Chapter 57:

Chapter 57: Establishing and breaking ritual is done through Willpower and Fire.


The Home is an interesting concept for both Humans and Eldar.

For Humans it is their redoubt, their castle where they are the mightiest and where the will of the family head is while not absolute, it is rarely questioned for it is their duty to provide safety to the family and ensure that the family has what it needs to grow strong. For humanity home is safety, home is might and the home is sacred and a Man without home is lesser for it, which is why all tyrannies seek to deprive Man of it, to make sure they can't defend it, that the state has power over the home and that any and all attempts a man could do to defend it requires the Tyrant to allow those that live under its yoke to do it.

For Eldar, home is most of those things as well, it is where a family is mightiest, it is where the will of its Patriarch or Matriarch is absolute and it is where children are raised and civilized, but it has something different to it, something that human homes don't and that is protection and guidance.

For Man a home is an instrument they can use to protect their families, it enhances the natural ability of parents to protect their families but it does not in and of itself do so, as without a protector that will protect the family, the family will not find safety in their home.

Eldar Homes provide safety regardless of the might of their protector, even if a protector grants more safety, as an empty home will still provide those under it's roof a measure of protection and guidance through its song.

Song is, among other things, how Eldar think as we think through song and our homes echo with our songs and those that live in them are provided guidance and safety by the song of their homes and protectors.

Orphanages are for children with nobody to learn from, for those that for whatever reason do not have anyone to sing for them and teach them, and because of this they are given to the Divine in an Orphanage, where it is the Song of the Divine that will help them grow and develop and it is why they will start acting in the interests of the Divine the Orphanage was dedicated to. For example when one grows in an Orphanage dedicated to Isha, they will develop tendencies for larger families and to bring those that they like into it, a desire to grow their families, to nurture talents, to love others of our people and to love the world around them and will be granted a desire to protect it because it is theirs.

Something similar will happen in Orphanages dedicated to the other gods where the children raised in them will learn to act more like the Divine they are being raised under and that includes Slaanesh.

The Damned Priests of Isha were spared extermination by the other Priesthoods of the Pantheon and are one of the two Damned Priesthoods officially allowed to exist that still actually do so with the others being the Damned of Hoeth. The reason they were spared was to help deal with Orphanages dedicated to Slaanesh in a deniable way. They are to ensure they don't exist by sabotaging the rituals one would perform to create them, or to take them over and break ritual to not allow the influence of Slaanesh spread by creating Eldar whose songs are attuned to Slaanesh.

Nobody will expect them to be able to stop it in the Song Worlds or those fully taken over by the Pleasure cults in the center of the Empire, but we are at the edge of the Empire and this world has an Orphanage dedicated properly to Slaanesh. This world is on the absolute edge of the Empire and one could argue that thanks to its status and age that it is the edge. There is no possible excuse for it.

This world is important enough that the various mad doctors, deranged flesh artists and sculptors of flesh that will eventually call themselves the Haemonculi would have been led here and offered their services to the population, something Suil Drithis confirmed to me that they have been and that they are still active here, and so do not have any excuse for allowing that thing I had seen days ago to continue existing.

It is their job to ensure that as many Orphanages dedicated to Slaanesh are sabotaged to ensure that even as they continue to exist, they are not dedicated properly to Slaanesh in order to prevent her willing or unwilling agents to sabotage the communities of the survivors as they join others from the few worlds that won't instantly die immediately after the Birth of Slaanesh.

What will become the Haemonculi operate as Isha used to be during the War in Heaven… well mostly… They are certainly far less disciplined and coherent than The Priesthood of Isha used to be, but the same way of thinking applies.

'Increase numbers by any means, find useful traits to add to the war from existing species you find, create new traits to test things out, reinforce and reintroduce traits that have gone missing by mistake or that had suddenly become advantageous to possess and ensure those that are to join the war effort are educated and motivated.'

This is how Isha operated during the War in Heaven and she wasn't shy about hunting for said traits she wished to add wherever she could find them. We managed to calm her down and turn her into the mother we all know that loves us by ensuring that the way her purpose is expressed is less hostile and forceful but the same logic applies.

The Haemonculi will do similar things with their creations and orphanages in Commorragh, even if they just grow more unhinged in their worship of the Dark Muses as they forget their original purpose. While they are far more refined in their methodology than they used to be in the past, they are also far less capable in Commoragh due to lacking access to most of their psychic abilities, and despite all that they are still among the most skilled scientists and innovators in the galaxy. They had to be this talented and capable in order to survive under Isha's stern demands of her children and then continue being so to stop Slaanesh from drinking their souls, but they are lesser now and will fall even more as time goes on than what they were under Isha-as-she-used-to-be.

In the webway they will be far less disciplined and trustworthy, less capable of song, less capable of unity and less likely to follow orders, which is something I'll have to correct for this bunch assuming any of them survive.

"Excuse me warrior, I am Bessar Agail and I am here to see the Master Fleshcrafters on a meeting that relates to our mutual craft." I spoke kindly to the tall woman at the entrance.

She considered my words but said nothing as I awaited for her to sing to her masters.

She was tall, taller than me by a full head even, and served as a guard to the den of the local Not-yet-Haemonculi.

Everything except her skin which was very pale was black, dark eyes, dark hair, dark lips and dark armor and weapons and the only thing that wasn't dark was her pale white skin. The only thing that differentiated her from how the half-beasts of Commoragh would soon look like is the lack of spikes.

'Perhaps the haemonculi influenced the aesthetic sense of the Dark Eldar?' I thought as I awaited to be let in and the warrior sang to her masters.

I always wondered why did they prefer black armor, as colored armor in blacks and reds would induce more terror but it might be something the flesh sculptors found more appealing and it got stuck that way.

She was also different due to a lack of wrinkles and gauntness while in real space as well, but that is just a skill issue on the part of the Dark Eldar. You're not seeing Craftworlders be so pathetic as the barely eldar things at handling their souls, albeit those idiots are incompetent in their own special ways, but Asurman managed to at least beat some competence into their skulls.

A pity he couldn't make their skulls work properly, or that his path system is not sustainable in the long term for Eldar, as the man will otherwise be very impressive but nobody is perfect and I should not judge a man that much greater than me.

"Naturally holy one, please follow me inside as my master awaits to hear your words." Said the woman in a profession tone then ushered me in after the slightest of nods.

She didn't even bow in order to not lose sight of me at any time. Rude perhaps, but not unasked for considering that I am known to be quite dangerous and rudeness is preferable to letting a known threat out of your sight, especially one with my reputation.

She positioned herself behind me as we walked.

Good, the flesh sculptors don't have the excuse of incompetence if they can keep such well trained staff on hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The priest of Cegorach toyed with our employers with the same easy they toyed with their patients. It is actually hilarious to see the creatures feel the same fear they felt as Bessar Agai flayed their souls with the same ease they cut through flesh.

The reason we do not stop him is for a simple reason, they did not order us to, in fact we were ordered explicitly to not bother by the most senior of our employers.

Oh the two apprentices tried desperately to get us to do so, but their master countermanded the order even as his soul left his body. It still did not feel right to let our employers suffer this and so I asked what most of us probably wished to ask.

"Should we intervene?" I asked.

All five of the guards of the flesh sculptors had gathered here in the dissections room to watch the event, even as we were not privy to the conversation between the three men and one woman.

"No, we were told not to, and as we do not protect the apprentices from their master, we do not protect the slaves from their Master." Our leader told us in song.

"Slaves?" Four voices sang in dissonance to our leader.

'Swift Strike' was a strange man for he came from one of the Webway Realms and he had strange insights nobody else seemed to follow but that had proven to be correct more often than not in the past.

Our eyes squinted at those words as we tried to make sense of them as we did not agree to work for slaves. Slaves can't give us protection from princes.

"Yes, look at how the master is scared of even seemingly opposing the one torturing them, as if any hint of resistance is enough to make things worse." He revealed and from our observations he was correct.

We looked at the situation and evaluated it with this new found revelation and we begrudgingly realized that yes, this does feel as when a priest would 'discipline' their slaves and we realized that our leader was correct again, like almost every single time.

The few times he was not were always the funniest but it seems that today we would not get the chance to laugh at out leader, and instead would have to think of how to proceed further. If they are slaves then they have both lied to us and can't defend us from the wrath of the prince that we have wronged.

The two apprentices had finally realized the danger they were in and while we couldn't hear them scream, we could certainly hear the echoes of fear coming from the three flesh sculptors, that and pain, a lot of pain.

"Do we remain in their employment?" I asked softly.

We wished for patronage from influential individuals, not slaves that cowered in front of the priests and it seems the flesh sculptors had lied to us about their standing, unless the one above us was so much greater than them.

"They have not lied to us of their status or abilities, I would assume? The two apprentices did not even seem aware of it, so it is possible the princes are not aware of it either." 'Mighty Hand' asked what we all thought.

We agreed to work for them for safety from the wrath of a prince, if these things could not provide it then we will leave, and judging by their screams I doubt they would be able to do so after this Bessar Agail was done with them regardless.

"I will ask if they have done so, and if he needs guards when he is done with them if they did do so." 'Swift Strike' sang.

We all sent our agreement to it.

"Do you believe he might be the strange priest with a cure for the Wasting Disease the songs whisper about?" I sang.

Whispers have been spoken of the strange being that was as likely to heal you as to kill you from the cure and he has been terrorizing settlements with his presence as he burned the disease from the air and it returned far slower than before, if it even returned.

"You might be correct 'Careful Hands', either way I will ask, and if I offend him in some way do not seek vengeance on the man as it is a fate I will take upon myself." Our leader asked.

We bristled at his words. He saved us when we were down, trained us and gave us a chance when others wouldn't. All of us pretended to agree that we would not try to save him or avenge him if for whatever reason the priest decided to turn on him.

Not a single one of us had any intention of keeping our word and the fool should know better by now.

The strange session continued until the priest finally finished playing with his slave and all three flesh sculptors fell to the ground, their souls now back in their bodies and their bodies gasping for air.

"Now that we have finished our conversation and you have remembered your duties I require you to answer a question. Recently the Pantheon has entered into a deal with a species known as Mankind and after negotiations and multiple methods of verification we have come to the conclusion that they are civilized and thus entitled to actual legal consideration thanks to their treaty with us. Have any of you experimented on them?" He asked the three

"Y-yes, I did." The male apprentice confirmed amidst shaking breaths.

Bessar Agail smile could be felt and known even by those that could not see it. Everyone thought the man would be punished for it and we were surprised when he wasn't.

"Excellent, I have taken some as mercenaries for my purposes and I have promised them biological enhancements, so you will provide some stable ones that can bring them roughly around our strength level and capable of living for some centuries if not a thousand years. Succeed in this task and you will find yourself with more work and great rewards, but until then… here take this." The priest said as he pulled out something from the pouch he carried at his waist.

He threw a crystal at the man and he caught it. He was still on the floor but had regained control of his limbs unlike his master.

"T-this, what is this? It's so beautiful… "He said as examined the contents of the song crystal.

"I hope this will suffice as payment, it is data of various animals and their genetic sequence that those of your craft would find useful, now I will talk with our audience." He said as he turned to us.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Bessar Agail, I am known as 'Swift Strike' and I lead our group, The Black Blades, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Our leader introduced himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The pleasure is mine leader of The Black Blades, may I ask why you did not intervene?" I asked the man.

I do not know why large parts of the Imperial Eldar populations eschew spoken names, I have never been able to understand it as it seems to be different from person to person and I cannot understand the appeal. The siren's reason made no sense either when it was explained to me, and I was quite frankly annoyed at it.

The Spoken Word exists to be used, we have it, it is useful so please use it.

"We wished to do so, but the master signaled for us to not intervene." He replied.

That was the one good decision these idiots did. Probably the only reason they'll continue to live and get a second chance at doing as they must.

These things thought we were dead, and the man himself that knew of our deal was not told directly of why they are allowed to continue to exist, but instead stole the information from his master's archives, who himself was not aware of it and instead just had this information hidden away in some of his texts.

It seems like their covens just thought we died out and are thus no longer there to enforce our deal, and that this meant that they can do whatever they want which is laughable. It doesn't matter if we survived or not, we don't need to be alive to screw you over. as no matter which plan if any of ours were successful or not. they would still die painfully.

If the craftworlders fully died out and gave birth to their death god, the newly reborn empire would make quick work of hunting these creatures down as their self-modification nonsense would quickly label them as beasts to be exterminated. The sirens on the World of Clashing Blades are a perfect example of what would happen to them if they were no longer useful, only it wouldn't be idiots that hunted them but Dark Eldar which are quite good at it or whatever culture emerges from among the reborn which would be no slouches either.

If Vect married Slaanesh, then they would also quickly find themselves out of a job as Eldar no longer needed them to resurrect and thus they would no longer be vital to keep around, only useful or convenient. They might be able to avoid extinction by the reborn Empire by dint of being part of its initial infrastructure, but it is highly unlikely, as they would not longer be necessary in a society built for conflict and war and would thus lose a great deal of protection that they would have gotten used with receiving and which they required in order to conduct their activities.

And if the Exodites were to be the last ones standing or all plans failed? Then death and an eternity in Slaanesh's stomach was all that awaited them.

Their only chance of survival in the long term was to serve, and if they did their jobs and weren't hated by everyone around them then they might be able to survive the moment they are no longer needed by everyone to avoid a fate worse than death.

When dealing with priests of the Pantheon and specifically those of Hoeth and Cegorach, the only way you can guarantee your survival or at very least being spared from a very horrible fate is going above and beyond what we asked of you, because if you do so then we will do our best to not screw you over, as Loyalty is rewarded and so is treachery.

Now, how do I steal these guards for myself?

My human mercenaries have a low chance at survival, let alone actually accomplishing what I wish of them, regardless of whatever path they take for themselves, as they have not yet tried to confront me over the fact I gave them two choices.

These five might be able to fill in the gaps, or I might be able to get some actual guards for myself as whatever is coming might require me to defend myself.

"I see, that was a smart decision on their part as you would not have survived it and they would have been extremely lucky if they didn't either. I sense you wish to ask some questions so please do." I addressed the man.

He was the same as the other four under his command, harsh features and black everything except his skin, which I now realized is a stylistic choice on their part to better fit their name and not actually something the flesh sculptors insisted on. It fits too well with their name to be anything else.

"Yes holy one, we have entered their employment in exchange for protection from them after we have accidentally insulted some princes and they promised us they would provide it to us in exchange for service, but we believe now that they are not capable of it and would beg of you to provide us some clarifications on the matter." He answered my request and made another.

That is a… problematic question to answer truthfully, but I suppose I do have to answer it for a chance at getting their service.

"They are capable of providing the services you require, their order is merely subordinated to the True Priesthoods of several of the Divine, which includes myself, and not the local pretender priests you are familiar with. I have merely disciplined them for forgetting to do their duties but they still retain their influence and status you are most likely familiar with and can most likely provide you with the protection they offered." I answered.

It seems I would have to make do without them, a shame but such is life.

"We would be willing to release them from their contract with us, if it would help your plots holy one!" The man I had just spent the last half an hour considering if I should turn his soul into art as I cut it apart offered.

He was still on the floor trying desperately to regain control of his too many limbs. His apprentices still had their four limbs and looked normal so they were on their feet now.

"We are willing to take that offer too." The warrior quickly added.

Something is not right, I can sense why the flesh sculptors would agree to it to try to please me, but why would the warriors be willing to take it? It's not like me being here changed their deal.

"I do find myself in need of more blades for hire, but I am curious as to why do you desire to change your current employment prospects. From where I am standing it makes little sense as your former employers are capable of providing the protection they offered you, I am merely above them and they forgot it and needed a reminder." I continued.

I wished to say yes but the circumstances of how our deal was struck would color our relationship forever and if I tried to get them in my service by means that are against their interests I would regret it as they started acting in ways that are against my interests.

Also if they betrayed their employers for a better deal, then they would betray me too if anyone offered a better one so I needed more details before accepting their allegiance.

"We wish for protection from the princes we've offended, the flesh sculptors were a means to an end until we could get passage away from this world to somewhere where we would no longer have to bother with such. As they have duties on this world, we cannot count on them for it and they are aware of our desire to leave this world." He answered.

I would not be able to give them to Vect or the Cult of Strife then. It seems I have earned the services of some blades for hire.

"Excellent, if this is the case I am willing to take you in my service. I will remain on this world until my apprentice learns his final lesson, then I will leave and some bodyguards would not go amiss as I go and return to my lady wives and do some errands before reaching them. In this case I accept your allegiance if you would offer it and swear that I will provide you shelter, protection from the local princes as well as healing services for your soul, and whatever healing for the body I can grant you as well as some gear." I offered them.

The five knelt at my words.

"We accept your patronage holy one." They said as one.

"Good, now rise, I need for you to meet my mercenaries, my concubines, my apprentice and to discuss and test your skills and some of my future plans." I told them and they rose and followed me as we left the clinic.

One more problem solved, and now to get back to the bunkhouse and see if Vect has finished my task for him. All he had to do was try and get to know the humans and my concubines better without insulting or ordering them around.

Shouldn't be too hard, as Vect can be charismatic when he wants to.