high. The ground shook as Myrkul shifted its weight to look into the distance and howled to the emperor. It alone could appreciate the distance from purpose created by the Warp found in its way. Wen patrolled the other side of the crack in reality and did so quite well. Errant demonkind that dared to wander this far found themselves woefully overwhelmed. They ensured the demons did not return to bring war to Myrkul's doorstep.
Ascended hairworm cared not for habitation and built no such amenities. Their careful expansion not to diminish Genesis was a thing nested thinly concentrated high in hexes all leaned into the sun that they would never bring more shadow to the grass below than the spot upon which they were built. These spires close to Myrkul first built infrastructure for they had little here yet but one was a threaded spire that glittered with cognizance crystals along thick energized patterns. As the demand of energy increased they could no longer ferry crystals manually through Jinhai they had to conduct directly through the way. Thus a cognizance spire was built gleaming twisted strands of psimass connecting to the giant well inside Myrkul and the Altar. Jinhai continuously flowed around its confines to balance and to ensure the array was well-maintained. Now that they had defense on both sides of the tear into the Warp they could light the Psi-beacon.
Thoughts, words, a pale power inside the beacon shaped and directed by meditating Jinhai immersed in the machine. Devoid of emotive force it pushed up at the leaning skyscraper. Myrkul's well hadn't the raw power of the Immaterium but to those allowed to touch the new white dwarf in their sky didn't find madness whispered into the mind. Merely a mild apathy. When the cognizance injector lit the grass with its riotous viridian color all psykers on the same planet of the Terra Waygate could feel it burn. Myrkul's source alit on Terra but it only responded to the Emperor of Mankind as the nonsapient mote-mind bonded to psimass that composed all their 'machines' waited quietly for holy word from His intellect.
Demonkind might see it as a power like itself that lit from Terra conducted across the Way as it was. The Emperor would most certainly might recognize the viscid movement of that cloying power only hurried by the truly strong. Myrkul only allowed the well to drain so far but its reserves were deep enough to draw.
If there was no eternal enemy of scale on its doorstep Myrkul decided to dispatch the Wen far more liberally. Some were sent onto Terra to defend against the known threat of Umbralkind. Several dozen raced back through precipice and down the mountain in a rumbling pack to varying destinations along the Way. A number of others left to the psi-forge in the wastelands. The remainder dispatched with Jinhai as scouts beyond the precipice to discern what lies there. Myrkul still defended the precipice but its expectations of a titanic army of demonkind assaulting its position appeared far above what is. hundreds yet remained on its doorstep to defend against the unknown animals on the other side of the precipice. Jinhai carefully repersonalized a creature captured from Myrkul's side of the precipice to inspect its habits. They would empower it to fly itself home.
There were a number of such links here reported thinly by Jinhai that could be of use. These nonphysical planes were tightly linked to others of their kind. Such expansive places could form a good home for the imperial forces as well as Demonkind. Myrkul aimed to get there first to construct a bulwark. The lack of a Warp as described in Lore changed the solutions available to Myrkul's Vein as well as its problems. Myrkul's quadrant-vaned maw opened the tentacles on each tip fly backward with sparks of charging energy. The overbeing could not wait for its sub-beings to return the new changes were too important. A thunderous grinding peal sounded across the Force and psychic planes like an avalanche of glass with a new codex for its sub-beings.
Only those minds that heard and stayed to listen at the strange oncoming tide of broken windows would be hit by the gale of it. Though perhaps only force users and psykers alike could hope to pick up the 'sound'. Shards of thoughtforms that fit into existing layers of thought would make little sense to those not of the Myrkul's Vein commonality. Those strong unintegrated minds capable of puzzling fragmentary mental pieces together in large might make some of its contents clear. Also that this knowledge wasn't said for their ears.
"Explore, for the Altar is improperly informed. Associate with the unknown. The Warp is not. A hidden enemy remains. Prepare. I loose the Wen. Armor Mankind for what comes."
- Code: Select all
Those creatures of Myrkul's Vein, in their own right existing in a plane separate from reality, would feel as though an intrusion even into their space was being made. It was not as though their existence was being accessed, but as though a new existence was forcing it's way into the world, and bleeding into their plane of existence. An infinite number of psionic entities, similar to those of the vein itself, found their way into that reality and would begin consuming the denizens, jin and otherwise. They swarmed like locusts, consuming the psychic entities that dwelt in the vein and voraciously draining it of power. Never before had Myrkul's vein been invaded in such a way, and in this instance that it had, it might very well be destroyed if not halted.
But enough of the made it through for Ifrit to see what lay beyond, and for him to speak.
"You will not escape, no matter what plane you run to. All shall be brought to order. All reality shall be controlled."
The voice did not carry the force it had in the material plane, for it was as though it was shouted across a vast distance. Ifrit was now aware of the true nature of the creatures he had encountered, and as he had with countless other universes and life forms, this one would also be ordered.
Jinhai braced against the nondistinction field unbound motes passing through the nondistinction field falling inert behind them. Myrkul itself could divide its attention as would a diety but cared not to rule mankind. That was not its purpose. The huge creature called upward with a deafening cry to the crack into its reality and summon other lesser overbeings. It would need reinforcements. Myrkul reached up shuddering the ground in Genesis in anticipation of the strain it was about to put on reality. Thunderous bolts of planar and electrical energy bled into Genesis as Myrkul cleared the way for lessers of its kind to arrive.
Responses rumble from the crack into the storm as other overbeings push their way across the gap. This was no time to wait for the Living Emperor to give permission for such entry into the reality under His charge. Myrkul would use its power to ensure reality would not fall. Content to ignore Ifrit at first that it did not harm humanity the deaths on terra made Myrkul name Ifrit a 'thing that should not be'. Its forgiveness would not come easily. Still, in respect for the Aetherkind Deiyi having a hand of raising a destructive creature such as itself to duties of creation in honor of the Fallen Emperor it must consider redemption.
It considered a the new 10m foundation being built by Jinhai surrounding the precipice. Its subbeings began to build the first building aimed to further the plane's own energies for purposes of destruction. The overbeing had good authority to ken that it was the first such thing Genesis had ever known. Clung to the storm their birthplace a storm of death and destruction a small part of Myrkul's awareness was sad.
Setting
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Feel free to start a character here just mind that they died on terra to get to this point. :)
by lil_kreen
0.00 INK
Well above the ground of the Aetherius transitive plane named Genesis a gigantic creature loomed high over a growing field of skyscrapers planted into the earth. A thin hairy carpet of Cognizance spires that forms the backbone of their renewable collection of this plane's resources. Expansion had the need of creation however and to that end Myrkul had brought its own force of creation. This place was known to Jinhai as the Altar of Myrkul's Vein named by Humankind long passed the shards of its creation delivered by a being known as Deiyi. Those shards a thing carefully organized and welded by the force of an overbeing's will to organize its mental forces against the black storm. In time what then was a small red dias became the housing and forge for a hundred thousand Psi-Seeds. A purpose writ in the Fallen Emperor's dictum then altered the purpose of that mechanism of creation. They would save mankind from the indignities of Aetherkind that the kingdom of Mankind could not be felled by the actions of a diety.
Then a crack in the black storm formed a natural thread through the planes to mountainous foci upon which the force of creation held it steady. They'd spread out from the precipice into Genesis then met another worthy of being the Emperor of Mankind. Slowly their limited inroads to the plane expanded as they moved from world to world seeking Mankind to protect as was Dicta. They died, as Humankind did at the will of Aetherkind, but some were saved. Rekindled, with the broken parts of comrades fully destroyed.
Upon the platinum-iridium alloy wreathed with psimass bonded to human blood a single creature raised its hands focusing on the task at hand. Spires alit next to him as the cognizance channels slammed their energies into the altar. The channels were now open and the brazier that could sustain a soul were lit. Firm ferroplasm bones on every surface threw light from the charge as more color directed in from genesis streamed in through entrance apertures. Each an active Way gate to lesser overbeings than Myrkul spreading more constructions across the infinity that is Genesis.
Jinhai busily carried sources of the rekindled as they arrived to Myrkul in their own time. Some had been lost before they could build more receptacles in the halls for them as distinct from psi-seeds as they were. Adolefactus looked on to ranks of cloaked figures of Jinhai carrying the brightly burning lamps closer.
The white-eyed Adolefactus' protective robe loosed its tethers on the flowing blood carpet to which harsh mouthless voice elated at the new task, "Come brothers! How interesting to see you all bearing gifts! Today not only the Mada will bear new life. Or old life, I suppose, We'll see, hmmm? Let us see if we can return a few fallen to the Living Emperor."
Jinhai wasn't as much one for conversation a creature of order and habit that they were, "There are few. We have not yet begun rekindling after the current catastrophe for mankind."
Another Jinhai with a blue burning receptacle added, "Several thousand more receptacles may be required. The event is sizable but the Living Emperor is attending to the disaster."
Adolefactus shrugged in a gleeful tone,"I'll never be bored again at least! I wonder if these Rekindled are strong enough to survive the procedure. I suppose I may lose a few but nothing lost they hadn't already."
Pointing to rapid but flat swirl of blue-sparkling motes and distended space just ahead of the altar he added, Attend them to the Locus and let's get to work, shall we?"
Jinhai poured into the air from faceless robed men like the staff-bearing statue of the Fallen Emperor behind the altar to huge floating segmented worms. Glowing grey thunderstorms of psionic activity roiled across each surface and in one of the quadrant-vaned mouths at each end is clung a source of the Rekindled. Each unique to the individual but most bearing the Symbol of the Imperium on them as the imperial guards of the first attack were rekindled in host. The Jinhai didn't know who they were but diligently moved them in procession. Their other ends clasped together a ring of conductive order between each source. A frame upon which each man would be born anew.
The locus swirled with activity as Adolefactus raised both hands together blowing life into the malestrom focus. A fell wind of psimass bonded to the flesh that makes the living be raises in a swirl of Ichor. The speed of it hurling fast as the ring of Jinhai and souls turns faster. As those white eyes closed Adolefactus was witness to the storm of men that once were. Even the scribe of all beings found it difficult to hear every instrument in the orchestra of memories he could keep every symphony to itself. Every eddy and current in the fleshy potential of the Maelstrom locus finding its own design. Wisps of what became flesh and even metal returned to the design each rekindled remembered of their death. Organs re-writ, implants reborn, nothing left behind but shrapnel and detritus the soul refused to regard as its own. Each of the 11 bodies returned to wholeness the bonded fleshy psimass forming the memory of a healthy moment just before that ignanamous moment that destroyed them. In time the whirlwind was just a wisp as it spun pouring itself out in Humankind. The bodies ejected from a red gout in each Jinhai whom then stopped to reform into humanoid bodies. An inert source of the Rekindled in the hand of each.
At least Adolefactus was fairly sure they were all Humankind. The lines between symphonies seemed somehow different. There were a few Rekindled that sang at different timbres than the chorus of the Imperium. Jinhai slowed as the bodies turned hardened seared raw matter into the re-ignition of will. There was always a risk that the Rekindled would crumple under the strain and the source extinguish but he was fairly sure at least the harsh grey fireballs of sources emblazoned with knightly imagery would persist handily. They'd find themselves on an impossibly smooth floor a fresco above them lit with a skyline of the floating cities of Netheril that once were. Hooded Jinhai looking down upon them.